Harrison's Reports (1951)

January 20, 1951 HARRISON’S REPORTS 11 though legally blameless, had been suspected of reck' less driving, and his seeming absent-mindedness, dating from the accident, appeared responsible for the many mishaps that had dogged him ever since. In the events that follow. Young’s horse suffers a broken leg, his dog is poisoned, his favorite painting fades, and his home is destroyed by fire. Betsy, a professional statistician, believes it virtually impossible for any one person to become involved in such a series of tragic events solely through chance, and she decides to do some checking. Her first suspicions are directed toward John Sutton, with whom Young had quarreled because he (Sutton) had made a pass at her. In due time, however, after many complications and sundry crises. Young, with the aid of Betsy, traces his troubles to O’Neill, who proves to be a paranoiac. O’Neill admits that he had brought about Young’s troubles to avenge the death of his daughter. Young then proves conclusively that the one responsible for the daughter’s death was none other than Sutton, with whom she had been carrying on a secret affair, and with whom she was running off on the night of the accident. Young, to spare O’Neill’s feelings, had assumed the blame. With their future saved from further doubt, Betsy and Young are pleased to learn that O’Neill will recover his mental balance. It is a Harry M. Popkin production, co-produced by Mort Briskin and Robert Smith, who wrote the original screen play. Best suited for mature audiences. “So Long at the Fair” with Jean Simmons and Dirk Bogarde ( Eagle Lion Classics, Mar. 29; time, 85 min.) A fairly good British-made period thriller, set against a background of the 1899 International Exposition in Paris. Revolving around the mysterious disappearance of a young Englishman visiting Paris, and around the harrowing experiences encountered by his sister in her search for him, the story, though far-fetched, is intriguing, and the ending has an unusual twist. Its chief drawback, however, insofar as American audiences are concerned, is that much of the dialogue is in French. A good part of the footage seems to have been shot on actual locations, giving the spectator some interesting views of Paris: — Arriving in Paris to visit the Exposition, Jean Simmons and David Tomilson, her brother, are welcomed to their hotel by Cathleen Nesbitt, the owner. They spend the evening at several cabarets. On the following morning, Jean wakes full of excitement and hurries along the hotel corridor to call her brother. She is stunned to discover that he and his bedroom had disappeared completely, and her feelings turn to panic when Miss Nesbitt and different hotel employees insist that she had not registered at the hotel with her brother, and that the room he “supposedly” had taken did not even exist. She goes to the British Consul and to the French police, but the authorities, while sympathetic, are reluctant to accept her story without proof that her brother did exist. She is persuaded to return to England, but just as she prepares to depart she finds an ally in Dirk Bogarde, an English painter living in Paris, who had seen her with her brother at one of the cabarets. Bogarde starts an investigation of his own and, after a series of clever deductions and daring deeds, he proves to the police that Tomilson had registered at the hotel and that his room had been hidden through a clever camouflage. The police question Miss Nesbitt and she confesses that Tomilson had been taken ill with the Black Plague after his return from the cabarets and, lest news of the disease cause millions of visitors to flee Paris and ruin the Exposition, she and her hotel staff had tried to give the impression that he never existed and had smuggled him to a hospital in the country. Jean and Bogarde rush to the hospital, where they provide Tomilson with expert medical care that saves his life. It was produced by Betty E. Box and directed by Terence Fisher and Anthony Darnborough, from a novel by Anthony Thorne, who collaborated on the screen play with Hugh Mills. Unobjectionable morally. “I’d Climb the Highest Mountain” with Susan Hayward and William Lundigan (20th Century'Fox, February; time, 88 min.) A heart-warming, wholesome human-interest drama, revolving around the experiences of a young Protestant minister and his bride in a small backwoods community in North Georgia. Photographed in Technicolor and set in the year 1910, its simple, unhurried tale makes for the type of entertainment that will find its best reception with family audiences in smalltown thaetres. Big-city movie-goers may find its flavor too rustic and its pace too leisurely. Although the action unfolds with a minimum of excitement, there is considerable charm in the story’s simplicity, as well as in the gentle touches of comedy and romance. Several of the situations are quite dramatic. William Lundigan is effective as the youthful preacher whose sympathetic understanding of human nature helps him to overcome the frailties of some of the people. Susan Hayward, as his charming, city -bred bride, wins one’s sympathy by her efforts to adapt herself to a primitive way of life, and by her understanding of the sacrifices she herself must make to help her husband carry out his obligations and duties. The episodic story, which covers a span of three years, opens with the arrival of Lundigan and Susan in North Georgia, where he had been given his first assignment. The people take the newlyweds to their hearts and, while Lundigan tends to his pastoral duties, Susan cheerfully adjusts herself to the primitive surroundings. In the course of his work, Lundigan not only brings spiritual guidance to the people but also helps them to overcome their individual problems. He takes an interest in the romance between Rory Calhoun, a rather wild young man, and Barbara Bates, daughter of Gene Lockhart, wealthiest man in the community, who objected to Calhoun, and eventually convinces him that marriage will stabilize Calhoun’s character, thus winning approval of the marriage. Still another accomplishmen is Lundigan’s conversion of Alexander Knox, a well educated man, from an atheist to a believer. Worked into the proceedings is an epidemic that takes the lives of many of the hill folk, during which Susan valiantly works with her neighbors to tend to the sick, a task that weakens her own condition and causes the death of her prematurely born baby. There is considerable humor in the scenes that show Lynn Bari, a wealthy Atlanta socialite, making a play for Lundigan under the guise of seeking Bible instruction, only to be told off by Susan, who sees through her game. The closing scenes, where the community turns out to bid farewell to Susan and Lundigan after completion of his threeyear assignment, is most touching. Lamar Trotti wrote the screen play and produced it from a novel by Corra Harris. It was directed by Henry King. Excellent for the family.