The Film Daily (1944)

day, July 24, 1944 W 17 DAILY r .V REVI6UIS OF TH6 fl€UJ flLfllS :< & Zing and a Prayer" Don Ameche, Dana Andrews, William Eythe :ox 97 Mins. NTY OF VIVID AND HEROIC ACSHOULD HELP TO PUT THIS ONE IE WINNING COLUMN, erous use of vivid action makes ; and a Prayer" a film that will gain ble audience reaction. Resort wherpossible to graphic photographic s is creative of excitement and thrills vill stir particularly the blood of the fans. Although the story is cast familiar pattern, it succeeds in sus% the interest uncommonly well. Much for this is due Henry Hathaway, under direction the production sweeps at a smooth, swift pace, posedly based on authentic material, m takes up the mystery of the where; of the American Navy after the Harbor attack. the picture tells it, the Navy was ly>w, biding its time for a surprise at the Jap naval forces at Midway, while working out a strategy ini to confuse the enemy and make verconfident. It falls to a lone car> serve as bait for the trap. the action transpires on the carrier ; concerned principally with the acs of a naval air squadron which t relish the idea of running away the Japs which is part of the straif preparing them for a sucker punch. :arrier keeps changing its course to he enemy while the squadron memtch to have a go at the Nips. That : comes in good time, ime Cady has worked many human :s into his script, but has seen no to drag romance into the proceedIn fact, there isn't a solitary woman it. Ameche is the strongest cast draw role of a carrier officer who is a disciplinarian. Dana Andrews is the on leader and William Eythe a flier ily a screen star. The latter is one ise killed. Some others who fill roles adequately are Charles BickSir Cedric Hardwicke, Kevin O'Shea, d Jaeckel, Henry Morgan, Richard film, produced by William A. Bacher 'alter Morosco, has realistic photogra1 Glen MacWilliams. .•T: Don Ameche, Dana Andrews, !m Eythe, Charles Bickford, Sir Cedric 'icke, Kevin O'Shea, Richard Jaeckel, Morgan, Richard Crane, Glenn ii, Renny McEvoy, Robert Bailey, Reed jl, George Mathews, B. S. Pully, Dave Jk, Murray Alper, Charles Lang, Irving | John Miles, Joe Haworth, Charles \ Ray Teal, Matt McHugh, Charles idge, John Kelly, Larry Thompson, echner. DITS: Producers, William A. Bacher, r Morosco; Director, Henry HathaScreenplay, Jerome Cady; CameraGlen MacWilliams; Art Directors, 'heeler, Lewis Creber; Set Decorators, s Little, Fred J. Rode; Film Editor, itson Webb; Special Effects, Fred ; Sound, Alfred Bruzlin, Roger Heman. ECTION, Good. PHOTOGRAPHY, "The Seventh Cross" with Spencer Tracy M-G-M 111 Mins. FINE DRAMATIC FILM MAKES CASE AGAINST NAZIS; TRACY, CRONYN COMPETE FOR ACTING HONORS. From the material available in the novel of Anna Seghers it has been possible for M-G-M to prepare another blistering indictment against the evil ways of the Nazis. The film tells its story powerfully and grippingly, offering itself as a strong box office prospect. Under the excellent direction of Fred Zinnemann, "The Seventh Cross" attains a high degree of suspense, its developments generating a tenseness that will have many persons at the edges of their seats. The plot has been worked out with high dramatic fervor, always keeping well within the bounds of plausibility. The hero of the story is Spencer Tracy, one of seven Germans of good will escaped from a Nazi concentration camp in 1936. Reserved for him is one of seven cresses erected on the grounds of the concentration camp. It isn't his destiny to meet his end on that cross. The other men are not so fortunate. One by one they are tracked down and fastened to the crosses to die a horrible death. Tracy's efforts to keep out of the clutches of the Gestapo have been depicted with vividness and excitement, Mainz is the scene of much of the action. There Tracy tries desperately to get in touch with the German underground in an attempt to obtain aid to escape to Holland. The underground tries just as hard to locate him. Finally, after some harrowing experiences, Tracy and the underground leaders succeed in establishing contact and oui hero is on his way to the safety of Holland. Tracy's work in "The Seventh Cross" is his best in some time. His part is played in a low key that adds to its effectiveness. Hume Cronyn is every bit as fine as the star in the role of a friend who aids Tracy escape. Signe Hasso clicks in the few romantic moments in the film, moments she shares with Tracy. Jessica Tandy, Agnes Moorehead, Herbert Rudley and Ray Collins are a few others whose work deserves mention. Produced in fine style by Pandro S. Berman, the picture has unusually fine photography by Karl Freund. Helen Deutsch's screenplay is a masterly job. CAST: Spencer Tracy, Signe Hasso, Hume Cronyn, Jessica Tandy, Agnes Moorehead, Herbert Rudley, Felix Bressart, Ray Collins, Alexander Granach, Katherine Locke, George Macready, Paul Guilfoyle, Steven Geray, Kurt Katch, Karen Verne, Konstantin Shayne George Suzanne, John Wengraf, George Zucco, Steven Muller, Eily Malyon. CREDITS: Producer, Pandro S. Berman; Director, Fred Zinnemann; Screenplay, Helen Deutsch; Based on novel by Anna Seghers; Cameraman, Karl Freund; Musical Score, Roy Webb; Recording Director, Douglas Shearer; Art Directors, Cedric Gibbons, Leonid Vasian; Set Decorators, Edwin B. Willis, Mac Alper; Film Editor, Thomas Richards. DIRECTION, Excellent. PHOTOGRAPHY, Excellent. "Abroad With Two Yanks" with William Bendix, Dennis O'Keefe, Helen