Harrison's Reports (1948)

18 HARRISON'S REPORTS January 31, 1948 "The Smugglers" with Michael Redgrave and Jean Kent (Eagle-Lion, Jan. 31; time, 85 min.) Produced in Great Britain under the title, "The Man Within," this costume melodrama, which is set in the smuggling days of early England in the 19th Century, is high in artistic values. It has an unusual story, capable performances, exceptionally fine Technicolor photography, and very effective background music. As entertainment, however, its story about a young man who develops from a cowardly weakling into a man of courage will probably have limited appeal, for, though it is tense and exciting, it is extremely unpleasant, at times sickening in its depiction of torture and brutality. It is definitely not a picture for children, first because it is too harrowing for them, and secondly, because it deals with sex matters in too frank a manner. Besides, it attempts to win sympathy for a set of characters whose actions are, to say the least, unsavory: — Orphaned by the death of his father, skipper of a smuggling vessel, Richard Attenborough is placed under the guardianship of Michael Redgrave, who had taken over command of his father's ship. Redgrave develops a deep sympathy for the frail, nervous lad, and takes him to sea. He proves to be a bad sailor and, to escape the taunts of the brutal crew, seeks out Redgrave's companionship. During one voyage, several kegs of whiskey are stolen and, through a frame-up by the crew, Richard is held responsible. The lad pleads innocence, but Redgrave, for the sake of preserving discipline, applies the lash to his back. Smarting under his unjust punishment, Richard, seeking revenge, informs the authorities of the crew's plan to deliver an illegal shipment of brandy on the Sussex coast. Customs officers ambush the crew and, in the ensuing fight, one of the officers is killed. Several of the crew members are captured, but Redgrave manages to escape and takes after Richard, who had fled into the woods; he realized that the lad had betrayed him and vowed to kill him. With Redgrave in hot pursuit, Richard takes refuge in the home of Joan Greenwood, stepdaughter of the murdered officer, with whom he falls in love. She builds up his courage and induces him to testify against the captured crew members. His evidence convicts them, but in a sudden feeling of remorse he refuses to identify Redgrave, whom he spies sitting in the gallery. Subsequent events, involving a murder committed by an uncaptured crew member seeking revenge on Richard, land both Richard and Redgrave in jail. Richard is subjected to fiery torture in an attempt to force him to identify Redgrave as head of the smugglers, but he bears his pain manfully and refuses to speak. Redgrave, admiring the lad's courage, confesses his identity and goes to the gallows, thus enabling Richard to be set free. Muriel and Sydney Box wrote the screen play and pro' duced it from a novel by Graham Greene. Bernard Knowles directed it. Adult fare. "The Woman from Tangier" with Adele Jergens and Stephen Dunne (Columbia, February 12; time, 65 min.) A minor program melodrama that will take up sixty-five minutes of screen time wherever double-bills are required but will leave the audience cold. Not only is the story thin and unbelievable, but talk rather than action is employed in the unfoldment, causing one to become impatient with it long before the final reel. Here and there it has a melodramatic incident, but these are so mechanical that one it left unimpressed. None of the characters are sympathetic, and the whole story is lacking in human appeal: — Dennis Greene, captain of a ship that puts in at Tangier, steals $50,000 from the ship's safe. He murders his first mate, then tells the police that he was certain that the dead man had committed the theft, and that he had killed him in self-defense. Ivan Triesault, the prefect of police, and Stephen Dunne, representative of an insurance company, order the ship to remain in port until the money is recov ered. Meanwhile Ian MacDonald, a cafe owner from Morocco, who was Greene's confederate, flies to Tangier to collect his share of the loot, killing the pilot when he, too, demands a share. Adele Jergens, an American dancer who was a passenger on the bhip, and who had once been in love with MacDonald, meets him while walking near her hotel. Without revealing why he was compelled to remain in hiding, he persuades her to bring food to him at an abandoned warehouse and to deliver a note to Greene. The note gives Adele reason to suspect that their dealings involved the stolen money. In the meantime Greene decides to keep the money for himself and, through a series of tricky moves, he manages to kill MacDonald and make it appear as if he had done so in self-defense. He then lays plans to kill Adele because she knew too much. Thoroughly frightened, Adele informs Dunne and the police all she knew about the crimes and, through a clever trap, they lead Greene to believe that the money had been recovered, tricking him into revealing where the loot was hidden. He is arrested for the theft and murders. It all ends with Adele and Dunne discussing wedding plans. Irwin Franklin wrote the original 6creen play, Martin Mooney produced it, and Harold Daniels directed it. Adult entertainment. "Black Bart" with Yvonne De Carlo and Dan Duryea ( Univ. -Jnt'l, no tel. date set; time, 81 min.) More notable for its Technicolor photography than for its feeble and cliche-ridden plot, this western-type melodrama is routine program fare that will depend heavily on the marquee value of Yvonne De Carlo and Dan Duryea. It has a sufficient quantity of hard-riding, stagecoach robberies, and gunplay to satisfy the not-too-discriminating action fans. Others, however, will probably find it too pat and contrived to carry any conviction. Moreover, there are no human interest touches, and no sympathy is felt for any of the characters. The color photography is good, but it does not compensate for the picture's lack of imagination in script, staging, and acting: — Dan Duryea and Jeffrey Lynn, notorious cowboy renegades, are saved from a lynching by the timely interference of Percy Kilbride, their partner-in-crime, who puts the sheriff and his men to rout. Duryea deems it best to dissolve the partnership and, in so doing, cheats his partners out of their share of stolen money. He heads for Sacramento, where he becomes chummy with John Maclntyre, a minor Wells Fargo official, from whom he secures information that enables him to perform reckless stagecoach robberies of gold shipments while dressed in the garb of a hooded highwayman. Fabulous rewards are offered for his capture, but Duryea manages to elude his pursuers and keeps his identity hidden by posing as a wealthy rancher. On one of his robberies Duryea holds up a stagecoach carrying as passengers his former partners, who fail to recognize him, and Yvonne De Carlo, a famous international dancer. The horses bolt during a scuffle and, while Duryea makes a getaway, Lynn and Kilbride bring the runaway under control and are rewarded by Wells Fargo with jobs as a driver and guard team. Duryea renews acquaintances with his former buddies, vying with Lynn for the attentions of Yvonne. She falls in love with Duryea, but refuses to marry him when he inadvertently discloses that he was the hunted highwayman. He promises to go straight after committing one more holdup of a stagecoach carrying a huge shipment of gold. Meanwhile Lynn and Kilbride had laid plans to commit the robbery, hoping that the blame would be placed on the mysterious highwayman. Their paths cross in the events that follow and, while they quarrel over the loot, both Lynn and Duryea are trapped by a sheriff's posse and shot dead. Kilbride ends up in jail. Luci Ward and Jack Natteford wrote the story and collaborated on the screen play with William Bowers. Leonard Goldstein produced it, and George Sherman directed it. Adult entertainment.