Harrison's Reports (1954)

April 3, 1954 HARRISON’S REPORTS 55 “Knock on Wood” with Danny Kaye and Mm Zetterling (Paramount, no rel. date set; time, 103 min.) The general run of audiences should get many a hearty laugh out of this highly amusing comedy, which has been photographed in Technicolor. As an American ventriloquist who unwittingly becomes involved in an international espionage plot while appearing in Europe, Danny Kaye romps through the “whacky” plot in his inimitable style, and his clowning keeps the audience m a mirthful mood from start to finish, particularly when he becomes the object of a chase on the part of two rival spy gangs. The film is packed with hilarious situations, outstanding of which is the sequence where Kaye, while dodging his pursuers, becomes involved with a Russian ballet troupe performing on a London stage. The manner in which he gets himself suspected as a maniacal murderer is a fine bit of comic invention. Worked into the fast-moving proceedings to good effect are several songs, the best of which is the one sung by Kaye when, to escape from the police, he poses as an Irishman and joins a drinking bout with a group of Sons of Hibernia. Mai Zetterling, the Swedish film star, is charming as a lady psychiatrist who wins Kaye’s heart. All in all, it is a top comedy, and it should do top business. The story opens in Paris, where members of a spy ring learn that Kaye is about to leave for Zurich to visit a psychiatrist because of his fear of marriage. Having stolen the blueprints of a deadly secret weapon, they stuff the plans into the heads of two of Kaye’s ventriloquial dummies so that he would unknowingly transport the documents to an agent in Switzerland. Upon arriving in Zurich, Kaye is given psychiatric treatment by Mai, a woman doctor, with whom he falls in love. Meanwhile a rival spy gang had learned that Kaye had transported the plans, and he soon becomes involved with the agents of both rings when they ransack his room. Complications arise when the agents kill each other in the struggle to obtain the plans, and Kaye is suspected of committing the murders. He is forced to flee to evade arrest, and after many zany adventures, during which the police and spies pursue him to London, he unwittingly traps the spies, becomes a hero, and wins Mai’s heart. It was written, produced and directed by Norman Panama and Melvin Frank. Suitable for all. “Elephant Walk” with Elizabeth Taylor, Dana Andrews and Peter Finch (Paramount, June; time, 103 min.) There is no denying that this Technicolor melodrama, which was filmed to a large extent in Ceylon, has been provided with an exotic setting and colorful authentic backgrounds, but the picturesque values are not enough to overcome a story that fails to strike a reahstic note, lacks a genuine dramatic punch, and is, for the most part, slowpaced. It is at best no more than a fair entertainment that will require selling and will have to depend on the popularity of the leading players. The only worthwhile excitement in the picture, and certainly the most outstanding sequence, is where a herd of maddened elephants invade a lavish plantation mansion and leave it in ruins. This sequence is indeed novel and worthy of exploitation. The acting is competent enough, and so is the direction. The color photography is tops: — After a whirlwind courtship in London, Elizabeth Taylor marries Peter Finch, who had just inherited a vast tea plantation in Ceylon. She returns with him to the plantation and finds herself the only white woman present among Finch's friends — all men, who used the plantation’s palatial mansion as a sort of club house for heavy drinking parties. She finds also that her husband and the native servants were still under the domination of the memory of his dead father, a strong-willed man whose stubborness knew no bounds, even to the point of building the mansion across a path used by elephants to reach a water hole. The elephants resented the blockade and constantly threatened to break through the mansion's protective walls. As time passes by, Elizabeth finds her husband more interested in his cronies than in her. In her lonliness, she finds solace in the company of Dana Andrews, an American associate of Finch’s, and she finally decides to leave the plantation with Andrews when life with Finch becomes unbearable. A sudden outbreak of cholera prevents her departure, and as the epidemic spreads she gains new respect for Finch because of his efforts to save the natives' lives. Meanwhile the elephants, desperately in want of water, crash down the walls and stampede through the mansion, leaving it in ruins. This catastrophe serves to reunite Elizabeth and Finch, and they start planning to rebuild the plantation and their lives. It was produced by Irving Asher, and directed by W illiam D:eterle, from a screenplay by John Lee Mahin, based on the novel by Robert Standish. Unobjectionable morally. “Prince Valiant” with Janies Mason, Robert Wagner and Janet Leigh (20th Century'Fox, April, time, 100 min.) Excellent! For sheer beauty of Technicolor photography, lavish medieval settings and exquisite outdoor scenery, this spectacular CinemaScope production is alone worth the price of admission, but what is even more important is the fact that it is one of the most exciting and thrilling action-filled romantic adventure melodramas ever brought to the screen. Set in the days of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table, the story is a fascinating account of the adventures of a courageous young Viking Prince, who sets out to regain the throne of Scandia for his aged father, who had been deposed by a Viking traitor and who had been given sanctuary by King Arthur. Just how the young man attains his objective makes for some of the most thrilling deeds of derring-do ever seen in a motion picture, and even though his exploits are for the most part incredulous, they have been staged in a manner that is vastly entertaining. Of the many highly melodramatic sequences, the most spectacular is the battle at the castle in Scandia, where the young hero, in a super-human effort to save his captured parents from execution, virtually turns himself into a oneman army as he kills Viking warriors right and left and uses fire to roast them to death while his supporters help his family to regain rightful possession of the throne. Equally spectacular and exciting is the hero's duel to the death with a treacherous Knight at King Arthur’s court. A most thrilling sequence is the jousting tournament in which the mounted Knights rush at each other with blunt lances. Important, too, insofar as audience acceptance is concerned, is the fact that the dialogue is modern and not of the flowery type generally employed in pictures of this kind. There is also a pleasing romantic interest and good touches of comedy. Robert Wagner is a human dynamo as Prince Valiant, the hero, and James Mason is a slick villain as the treacherous Black Knight. Janet Leigh, Debra Paget, Sterhng Hayden, Victor McLaglen, Donald Crisp and Brian Aherne are among the others in the huge cast who contribute colorful characterizations. The CinemaScope process not only heightens the excitement and the thrills, but it also gives the magnificent settings and scenery a sweep and grandeur that is nothing short of breathtaking. Briefly, the story op>ens with King Aguar of Scandia (Donald Crisp), given refuge by King Arthur (Brian Aherne), learning that the Black Knight, a pretender to King Arthur’s throne, had revealed his whereabouts to Sligon, the Viking traitor who had overthrown him, in exchange for aid from Sligon. Aguar decides to send Prince Valiant, his son, to Camelot to become a Knight at King Arthur's court and to enlist support in a drive to oust Sligon. After many adventures in which he barely misses death at the hands of the mysterious Black Knight, Valiant reaches Camelot, where he is befriended by Sir Gawain (Sterling Hayden), who trains him for knighthood. He meets also Sir Brack (James Mason), who shows more than a vague interest in his family’s whereabouts. In the course of events, Vahant falls in love with Princess Aleta (Janet Leigh), but through a misunderstanding Sir Gawain thinks that she is in love with him. In due time, through the machinations of Sir Brack, who proves to be the Black Knight, Valiant and his family are captured and imprisoned by Sligon. But the young man succeeds in breaking out of his cell and defeating Sligon’s forces, after which he returns to Camelot, exposes Sir Brack, and kills him in a duel. It ends with his being knighted by King Arthur and with his winning Aleta as his bride. It was produced by Robert L. Jacks, and directed by Henry Hathaway, from a screenplay by Dudley Nichols based on the widely-read syndicated story by Harold Foster! Excellent for all.