Harrison's Reports (1945)

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188 HARRISON'S REPORTS November 24, 1945 tinued to be a Goldwyn customer. All in all, Sam Goldwyn went to great lengths to convince the tradepress representatives at the meeting that he was grossly misunderstood, and that he was entitled to kindlier treatment in their reports about him. As it has already been said at the beginning of this article, Sam Goldwyn yells when he is hurt. He should be more careful about what he has to say, before rushing into print again. After all, he is one of the industry's recognized leaders, and, as such, should realize that his words, his ideas, and his actions are subject to close scrutiny. Moreover, he has an obligation, if not to the exhibitors, at least to the salesmen of the company that is selling his pictures — RKO. The effect of Sam's statement on the sales of his pictures among the subsequent-run exhibitors must have been demoralizing. These salesmen must have had a trying time offsetting Goldwyn's thoughtless remarks about a class of his customers. The continuance of recriminations about the incident can serve no further purpose. All the parties involved have had a chance to talk things over, and to make their positions clear to one another. Harrison's Reports hopes that, as a result of this incident, Sam Goldwyn will have a finer appreciation of the potency of his statements, and will, therefore, weigh his ideas carefully before expressing them in public. He will then have no cause to complain about his relationship with the trade press. A WORTHY IDEA BUT HIGHLY EMBARRASSING From time to time, a prominent member of the motion picture industry gets an inspiration of sending out a chain letter with the purpose of increasing the sale of War Stamps. From among his friends, he selects ten and sends them each a 25 cent War Stamp. Each of these friends is in turn requested to select ten of his friends, send each a 25 cent War Stamp, with a request that they, too, select ten friends and ask each to repeat the process. The general idea is that, eventually, each of the letter senders will receive back from ten persons ten 25 cent stamps. There are other detailed instructions contained in the letter, all designed to perpetuate the chain, but what I have dealt with is enough to give the reader an idea of what the chain-letter system is like, if he does not already know it. The person who conceived the chain letter idea feels that it is the patriotic duty of every letter recipient to help augment the sale of War Stamps; he believes that, if every one of his friends and their friends perpetuate the chain, the sale of War Stamps will be so pyramided that the Government will receive enough money to pay the nation's war debt. Last summer I received one such letter and, being unwilling to scrap it, I followed the suggestions. Some of the ten friends to whom I wrote have answered me, saying that they were so snowed under with similar letters that they could not possibly carry out my suggestions. And I have no doubt that the other nine friends of the person who sent me the chain letter received similar complaints if they followed the chain letter suggestions. From Philadelphia I received a letter from one of my friends informing me that the Post Office authorities in that city had declared chain letters to be in violation of the postal regulations even if they are intended to benefit the United States Government. Regardless of whether the chain letter to increase the sale of war stamps is or is not violating postal regulations, the idea itself is annoying, for most letter recipients haven't either the facilities or the time to write ten letters. Moreover, they are loath to impose upon their friends; they feel that it would be better for a friend to ask for a direct contribution to the cause, for the labor involved costs more than the War Stamp contribution. It is a good idea in theory, but wrong in practice. "Mexicana" with Tito Guizar and Constance Moore (Republic, no release date set; time 84 mirx.) Although it has been produced on a pretty lavish scale, this comedy with Latin-American music is only mildly entertaining and often dull. Not much can be said for the story, which is not only trite but also silly and tiresome. The players strive hard to be funny, but they fail to make an impression; most of the comedy situations, which range from bedroom farce to slapstick antics on the narrow ledge of a high building, fall flat. Tito Guizar and Constance Moore put over the musical numbers in competent style; but the songs arc not outstanding. The picture's setting is Mexico, and worked into the plot are the usual scenes of festive gayety one expects to sec in musicals of this type, but all this is presented in so routine a fashion that it leaves the spectator unmoved : — Tired of the frenzied adoration of his feminine fans, Tito Guizar, a popular Mexican crooner, enters into a scheme cooked up by his manager (Leo Carrillo) whereby Constance Moore, a visiting American musical star, would pose as his secret wife; Guizar hoped that his fans, believing that he was married, would let him live peacefully. Constance agrees to the hoax at the insistence of her manager (Howard Freeman) , but against her better judgment. Convinced that Guizar was a conceited fellow, Constance plans to teach him a lesson. Their clashing temperaments soon result in numerous scenes and quarrels as both try to outwit one another in their efforts to gain public attention. Meanwhile Estilita Rodriguez, a fiery Mexican dancer who loked upon Guizar as her own, suspects that the "marriage" was a hoax, and her efforts to expose it compel Guizar to confine himself to Constance's bedroom suite. Matters become even more complicated when Carrillo and Freeman, to give the "marriage" authenticity, arrange with two youngsters to pose as the couple's children. This move gives Estilita an opportunity to expose the marriage as a hoax. She gives the story to the newspapers, and the unfavorable publicity results in a break between Constance and Guizar, who by this time had really fallen in love. It all turns out for the best, however, when both are reunited at a gay Pan-American festival. Frank Gill, Jr., wrote the screen play, and Alfred Santell produced and directed it. The cast includes Steven Geray and others. Unobjectionable morally.