The Film Daily (1948)

14 W'^ DAILY Wednesday, July 7, 1948 i^ flLfll DIIILV REVIEUIS Of DEUI FEATURES i^ 'Key Largo' with Humphrey Bogart, Edward G. Robinson, Lauren Bacail, Lionel Barrymore, Claire Trevor. Warners 101 Mins. STAR-STUDDED CAST SHOULD MAKE THE FANS QUEUE UP FOR "KEY LARGO," A DIFFERENT KIND OF GANGSTER MELODRAMA. GREAT BOX OFFICE. "Key Largo" is a gangster picture with a message. Particularly, to heroes like Humphrey Bogart who returned to postwar America to find selfishness and mean-spiritedness more rampant than ever, and hatred and strife destroying those values for which they fought. Alone, depressed and footloose, ex-Major Bogart decides to visit Lionel Barrymore and Lauren Bacail, father and widow of a buddy who served with him in Italy. Though it's the off-season for vacationists, there are five men and a woman who have rented Barrymore's Largo Hotel for one week. Bogart recognizes Edward G. Robinson, leader of the group, as a notorious racketeer who has sneaked back to the States after having been deported several years before. Another who recognizes the mobster is deputy John Rodney while searching for two Indians who broke jail. The cop is beaten to unconsciousness by Robinson's henchman, Harry Lewis. To prevent the police from being notified, Robinson orders Barrymore, Bacail and Bogart held prisoner until a fellow gangster arrives to pick up a bagful of counterfeit money. Bogart is angered when Robinson insults aged, invalided Barrymore. Tempers get hotter when the imprisoned trio sneer at Robinson for beating the deputy as he regains consciousness. The mobster challenges Bogart to a pistol duel. He rejects the offer. Barrymore and Bacail are chagrined at Bogart's defection. The deputy, conscious again, grabs Bogart's discarded pistol, and challenges Robinson. Both fire at point blank range. Robinson kills the deputy whose gun held no bullets. A Florida hurricane blows across the key. The doors and windows are shuttered. Barrymore's Indian friends come to him for shelter and are turned away by Robinson. The latter, for all his bombast, is afraid of the storm. Calm returns. Marc Lawrence arrives at Largo, buys Robinson's phoney money. Robinson orders his men to get ready to leave, only to discover that the craft he had hired is gone. Bogart, who accidentally revealed his knowledge of boats, is impressed into navigating Barrymore's boat to Cuba. Robinson ditches Claire Trevor, his quondam mistress and night club queen. Her dipsomania does not appeal to him. Vengeful Trevor sneaks Robinson's pistol to Bogart who uses it to excellent advantage aboard the boat. The fact that none of the players schmaltzed his part, as has happened before, is proof once again of John Huston's gifted directorial skill. The mood that is produced by humid heat, raw nerves, and a wild storm is creditably created and well sustained. The one weakness, and this is a moot point, is the contrived "happy ending." This seeming inconsistency is probably a concession to those who stay away from films when the hero fails to get the girl. Acting is superb, Claire Trevor turns in a brilliant job in her portrayal of an alcoholic. CAST: Humphrey Bogart, Edward G. Robinson, "Deep Waters" 20th -Fox 85 Mins. with Dana Andrews, Jean Peters, Cesar Romero WELL TOLD STORY OF THE REGENERATION OF A DELINQUENT BOY INTERWOVEN WITH A SIMPLE LOVE STORY. GOOD FAMILY FARE. The case history of a delinquent orphan has been deftly interwoven with some romantic interest, producing a fine, simple, slightly sentimental yarn, expertly directed by Henry King, that should please most moviegoers of all ages, Hating the sea for the terrific toll it has taken of the town's fishing families, Jean Peters, as a Maine welfare worker, Is determined that Dean Stockwell, the 12-year-oid orphan entrusted to her care shall not become a fisherman like his dad and uncle who both lost their lives at sea. Miss Peters' phobia is so strong that she breaks with her fiance, Dana Andrews, who prefers to earn his livelihood as a lobster fisherman to working over an architect's drafting board. Another who shares Miss Peters' dislike for the fisherman's life is Cesar Romero, Andrew's Portuguese partner. Romero's search for an easy agricultural fortune provides most of the comic sequences in the film. The routines, though corny, are