Harrison's Reports (1948)

2 HARRISON'S REPORTS January 3, 1948 "A Double Life" with Ronald Colman, Signe Hasso and Edmond O'Brien (Univ.'Int'l., no tel. date set; time, 103 min.) A drama of great dramatic power. It proves at least two theories — that the screen can match the stage when it comes to dramatic acting, and that Ronald Colman is an artist of the top rank. There is a popular saying that the line dividing genius and insanity is very thin; Mr. Colman, by his skillful performance, almost proves it, so realistic is he as a famous Broad' way actor who becomes so obsessed with the role of Othello that he reverts to it outside the stage. His work is so outstanding that it tends to overshadow com' pletely the competent performances of the other players in the cast. From the point of production, di' rection and acting, it is a first-rate job, and being a picture of great dramatic power it will surely be a contender for the Academy Award. It is not a picture for children, but adult picture-goers will remember it long after other pictures have faded away from their memories: — A mediocrity at playing comedy roles on the stage with his wife (Signe Hasso), Colman, when given the role of Othello, determines to conquer his inferiority complex and make himself worthy of the part. He studies constantly, living the part even in life so as to make the stage characterization outstanding. He is acclaimed as a great actor after opening night and, from then on, he becomes so obsessed with the role that, in the scene where he is supposed to smother Desdemona with kisses and then choke her, he almost kills Signe. Colman strikes up an acquaintanceship with Shelley Winters, a flirtatious waitress, who thinks him a little crazy because of his inability to dissociate himself with the Othello character, but that does not stop her from making amorous advances. At the end of the first year of the play, Signe arranges for a celebration, but it is a flop because Colman, though divorced from Signe, cannot help feeling jealous over her innocent friendship with Edmond O'Brien, the show's press agent; they quarrel. In a daze, he wanders over to Shelley's apartment and begins acting his stage role. He takes Shelley in his arms and, imagining her to be Desdemona, chokes her to death. The body is discovered on the following day, and the police label the murder a crime of unusual passion. An enterprising reporter compares the murder with that of Desdemona. Frenzied when he reads the story in the newspapers, Colman attempts to choke O'Brien for having allowed it to be printed. The incident makes O'Brien suspicious and, with the aid of a woman engaged to impersonate Shelley, he convinces the police that Colman was the murderer. Realizing that the "jig is up," Colman, during his next performance, commits suicide by thrusting the dagger into his breast in reality. The picture was produced by Michael Kanin, and was directed by George Cukor, from a story and screen play by Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin. The cast includes Ray Collins, Joe Sawyer and others. "I Love Trouble" with Franchot Tone, Janet Blair and Glenda Farrell (Columbia, January; time, 96 min.) A fairly good program picture, handicapped by a story that is highly complicated and frequently confusing. But since it is swift-moving it manages to keep one's interest alive to the end. It is a murder-detective story, offering little in the way of novelty, and it is not much different from hundreds of other such pictures produced to this day. Moreover, there is nothing lofty about the proceedings. As the private detective, Franchot Tone takes a sympathetic part, but he fails to arouse any sympathy because he moves in and out of the different situations with an ease that would not be natural in real life. The manner in which he works his way out of predicaments taxes one's credulity to the limit. There is nothing extraordinary about the acting, but the photography is very fine. The plot has so many complications that a detailed synopsis is practically impossible. Briefly, however, it centers around Tone, who is engaged by wealthy and ambitious Tom Powers to investigate the past of his wife, Lynn Merrick, because of mysterious notes he had been receiving about her, indicating attempts at blackmail. Tone's investigation leads him to Portland, where he learns that Lynn had worked as a dancer for Steven Geray, a night-club owner, and that she had gone to Los Angeles with Sid Tomack, an entertainer, where she had become a student at UCLA, after assuming the name of "Janie Joy," a friend. Geray resorts to force in an unsuccessful attempt to make Tone drop the investigation. Tone communicates with Tomack and makes a deal for more information about Lynn, but Tomack is murdered before he can talk. Janet Blair, who claimed to be "Janie Joy's" sister, whom she had not seen for six years, visits Tone and requests his help to locate her. Tone becomes confused when Janet, after being shown Lynn's photograph, informs him that she is not her sister. He becomes even more confused when Donald Curtis, a chauffeur employed by Eduardo Cianelli and his wife, Janis Carter, offers him a bribe to drop the investigation and his employers disclaim any complicity in the offer. Lynn is eventually murdered and an attempt is made to frame Tone for the crime, but he escapes from the police with the aid of Glenda Farrell, his secretary. After several other incidents Tone learns from Geray that Miss Carter is the real "Janie Joy," and that Lynn had been married to him. She had absconded with $40,000 of his money and, as a disguise, had assumed Miss Carter's name before her marriage to Powers. Piecing together the different clues he had gathered, Tone proves that Powers had committed the murders, and that he had hired him to investigate his wife in an effort to frighten her into leaving him, finally killing her to protect his career. Tone, now in love with Janet, asks her to marry him. Roy Huggins wrote the screen play from his own novel, and S. Sylvan Simon produced and directed it. Adult entertainment. "Glamour Girl" with Virginia Grey (Columbia, January 16; time, 67 mm.) If the blaring swing music played by Gene Krupa and his band, and if a few ordinary songs sung by Jack Leonard, a crooner, are enough to satisfy your patrons, this low-budget musical may get by as a supporting feature. Otherwise it is a pretty feeble picture of its type, weighted down by a thin and obvious plot, which doesn't give the players much of a chance. The film introduces a newcomer, Susan Reed, a singer of American and Irish folk songs. She lacks experience as an actress, and is not exactly a glamorous type, but she has a pleasant enough voice and the songs she sings will probably be appreciated more in small-town and rural communities than in large cities : — Pierre Watkin, head of a recording company, sends Virginia Grey, his talent scout, to Memphis to