Harrison's Reports (1954)

January 23, 1954 HARRISON’S REPORTS 15 season is compelled to cancel date after date because of injuries and fatigue suffered by his players. To overcome the problem, he arranges with the men to take turns at clowning with the ball during the game while the other players rest. This clowning catches the fancy of the public and the team becomes a top box-office attraction. Despite the team’s success, however, the big league operators refuse to recognize it. Undeterred, Saperstein makes arrangements to play in some of the country’s largest arenas for the following season. But big league pressure on the arenas’ operators compel them to cancel the Globetrotter dates. The cancellation of these dates, coupled with the facf that the team is squeezed out of a professional basketball tournament on weak technical grounds, discourages Saperstein; he tells his team that he is quitting the sport game entirely. Within a few days, however, he borrows money from wherever he can and books a series of games in outdoor football stadiums in direct competition with the big league games. This move has the desired effect on the big league operators who, rather than risk going out of business as a result of the Globetrotters’ competition, agree to let them enter the tournament. Despite unfair handicaps, the team battles its way through elimination rounds and wins the tournament in a final game with the Chicago Majors — a championship that proves to be a springboard to fame and success. It was produced by Anton M. Leader, and directed by James Wong Howe, from a screenplay by Arnold Becker. Fine for the family. “Alaska Seas” with Robert Ryan, Jan Sterling and Brian Keith (Paramount, February; time, 78 min.) A fair melodrama, even though it offers little that has not been incorporated in similar pictures many times. The plot, which revolves around the trials and tribulations of salmon fishermen because of the machinations of a gang of salmon thieves, is obvious, and one is able to foresee the outcome, but it has sufficient melodramatic values to make it acceptable as a supporting feature. Worked into the proceedings to good effect are actual shots of salmon fishing by means of huge traps, and of avalanches of ice that break loose from icebergs as a result of sound reverberations. The plot concerns itself also with a romantic triangle involving the hero, his irresponsible buddy, and the heroine, but it is too unconvincing to be dramatically effective. The direction and acting are adequate: — Headed by Brian Keith, a group of Alaskan fishermen had formed a cooperative, which included a cannery, to protect their interests. But their fishing traps are robbed regularly by a gang led by Gene Barry, owner of another cannery, whom the honest fishermen suspected but against whom they were unable to obtain evidence. Keith is in love with Jan Sterhng, a local girl, who is willing to marry him immediately, but he insists that they wait for the return of Robert Ryan, his buddy, who, too, had been wooing her and who was expected back shortly. Unknown to all, Ryan had been jailed further up north for illegal killing of seals. Upon his release, Ryan does not have enough money to reclaim his boat, which had been repaired by Tim Carey. To get the boat, he simply steals it and heads for his hometown. There, he loses no time making a play for Jan. This serves to strain relations between Ryan and Keith, and the feeling between them does not improve when Ryan, claiming that he had accidentally let loose a terrific blast on his boat whistle, causes an avalanche of ice to break loose from a glacier and completely demolish Keith’s boat. By this time Carey catches up with Ryan who, to obtain the money needed to pay him for the boat repairs, makes a secret deal with Barry to help him raid the fishermen’s traps. The raid results in the killing of two of the fishermen, and evidence is found indicating that Ryan had participated in the raid. This leads to a fight between Ryan and Keith, with Jan siding with Ryan because of a belief that Keith was jealous of him. But she learns the truth later when Ryan, wounded while helping Barry to burn down the cooperative’s cannery, comes to her room for safe haven. She tells him to get out. Realizing that he had double-crossed his friends. Ryan again joins Barry, ostensibly as an ally, and as they flee past a glacier with Keith in hot pursuit, he toots his boat whistle, bringing down an avalanche of ice that kills both Barry and himself. It was produced by Mel Epstein, and directed by Jerry Hopper ,from a screenplay by Geoffrey Homes and Walter Doniger, based on a story by Barrett Willoughby. Unobjectionable morally. “The Command” with Guy Madison, Joan Weldon and James Whitmore (Warner Bros., Feb. 13; time, 94 min.) “The Command,’’ photographed in WarnerColor, would ordinarily be appraised as a typical Indians-versus-U.S. Cavalry melodrama, but it gains considerable importance dramatically and visually by virtue of the anamorphic process in which it was shot. Although Warner Bros, is advertising it as a CinemaScope production, actually it was photographed with a Vistarama lens, which does not seem to offer as sharp a picture as does the CinemaScope lens; the sides of the picture are somewhat fuzzy and seem to be slightly out of focus, but it is doubtful if the average picturegoer will take notice of this defect. The story, which deals with the problems faced by an Army medical captain when he is called upon to take command of a cavalry detachment, is filled with fast and exciting action from start to finish because of the cavalry’s steady harrassment by marauding Indians while escorting a civilian wagon train through hostile Wyoming territory. Worth the price of admission alone is the impressive climactic battle at the finish, during which the Indians are wiped out in a running battle with the wagon train and the cavalry. This is a highly thrilUng sequence, made all the more effective by the sweep of the anamorphic camera. Guy Madison is good as the heroic medical officer who proves his mettle, as is James Whitmore as his tough top-sergeant. Joan Weldon is competent and attractive as a practical nurse who wins Madison’s heart. Good touches of humor are provided by Harvey Lembeck, as one of the troopers. The color photography is first-rate: — Attached to a cavalry unit, Madison, a captain in the Army Medical Corps, is compelled to take command of the troop when the officer in charge is killed by an Indian arrow. Whitmore and many of the troopers resent being commanded by a doctor, but Madison leads them to a town nearby, where he makes contact with a column of infantry troops commanded by Carl Benton Reid, a colonel, who had been assigned to convoy a civilian wagon train through hostile Indian country. Reid orders Madison’s unit to join the convoy. Shortly after the trek begins, they are attacked by marauding Indians who keep striking at them from time to time. To add to the difficulties, the wagon train is attacked by sickness, diagnosed by the infantry doctor as smallpox, but which later proves to be chicken pox. Three of the wagons are immediately quarrantined and separated from the main column, leaving an unprotected gap. The Indians take advantage of this situation and launch a series of repeated attacks. Many of them are killed, but the main striking force remains intact. This constant harrassment eventually demoralizes the foot soldiers, and matters become even more complicated when Reid, a sick man, suffers a stroke, leaving Madison in full command. Carefully studying the situation, Madison comes to the conclusion that whichever side arrives first at a pass ten miles distant can wipe out the other from the heights. Through a master plan of strategy, by which he arranges for the civilians and infantry soldiers to travel to the pass by night on foot, while the wagons, manned by expert riflemen, remain behind, Madison tricks the Indians into launching a final attack that ends in their slaughter when they make a dash for the pass and are cut down by the waiting infantrymen. With the Indians in full retreat, Madison's men gain new respect for his courage and ability, and as the column moves westward he takes his place next to Joan, who had been a tower of strength in nursing the sick and wounded. David Weisbart produced it, and David Butler directed it, from a screenplay by Russell Hughes, based on a Saturday Evening Post novel by Warner Bellah. For the family.