Harrison's Reports (1942)

October 24, 1942 HARRISON'S REPORTS 171 threatens to resign unless Sutton is given another chance. The following day Foster takes Sutton up on a test flight, and tells him that the only way for him to overcome air-sickness was to worry about flying the plane. Foster steps out of the plane and parachutes down. A sudden wind comes up as Foster lands, sweeping him and his parachute toward a cliff. Fighting against the wind, Sutton lands his plane near the cliff and saves Foster in the nick of time. Both men become fast friends. Sutton graduates and takes Gene back to England, while Foster stays on to train more men. Lamar Trotti wrote the screen play and produced it. William A. Wellman directed it. The cast includes Jack Holt, Dame May Whitty, Richard Haydn and others. Morally suitable for all. "I Married a Witch" with Veronica Lake, Fredric March and Robert Benchley (United Artists, October 30; time, 75 min.) The chief selling point in this fair fantastic comedy is the marquee value of Veronica Lake and Fredric March. Based on Thorne Smith's, "The Passionate Witch," the story centers around a witch who, put to death by a Pilgrim family in 1690, comes back in modern times to plague a descendant of that family, who was a prominent man seeking election. The comedy is provoked by her efforts to interfere with his forthcoming marriage and to discredit him in the eyes of the voters. Trick photography, which allows the witch and her sorcerer father to dematerialize and reappear at will, adds to the amusement. It is a completely nonsensical picture, but it should satisfy those who seek a change from war films: — A sorcerer and his witch daughter are burned at the stake by a Pilgrim family. As they die, the witch lays on the family's male descendants a curse that they may never marry the right woman. An oak tree is planted over their ashes to hold them prisoners forever. Two hundred and fifty years later Fredric March, a descendant, is a candidate for Governor, backed by Robert Warwick, a publisher and father of Susan Hayward, March's fiancee. During a storm the oak tree is struck by lightning, and two smoky spirits rise from it. They are Veronica Lake, the witch, and Cecil Kellaway, her sorcerer father. Veronica pleads with her father for a body so that she may plague March in a manner that will cause him to lose both Susan and the election. Veronica contrives to have March rescue her from a fire; she then refuses to leave him. March, frantic, thinks that she is a trick of the opposition to ruin his chances of winning the election. To overcome March's resistance to her advances, Veronica brews a love potion for him. But she is knocked unconscious in an accident, and March revives her by giving her the potion. She awakens in love with the man she had set out to ruin. Veronica and her father upset March's wedding reception, causing Susan to call off the marriage, and Warwick to withdraw his support. But March does not care; he marries Veronica. On their wedding night, Veronica confesses that she is a witch, but March does not believe her. To prove it, she offers to win the Governorship for him. He is elected unanimously on election day. Furious that his daughter had let love get the better of her witchery, Kellaway causes her spirit to leave her body. As both watch the despondent March, Kellaway's smoky spirit enters a whisky bottle for a drink. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Veronica's spirit sneaks back into her body and quickly puts the cork on the bottle, imprisoning Kellaway's spirit forever. Robert Pirosh and Marc Connelly wrote the screen play, and Rene Clair produced and directed it. Too sophisticated for the children. "The Black Swan" with Tyrone Power, George Sanders, Laird Cregar and Maureen O'Hara (20th Century-Fox, December 4; time, 84 min.) Very good! This screen version of Raphael Sabatini's novel about swashbuckling pirates, who roamed the seas and preyed upon shipping during the days of the Spanish Main, is a red-blooded action-packed adventure melodrama, reminiscent of the films in which Douglas Fairbanks was a favorite. Produced on a lavish scale, the setting and picturesque costumes — elegant ones worn by the nobility, and colorful rags worn by the pirates — are enhanced by the exceptionally good Technicolor photography. Thrills, excitement, comedy, and romance run high as Tyrone Power, in the role of a dashing reformed pirate, seeks to put an end to the plundering of his former friends. The children will revel in it, and their elders will certainly be pleased: — Led by Tyrone Power and George Sanders, pirates pillage