The Film Daily (1948)

5^i!riday, September 10, 1948 THIl •^ DAILY k flUa DfllLV REVIEWS OF nEUI FEATURES ^ 'Miss Tatlock's Millions" with John Lund, Wanda Hendrix, Barry Fitzgerald, Monty Woolley. aramount 101 Mins. THERE'S MUCH HILARITY IN THIS NE«-^ TITILLATE HI^H AUDIENCE ESPtJ^. SMARTLY PLAYED. The laughable aspect of pretended injnity is displayed in this sprightly produc;0n by Charles Brackett based on a play Jacques Deval. It is John Lund who ^lays the daffy scion of a wealthy California imily. With Richard Haydn in the direcjrial driving seat Lund makes royal of very situation wherein he is required to lay the goof. To this end he touches off luch hilarity that will titillate the audience 3 high response. Lightweight in general aspect the plot i ably dealt with in journeyman actor fash J)n by a cast of veteran worthies. Lund adds new role to his recent collection. Miss lendrix, who registered in "Ride the Pink lorse," capably plays demure sweetness into 'er romantic interest. Barry Fitzgerald, play ig an aficionado of the bottle, paces the '|iain event for hilarity and Monty Woolley I ets his digs in from time to time via com Jient on the California weather and caustic 'ejection of the commonplace diversions of "! is immediate family. Also in the proceed 'igs are such names of note as Ilka Chase, ^jjjorothy Stickney and Hilo Hattie. A stunt man on the Paramount lot, Lund > engaged by Fitzgerald to impersonate Schuyler Tatlock," the zany member of I he family whose presence is required at the amily manse for the reading of a will. At irst hesitant, Lund accepts when the offer 3 made ($) interesting. He dyes his hair, ons spectacles, makes like a jerk. When the will is read it comes out Lund ,j,ir "Schuyler" gets all the money — millions. i^iss Hendrix plays his sister and she dis Mays much affection for her unfortunate pVbrother." But the rest of the family con j^).pire. Miss Chase tries to get Miss Hendrix Jfjiarried to her son, Robert Sfack but Lund 'i ireaks this up by making a crazy leap from *; tree through the root of a greenhouse. 'f\t about this time Miss Chase gets the "vind up that Lund is a phoney and after he 1 leats up her son she makes a deal. He is I 0 carry on; Stack will forget about Wanda. . : This deal also involves the keep of the 'amily and Lund and Barry go back to Hawaii , .vhere they were supposed to be at the jt[«eginning. L Lund pines and laps up local likker. Fitz T.jeraid decides to pull a fast one. He learns I character has been setting mysterious ires in the interior. This turns out to be he true "Schuyler" who has gone native, narried Hilo Hattie. Barry brings them home 0 California where they prove a whopping urprise. Fitzgerald then returns to the lineapple isle with Miss Hendrix for the Jinch fadeout. 1 ' Haydn goes places, tries things and gets 'ji'iway with them in his direction. It gets tretty warm in spots and no one's attention vifl stray. i'0 CAST: John Lund, Wanda Hendrix, Barry Fitz I lerald, Monty Woolley, Robert Stack, Ilka Chase, •oroHiy Stickney, Elizabeth Patterson, Leif Eric .,on, Dan Tobin, Hilo Hattie, Richard Rancyd. CREDITS: Producer, Charles Brackett; Direc'' or, Richard Haydn; Screenplay, Chorles Brackett, ichard L. Breen; Suggested by a play by Jac' ues Deval; Photography, Charles B. Lang, Jr.; I >rt, Hans Dreier, F-ranz Bachelin; Sets, Sam Isomer, Ross Dowd; Sound, Gene Merritt, John * iope; Music, Victor Young; Editor, Everett ' louglas. DIRECTION: Very Good. PHOTOGRAPHY: •ood. 'Moonrise' with Dane Clark, Ethel Barrymore, Gail Russell. Republic 90 Mins. SOMBER YET WELL DIRECTED DRAMA HAS BRILLIANT CAMERA WO.