The Film Daily (1941)

inesday, April 16, 1941 n«n« DAILY r ;< Reviews of the new rums :< :< "Ziegfeld Girl" th James Stewart, Judy Garland, Hedy Lamarr, Lana Turner 131 Mins. ^:RING' gorgeous and glam .•MUSICAL EXTRAVAGANZA WILL / 'EM WHETHER IT'S ON BROAD OR MAIN STREET. 5 Metro hallmark of box office is 1 etched in "Ziegfeld Girl," as glit;, gorgeous and glamorous a musical .aganza as ever has hit the screen, digally peopled with talent and beauty do honor to the Ziegfeld name and !*s" tradition, telling a dramatic and ally plausible footlights story in abig fashion, with just the right propor}f stage action — here largely restricted ve-catching, breath-taking production ers — and deftly directed with keen -standing, "Ziegfeld Girl" will wow whether it's on Broadway or Main t e showman who fails to cash in heavily is opulent, entertainment-packed Pan. Berman production exquisitely photo■ed in sepia by Ray June can have only ?lf to blame. Metro has supplied po marquee "name" power in James art, Judy Garland, Hedy Lamarr and Turner, and there's unusually capsupport in Tony Martin, Jackie Cooper, Hunter, Charles Winninger, Edward itt Horton and Philip Dorn. d as for the Ziegfeld girls, a hundred i, who move through the several proon numbers, they're as beautiful, as ey and as graceful as in the days when Follies title blazed in electrics at the Amsterdam, hat more could showman or patron is the thesis of William Anthony Mc3. responsible for the original story, as imably it was of Ziegfeld, that the Folthemselves never swept a girl to the its or tumbled her into the depths, were, instead, merely quickening urns. tus it is in McGuire's story that Lana er as Sheila Regan, a Flatbush red "discovered" by Ziegfeld in a depart store elevator, elects to take what to be called "the easiest way" and pays price, while Hedy Lamarr as Sandra sr, show girl wife of a penniless, as g concert pianist, meets and withstands ntic temptations. The result, insists uire, would have been the same, Fol or no Follies. addition to tracing the careers and te lives of the Misses Turner and arr, the story is also importantly coned with Susan Gallagher, young vaudepi, who rises as spectacularly as the rs from pony in the chorus line to 3S principal and star. It's a fat part, Judy Garland makes the most of it. cGuire's plot is a study in contrasts, reas Miss Turner gives the go-by to her klyn truck driver sweetheart, James art, and her family, to accept the atons (including an apartment, diamond slets, etc.) of a wealthy man-aboutI, Ian Hunter, Miss Lamarr returns ' Martin, the Follies singing star, to his , Rose Hobart, and quits the show to mpany her husband on his first concert while Miss Garland gets her dad, les Winninger, a chance to score in RKO Division Managers To Map "Jubilee" Plans (Continued from Page 1) division managers for the purpose of formulating plans and booking's in connection with the "RKO Maytime Movie Jubilee" which will be launched April 24 in the circuit's houses from Coast to Coast. Sessions will be held in New York late this week, ending on Monday with a dinner which will be attended by home office executives, division managers and managers of all RKO houses in the Metropolitan area. During the jubilee period. RKO theaters will be the scenes of many special activities and important productions. Jubilee is to last five weeks. the Follies, appearing with Al Shean. Their number? Of course, you remember "Mr. Gallagher and Mr. Shean!" It is when McGuire essays to reunite Miss Turner and Stewart and provide a "punch" finish for the story — and the picture— that he is on decidedly less secure ground. Not content with bringing them together in a poignant, if overly-long bedside scene, he sends Miss Turner to the opening night of a new Follies — the third oroduced in the picture — there to suffer a fatal heart attack. From the death scene, there's a quick cut to the elaborate finale number, led by Miss Garland. A different ending, to be sure. But just how it will be accepted by the cash customers only time can and will tell. Performances all around are tip-top, with the three feminine leads scoring impressively. Incidentally, don't look for Ziegfeld in the cast — he's a name and a memory only. Smart, that. Robert Z. Leonard has directed with symoathy and brilliance, and Busby Berkeley has staged the musical numbers in the grand manner. Sumptuous, dazzling, magnificent, they will not be easily forgotten. Outstanding Derhaps are "You Steooed Out of a Dream," sung by Martin; "You Never Looked So Beautiful," sung by Miss Garland and chorus, and the very elaborate "Minnie from Trinidad," sung by Miss Garland, Martin and chorus. Musically — and that includes both vocal and instrumental — "Ziegfeld Girl" is a smash hit. For that matter, so is the picture as a whole. CAST: James Stewart. Judy Garland, Hedy Lamarr, Lana Turner. Tony Martin, Jackie Coooer. Ian Hunter, Charles Winninger, Edward Everett Horton. Philip Dorn, Paul Kelly. Eve Arden, Dan Dailey, Jr., Al Shean, Fay Holden, Felix Bressart, Rose Hobart. CREDITS: Directed by Robert Z. Leonard; Produced by Pandro S. Berman; Screenolav. Marguerite Roberts and Sonya Levien; Original Story, William Anthony McGuire; Musical Numbers Directed by Busby Berkelv; Musical Direction, George Stoll; Musical Score, Herbert Stothart; Director of Photography, Ray June; Recording Director, Douglas Shearer; Art Director, Cedric Gibbons; Associate. Daniel B. Cathcart; Film Editor, Blanche Sewell. DIRECTION, Fine. PHOTOGRAPHY, Aces. "Penny Serenade" with Irene Dunne, Cary Grant, Edgar Buchanan Columbia 125 Mins. WARM AND