Harrison's Reports (1951)

HARRISON’S REPORTS January 13, 1951 6 “The Mating Season” with Gene Tierney, John Lund and Thelma Ritter ( Paramount , March; time, 101 min.) Very good! It is a captivating blend of comedy and sentiment that is certain to tickle the fancy and warm the hearts of all types of audiences. It should receive a strong boost at the box-office from the word-of-mouth advertising that it is sure to garner. If Hollywood could produce yearly a sufficient number of pictures of this caliber, the exhibitors would not have to give television a second thought. Briefly, the plot has as its pivotal character Thelma Ritter, owner of a bankrupt hamburger stand, who travels across the country to visit John Lund, her devoted son, a factory draftsman, to accept his standing invitation to let him support her. She arrives on the day of his marriage to Gene Tierney, daughter of an American ambassador, and, when he asks her not to mention anything about her hamburger stand, she realizes that he is worried for fear that she will embarrass him. She finds an excuse not to attend the wedding and leads Lund to believe that she had returned to Jersey City. Within a few weeks she earns enough money to buy some decent clothes and goes to visit her new daughter-inlaw. She reaches the apartment just as Gene is frantically getting ready for the first party given in her home, and is mistaken by her for a maid sent by an agency. Miss Ritter goes along with the misunderstanding, and later, when Lund comes home, she compels him to accept her in that guise lest she refuse to live with him. Things go along well until Miriam Hopkins, Gene’s snobbish mother, arrives for a visit and immediately concentrates on bringing about a break between Gene and Lund, whom she considered not good enough for her daughter. Another who sought to break up the marriage is James Lorimer, playboy son of Larry Keating, Lund's employer; Lund had won Gene away from him. The complications reach a high point when Gene discovers Miss Ritter's true identty. Furious, she breaks with Lund after accusing him of being a snob because he had concealed his mother from her. Matters are straightened out, however, when Lund, to prove that he is not ashamed of his mother, proudly introduces her to a group of snobbish guests at a fashionable cocktail reception, thus ruining an opportunity to obtain a better job. It all ends with a complete reconciliation between Gene and Lund, and with a budding romance started between Miss Ritter and Lund’s boss. A brief synopsis cannot do justice to the vastly amusing complications of the plot, nor to its tender moments. The acting of every one in the cast is very good. Gene Tierney and John Lund have never appeared to better advantage. It is Miss Ritter, however, who comes through with the outstanding performance. She is perfectly cast as the hamburgerslinging mother, and her handling of the witty dialogue is nothing short of superb. It was produced by Charles Brackett, who wrote the screen play in collaboration with Walter Reisch and Richard Breen. It was directed by Mitchell Leisen. Morally suitable for all. “Operation Disaster” with John Mills ( Univ.'Int’l , February; time, 100 min.) An absorbing, though tragic, British-made melodrama, revolving around a submarine disaster in peacetime. Being a grim, slow-paced tale with an unhappy ending, its appeal to the general run of audiences is limited, but selective patrons should find it to their liking because of the excellent characterizations and the fine performances. Most of the footage is restricted to scenes of the submarine’s interior, in which twelve men find themselves trapped, and to the rescue operations above them; yet despite the limited movement of the camera one is gripped by the simple story’s dramatic impact and by the reactions of the trapped men to their plight, as well as by the hazards encountered by those who carry on the rescue operations. John Mills’ portrayal of the submarine’s commander is well done; his consideration for his men and his understanding of human frailties win him their unified admiration: — As the crew of H.M. Submarine “Trojan” set out on a routine peacetime cruise, the thoughts of some of them are preoccupied with personal matters. John Mills, the commander, had decided to retire from the service; Lieut. Nigel Patrick had made a date with a wren; and Stoker Richard Attenborough is concerned over the behaviour of his flirtaa tious wife. Shortly after the submarine submerges it strikes a magnetic mine, a war relic, and after the crash sinks ninety feet to the ocean floor, with only twelve crew members surviving the blast. While destroyers search for and locate the sunken submarine, Mills checks the situation and determines that only eight of the twelve survivors will be able to escape through the conning tower, while four will have to remain and await salvage operations. Mills, eliminating himself, cuts cards for the crew to determine who shall escape. Patrick, Attenborough and James Hayter remain with Mills. An air line is attached to the submarine as soon as the salvage ship arrives. The work of raising the submarine goes on for seven days, during which time Patrick dies. With but ten hours to go before the submarine can be brought to the surface, a severe storm arises, and the salvage crew, in order to save themselves and their ship, are compelled to cut the cables supporting the submarine. As the vessel plunges back to the bottom. Mills and the others courageously face their fate. It was produced by Jay Lewis and directed by Roy Baker from a screen play by W. E. C. Fairchild, based on the stage play “Morning Departure,” by Kenneth Woollard. Best suited for mature audiences. “A1 Jennings of Oklahoma” with Dan Duryea and Gale Storm ( Columbia , March; time, 79 min.) A fairly good western-type melodrama, photographed in Technicolor. The story, which has two brothers forced into a life of outlawry because of a doublecross, is dramatically weak. Moreover, it is ethically unsound, for an attempt is made to win sympathy for the principal character on the basis that he never resorts to physical violence in committing his crimes. It should, however, satisfy those who favor rousing western entertainment regardless of story values, for it has an adequate quota of thrills in the way of gunfights, bank and train robberies, and fast chases. The direction and acting are competent, and the outdoor photography fine: — When their father, a judge, threatens to hold them in contempt after a courtroom brawl, Dan Duryea, a hot-, tempered young lawyer, and Dick Foran, his older brother, leave Kansas and go to the Oklahoma Territory to practice law with James Millican and Louis Jean Heydt, their two other brothers. In the wide-open town of Woodward, Duryea meets and falls in love with Gale Storm, a visitor from New Orleans. Shortly thereafter, Millican is shot dead by John Dehner, a crooked politician. Duryea, angered, tries to get a signed confession of guilt from Dehner, and in the process is forced to kill him in self defense. A witness to the killing reports that it had been murder, and Duryea and Foran are compelled to flee to evade a posse. They take refuge at a ranch owned by Harry Shannon, head of a gang of rustlers, who compels them to join the gang under threat of turning them in for the reward on their heads. In due time Duryea assumes leadership of the gang and becomes notorious for his daring stagecoach, bank and train robberies. When the reward for their capture reaches $25,000, Duryea and Foran quit their career of crime and go to New Orleans, which had no extradition law. They become cotton brokers, and Duryea resumes his romance with Gale. Complications arise when John Ridgley, an unscrupulous railroad detective, recognizes them and makes an unsuccessful attempt to kidnap them and bring them to Oklahoma for the reward. Rather than be hounded by Ridgley, Duryea and Foran return to Oklahoma to commit one last robbery, and plan to use the loot to settle down in Mexico. They are caught, however, after robbing a train, and Foran is sentenced to five years in prison while Duryea is given life. But after serving five years Duryea proves that he was convicted under unfair circumstances and is pardoned by the President. He returns to Oklahoma, where he becomes a law-abiding citizen and a successful lawyer. It was produced by Rudolph C. Flothow and directed by Ray Nazarro from a screen play by George Bricker, based on a book by A1 Jennings and Will Irwin. Adult fare.