Harrison's Reports (1945)

194 HARRISON'S REPORTS December 8, 1945 "Frontier Gal" with Yvonne De Carlo and Rod Cameron (Universal, Dec. 21; time, 84 min.) A pretty good "glorified" Western, in Technicolor. In spite of the fact that the story is ordinary, it should enjoy wide audience appeal, for it has plentiful rough-and-tumble action, comedy, some music, and a fiery romance. Some of the melodramatic situations arc wildly imaginative, and the hectic, romantic by-play between Yvonne De Carlo and Rod Cameron is sometimes stretched to the limit of comic absurdity, but if one accepts the story for what it is he should find it entertaining. Miss De Carlo's acting shows improvement over her work in "Salome, Where She Danced," and, as in that picture, extra care has been taken to see that her physical attributes are shown off to good advantage. The surprise of the picture is five-year-old Beverly Simmons; she is a natural little actress, and her charm is captivating: — Rod Cameron, a fuguitive wanted for the shooting of his partner's slayer, rides into Red Horse Gulch in search of the assassin's accomplice. There he meets Yvonne, operator of a saloon. She misinterprets his attentions as a proposal of marriage and, when he tries to laugh it off, compels him at the point of a gun to marry her. Amused, he takes her forcibly to his ranch for a honeymoon, much to the chagrin of Sheldon Leonard, her discarded admirer. On the following day, however, the law catches up with Cameron, and he is sent to prison. Returning after a six-year term, Cameron finds that he has a five-year-old daughter (Beverly Simmons). Despite the coolness between Cameron and Yvonne, the little girl wins his affection and, when he sees her singing in the saloon, he wrests her away from Yvonne and takes her to his ranch. He sends for his former sweetheart, a schoolteacher, to give the child a woman's care. When Yvonne comes out to the ranch, Cameron tells her that he intended to marry the schoolteacher. She agrees to divorce him and to give up her daughter in the belief that the child would have a cultural advantage. Their agreement is frustrated, however, when Leonard, still angered at having been jilted, kidnaps Beverly. Cameron rides after him, while Yvonne rounds up the sheriff (Andy Devine) and a posse. After a hot pursuit, Cameron catches Leonard and in a desperate struggle throws him over a cliff to his death. He then rescues the child from a perilous perch on a log over a deep chasm. Their daughter saved, Cameron and Yvonne become reconciled. Michael Fessier and Ernest Pagano wrote and produced the screen play, and Charles Lamont directed it. The cast includes Fuzzy Knight, Andrew Tombes and others. Unobjectionable morally. "An Angel Comes to Brooklyn" with Kaye Dowd, Robert Duke and David Street (Republic, Tiov. 27; time, 70 min.) Republic presents this program musical as a "novel experiment in screen entertainment," because it combines the talents of a group of ambitious youngsters — all newcomers to the screen. For offering these young players an opportunity, Republic is deserving of commendation, unfortunately, however, it furnished them with a dull, slow-paced fantasy type story that strains for its laughs, with the result that the picture is tiresome on the whole. The song and dance sequences are plentiful and pleasing, and they are performed against fairly elaborate backgrounds, but they are not enough to hold one's interest. The players work pretty hard to put over the picture, but they are weighed down by the poor material. The story opens in Actors' Heaven, where departed show people stood ready to help struggling young actors on the Earth. Learning that Kaye Dowd. an aspiring young actress, refused to be discouraged by producer Wilton Graff's refusal to employ her, the chief of Actors' Heaven assigns one of his angels, Charles Kemper, a former magician, to go to the Earth to help her. Kemper, concealing his identity, becomes friendly with Kaye and with Robert Duke, a young artist in love with her, and he arranges with Graff to grant Kaye another audition. Graff, however, entranced by Kemper's feats of magic, rejects Kaye again, but tries to sign Kemper. Determined that Kaye should not lose courage, Kemper pretends to be a man of means and offers to produce a show if she and Duke would organize one. The youngsters, inspired, round up their stage-struck friends and dream up an elaborate musical show. Meanwhile Kemper seeks ways and means to interest Graff in their plans. David Street, an advertising writer, who loved Kaye but wanted her out of show business, determines to sabotage the plans. He succeeds by intercepting and concealing a message from Graff offering to grant the youngsters an audition. In the meantime Kemper had been recalled to Heaven for making a mess of Kaye's case. With Kemper'6 disappearance, Kaye loses heart, but Duke encourages her to put on the show anyway. Kemper, in Heaven, pleads for another chance to help Kaye. His plea granted, Kemper returns to the Earth where he exposes Street's perfidy and, after inspiring the youngsters with enough confidence to sell Graff the idea of backing the show, returns to Heaven vindicated. Stanley Paley and June Carroll wrote the screen play, Leonard Stillman produced it, and Leslie Goodwins directed it. Unobjectionable morally. "Masquerade in Mexico" with Dorothy Lamour and Arturo de Cordova (Paramount, Feb. 22; time. 96 min.) Diverting entertainment for sophisticated audiences. There is nothing exciting, novel, or suspensive about the farcical story, but it has been given such a lavish production, and the performances are so engaging, that one's interest is held, despite the obvious ending. Comedy is aroused throughout, most of which has to do with the predicaments Dorothy Lamour finds herself in when a young banker compels her to help h\m get rid of his wife's admirer, an amorous Mexican bull-fighter. Considerable laughter is provoked by the romantic antics of Arturo de Cordova, as the matador. The action, which takes place in Mexico City, has a gay Latin atmosphere, and it is interspersed with incidental music and dancing. Miss Lamour's clothes should make a hit with the women patrons. An outstanding comedy bit is provided by Mikhail Rasumny, in the small role of a music-loving Mexican cab driver: — Dorothy, a New York chorus girl, is tricked by George Rigaud into flying to Mexico with a stolen diamond. Landing in Mexico City, Dorothy, to avoid a search by customs officials, slips the gem into the pocket of Patric Knowles, a wealthy banker and fellow passenger, who is arrested but subsequently freed. Dorothy breaks relations with Rigaud and, posing as a Spanish Countess, secures a singing engagement in a night-club. Knowles discovers her there and, under threat of exposing her, employs her to steal the affections of de Cordova, with whom his amorous wife (Ann Dvorak) had become infatuated. Dorothy becomes a guest at Knowles' home, where she captivates de Cordova to the annoyance of Ann. Meanwhile Dorothy and Knowles, without revealing their feelings, fall in love with each other. Complications set in when Rigaud, having learned of the scheme, arrives at Knowles* home and represents himself as the Count, Dorothy's husband. As a result, numerous farcical situations ensue until Dorothy, tired of it all, appeals to Knowles for relief. He helps her by paying Rigaud a huge sum of money to leave the country, and by suggesting that she marry de Cordova. The bullfighter, however, aware that Dorothy and Knowles loved each other, sees to it that each learns of the other's feelings. Knowles, delighted, declares his intention to obtain a divorce and to marry Dorothy. Karl Tunberg wrote the screen play and produced it, and Mitchell Leisen directed it. The cast includes Natalie Schafer, Billy Daniels and others. Adult entertainment.