Harrison's Reports (1954)

February 13, 1954 HARRISON’S REPORTS 27 “Overlzmd Pacific” vrith Jack Mahoney, Pegg^ie Castle and Adele Jergens (United Artists, February; time, 73 min.) A fair program western, photographed in color by the Color Corp. of America process. Revolving around evil forces who instigate Indian attacks on a railroad construe' tion gang in order to force the railroad to change its route, the story and treatment are developed along formula lines and it offers little in the way of surprises. But the skirmishes with the Indians and the hero’s efforts to thwart the vil' lians make for enough exciting action and suspense to satisfy those who enjoy pictures of this type, regardless of story values. The direction and acting are adequate, and the color photography good: — Because of repeated Comanche Indian attacks on trackworkers building a road to the west coast, the Overland Pacific Railroad executives send Jack Mahoney, in the guise of A telegrapher, to investigate. Mahoney heads for Oaktovan, where he meets William Bishop, owner of the Silver Dollar saloor^ who served with him in the Civil War, and Peggie Castle, Bishop’s fiancee, daughter of Walter Sande, the railroad construction foreman. Before the day is over, Mahoney learns that Adele Jergens, an entertainer at the Silver Dollar, had been Bishop’s sweetheart before Peggie came into his life, and that Peggie’s father disapproved of her marriage to Bishop. Sande is visited on the job by Bishop who offers him a $25,000 bribe to change the railroad’s route so that it would pass through Oaktown. Before Sande can answer, he is shot dead by Chris Alcaide, Bishop's henchman. Quietly investigating the murder, Mahoney finds reason to suspect that Bishop and a group of real estate speculators were responsible because they stood to make a lot of money if the railroad goes through town. In the course of events, Mahoney’s identity is uncovered, and Chubby Johnson, the sheriff, who was in league with Bishop, lures him to an ambush where Alcaide tries to kill him. Mahoney, though woundded, outsmarts Alcaide and kills him. The sheriff, to avoid a showdown with Mahoney, commits suicide. Meanwhile Peggie and Mahoney fall in love and persuade the railroad workers to carry on their operations. A man hired by Bishop impersohates a railroad executive and orders the tracklayers to divert the railroad through Oaktown. Learning that the “executive” is a phony, Adele threatens to inform Mahoney, but Bishop kills her before she can talk. Shortly thereafter the Comanches, irked by their losses as a result of Mahoney’s clever defenses, make prisoners of Bishop and his companions, who had been supplying them with guns, and determine to massacre every white man in the area. Mahoney and the railroad workers defeat the Indians in a bloody battle, after which he kills Bishop in a gun duel. With peace restored, Mehoney and Peggie resume supervision of the tracklaying and dedicate the work to the memory of her father. It is a Reliance Production, directed by Fred F. Sears from a screenplay by J. Robert Bren, Gladys Atwater and Martin Goldsmith, based on a story by Frederic Louis Fox. Family. “Creature from the Black Laigoon” with Richard Carlson, Julia Adams and Richard Denning (Univ.'Int'l, March; 79 tnin.) A pretty good horror-type picture, photographed in 3-D but available to the exihibtors also in conventional 2-D form. This time Universal has come up with a new kind of monster, a scaly half-man, half-fish character called a Gill-Man, supposedly a relic of an age long forgotten. As can be expected, the story, which revolves around the efforts of a group of scientists to capture the creature, is rather fantastic, but the subject matter has been handled in a way that makes for a maximum of suspense and with an eye toward satisfying those who seek horrific chills and thrills. These thrills include underwater chases and struggles in which the monster tangles with the human characters, the capture and escape of the creature, and its kidnapping of the shapely heroine — all punctuated by vicious attacks and several killings. The photography, particularly in the underwater scenes, is very good: — The discovery by Antonio Moreno, a geologist, of a webfingered skeleton along the banks of the Amazon River brings a group of scientists to the site in the hope that they will find information that will help them in their study of the human race. The expedition, headed by Richard Denning, includes Richard Carlson, Julia Adams, Carlson’s fiancee, Sidney Mason and Whit Bissell. Upon reaching Moreno’s camp site, the group