Harrison's Reports (1952)

90 HARRISON’S REPORTS June 7, 1952 “Montana Territory” with Lon McCallister, Wanda Hendrix and Preston Foster (Columbia, June ; time, 64 min.) “Montana Territory” is several notches above the average program western by virtue of its Technicolor photography and better-than-average cast. Otherwise, the story fits into a more or less standard pattern involving the machinations of a renegade sheriff who uses his position to cover up the robberies and ruthless killings of a gang of outlaws. Added interest is given to the proceedings by a youthful deputy sheriff’s misguided belief in the honesty and integrity of the sheriff, with the disillusioned lad effecting the capture of the culprit when the truth dawns on him. The gunfights, chases, stagecoach robberies and fisticuffs provide the kind of excitement the action fans expect to find in a picture of this kind. The photography is fine: — Jack Elam, Robert Griffin and George Ives, who, when not banditing, is a deputy sheriff, kill two men and rob them of their gold dust. The murder is seen by Lon McCallister, a young man who had come to the Montana gold fields to seek his fortune. Pursued by the bandits, McCallister seeks refuge near a stagecoach relay station operated by Wanda Hendrix and Eddy Waller, her father. A gun battle ensues between McCallister and the bandits, who flee when Preston Foster, the sheriff, arrives on the scene. Learning that MeCallister had witnessed the murders, Foster, who is the secret leader of the bandits, appoints him a deputy and assigns him to protect a stagecoach, planning to have him killed by two henchmen posing as passengers. Waller, seeing McCallister’s danger, and aware that Wanda had fallen in love with him, tips him off about the identity of the passengers, thus enabling him to thwart their plans and save the coach and its gold. McCallister innocently tells Foster of Waller’s tip, and shortly thereafter Foster murders Waller surreptitiously. Wanda suspects Foster and tries to convince McCallister of his guilt, but McCallister sticks to his belief in Foster even when a vigilante committee is formed by Wanda and a group of townspeople. The Vigilantes finally have a showdown battle with the bandits and McCallister becomes convinced of Foster's du^ plicity. In a final gun battle, he captures Foster, thus avenging Wanda’s father and becoming reconciled with her. It was produced by Colbert Clark, and directed by Ray Nazarro, from a screenplay by Barry Shipman. Harmless for the family. “Here Come the Marines” with Leo Gorcey and the Bowery Boys (Monogram, June 29; time, 66 min.) Although it has been given a good title, this latest addition to the “Bowery Boys” pictures is one of the weakest of the series. It may prove fairly acceptable to the avid followers of the series, but others probably will find it boresome, for the comedy is flat and the action slow. One of the annoying features is the constant use of a whistle by Huntz Hall, who through his usual stupid actions is promoted to be a sergeant. William Beaudine is a good director, but it seems as if even he could not have done better with the weak story material. The photography is clear: — Leo Gorcey receives a notice from his draft board informing him that he had been drafted. When he appears for induction he chooses the Marines as the service he wants to be in. When Gorcey hears that Huntz Hall, too, had been drafted and had chosen the Marines, he informs his pals that he will cause much disturbance. Hanley Stafford, the colonel, makes Huntz a sergeant when he learns that he was the son of a dear friend of his, who had been in the Marines before his death. As a sergeant, Huntz makes life miserable for the other boys. On maneuvers one day, Gorcey and his pals come upon a badly beaten Marine lying in the road. Despite the doctor's efforts, the injured Marine dies. From certain clues it comes to light that the dead Marine had obtained proof of crookedness in a gambling joint in town, which joint was frequented by Marines, and the gamblers, fearing exposure, had murdered him. Gorcey and his pals go to the gambling joint and gamble, but every time they win, the dice, as well as the cards, change automatically and show them to be losers. Gorcey then decides to gather evidence of the joint's crookedness. The owners, aware that Gorcey and his pals had been collecting evidence against them, decide to compromise them; they order some of their girl-friends to vamp Gorcey and his friends. Despite the vamping girls, however, as well as the machinations of a crooked sheriff, Gorcey and his gang eventually prove that Paul Maxey is guilty of the murder. The regiment changes command, and it all ends with Huntz demoted to private while Gorcey is upped to sergeant. Jerry Thomas produced it from a screenplay by Tim Ryan, Charles R. Marion and Jack Crutcher. Unobjectionable morally. “Has Anybody Seen My Gal” with Charles Coburn, Piper Laurie and Rock Hudson (Univ.'Int’l, July; time, 89 min.) A good comedy with some music, photographed in Technicolor; the general run of audiences should find it a thoroughly satisfying entertainment, the kind that permits one to sit back and relax. Set in the year 1928, when flappers, racoon coats and speakeasies were in vogue, the story revolves around a wealthy old bachelor who decides to leave his fortune to the family of the girl who had turned him down years previously. Charles Coburn, as the crochety but loveable bachelor, is in top form. Amusing situations are prevalent throughout because of the fact that he visits the family incognito and becomes their boarder in order to watch their reaction to sudden wealth, after he gives them $100,000 anonymously. Considerable comedy stems from Coburn's working as a soda jerk to cover up his identity, and from his being branded as an old reprobate by the local judge after he gets caught in two raids — in a speakeasy and a gambling joint — while trying to protect the reputations of the younger members of the family. Even though the story is mostly farcical in content, it has considerable human appeal: — Having decided to leave his fortune to the family of the sweetheart who had rejected him in 1890, Coburn travels to a small Vermont town to find out what kind of people they are. He learns that his old flame had passed away; that Lynn Bari, her daughter, is married to Larry Gates, a struggling druggist; and that they lived in a modest home with their three children, including Piper Laurie, William Reynolds and Gigi Perreau. By a ruse, Coburn tricks the family into taking him in as a boarder, and he manages to get a job as a soda jerk in Gates’ drug store, where he meets Rock Hudson, Piper’s boy-friend. After living with the family for a period, Coburn sees to it that they are given $100,000 from an unknown benefactor. There is an immediate change in the happy, easy-going family when Lynn, seeking social standing, compels her husband to sell the drug store and their home while they move into a large mansion. Moreover, she forces Piper into an engagement with Skippy Homeier, of a socially prominent family, despite her love for Hudson. Meanwhile Coburn moves in with Hudson and continues working at the drug store for the new owner. At a lavish party given by Lynn to announce Piper’s engagement to Homeier, Gates, who had been spending money recklessly to meet the bills incurred by Lynn, announces that he is broke. The guests, including Homeier and his parents, leave in a huff. Shorn of their wealth, the family returns to normal living and, under Coburn's guidance, they buy back the old house and the store, while Piper and Hudson resume their romance. Coburn, still keeping his identity a secret, leaves town, satisfied that the family had learned enough of a lesson to be entrusted with his estate. It was produced by Ted Richmond, and directed by Douglas Sirk, from a screenplay by Joseph Hoffman, based on a story by Eleanor H. Porter. Fine for the family.