The Film Daily (1944)

IS^ DAILY Thursday, May 25, 1944 ^ ik REVICUIS OF THC nCUl FILmS ik ik "Summer Storm" with George Sanders, Linda Darnell, Edward Everett Norton UA-Angelus 107 Mins. SCREEN TREATMENT OF CHEKHOV STORY IS GOOD DRAMATIC FILM WELL ACTED AND DIRECTED. Anton Chekhov's "The Shooting Party," one of the Russian writer's best known stories, reaches the screen as solid dramatic entertainment the box-office value of which is enhanced by flashes of that sardonic humor so characteristic of the famous author's literary work. Since carnal desires play an important part in the story's unfurlment, the Angelus Pictures production must be rated as adult diversion. The film is a demonstration of the damage that can be done by a femme fatale. The unconscionable vixen in this instance is played by Linda Darnell. A peasant girl consumed by a desire to improve her station in life. Miss Darnell, trading upon her feminine wiles, uses men to reach her goal. She starts off by getting married to Hugo Haas, overseer of the estate of Edward Everett Horton, a member of the Russian n bility. There follows a liaison with George Sanders, a provincial judge, whom she subsequently spurns to romp in the greener Horton fields. Blinded with jealousy, Sanders stabs her to death at a shooting party staged by Horton. Her husband is held for her murder. Thereafter the film depicts Sanders' struggle with his conscience and his death at the hands of the police. in their screenplay, Rowland Leigh and Douglas Sirk have brought the story closer to the present, starting it in 1911 (seven years after Chekhov died) and ending it in 1919, two years after the Bolshevist revolution. Their reason perhaps was to explain Norton's comedown. Seymour Nebenzal has produced the film surprisingly well with the assistance of Rudolph Joseph. Forceful and straightforward direction has been provided by Sirk. The film offers plenty of evidence that Walter Mayo discharged his duties as production manager with competence. Archie M. Stout's camera work and the musical score of Earl Hajos are other good points. Sanders and Miss Darnell enact the top roles capably. Horton plays the profligate, fatuous nobleman in a humorous vein. Haas stands out as Miss Darnell's hapless husband. Anna Lee makes the most of her scenes as Sanders' fiancee. CAST: George Sanders, Linda Darnell, Anna Lee, Edward Everett Horton, Hugo Haas, Lori Lahner, John Philliber, Sig Ruman, Andre Chariot, Mary Servoss, John Abbott, Robert Greig, Paul Hurst, Charles Trowbridge, Byron Fouiger, Charles Wagenheim, Frank Orth, Elizabeth Russell, Ann Staunton, Jimmy Conlin, Kate MacKenna, Fred Nurney, Sarah Padden, Gabriel Lionoff Mike Mazurki, John Kelly. CREDITS: Producer, Seymour Nebenzal; Associate Producer, Rudolph Joseph; Production Manager, Walter Mayo; Director, Douglas Sirk; Screenplay, Rowland Leigh,' Douglas Sirk; Based on Stcry by Anton Chekhov; Musical Score, Earl Hajos; Musical Director, Karl Hajos; Cameraman, Archie M. Stout; Sound, Richard De Weese; Art Director, Rudi Feid; Set Decorator, Emile Kuri; Film Editor, Greg Tallas. DIRECTION, Fine. PHOTOGRAPHY Good. ' "Tucson Raiders" with Wild Bill Elliott, George "Gabby" Hayes, Bobby Blake Republic 55 Mins. TIP-TOP PRAIRIE MELLER WITH WIDE AUDIENCE APPEAL AND UNUSUAL ADVANTAGES FOR EXHIBS. Here's a western which stands head and shoulders above the average cactus drama. It has a good, lively story into which are injected several exciting and believable strategems as Wild Bill Elliott, in the role of Red Ryder, traps and destroys a tyrannical gang which has held the citizens of Painted Valley at its mercy. Imparting added appeal to the footage is the character of Little Beaver, the Indian youngster whose life Ryder has saved. The latter and the lad are inseparable