Harrison's Reports (1945)

HARRISON'S REPORTS 43 as the man attacked in her dream. Lunching withWright on the following day, Nina learns that he is a secret Government agent. They fall in love, and Wright invites her to visit San Francisco with him. There, Otto Kruger, Wright's chief, gives him an important document to be delivered in Hong Kong. Meanwhile Konstantin Shayne, a German spy posing as a watchmaker, had hidden a recording device in Kruger's home, enabling him to learn of Wright's secret mission. He and his agents trick Wright into a taxi and drive towards a bridge. Just then, Nina is knocked unconscious by a passing car and the same dream she had before comes to her. Recovering, she hurries to the bridge, arriving in time to scare off the spies just as they attack Wright. Meanwhile Wright, to save the document, had thrown it over the bridge and into the bay. He enlists the aid of the Navy to search for it. The spies, through an advertisement, trick Nina into coming to their hideout in the belief that they had found the document. Shayne sends Wright a note threatening to kill Nina unless he produced the document. Wright, in a desperate effort to save her, falls into their clutches. The document is taken from him, and both are left to die in a gas-filled room. But Wright, through an ingenious trick, notifies the police of his predicament, and they arrive in time to effect their rescue and to capture the spies. Aubrey Wisberg wrote the screen play, Wallace MacDonald produced it, and Oscar Boetticher, Jr. directed it. Unobjectionable morally. "Fog Island" with George Zucco and Lionel Atwill (PRC, Feb. 15; time, 70 min.) Fairly good program entertainment. It is an eerie murder mystery melodrama revolving around an embittered financier who formulates a plan to avenge himself against group of greedy associates, one of whom had murdered his wife. The lone mansion in which the action takes place, and the -eerie underground settings, provide an effective background for the bizarre happenings. It holds one in suspense because several persons are under suspicion, and it is baffling enough to satisfy the followers of the type of pictures. The closing scenes are filled with excitement. There, the mercenary associates are trapped in an underground vault, drowning when an ingenious device rigged up by the financier fills it with water. The sustained suspense is due mainly to Terry Morse's capable direction. There is some romantic interest but it is unimportant: — Retiring to a fog-shrouded island after serving a prison term for embezzlement, George Zucco, plans revenge on the group of greedy associates who had been responsible for his incarceration and for the murder of his wife. He sends invitations to Lionel Atwill, a crooked lawyer, Jerome Cowan, a shady promoter, Veda Ann Borg, his former secretary, and Jacqueline DeWitt, a fake clairvoyant, inviting them to the island. Each accepts in the belief that Zucco has cached a stolen fortune on the island and meant to "cut them in." When they arrive, Zucco bluntly tells them that he intended to uncover his wife's murderer, and gives each one a "clue" to the supposedly hidden fortune. Distrusting one another, the associates prowl about the house following up their clues to the money. Zucco, trailing each one, discovers that Atwill had murdered his wife. Accused, Atwill murders the financier, but Zucco's carefully laid plan for revenge continues despite his death. In the search for the fortune, two more murders are committed before the remaining members find indications that the "money" was buried in an underground vault. All agree to share equally and begin to dig for the strong-box. Their digging sets off a device that locks the door and causes the vault to fill with water. Before all are destroyed by their own greed, they discover that Zucco's hidden fortune was a myth. Pierre Gendron wrote the screen play and Leon Fromkess produced it. The cast includes Ian Keith, Sharon Douglas, John Whitney and others. The murders make it too gruesome for children. "Hollywood and Vine" with James Ellison and Wanda McKay (PRC, April 25; time, 58 min.) An entertaining program comedy-romance. Although the story is loosely written and it has its share of foolishness, it holds one's attention because of the amusing characterizations and the well conceived farcical situations. Moreover, the Hollywood background should prove interesting to most patrons. There are several spots that provoke hearty laughter; as a matter of fact, there is hardly a dull moment. It goes in for some good-natured kidding of the motion picture business and of some Hollywood characters. The performances are engaging : — On her way to Hollywood to seek a movie career, Wanda McKay stops at a hamburger stand, where she atracts the attention of James Ellison, a successful studio writer. When Wanda leaves, Ellison, noticing a small dog in the place, believes that she had left it behind. He takes the dog and follows her to Hollywood, where, using a fictitious name, he rents a cottage next to her bungalow. Wanda denies ownership of the dog but offers to take care of it. A romance develops between the two and, Ellison, to be near Wanda, secures a job as a soda clerk in a drugstore, where Wanda worked as a cashier. Meanwhile Ellison's studio carries on a frantic search for him until June Clyde, a glamorous actress, who hoped to marry Ellison, locates him in the drugstore. Wanda, learning of his masquerade, determines to forget about him and concentrate upon her career. One day, when Wanda visits a studio, her dog wanders onto a set and is chosen by Leon Belasco, an eccentric director, to play a part in his forthcoming picture. The dog becomes popular nationally and, at the height of its success, a law suit is brought against Wanda and the studio by a woman claiming ownership of the dog. Just as Wanda is about to lose the dog at the trial, Ellison, who had been carrying on an investigation secretly, arrives in court with conclusive evidence proving the woman's claim false. Wanda, Ellison, and the dog leave the courtroom reunited happily. Edith Watkins and Charles Williams wrote the screen play, Leon Fromkess produced it, and Alexis Thurn-Taxis directed it. The cast includes Ralph Morgan, Franklyn Pangborn, Emmett Lynn and others. Unobjectionable morally.