Harrison's Reports (1946)

October 12, 1946 HARRISON'S REPORTS 163 "My Darling Clementine" with Henry Fonda, Victor Mature and Linda Darnell (20th Century-Fox, T^ovember; time 97 min.) This has all the color and excitement of a good Western. The story was produced once before by 20th Century-Fox, in 1939, under the title, "Frontier Marshal." Some slight changes have been made in this version, which, incidentally, has been produced on a bigger scale, but the story remains substantially the same. It is not an unusual story and, for the most part, the action is somewhat liesurely; but that is of secondary importance, for it has been handled so expertly that one's interest in the proceedings never lags. The closing scenes, where the hero shoots it out with the bad men, is thrilling. As a matter of fact, there is considerable suspense throughout. Henry Fonda, as the Marshal, is convincing, and Victor Mature, as an aristocratic doctor turned bad man, impresses one with his dramatic ability. The love interest is fairly appealing, and the photography is exceptionally good:' Heading for California with a herd of cattle, Henry Fonda and his three brothers (Ward Bond, Tim Holt, and O. Z. Whitehead) make camp for the night on the outskirts of Tombstone. Fonda visits the town, arriving just as a drunk' en outlaw was terrorizing the citizens. He wins everyone's admiration by subduing the outlaw, but declines an invitation to remain in town as Marshal. Returning to camp, he discovers his youngest brother (Whitehead) murdered by cattle rustlers. He decides to accept the office of Marshal in order to track down the killers. He crosses paths with Victor Mature, a doctor, feared by everyone because of his quick' ness with a gun. Mature admires Fonda's courage and becomes friendly with him. When Cathy Downs, an Eastern girl to whom he had once been engaged, arrives in town, Mature orders her to go back home; he felt that she was too good for him, particularly since he was ill with consumption. Fonda induces her to remain in the hope that she and Mature would come together again. Cathy's presence, however, infuriates Linda Darnell, an entertainer, who loved Mature. Meanwhile Fonda finds himself falling in love with Cathy. In the course of events, Fonda, through an incident involving Linda, discovers evidence proving that Walter Brennan and his four sons had killed his brother and had stolen the cattle. In the feud that follows, Tim Holt kills one of Brennan's sons and is in turn shot to death by Brennan. It all culminates in a gun battle in which Brennan and his remaining sons die, as does Mature, who had come to Fonda's aid. His brothers avenged, Fonda and his remaining brother leave town, with Fonda implying to Cathy that he will re turn for her soon. Samuel G. Engel and Winston Miller wrote the screen play, based on a story by Sam Hellman, from a book by Stuart N. Lake. Mr. Engle produced it, and John Ford di' rected it. The cast includes Alan Mowbray, J. Farrell MacDonald and others. Unobjectionable morally. "Vacation in Reno" with Jack Haley and Anne Jeffreys (RKO, no release date set; time, 60 min.) A mildly amusing program farce, suitable for small-town and neighborhood theatres. A good deal of the comedy borders on slapstick, and many of the situations are of the familiar farcical bedroom variety. A few of the situations provoke hearty laughter, but for the most part the comedy is forced, becoming tiresome at times. The story, of course, is pretty silly, but it should entertain those who are made to laugh easily. All in all, it may do as the second half of a program where a strong first feature is used: — Disgusted by the continual bickering of their friends (Wally Brown and Claire Carleton), Jack Haley and his wife, Anne Jeffreys, decide to put on a quarrelling act of their own to shame their friends into behaving themselves. The act works too well, however, and Anne, angered at Haley's unflattering remarks about her mother, leaves him. Haley decides to spend a two-week vacation at a dude ranch near Rcn«(, pursuing his hobby of searching for hidden treasure with a mine detector. Meanwhile, a trio of bandits (Morgan Conway, Alan Carney, and Iris Adrian), fellow guests at the hotel, had just held up a Reno bank and had buried a suitcase of money near the ranch. Haley discovers the suitcase and believes that it had been buried by an oldtime outlaw. He boasts of his discovery to Iris, who, realizing that it was the bank loot, makes a "play" for him to get the money back. Complications ensue when an attractive blonde accidentally switches suitcases with Haley, and when Anne, arriving to start divorce proceedings, finds Iris pretending to be his wife. Haley tries to explain to Anne that the had discovered a treasure and opens the suitcase to prove his story, but the sight of the blonde's lingerie only confirms Anne's worst suspicions. From that point on matters become even more complicated as Haley attempts to recover the suitcase and gets into a row with her husband and the law. Eventually, Iris and her confederates succeed in retrieving the suitcase and make a getaway. But Haley, aided by Anne, gives chase and captures them. A reward from the bank for recovering the loot brings about a reconciliation between Anne and Haley. Charles E. Roberts and Arthur Ross wrote the screen play from a story by Charles Kerr, and Leslie Goodwins produced and directed it. The cast includes Matt McHugh, Matt Willis and others. Unobjectionable morally. (Continued from front page) In denying the prayer of the Government for complete divestiture by the defendant distributors of their interests in theatres, the Court by inference again indicated that in the past the independent exhibitors had been unable to compete for run and clearance. They said : . . We think that the opportunity of independents to compete under the bidding system for pictures and runs renders such a harsh remedy as complete divestiture of theatres unnecessary. . . ." When mentioning that in 60 per cent of the 92 cities having populations of over 100,000 there were independent first-run theatres in competition with those of the major defendants, the Court added this qualification as to competition: ". . . except so far as it may be restricted by the trade practices we have criticized. . ." They also said that if the bidding system were set up and the unlawful practices eliminated — ". . . it is our opinion that adequate competition would exist." These excerpts from the decision of the Expediting Court indicate that the effect of the condemned practices has been to restrict or eliminate competition against the defendants in the exhibition of motion picture films. Obviously, too, they were put into effect for that purpose. It is an ancient axiom of the law that a person is presumed to intend the natural and probable consequences of his acts. In the Aluminum Case the Court declared, in language which was subsequently approved by the Supreme Court, that "no monopolist monopolizes unconscious of what he is doing."6" These agreements, systems and practices of the defendants, which have restricted or eliminated competition, are clearly restraints of trade, and, under the doctrine of the celebrated Standard Oil Case'1 and other authorities, they constitute monopolistic practices. The logical inference, therefore, in view of the subsidiary findings of the Court, is that the defendant exhibitors have monopolized and attempted to monopolize and have conspired to monopolize a part of the interstate business of contracting for and exhibiting motion picture films. This conclusion is reinforced by a comparison of the condemned practices with those found to exist in the Crescent and Schine Cases." In all three cases the practices resulted in the restriction or elimination of independent competition. "United States v. Aluminum Company (C.C.A.2) 148 F. (2d) 416, 432, quoted in American Tobacco Company v. United States, Supreme Court, June 20, 1946. "Standard Oil Company v. United States, 221 U.S. 1,57,62. "United States v. Crescent Amusement Co. 323 U.S. 173; United States v. Schine Chain Theatres, Inc. (W.D.N.Y.) 63 F.Supp. 229. These decisions are reviewed at some length under the topic "Monopolizing," Harrison's Reports, Sept. 21, 1946. (Continued next wee\)