partners in heroic adventure. This situation is bound to add plenty of interest for both juvenile and adult audiences. Bobby Blake, who plays Little Beaver, is an ingratiating kid. His personality, adaptability to direction, natural flare for acting as is evidenced by his poise, will be an ascending asset to the attraction's associate producer, Eddy White, as future exploits of Red Ryder and Little Beaver are filmed. Such features, as does this one, present pre-sold audiences to the exhibitor, because millions of newspaper readers are fans of the Red Ryder adventure strip. "Tucson Raiders" has its sequences of hard riding, shooting from the saddle, and fisticuffs galore. Moreover it has a good off-stage brawl in which Alice Fleming gives the treacherous Ruth Lee a thorough cuffing. George "Gabby" Hayes holds down the comedy assignment adroitly. Dialogue throughout in solid as is the casting. Spencer Bennet's direction is neat, and Reggie Lanning's photography ditto. CAST: Bill Elliott, George "Gabby" Hayes, Bobby Blake, Alice Fleming, Ruth Lee, Peggy Stewart, LeRoy Mason, Stanley Andrews, John Whitney, Bud Geary, Karl Hackett', Tom Steele, Marshall Reed, Tom Chatterton,' Edward Cassidy. CREDITS: Associate Producer, Eddy White; Director, Spencer Bennet; Original Story, Jack O'Donnell; Screenplay, Anthony Coldeway; Cameraman, Reggie Lanning; Film Editor, Harry Keller; Sound, Tom Carman; Art Director, Gano Chittenden; Set Decorations, Otto Siegel; Music Score Joseph Dubin. ' DIRECTION, Neat. PHOTOGRAPHY Ditto. Skouras Gives Report of London Trip to Co. Execs. Spyros Skouras, head of 20thFox, last nig-ht gave a report to executives of the company on his deal with Arthur Rank at a dinner at the bt. Moritz. Present also were trade paper pubhshers and editors The Rank deal was closed by Skouras on his recent trip to England. Rites for Edmund Mortimer IVcst Coast Bureau uf THE FILM DAUV Hollywood—Funeral services were held yesterday for Edmund Mortimeer 69, who was a director in silent days and who in more recent years did character acting. "Ladies of Washington" with Sheila Ryan, Trudy Marshall, Ronald Graham 20th-Fox 61 Mins. MODEST DRAMA OF WASHINGTON SCENE NEVER RATES BETTER THAN FAIR ENTERTAINMENT. Definitely one of 20th-Fox's lesser accomplishments, "Ladies of Washington" is a run-of-the-mine drama that stirs no more than mild interest. The film offers signs of having been turned out in a jiffy without much regard for plot development or for logic. The Washington background and the allurement of the title are the production's prime assets for drawing trade. The story deals with a bunch of girls employed in the national capital who live under one roof on a co-operative basis. In their midst comes a selfish, mercenary wench (Sheila Ryan) embittered by an unhappy love affair with a married industrialist in the nation's service. Possessing the faculty of having herself disliked by virtually everyone, the girl is obsessed by a burning desire to "get even" with her former lover. To gain her purpose she permits herself to be made the tool of an enemy agent (Anthony Quinn) seeking valuable information in the keeping of the man she hates. Her revenge backfires when the foreign agent is forced to murder a guard to get the statistics he wants. The situation is complicated when the villain dies of wounds suffered in the exchange with the guard. In her effort to escape detection the girl gets several innocent persons involved. One of them is a doctor (Robert Bailey) who is in love with her; another is a medico (Ronald Graham) who is engaged to a Spar friend of hers (Trudy Marshall). The end finds Miss Ryan in an institution. Louis King has given the film spiritless direction. William Girard accorded the subject a no better production than the Wanda