The Film Daily (1943)

lursday. April 29, 1943 •n» 13 DAILY :< RCVI6UIS Of TH6 DCUJ HLfllS £■ * ] 'Lady of Burlesque" vith Barbara Stanwyck, Michael O'Shea -Stromberg 91 Mins. 1UNT STROMBERG MAKES AUSPI)US BOW AS UA PRODUCER; TURNS 5T-SELLER INTO SWELL ENTERTAIN rjy of Burlesque," based on "The G-mg Murders," the Gypsy Rose Lee bestlller, starts Hunt Srromberg off on the lht foot as a United Artists producer. j e producer has brought to bear in the |iking of the film all the vast experience acquired during his long tenure as a prole tion expert at the M-G-M studios. Is astute judgment as a showman is , kingly borne out by the results of his 1st production for UA. iThe film is destined to make a strong bid boxoffice recognition, having gauged |e public taste with remarkable accuracy, offers vast exploitation possibilities, what Ith the tremendous publicity that has been |rnered by the book, the glamor attached the authoress' name, the drawing power the Barbara Stanwyck name and the |,cination of the picture's setting — a bur.que house once the scene of grand opera I plus the Stromberg name. I Stromberg has assembled a first-rate cast Jat makes the characters come to life. Itss Stanwyck plays a burlesque star to Jc breath. Keeping pace with her is lichael O'Shea, legit, actor who gives a I perlative account of himself in his first Ireen assignment. O'Shea performs in a |;orous, natural style that makes his role |ghly effective. Standing out among the her players are J. Edward Bromberg, Gloria Ickson, Frank Conroy, Victoria Faust, Maries Dingle, Marion Martin, Pinky Lee, 1 s Adrian, Stephanie Bachelor. J The film is notable for the manner in |nch it has recreated the atmosphere of a lirlesque theater. The background doesn't ve that phony quality so common to films aling with the theater and life backstage. | ibert De Grasse's camera work does much create the feeling of a burlesque house. James Gunn has worked a lot of laughs Ito his screenplay. He takes plenty of time ] tting the stage. When the melodrama hits, hits hard. The mystery involves the Irangling of two performers with their gIrings. After a lot of suspense-creating tion Conroy, theater watchman, is unasked as the killer, the motive being his | tterness toward burlesque. William A. Wellman's direction is aces. CAST: Barbara Stanwyck, Michael O'Shea, Edward Bromberg, Iris Adrian, Gloria lickson, Victoria Faust, Stephanie Bachelor, harles Dingle, Marion Martin, Eddie Gorl)n, Frank Fenton, Pinky Lee, Frank Con]>y, Lew Kelly, Claire Carleton, Janis arter, Gerald Mohr, Bert Hanlon, Sid Main, Lou Lubin, Lee Trent, Don Lynn, Beat 'ong, Freddie Walburn, Isabel Withers. CREDITS: Producer, Hunt Stromberg; DiIctor, William A. Wellman; Screenplay, limes Gunn; Based on novel by Gypsy Rose lee; Cameraman, Robert De Grasse; Art ■rector, Benard Herzbruri; Dance Director, nanny Dare; Musical Score, Arthur Lange; nngs, Sammy Cahn, Hary Akst; Film EdiJ >r, James E. Newcome. | DIRECTION, Good. PHOTOGRAPHY, I ood. "Mission to Moscow" with Walter Huston, Ann Harding Warner Bros. l23 Mins. VITAL COMPELLING AND DYNAMIC RE-ENACTMENT OF THE HISTORY OF OUR TIMES IS A BOXOFFICE WINNER. "Mission to Moscow" definitely is boxoffice. That is written first because, to the showman who will play it in the weeks and months to come, that understandably is the ail-important question. It is boxoffice for many reasons. It is boxoffice because it is a vital and dynamic re-enactment of the history of our times — a recital of our mistakes, a frank and realistic presentation of what we must do and an augury of what the future holds if we do not fail. It is boxoffice because it centers the spotlight upon what, to a majority of Americans, certainly has been the unknown quantity in the United Nations equation