Harrison's Reports (1951)

60 HARRISON’S REPORTS April 14, 1951 moves on the plane of importance envisioned at its birth.” If the TOA leaders had the authority to demand a change in the COMPO setup without consulting or seeking the approval of their membership, is it not curious that they now say that each TOA unit must decide for itself whether or not it will support COMPO? This is, indeed, a reversal of procedure and, at the very least, it makes one wonder just how sincere the TOA leaders are about COMPO. Despite the rocky road over which it has travelled ever since its inception, there are within COMPO a number of sincere industry leaders who have and are giving of their valuable time unselfishly in a genuine effort to win support for the organization and to further its purposes for the general welfare of the business as a whole. It is indeed unfortunate, let alone reprehensible, that their efforts are being nullified by the dilatory tactics employed by the TOA leadership. Ever since the TOA was organized several years ago, its different leaders have constantly stressed the importance of unity of action among producers, distributors and exhibitors in matters that affect the entire industry. Through COMPO, they were given an opportunity to prove the sincerity of their remarks, but it seems as if they have muffed their chance. “When I Grow Up” with Bobby Driscoll, Robert Preston and Martha Scott ( Eagle Lion Classics, April 20; time, 90 min.) A good drama, the substance of which lies in the last one and one-half reels. In that part, the spectator's heart is touched deeply by its humanness. Spanning the period from 1892 to the present, the story, which is told partly in flashback, deals with the problems of two boys and their parents in different generations, with each boy feeling unloved and deciding to run away from home, but each changing his mind. Bobby Driscoll is cast in a double role as the problem boy in both the 1892 and modern sequences, while Charles Grapewin is cast as his kindly grandfather in the present, he being the boy played by Bobby in the 1892 sequence. The acting of both Bobby and Grapewin is excellent. Bobby’s regeneration in the modern sequence, after reading the diary of his grandfather, who had found himself in similar circumstances as a youth, is what stirs the emotions deeply. If the picture-goers can overlook the harrowing details of the typhoid fever epidemic depicted in the 1890 action, they will feel that they got their money’s worth. The atmosphere and mood in that part are drab and unpleasant because of the tragedy of deaths and the misery of drab existences: — Opening in the present, the story depicts Bobby as a 'teen-ager who gets into his share of adolescent trouble, and who plans to run away from home because he feels that his parents (Henry Morgan and Elizabeth Fraser) do not understand him. When Grapewin, the grandfather, is rebuffed by Elizabeth when he offers to use his influence with Bobby, he, too, decides to leave home. He goes to the attic for his suitcase, and in it he finds a diary he had written in 1892 as a child. As he reads the diary, the action flashes back to his childhood days. He feels a strong attachment for Martha Scott, his understanding mother, but cannot warm up to Robert Preston, his strict father, who forbids him to play with Johnny McGovern, whose mother was a questionable character. After his father whips him for seeing Johnny again, the boy and his pal decide to join a circus that had come to town and to run away. They become friendly with Poodles Hanneford, a clown, who becomes ill with typhoid fever and dies in the ring when Ralph Dumke, the hardhearted circus owner, compels him to perform. Lest the circus be quarantined, Dumke keeps the cause of Poodles’ death a secret and prepares to leave town immediately. The youngster rushes home to pack his belongings and join the depart-: ing circus, but, feeling ill, he collapses in his room. The doctor diagnoses his illness as typhoid fever, and before long the epidemic spreads, resulting in many deaths, including those of Johnny and Dumke. His son’s serious condition makes a penitent father of Preston, but he, too, contracts the disease and dies. But the lad, being young and strong, survives, and the closing remarks in his diary ask why those who love others don’t show it before it is too late. The action flashes back to the present, and Grapewin, having read his own admonition, changes his mind about leaving home. Later, Bobby, preparing to run away, goes to the attic for a suitcase and finds the diary. Reading it, he realizes what his grandfather had learned long ago and decides not to run away. On the following morning, when he embraces his mother, apologizes to his father, and greets his grandfather with kindly feelings, all feel for the first time that they are a closely knit family, and that everything is natural and warm between them. The screenplay was written and directed by Michael Kanin, and produced by S. P. Eagle. Good for the family trade. “The Last Outpost” with Ronald Reagan, Rhonda Fleming and Bruce Bennett ( Paramount , May; time, 89 min.) Set in the days of the Civil War, this western-like melodrama, photographed in Technicolor, is no more than a fair entertainment of its kind. There is much movement throughout, but the story is ordinary and is lacking in human interest. The direction and acting are indifferent; the players seem to move about like automatons. Exhibitors who play the picture should stress the beautiful Technicolor photography, as well as the fact that it is practically an Indian picture, with impressive Indian-White battle scenes. Some of the outdoor scenery is very pleasing to the eye: — When the Confederate Army of the Southwest is defeated and driven back to Texas, the Union Army opens up the Santa Fe Trail to supply its troops with needed materials. A small group of Confederate rebels, headed by Ronald Reagan, is assigned to halt the flow of supplies. To combat the attacking rebels, the Union Army dispatches a troop led by Bruce Bennett, Reagan’s brother. Arriving at Fort Point, Bennett meets John Ridgeley, an unscrupulous trading post owner, who mistakes him for Reagan. At one time Reagan had been engaged to Rhonda Fleming, Ridgeley’s wife, and Ridgeley had been boiling with jealousy ever since. Rhonda, disgusted with Ridgeley's shady dealings, leaves him and goes to San Gil to await a stagecoach for home. Captured by Reagan, Bennett and his men are stripped of their supplies and then released, but not until Reagan learns that Rhonda is living in the territory. Through Ridgeley’s maneuverings, Washington orders the Union Army to enlist the aid of the Apaches, led by Charles Evans, a former Major General who had married an Indian. Bennett, fearing that an Indian uprising will result in the death of all the whites, disapproves. In the events that follow, Ridgeley is killed by the Indians and his body is found by Reagan, who finds also a letter informing Ridgeley that a top Union officer was on his way to confer with the Apache leader. Reagan intercepts the officer, dons his uniform and, accompanied by Bill Williams and Noah Beery, Jr., dressed also as Union soldiers, keeps the appointment with the Apache leader and convinces him not to fight. At that moment word comes that a young Indian brave had been jailed for killing Ridgeley. The Apaches demand that he be freed within twenty-four hours lest they launch an attack. In town, Reagan is captured by his brother as he talks to Rhonda, but Bennett permits him to leave after learning why he was in town. Bennett, however, refuses to release the Indian prisoner. The Apaches attack the town, and Reagan, learning of the action, returns with his men and helps Bennett’s forces to subdue the Indians. After the battle, Reagan tells his brother that he will no longer fight the Northerners, and heads South. Rhonda heads for Baltimore, promising to wait there for Reagan until after the war. It was produced by William Pine and William Thomas, and directed by Lewis R. Foster, from a screenplay by Geoffrey Homes, George Worthington Yates and Winston Miller, based on a story by David Lang. Suitable for the action fans.