Harrison's Reports (1946)

September 21, 1946 HARRISON'S REPORTS 151 "Decoy" with Jean Gillie and Edward Norris (Monogram, Sept. 14; time, 76 min.) For a melodrama of its type it is interesting, but it is certainly not for the family circle or for squeamish adults. All the leading characters are unsympathetic, particularly the heroine, or rather the murderess, who is presented as a cruel, ruthless woman, one who would stop at nothing, including cold-blooded murders, to satisfy her lust for money. It is an unpleasant entertainment, filled with ugly situations, for there is one killing after another. And the audience is not made aware of these killings by suggestion; it is shown clearly how the heartless leading lady commits each one. As a matter of fact, the picture stands in a class by itself as a lesson in varied types of murders. Suspense is well sustained throughout because of the murderous nature of the heroine, and because one does not know which of her accomplices will meet with his death next. Jean Gillie, an English actress and newcomer to the American screen, does well with her unsympathetic role: — Suffering from a fatal gunshot wound, Dr. Herbert Rudley goes to Jean's apartment and kills her before dying himself. Detective Sheldon Leonard arrives on the scene and, as Jean lays dying, she recounts the events that led to her shooting, after she had ensnared three men and had caused their deaths. Robert Armstrong, her boy-friend, had hidden $400,000 taken in a bank robbery, but had been caught and sentenced to the gas chamber for killing a guard. Pretending love for gangster Edward Norris, Jean, promising to share the hidden loot with him, had induced him to engineer the removal of Armstrong's body from prison immediately after he had been put to death. Meanwhile she had used her womanly wiles on Rudley, the prison doctor, to get him to administer to Armstrong an antidote for gas poisoning to bring him back to life. When Armstrong had been revived, he had given Jean half of a map showing the location of the hidden money, but Norris had shot him down and had obtained the other half. Both she and Norris had forced Rudley to drive them to the hiding place because the doctor's license plates on his car had enabled them to get through police road blockades. Before Norris could carry through a plan to murder Rudley, Jean, who wanted all the money for herself, had tricked him (Norris) into fixing a flat tire and had run him down with the car, killing him. She then had forced Rudley to dig up the treasure, after which she had shot him. As Jean finishes her story, she dies. Leonard breaks open the treasure box and finds in it a single dollar bill, with a bitter note from Armstrong, stating that he would leave no money to a double-crosser. Ned Young wrote the screen play from an original story by Stanley Rubin, Jack Bernhard and Bernard Brandt produced it, and Mr. Bernhard directed it. The cast includes Marjorie Woodworth, Phil Van Zandt and others. Adult entertainment. "Angel On My Shoulder" with Paul Muni, Anne Baxter and Claude Rains (United Artists, Sept. 20; time, 101 min.) Very Good. In substance and in entertainment values, "Angel On My Shoulder" draws comparison with "Here Comes Mr. Jordan." And it is easy to understand why, for both stories have been written by the same author — Harry Segall. Yet, despite the similarity of the plot's construction, its developments are as fresh and ingenious as the other picture, and its combination of fantasy, comedy, drama and romance is consistently entertaining. As in the "Jordan" picture, the hero meets sudden death and his soul is brought back to Earth and joined with the body of another man, but this time the hero, instead of descending from Heaven under the guidance of an Angel, ascends from Hell, guided and controlled by the Devil. The comedy stems from the fact that the hero, a vicious gangster, has his soul merged with the body of a respected jurist, a candidate for governor. Paul Muni, as the gangster, is excellent, and Claude Rains, as the Devil, does a fine bit of acting. As a matter of fact, every one of the players does well. To enjoy the picture fully, one should see it from the beginning: — Upon his release from prison, Muni is shot down by Hardie Albright, his chief lieutenant, and the next minute he finds himself walking through Hell. He resists the guards in an effort to break out of the place, and his bad behavior comes to the attention of the Devil, who notices that Muni had an exact resemblance to a Judge on Earth (also played by Muni), whose reformation of many criminals kept their souls out of his (the Devil's) domain. Concealing his identity, the Devil offers to help Muni break out of Hell and "to get" Albright if he would do a little "job" for him on Earth. Muni agrees. They rise in the midst of New York, invisible to those around them, and go to the Judge's apartment, where they find the good man sick in bed. The Devil fuses Muni's soul into the Judge's body. When he awakens, Muni, to all outward appearances, resembles the Judge, but his soul and brain remain that of the gangster's. Anne Baxter, the Judge's sweetheart and secretary, is confused and frightened by his rough mannerisms, as is George Cleveland, his life-long butler, but both tolerate him in the belief that he was having a breakdown from overwork. As part of his plan to discredit the Judge, the Devil arranges for Muni to make an incriminating speech at a political rally, but the scheme fails when hoodlums, hired by the opposition, started throwing vegetables as Muni begins to speak. Enraged, Muni puts the thugs to rout himself, thus making of himself a hero. Additional attempts by the Devil to discredit the Judge through Muni are foiled at the last moment by circumstances that add to his popularity. Meanwhile Muni finds himself deeply in love with Anne, who, still believing that he was the Judge, urges him to marry her at once. They enter a church just as the minister is rehearsing a sermon, the text of which makes Muni realize that his partner from Hell was the Devil himself, who would have no power over him as long as he (Muni) kept on doing good instead of evil. Completely regenerated, Muni cancels the wedding and mocks the Devil. A battle of wits ensues between them, with the Devil bringing Muni face to face with Albright in the hope that he would kill his murderer and thus come under his control once again. Muni, however, restrains his impulses, and Albright, frightened by the sight of Muni, is accidentally killed. The Devil finds it embarrassing to return to Hell without Muni, lest his organization learn that he had been defeated. Realizing the Devil's predicament, Muni makes a deal to return with him by compelling him to promise that he would never again molest Anne and the Judge. As Muni's soul leaves the Judge's body, the good man and Anne are joyfully reunited. Muni's soul joins the devil on the trip back to Hell, threatening to blackmail him unless granted special privileges. Mr. Segall and Roland Kibbee wrote the screen play, Charles R. Rogers produced it, and Archie Mayo directed it. The cast includes Onslow Stevens, Jonathan Hale and many others. Unobjectionable morally. (Continued from bac\ page) control, they have the power to exclude, they have exercised the power and they have by all this violated the provisions of the Sherman Act." In the Aluminum Company Case it appeared that early in its career the defendant had a lawful patent monopoly for the production of ingot. Upon the expiration of its patent rights, however, it embraced opportunities offered to it to fortify itself against competition and to exclude potential competition, and at the time of the trial had control of approximately 90 per cent of the ingot market. Reversing the judgment of the District Court, the Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that it had both the power and the intent to monopolize, and that, even in the absence of unlawful trade practices, it had violated the law. American Tobacco Company v. United States, Supreme Court, June 10, 1946; affirming (CCA. 6) 147 F. (2d) 93 (1944).