Harrison's Reports (1951)

February 17, 1951 HARRISON’S REPORTS 27 in order to avoid colliding with another plane. MeNally, believing Long incapable of flying a jet, recoinmends that he be “washed out.” Long in turn feels that McNally bears him a grudge because of his friendship with Gail. The animosity between the two is heightened when Long learns that McNally had been his brother’s commanding officer in the war, and finds reason to believe that McNally’s strict leader' ship had driven his brother to suicide. Long requests a check flight to prove his flying ability. McNally checks the test personally and passes Long to prevent him from claiming bias. But to force Long to quit by himself, McNally puts him through the most gruelling type of training. While flying at a high altitude, McNally’s oxygen tube breaks and he blacks out. Long proves his courage by crash landing the plane and saving their lives. The incident brings about a better understanding between the two men and, at the graduation exercises, McNally, now reunited with Gail, pins the wings on Long. It was produced by Aaron Rosenberg and directed by Joseph Pevney from a screen play by Robert L. Richards, who wrote the story with Robert Soderberg. Suitable for the family. “A Yank in Korea” with Lon McCallister and William “Bill” Phillips ( Columbia , February; time, 73 min.) A routine war melodrama that should serve its purpose as a supporting feature wherever audiences are not too discriminating. Its title, however, should give it additional commercial value. The action revolves mainly around the fighting in Korea, and it has a fair share of battle scenes, which have been blended in with actual newsreel clips of the war. But for all its movement it offers little that is novel, and drags in spots because of excessive dialogue. Moreover, the story fails to ring a realistic note: — With the advent of war in Korea, Lon McCallister, a small -town mechanic, enlists in the Army and marries Sunny Vickers before he is sent to a training camp and shipped to Korea. He makes a hero of him' self in his first encounter with the enemy by saving the lives of several of his buddies, including William “Bill” Phillips, his tough but understanding sergeant. He soon finds himself shunned, however, when his carelessness while on sentry duty results in the death of one of his comrades at the hands of the enemy. But he soon redeems himself when he helps to blow up an ammunition dump behind the enemy lines and, together with Phillips, risks his life to help cover the escape of the others in the squad. Both are captured by the enemy but manage to escape during an air raid. On the day he is ordered to return to the States for special training, McCallister learns that Philips and his squad had been sent to the rescue of a stalled ambulance train. He requests and receives permission to join Phillips, and this mission, too, is successful because of McCallister ’s ability to operate a locomo' tive. Phillips, however, is killed during the fierce attack by the enemy. Returning to the States, MeCallister visits Phillips’ wife and two children to deliver and read to them a letter that Phillips had given to him before he died. It was produced by Sam Katsman and directed by Lew Landers from a screen play by William Sack' heim, based on a story by Leo Lieberman. Suitable for the family. “Payment on Demand” with Bette Davis and Barry Sullivan (RKO, no rel. rate set; time, 90 min.) Sensitive direction, a fine script, and excellent act' ing make “Payment on Demand” a highly effective drama of divorce, one that should appeal to all types of adult audiences because of the intelligent treatment given to the subject matter. As the ruthlessly ambi' tious wife whose materialistic attitude throttles her husband’s love after twenty years of marriage, Bette Davis is cast in the type of role she does well, and she comes through with another one of her masterful performances. Several of the situations are powerfully dramatic and have deep pathos. One of the most pathetic situations is where Betty Lynn, the youngest of the two daughters, chooses to remain with her mother after the divorce. Miss Lynn is a fine young actress, and she makes one feel deeply her internal conflict in being compelled to choose one parent over the other. Barry Sullivan, as the husband, is very good, and one sympathises with the suppressed irritation he feels as a result of his wife’s manipulations. A choice serio-comic bit is contributed by the late Jane Cowl as an aging sophisticate who tries to overcome her loneliness by living with a young gigolo in the West Indies. Told partly in flashbacks, the story opens up in the present and depicts Bette as a wealthy woman living in a fashionable San Francisco home with Sullivan, an executive of a steel company, and Betty Lynn and Peggie Castle, their grown daughters. Bette’s insistence that Sullivan dress for a party leads to a bitter domestic quarrel that terminates when he suddenly asks her for a divorce. He explanis that he is weary of the methods she had employed all through their marriage to goad him into attaining social position and wealth. Shocked and resentful, she watches him leave the house. As she prepares for the divorce proceedings and puts detectives on Sullivan's trail to learn if there is another woman in his life, Bette reviews the events of their married life in flashback. She recalls that, shortly after their marriage, Sullivan had been a struggling lawyer in partnership with Kent Taylor, whom she had double-crossed in order to put Sullivan in contact with Walter Sande, inventor of a new steel manufacturing process. Sullivan had learned of the double-cross and had tried to make it up to the embittered Kent, but Bette had slyly interfered with his efforts and had carefully exploited his association with Sande to a point that led to his present position in life. Having obtained evidence of Sullivan’s interest in Frances Dee, an innocent young woman, Bette, in a vindictive mood, compels Sullivan to turn over his total wealth to her lest she drag Frances’ name into a scandal. Bette leaves on a vacation cruise following the divorce, and during the trip she comes to the realisation that life as a matronly divorcee is a lonely one. She and Sullivan meet again when Betty, their youngest daughter, marries Brett King, a college sweetheart. After the wedding party, Bette breaks down and confesses her loneliness to Sullivan who, convinced that she meant to change her ways, willingly agrees to a reconciliation. It was produced by Jack H. Skirball and directed by Curtis Bernhardt, who collaborated on the original screen play with Bruce Manning. The cast includes John Sutton, Otto Kruger and others. Adult fare.