is horrified to find the mutilated remains of two of his native boys. Their efforts to find evidence of the heinous creature that committed the crime leads them to a hidden lagoon on an old river boat skipi>ered by Nestor Paiva. All are unaware that their every move was being observed by the Gill-Man (Ben Chapman). When Julia goes swimming, the Gill-Man follows her back to the boat and becomes enmeshed in a net slung over the side. He breaks out of the net but loses a fingertip in the process. Motivated by this clue, Denning and Carlson, using aqua lungs and fortified with a spear gun, dive deep into the lagoon and tangle with the monster, but he breaks free and disappears into the depths. Later, the Gill-Man climbs aboard the boat and kills one of the crew. The scientists succeed in capturing the Gill-Man by spreading on the water a drug that paralyzes him temporarily. They imprison him in an improvised bamboo tank aboard the ship but he manages to break loose and escape. The scientists now become concerned over their safety and decide to leave, only to discover that the Gill-Man had blockaded the lagoon's only outlet. As they try to remove the barricade, the creature steals aboard the vessel, seizes Julia and dives overboard with her. In the chase that follows the scientists trap the Gill-Man in an underground grotto and shoot him. Julia is rescued, and the Gill-Man, supposedly dying, sinks to the depths of the lagoon. It was produced by William Alland, and directed by Jack Arnold, from a screenplay by Harry Essex and Arthur Ross, based on a story by Maurice Zimm. Unobjectionable for the family. “Hell’s Half Acre” with Wendell Corey, Evelyn Keyes auid Nancy Gates (Republic, no rel. date set; time, 91 min.) A fair melodrama. The outstanding factor that may help bring ticket buyers to the box-office are the title and the interesting Hawaiian backgrounds, particularly the scenes of Honolulu. The story itself is considerably weak, and it is difficult for one to believe that what is happening is real. It deals with a young woman who finds reason to believe that her husband, reported missing in action by the military, is alive in Honolulu. She becomes involved in all sorts of complications when she goes there to investigate and finds out that he is an ex-racketeer held for murder. There is not much punch to the action, and the direction is not smooth. The acting is adequate, in spite of the fact that the characterizations are weakly motivated. The title is derived from Honolulu’s underworld district, where everything goes. The photography is good: — Wendell Corey, a former racketeer who had made a fortune out of amusement rackets in Honolulu during the easy-money years, is threatened with blackmail by Robert Costa, a criminal hoodlum, with whom he was once associated in a bank robbery. Nancy Gates, a beautiful Chinese girl who loved Corey, shoots Costa and kills him. Corey insists that he take the blame for the crime, and persuades Nancy to obtain $50,000 from his strongbox and to arrange with a lawyer to undertake his defense. Meanwhile in Los Angeles, Evelyn Keyes hears the playing of a song written by Corey and a line in the lyrics convinces her that it could not have been written by anyone but her husband, who was supposedly killed in the Pearl Harbor attack three days after their marriage. She goes to Honolulu to investigate if Corey, awaiting trial for Costa’s murder, is her husband. There, the police chief promises to arrange for her to see Corey. While waiting for the appointed hour, Evelyn is taken for a sightseeing tour by Elsa Lanchester, an eccentric female taxi driver, and learns that a beautiful home at Waikiki Beach was occupied by Nancy but owned by Corey. She stops there to speak to Nancy, and Philip Ahn, Corey’s former Chinese partner, poses as a man working for Nancy and informs Evelyn that she is not at home. Evelyn leaves, unaware that Ahn had just murdered Nancy to prevent her from taking the $50,000 from Corey’s strongbox. Learning of Nancy’s murder, Corey escapes from the police, hides out in the underworld district and dedicates himself to finding her killer. In the complicated events that follow, Evelyn manages to meet up with Corey and, because of his sordid past, he persuades her to consider him officially dead for the sake of their 11 -year-old son. Upon learning that Ahn had killed Nancy, Corey sacrifices his life to help the police trap him. Evelyn returns to the United States, convinced that Corey had died the death of a hero. It was produced and directed by John H. Auer, from a screenplay by Steven Fisher. Adults.