still laugh-provoking and are adroitly handled by Romero. Young Stockwell, frustrated by the wellmeaning Miss Peters, runs away from Anne Revere's home, pawns a stolen camera, and sails into a stormy sea with a "borrowed boat." Cross currents of misunderstandings are cleared when welfare worker Peters learns that frustration with resulting delinquency is worse than the hazards of fishing off stormy coasts. Cast once again as a frost-bitten widow with the understanding heart, Miss Revere turns in a professional performance as always. Romero handles his role effortlessly. Rest of the cast also very good. CAST: Dana Andrews, Jean Peters, Cesar Romero, Dean Stockwell, Anne Revere, Ed Begley, Leono Powers, Mae Marsh, Will Geer, Bruno Wick, Cliff Clark, Harry Tyler, Raymond Greenleaf, CREDITS: Directed by Henry King; Produced by Samuel G. Engel; Screenplay by Richard Murphy; Based on the novel, "Spoonhandle," by Ruth Moore; Music by Cyril Mockridge; Musical Direction by Lionel Newman; Orchestral arrangements by Maurice de Packh; Director of Photography, Joe La Shelle, ASC; Art Direction by Lyie Wheeler and George W. Davis; Set Decoration by Thomas Little; Film Editor, Barbara McLean; Wardrobe Direction, Charles Le Maire; Makeup Artist, Ben Nye; Special Photographic Effects, Fred Sersen; Sound, Bernard Freericks and Roger Heman. DIRECTION, Expert. PHOTOGRAPHY, Skillful. Warner's Re-Releasing Duo Warners will re-issue "God's Country and the Woman," and "Flowing Gold," July 17. Lauren Bacail, Lionel Barrymore, Claire Trevor, Thomas Gomez, Harry Lewis, John Rodney, Marc Lowrence, Dan Seymour, Monte Blue, Silver Heels, Rodric Red Wing. CREDITS: Produced by Jerry Wald; Directed by John Huston; Screenplay by Richard Brooks and John Huston; Based on the play by Maxwell Anderson; Photography by Karl Freund, A.S.C.; Art director, Leo K. Kuter; Film editor, Rudi Fehr; Sound by Dolph Thomas; Special effects by William McCann, director, and Robert Burks, A.S.C.; Set decorator, Fred M. MacLean; Wardrobe by Leah Rhodes; Makeup artist, Perc Westmore; Music by Max Steiner; Orchestrations, Murray Cutter; Assistant director. Art Lueker; Unit manager. Chuck Hansen. DIRECTION: Best. PHOTOGRAPHY: Tops. "The Walls of Jericho" with Cornel Wilde, Linda Darnell, Anne Baxter, Kirk Douglas, Ann Dvorak. 20th-Fox 106 Mins. EXCELLENT CAST INTERPRETS STORY OF JEALOUSY, INTRIGUE AND FRUSTRATED LOVE IN A KANSAS TOWN A GENERATION AGO. WOMEN WILL GIVE THIS A TERRIFIC WORD OF MOUTH PLUG. Every now and then along comes an adult love story that is more than a mere recital of the romantic problems of homo sapiens. "The Walls of Jericho" is such a story. Not only is this a skillfully told tale of a quintangular romance, but more than that, the movie fan is treated to a slice of early 20th Century Americana that has the ring of authenticity. Kirk Douglas, plain, straightforward publisher of a small town newspaper, is an unwitting lump of clay in the hands of his beautiful bride, Linda 'Darnell. Few suspect that underneath that lovely exterior beats a heart that is ambitious, ruthless and selfish. Her overpowering beauty is only matched by the political cunning worthy of a Machievelli. Her honeymoon is hardly over before she discovers that Cornel Wilde, her husband's lifelong friend, is a very attractive fellow besides being Kansas' most popular County Attorney. Linda makes subliminal advances to Wilde who with equal subtlety lets her know that though he isn't exactly happy with his whisky-besotted spouse, Ann Dvorak, he still would not betray his best friend. Later, Linda discovers that if Wilde is going to risk a scandal, it would only be for Anne Baxter, "she-lawyer" who has loved Wilde ever since she was a child. With the traditional fury of a woman given the ha-ha, Linda contrives to have husband Douglas ditch Wilde. She also influences the publisher to run for Congress himself. Wilde's first impulse is to oppose Douglas. He changes his mind when he realizes that he won't ever be able to see Miss Baxter again if he wins. Wilde drops out. Anne realizes the futility of her love and leaves town. Two years later when Congressman Douglas announces his intent to run for the Senate, Wilde decides to run against him. In the midst of the campaign, Wilde assumes the defense of Colleen Townsend who is charged with the