Harrison's Reports (1946)

August 3, 1946 HARRISON'S REPORTS 123 suades Marjorie Hoshelle, the murdered woman's next-door neighbor, to cover up his movements. Through Marjorie, Beaumont comes across a fresh set of clues that lead him to suspect Richard Fraser, who claimed to be a friend of Marjorie's but who was actually her husband. Beaumont's investigation de' velops the fact that Ferguson, the managing editor, had suspected his wife (Sonia Sorel) of having had an affair with Bryar and had found her in Bryar's apartment at the time the reporter had been shot. He had smuggled her out of the apartment but, in their haste, she had dropped a gun out of her bag. Fraser had found the gun and had been using it to blackmail Ferguson. When ballistics experts identify the gun as the murder weapon, Kendall accuses Sonia of the crimes. But Sonia is cleared when Beaumont, aided by Kathryn Adams, his fiance and secretary, proves that Marjorie, by substituting gun barrels, had committed all the murders, subsequently engaging in blackmail, with Fraser as her accomplice. Fred Hyton wrote the screen play based upon a story by Prett Halliday. Sigmund Neufeld produced it, and Sam Newfield directed it. Unobjectionable morally. . "Traffic in Crime" with Kane Richmond and Adele Mara (Republic, June 28; time, 56 min.) A formula program melodrama, suitable for small towns and for second and third grade theatres in the neighborhoods of big cities. Although it deals with racketeers who control the police department in a town through crooked politics, the theme is not demoralizing since the racketeers are not glorified — they are, instead, shown as deceitful and untrustworthy. It has a fair share of suspense and excitement brought about by the constant danger to the hero, a private investigator, hired to clean up the crime elements in the town. There is some romantic interest, but it is unimportant : — Hired secretly by Police Chief Arthur Loft to investigate and expose racketeers who were crippling his efforts at law enforcement, Kane Richmond, accompanied by Wade Crosby, his pal, comes into town posing as a tramp. Both men become involved in a barroom brawl and are arrested by Roy Barcroft, a crooked detective, who takes away their money and runs them out of town. Richmond returns to town, visits Wilton Graff, head of the racketeers, and tricks him into employing him as an aide. Adele Mara, Graff's wife, becomes infatuated with Richmond, and he uses her affection to further his game with Graff. When Graff notices that there was a resemblance between Richmond and himself, he arranges for Richmond to impersonate him one evening as part of a scheme to doublecross Dick Curtis, a rival racketeer. Using this exploit as a wedge, Richmond shrewdly sets about to create open strife between Graff and Curtis, at the same time causing suspicion between Graff and Barcroft, his key man in the police department. Meanwhile Anne Nagel, daughter of the town's newspaper publisher, whom Graff dominated by force, joins Richmond in his plan to expose the racketeers. Richmond's clever trickery causes the racketeers to scheme against one another and, after a series of incidents, in which his pal is murdered and in which Richmond himself almost loses his life, the crooks, including Adele, become victims of their own schemes as they wipe each other out in a gun battle. The rackets destroyed, Anne and Richmond decide to marry. David Lang wrote the screen play from a story by Leslie Turner White, Donald H. Brown produced it, and Les Selander directed it. Adult entertainment. "Down Missouri Way" with Martha O'Driscoll, William Wright and John Carradine (PRC, August 15; time, 73 min.) From the musical point of view, "Down Missouri Way" is a very satisfying program feature. As a matter of fact, the music is by far better than that found in most program musicals produced by the larger companies. Unfortunately, however, neither the story nor its treatment match the quality of the music; not only is the farcical plot thin and familiar, but it moves along at a slow pace, a times tiring the spectator. Moreover, the comedy is forced. But since the story serves well enough as a means of introducing the melodious songs, which are the main attraction, audiences who are not too fussy about story values should find the picture to their liking: — Martha O'Driscoll, professor at a college of agriculture, becomes dismayed when her trained mule fails to pass an examination before the faculty members. She decides that the mule needed a change of scene and orders Eddie Dean, its keeper, to take the animal to her Missouri farm. Meanwhile, at the farm, Mabel Todd, Dean's sweetheart, had given permission to a motion picture company to shoot location scenes on the property. Producer William Wright, who was having his trouble with Renee Godfrey, his temperamental star, because of her constant quarreling with John Carradine, the equally temperamental director, finds his headaches increased when Martha arrives and orders him off the property. Another of Wright's problems was to find a mule capable of acting and of taking orders. Martha, finding herself attracted to Wright, allows him to remain and even agrees to let the mule take part in the picture providing the animal receives no publicity. Renee, jealous over the romance between Martha and Wright, does her best to sabotage the shooting schedule. Through an inadvertent error, the mule receives nation-wide publicity, and Renee uses the incident to convince Martha that Wright had tricked her and that his love for her was false. Meanwhile the faculty members, shocked by the publicity, come to the farm to remove the mule and to take disciplinary action against Martha. Wright, aided by a scantily-clad Renee, manages to obtain an incriminating snapshot of the faculty and uses it to compel them to let the mule finish the picture. The animal's performance is so good that the faculty members commend Martha on the success of her training. It all ends with a reconciliation between Martha and Wright. Sam Neuman wrote the original screen play, and Josef Berne produced and directed it. The cast includes Roscoe Ates, Chester Clute, The Tailor Maids and others. Unobjectionable morally.