Harrison's Reports (1948)

54 HARRISON'S REPORTS April 3, 1948 "Ruthless" with Zachary Scott, Louis Hayward, Diana Lynn, Sydney Greenstreet and Lucille Bremer (Eagle-Lion, April 3; time, 104 mm.) Being a character study of a conscienceless man whose lust for power and wealth wrecks the lives of those associated with him, this is a grim drama, but it is only mildly interesting. It can boast of good production values and of a cast whose names should be of help at the box-office, but these attributes are not enough to overcome a story that is not only unconvincing but made worse by a series of confusing flashbacks and by affected direction and acting. Moreover, its running time is unreasonably long and the action is slowed down considerably by too much talk. The manner in which the flashback method has been employed serves to distract the spectator, making him lose interest in the outcome. The story opens at a reception in the opulent home of Zachary Scott, a fabulously rich man, who, with typical unabashed fanfare, gives away a fortune to an organization designed to further the cause of peace. During the reception, Scott is fascinated by the beauty of Diana Lynn, sweetheart of Louis Hayward, his boyhood friend. As Scott makes an obvious play for her, Hay ward's memory is set in motion. He recalls how thirty years previously Scott, whose homelife had been poverty-stricken, had been befriended by a wealthy couple whose daughter he had saved from drowning. Hayward himself had been in love with the girl, but Scott had taken his place in her affections. Before long, however, he had jilted her for Martha Vickers, a wealthy debutante, whose family had important connections in Wall Street. After setting himself up in the brokerage business with Martha's help, Scott had discarded her for Lucille Bremer, a bored young woman, whose aged husband, Sydney Greenstreet, was a powerful financier. Taking advantage of her boredom, Scott had wrecked her marriage to Greenstreet and had married her himself, eventually discarding her after she had helped him to ruin her former husband. With a ruthlessness that had characterized his earlier dealings, Scott had used his newly-gained business power to force former friends to the wall in a desire for even greater power and wealth. His thoughts returning to the present, Hayward sees Diana coming under Scott's spell as he urges her to accompany him on a yachting trip. Despite Hayward 's pleadings, Diana insists on going to the pier to bid Scott bon voyage. There Greenstreet, drunk and desperate, puts in an appearance. Giving vent to years of silent embitterment, he grasps Scott by the throat. Both topple into the water and drown. Scott's death breaks the spell on Diana, and she returns to Hayward's arms. Arthur S. Lyons produced it and Edgar G. Ulmer directed it from a screen play by S. K. Lauren and Gordon Kahn, based on the novel, "Prelude to Night," by Dayton Stoddard. Adult fare. "To the Victor" with Dennis Morgan and Viveca Lindfors (Warner Bros., April 10; time, 100 mm.) This melodrama has much to recommend it, but on the whole it misses fire because of a mixed-up story that is presented in a muddled way. It is a tale of postwar intrigue in Paris, revolving around a demobilized American, a black marketeer, who seeks to protect the estranged wife of a captured French collaborationist, whose henchmen were trying to kill her to prevent her from testifying at his trial. There are many spurts of thrilling excitement, particularly in the opening and closing scenes, but these are unevenly spaced and the net result is a spottily suspenseful film which, for the most part, is a talkative but not very clear discourse on black market and collaborationist activities, and on the need for unity to prevent a third world war. It is not a very pleasant story, and it is peopled by characters who are more or less unsavory, yet the characterizations of the hero and the heroine, despite their moral failings, are molded in a way that gives them some measure of sympathy. A bad flaw in the script, however, is that there are several characters whose parts in the heavy proceedings are never clearly explained. On the plus side of the film are the impressive backgrounds; most of the footage was shot on actual locations in Paris and in Normandy, giving the picture an authentic flavor. The film serves also to introduce to American audiences Viveca Lindfors, a Swedish star, who makes a very favorable impression as the heroine; she has an appealing personality, not unlike that of Ingrid Bergman's:— Seeking to escape death at the hands of her husband's henchmen, Viveca takes refuge in the private office of Dennis Morgan, a former American officer engaged in black market operations, who helps her to elude her pursuers. He accompanies her to a hideout in Normandy, where both fall in love, but Viveca does not tell him she was the wife of a collaborationist lest she lose his love. While Morgan is away from the hideout, Inspector Victor Franccn arrives and takes Viveca back to Paris to testify against her husband. Returning to the house, Morgan finds her pursuers waiting. They beat him up in a vain effort to learn her whereabouts, then advise him to keep away from her because she was the wife of a collaborationist. Shocked by this news, Morgan returns to Paris and refuses to have anything to do with Viveca, but she soon convinces him that she had not behaved as a collaborationist although married to one. She decides not to testify against her husband so that she would be left in peace to eventually marry Morgan. Her action disappoints Francen; he enlists Morgan's aid to persuade her to testify, offering to overlook his illegal activities for the service. Aware that it was important for the collaborationist to be convicted, and that he himself turn over a new leaf, Morgan, through a clever trap, tricks a pair of vicious black market operators and Viveca's pursuers into killing one another. With both vicious elements having eliminated themselves, Morgan severs his black market connections and takes his stand by Viveca's side as she goes before the court to testify. Jerry Wald produced it and Delmer Daves directed it from an original screenplay by Richard Brooks. The cast includes Bruce Bennett, Dorothy Malone, Eduardo Cianelli and others. Adult fare. "The Noose Hangs High" with Abbott and Costello (Eagle-Lion, April 17; time, 77 min.) As a slapstick program comedy, this latest Abbott and Costello effort should satisfy the youngsters as well as those grown-ups who avidly devour the type of buffoonery this comedy pair specializes in. Others will undoubtedly find it quite trying, for most of the comedy, which ranges from the "Safety Last" type of situations to stock vaudeville routines, is old stuff and has lost its humor through repetition. There is little rhyme or reason in the plot, but it moves along at a snappy pace and, despite its inanity, Costello