Harrison's Reports (1954)

46 HARRISON’S REPORTS March 20, 1954 ‘‘Racing Blood*’ with Bill Williams, Jean Porter and Jimmy Boyd (20th Century'Fox, March; time, 76 min.) A mcxlerately entertaining horse'iacing melodrama, photographed in the SuperCineColor process. Little imagination has gone into the treatment, in spite of the fact that the story idea itself is somewhat novel, but it has enough human interest and racing excitement to get by with the undiscriminating movie-goers on the lower-half of a double bill. The film introduces Jimmy Boyd, the boy-singer, who does well enough as a youngster who loves horses and secretly trains one to become a champion racer, despite a split hoof. There is some mild comedy, as well as a pleasant but unimportant romance between Bill WilHams and Jean Porter. The color photography is no more than fair: — Together with George Cleveland, his grandfather, a loveable old stable keep, Jimmy Boyd lives at Shady Knowles Ranch, a horse-breeding farm owned by John Eldredge. Both Jimmy and his grandfather love horses and have racing in their blood. Bill Williams, in charge of training Eldredge’s fine stock, is in love with Jean Porter, Eldredge’s daughter, from whom he is constantly winning bets. When one of the farm’s mares gives birth to identical twin colts, it is discovered that one of the colts heis a split hoof and the task of destroying the new-born animal is left to Cleveland. Jimmy persuades his grandfather not to destroy the colt, and he secretly hides and nurses the colt back to health. During the day, Jimmy helps to train Satan, the sounder of the two colts, and at night he goes into the hills and trains Mister Marker, the colt with the split hoof, who shows more speed than Satan. By dyeing black a white identifying mark on Mister Marker, Jimmy is able to hide his identity and secures permission from Eldredge to train him on the farm. In due time Jimmy and his grandfather enter Mister Marker in a big 2 -year-old championship race, in which Satan, too, had been entered. The race is run at a furious pace and Mister Marker emerges the winner, a nose ahead of his twin brother Satan. Eldredge, though downcast at losing the race, is happy for Jimmy, but his joy knows no bounds when Jimmy informs him that Mister Marker is the twin of Satan and insists that he go to the winner’s circle to accept his lawful laurels. It is a Gateward production, produced and directed by Wesley Barry, from a screenplay written by Sam Rocea, based on a story by himself and Mr. Barry. Family. “Drive a Crooked Road” with Mickey Rooney and Dianna Foster (Columbia, April; time, 83 min.) A good but somewhat depressing melodrama. The direction and acting are tops, the story has substance, and the action holds one’s interest tense from start to finish. Mickey Rooney is very good as a shy auto mechanic who is tricked into joining a bank robbery, and his love for Dianne Foster is believable and impresive. The story is somewhat demoralizing in that the planning of the crime, though interesting in itself, is shown in detail. The redeeming feature is that both Rooney and Miss Foster are sympathetic and become regenerated. The ending itself is tragic, and it is left to the audience to assume that both Rooney and Miss Foster, though regenerated, will pay for their part in the crime. There is hardly any comedy relief : — Rooney, an auto mechanic, has only one interest in life — sports car racing. Having proved himself an expert driver in road races in Southern California, Rooney dreams of owning an expensive foreign car and of driving it in the great European races. One day Dianne, a curvaceous beauty, flirts with Rooney and carefully leads him on until he gains enough courage to ask her for a date. He falls heads over heels in love with her and she seems to reciprocate his feelings. Through her he becomes acquainted with Kevin McCarthy and Jack Kelly, a pair of apparently well-to-do young men vacationing in an attractive beach house, and both show a keen interest in his knowledge of cars. Rooney, however, is unaware of the fact that Dianna was actually McCarthy’s girlfriend, and that she was in league with him and Kelly in a plan to have Rooney drive a hopped-up getaway car after McCarthy and Kelly hold up a bank in Palm Springs. In due time McCarthy presents the plan to Rooney and offers him $1?,000 for the task. Rooney refuses, even though it would give him enough money to buy a foreign racing car. Dianna plays on Rooney’s love for her and tells him that the money would serve as a nest egg for their future. Rooney reluctantly agrees to do the job lest he lose Dianna, but she in turn is touched by his love and begins to regret that she had lured him into the deal. The robbery is pulled off as planned, and Dianna makes preparations to leave for the East with McCarthy. But when she hears the bewildered Rooney trying to learn her whereabouts from McCarthy, she faces him and admits that she had given him a raw deal. McCarthy angered, strikes Dianna and orders Kelly to take Rooney for a ‘ride” and to kill him, lest he talk to the police. Rooney manages to wreck the car and the crash kills Kelly. .<'\nd, though injured himself, Rooney makes his way back to the beachhouse where he kills McCarthy in self-defense while attempting to protect Dianna. By this time the police arrive on the scene, and it ends with Rooney assuring the remorseful Dianna that everything will turn out all right. It was produced by Jonie Taps, and directed by Richard Quine, from a screenplay by Blake Edwards, based on a story by James Benson Nablo. Adults. “TTie Saint’s Girl Friday” with Louis Hayward and Naomi Chcuice (RKO, April; time, 68 min.) A fairly good program mystery melodrama, of the type RKO produced about fifteen years ago as the “Saint” series. This one, produced in Britain, makes good use of actual London backgrounds and once again casts Louis Hayward as an international adventurer who skirts the law to solve a murder, in spite of the fact that his tactics are an annoyance to Scotland Yard. There is considerable excitement in some of the situations and Mr. Hayward’s movements hold one in suspense up to the closing scenes. There is no comedy relief, but the action is rather light. The photography is clear even though it is in a somewhat low key: —