Harrison's Reports (1943)

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134 HARRISON'S REPORTS August 21, 1943 "So This Is Washington" with Lum 'n' Abner (RKO, no release date set; time, 64 mm.) If the previous "Lum and Abner" pr(jgram pictures have proved acceptable to your patrons, this one, too, should please them; in quality of story and in type of humor it varies little from the rest of the series. This time the boys, to aid the war effort, go to Washington with a secret synthetic rubber formula. The comedy is brought about by the predicaments they get themselves into as a result of the hotel room shortage, and the difficulties they encounter trying to arrange an appointment with a busy government agency head. All this may amuse family audiences in rural situations, but others will probably find it boring: — When the radio announces that Alan Mowbray, a Government bureau head, is seeking inventions from the common man, Lum (Chester Lauck) and Abner (Norris Goff) decide to go to Washington to give Mowbray a synthetic rubber formula that Abner had accidentally invented. Arriving at the capital, they run into problems characteristic of the hectic city. Roger Clark, a newspaper columnist, who came from their home town, offers to help them. He shares his living quarters, and then takes them to Mildred Coles, his fiancee and Mowbray's secretary, to arrange for an immediate appointment. But Mildred, because of a lovers' quarrel, refuses to arrange the meeting. They finally get together with Mowbray, who becomes enthused over their invention. He arranges for a demonstration before a skeptical press. Abner, however, receives a blow on the head and loses his memory; he cannot remember the formula, which was never written down. He does not even remember Lum, or his own name. Lum takes him home, hoping that the sight of the store will bring back his memory. When this fails, the theory is advanced that another blow on the head may bring back Abner's memory. Lum consents to deliver the blow, but cannot bring himself to hit his friend. He and Abner quarrel and, in the scuffle, the blow is delivered, restoring Abner's memory. He mixes the formula and vindicates Mowbray, who had been heckled by the press. Leonard Praskins and Roswcll Rogers wrote the screen play, Ben Hersh produced it, and Raymond McCarey directed it. Morally suitable for all. "Lassie Come Home" with Roddy McDowall and Donald Crisp (MGM, no release date set, time, 89 min.) This sentimental tale of the devotion between a boy and his dog, photographed in Technicolor, is an artistic production; it should find favor particularly with dog lovers. The one drawback, as far as the masses are concerned, is the slow-paced action. Another drawback is the fact that Roddy McDowall's role is somewhat similar to the one he enacted in 20th Century-Fox's "My Friend Flicka," and the sentimental angles, too, are similar. The sameness of the material may result in decreased patronage. Otherwise, the story is extremely heart-warming, stirring one's emotions. Most of the footage is given over to "Lassie," a beautiful and intelligent collie. One is in sympathy with the dog as much as with a human being, for one feels her deep sorrow at being separated from Roddy. The outdoor scenic shots, enhanced by the Technicolor photography, are a treat to the eye. Because of its limited appeal, the film will probably be no more than a moderate box-office attraction: — Because of their dire circumstances, Donald Crisp and Elsa Lanchester, a Yorkshire couple, are compelled to sell Lassie, their collie. She is bought by Nigel Bruce, English Duke and dog fancier, who had been trying to buy her for years. Roddy McDowall, Crisp's young son, is inconsolable; he loved the dog dearly, and looked forward to meeting her in the school yard at four o'clock each day. When Lassie escapes from the kennels twice in order to meet Roddy, Bruce angrily takes her to his estate in Scotland. Roddy is saddened greatly. Meanwhile in Scotland, Lassie is mistreated by J. Patrick O'Malley, Bruce's dog trainer. One day she breaks away from O'Malley and heads south for Yorkshire. For days she battles her way through snow and rain storms, and swims rivers. She fights off ferocious sheep dogs set on her by sheepherders, who shoot and wound her. On the verge of death, she is found by Ben Webster and Dame Mae Witty, a kindly Scottish couple, who nurse her back to health. She resumes her journey to Y(;rkshire and, on the way, joins Edmund Gwenn, a travelling peddler, going in the same direction. She repays Gwenn for his kind treatment by chasing off a pair of thugs who attack him. Moving on, she eventually reaches home, where Roddy's parents are overjoyed at the sight of her. Shortly after, Bruce arrives. Ignoring Lassie's presence, he offers Crisp a job tending his kennels, in place of the dismissed O'Malley. A few minutes before four o'clock Lassie becomes restless. Despite her weariness, she drags herself out of the house and goes to the school. Roddy greets her jubilantly. Hugo Butler wrote the screen play from the novel by the late Eric Knight. Samuel Marx produced it, and Fred M. Wilcox directed it. Morally suitable for all. "The Fallen Sparrow" with John Garfield and Maureen O'Hara (RKO, no release date set, time, 94 min.) Despite the implausibility of the story, this spy melodrama is exciting fare; it should satisfy most picture-goers, for It is different from the general run of pictures of this type. The story is intriguing, and holds one in tense suspense throughout. John Garfield turns in an excellent performance as an American veteran of the Spanish Civil War. His efforts to avenge the murder of a close friend results in the exposure of a Nazi spy ring. Garfield's mysterious movements keep the spectator guessing, and it is not until toward the finish that one understands his motives. Even the romantic interest is given a new twist: — Having recuperated on an Arizona ranch from the tortures he had suffered in a Spanish prison during the Spanish Civil War, John Garfield comes to New York City to avenge the murder of the man who had helped him to escape. Seeking to learn the murderer's identity, Garfield visits the home of Patricia Morison, his former socialite fiancee, who maintains that his friend had committed suicide by jumping out of a window in her home during a party. Garfield finds his old New York haunts cluttered with refugees, and becomes convinced that among them he would find the murderer. Carefully following clues, Garfield finds that Martha O'Driscoll, another former fiancee, had become over-friendly with refugees. Through her, he narrows down his suspects to a group of Norwegian refugees, headed by Dr. Walter Slezak, an invahd. The group includes one woman, Maureen O'Hara, with whom Garfield eventually falls in love. Maureen admits to him that the refugees are actually Nazi spies, and that she was compelled to work with them lest her two-year-old son in Germany meet with harm. She pleads with him to give up the pursuit for the murderer, but he refuses to do so. He reveals that the cat and mouse game between the spies and himself amounted to more than a search for the murderer; he had in his possession a tattered battle flag, which the spies were determined to obtain, in order to satisfy the vanity of a Nazi General, \tho had lost it on the battle-field. It had now come to the point where either he or the Nazis had to be eliminated. Garfield eventually traps Slezak, who reveals himself as the man who had supervised his torture and murdered his friend. Garfield slays him and, with the aid of the police, rounds up the other spies. He attempts to clear Maureen, but the FBI proves that she had lied about her son; she, too, is arrested. Warren Duff wrote the screen play, Robert Fellows produced it, and Richard Wallace directed it. The cast includes John Miljan, Hugh Beaumont and others. Morally suitable for all.