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22
HARRISON'S REPORTS
February 7, 1948
"If You Knew Susie" with Eddie Cantor, Joan Davis and Allyn Joslyn
(RKO, no release date set; time, 89 min.)
A lively comedy, the sort that should go over pretty well with all types of audiences, for the action is speedy and the laughs are continuous from start to finish. The farcical story is thin, and some of the gags and situations are rather familiar, but the treatment is good, and the zestful clowning of Eddie Cantor and Joan Davis puts the comedy over in a way that tickles the spectator's sense of humor, even though much of it is in a slapstick vein. Worked into the proceedings are several melodious songs sung by Cantor and Miss Davis, a unique production number featuring a group of very pretty girls, and an hilarious opera song number in which Cantor and Miss Davis arc joined by George Murphy and Constance Moore — all this adds much to the entertainment values. Family audiences will get a kick out of the picture, and word-of-mouth advertising should make itself felt at the box-office: —
Retiring from the vaudeville stage, Joan and Cantor use their savings to buy back their ancestral family home in a staid New England town, so that their children (Bobby Driscoll and Margaret Kerry) could be brought up in cultural surroundings. Cantor incurs the wrath of the community when he turns the mansion into a night-club; no one patronizes the place, compelling him to sell out. During the auction, an old box is found containing a letter from Ccorge Washington to Cantor's great-great-grandfather, granting him $50,000 for services rendered in the Revolutionary War. Accompanied by Joan, Cantor goes to Washington to have the document authenticated. There, they meet Allyn Joslyn, a newspaperman, who discovers that the Government had neglected to pay the grant, and that, with interest compounded, it now owed Cantor, the rightful heir, seven billion dollars. Joslyn's news agency makes the most of the sensational news, but a rival news agency, to combat its competitor, begins a campaign villifying the couple for their greed. To recapture the spotlight, Joslyn arranges with two underworld characters to kidnap the couple. Joan and Cantor happily agree to the scheme, unaware that a pair of tougher crooks had taken over the kidnapping in a serious vein. They soon learn the truth and, after a series of hair-raising events, manage to escape. In due time the Government acknowledges its debt to Cantor, but rather than ruin his country financially Cantor cancels the debt and becomes a national hero.
Warren Wilson and Gordon M. Douglas wrote the original screen play, Mr. Cantor produced it, and Mr. Douglas directed it. The cast includes Charles Dingle, Sheldon Leonard, Joe Sawyer, Mabel Paige, Sig Ruman, Fritz Feld and others.
"Alias a Gentleman" with Wallace Beery, Tom Drake and Dorothy Patrick
(MGM, March; time, 76 min.)
While not an exceptional comedy-melodrama, "Alias a Gentleman" holds one's attention fairly well and should give satisfaction to the Wallace Beery fans, for he "mugs" his way through the proceedings in typical fashion. It does not, however, rise above the level of program fare. The story, though not very substantial, is suited to Beery's talents and, while the accent is on the comedy, the melodramatic and sympathetic sides are well developed. Most of the comedy centers around Beery's transformation from a crude but kindly ex-convict to a Park Avenue gentleman when he comes into sudden wealth. His efforts to behave and speak like a man of upper-class bearing are good for many chuckles. There is considerable human interest in the manner in which he brings about the reformation of a young girl who had tried to mulct him of his money, and of a young racketeer with whom she was in love. The closing scenes, where he traps a group of gangsters who were trying to force him back into a life of crime, are exciting: —
Beery, completing a 15-year sentence for bank robbery, strikes up a strong friendship with Tom Drake, a cocky young racketeer. With a legitimate "bankroll" awaiting him on the outside, the result of a lucky investment, Beery had spent his spare time studying to be a gentleman. Upon his release, he establishes himself in a Park Avenue penthouse,
and acquires a girl-friend, Gladys George. Leon Ames, his former partncr-in-crime, doubts that his new wealth was honest and, to learn if Beery's money came from hauls they had formerly made, Ames arranges with Dorothy Patrick to pose as Beery's long-lost daughter, whom he believed dead. Beery accepts the girl and lavishes his wealth on her. When Drake is released from prison, Beery frowns upon the romance that springs up between the boy and Dorothy. Beery's genuine affection makes Dorothy ashamed; she plans to run away with Drake. Beery intercepts her, and she is compelled to confess the hoax. Her confession is a bitter blow to him, but when she and Drake arc kidnapped by Ames' henchmen and a $200,000 ransom is demanded from him. Beery swings into action. He arranges to turn over the money at a nightclub to which Dorothy and Drake were to be brought. There, he pulls a gun on Ames to insure the youngsters' safe exit, then starts a free-for-all that culminates with the gang's arrest by the police. It ends with Dorothy's marriage to Drake, and with Beery's engagement to Gladys.
William R. Lipman wrote the screen play from a 6tory by Peter Ruric. Nat Perrin produced it, and Harry Beaumont directed it. The cast includes Warner Anderson, John Qualen, Sheldon Leonard and others.
Unobjectionable morally.
"Jassy" with Margaret Lockwood, Patricia Roc and Dennis Price
(Univ.-jTit'I, no release date set; time, 96 min.)
Exquisite Technicolor photography and opulent production values have been wasted on a story that is weak, oldfashioned and sordid. Produced in Great Britain, it is a period melodrama set in 1830 England, revolving around the misadventures and romantic triumphs of a half-gypsy girl. It is a highly theatrical tale, totally lacking in dramatic impact because it "wanders all over the lot," dwelling on incidents that neither add anything to the plot nor help to define more clearly the many characterizations involved. Not one of the characters wins the spectator's sympathy, for each is either unscrupulous or immoral. Moreover, the acting is over-melodramatic and unconvincing. The whole thing can be summed up as a hodge-podge of brutal violence, illicit relationships, drunken rages, crooked gambling, deceit, revenge, murder, and romance, beautifully staged but lacking in appeal to one's emotions. It may hold some fascination for less critical audiences, but the more discriminating picturegoers will probably find the episodic and contrived plot rather tiresome. It is definitely not a picture for children: —
Margaret Lockwood, a half-gypsy girl, is rescued from tormenting villagers by Dermot Walsh, who takes her to his family farmhouse to work as a maid. Walsh's family had been reduced to poverty when his father, in a gambling spree, had lost their ancestral estate to Basil Sydney, an ill-mannered bully, who had accidentally killed Margaret's father in a drunken rage. When Walsh begins to take an interest in Margaret, his mother sends her away. She obtains employment at a boarding school, losing that job when she tries to protect Patricia Roc, Sydney's flighty daughter, from an escapade with a young soldier. Patricia, expelled, takes Margaret home with her. Sydney, who had discarded his wife after catching her in an illicit love affair, soon tries to make love to Margaret. Before long she establishes herself as his housekeeper. Meanwhile Patricia carries on a secret love affair with Walsh, much to Margaret's sorrow, for she loved him deeply. But the fickle Patricia jilts Walsh and marries a wealthy landowner. Sydney, passionately in love with Margaret, asks her to marry him. She agrees, first tricking him into signing the estate over to her, then, in revenge for her father's murder, refusing to consummate the marriage. Embittered, Sydney becomes so abusive that a mute servant girl, whom Margaret had befriended, poisons him. Circumstantial evidence, however, leads to Margaret's conviction for the crime, but she wins an acquittal when the mute regains her power of speech and confesses to the murder. Freed, Margaret gives the deed to the estate to Walsh, who, realizing his love for her, asks her to marry him.
Dorothy and Campbell Christie and Geoffrey Unsworth wrote the screen play from the novel by Norah Lofts. Sydney Box produced it, and Bernard Knowles directed it.