Film and Radio Guide (Oct 1945-Jun 1946)

40 FILM AND RADIO GUIDE Volume XII, No. 9 A meeting of the Memphis Central High School Photoplay Club, spring term, 1946, under the supervision of Corinne J. Gladding, pioneer teacher of photoplay appreciation and sponsor of notable amateur film productions. BADMAN'S TERRITORY. RKO. Bringing low to Oklahoma. Melodrama. Screen play by Jack Natteford and Luci Ward. Tim Whelan, Director. For much more than fifty years Jesse James and the Daltons have provided writers of penny dreadfuls and of melodramatic “westerns” with galloping material about desperados of the lurid West. In Badman’s Territory the bandits ride again, thudding their horses up and down Oklahoma hills, shooting on every occasion, robbing a bank, defying law and order, and trying in vain to hold back the coming of civilization. Badman’s Territory, the narrow strip of what is now Oklahoma just above the most northren part of Texas, was a region seemingly forgotten by government, a natural refuge for lawless men. To the extent that the motion picture tells how, in President Benjamin Harrison’s administration, this last frontier of do-as-you-please came under law and order, the motion picture is historical. For the rest, it is wild melodrama, with Randolph Scott as the fearless Texas sheriff who shoots from the hip and is ready to face any one at any time. And there, of course, is the lovely Ann Richards as the daring woman newspaper editor who proposes, single handed, to reform all evils. All through the long series of desperate actions George “Gabby” Hayes, bearded and toothless, takes the limelight, ready to ride with train robbers or bank robbers, or to help the noble hero. Small boys and dime-novel experts will rejoice in this wild western — and who shall forbid them? F. H. LAW ★ ★ ★ NIGHT AND DAY. Biographical musical. Warner Bros. Michael Curtiz, Director. Based on the career of Cole Porter. Screen ploy by Charles Hoffman, Leo Townsend and William Bowers. Rich in Technicolor scenes of great beauty; full of music, song, and dance ; charming with lovely costumes and beautiful young women ; carrying a romantic story that holds interest; and overflowing with the drinking of all kinds of liquor. Night (Old Day is a particularly lively two-and-a-quarter-h our picture. Although the narrative takes liberties here and there, in gen eral it holds true to the life story of the distinguished composer and lyricist. Cole Porter. Cary Grant presents a strong portrait of the popular writer of songs, musical hits, and motion pictures ; Alexis Smith plays his wife, Linda Lee Porter; and Monty Woolley, who actually was once an Assistant Professor at Yale, enacts himself. The strong cast also includes Henry Stephenson, Dorothy Malone, Jane Wyman, and Selena Royle. Aside from all interest in present-day biography. Night and Day stands out as a particularly good production presented with lavish beauty and kaleidoscopic stage-scenes that show the nature of Cole Porter’s popular work. The art of the motion picture gives new beauty and new and powerful effects to the long series of Cole Porter’s musical comedies. The stage and dancing numbers make superb appeal. It is a pity that so much charm is mixed with so much presentation of liquor as a social custom. In spite of its unusual length Night and Day holds one’s attention and constantly diverts by change of event, purpose, and