Harrison's Reports (1943)

December 25, 1943 HARRISON'S REPORTS 207 "Moonlight in Vermont" with Gloria Jean, George Dolenz and Fay Helm (Universal, Dec. 24; time, 62 min.) Where previous Universal program musicals featuring youthful players have gone over, this, too, should prove acceptable. The story, which deals with the trials and tribulations of a Vermont farm girl working her way through a drama school, is extremely thin, and it serves merely as a framework for the numerous musical interludes, which are of the peppy variety. Gloria Jean, who is maturing gracefully, sings several songs in her usual good voice. It is the sort of entertainment that should be enjoyed by the younger set, because of the youthful doings and the popular "jive" music: — Gloria Jean, a Vermont farm girl, enrolls in a New York drama school, where she works as a waitress to help pay her tuition fee. She wins the attention of Ray Lynn, a student, thus arousing the jealousy of Vivian Austin, Lynn's girlfriend. Fay Helm, Gloria's singing teacher from Vermont, visits the school and is mistaken by George Dolenz, the school's director as an applicant for a secretarial position. He puts her to work and falls in love with her. Gloria is compelled to leave school when Russell Simpson, her uncle, is faced with ruin because of a labor shortage on his farm. Fay, believing that Dolenz is interested in her only for her efficiency, returns to Vermont with Gloria. To help Gloria return to her studies, her school chums volunteer to assist her uncle in harvesting the crop. Dolenz, in order to be near Fay, accompanies the students to the farm. Although helped greatly by the youngsters, Simpson is financially unable to send Gloria back to school. Moreover, he was prejudiced against her theatrical career. Gloria, to obtain the necessary funds, enters her pet cow in a live stock show. Vivian steals the cow and tries to hide it, but one of the students finds it and brings it to the show in time to win a $500 prize, enabHng Gloria to resume her studies. Fay and Dolenz plan to marry. Eugene Conrad wrote the screen play, Bernard W. Burton produced it, and Stacy Keach directed it. Morally suitable for all. "Swingtime Johnny" with the Andrews Sisters and Harriet Hilliard (Universal, Feb. 4; time, 60 min.) "Jitterbug-minded" youngsters will probably enjoy this program comedy with music, for in it appear the Andrews Sisters and Mitch Ayres and his orchestra, who are quite popular with the "swing" fans. Aside from the musical numbers, which are plentful, there is little to recommend in it, for the story is lightweight, the treatment is routine, and the performances are just passable. Here and there it has some amusing comedy bits. Harriet Hilliard sings several popular songs quite well:— Learning that his plant's machinery is suited to the manufacture of shell casings, Peter Cookson, prissy young president of a pipe organ company, decides to convert to war work. He hires Tim Ryan, a slipper promoter, to supervise the plant's change-over. The Andrews Sisters, Harriet Hilliard, a singer, and the members of Mitch Ayres' orchestra decide to disband their musical organization to work in Cookson's plant. Harriet becomes Cookson's private secretary and falls in love with him, but the young man's restraint forestalls any romantic tendencies on his part. Plans are formed to celebrate the company's fiftieth anniversary with a party for the employees. Meanwhile Ryan, who sought to gain control of the company, pronounces as faulty the first batch of shell casings to come off the production line; he induces the company's board of directors to sell the plant to another concern. Determined to help Cookson, Harriet induces Ryan to take her to dinner in the hope that she will secure information to uncover his crafty activities. Having learned what she wanted to know from Ryan, Harriet locates Cookson and together they go to the plant. Roaming through the factory with Harriet, Cookson accidentally strikes a shell casing, and the clear musical tone indicates to him that the tube is perfect; a flaw in the casing would have caused it to sound either sharp or flat. The discovery enables Cookson to discredit Ryan, and the sale of the company is cancelled. Later, at the anniversary party, Cookson drops his cold reserve and declares his love for Harriet. Clyde Bruckman wrote the screen play. Warren Wilson produced it, and Edward F. Cline directed it. Morally suitable for all. "Destination Tokyo" with Cary Grant and John Garfield (Warner Bros., Feb. 1; time, 135 min.) Very good! "Destination Tokyo" takes its place among the better and more sincere war pictures to come out of Hollywood. Obviously taking its cue from the factual exploits of the U. S. submarine that lay off the coast of Japan for several months, the story, in terms of fiction, ties in the submarine's daring with Doolittle's bombing of Tokyo. It is a simple but stirring tale, depicted realistically; it is void of "phoneyness," which detracts from the sincerity of many a good war film. A great part of the action takes place within the submarine's interior and life aboard the sub has been depicted interestingly. The camaraderie between the crew members, the captain's informal attitude towards his men and his deep understanding of their individual emotions, give the film many heart-warming, as well as humof ous, moments. While there are individual acts of heroism here and there, it is the heroism of the crew as a whole rather than as individuals that is brought out. The story revolves around the submarine U.S.S. Copper' fin, which sails from San Francisco with orders to enter Tokyo Bay, for the purpose of obtaining data on the weather and on shore installations. This information was to be radioed to the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Hornet, from which American bombers were to launch an attack on Tokyo. The perils encountered by the crew as they carry through their assignment are thrilling and filled with suspense. A highly dramatic sequence is the one in which the submarine lies helpless for hours, undergoing a terrific battering from depth charges dropped by Jap destroyers, which had discovered its presence in the bay. It is in these scenes that the film reaches its height in tenseness and excitement, for the men, honestly scared, await death momentarily. Other highlights that are as tense are the submarine's following a damaged Jap cruiser through the minefields and slipping into the bay as the submarine net is opened to allow the warship to pass; the unscrewing of a detonator cap from an unexploded bomb that had ripped through the submarine's deck platform; an emergency appendectomy performed by a youthful pharmacist's mate, while a crew member reads aloud instructions from a medical book, the setting up of a hidden radio station and weather observation post on the Japanese coast; and the torpedoing of Jap warships as they race out of the harbor to elude the American bombing planes. Cary Grant gives an excellent performance as the captain, playing the role with proper restraint and warmth. John Garfield, as the torpedo man; Alan Hale, as the cook; John Ridgley, as the meteorologist; John Forsythe, as the radio man; Robert Hutton, as the youngest crew member; and William Prince, as the pharmacist's mate, do very well with their individual roles. The photography and the special effects rate high honors. Delmar Daves and Albert Maltz wrote the screen play from an original story by Steve Fisher. Jerry Wald produced it, and Mr. Daves directed it. Morally suitable for all.