Harrison's Reports (1948)

January 10, 1948 HARRISON'S REPORTS 7 she assume the name of "Mary Lou," which had ah ways been identified with Carles vocalists. She accompanies the band to New York to rehearse for the opening of a new show at a swank night club owned by Emmet Vogan. Meanwhile Abigail's screen test falls through; she returns to the band, claims the exclusive use of the name, "Mary Lou," and threatens to sue both Carle and Vogan unless reinstated with the band. Heartbroken, Joan resumes her work as an air hostess. Lowery, however, decides to do some investigating and succeeds in locating Thelma White, the original holder of the "Mary Lou" name, who had retired from show business years previously. His dis' covery invalidates Abigails claim and, with the aid of Jenks and Glenda Farrell, the bands music ar' ranger, Lowery manages to keep Abigail off the stage long enough for Joan to appear in her place and score a huge success as the new "Mary Lou." M. Coates Webster wrote the original screen play, Sam Katzman produced it, and Arthur Dreifuss di' rected it. Unobjectionable morally. "Smart Politics" with Freddie Stewart and June Preisser (Monogram, Jan. 3; time, 65 min.) A moderately entertaining addition to the "Teen' Agers" series of program comedies with music, featuring the same youthful players that have appeared in the previous pictures. The plot is rather juvenile, but it has a fair amount of laughs and enough good musi' cal numbers to generally please undiscriminating audiences, especially the younger picture-goers, who should find the music of Gene Krupa and his orchestra to their taste. It should serve nicely as a supporting feature wherever something light is needed to round out a double-bill : — As chairman of the Memorial Fund of San Juan Junior College, Freddie Stewart is entrusted with supervision of a project to honor the town's war dead. He arranges for a fund-raising dance and show in the school's gymnasium, which is used by Frankie Darro and his youthful gang to hide out from the police, who were after them for stealing firecrackers from a local store. Learning of their plight, Freddie and his committee decide that a youth center to combat juvenile delinquency would make a fitting memorial. They go to see the mayor, Donald MacBride, to obtain an old warehouse from the city for that purpose. But MacBride, who had planned secretly to buy the property through a political henchman for personal profit, turns them down. Freddie eventually learns of the mayor's nefarious scheme from Candy Candido, the mayor's dim-witted nephew, who wanted a part in a show the committee planned to stage in the warehouse to raise funds for alterations. Many complications ensue as the youngsters attempt to thwart the crooked deal, but the mayor manages to outsmart them. In the end, however, the mayor's aged father (also played by Donald MacBride) takes a hand in the matter and compels his son to turn the property over to the youngsters for their youth center. Hal Collins wrote the screen play from an original story by Monte F. Collins and himself. Will Jason produced and directed it. The cast includes Warren Mills, Noel Neill, Martha Davis, the Cappy Barra Harmonica Boys and others. Unobjectionable morally. "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" with Humphrey Bogart, Walter Huston and Tim Holt (Warner Bros., Jan. 24; time, 126 min.) Though its overlong running time could be cut to advantage to tighten up its rambling plot, "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" is a grim, powerful melodrama, the sort that grips one's interest from start to finish. Its unusual tale about three American derelicts, beset by lust, greed, and distrust of each other, is by no means pleasant and, as entertainment, it will probably have more of an appeal to men than to women, first, because it has an all-male cast and is devoid of romantic interest, and secondly, because the action is frequently raw and brutal. It is a picture of mood, suspense, and action, and under John Huston's expert direction it unfolds in a taut and absorbing way. Able performances are contributed by the entire cast, but Walter Huston's brilliant portrayal of an old-time gold prospector is the picture's outstanding feature. Most of the picture was filmed in Mexico, providing interesting backgrounds, and the photography is superb : — The rambling story opens in Tampico, Mexico, where Humphrey Bogart and Tim Holt, two dirty, unsavory characters, live by their wits begging handouts from tourists. When pickings become lean, they accept jobs in a construction camp bossed by Barton MacLane, a crook, whom they have to beat up in order to collect their wages. Both go to a flop-house, where they meet Huston, whose belief that gold could be found in the Mexican hills excites them. They pool their meager resources and persuade Huston to take them on a gold-hunting expedition, despite his warning of dangers, both physical and moral, should they find gold. Their torturous trip into the wilds is marked by a surface friendship, which soon changes to bickering when they find gold and strike it rich. Bogart unjustly suspects the other two of coveting his share of the gold, and the tension between them mounts to such an extent that each, distrusting the other, buries his gold in a secret hiding place. After ten long months, during which they have their troubles with bandits and intruders, the three decide to return to civilisation. The hazardous trip back becomes a nightmare, due to the fortune each man packed on his burros and his general distrust of the others. When friendly Indians ask Huston to help save a dying boy in their camp, he entrusts his gold to the other two and bids them to go on without him. Bogart, wrongly suspecting that Holt meant to kill him and keep all the gold, shoots him and leaves him for dead. Half-crazed, Bogart flees with the treasure, only to be intercepted by ignorant bandits, who slay him in order to steal the burros, after which they slash open the saddle bags and scatter the gold to the winds without realizing its value. Meanwhile Holt survives the shooting and is found by Huston. Both arrive in an outpost town, where the bandits had been apprehended, and learn the gruesome story of Bogart's death and of the scattering of their gold. Realizing that the wind had carried the gold back to the mountains where they had found it, Holt and Huston break down with hysterical laughter at the ironic twist of fate. John Huston wrote the screen play from the novel by B. Traven, and Henry Blankc produced it. The cast includes Bruce Bennett, Bobby Blake and others. Adult entertainment.