Harrison's Reports (1948)

January 17, 1948 "An Ideal Husband" with Paulette Goddard, Michael Wilding and Diana Wynyard (20th Century'Fox, no rel. date set; time, 96 min.) Produced in England, this is an extremely lavish film version of Oscar Wilde's play, superbly photographed in Technicolor. It is a comedy of Victorian morals and manners, set in 1895, and the luxurious settings and the magnificent costumes are breathtaking. As entertainment, however, it is the sort that will appeal chiefly to discriminating patrons, who will best understand and appreciate the plot's subtleties and the sophisticated witticisms. But even among these patrons there may be some who will find that the humor of this more than 50-year-old Victorian satire is somewhat antiquated. Picture-goers of the rank and file will undoubtedly find it much too slowpaced and talkative to suit their tastes. The performances are uniformly good, but special mention should be made of Glynis Johns, an exceedingly charming young actress, whose impish characterization gives the film its most delightful moments. Briefly, the story revolves around Mrs. Cheveney (Paulette Goddard), a beautiful adventuress, who approaches Sir Robert Chiltern (Hugh Williams), a prominent British Under-Secretary, and, under threat of exposing an indiscretion in his early political career, demands that he recommend government support of a fraudulent financial scheme in which she is interested. Because of this demand, Sir Robert finds himself faced, not only with political ruin, but also with a broken marriage, for his cold, virtuous wife (Diana Wynyard) had put him on a pedestal and would leave him if she discovered anything discreditable in his life Sir Robert confides his troubles to his intimate friend, Lord Goring (Michael Wilding), a gay man-about-town, who takes the matter in hand. Through chance, he finds a diamond bracelet that is claimed by Mrs. Cheveney and he recognizes it as one that had been stolen years previously. Under threat of turning her over to the police as a common thief, he compels her to turn over to him the incriminating evidence with which she had been blackmailing Sir Robert, thus saving his friend's honor and home. A brief outline of the plot cannot do justice to some of its highly amusing satirical twists. Lajos Biros wrote the screen play, and Alexander Korda produced and directed it. The cast includes Sir Aubrey Smith, Constance Collier and others. Adult entertainment. "Tenth Avenue Angel" with Margaret O'Brien, Angela Lansbury, George Murphy and Phyllis Thaxter (MGM, no release date set; time, 76 min.) In spite of the fact that the story is commonplace, this human interest drama should go over fairly well with family type audiences. It may, however, strike sophisticated patrons as being a bit too mawkish, causing them to titter at some of the doings, which revolve around an eight-year-old urchin, living on New York's Tenth Avenue, who loses faith in her elders when some harmless statements they made to her turn out to be fabrications. The Margaret O'Brien fans should certainly find it to their liking, for the story gives the diminutive little actress ample opportunity to display her juvenile virtuosity. There is considerable human appeal, as a result of the devotion between Margaret and her elders. The rambling story depicts Margaret as a happy little girl living in a youthful world of makebelieve, her chief interests being centered on Rhys Williams, a blind newsdealer; her mother, Phyllis Thaxter; her father, Warner Anderson, an unemployed concert violinist; her aunt, Angela Lansbury; and Angela's boy-friend, George Murphy, a former taxi driver, who had just finished a prison term. Margaret believed that Murphy had been on a "world cruise," and her one aim was to marry him off to Angela as soon as possible, a marriage he rejected because of his prison record. Several by-plots revolve around the older folks, but in the main the story deals with Margaret's disillusionment when, through a contrived series of events, a cigar box in which she had caught a mouse is unwittingly replaced by two boys with a cigar box filled with money stolen from the newsdealer. She had caught the mouse because her mother had told her that mice turn into money. Compelled to return the money, she had lost faith in her mother and in the many other tales she had told her. Her disillusionment is complete when she inadvertently learns that Murphy, her idol, had been in prison — he, too, had lied to her. When her mother hovers between life and death after a premature childbirth, Margaret, frantic, recalls that her mother once told her that on Christmas Eve cows knelt in homage to the little Christ child. She sets out to find such a cow and locates one in the stockyards. Her faith restored, she returns home and finds her mother on the road to recovery. It is all quite fanciful but in its way delightful. Harry Ruskin and Eleanore Griffin wrote the screen play from a story by Agnes Enters and a sketch by Craig Rice. "Open Secret" with John Ireland and Jane Randolph (Eagle-Lion, Feb. 14; time, 70 min.) An interesting program melodrama, based on an anti-Semitism theme. The players themselves have little marquee value, but since the picture's subject matter is timely and controversial it may, if properly exploited, do better than average business. The story, which shows how intolerance and bigotry, promulgated by spreaders of hate, take hold of an entire community, is a highly melodramatic yarn that pulls no punches. There are times when the proceedings strike an unbelievable note, particularly in its depiction of violence, but on the whole the story is well developed and, considering the production's budgetary limitations, it puts over its message in a forceful way. Those connected with the picture certainly are entitled to an "A" for effort : — Learning that John Ireland, an old army buddy, was passing through town with his bride (Jane Randolph), Charles Waldron, Jr. invites the newlyweds to share his apartment for a few days. They become disturbed when Waldron disappears without leaving word of his whereabouts, and when they come across evidence that the apartment had been rifled. Ireland enlists the aid of Police Lieut. Sheldon Leonard, who shortly thereafter finds Waldron 's murdered body. Meanwhile Ireland, a candid camera enthusiast, had become friendly with George Tyne, a Jewish shopkeeper, in whose shop he had left several rolls of film to be developed, and had learned from him that a concentrated anti-racial movement was underway in the neighborhood. Several incidents he had witnessed convince Ireland that his murdered friend had been a victim of the secret gang that was spreading racial poison. Through a roll of films Tyne had developed for Waldron, Ireland learns that Waldron had been trying to expose the gang, and that he had photographed them with a concealed camera. He realizes