Harrison's Reports (1951)

128 HARRISON’S REPORTS August 11, 1951 On the other hand, the distribution company that follows a live-and-let-live policy, honestly endeavoring to understand the individual exhibitor's problems, will find that its films will be booked consistently by the exhibitors, even when some of the pictures should happen not to be as good as the films of other companies. To repeat what has been said in these columns numerous times, there comes a time when every distributing company finds itself with one or more pictures that are below par from a box-office point of view, and it is at such a time that the company is greatly in need of exhibitor support. With the exercise of some good faith and reasonable dealings now, the distributor can create the go<?d will that will pay off in times of stress. “The Magic Face” with Luther Adler and Patricia Knight ( Columbia , September ; time. 88 min.) Produced in Vienna, the interest that this picture will arouse is problematical. To many movie-goers, hitler is like yesterday s newspaper. In addition, the story is hardly believable, for it shows a fellow, handy at magic, killing Hitler and assuming his identity. Even if it were true, it still could hardly be beiieved. Though the interest is held fairly well to the end, there is nothing outstanding in the action, unless the showing of Hitler s last days, about which there have been many newspaper accounts, should appeal to some picture-goers. The photography is somber. The picture opens in Berlin in front of the entrance to the dugout in which Hitler and his paramour found death. William L. Shirer, the famous foreign correspondent, tells the audience the story they are about to see had been told to him by a person whose word he had accepted. By flashback, Luther Adler, a master impersonator, is depicted as the toast of the Vienna variety stage. One night, after the Nazis take over Austria, Hitler visits the theatre where Adler is performing and is so struck by the beauty of Patricia Knight, Adler's wife and assistant, that he sends for her. From that moment on, Patricia becomes Hitler's paramour. When Adler attempts to see her, he is thrown into a concentration camp, where he suffers the cruelties meted out by the Nazis to their prisoners. Because of his skill as a magician, Adler is compelled by Himmler to perform for his women guests. Being adept at disguises, Adler eventually escapes and in time becomes a butler to Hitler. Although he comes in contact with his wife, she does not recognize him, because of his clever makeup. In time he finds an opportunity to kill Hitler. He then impersonates the Nazi leader and cleverly does away with all those who might recognize him Eventually, however, the Allies pulverize Berlin and wreck the dugout in which the supposed Hitler was hiding. Adler then reveals himself to his wife. Horrified, she runs into the rubble, where she perishes. Adler, too, dies when a bomb completely demolishes the dugout. The story was written and produced by Mort Briskin and Robert Smith; it was directed by Frank Tuttle. Mainly for adults. “Darling, How Could You” with Joan Fontaine, John Lund and Mona Freeman ( Paramount , October; time. 86 min.) Although produced artistically, this picture, a sort of bedroom comedy-farce, set in the early 1900’s, is only moderately entertaining. Some picture-goers may like it, but others will find it very tiresome, for the chief characters really are, not Joan Fontaine and John Lund, but Mona Freeman, as a 15-year-old girl, and David Stollery, an 11year-old boy. And many persons do not care for children as the chief characters in drama. Several situations provoke hearty laughs, and the diaolgue is occasionally bright, but on the whole it has many dull spots, is excessively talky, and is much too long for what it has to offer. One of the story’s chief weaknesses is that little sympathy is felt for Miss Fontaine and Lund, as the parents, who are depicted as having been absent from home for five years; one finds it difficult to warm up to parents who stay away from their children for that length of time, entrusting them to maids and nurses: — After an absence of several years during the construction of the Panama Canal, Lund, a doctor, and Joan, his attractive wife, return home to New York, excited at the thought of seeing their children — Mona, David and an infant daughter. Joan finds the children practically strangers, and her efforts to make friends with them prove unsuccessful and leave her dismayed. Lund, however, has better luck. Complications arise when Peter Hanson, a young doctor Joan and Lund knew in Panama, comes visiting; Joan, happy to see him, kisses him impulsively. Mona, her mind influenced by a triangle play she had seen the night before, misinterprets the kiss and takes it for granted that her mother is involved in an affair with Hanson. She decides to keep the incident from her father and determines to “save” her mother’s honor by copying the sacrificial tactics of one of the characters she had seen in the play. Dressed as a grownup woman, she calls on Hanson and insist that he leave town immediately because she is the daughter of the woman who is in love with him. Having never met Mona, Hanson is completely mystified. He is relieved when the doorbell rings, for he had been expecting Joan and Lund for cocktails. Mona, hearing her father's voice, hides in a closet. Lund, finding a woman’s glove on the floor, “kids” Hanson about it, and the young man explains that it belongs to the daughter of a woman who, he had just learned, is madly in love with him. When both men leave the room, Joan, noticing part of a dress sticking out of the closet, mischeviously opens the door and is shocked to find Mona. Hanson then learns the identity of his caller, and Lund believes that Joan is in love with him. Mona flees but is soon overtaken by Joan, who learns that she has been trying to protect her. Although amused, Joan decides not to disillusion Mona. When Lund arrives, she tells him of Mona’s motive, and both agree that it is best that Joan pretend that she had taken Mona’s advice to be a good wife to her husband, and a good mother to the children. Harry Tugend produced it, and Mitchell Leisen directed it, from a screenplay by Dodie Smith and Lesser Samuels, based on James M. Barrie’s play, “Alice Sit by the Fire.” For the sophisticated picture-goers. “Yukon Manhunt” with Kirby Grant and Chinook ( Monogram , July 8; time, 63 min.) As good as the average picture of this series, suitable for the lower half of a double bill. The action holds one’s interest well, but the direction could have been better. Some of the situations tax one’s credulity. Chinook, for instance, is not shown overtaking the villain although his master is after him; most any dog would have grabbed the villain by the seat of his pants and downed him. Towards the end, however, Chinook asserts himself. The photography is of the usual good quality: — While transporting Kenmore Mine payrolls from Fort Henry to Big Creek, three messengers had been held up and murdered, and Kirby Grant, a Canadian Mountie, is assigned to the case with Chinook, his faithful dog. Dressed in civilian clothes, Grant travels to the mine on a train with Nelson Leigh, the mine owner; Gail Davis, his niece; Dick Barron; Dennis Moore, a new payroll messenger; Paul McGuire, an armed guard; Rand Brooks, a young mining engineer just hired by Leigh; and Margaret Field, Brooks’ sister. Because the weather was cold, the stove in the passenger coach is lighted. An unknown person quietly throws a chemical into the stove and several persons in the coach are rendered unconscious. In the resulting confusion Moore and the train conductor are murdered and the payroll stolen. Brooks and McGuire establish abilis. John Dougette, a passenger, is suspected. At Big Creek, Grant and the others head for the mine settlement in two canoes. A mysterious man fires at the party from shore, wounding Brooks. Grant learns that Barron had murdered the wounded Brooks, had knocked Margaret unconscious, and had disappeared. Together with Gail and Chinook, he goes to Barron’s cabin and finds him dead. In the events that transpire, Grant unearths evidence pointing to the fact that Gail and her uncle had been robbing their own payrolls with the aid of McGuire and the late Barron, and had been collecting from the insurance company twice the amounts supposedly stolen. Leigh, McGuire and Gail flee, but Grant and Chinook give chase and overtake them just as they board a train. A terrific fight ensues, during which McGuire falls to his death from the speeding train. Grant arrests Leigh and Gail, after which he makes plans to marry Margaret. Lindsley Parsons produced it with William F. Broidy assisting him, and Frank McDonald directed it from a screenplay by Bill Raynor, based on a story by James Oliver Curwood. Suitable for family patronage.