The Film Daily (1941)

€f*\b/uiv Friday, August 8, 1941 hcllywccd Speaking— By RALPH WILK — —HOLLYWOOD WILLIAM POWELL and Myrna Loy have reported on the M-G-M lot to begin work on their latest co-starring film, "The Shadow of the Thin Man." W. S. Van Dyke is directing this newest "Thin Man" mystery comedy. Hunt Stromberg is producer. • • "k/JOON OVER HER SHOULDER" has IVI been set as fjna| release title for the 20th Century-Fox film formerly known as "Detour to Love" and "Dangerous But Passable." • • JAMES KIRKWOOD, noted star of the silent days, was signed by Paramount for "No Hands on the Clock," the detective drama to be produced by William Pine and William Thomas. • • COLUMBIA'S recently signed contract with Ann Miller, calling for two pictures a year and giving her the right to make outside commitments, this week was torn up and replaced by a new contract as a result of rushes thus far screened from "Go West, Young Lady." The new deal is a long-term arrangement, giving Columbia exclusive rights to the singing and dancing star's services. • • WARNER BROS, has changed the title of "Across the Atlantic" to "Iceland Patrol." It's an original screenplay by Scott Darling and Erna Lazarus. ' • • REPUBLIC PICTURES has purchased an ' * original story from Devery Freeman, for Albert J. Cohen's Judy Canova production titled "Chatterbox." Story has a South American background and will for the first time give a non-hillbilly setting for Canova. • • A CHANGE of plans will give Director Clarence Brown, Vivian Leigh as star in "Random Harvest" as his first film to make in London for M-G-M, instead of the previously announced "Cargo of Innocence" with Robert Donat. Brown leaves Sept. 1. • • SCREEN-TESTING important actors and actresses for the leading roles in the screen version of "For Whom the Bell Tolls" got down to serious business at Paramount yesterday with the assignment of Lewis Allen as test director for the production. With every one from Author Ernest Hemingway to the Barbara Stanwyck Fan Clubs nominating their favorite candidates for roles in the film, Allen will get his testing under way as soon as possible, probably next week. • • JACK "TINY" LIPSON, 333-pound come~ dian, has joined the cast of M-G-M's "Babes On Broadway," the youthful musical with Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland. Lipson has just completed a role in "The Chocolate Soldier" at the same studio. • • DUSTER CRABBE has been signed for the " leading role in "King of the Tropics," which T. H. Richmond will produce as his fourth picture for Producers Releasing Corp. Crabbe recently completed a twenty-week personal appearance tour. ^ REVIEWS Of THE DEW ALmS^r "Tanks A Million" with William Tracy, James Gleason, Noah Beery, Jr., Joe Sawyer, Elyse Knox (HOLLYWOOD PREVIEW) United Artists Release 50 Mins. INITIAL HAL ROACH "STREAMLINE FEATURE" A MIRTHQUAKE OF LAUGHS. CERTAIN AUDIENCE WINNER. Originally called "The Tanks Are Coming," Hal Roach's first streamlined feature is an unusual departure from orthodox film making, but according to the preview audience it is a definite success. The formula seems to be to discard everything that interferes with what the picture is trying to get across, in this case comedy, and the compactness resulting from this treatment makes for excellent results. As a feature it is probably the best service picture to hit the screen so far. The Roach touch for comedy has not diminished during the years he has been making dramatic pictures. If this is a. fair indication of what "streamling" is going to do for pictures, exhibs. will be screaming for streamlining the entire Hollywood output. Director Fred Guiol hasn't let a dull moment creep into the entire four reels. The cast headed by William Tracy and Joe Sawyer, with James Gleason and Noah Beery, Jr., supporting, seem to have entered into the fun with their whole hearts and the resultant slapstick classic never bogs or loses pace. Scripters Paul Gerard Smith, Warren Wilson and Edward F. Seabrook's screenplay ties clever dialogue nicely into the mostly action screenplay. The story deals with the rapid rise of clever William Tracy, a draftee, from private to top sergeant in a few hours and the reaction of the officers and men of the post. The love stuff is sliced thin with just enough romance to ring in a feminine lead. Tracy becomes the wonder of the Army and the butt of his fellow draftees until he shows that his heart is in the right place and he is on the under-dog's side. The tag on this is one of the funniest ever filmed. CAST: William Tracy, James Gleason, Noah Beery, Jr., Joe Sawyer, Elyse Knox, Douglas Fowley, Knox Manning, Frank Faylen, Dick Wessel, Frank Melton, Harold Goodwin, William Gould, Norman Kerry. CREDITS: Producer, Hal Roach; Director, Fred Guiol; Authors, Paul Gerard Smith, Warren Wilson, Edward F. Seabrook; Screenplay, Same; Cameraman, Robert Pittack; Photographic Effects, Roy Seawright; Editor, Richard Currier; Art Director, Charles D. Hall; Musical Director, Edward Ward. DIRECTION, Excellent. PHOTOGRAPHY, Good. Clarence Smith Dead Marietta, O.— Clarence E. Smith, 70, president of Midland Theaters, Inc., of Newark, 0., died at his home here, leaving a son. He was a prominent southeastern Ohio oil and gas producer. Service Tickets in Demand Waukegan, 111.