a quiet town in the Caribbean. As they carouse over their spoils, Spanish soldiers approach. All escape but Power. He was in a drunken stupor, brooding, because Captain Laird Cregar, his former leader, was to be hanged in London. Power is taken to Jamaica and is tortured by the commandant, but he is released when Cregar storms into the castle and announces that the King had pardoned and appointed him the new Governor. Cregar calls a meeting of the pirates and asks them to join him in a peaceful life. All agree, except Captain George Sanders and his crew. Power and Thomas Mitchell are made aides to Cregar. Power is attracted to Maureen O'Hara, ex-Governor George Zucco's daughter, but she scorns him. Edward Ashley, her fiancee, becomes Power's sworn enemy. Through secret information given to him by Ashley, Sanders captures many English treasure ships. The Assembly accuses Cregar of collusion with Sanders, and demand his impeachment. Cregar blocks the move and dispatches Power and a crew to capture Sanders. Learning that Maureen planned to marry Ashley any day, Power kidnaps and takes her to his ship. Sanders' ships catch Power by surprise. Knowing that he cannot outfight or outrun the Black Swan (Sanders' ship), Power joins forces on the pretense that he is tired of a peaceful life. He introduces Maureen as his wife. Fearing harm, she does not deny this. Sanders, however, uncovers the ruse and locks them up. Sanders runs up the British flag on all his ships and heads for Maracaibo, where the unsuspecting Cregar awaited the triumphant return of Power. As Sanders enters the harbor and opens fire, Power frees his bonds, and releases his crew. The men attack the pirates and subdue them, Maureen realizes her love for Power. Ben Hecht and Seton I. Miller wrote the screen play, Robert Bassler produced it, and Henry King directed it. Morally suitable for all. "In Which We Serve" with Noel Coward and an all-English cast (United Artists, December 25; time, 112 min.) Excellent! This British made drama is one of the finest war pictures yet produced, and it will undoubtedly prove to be one of the top box-office attractions of the new season, in spite of the fact that the players, with the exception of Noel Coward, are unknown to American audiences. Credit for this masterpiece is due to Noel Coward, who, in addition to his acting in the picture, wrote the story, produced it, codirected it, and even wrote the musical score. In every department his handling is brilliant, and it may well serve as a lesson in motion picture technique for Hollywood. The deeply moving and absorbing story of a warship and her crew has captured the fighting spirit that is England's today. The story has no plot. It is a series of episodes in the life of the ship, and of the intimate details surrounding the loves and lives of some of her men, most of which are told in a flashback manner as the men retrace their thoughts while clinging to a rubber raft, exhausted, wounded, and facing death from the machine gun bullets of strafing Nazi planes, which had sent their ship to the bottom. It is a thoroughly human story, of Britain's fighting men and their families, portrayed vividly with typical English restraint. The fear that strikes in the hearts of wives and sweethearts when a sinking is announced, and the joy that is theirs when news of the safety of their loved ones comes; the intimacies of family groups; the concern of the men for their families facing air raids at home, while they themselves brave the dangers of sea warfare; the thrills and excitement of life on a fighting ship; the evacuation at Dunkerque of the soldiers, who are completely bewildered but determined to fight on; the cameradcrie that war brings between the army and navy, which in peacetime have rivalries; the love of the crew for their Captain; the farewell of the Captain to the survivors of his crew; the romance and marriage of an English sailor and his girl, and the few brief hours or days on leave in which they give each other lasting love and affection — all these and more arc what the spectator sees and feels. Some of the scenes tug at one's heart strings and bring tears to one's eyes, while other scenes make one chuckle and even guffaw. The performances are first-rate. Outstanding is the portrayal of Noel Coward, as the strict but human Captain; Celia Johnson, as his understanding wife; Bernard Miles, as the chief petty officer; Johnny Mills as the Cockney sailor; Kay Walsh as Mill's bride; and Joyce Carey, as Miles' loyal wife. It is an inspiring picture, and should appeal to any audience, regardless of what side of the tracks they live on.