murder of Barton MacLane, bootlegger and town bully. The girl was running away from home because town gossips spread the rumor that her parents were never married. While hiding at the train depot. Colleen is discovered by the bully who forces his attentions on her. Intending to ward him off with a shovel, she kills him instead, and sneaks away on the first train. Miss Darnell, fearful that the trial will increase Wilde's popularity, influences his wife to file divorce proceedings, naming Miss Baxter as correspondent. The news is timed to embarrass the defense attorney before the jury. Wilde is shot by his estranged wife when he demands an explanation for her actions. Linda is present at the accident. iMiss Baxter, as associate defense counsel, carries on and wins the case. Publisher Douglas at last recognizes his wife for what she really is. He renounces all political aspirations, determined that his "The Illegals" with Tereska Torres, Yankel Mikalo witch and other D. P.'s. Mayer & Burstyn 75 Mins. CRUDE, POWERFUL, UNFORGETTABLE DOCUMENT OF JEWISH D. P.'S CLANDESTINE ESCAPE FROM EUROPE TO PALESTINE. "The Illegals" is one of the most extraordinary films ever made. For despite^^;h bad photography and poor sound reciP^.'g, the film transcends its technical defects and emerges as a monumental piece of news reporting. More than a newsreel of events, "The Illegals" describes the perils, heartbreak and overwhelming difficulties facing a group of D. P.'s as they travel an underground railway out of a Europe filled with bitter memories to the old-new land of freedom, Eretz Israel. To lend the film narrative quality, Meyer Levin, its writer, director and producer, wove in the episode of a man and his wife who become separated as they cross the Polish border. Unlike the rest of the film, which is a record of actual events, the odyssey of the man and his wife is a re-enactment of hundreds upon hundreds of similar occurrences. The man, along with a leader of the Haganah underground, is detained by the Polish authorities and kept in jail for several weeks. In the meantime, the wife decides not to wait in Vienna any longer for she wants her child to be born in Palestine. Her busband is at last released by the Polish authorities and by sheer luck finds his wife aboard an overcrowded Turkish vessel which has just cast off from a secret port in Italy. The ship is spotted by aircraft and is hunted down by a British cruiser. No longer able to slip through as a Turkish ship, the Haganah leader hoists Israel's colors and changes the name of the ship to the "Unafraid." The illegals catch only a glimpse of the port of Haifa before they are escorted to another concentration camp, this time, to one on Cyprus. CAST: Tereska Torres, Yankel Mikalowitch, The Illegals. CREDITS: Presented by the Americans for Haganah; Written, directed and produced by Meyer Levin; Music composed by Wally KarvenoPaquin; Music performed by Darius Citanova and his Ondioline Ensemble; Songs by Shiomo Hofman; Choruses, The Hechalutz Youth Chorus of Paris, directed by Shiomo Hofman and the Chorale des Eclaireur Israelites de France, directed by Henri Milstein; Photography in Europe, Jean-Paul Alphen; Photography at Sea, Bertrand Hesse; Production manager, Paul Cayette; Distributed by Mayer-Burstyn. DIRECTION: Off the cuff. PHOTOGRAPHY: Uneven. wife shall live with him in the small Kansas town. And Baxter gets Wilde. CAST: Cornel Wilde, Linda Darnell, Anne Baxter, Kirk Douglas, Ann Dvorak, Mariorie Rambeau, Henry Hull, Colleen Townsend, Barton MacLane, Griff Barnett, William Tracy, Art Baker, Frank Ferguson, Ann Morrison, Hope Landin, Helen Brown, Norman Leavitt, Whitford Kane, J. Farrell MacDonald, Dick Rich, Will Wright. CREDITS: Directed by John M. Stahl; Produced by Lamar Trotti; Screen play by Lamar Trotti; Based on the novel by Paul Wellman; Music, Cyril Mockridge; Musical direction, Lionel Newman; Orchestra arrangements, Herbert Spencer and Maurice de Packh; Photography, Arthur Miller, ASC; Art direction, Lyle Wheeler, Maurice Ransford; Set decorations, Thomas Little, Paul S. Fox; Film editor, James B. Clark; Wardrobe direction, Charles Le Maire; Costumes designed by Kay Nelson; Makeup artist, Ben Nye; Special photographic effects, Fred Sersen; Sound, Alfred Bruzlin, Roger Heman. DIRECTION: Expert. PHOTOGRAPHY: Masterful.