The Film Daily (1942)

Thursday, November 12, 1942 <7fe Producers Assigned For 35 Warner Pix IV est Coast Bureau of THE FILM DAILY Hollywood— Producer assignments for 35 features, either in preparation or scheduled for later shooting, are announced at Warners following f rptnm of Jack L. Warner to his 72^ as executive producer. The lineup: Henry Blanke — "Treasure of Sierra Madre," "Moby Dick," "Three Strangers," "Quietly My Captain Waits," "Ethan Frome" and "Catch a Falling Star." Julius J. and Philip G. Epstein — "Mr. Skeffington" and "Shine on Harvest Moon." Barney Glazer — "The Damned Don't Cry," "Broken Journey," "Deep Valley," "Mississippi, Hello" and "Night Shift." Mark Hellinger — "I Wasn't Born Yesterday," "One More Tomorrow," "The Horn Blows at Midnight," "Melancholy Baby," "The Patent Leather Kid" and the "Story of Will Rogers." Jesse L. Lasky — "To the Last Man," the Boy Scouts of America story, the Winston Churchill story, "Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court," and "Rapsody in Blue." Jerry Wald— "Brooklyn, U. S. A.", "Dangerous Road," "Humoresque," "Life of Marilyn Miller," "A Night at Tony Pastor's" and "Tough Road." Hal B. Wallis— "The Corn is Green," "Buffalo Bill," "Men Without Country." "This is the Army" will be produced under Warner's personal supervision. Connors and Smith Attend Pittsburgh Luncheon Today Tom J. Connors, 20th-Fox distribution chief, accompanied by Andy W. Smith, Jr., Eastern sales manager, left last night for Los Angeles, where they will attend the conference of division and district managers of the company which is scheduled to get under way on Monday. They will make a stop-over in Pitts i burgh for the luncheon to be given by the company today at the Wil j Ham Penn Hotel there for exhibi I tors in that territory. Connors and Smith will be joined in Chicago by William J. Kupper, executive assistant to the former, and William C. Gehring, Western sales manager. "This Is Army" Grosses $203,000 in Philadelphia Philadelphia — In 16 performances at the Mastbaum Theater, "This is the Army," the Irving Berlin allsoldier revue soon to be filmed by Warners, grossed a total of $203,000. Although the house was scaled to I take in only $187,000, the figure was ! boosted by the SRO sale at every performance. Ncrt Kaplan Recovering Cincinnati — Nat Kaplan, PRC exchange head, is recovering from a kidney stone operation. V REVIEWS Of THE nEW flLfnS ik "Dr. Gillespie's New Assistant" with Lionel Barrymore, Van Johnson, Susan Peters M-G-M 87 Mins. STRESS PLACED ON COMEDY CONTENT MAKES THIS LATEST OF SERIES AN EXCELLENT SHOW. Audiences should react with high favor toward this, the second in M-G-M's medical series to be made with the Gillespie title since the departure of Lew Ayres from the company's acting roster forced discontinuance of the Kildare name. By giving comedy a stronger play, the company has succeeded in building up the picture's boxoffice possibilities. While there are numerous dramatic moments worthy of attention, it is the humor that primarily makes the production good diversion for every member of the family. This time the problem is getting Dr. Gillespie to agree to take on an assistant to lighten his burden. Anyone familiar with the Gillespie character will know that it is only with the greatest reluctance that the old fellow accedes to the wishes of his colleagues. Gillespie winds up with three assistants, all equally to his liking, and he has a tough time trying to choose among them. At the end of the film one of the young internes, an Australian, resigns to report for Army duty, leaving the other two to vie for Gillespie's favor. The story gives Gillespie an amnesia mystery to solve. The doctor's interest is whetted by the fact that the girl is married to the son of a dear friend. By clever deduction, the medico, assisted by one of the assistants, brands the case a fake. The girl's motive was to dissolve her marriage because of fear that an accident in her past might destroy her husband's happiness. The girl is an extremely sympathetic character since she is impelled solely by her passionate love for her husband. The finis has husband and wife happily reunited. Despite excessive mugging, Lionel Barrymore gives a swell portrayal as Gillespie, bringing out all the humor inherent in the role. Susan Peters and Horace McNally play the married couple excellently. Van Johnson, Keye Luke and Richard Quine are first-rate as the trio of assistants. Alma Kruger, Nat Pendleton and Walter Kingsford are good in their latest appearance in the series. Also to be noted are Frank Orth, Nell Craig, Rose Hobart, Eddie Acuff, Ann Richards, Marie Blake and George H. Reed. The skillful screenplay of Harry Ruskin, Willis Goldbeck and Lawrence P. Bachmann, based on the characters created by Max Brand, was directed with a lot of zing by Goldbeck. CAST: Lionel Barrymore, Van Johnson, Susan Peters, Richard Quine, Keye Luke, Alma Kruger, Nat Pendleton, Horace McNally, Frank Orth, Walter Kingsford, Nell Craig, Marie Blake, George H. Reed, Ann Richards, Rose Hobart, Eddie Acuff. CREDITS: Director, Willis Goldbeck; Screenplay, Harry Ruskin, Willis Goldbeck, Lawrence P. Bachmann; Based on characters created by Max Brand; Cameraman, George Folsey; Musical Score, Daniele Amfitheatrof; Art Director, Cedric Gibbons; Film Editor, Ralph Winters. DIRECTION, Good. PHOTOGRAPHY, Good. "The Great Gildersleeve" with Harold Peary RKO 62 