Tuchock screenplay merited. At no time does the yarn place too much strain on the acting talents of its cast. CAST: Trudy Marshall, Ronald Graham Anthony Quinn, Sheila Ryan, Robert Bailey Beverly Whitney, Jackie Paley, Carleton Young, John Philliber, Robin Raymond Dons Merrick, Barbara Booth, Jo-Carroll Den mson, Lillian Porter, Harry Shannon, Ruby Dandridge, Charles D. Brown, Pierre Watk,n Nella Walker, Inna Gest, Rosalind Keith, Edna Mae Jones. CREDITS: Producer, William Girard Di 'The Yellow Rose of Texas rector, Louis King; Screenplay, Wand fects, Fred Sersen; Sound, Jesse T. Bastian Harry M. Leonard. DIRECTION, Fair. Good. PHOTOGRAPHY, "Ten Nights" Bows Today Dallas—World premiere of thp vc issued William Farnum version of Ten Nights m a Bar-Room" will be st'irtinV"/T*^'''' ^^^"^^' Houston staitmg today, according to Sack Amusement EnterprisesT national distributors. Special '^^^^""al with Roy Rogers Republic 69 Mins. LATEST ROGERS PICTURE IS ABOVESTANDARD WESTERN WHICH PUTS A' TION SECOND TO MUSIC. While "The Yellow Rose of Texas" is not quite up to the quality of the several preceding Roy Rogers westerns, it still has plenty on the trigger for the horse-opera fans. The production may have a little less class and smartness but certainly no less entertainment value or drawing power. Associate Producer Harry Grey has been willing to sacrifice some action for the sake of musical content, allowing the film to become more than ever a musical western. In fact, the film's main distinction rests In its music, which offers Rogers unstinted opportunity to do the sort of thing he dees best. No less than 10 musical numbers are woven into the story, with perhaps Charles Henderson's "Lucky Me, Unlucky You," sung by Rogers, as the most catching of the lot. The showboat setting in which much of the action transpires is made to order for several flashy and expensive production numbers, the most elaborate of which serves as the picture's finale. Rogers is an investigator for an insurance company who gets a job on the showboat of which Dale Evans is the star so that he can better carry on his search for a stolen payroll. Our hero has to get his hands on Harry Shannon, Miss Evans' father, fugitive from justice who was jailed for the crime, which actually was committed by Grant Withers, the express agent. When Rogers is convinced that Shannon is innocent he sets out to prove it, and that means finding the stolen money. Rogers succeeds in his mission after a series of exciting encounters with the baddies. Joseph Kane has directed with some restraint from a screenplay by Jack Townley. Larry Ceballos rates a bow for several well-staged dance sequences, while Morton Scott, musical director, has helped a lot in making the film the tuneful thing it is. Rogers is his usual easy-going self in the too role. Miss Evans, Withers and Shannon, fill their roles adequately. CAST: Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, Grant Withers, Harry Shannon, George Cleveland, William Haade, Weldon Heyburn, Hal Taliaferro, Tom London, Dick Botiller, Janet Martin, Brown Jug Reynolds, Bob Nolan and Sons of the Pioneers, Trigger (horse). CREDITS: Associate Producer, Harry Grey; Director, Joseph Kane; Screenplay, Jack Townley; Cameraman, Jack Marta; Film Editor, Tony Martinelli; Sound, Ed Borschell; Musical Director, Morton Scott; Art Director, Fred A. Ritter; Set Decorator, Charles Thompson; Dance Director, Larry Ceballos; Songs, Charles Henderson, Tim Spencer, Styne and Meyer, Bob Nolan, Ken Carson, Guy Savage, Debru-TaylorMizzy. DIRECTION, Good. % Okay. PHOTOGRAPHY, "Bathing Beauty" for June Metro's "Bathing Beauty," all -.^uxiuui-urs. special exploitation T^^r 1 ^■^^V'",s iseauty, an , campaign is being planned. ^^°" | Technicolor musical, hits Broadway \ in June.