Harrison's Reports (1948)

38 HARRISON'S REPORTS « » March 6, 1948 "Scudda Hoo! Scudda Hay!" with June Haver and Lon McCallister (20th Century-Fox, April, time, 93 min.) A pretty good outdoor Technicolor melodrama, revolving around the domestic, romantic, and business troubles of a young farm boy, who buys a pair of hard-to-handle mules and struggles to pay for them out of his meagre earnings as a hired hand. Based on the novel by George Agnew Chamberlain, the story blends human appeal, drama, comedy, youthful romance and occasional thrills in a way that should satisfy most patrons, in spite of the fact that there is considerable hokum in spots. A novel and interesting part of the film has to do with the depiction of the mule as a hard-working, intelligent animal, one whose prowess and service to man is in many ways superior to the horse. The title, incidentally, is the cry used to urge the mules on. How the mules solve the boy's troubles, romantic and otherwise, gives the tale a happy ending. The direction and performances are good and, though the story unfolds in just the manner one expects, it holds one's interest throughout and is easy to take: — Left with a mean stepmother (Anne Revere) and a cruel stepbrother (Robert Karnes) when his father (Henry Hull) leaves their midwest farm to return to the sea, Lon McCallister obtains a job as a hired hand for Tom Tully, with whose daughter (June Haver) he was in love. June, however, favors Karnes. Tully, a loud-mouthed farmer, becomes livid with anger when two mules he had just paid $300 for refuse to budge; he threatens to shoot the animals. Lon, horrified, offers to buy them and signs a contract with Tully agreeing to pay him $5 a week out of his wages. With the aid of Walter Brennan, a friendly neighbor, Lon learns to handle the mules and soon finds an opportunity to earn $15 a day with them hauling logs. Karnes, jealous, cooks up a scheme with Tully whereby he would fire Lon and then take back the mules because of his inability to meet the $5 payment. The scheme is overheard by Natalie Wood, June's precocious little sister, who informs Lon. The young man goads Tully into firing him so that he could go to work hauling logs. The feud between the stepbrothers is intensified when Lon thrashes Karnes for making improper advances to June. By this time June realizes her love for Lon and denounces her father when he attempts to take the mules away from the lad because of his inability, due to a delayed payday, to meet the weekly $5 payment. She gives him the money herself. Meanwhile word had come of Lon's father's death, making the lad sole owner of the farm. He manages to rid himself of Karnes and his stepmother, leaving him' self prepared with a home for June. Tully remains his only problem, for he needed his consent to marry June. The situation resolves itself when Tully, stuck in a muddy field with his tractor, bets Lon that the mules could not pull him out — the wager being his consent to the marriage. The mules come through for Lon to the joy of everyone concerned, including Tully. F. Hugh Herbert wrote the screen play and directed it, and Walter Morosco produced it. Suitable for the family. "Madonna of the Desert" with Lynne Roberts and Don Castle (Republic, Feb. 23; time, 60 min.) Fair program entertainment, suitable for neighborhood theatres. Revolving around the efforts of several crooks to steal the jewelled statue of a madonna, the story is developed along familiar lines; nevertheless, it holds one in suspense because of the constant danger to the heroine, one of the thieves, whose reformation is brought about by the statue's miraculous power to ward off evil. The action is slow in spots, but for the most part it generates a fair amount of excitement, caused by the heroine's efforts to thwart the crook with whom she had been in league, as well as another crook, who was "muscling in" on the scheme. The closing scenes, where the two crooks kill each other, are wildly melodramatic. The romantic interest is pleasant, the photography sharp, and the production values pretty good: — Sheldon Leonard, a suave Los Angeles crook dealing in art treasures, sends Lynne Robrts, an accomplice, to the ranch of Don Castle to steal a small jewelled madonna, which the young man prized highly because of its miraculous power to ward off evil. She takes along a copy of the statue, planning to substitute it for the original. She becomes a guest at the ranch through a subterfuge, but Castle's trusting nature, coupled with the fact that her every attempt to steal the madonna is somehow thwarted, causes her to have a change of heart. She buries the copy and determines to face Leonard with a refusal to carry out his orders. She mistakenly buries the original statue, however, leaving the copy in its place to be stolen by Don Barry, another crook, who had learned of Leonard's scheme. Angered when Lynne confronts him with her decision, Leonard heads for the ranch himself and, en route, intercepts Barry fleeing with the copy. He gives Barry a beating and, realizing that Lynne had buried the original statue, compels her to return to the ranch to point out the resting place. Castle intercepts them and, as he slugs it out with Leonard, Barry returns. He kills Leonard to settle old scores but dies himself in the exchange of gunfire. Castle forgives Lynne, pointing out that the Madonna had brought her to the ranch, not to steal, but to become his wife. Albert DcMond wrote the screen play from a story by Frank Wisbar. Stephen Auer produced it, and George Blair directed it. Unobjectionable morally. "Casbah" with Yvonne DeCarlo, Tony Martin and Peter Lorre ( Univ.-lnt'l., no release date set, time, 94 min.) A fairly good remake of "Algiers," which was produced originally in this country by United Artists in 1938, with Charles Boyer and Hedy Lamar as the stars. While the story is substantially the same, this version differs in that music and dancing have been added, with several songs sung by Tony Martin, and the dances executed expertly by Katherme Dunham and her troupe. Like the original version, this story lacks human appeal, for not one character stands out as worthy of the spectator's sympathy. The hero is a crook who feels no repentance for his misdeeds, and the two women in his life are both of low moral character. Moreover, some of the features, such as a ruthless murder, are unpleasant. The romantic interest, however, is quite warm, and there are some good comedy touches. Tony Martin gives a good account of himself as "Pepe Le Moko," the romantic thief, as do Yvonne De Carlo, as his Algerian sweetheart, and Marta Toren, a newcomer, as a sultry Parisian tourist with whom he falls in love. Peter Lorre, as the detective who matches wits with Martin, is a standout. Algiers is the locale: — To evade imprisonment in Paris, Martin exiles himself in the Casbah section of Algiers, which was inhabited by crooks who protected him from the police. Yvonne, his girl-friend, loves him, but realizes that he just tolerates her. Lorre sees Martin in the Casbah regularly but makes no effort to arrest him in the knowledge that Martin's followers would never permit him to be taken within the Casbah. Lorre looked forward to the day when he could lure Martin from the Casbah and effect his arrest. The opportunity presents itself when Martin becomes attracted to Marta, a beautiful Parisian tourist, who sneaks away from her wealthy fiance every day to visit him. He induces her to break her engagement and promises to go back to Paris with her. Learning of the affair, Lorre decides to use Marta as bait to lure Martin outside the Casbah's gates. He keeps Marta from meeting Martin by leading her to believe that Martin had been killed. Despondent, she decides to return to Paris. Learning of the trick Lorre had played on him, Martin decides to steal out of the Casbah and buy a ticket on the same plane. But Yvonne, who could not bear to have Martin leave her, informs the police. They trap him at the airport. As Malta's plane takes off, Martin rushes out on the field to wave goodbye. A detective, believing he was attempting an escape, shoots him down; he dies. L. Bush-Fekete and Arnold Manoff wrote the screen play from the novel, "Pepe Le Moko," by Detective Ashelbe. Nat G. Goldstone produced it, and John Berry directed it. The cast includes Thomas Gomez, Hugo Haas, Douglas Dick and others. Adult entertainment.