Harrison's Reports (1951)

74 HARRISON’S REPORTS May 12, 1951 “Mr. Imperium” with Lana Turner and Ezio Pinza (MGM, June, time, 87 min.) An opulent Technicolor production, the marquee value of Lana Turner's name, and the curiosity movie-goers may have to see Ezio Pinza, the middle-aged opera star who gained popularity as the leading man in “South Pacific,” the stage musical, are the chief assets offered in this romantic drama. As entertainment it is only mildly interesting, mainly because of a thin, moss-covered story about a romance between a king and a commoner. Moreover, the pace is extremely slow. Mr. Pinza has a charming personality, and his singing of several songs is effective. As for the acting, the best that can be said is that Mr. Pinza and Miss Turner meet the demands of an undemanding script: — The story opens up in 1939 in Italy, where Pinza, a European prince vacationing incognito, finds himself attracted to Lana, an American cafe singer. Pinza pursues her, and before long they fall deeply in love. Their romance, however, is brought to an abrupt halt when Pinza's father, the King, is taken ill, and he is compelled to return to his country immediately. He instructs Sir Cedric Hardwicke, his prime minister, to visit Lana and explain the reason for his sudden departure, but Hardwicke, frowning on a romance between royalty and a commoner, leads Lana to believe that Pinza had tired of her. Twelve years later, Lana, now a Holywood star, hears from Pinza, now a King without a throne, after he sees one of her motion pictures in Paris. The two arrange a secret weekend tryst at a Palm Springs resort, where they renew their romance. Pinza decides to remain in the United States and marry Lana, but this plan comes to a quick end with the sudden arrival of Hardwicke, who convinces Pinza that he owes it to his people to return at once because of a political turmoil. He leaves Lana heartbroken, but with a ray of hope that he will one day return again. It was produced by Edwin H. Knopf and directed by Don Hartman from their own screen play, based on a play by Mr. Knopf. Barry Sullivan, as a film producer in love with Lana, and Marjorie Main, as a Palm Springs roomkeeper, are among the others in the cast. Unobjectionable morally. “Wicked City” with Pierre Aumont, Maria Montez and Lili Palmer (United Artists, Jan. 2; time, 78 min.) A mediocre French-made melodrama with English dialogue, some of which has been dubbed in. There is little to recommend in it from any standpoint; the writing and direction are poor, the acting uninspired and unconvincing, and the camera work substandard. Moreover, the editing is so choppy that most of the time one wonders what the story is all about. The scenes in which English dialogue has been dubbed are poorly done. The actual Marseille backgrounds provide the picture with its most interesting moments, but these are not enough to overcome its shortcomings as a whole: — Pierre Aumont, a Canadian seaman, falls in love with Maria Montez, a cabaret girl, when his freighter puts into Marseille. She promises to “wait” for him. As he takes her home, he is stabbed by Marcel Dalio and Jean Roy, two thugs who frequented the cabaret; they steal his money and papers, and warn Maria to say nothing. Aumont wakes up in a hospital several days later and finds that his ship had departed. He starts a search for Maria but to no avail, for she had left town with another man. He finds work as a tourist guide and becomes friendly with Lili Palmer, a gypsy fortune teller. One night they encounter the two thugs and, in a fight, Aumont kills Roy. Lili hides Aumont at the gypsy camp and falls in love with him, but he remains obsessed with Maria. Meanwhile Dalio, picked up by the police for Roy’s murder, is given his release to track down Aumont. When his ship returns to port, Aumont decides to sail back to Canada, but he gives up the chance when he sees Maria ride by in a car. He follows her to the cabaret and finds her in the company of another man. Dalio, seeing him there, notifies the police. Furious at having discovered that he was just another man to her, Aumont goes to Maria's apartment and strangles her to death. As he leaves her apartment, he is taken into custody by the police waiting below. It was directed by Francois Villiers. The adaptation and dialogue is by Pierre Aumont, from the novel by Edouard Peisson. Adult fare. “Home Town Story” with Jeffrey Lynn, Donald Crisp and Marjorie Reynolds (MGM, May; time, 61 min.) This is purely and simply a propaganda film in defense of big business, the kind that seems more suitable for exhibition in schools and other appropriate places than in motion picture theatres. As a matter of fact, it is reported that General Motors financed the production, although no GM advertising is included. The picture’s message, which is hammered into the spectator through preachment and with a complete lack of subtlety, is that big business helps the average man to enjoy a richer and fuller life. Obviously designed to carry this message, the story is ordinary and it can hardly be classified as film entertainment in the accepted sense of that term. The story has Jeffrey Lynn, a war veteran, returning to his home town embittered after being defeated for re-election to the state senate. He takes over the editorship of his uncle’s newspaper and, to boost circulation, he starts an editorial campaign against big business profits, concentrating his attack on a local manufacturing plant owned by Donald Crisp, whose son had won Lynn’s senate seat. Crisp visits Lynn and in friendly fashion points out that big business could not make any profits if the consumers did not enjoy even greater profits from the goods they purchased. Lynn, however, is abrupt and refuses to consider Crisp’s viewpoint. Because of his stubborn attitude, he finds himself at odds with Marjorie Reynolds, his sweetheart, and Alan Hale, Jr., his star reporter and close friend. A near-tragedy, however, brings Lynn to his senses. This occurs when Melinda Plowman, his little sister, is trapped in a mine cave-in. Through the facilities made possible by big business, such as bulldozers, ambulances, planes and medical equipment, all furnished by Crisp, the child is rescued and rushed to a hospital in time to save her life. Now realizing what big business meant to the average man, Lynn reverses the tone of his editorials. It was written and directed by Arthur Pierson. No producer credit is given. “Fabiola” with Michele Morgan ( United Artists, June 1, time, 96 min.) This is an opulent Italian-made spectacle with a cast of thousands, dealing with early Christianity in the days of ancient Rome. In its original form, the picture had a running time of about 170 minutes, but in its revised form for American audiences the running time has been cut down to 96 minutes and it has been dubbed entirely in an English adaptation of the story. The result is not satisfying, and it is doubtful if the picture will have much of an appeal for the American movie-goers, except, perhaps, for the art house trade. Pictorially, the picture is highly impressive, and the spectacular climax, where the Christians are tortured and thrown to the lions in the Coliseum, is visually exciting and thrilling, but all this cannot overcome the picture’s deficiencies as a whole. The main weakness is in the story, which has been presented in so complicated a fashion that for the most part it leaves one utterly confused. And matters are not helped any by the fact that it is given more to talk than to action, with most of the dialogue too flowery and literary to be appreciated by the general run of audiences in this country. Other weaknesses include the choppy