Harrison's Reports (1951)

122 HARRISON’S REPORTS August 4, 1951 “Rhubarb” with Ray Milland and Jan Sterling ( Paramount , September; time, 95 min.) A novel and thoroughly amusing “whacky” type of comedy. Audiences are not expected to believe the story, which has an alley cat inheriting $30,000,000 and a major league baseball team from an eccentric millionaire, but those who will accept it for the improbable farce that it is should get many laughs out of the broadly humorous situations. Much of the comedy stems from the fact that the cat becomes a good luck omen to the fans and players of the Brooklyn baseball team, who become terribly upset if he fails to show up at the ball park during a game. There is considerable hilarity also in the fact that the cat interferes in the romantic life of Ray Milland, his legal guardian, who is unable to marry Jan Sterling because she is allergic to the cat, suffering sneezing fits whenever the animal is near her. The efforts of the dead millionaire's disgruntled daughter to murder the cat, and the kidnapping of the animal by gamblers betting against the Brooklyn team, give the proceedings some excitement and suspense. Briefly, the story has Gene Lockhart, millionaire owner of the Brooklyn baseball team, making a household pet of a tough alley cat, whom he calls Rhubarb because of its ability to survive in a rough and tumble world. Upon his death, Lockhart, who despised his grasping relatives, including Elsie Holmes, his daughter, leaves his entire fortune to the cat and names Milland, the ball club’s press agent, as its guardian. The ball players rebel at the idea of having a cat as their legal owner, but, when Milland convinces them that Rhubarb is a good luck omen, they gain fighting spirit and soon lead the league. The cat's influence on the team catches the public’s fancy, and Milland makes the most of it, but his guardianship interferes with his love for Jan Sterling, who was allergic to Rhubarb. Elsie, foiled when she attempts to murder Rhubarb, tries to break the will by claiming that the real Rhubarb is dead and that the present cat is an imposter. To prove her contention she brings three other identical cats into court, but Jan saves the day by proving that only the real Rhubarb can make her sneeze. Matters become complicated when the Brooklyn team meets New York in the world series and gamblers kidnap Rhubarb to make sure that Brooklyn will lose. A wide-spread search is instituted for the cat and public indignation runs high, but in the end Rhubarb escapes from his captors and makes his way to the ball park in time to inspire the team to victory. It was produced by William Perlberg and George Seaton, and directed by Arthur Lubin, from a screenplay by Dorothy Reid and Francis Cockrell, based on the novel by H. Allen Smith. Good for the entire family. “A Millionaire for Christy” with Fred MacMurray and Eleanor Parker (20th Century-Fox, Sept.; time, 91 min.) A breezy romantic comedy-farce with a number of genuinely-funny moments, “A Millionaire for Christy” should give pretty good satisfaction to the majority of movie-goers. The story itself is a flimsy affair, patly tailored to formula, but the pace is fast, the dialogue amusing, and the proceedings primed with enough laughs to keep one entertained consistently. The farce stems directly from the predicaments that pile up when a young secretary makes a play for a man who had no idea that he had just inherited a fortune, while she in turn is unaware that she is trying to vamp him on his wedding day. As in most farces of this kind, the dilemmas multiply fast and furiously. Eleanor Parker and Fred MacMurray are good in the principle roles, making the most of th*ir comical characterizations: — Eleanor, a »truggling secretary in a lawyer’s office, is sent by her employer to San Francisco to inform MacMurray, a radio philosopher, that he had inherited $2,000,000 from an uncle in Aigentina, and to obtain his signature on certain papers. By the time she reaches MacMurray's apartment, Eleanor decides to make a play for him before he learns of the inheritance. She faints in his arms as soon as he opens the do*r, unaware that he was in a rush to be married that day to (Cay Buckley. Richard Carlson, his best man, who was a psychiatrist, arrives at the wrong moment and miscontrues [the situation when he sees Eleanor on MacMurray's be». Realizing that she had pulled a boner, Eleanor follows MaiMurray to Kay’s home to tell him of his good fortune before he sails away on a honeymoon. Her appearance at the/bride’s home results in a series of misunderstandings that culminate in the accusation that she is the “other woman” if MacMurray's