Harrison's Reports (1945)

26 HARRISON'S REPORTS February 17, 1945 "Frisco Sal" with Susanna Foster, Turhan Bey and Alan Curtis (Universal, Feb. 23; time, 94 min.) Even though this is colorful and more or less melodramatic, it seldom rises above the level of fair entertainment. At times, it is quite tedious. The story, which deals with the hurly-burly days of San Francisco's Barbary Coast during the gay nineties, has been done many times, and this version offers little that is either original or outstanding. With the exception of two slapstick saloon brawls, the action is liesurely. Susanna Foster's singing is, of course, delightful. The performances are adequate enough, considering the fact that the players were up against story material that is not only trite but also thin: — Arriving at San Francisco's Barbary Coast to seek information on the reported murder of her brother, whom she had not seen for many years, Susanna Foster, a New England choir singer, blunders into a cafe operated by Turhan Bey in search of employment. Bey refuses to hire her; he was not in a receptive mood, for Alan Curtis, leader of a gang of hoodlums, had just threatened to wreck his cafe unless he paid for "protection." Curtis returns with his gang and starts a fight. The police intervene, and Susanna finds herself among those arrested. Bey, amused, bails her out and employs her as a singer, subsequently falling in love with her. Finding a ring with her brother's name on it in Bey's office, Susanna suspects that Bey had something to do with his disappearance. She enlists the aid of detective Thomas Gomez. Knowing Curtis' hatred for Bey, Gomez goes to him for information about Susanna's brother. Curtis, seeing an opportunity to break up the romance between Susanna and Bey, builds up a case against his rival that convinces Susanna that he was responsible for her brother's death. Bey, ignorant of Susanna's suspicions, makes plans for his marriage to her, but she turns down his proposal and accuses him of murdering her brother. Susanna leaves him to attend a Christmas party given by Curtis. At the party, she comes across evidence that convinces her that Curtis himself was her missing brother. Without revealing her discovery, she returns to Bey's cafe. Curtis, furious at her return, gathers his henchmen and storms Bey's cafe for a showdown fight. In the midst of the brawl, Curtis breaks into Bey's office to shoot him, but Susanna stops him, revealing that she and Bey had been married only a few minutes before. The two new brothers-in-law declare peace. Curt Siodmak and Gerald Geraghty wrote the screen play, and George Waggncr produced and directed it. The cast includes Andy Devine, Collette Lyons, Samuel S. Hinds, Fuzzy Knight and others. Unobjectionable morally "Having Wonderful Crime" with Pat O'Brien, George Murphy and Carole Landis (RKO, release date not set; time, 70 min.) Despite the hard work by the members of the cast, "Having Wonderful Crime" never rises much above the level of moderately entertaining program fare. It is a breezy type murder-mystery melodrama in which the comedy is stressed more than the murder angle, but the story material is so weak and the comedy so forced that little of it makes an impression. Not only is the story thin, but it is also confusing; few will be able to follow its developments. None of the characters do anything to arouse sympathy, since most of their actions are ridiculous. There is some suspense in the closing scenes, but hardly enough to excite any one: — Pat O'Brien, an attorney and amateur sleuth, finds himself continuously in trouble with the police because of the practical jokes played on him by George Murphy and Carole Landis, newlyweds, who were his close friends. All three are at a theatre when George Zucco, a magician, fails to reappear after doing a disappearing act. O'Brien, lest he become involved in the mystery, accompanies the newlyweds to a vacation resort. En route, they come across Lenore Aubert, the missing magician's assistant, whose car was stalled. They offer to give her a lift but become suspicious when she insists that they take along her huge trunk; they believed it contained the magician's body. Arriving at the hotel, Murphy deliberately registers Lenore as O'Brien's wife and orders her trunk sent up to his room. The trio open the trunk at the first opportunity and find nothing but magic equipment in it. Later, however, they discover Zucco's body in it. While the three try to figure out how not to become involved in the murder, the trunk disappears. O'Brien determines to solve the mystery. Aided by Carole and Murphy, he embarks on an investigation that