and goes as far perhaps as the screen can go to make the Soviet Union, its leaders, its policy and its accomplishments understandable. It is boxoffice because for reasons which must be apparent. It is necessarily controversial in certain sequences, and controversy ever is a potent boxoffice auxiliary. It is boxoffice because, lacking a conventional romance and indeed a story plot, it offers instead the absorbing and awesome drama whose first scene was played in June 1936, when Haile Selassie addressed the Assembly of the League of Nations in Geneva and warned of what was to come. it is boxoffice because, from the spoken prologue by Former Ambassador Joseph Davies to the spoken epilogue those who have adapted, played, directed and produced the picure have never lost their showman's cunning. Thus, despite the better than two hours of playing time, there is sustained interest, with the climactic scenes spurring the tempo and adroitly underlining the motivation. Absence of a conventional plot of course presents the reviewer with a sizeable handicap, makes virtually impossible the setting down of a thumb-nail synopsis. Briefly, as the title implies, the picture is the story of Davies' diplomatic mission to Moscow, his personal observations, and his report to the President — a report keynoted by his conviction that Russia was devoted to peace. There are numerous high spots in the re-enactment of the series of historical events in which a procession of world leaders cross the screen, but outstanding, certainly, are two: One is the so-called "purge" trial. Here is drama in the raw and the sequence is brilliantly played. The other is the meeting of Davies and Stalin in the latter's study in the Kremlin. Audiences will quickly sense the scene's power and its potentialities. For the rest, and there is much, exhibitors need have no apprehensions. Smooth continuity, a canny seasoning of comedy here and there and as impressive performances as could be desired under the guidance of adept direction combine to put "Mission to Moscow" across the boards a certain winner. The cast is legion but you'll find no misfit, from principals topped by Walter Huston, Ann Harding, Oscar Homolka, Gene Lockhart to the bit players. CAST: Walter Huston, Ann Harding, Oscar Homolka, George Tobias, Gene Lockhart, Frieda Inescort, Eleanor Parker, Richard Travis, Helmut Dantine, Victor Francen, Henry Darnell, Barbara Everest, Dudley Field Malone, Roman Bohnen, Maria Palmer, Moroni Olsen, Minor Watson, Vladimir Sokoloff, Maurice Schwartz, Jerome Cowan, Konstantin Shane, Mannert Kippen, Kathleen Lockhart, Kurt Katch, Felix Basch, Frank Puglia, John Abbott, Charles Trowbridge, Leigh Whipper, George Renevant, Clive Morgan, Alex Chirva, Olaf Hytten, Art Gilmore, Don Clayton, George Sorel, Duncan Renaldo, Mino Bellini, Ferd Schuman-Heinck, Rolf Lindau, Peter Michael, George Davis, Jean Del Val, Emory Parnell, Pat O'Malley, Mark Strong, Albert D'Arno, Rudolph Steinbeck, Gino Corrado, Glen Strange, Oliver Cross, Ray Walker. Capt. Jack Young, Ernst Hauserman, Frank Faylen, Joseph Crehan, Ross Ford, Warren Douglas, Barbara Brown, Isabel Withers, George Lossey, Wallis Clark, Hans Schumm, Dr. Ernest Golm, Lisa Golm, Henry Victor, Louis Arco, Alfred Zeisler, Richard Ryan, Erwin Kaler, Pierre Watkin, Edward Van Sloan, Esther Zeitlin, Nina Blagoi, Tanya Somova, Nikolai Celikhovsky, Michael Visaroff, Nick Kobliansky, Gabriel Lenoff, Alex Akimoff, Sam Savitsky, George Glebeff, Mike TuMigan, Adia Kuznetzoff, Dimitris Alexis, Henry Guttman, Robert Baikoff, Mischa Westfall, Elizabeth Archer, Rosa Margot, Valya Terry, Sandor Szabo, Virginia Christine, Ivan Tresault, Daniel Ocko, David Hoffman. Lumsden Hare, Peter Goo Chong, Robert C. Fischer, Charles La Torre, Alex Caze, Frank