Harrison's Reports (1951)

February 10, 1951 HARRISON’S REPORTS secret U.S. Treasury agent. Raft cleverly escapes arrest and takes Coleen along with him. Charles Goldner, presumably an Italian florist, comes to their aid when they try to make a getaway in his truck. With the police offering a huge reward for their capture, Raft arranges for Coleen to hide out in the ruins of a town nearby while he tries to find out who killed Stewart and why. His investigation results in a series of narrow escapes from the police, during which time he comes in contact with an assortment of sundry characters from whom he discovers that the men responsible for the murder were members of an international counterfeit gang, operating through the casino. He learns also that the town’s chief of police, who had tried to arrest him, was involved with the gang. Meanwhile Coleen, unable to bear the loneliness of the ruins, comes to town in search of Raft. She is captured and taken to the town prison. By this time Goldner reveals himself to Raft as a secret agent of the Italian Tresaury, and tells him that he had traced the source of the counterfeit money to a print' ing press located in an old dungeon beneath the prison. Aided by the Italian police, Raft and Goldner stage a raid on the building and, after a fierce gunfight, rescue Coleen and trap the gang. It is a Kaydor Production produced by Joseph Kaufman and directed by Joseph M. Newman from a screen play by George Callahan and William Rose, based on the novel “I’ll Get You for This,” by James Hadley Chase. Adult fare. “Three Guys Named Mike” with Jane Wyman, Van Johnson, Howard Keel and Barry Sullivan (MGM, March; time, 79 min.) A breezy romantic comedy. Most audiences should find it an agreeable entertainment, even though the story is thin, for it is has witty dialogue and amusing situations, brought about by the romantic involve' ments of an airline hostess who finds herself pursued by three men, each with the first name of “Mike.” Jane Wyman is pert and refreshing as the hostess and, aside from her romantic difficulties, there is con' siderable humor in the errors she makes on her first flight. It should be pointed out, however, that the picture is one huge advertisement for American Airlines, which is depicted as the company employing Miss Wyman. The name of the company is featured prominently in many of the scenes and referred to in the dialogue : — Jane, a small'town girl, becomes an airline stewardness and, on her first flight, raises havoc with the plane’s schedule by forgetting to take on food for the passengers and by making other innocent mistakes. Her winning personality, however, saves her from being discharged. In the course of her work she be' comes friendly with Howard Keel, a pilot, Van Johnson, a science student; and Barry Sullivan, an advertising executive. Each is romantically interested in her and vies for her attentions, but she goes out on dates with each of them and shows no preference. While on a dinner date with Sullivan and a soap manufacturer, Sullivan’s biggest account, Jane sug' gests a promotion idea whereby the soap could be publicized by the airline. The manufacturer, enthused over the idea, insists that Jane’s likeness appear in all the ads, and she soon gains national prominence. Complications arise when Jane is unexpectedly called away from a party by Sullivan’s photographer to pose in his studio in a sarong. Sullivan, who had not 23 ordered the photographs, guesses correctly that his wily photographer was up to no good. He rushes to the studio to save Jane from harm, closely followed by Keel and Johnson. There, all three get into a fight trying to save her, and the resultant publicity puts each of them in difficulties, with Keel losing his job, Sullivan facing the loss of the soap account, and Johnson being banned from winning an important scholarship. Jane, however, intervenes successfully in their behalf, but finds herself faced with a new prob' lem when all three propose marriage. She chooses Johnson. It was produced by Armand Deutsch and directed by Charles Walters from a screen play by Sidney Sheldon, based on a story by Ruth Brooks Flippen. Suitable for the family. “Royal Wedding” with Fred Astaire, Jane Powell and Peter Lawford (MGM, March; time, 93 min.) Like most of the big-scale MGM musicals in Tech' nicolor, this one offers the type of entertaniment that has always proved popular with most picture-goers. It is a breezy mixture of songs, dances, comedy and romance which, despite a featherweight story, keeps one fully entertained. The surprise of the picture is the excellent dancing ability displayed by Jane Powell, who teams up with Fred Astaire in several of the song-and-dance production numbers. One of these, a sort of tough-guy-and-his-moll presentation, is extremely good. Astaire’s dancing, of course, is perfection itself. One solo number, during which he dances sideways up the walls and upside-down on the ceiling of his room, is a most unusual novelty sequence that will leave audiences bewildered, for it appears to have done in one continuous take. The direction is expert and the acting zestful, with Peter Lawford amusingly charming as a rougish young Eng' lish lord, and Keenan Wynn highly comical in a dual role as twin brothers, both theatrical agents, one being an American and the other an Englishman: — Jane and Astaire, a brother and sister song-anddance team are romantically inclined, but neither one thinks of marriage lest it mean the end of the team. Their feelings undergo a change, however, when Wynn, their agent, books their musical show for a London engagement during the period when prepara tions are being made for a royal wedding. En route by boat, Jane meets and falls in love with Lawford, while Astaire, upon his arrival in London, falls for Sarah Churchill, a dancer, when she tries out for a part in the show. Neither Jane nor Astaire will admit to each other that they are entertaining thoughts of marriage, and each continues to lead the other to believe that their careers are more important. Meanwhile Astaire’s romance is complicated by the fact that Sarah remains loyal to a boy-friend who had left the country and had not communicated with her for several months. In due time Astaire overcomes this obstacle by discovering, through Wynn, that Sarah’s boy-friend had married another girl. The selfimposed restriction against marriage comes to an end when Jane and Astaire join the London crowds on the day of the royal wedding. Caught by the spirit, they seek out Sarah and Lawford and rush to a church for a double wedding. It was produced by Arthur Freed and directed by Stanley Donen from a story and screen play by Alan Jay Lerner. Fine for the entire family.