^K; PERFORMANCES FILL STORY REQUIREMENTS. What critical kudos this one rates goes almost entirely to Director Frank Borzage for he has imbued it with many moods and fine dramatic touches to weave a loosely written tale of crime and the inherited onus of a wayward father. Borzage has guided the chief players along a story that makes the most of brilliant camera work. They happily fulfill the requirements of the scenario but for the most part the story is one of somber drama tending to become inert at intervals. Character bits are intruded into the action and in some cases they make for a slightly humorous touch. The setting of the tale is tidewater Virginia, in a small town that seems a dull, listless place where everyone knows everyone else's business, ancestry and certain private facts better forgotten. Dane Clark is trying to live down the fact that his father was hung for murder. This has tormented him from childhood. At a dance one night he is provoked by Lloyd Bridges, kills him after a wild brawl, hides the body in underbrush. Clark is in love vvith Gail Russell who at first is unresponsive then comes to both pity and develop affection. Meanwhile the missing boy becomes more and more the chief town topic and Clark cringes from the world and its implicating finger. Allyn Joslyn, the local constable, begins to make a case and his deductions lead to Clark. Despite the pleading of Miss Russell to give himself up, Clark runs off, is trailed by hounds, goes to his Grandmother's mountain home. Played by Ethel Barrymore briefly, this character knows all, having seen all, and she lets reason prevail in regard to Clark to the end that he gives himself up. It should be said about here that he killed in self-defense. At bottom a morbid tale, the best effects are achieved by Borzage in scenes of romantic intimacy. CAST: Dane Clark, Gail Russell, Ethel Barrymore, Allyn Joslyn, Henry Morgan, Rex Ingrom, David Street, Selena Royle, Harry Carey, Jr., Irving Bacon, Lloyd Bridges, Houseley Stevenson, Phil Brown, Harry V. Cheshire, Lila Leeds, Clem Bevans. CREDITS: Producer, Charles Haas; Director, Frank Borzage; Screenplay, Charles Haas; Based on a novel by Theodore Strauss; Music, William Lava; Photography, John L. Russell; Editor, Harry Keller; Sets, John McCarthy, Jr., George Sawley; Sound, Earl Crain, Howard Wilson. DIRECTION: Good. PHOTOGRAPHY: Brilliant. Walbrook Sees Injunction Washington Bureau of THE FILM DAILY Washington — Argument is expected next week on the plea for a preliminary injunction filed by Walbrook Theater of Baltimore against 20th-Fox to halt a plan of giving the Windsor Theater half of the company's output. Split was provided for in 20th-Fox's out of court settlement in the Windsor's anti-trust suit against six majors, but Walbrook claims a prior commitment. Rites for Frank Crane IVest Coast Bureau of THE FILM DAILY Hollywood — Funeral services were held here for Frank Crane, 75, veteran screen director and actor, who died at the Motion Picture Relief Home. "Cry of the City" with Victor Mature, Richard Conte. 20th-Fox 95 Mins. VERY WELL PLAYED CRIME DOES NOT PAY DRAMA WITH ACTUAL LOCALES. MATURE, CONTE VERY GOOD DIRECTION HITS HIGH MOMENTS OF SUSPENSE, INTENSITY. Here once again is another starkly handled crime does not pay theme wherein a vicious criminal in due course gets his lumps via a police bullet. He is a thoroughly unsympathetic character, cruel, scheming, ruthless, using people — including his own family — for his rotten ends and then discarding them like cigarette butts. On the other hand there is a cop, systematic, inquiring and fact finding who adds up one element on top of another and comes out of the mess with the criminal lined up in his gunsights. These two divergent roles are played, and very well played, too, by Richard Conte and Victor Mature, respectively. Much of the story, if not all of it, was shot in and about the streets of New York, hence it has that authentic atmosphere. Robert Siodmak's direction generates intense moments of suspense, chase, action and brutal glimpses into the mind and actions of the character on the wrong side of the law. Introduced as a wounded cop killer, Conte shows up in a hospital about to undergo surgery. His tearful family is about. He is given last rites. But he comes through and after being transferred to a prison ward, he breaks out. His first step is to kill a shady lawyer who is trying to implicate his girl in a jewel robbery-murder. He gets some money and the jewelry, sets out to locate the female who actually had a part in the caper. He hardly makes it. His wounds open and he almost passes out. An unlicensed medico patches him up for $200. Mature in the interim