Harrison's Reports (1952)

January 19, 1952 HARRISON’S REPORTS 11 “Fort Osage” with Rod Cameron and Jane Nigh (Monogram, Feb. 10; time, 72 min.) Photographed in Cinecolor, "Fort Osage" is a good “glori' fied” western, dealing with Osage Indians and perfidious whites, and with the hero, played by Rod Cameron, preventing the Indians from going on the warpath. The action is fast, holding the spectator s interest all the way through. Plentiful human interest and excitement is aroused by the hero's fighting evildoers, and by his protecting the weak. The romance between Cameron and Jane Nigh is pleasant. The direction and acting are good, as is the Cinecolor photography, despite the tact that it is a two-color process. The outdoor scenery is beautiful: — Cameron, a frontier sout who was on friendly terms with the Osage Indians, arrives at Fort Osage to meet Morns Ankrum, who had hired him to lead a wagon train with emigrants to California. FLe finds the emigrants discontented because Ankrum had doubled the fare to California, and because there had been a long delay in starting the train. A fresh dealy is caused when Cameron learns that the Indians were on the warpath, a condition he could not understand since they had a treaty with the whites. He de. cides to visit the Indians for an explanation. Douglas Kennedy, who had caused the strife and who waas in league with Ankrum, orders three of his henchmen to follow Cameron and kill him, but Cameron eludes them after killing one of them in self defense. Arriving at the Indian bivouac, he learns that Ankrum had failed to deliver supplies as promised by the treaty, and that Kennedy's gang had killed five Osages. Cameron pledges to deliver the supplies himself. He returns to Fort Osage and compels Ankrum to admit his perfidy. Kennedy kills Ankrum and slugs Jane Nigh, his daughter, after which he and his henchmen raid the Indian village, killing women and children. Finding Ankrum dead and Jane slugged, Cameron organizes a posse and goes after the outlaws. But before he can catch them he comes upon the Indians on the wrapath. He convinces the Osage chief that Kennedy and his men were responsible for the trouble. The Indians join forces with Cameron s posse. They soon overtake the outlaws and kill them all in a gun battle. With the outlaws exterminated and the treaty reestablished, Cameron leads the wagon train west, with Jane by his side. Walter Mirisch produced it, and Lesley Selander directed it, from a story and screenplay by Dan Ullman. Good for the family trade. “For Men Only” with Paul Henreid, Robert Sherman and Russell Johnson ( Lippert , January 11; time, 93 min.) A very good drama of hazing in a college, produced and directed by Paul Henreid. Mr. Henreid's direction is so intelligent, and the acting of everyone in the cast, particularly Mr. Henreid and Robert Sherman, is so good that the spectator is made to feel as if a bit of real life is passing before his eyes. There are many tense moments throughout. The situation where Sherman is ordered by the college bully to shoot dead a little dog is very relaistic, as is Sherman's reluctance to kill the dog. The picture should arouse sentiment against fraternity hazing, for its crudities impress the spectator and induce him to take a stand against such barbarities. The title is naturally catchy. At the same time the exhibitor will have to use ingenuity in publicizing it lest the women patrons get the impression that the picture is intended for men only. The chances for exploitation are multitudinous. An appeal could be made to parents by asking them if they approve of such barbarities when their sons risk being injured seriously. An appeal could be made even to 'teen-agers, inviting them to see the possibilities of serious injury to them from a sadistic custom:— Sherman, a student at Wake College, defies Russell Johnson, football hero and campus leader, because of the brutality at the Omega Nu fraternity’s initiation hazings, dictated by Johnson. Sherman is determined to make good at the fraternity, but at the secret "Hell Night” hazing he refuses to kill a small dog, as ordered. When James Dobson, another pledge, fires the gun, Sherman, sickened, reports the incident to Henreid, his friendly pathology professor. The local newspapers break the scandal and the district attorney starts an investigation, but the Omega Nu members deny Sherman's story. Henreid determines to back up Sherman, despite the objections of Margaret Field, his wife, who feared that it might hurt Henreid’s chances of becoming dean of the medical school. Calling at the Omega Nu house for his clothes, Sherman is thrown out by the members. They also pursue his car, causing him to suffer critical injuries in a crash with a truck. Henreid calls an emergency faculty meeting but he gets no help. Kathleen Hughes, a rich and attractive co-ed, offers her home to Henreid for a student body meeting and uses the occasion to maneuver Henreid into a compromising situation, just as his wife walks in. Margaret threatens to leave him unless he drops Sherman's case. Just then word comes that Sherman had died of his injuries. Later Kathleen, enraged because Henreid refused her attentions, frames him with a claim that he had made advances to her in his office. As a result, Hens reid is thrown off the faculty. Margaret, however, stands by him. Dobson, repentant, makes a date with Heried to tell him the truth about the initiation, but Johnson overhears him and gives him a severe beating. Henreid learns of the beating and maneuvers Johnson into admitting the accuracy of Sherman’s initiation story. The college president overhears the admission and orders Johnson to report for disciplinary action. He then apologizes to Henreid and asks him to remain at the college as dean of tthe medical school. Mr. Henreid produced and directed the picture from a screenplay by Lou Morheim, who collaborated on the story with Herbert Margolies. Suitable for the family. “Harem Girl” with Joan Davis ( Columbia , February, time, 71 min.) Undiscriminating movie-goers, particularly children, should get pretty fair satisfaction out of this program slapstick comedy, even though the more discerning picturegoers will find it nonsensical and boresome. Like most slapstick comedies, there are times when the comedy is forced; nevertheless, there are moments when audiences will roar with laughter at the antics of Joan Davis who gets herself into all sorts of predicaments when she poses as first as Princess and then a harem dancer in the palace of an unscrupulous Arab sheik. The fast action and the thrills, which are of the hide-and-seek variety, keep the spectator's in*c._ alive. Although the picture has been photographed in black and-white, the costumes impress one as being colorful:— Hired as a companion-secretary to Peggy Castle, a young Princess of a middle-East desert kingdom, Joan Davis, a wise-cracking American girl, discovers upon her arrival that the Princess’ life was in danger because Donald Randolph, an unscrupulous sheik, wanted her out of the way so that he might exploit the country’s vast but untapped oil resources, Randolph orders Peggy to marry Arthur Blake, a fat and pudgy sheik, threatening her with death if she refuses. Peggy disobeys the order and, leaving Joan costumed like herself, steals away to contact Paul Marion, handsome leader of her loyal followers, whom she loved. Thinking that Joan is the Princess, Randolph's men carry her off to the desert palace. There Joan is compelled to make use of her keen knowledge of judo to prevent the lecherous Blake from becoming to amorous. After a hectic brawl with the palace guards, Joan escapes, taking with her the key to the palace dungeon in which Randolph had stored his guns and ammunition. Meanwhile both the Princess and Marion are captured and held prisoners. Joan joins Marion's men and helps them to capture Blake, who, feeling that Randolph would doublecross him, leads his captors to the dungeon holding the guns. Joan then sneaks into the palace and, posing as a dancer, organizes the harem girls and induces them to stage a "sit-down” strike so that the torture of Marion and the Princess might be delayed until the Princess' followers came to the rescue. Her strategy results in Randolph's defeat, and the Princess is returned to power. When members of the French Foreign Legion arrive to take Randolph into custody, Joan, impressed by them, wants to join up. The commander tells her that the Legion is “for men only,” but Joan quickly replies, “So am I.” Wallace MacDonald produced it, and Edward Bernds directed it from his own story and from a screenplay written in collaboration with Elwood Ullman. Suitable for the family trade.