RICHLY HUMAN ROMANTIC DRAMA SPLENDIDLY ENACTED, STAGED AND DIRECTED; SHOULD BE A B. 0. HIT AND A STANDOUT AMONG YEAR'S BEST PICTURES. Audiences every place will be stirred by this warm and richly human romantic drama as it unfolds on the screen, verges on a tragedy that will bring tears and then sweeps to a satisfying climax by virtue of a miracle — in this case entirely believable and completely apart from the customary goo dished up to the customers to "keep them happy." Everything about the picture is swell,, if that adjective is adequately descriptive of_a general all-around, top-notch job. It is far from being a straight out-andout drama, although that's what it basically is, but there are loads of laughs, subtle in spots and in other places uproarious, blended perfectly in every instance into the smoothly-flowing continuity of the story itself. And then again, it reaches dramatic heights that will bring tears to many an eye, even to some of the toughest of screen audiences, with tragedy that is understandable, completely believable and naturally conveyed to the screen without any obvious hokum to dim the lustre of the human element involved. Exhibitors have a first-class piece of merchandise for their screens in this picture, for any house and all types of audiences. It is a picture that will affect everyone to some degree, depending upon the course of their own lives. It might be termed a woman's picture, with tragedy striking Miss Dunne when an accident kills her unborn child and prevents her from ever having one, and subsequent to that a child is a keynote in the story; but no man could fail to be caught in the whirlpool of emotions and events generating from this situation. It is a picture which deserves attention, lots of attention, on its own merits, and in addition it boasts two of the top "name" draws on the screen today to give it a ne plus ultra rating. Director-Producer George Stevens deserves due praise for his splendid job. His directorial job leaves nothing to be desired, there are intimate touches every place that give you a jolt, the characters move across the screen in understandable, warmly human portrayals, and the story itself moves smoothly from romance to tragedy to comedy and then again through the whole gamut of emotions without a single false note to mar its perfection. The splendid original story was written by Martha Cheavens and Morrie Ryskin is responsible for the smoothlygeared screenplay, which is a highly praiseworthy job. All technical work is excellent, the camera work and musical score being top notch. As to the players, it is a relatively small cast with only four players, including Miss Dunne and Grant, who could be termed as "well known." Miss Dunne is superb, a charming and graceful woman in the full sense of the word, lovely to look at and in a role in which she gives a socko performance that is perfectly shaded. Grant is equally as good, and in this reviewer's opinion has never been better. Grant has always been fine in either comedy or semi-devil-may 20th-Fox Stockholders Will Reconvene May 15 (Continued from Page 1 ) his "personal matters" were disposed of. Total of 1.012,695 5/24 shares of common were represented at the meeting-, 969,831 5/24 by proxy, and 42,863 in person, and a total of 802,241 4/12 shares of preferred were represented, 802,241 4/12 by proxy and 10 shares in person. The meeting was one of the shortest on record for the company. "Penny Serenade" Shown To 1,400 at the Astor Columbia unveiled "Penny Serenade" before 1,400 exhibitors, circuit executives, press representatives, Columbia home office officials and Eastern branch and division managers at the Astor Theater. care roles, but here he is spotted with a characterization that called for dramatic histrionics of the first water, and he delivers with a wallop. Both Miss Dunne and Grant should be contenders for whatever honors are being handed around this year for performances. Two splendid supporting characterizations are contributed by Edgar Buchanan and Beulah Bondi, and the remainder of the cast is fine. The story itself concerns Miss Dunne, who works in a music shop, and Grant, a reporter. They are married, they are happy and unhappy by turn, take many of the best things from life with a gusto for living, and then they are about to be separated, with a last minute miracle reuniting them. The story is told in flashback style as Miss Dunne plays a number of records significantly connected with different phases of their lives. There are many memorable scenes in the picture. An earthquake sequence packs a terrific punch; a sequence with a baby will bring gales of laughter from all audiences, and there are a number of others, some intimate and touching, some funny and some tragic, others highly dramatic. Possibly after Miss Dunne starts playing the first record and an audience is aware of what is to come, it might have been smoother if only a record title change appeared on the screen and the music changed with it instead of seeing Miss Dune go through the same performance until it seemed repetitious, but it is a very minor flaw, if it could be called that. Splendid entertainment on every score,' it can't be too highly recommended or oversold. CAST: Irene Dunne, Cary Grant, Beulah Bondi, Edgar Buchanan, Ann Doran, Eva Lee Kuney, Leonard Wiley, Wallis Clark, Walter Soderling. CREDITS: Producer-Director, George Stevens; Associate Producer, Fred Guiol; Screenplay, Morrie Ryskind; Story, Martha Cheavens; Cameraman, Joseph Walker; Editor, Otto Meyer; Musical Director, M. W. Stoloff. DIRECTION, Splendid. PHOTOGRAPHY, Expert. li HI