Walker UA-Small 80 Mins. RAPID-FIRE FARCE COMEDY LOADED WITH LAUGHS FOR THE AVERAGE FAN; BENDIX, O'KEEFE SCORE. "Abroad With Two Yanks," the latest production to come from Edward Small, is a farce comedy retailing the sort of fun that goes over big with the average picture fan. The picture misses no trick in its attempt to draw laughter. Some of the tricks are old and rely upon the slapstick for their effect, but that doesn't prevent them from succeeding in their purpose. The comedy is of the type that gets a big rise from the juveniles. That the material obtains the laughs it does is due in large measure to the performances of William Bendix and Dennis O'Keefe. The two, entering wholly into the spirit of the thing, rush madly hither and yon, their antics never being anything less than sillv. The authors and the director have placed the players in situations that will get a strong reaction from those who like their comedy best when it isn't smart, polished, mature. Bendix and O'Keefe literally romp through the footage as two Marine buddies who, upon landing in Australia, immediately find themselves rivals for the attention of Helen Walker, an Aussie charmer whom John Loder, a fellow countryman of hers who is in service, has been wooing without much success (it seems the trouble is with his technique). Bendix is the inarticulate, backward sort; O'Keefe, the irrepressible lady's man. In their efforts to outwit each other they resort to various means that produce hilaricus results. Both lose out in the end when Loder, having proved himself a good student of the American technique of love-making, gets Miss Walker to say "yes." Bendix and O'Keefe pull out all the stops in a long sequence in which, dressed in feminine garb, the two stage a mad chase at the home of Miss Walker while a charity bazaar is in progress. This footage will prove a positive howl with the younger element. Allan Dwan has applied rapid-fire direction to the screenplay of Charles Rogers, Wilkie Mahoney and Ted Sills derived from a yarn by Fred Guiol. CAST: William Bendix, Helen Walker, Dennis O'Keefe, John Loder, George Cleveland, Janet Lambert, James Flavin, Arthur Hunnicutt, Willard Jillson, Herbert Evans, William Forrest, John Abbott. CREDITS: Producer, Edward Small; Production Manager, Ray Heinz; Director, Allan Dwan; Screenplay, Charles Rogers, Wilkie Mahoney, Ted Sills; Adaptation, Edward E. Seabrook, Tedwell Chapman; Based on story by Fred Guiol; Supervising Film Editor, Grant Whytock; Film Editor, Richard Heermance; Cameraman, Charles Lawton, Jr.; Musical Director, Lud Gluskin; Art Director, Joseph Sternad; Sound, Frank Webster; Set Decorator, Edward G. Boyle. DIRECTION, Good. PHOTOGRAPHY, Good. Carmell, Local B-45 Counsel Chicago — Daniel Carmell has been named attorney for Local B-45, Film Employes Union. "Outlaws of Santa Fe" with Don "Red" Barry, Helen Talbot, Wally Vernon Republic 56 Mins. NICE WESTERN WITH GOOD EDITING AND DIRECTION FOR GENERAL AUDIENCE APPEAL. Don "Red" Barry does okay in his role of a fearless youns* Westerner who becomes sheriff of Santa Fe in an effort to avenge his father's death. His natural, likeable, and sincere manner does much toward rating this as a better than average Western. Nicely cast for the femme lead, Helen Talbot acquits her acting chores in charming manner, and makes a good appearance in her Western garb. Wally Vernon, as Barry's sidekick, gets some good laughs out of his comedy bits without being slapstick. The story unfolds with Barry and Vernon, part of a mob that had just held up a bank, getting a story from the ringleader, who is dying from a bullet wound, that Barry is not the ringleader's son but actually the son of a famous peace officer who had been killed in Santa Fe, while on duty, many years ago by a man believed to be Herbert Heyes. Don and Wally set out to Santa Fe with the bank loot. On the way, they rescue Helen Talbot and her little sister from Heyes' gang. Barry accepts the role of sheriff and before he has an opportunity to return the bank loot, which might implicate him in a murder, Heyes receives a circular advertising a reward on Barry's head. Heyes attempts to get Barry but is killed in a shooting session. Because of the good efforts Barry had shown in getting rid of the town's outlaws, a U. S. Marshal promises him that although he must pay for his past lawlessness, his sentence would be light. CAST: Don "Red" Barry, Wally Vernon, Helen Talbot, Twinkle Watts, Charles Morton, Herbert Heyes, Bud Geary, LeRoy Mason Kenne Duncan, Nolan Leary, Walter Soderling, Edmund Co, Frank McCarroll, Bob Kortman, Emmett Lynn. CREDITS: Associate Producer, Eddy White; Director, Howard Bretherton; Screenplay, Norman S. Hall; Cameraman, John McBurnie; Film Editor, Charles Craft; Sound, Tom Carman; Art Director, Fred Ritter; Set Decorator, Otto Siegel; Musical Score, Mort Glickman. DIRECTION, Good. PHOTOGRAPHY, Good. Brecher Building Plans Call for 900-Seat House New York's midtown sector will have a new 900-seat film theater in a seven-story building also incorporating retail stores, offices and studios, it was revealed yesterday by plans filed with the Department of Housing and Building by Leo Brecher, veteran local exhibitor who already owns seven motion picture houses in Manhattan. The new theater will be at the southwest corner of Sixth Ave. and 53rd St. and will cost an estimated $450,000. Work will commence on the project as soon as wartime conditions permit.