Harrison's Reports (1944)

186 HARRISON'S REPORTS November 18, 1944 "Hi Beautiful" with Martha O'Driscoll and Noah Beery, Jr. (Universal, Dec. 8; time, 65 mm.) A mediocre romantic comedy, best suited for sec ondary theatres as the lower of a mid-week double bill. The hackneyed story unfolds without one new twist, and since the action is for the most part slowmoving, one loses interest in the outcome. A few of the situations are amusing, but on the whole the comedy is so forced that it tends to bore instead of amuse the spectator. The players try to make something out of their respective roles, but they cannot overcome the ordinary material and the trite dialogue:— Reporting for work at the post-war model home over which she presided for a real estate firm, Martha O'Driscoll is shocked to find Noah Beery, Jr., a soldier, sleeping in one of the luxurious beds. Beery talks her out of calling the police, explaining that he could not find another place to sleep. Having the afternoon off, Martha accompanies Beery to an amusement park, where both fall in love. They end their holiday by taking pictures of themselves. When a patent pill company announces over the radio that it will give a $5000 prize for a photo of the "Happiest G.I. Couple," Beery favors submitting one of the photos taken at the amusement park, but Martha denounces the commercializing of love. Unknown to them, however, Hattie McDaniel, negro servant at the model home, enters one of the photos in the contest, and in a letter describes Martha and Beery as a happily married couple, with twins and a dog. The photo wins the prize, and Walter Catlett, head of the pill company, decides to deliver the prize money himself. Meanwhile Martha, learning about the prize, accuses Beery of sending in the photo against her wishes. Beery, learning the truth from Hattie, determines to collect the money. He tricks Martha into posing as his wife, "rents" two children from a neighbor, and makes it appear as if the model home was his own. After a series of complications, in which Beery manages to overcome Catlett's suspicions, Martha, learning that Hattie had sent in the photograph, agrees to marry Beery immediately in order fulfill the terms of the contest. Dick Irving Hyland wrote the screen play and pre duced it, and Leslie Goodwins directed it. The cast includes Tim Ryan, Florence Lake and others. Unobjectionable morally. "The Town Went Wild" with Edward Everett Horton, Tom Tully, Jimmy Lydon and Freddie Bartholomew (PRC, Dec. 15; time, 78 min.) Very good! It is one of the freshest, most satisfying comedies to have come out of Hollywood in a long time; it should be received very well by all types of audiences either singly or as the top half of a double bill. As a rule, most comedy stories turn out to be pitifully inept when handled by three or more screen play writers, but this one certainly proves to be the exception; Bernard B. Roth, Clarence Greene, and Russell Rouse have done a superb job, not only in their writing of the story, but also in their producing of it. And a good deal of the credit is due Ralph Murphy for his expert direction. The story, which revolves around the twenty-five-year-old feud between the heads of two small-town families, is full of novel twists, moves at a snappy pace, and keeps one laughing all the way through. The complications that arise when the two feudists learn to their consternation that, owing to a hospital mix-up years previously, each had raised the other's son as his own, are original and extremely comical. The cast does excellent work, making the characters believable and likeable: — Because of the feud between Edward Everett Horton and Tom Tully, their fathers, Jill Browning, Tully's daughter, and Freddie Bartholomew, Horton 's son, do not tell them of their plans to marry. The youngsters persuade Jimmy Lydon, Jills brother, to help them elope. Bedlam breaks out between the two families when, after Freddie applies at the town hall for a copy of his birth certificate, it is discovered that, twenty years previously, on the day that Freddie and Jimmy had been born, their fathers had quarreled in the hospital and, in the confusion, each had signed the birth certificate for the other's son. The matter is taken to court, where the nurse who had attended the birth of Tullys son testifies that he had a peculiar birthmark on his body. When an examination of the boys reveal that they have identical birthmarks, the judge (Maude Eburne) declares the birth certificates conclusive and orders both boys to switch names and homes. On his first day in the Tully home, Freddie is put to bed with the measles. Meanwhile Jimmy learns that, because Freddie and Jill were now brother and sister, their taking out a marriage license constituted a crime. Lest there be a scandal, Jimmy and Jill confess to the judge, who promises to hush up the matter. But Tully, having learned of the license, decides to break into the town hall to destroy it. He is followed by Horton and the other family members, who sought to stop him lest the whole town learn the secret. Horton and Tully get into a fight and both land in jail. At the trial, both men try to protect their family honor by refusing to reveal why they had broken into the town hall. Just as they are about to be found guilty, Freddie bursts into court and reveals that his birthmark was really the first measle. Their sons' parentage established, and the marriage license de' clared legal, Horton and Tully renew their feud. The cast includes Minna Gombell, Ruth Lee, Jimmy Conlin and others. "Meet Miss Bobby Socks" with Bob Crosby, Lynn Merrick and Louise Erickson (Columbia, Oct. 12; time, 68 min.) A moderately amusing program comedy with music, produced on a skimpy budget. Built around that strange breed of youngsters who squeal and shriek whenever they hear their idol sing, the story is rather unimaginative and thin, but it manages to be amusing in spots as a result of the youngsters' antics. It should appeal chiefly to adolescents because of the youthful doings and of the popular music. In addition to Bob Crosby's singing, there are specialty numbers by the Kim Loo Sisters, a harmony trio, and by Louis Jordan and his Tymphany Five : — Honorably discharged from the army after being wounded, Bob Crosby, a "crooner," visits Louise Erickson, who had been writing him sentimental letters, and had promised to help him with his career. Crosby, disappointed to find that Louise is a fifteenyear-old girl, is gratified at the chance to meet Lynn Merrick, her older sister. To further Crosby's career, Louise arranges with her friends to send hundreds of fan letters to a local broadcasting station. As a result, Crosby is given a trial on the radio, and he becomes