Harrison's Reports (1945)

March 3, 1945 HARRISON'S REPORTS 35 "She's a Sweetheart" with Jane Darwell, Jane Frazee and Larry Parks (Columbia, December 7; time, 69 min.) A rather talkative but pleasant enough program drama, produced on a skimpy budget. There's not much to the story, which revolves around a motherly woman who operates a canteen for servicemen and, through her kind understanding, helps them to adjust their personal problems, particularly their romances; but, since it is acted engagingly by the players, it keeps one moderately entertained. A few songs, pleasingly sung by Jane Frazee, have been interpolated without retarding the action; and the romantic angles are charming: — Jane Darwell, motherly head of a canteen for servicemen, takes a personal interest in Larry Parks, an orphan, because of his congenial manner. Miss Darwell becomes concerned when Parks falls in love with Jane Frazee, an entertainer at the canteen; she felt that Jane's only interest in entertaining the servicemen was the personal publicity she would get out of it. Expecting to be shipped overseas any day, Parks informs his buddy, Jimmy Lord, that he planned to marry Jane before leaving. The two friends come to blows when Lord cautions Parks against Jane and proves that all the servicemen in the canteen had an autographed picture of her. Unaware that Jane's publicity agent had handed out the photographs without her knowledge, Parks, disillusioned, ships overseas without saying good-bye to her. Some months later, Miss Darwell receives a telegram from the War Department informing her that Parks was "missing in action." Jane learning of the news, is heartbroken. She devotes most of her time to the canteen, self-effacingly performing the less tasteful chores — scrubbing floors and dish washing. Miss Darwell and Lord soon realize that they had misjudged her, and decide that she was really in love with Parks. At a surprise party honoring Miss Darwell for her efforts in keeping up the servicemen's morale, Parks makes an unexpected appearance; for some unexplained reason, a telegram notifying Miss Darwell that he had been found safe had never been delivered. He refuses to see Jane, but when Miss Darwell and Lord admit to him that they had misjudged her, he rushes to embrace her. Muriel Roy Bolton wrote the screen play, Ted Richmond produced it, and Del Lord directed it. The cast includes Nina Foch, Ross Hunter, Dave Willock and others. "There Goes Kelly" with Jackie Moran and Wanda McKay (Monogram, Feb. 16; time, 61 mm.) Combining murder-mystery and comedy, this is just a program melodrama of minor importance, suitable for theatres that cater to audiences who are not too exacting in their demands. The story is a loosely written affair and, since most everything that happens is handled in a comedy vein, one cannot take the murder-mystery angle seriously. The comedy is amusing on occasion, and slightly tiresome at other times. A few songs, sung pleasantly by Wanda McKay, have been worked into the plot: — Misrepresenting himself as an official of the broadcasting station where he worked as a page boy, Jackie Moran arranges an audition for Wanda McKay, the station's newlyhired receptionist. Sidney Miller, another page boy and Moran's pal, tries to stop him, but Moran insists upon going through with the audition. Moran discovers that Wanda has a good singing voice, but he gets into trouble with Anthony Warde the station's manager, for the unauthorised audition. A few days later, Jan Wiley, that station's singing star, is murdered mysteriously during a rehearsal. Detective Ralph Sanford takes charge of the case and he soon establishes that most every one who was present in the room had a motive for committing the murder, particularly John Gilbreath, a cowboy singer, who fled from the room. Moran and Miller find the murder gun and learn that it belonged to the cowboy. But he, too, is murdered before Sanford can question him. Moran and Miller visit the dead cowboy's apartment and discover evidence that Jan had once been involved with him in a shooting scrape. Sanford, using the information he had gathered with Moran's aid, confronts all the suspects in the studio and tricks Edward Emerson, the studio's announcer, into confessing the crimes. Sanford proves that Emerson had been in love with Jan and that he had been victimized by her and the cowboy. Meanwhile Warde had signed Wanda as the station's new singing star, and her radio debut turns out to be a huge success. Edmond Kelso wrote the screen play, William Strobach produced it, and Phil Karlstein directed it. Unobjectionable morally. "Youth on Trial" with Cora Sue Collins and David Reed (Columbia, January 11; time, 60 min.) Like most of the juvenile delinquency pictures that have thus far been produced, this one, too, resorts to preachment to put over its message about the need of parental guidance. It is no better or worse than its predecessors and should serve its purpose as a supporting feature wherever this type of entertainment is acceptable. As usual, the action revolves around the sordid doings of a reckless youth and his influence upon a good but weak-willed 'teen-aged girl. Daring escapes from the police, gambling, selling liquor to minors, gun fights, and even the murder of one's own father are depicted in an effort to show how bad the juvenile crime problem is, but it is all so grossly exaggerated that it loses its dramatic force: — Alarmed by the rise in juvenile delinquency, Mary Currier, a Juvenile Court judge, arranges for a raid on a roadhouse, known to be a "hangout" for reckless youths. That night, Miss Currier's 'teen-aged daughter, Cora Sue Collins, goes on a secret date with David Reed, a villainous high school student, much to the disappointment of Eric Sinclair, a model young man, who loved her. The young couple settle down for some serious drinking at the roadhouse just as the raiding party arrives. They manage to escape unrecognized, but a number of their friends are caught. On the following day, when the youngsters appear before Miss Currier, one of them reveals that Reed and Cora had escaped during the raid. Shocked, Miss Currier nevertheless issues warrants for both Reed and her daughter. Reed attempts to bully the others into falsely testifying that he and Cora were not at the roadhouse, but he manages only to get Cora and himself ostracized by the entire school. Unable to stand this subtle punishment, Reed decides to leave town, and Cora agrees to accompany him. Needing money, Reed tries to steal some from his father, a wealthy gambler. His father catches him in the act and, in the ensuing struggle, Reed accidentally shoots and kills him. Later, in a tourist cabin, Cora first learns of Reed's murderous deed. She manages to notify the police of their whereabouts without Reed's knowledge. When the police close in on the cabin, Reed shoots at them. Cora runs from the cabin only to be shot down by Reed. The police wound the young man, and both he and Cora are taken to a hospital. Reed dies, but Cora recuperates and is reunited with Eric. The City Council, now aware of the need to curb juvenile delinquency, appropriate a huge sum of money in order to help Miss Currier combat the evil. Michel Jacoby wrote the screen play, Ted Richmond produced it, and Oscar Boetticher, Jr., directed it. The cast includes Georgia Bayes, Robert Williams, Joseph Crehan, John Calvert and others. Too sordid for children. Through a typographical error, the running time of "The Body Snatcher," reviewed last wee\, was given as 8 minutes. The correct time is 78 minutes.