— The demand for special service men tickets at the local theaters, has exhausted the supply and district manager Roy Rogan of the Great States circuit, has had to re-order. "Rags to Riches with Alan Baxter, Mary Carlisle Republic 57 Mins. GANGLAND STORY WITH ROMANTIC THREAD. BEST SUITED TO STANDS SOCIALIZING IN EXCITEMENT. Meller addicts, who like things to happen quantitatively for the spine's sake, should be well enough pleased with "Rags to Kiches, " whose title implies that it might oe a whole-cloth Cinderella story, or one aiong Horatio Alger lines. But essentially me picture is a gangland saga, with fur smuggling, hijacking, gunplay, fisticuffs, «nd rast and furious automobile chases, i rue, there is a love story recounting the rise to musical comedy stardom of an orphan girl of the slums, and the unjustified sentencing of her ambitious young beau to a prison term from which he rebounds to prospective success. However, this romance is always subordinated to the mobster angles. Alan Baxter holds down the male lead, with Mary Carlisle in the top femme spot. Their devotion to one another is not realistically portrayed, apparently for the reason that the film's makers didn't want to slow things up for such trivialities as moonlight and clinches. By and large, rhis attraction is a programmer made with a eye to excitement, and will do best in stands whose policy is to provide just that. The villain of the piece is Jerome Cowan, whose music publishing biz is a front for nis smuggling operations. When Alan Baxter is nabbed by the law for allegedly taking part in a robbery, Cowan has him railroaded by having him defended by a purposely lax lawyer. When the lad is paroled, he finds himself a victimized participant in gang war, but at the finale bags both factions and gets revenge on Cowan, who has set his cap for Mary Carlisle. Joseph Kane's direction is routine, and William Nobles' photography okay. CAST: Alan Baxter, Mary Carlisle, Jerome Cowan, Michael Morris, Ralf Harolde, Paul Horcasi, Suzanne Kaaren, Eddie Acuff, Rosina Galli, Charles Trowbridge, Daisy Lee Mothershed, Joan Blair, Francis Sayles. CREDITS: Associate Producer-Director, Joseph Kane; Original Screenplay, James Webb (picture has no connection with the play, "Rags to Riches"); Production Manager, Al Wilson; Photography, William Nobles; Supervising Editor, Murray Seldeen; Film Editor, Ernest Nims; Art Director, John Victor Mackay; Musical Director, Cy Feuer; Wardrobe by Adele Palmer. DIRECTION, Okay. PHOTOGRAPHY, Ditto. Theater Fire Loss This Year in Iowa, $134,723 Milton, la. — One volunteer fireman died of suffocation in fighting a stubborn fire which destroyed the Town Theater here, the only motion picture house located in the community. The fire was the 13th serious theater fire in Iowa since the first of the year and with damage of the Town Theater listed at $11,800, brought the total property damage from fires in the 13 theaters to $134,723 for the year to date. "The Medico of Painted Springs" with Charles Starrett, Terry Walker, Charles Hamilton Columbia 58 Mins. CHARLES STARRETT HELPS 'W>E THIS ONE GO OVER. «" This Western follows the formula successfully and measures up to standard. Film contains enough shooting and riding to satisfy the cowboy fans. Charles Starrett does a good job as the Government doctor examining recruits for Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders. He walks into a range war between the cattlemen and the sheep ranchers when he reaches Painted Springs. Starrett unearths the fact that one of the cattlemen is responsible for a lot of the dirty work which precipitates the clash. His medical skill brings him into contact with both parties. Starrett saves one of the principals from being framed on a murder charge and helps bring the real culprit to justice. Terry Walker is an attractive asset to the proceedings. Wheeler Oakman, Ben Taggart, Richard Fiske and Edmund Cobb lend support to the principals. The SimpPhonies provide a few musical sequences. CAST: Charles Starrett, Terry Walker, Ben Taggart, Ray Bennett, Wheeler Oakman, Richard Fiske, Edmund Cobb, Edythe Elliot, Bud Osborne, Steve Clark, Charles Hamilton, George Chesbro. CREDITS: Director, Lambert Hillyer; Screenplay, Winston Miller and Wyndham Gittens; Original Story, James L. Rubel. DIRECTION, Capable. PHOTOGRAPHY, Good. Robert Mills Re-Named Ohio IATSE Secretary Youngstown, O. — Robert Mills, Springfield, was re-elected secretary of the Ohio branch of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees and Motion Picture Operators at a meeting here. The organization went on record as insisting on state-wide jurisdiction over all coin-operated picture machines in the state. William E. Hartman, Youngstown, was elected a new member of the executive board. Other members re-elected were: Robert Greer and Herbert Shell, both of Columbus; Glen Horton, Lorain; Albert Miller, Canton; H. H. Hofferbert, Dayton; and John Shuff, Akron. S. M. Berger Dead Manila — Samuel M. Berger, 62, head of S. M. Berger & Co., Inc., Philippine distributors, and Acme Films, Inc., died Tuesday of a heart attack. He is survived by his wife, Mrs. Rebecca Berger; a son, Maurice L.; a daughter, Ethel A., and a brother, William H. Berger, who heads the U. S. office at 261 Broadway. Herman Wahn Dies Philadelphia — Herman Wahn, 69, former theater manager of Trenton, N. J., died yesterday.