has not been asleep at headquarters and methodically has been picking up fragments here and there which begin to shape up and point the finger which is found at the end of the long arm of the law — and coincidence. Conte makes the mistake of crossing up Hope Emerson and barely gets away when the cops take her. He finally arranges to meet his true love, Debra Paget, for whom he has plans other than his deceptive affection indicates. This rendezvous is interrupted by Mature. It is in a church and Mature has left his sickbed to be there. It proves to be the payoff for Conte who eludes the weakened Mature for a moment. Quick flying hot lead catches up with him. There are spots and flashes of high feeling and emotion in the story. Most of the supporting cast is Eastern talent and they ably handle their roles. CAST: Victor Moture, Richard Conte, Fred Clark, Shelley Winters, Betty Garde, Berry Kreoger, Tommy Cook, Debra Paget, Hope Emerson, Koland Winters, Walter Baldwin, June Storey, Tito Vuolo, Mimi Aguglia, Konstantin Shayne, Howard Freeman. CREDITS: Producer, Sol C. Siegel; Director, Robert Siodmok; Screenplay, Richard Murphy; From a novel by Henry Edward Elseth; Music, Alfred Newman, Lionel Newman, Herbert Spencer, Earle Hagen; Photography, Lloyd Ahern; Art, Lyie Wheeler, Albert Hogsett; Sets, Thomas Little, Ernest Lansing; Editor, Harmon Jones; Sound, Eugene Grossmen, Roger Neman. DIRECTION: Good. PHOTOGRAPHY: Very Good. Volos to Add Two Houses Chicago — Valos Circuit will take over the Egyptian in DeKalb and the Hinsdale in Hinsdale upon the expiration of present leases. "Olympic Cavalcade" UA (Documentary) 55 Mins '36 OLYMPIC GAMES SPLENDIDLY CAPTURED ON FILM MAKES INTERESTING SHOW. Detailing the activities of the second half of the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, here is a collection of such events as high hurdles, relay races, bicycle competitions, gymnastics, swimming and diving, horsemanship — jumping and the like. It is topped off by the winning performance of Glen Morris in the decathlon events. The footage is expertly edited and the cameras were widely dispersed to capture just about every angle of the action. Highlight, besides the decathlon, is some rather comical jumping wherein horses take a water jump which inevitably lands them in the middle of the drink, riders unhorsed, unhatted, unhurt. The diving sequences range from routine lensing to moments of poetic action imaginatively executed via cutting and slow motion. DIRECTION: Fine. PHOTOGRAPHY: Very Good. ' "Urubu" UA 60 Mins. EXOTIC JUNGLE-ANIMAL STUFF THAT CAN BE EXPLOITED INTO A GOOD THING. Produced in South America by George Breakston and Yorke Coplen, a couple of ex Gl's, this one does not add up to much if scrutinized closely but on the other hand it could be built into a surprising ticket seller if exploited along the right lines. In this instance the exhib. can go to town with the tropical gimmicks he has stored in the cellar and catch the eye and attention of the man in the street who responds to something that sounds exotic. Purportedly shot in the Matto Grosso of Brazil, this collection of animal and native footage is based on the search by the two producers for the "lost" Col. Fawcett. Instead of locating Fawcett, they find an Englishman running a small community in the interior and "rescue" a schoolteacher who has been abducted by a wild tribe. It concludes with a shooting match of sorts and our heroes paddle their canoe with the girl aboard back to civilization, which was probably just around the first bend in the stream. "Urubu " is offered along with "Olympic Cavalcade" in a package. DIRECTION: Feeble. PHOTOGRAPHY: Fairly Good. 7 Indianapolis Houses Set Realart Day and Date Indianapolis — Seven city houses have set first-run day and date bookings of Realart's reissues of "My Man Godfrey," "When Tomorrow Comes," "Crazy House" and "My Little Chickadee." Deals were concluded by Lee Goldberg of the Realart exchange here and in Cincinnati. Fennelly Named Manager For Mono, in Des Moines (Continued from Page 1) joining Monogram. Kenneth Weldon, former M-G-M booker, joins the Monogram office as salesman.