leads all three into a series of difficulties that nearly cost them their lives. After numerous narrow escapes and an additional killing, they eventually trap the murderer. Howard J. Green, Stewart Sterling and Parke Levy wrote the screen play, Robert Fellows produced it, and Eddie Sutherland directed it. "Bring on the Girls" with Veronica Lake, Eddie Bracken and Sonny Tufts (Paramount, no release date set; time, 92 mm.) While not exceptional, this Technicolor musical is fairly enjoyable because of the tuneful songs, the dancing, the romantic involvements, the comedy, and the lavish settings. The story, which is a variation of the boy-meet-girl theme, is pretty thin, but it moves along at a steady pace and offers a number of laugh-provoking situations. The most comical sequence takes place in a nightclub, where Spike Jones and his Orchestra play a comedy version of the song "Chloe." This sequence, incidentally, is the only one in which Jones' orchestra appears, but it is the funniest part of the picture and, since it comes toward the finish, it will send the audience out in a happy frame of mind: — To make sure that people, particularly girls, would like him for himself and not for his money, Eddie Bracken, a wealthy young man, decides to enlist in. the navy. His legal advisors, however, insist that Sonny Tufts, a junior partner, enlist with him and act as his guardian. Both arc sent to the same training camp. Bracken manages to keep his wealth a secret and, the first time he is given liberty, he manages to sneak away from Tufts and goes to a nightclub. There he meets and falls in love with Veronica Lake, a cigarette girl, unaware that she was Tufts' former sweetheart. Veronica, a "gold-digger," does not let on that she knew of his wealth. Learning of Bracken's new-found love, Tufts mistakenly concludes that the girl was Marjorie Reynolds, the club's singer. He investigates Marjorie and becomes satisfied that she was not the sort of girl to fall in love with Bracken for his money. When Bracken's family becomes disturbed over news of his engagement, Tufts, still thinking the girl was Marjorie, reassures them. He is shocked no end when he learns that the girl was Veronica. Tufts warns Bracken against her, but the young man, believing him jealous, refuses to listen. Tufts decides to woo Veronica and win her for himself, thus saving Bracken. Meanwhile Marjorie had fallen in love with Bracken but kept her feelings to herself. Tufts' interference with his romance so confuses Bracken that he begins to doubt Veronica's love. He pretends to have become stone deaf in order to learn what she really thought of him. Veronica sees through the ruse, but Marjorie unwitingly allows him to overhear her declaration of love. After a series of farcical interludes in which Veronica's love for Tufts flames anew, it all ends with Veronica in Tufts' arms and with Bracken realizing his love for Marjorie. Karl Tunberg and Darrell Ware wrote the screen play, Fred Kohlmar produced it, and Sidney Lanfield directed it. The cast includes Grant Mitchell, Peter Whitney, Alan Mowbray, Huntz Hall and others. Unobjectionable morally. "Betrayal from the East" with Lee Tracy and Nancy Kelly (RKO, no release date set; time, 82 min.) Supposedly based on factual Japanese espionage activities in this country prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor, this is an interest-holding, exciting melodrama, well directed and acted. The interest lies in the counter-espionage methods employed by Army Intelligence to trap the spies. Since the hero becomes a member of the spy ring to aid the U. S. Government, one is naturally held in suspense fearing for his safety. The picture makes no concession to the squeamish in its depiction of Jap brutalities. Towards the end, the action becomes quite thrilling, culminating in the roundup of the spies: — When Philip Ahn, his Japanese friend, questions him about the Panama Canal, Lee Tracy, an ex-soldier of shady character, intimates that he was well acquainted with the Zone and that one of his Army pals was stationed there. Ahn makes Tracy a sizeable loan and, hinting at a profitable job, induces him to come to Los Angeles. There, Tracy is interviewed in a darkened room by a mysterious Jap who hires him to secure military information from his friend in Panama. Tracy manages to contact Capt. Addison Richards, of Army Intelligence, and lays the enemy's plan before him. Richards instructs him to play along with the spies to enable his department to break up the ring. Before leaving for Panama, Tracy learns that Nancy Kelly, with whom he had become friendly on the train to Los Angeles, was an Amer