Harrison's Reports (1952)

January 5, 1952 HARRISON’S REPORTS 3 arrival will set things right. But new complications arise when Gary Merrill, a fugitive criminal, comes to her house and demands to see her husband, his former partner-in-crime. He ruthlessly compels Bette to admit the murder, helps her dispose of the body, then blackmails her into letting him pose as her husband. When Steel arrives, accompanied by Barbara, Bette keeps her busy with secretarial chores while she goes riding with Steel. But Bette’s plans hit another obstacle when Merrill finds himself attracted to her. Meanwhile Barbara, no longer able to swallow Steel’s obvious interest in Bette, departs for London. Angered by Bette’s seductive appeal to Steel, Merrill vindictively shoots and kills her prize stallion, whom she loved. Furious, Bette tries to kill Merrill by sending him on an errand in a car with faulty brakes. But the plot misfires, and Merrill returns to accuse her of a murderous attempt. By this time Steel comes to his senses about the type of woman Bette really is, and he rushes to Barbara in London. His departure, coupled with the fact that the police were on the verge of discovering her husband’s body, causes Bette’s world to crash about her. Driven to distraction, she kills Merrill with a poisoned drink and devises an airtight alibi, but through an accident she swallows some of the poisoned mixture herself. Realizing what she had done, she drops dead with a ghoulish laugh on her lips. It was produced by Daniel M. Angel, and directed by Irving Rapper, from a screenplay by Val Guest, who took it from the play “Deadlock,” by Leslie Sand. A picture for adults. “Crazy Over Horses” with the Bowery Boys (Monogram, 7^ov. 18; time, 65 min.) Up to the standard set by the other pictures of this series. It is, as usual, a light comedy-melodrama. The action holds the spectator interested fairly well all the way through, and the horse-racing scenes add considerable excitement. Mr. Beaudine’s direction is as good as always considering the lightness of the story material. The photography is clear: — Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, David Gorcey, Bennie Bartlett and William Benedict suddenly sprout out into a collection agency when they learn that Bernard Gorcey, proprietor of the Bowery sweet shop and their “angel,” could not collect $250, owed to him by Tim Ryan, a stable owner. Bernard agrees to let them collect the debt. The boys call on Ryan who, joined by Gloria Saunders, his daughter, persuades them to accept, in payment of the debt, My Girl, a horse he had been boarding for a fellow named “Doc,” who had not paid him for months. My Girl, really a champion race horse, was owned actually by Ted De Corsia, a racketeer, who with the aid of Allen Jenkins and Mike Ross was planning to enter the horse in a race as a ringer for their Tarzana, a long-odds horse, so that he might recoup his lost fortune. Learning of this, the Bowery Boys switch horses. De Corsia, having become aware of the switch, orders his confederates to reswitch the horses. Switching of the horses takes place several times until the Gorcey group have My Girl, whereas the De Corsia group have Tarzana but think that they have My Girl. The boys, joined by Bernard, enter My Girl in the race with Huntz Hall as the jockey. My Girl wins, and the De Corsia gang are arrested. Jerry Thomas produced it, and William Beaudine directed it, from a screenplay by Tim Ryan. Good for the family. “The Las Vegas Story” with Jane Russell, Victor Mature and Vincent Price (RKO, no rel. date set; time, 88 min.) A good melodrama. There are comedy situations all the way through, and there is also considerable pathos. But the outstanding feature is the thrills in the closing reels as a result of a chase involving the villain’s car and a helicopter. It is the first time that a helicopter has been used in a picture so effectively. The manner in which the helicopter swoops down and around the villain’s car until it corners it will make the audience gasp. Thrilling also is the pistol duel and fight between the hero and the villain, with first one and then the other gaining the upper hand. Jane Russell looks very pretty, and the clothes she wears shows off her physical attributes to good advantage. Vincent Price is good as her reckless husband, who tries to recoup his losses at gambling, and Victor Mature is sympathetic as the hero who had once been in love with Miss Russell. The direction is skillful and the photography fine : — As their Los Angles-bound train nears Las Vegas, Price persuades Jane to stop off with him at the glamorous city for a while. Jane agrees reluctantly, for she feared that her past in that city would catch up with her. While Jane watches Price play the dice feverishly at a gambling casino, she sees Mature, a detective, looking at her. Memories flood back, and she recalls having met and fallen in love with him while singing at the local Last Chance Club, at which time he had been in the Air Force. He had gone overseas without proposing to her, while she had gone to New York, where she had married Price, a wealthy investment broker. Brushing away the old memories, Jane sees Price losing money recklessly. When she remonstrates, Price tells her to leave him alone and suggests that she visit her old friends at the Last Chance. She goes there and is greeted by Hoagy Carmichael, the piano player. She meets also Mature and, after both have a talk, they decide that there is nothing but memories left of their love. In the events that follow. Price loses heavily at gambling and is denied further credit. He puts up Jane’s $150,000 diamond necklace for a loan of $10,000 from Robert Wilke, owner of the Last Chance, and then loses that sum quickly. Several hours later Wilke is found murdered, with the necklace missing. Price is arrested as a suspect, because he had been observed quarrelling with Wilke over the necklace. But Mature, pursuing the investigation, discovers that the murder had been committed by Brad Dexter, an insurance company representative who had been assigned to keep an eye on Jane’s necklace but who had more of an eye for Jane herself. Mature discovers also that Dexter had the necklace. Aware that he had been found out, Dexter kidnaps Jane, steals a car, and heads for Mexico. Mature, pressing a helicopter into service, gives chase and finally corners Dexter’s car at an abandoned airport. Dexter engages Mature in a deadly pistol duel, using Jane as a shield, but Mature eventually shoots him dead. Back in Las Vegas, Price is cleared of the murder charge but is held for an embezzlement he had committed in the East. Jane now realizes that her marriage to Price was a mistake. She decides to remain in Las Vegas to secure a divorce and to start life anew with Mature. It was produced by Robert Sparks, and directed by Robert Stevenson, from a screenplay by Earl Felton and Harry Essex, based on a story by Jay Dratler. Though it is an adult picture, with much doublemeaning dialogue, ’teen-agers should go for it.