Harrison's Reports (1946)

February 9, 1946 HARRISON'S REPORTS 23 appears and reveals himself as the missing "Wither' spoon," and takes his bride in tow. With Errol's true identity revealed, the sheriff tries to arrest him, but Errol trips him into the river again and makes his escape. Charles Roberts wrote the screen play, Nat Hold produced it, and Leslie Goodwins directed it. The cast includes Glenn Vernon, Ben Carter, Manton Moreland and others. Unobjectionable morally. "The Hoodlum Saint" with William Powell (MGM, no release date set; time, 91 min.) A pretty good drama ; it catches one's interest at the onset and never loses its grip. Revolving around a disillusioned veteran's exploits in amassing and losing a fortune, the story has deep human appeal, comedy, and pathos, presented in a manner that should appeal to the masses. The entertainment value lies mostly in the characterization by William Powell of the opportunist; he does excellent work, making the character charming, believeable, and likeable. James Gleason, "Rags" Raglund, Frank McHugh, and the late Slim Summerville, as Powell's hoodlum friends, who keep him constantly faced with the problem of keeping them out of jail, provide some good comedy as well as dramatic situations. The romance between Powell and Esther Williams is charming : — Returning to St. Louis from World War I, Powell finds his job as a newspaper reporter gone and no work in sight. Disillusioned, he determines to make good in a big way without regard for moral scruples. He crashes a society wedding and meets Charles Trowbridge, a newspaper publisher; Esther Williams, his neice; and Henry O'Neill, a utilities magnate, with whom Trowbridge had been feuding. Powell talks Trowbridge into hiring him to expose, through a series of newspaper articles, O'Neill's monopolistic tactics. The articles prove sensational, and Powell uses them to sell O'Neill the idea of changing his role from villain to public benefactor by offering his company's stock to the general public. The idea succeeds, and within a short time Powell is made vice'president of the company. He tries to resume his romance with Esther, whom he had neglected while amassing a fortune, only to learn that she had married another man. Disheartened, he becomes attentive to Angela Lansbury, a cafe singer. Meanwhile, to keep his hoodlum friends out of his life, Powell, as a gag, tells them to pray to St. Dismas, the "hoodlum saint," whenever they got into trouble; he secretly helps them, leading them to believe in St. Dismas' power for good. As a result, they start a St. Dismas fund for charity. The 1929 stock market crash wipes out Powell's wealth and that of his friends. Gleason, accepting his losses philosophically, persuades Powell to pray to St. Dismas for help. Shortly afterwards, he finds a newspaper job, but illness compels him to go to a sanitarium. Meanwhile his friends, sorely in need of money, are induced by Angela to join her in a plan to raise donations for the St. Dismas fund and to "skip" with the money. Gleason, fearing that his buddies would land in jail, appeals to Powell for help. Powell leaves his sick bed, and his pleas, augmented by Gleason 's prayers to St. Dismas, cause Angela and the others to relent and turn back the funds. Esther, now a widow, reunites with Powell, happy in the thought that he had forsaken his desire for riches and had achieved his humanization. Frank Wead and James Hill wrote the original screen play, Cliff Reid produced it, and Norman Taurog directed it. The cast includes Lewis Stone and others. Unobjectionable morally. "Sentimental Journey" with John Payne, Maureen O'Hara and Connie Marshall (20th Century 'Fox, March; time, 94 min.) A fairly good drama of the tear-jerker variety; it should find favor mostly with women. It depends chiefly on the talents of seven-year-old Connie Marshall, a newcomer, for its entertaining quality, for the story itself is thin and slow-moving. Connie's wistfulness is so appealing and her acting so realistic that she moves the spectator to tears in some of the situations. She awakens deep sympathy by her efforts to fill the void in John Payne's life after the tragic death of his devoted wife. Payne's resentment of the child's intrusion in the midst of his grief is understandable, and his eventual acceptance of her as a necessary part of his life pleases one. Maureen O'Hara, as Payne's wife is appealing, as is William Bendix, as a family friend. It is, however, a somewhat depressing entertainment because of the unhappiness that Payne, a sympathetic character, is shown enduring: — Maureen, an actress, happily married to Payne, a Broadway producer, tries to hide from him the fact that she was suffering from a serious heart ailment. One day, while strolling on the beach, she meets Connie, an orphan, and becomes intrigued by the child's imaginative mind because she was so much like herself, when she was a little girl. Aware that her days were numbered, Maureen decides to adopt the child so that Payne would not be lonely after her death. Payne consents to Connie's adoption, but he soon becomes resentful of her intrusion. Meanwhile Maureen quietly trains Connie to cater to Payne and care for him just as she did. But she soon realizes that the child's presence was interfering with her marriage, and decides to return her to the orphanage. The emotional stress, however, causes Maureen to suffer a heart attack, and before dying she makes Connie promise never to leave Payne. Maureen's death is a terrific blow to Payne, and the more Connie tries to take her place the more poignant becomes his grief. Maureen appears to Connie in a vision and explains to her the necessity of understanding and patience with Payne, but the child's efforts to imitate Maureen unnerve Payne so much that he scolds her. Heartbroken, Connie runs away. While waiting for for the police to find her, Payne wanders into Maureen's room and discovers a phonograph record, made by her in anticipation of death, in which she tells Payne that Connie was the living link between them. Realizing that his attitude had hurt the child, Payne, aided by Bendix, goes in search of her and finds her on the beach where she first met Maureen. Won over by her warmth and sincerity, he takes Connie home and makes her promise never to run away again. Samuel Hoffenstein and Elizabeth Rheinhardt wrote the screen play, Walter Morosco produced it, and Walter Lang directed it. The cast includes Sir Cedric Hardwicke, Mischa Auer and others. Unobjectionable morally. In the review of "The Bandit of Sherwood Forest," published in last week's issue, the release date was given as January 24. The correct release date is February 2 1 .