Harrison's Reports (1945)

February 10, 1945 HARRISON'S REPORTS 23 he discovers evidence that convinces him of his father's guilt and proves that Kruger had protected him from a more serious charge. Powers, unaware of the changed state of affairs, arranges to have Kruger murdered in the belief that he was doing Barry a favor. Barry, conscience-stricken, resigns his position. Too involved to discontinue his illegal activities, Barry becomes callous and replaces Powers as leader of the gang. The police, suspicious of Barry's transportation business, which served as a front for his black market dealings, ask Lynne and her brother to help trap Barry. Young Daniels, scoffing at their suspicions, agrees to secure a job in Barry's office and to report secretly to them; he meant to prove Barry's innocence. Powers, learning of Daniels' connection with the police, attempts to kill the lad, but Barry saves him. To protect Barry from the gang, Lynne and Daniels take him to their moun' tain lodge. The gang follows them and, in a showdown fight, Barry wipes them out and is himself wounded fatally. Dying, he makes a full confession to Lynne. Jack Townley wrote the screen play, Eddy White produced it, and Frank McDonald directed it. The cast includes Chick Chandler, Joseph Crehan, Paul Harvey and others. Unobjectionable morally. "It's in the Bag" with Fred Allen, Jack Benny and Binnie Barnes (United Artists, no release date set; time, 87 min.) Very entertaining. It is not an hilarious comedy, but it does keep one chuckling all the way through. The story, which revolves around Fred Allen's misad' ventures as he tries to prevent three crooks from swindling him out of a huge inheritance, makes little sense, but it serves very well as a means to tie in a number of highly amusing sequences in which Allen trades gags with Jack Benny, William Bendix, Robert Benchley, Jerry Colonna, and Minerva Pious, the "Mrs. Nussbaum" of radio fame. Another comical sequence is the one in which Allen appears with Don Ameche, Victor Moore, and Rudy Vallee as singing waiters in a "Gay Nineties Cafe." One of the funniest situations concerns Allen's troubles with ushers in an over-crowded movie house as they shunt him from one aisle to another in his search for seats. The action slows down occasionally, but for the most part the pace is lively. Allen's current popularity, and the drawing powers of the other players, should put the picture over pretty well : — Allen, a penniless flea circus owner, learns from the newspapers that he had inherited twelve million dob lars from a grand-uncle who had died under mysterious circumstances. With his wife, Binnie Barnes, his daughter, Marion Pope, and his young son, Dickie Tyler, Allen moves into a swanky penthouse apartment and splurges wildly on clothes and other luxuries. On the following day, he learns from John Carradine, his uncle's crooked attorney, that the fortune had been dissipated and that his sole inheritance was five antique chairs. Distracted, Allen returns to his hotel to face his many financial commitments. When the five chairs arrive, Allen sells them to an antique dealer for $300. Shortly after, a bank messenger arrives with a sealed package containing a recording of his uncle's voice. In his "voice from the grave," the uncle informs Allen that his partner (John Miljan) and Carradine had swindled him out of his millions, but that he had salvaged $300,000, which he had concealed in one of the five chairs. Allen becomes frantic when he learns that the chairs had been resold and that the list of purchasers had been destroyed by fire. His search for the missing chairs leads him into a series of misadventures with numerous persons, and he even finds himself suspected of murdering his uncle. It is not until he locates the fifth chair in the office of William Bendix, a notorious gangster, that Allen, with Bendix's aid, retrieves the $300,000 and brings his uncle's murderers to justice. Jay Dratler and Alma Reville wrote the screen play, Jack H. Skirball produced it, and Richard Wallace directed it. The cast includes William Terry, Sidney Toler, George Cleveland, Emory Parnell and others. Unobjectionable morally. "The Kid Sister" with Judy Clark and Roger Pryor (PRC, Feb. 6; time, 55 min.) Just a minor program comedy. Those who look for fast action may find this somewhat tiresome because it is mostly dialogue; it may, however, entertain au' diences that can be amused at the antics of a 'teenaged, love-struck girl. Not only is the story thin, but it has been developed in a weak manner and fails to carry a punch. Parts of the picture seem lifeless, but the meager story material, not the players, is to be blamed : — Revolting against her mother's insistence that she remain in the background until Constance Worth, her older sister, acquired a husband, Judy Clark determines to follow her romantic deeires. When Roger Pryor, a wealthy bachelor, is invited to dinner at her home, Judy, forbidden to attend, poses as the maid and receives him. The ruse riles her mother and, Judy, to escape her wrath, sneaks out of the house through a bedroom window. She is seen by Frank Jenks, a prowling burglar, who, believing her to be a member of his craft, drives her away in a stolen car. Pursued by a motorcycle policeman, they stop the car and escape on foot. The policeman overtakes Judy on the grounds of Pryor 's estate, but he releases her when she convinces him that she was employed there as a maid. Judy, confronted by Clark, becomes aware that she had aroused his interest. She allows him to think that she was a female "raffles" and agrees to let him "save" her. Matters become complicated when Jenks shows up to rescue his "partner-in-crime." Judy fights him off, forcing him to flee, but the incident compels her to reveal her identity to Pryor, who becomes peeved at having been victimized. Weeks later, at another dinner party in her home, Judy and Pryor sneak away for an evening of dancing. Returning late, they find themselves confronted by Richard Byron, Judy's irate schoolday sweetheart. While Pryor tries to calm the young man, Judy dashes into the house only to be stopped by Jenks, who accuses her of double-crossing him and demands to be led to the safe. After a series of misadventures in which the whole household is aroused, Judy succeeds in trapping the burglar. She and Pryor announce their engagement much to the consternation of her bewildered mother and sister. Fred Myton wrote the screen play, Sigmund Neufeld produced it, and Sam Newfield directed it. The cast includes Minerva Urecal, Ruth Robinson and others.