life. To get out of this untenable situation, pleanor feigns amnesia. MacMurray, to prove his innocence to Kay, decides to take Eleanor to Carlson's clinic in La Jolla so that the psychiatrist might vouch that she is insane. En route, they get lost in a fog and end up spending the night with a railroad section gang of Mexicans, who believe that they are newlyweds and celebrate with tequila. By morning, Eleanor and MacMurray find themselves falling in love. He finally brings her to Carlson, who sought to marry Kay himself, and that worthy tricks him into continuing to make love to Eleanor lest her “condition” become worse. Meanwhile he phones Kay to hasten to La Jolla to witness the romance. In the mad mixups that follow, all four come under the influence of tequila, and MacMurray, who did not believe Eleanor's story about his inheritance, kiddingly gives it all to charity when prodded by Carlson. Great confusion results on the following day when he learns that he had really given away a fortune, but despite this it all ends with Eleanor in MacMurray's arms. It was produced by Bert E. Friedlob, and directed by George Marshall, from a screenplay by Ken Englund, based on a story by Robert Harari. Unobjectionable morally. “Lilli Marlene” with an all-British cast (RKO, no rel. date set ; time, 75 min.) A mediocre British-made program melodrama, which purports to tell the story of the French girl who inspired the writing of the “Lilli Marlene” song, which was a favorite with the German troops during World War II. As presented, it shapes up as a dull and tiresome war yarn, hampered by a contrived and confusing script that is completely lacking in conviction, and by melodramatic incidents that are so preposterous that one cannot help laughing at them in derision. Moreover, the direction is poor, the acting awkward, and the players unknown in this country. Lisa Daniely, as the heroine, is an attractive personality, and her singing is the film’s major asset, but it is not enough to overcome the feebleness of the production as a whole: — Lisa, a waitress in her uncle's cafe in a North African town, is popular with the British troops. When the Germans capture the town, they learn that she inspired the writing of “Lilli Marlene.” They plan to ship her to Germany and make a national heroine out of her for propaganda purposes. Lisa is saved from this fate when she is rescued from the Germans by Hugh McDermott, an American radio correspondent, in a daring raid. She falls in love with him and becomes the pet of the British troops. After German parachutists make an unsuccessful attempt to kidnap her, she is sent to Cairo. There, however, Naziz agents succeed in capturing her. She is taken to Berlin, where she is compelled to entertain the enemy and make anti-British broadcasts. After the war, she returns to England in search of McDermott, and locates him at a reunion of British soldiers at Albert Hall. Several of the soldiers accuse her of collaborating with the enemy and demand that she be punished, but it all turns out for the best when a British Intelligence officer, who had posed as a Naziz official during the war, explains that through Lisa he had been enabled to send coded information over the German radio. It was produced by William J. Gell, and directed by Arthur Crabtree, from a screenplay by Leslie Wood. Harmless for children. “The Tall Target” with Dick Powell and Paula Raymond (MGM, August; time, 78 min.) A fairly good period melodrama, set in the days of 1861 when the country was divided over the election of Lincoln as president. The story, which is supposedly based on an actual but little known attempt to assassinate Lincoln while en route to Washington for his inauguration, is somewhat far-fetched, but it offers considerable excitement, suspense and thrrills as it details the successful efforts of a New York police sergeant to foil the assassination plot. Most of the action takes place on a train. Dick Powell, as the police officer who undertakes to foil the plot, despite the lack of official cooperation, gives the characterizaztion the required hard-boiled, stubborn quality and, as usual, he shines in several fistic encounters that provide the film with some of the action high spots. There is no romantic interest: — Having learned of a plot to assassinate Lincoln when he makes a scheduled speech in Baltimore prior to his inauguration, Powell, who had once served as Lincoln’s bodyguard, pleads with his superiors to take steps to prevent the killing. They call his story fantastic and refuse to act. Angered, he resigns from the force and arranges to go to Baltimore immediately by train. After experiencing much difficulty