Mins. HOKE COMEDY OFFERS SIMPLE TYPE OF HUMOR OF APPEAL TO FAMILY AUDIENCES. "The Great Gildersleeve" is compounded of pure hokum — a fact which earmarks the film as diversion for the family trade. The film holds little interest for those who like their humor in long trousers. However, audiences for which this picture has been tailored probably will be highly pleased at the screen antics of Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve. Those who have enjoyed this character in his radio life should help to swell the box-office "take." The story has to do with Gildersleeve's endeavor to avoid being married to a spinster, who has maneuvered him into a tight spot. The situation is complicated when the town judge, brother of the husband-hunter, threatens to deny him custody of his orphaned niece and nephew unless he is married to the gal, who is something hard to take. The niece and nephew try to help Gildersleeve out of his predicament. The nephew turns a chance meeting with the governor of the state to the advantageof his uncle and to the embarrassment of the judge and the spinster. The film is like an animated radio script. A lot of extraneous matter has been thrown into the Jack Townley-Julien Josephson screenplay merely in search of a laugh. Gordon Douglas gave the Herman Schlom production lively direction. Harold Peary repeats his radio character in the film. As a film performer he isn't any too interesting. He shows himself in "The Great Gildersleeve" as an artificial comedian with many annoying voice tricks which may be okay on the air but which are decidedly a disadvantage on the screen. Peary's performance tends to become a little monotonous after a while. The best acting jobs are contributed by Jane Darwell and Thurston Hall, who plays the governor. Among the other players are Nancy Gates, Charles Arnt, Freddie Mercer and Mary Field, who enacts the spinster. CAST: Harold Peary, Jane Darwell, Nancy Gates, Charles Arnt, Freddie Mercer, Thurston Hall, Lillian Randolph, Mary Field, George Carleton. CREDITS: Producer, Herman Schlom; Director, Gordon Douglas; Screenplay, Jack Townley, Julien Josephson; Cameraman, Frank Redman; Special Effects, Vernon L. Walker; Musical Director, C. Bakaleinikoff ; Art Directors, Albert S. D'Agostino, Walter E. Keller; Film Editor, John Lockert. DIRECTION, Fair. PHOTOGRAPHY, Good. George F. Wilson Funeral Rites Held in Syracuse Syracuse, N. Y. — Funeral services for George F. Wilson, for 20 years secretary of the Syracuse Musicians Protective Association, AFM, and vice-president of the State Conference of Musicians, were held here yesterday. Wilson, a member of the executive committee of the Syracuse Symphony, for years headed Wilson's Band. "Bowery at Midnight" with Bela Lugosi, John Archer Monogram 63 Mins. ORGY OF CRIME STAGED WITH GOOD EFFECT SHOULD APPEAL TO DEVOTEES OF HORROR PIX. Audiences that can stand the horrors should have a delightful time at "Bowery at Midnight," a spine-chiller that shoots the works to classify as satisfactory entertainment for the smaller stands. The film again offers Bela Lugosi as a fiend who raises nice plump goose-pimples without the aid of a grotesque make-up. Lugosi plays another one of those JekyllHyde characters and does it to complete satisfaction of those who like their entertainment with plenty of scream. On the day side Lugosi appears as a harmless-enough psychology professor, but on the night shift he is the devil incarnate. He carries on his dirty nocturnal work in the guise of a superintendent of a Bowery mission. His horror chamber is the basement of the mission. Those he invites there succumb to his charming pastime — and their number is many. The game is up for Lugosi when John Archer, come to visit his girl friend (Wanda McKay) who works at the mission, refuses to play dead. Archer's stubborness results in a climax that is the epitome of commotion and excitement. The professor is taught emphatically that crime doesn't pay. Gerald Schnitzer has stuffed his screenplay with suspense and deep-dyed villainy. Wallace Fox has risen nicely to the occasion by pointing up all the horror elements of the story, which was produced by Sam Katzman and Jack Dietz. Lugosi enacts the black-and-white central character in hissable style. Archer carries the hero's burden more than capably. Miss McKay plays the girl friend acceptably. Others in the cast deserving of a nod are Tom Neal, Vince Barnett, J. Farrell McDonald, John Berkes, Ray Miller. CAST: Bela Lugosi, John Archer, Wanda McKay, Tom Neal, Vince Barnett, John Berkes, Ray Miller, J. Farrell McDonald, Lew Kelly, Lucille Vance, Anna Hope. CREDITS: Producers, Sam Katzman, Jack Dietz; Director, Wallace Fox; Screenplay, Gerald Schnitzer; Cameraman, Mack Stengler; Art Director, David Milton; Film Editor, Carl Pierson; Musical Director, Edward Kay. DIRECTION, Good. PHOTOGRAPHY, Good. WPB Penalizes Builder For Theater Violation Washington — For beginning the unauthorized construction of a theater building in Vallejo, Oal., Ralph B. Shelton, Vallejo builder, has been denied all priority assistance and allocations of scarce materials for the next six months, the WPB has announced. Shelton is alleged to have undertaken the construction of the theater building for R. J. Syfy in July, at a total cost substantially to exceed WPB's $5,000 limit. Leaves RKO After 27 Years Cincinnati — Tom Holden, for 27 years with RKO, is resigning to become a CPA.