Reicher, Leonid Snagoff, Edgar Licho, Marie Melesch, Michael Mark, Martin Noble, Lee Tung Foo, Victor Wong, Luke Chan, Allen Jung, John Dilson, Jean de Briac, Ted E. Jacques, Billie Louie, Loulette Sablon, Marian Lessing, Joan Winfield, Tina Menard, Peggy Watts, Irene Pedrini, Louis Jean Heydt, John Hamilton, Frank Ferguson, Bill Kennedy, William Forrest, Alex Melesch, Marek Windheim, Ivan Lebedeff, Gregory Golubeff, Jack Gardner, Sam Goldenberg, Egon Brecher, Zina Torchina, Vera Richkova, Jean Wong, Irina Semochenko, Christine Gordon, Alexander Granach, Mischa Westfall, Joseph Kamaryt, Baroness Yvonne Hendricks, Tamara Shayne, Olga Uljanovskaja, Patricia Fung, Igorde Navrotsky. Doris Lloyd, James Flavin, William B. Davidson, Herbert Hayes, George Carleton, Charles Trowbridge, Francis Pierlot, Forbes Murray, Edward Keane, William Gould, Harry Cording, Zoia Karabanova, Betty Roadman, Hooper Atchley, Eugene Eberly, Arthur Loft, (Continued on Page 15) "Swing Your Partner" with Lulubelle and Scotty, Vera Vague Republic 72 Mins. MUSICAL IS PACKED WITH RADIO TALENT; STORY SECONDARY; FILM SHOULD DO AS FAMILY ENTERTAINMENT. Radio personalities have a field day in this musical offering in which comedy is strongly accented. The story, a flimsy affair, is of secondary importance as one ether performer after another struts across the screen. The entertainment dished out by the picture is the sort that appeals to unsophisticated folks and family audiences, especially persons who are radio fanatics. The picture is hoke pure and simple and likely to make a hit with the filmgoers for whom it is carpentered. The parade of radio names is led by Lulubelle and Scotty and Vera Vague. At their heels come Dale Evans, Ransom Sherman, Harry "Pappy" Cheshire, George "Shug" Fisher, the Tennessee Ramblers. There is plenty of variety in what they do, although there is much that is commonplace about their work. Seven tunes comprise the musical contribution of the film's radio talent. Here they are: "Birthday Song," "Swing Your Partner," "Cheese Cake," "In the Cool of the Evening," "Water Lou," "Everybody Kiss Your Partner," "Shug Shug Yodel." The other performers are topped by Esther Dale, Roger Clark, Richard Lane. The yarn, knocked out by Dorrell and Stuart McGowan, has Miss Dale as the president of a dairy company. The action starts when Lulubelle and Scotty and Vera Vague, workers at one of her plants, broadcast their unvarnished feelings for her during a radio program staged by the workers on her birthday. Determined to find her detractors, Miss Dale, disguised as a worker, obtains employment at the plant. Her experiences as a common ordinary worker make her realize that the way she is treating her employes is all wrong. When she returns to her executive duties she puts reforms into effect. Frank McDonald's direction keeps the show moving at a lively pace. Armand Schaefer produced. CAST: Lulubelle and Scotty, Vera Vague, Dale Evans, Ransom Sherman, Harry "Pappy" Cheshire, Richard Lane, George "Shug" Fisher, Roger Clark, Esther Dale, Judy Clark, Charles Judels, Rosemary La Planche, Sam Flint, Forbes Murray. Elmer Jerome, Tennessee Ramblers, Peppy and Peanuts. CREDITS: Associate Producer, Armand Schaefer; Director, Frank McDonald; Screenplay, Dorrell and Stuart McGowan; Cameraman, Bud Thackery; Film Editor, Richard Van Enger; Art Director, Russell Kimball; Musical Director, Morton Scott; Songs, Jule Styne, Frank Loesser, Charles Henderson; Dance Director, Josephine Earl. DIRECTION, Okay. PHOTOGRAPHY, Okay. "Air Force" Plays RKO May 20 Warner's "Air Force," which has just completed a three-month run at the Hollywood, will play the RKO metropolitan circuit starting May 20. "The Hard Way," another Warner release, plays the circuit the week of May 6.