Film and Radio Guide (Oct 1945-Jun 1946)

56 FILM AND RADIO GUIDE Volume XII, No. 2 courage to begin at the bottom of the ladder and the ability to make a high success. The third is the story of a man who depends wholly upon name and social rank. The motion picture Mildred Pierce, based upon a popular novel by James M. Cain, has so many differing presentations of today’s American life, and so many dramatizations of differing ideals in life, that it has a breadth and depth, as well as interest, above the common run of motion pictures. — F. H. L. DUFFY'S TAVERN. Farce-comedy. Paramount. Hal Walker, Director. Recommended for those who like to laugh. Mrs. Malaprop is totally outdone by “Archie” in Duffy’s Tavern, who malapropizes most laughably during all the ninetyseven minutes of running time of the film-story. A kind of natural originality combined with serious intention makes bombshell after bombshell of misused English fall with sudden success. The mere list of players in Duffy’s Tavern is enough to guarantee interest, for who will not find some favored “star” in such a brilliant list as this : Bing Crosby, Betty Hutton, Paulette Goddard, Alan Ladd, Dorothy Lamour, Eddie Bracken, Brian Donlevy, Sonny Tufts, Veronica Lake, Arturo De Cordova, Barry Fitzgerald, Diana Lynn, Victor Moore, Marjorie Reynolds, Barry Sullivan, Ed Gardner, Charles Cantor, Eddie Green, Ann Thomas, Robert Benchley, William Demarest, Howard de Silva, and others, not to speak of Bing Crosby’s four small sons — Gary, Philip, Dennis and Lyn? All this provides more than the typical three-ring circus — it is a veritable constellation of glowing stars. The best of it is that each and every one of these notable motion-picture persons does something typical, interesting, and unusually entertaining. The entire combination makes a galaxy that outshines almost every similar combination. One who would not find something in this brilliance to delight him would have little pleasure in motion pictures or would be very, very serious-minded, indeed. Strangely enough, in spite of numerous individual sketches by so many different motion-picture actors, Duffy’s Tavern has a good plot and moves surely toward a conclusion that brings happiness even to Victor Moore. The story concern the love affairs of Archie, who manages the Tavern, the business affairs of Old Man O’Malley (Victor Moore) and the career of O’Malley’s daughter (Marjorie Reynolds). Farce and slap-stick though it may be, D u f f y ’ s Tavern is happy entertainment. Flora R. Schreiber, Radio Expert, Looks at "Duffy's Tavern" Duffy’s Tavern is an engaging film. This is mainly because of Ed Gardner, just as it has been an engaging radio show because of Ed Gardner. Credit his delightful malapropisms, as Dr. Law points out. Credit again the famous I’efrigerator scene. How does Gardner know the light goes off when the refrigerator door is locked unless he’s inside to see for himself? And when he’s inside, how is he to get out if there’s no one outside to perform the miracle of opening the door? A fine comic dilemma which leaves the audience holding both its sides. The film, however, includes many scenes-within-scenes in which Bing Crosby, Dorothy Lamour, Robert Benchley, et al, perform. While some of these scenes are entertaining in themselves, their presence is a sign of weakness. Such scenes — entertainment within entertainment— always seem to say : “Not enough plot to go around.” The producers, I expect, in screening a radio show regard themselves as midwives officiating at the birth of television. “How will radio shows look?” they are asking. Well, Duffy’s Tavern looks as good as it sounds, and it has sounded good. But there is a danger that the weakness here mentioned will be a weakness of television itself — the filling in of visual voids with miscellaneous acts that are regarded as sure-fire. Such a tendency, if unchecked and if it should become common, would result in a hybrid art and would delay television’s indigenous development. — F. R. S. THE LOST WEEKEND. Melodrama. Paramount. Billy Wilder, Director. Not recommended. A story of delirium tremens hardly makes fascinating material for public amusement. For some reason Charles Jackson’s novel, upon which the motionpicture play is based, became a “best seller,” but it seems impossible that the screen version of the story will gain listing as a “best movie.” A young man, possessed of some natural ability and more or less pleasing personality, has led an idle life and has become a confirmed alcoholic. A devoted brother tries every means to restore him to decency. A young woman, merely a chance acquaintance, falls in love with the dipsomaniac. The brother’s efforts, the young woman’s pleading, and finally even the horrors of delirium tremens, all leave the victim of drink as much a prey to his craving as ever.