Harrison's Reports (1948)

60 HARRISON'S REPORTS April 10, 1948 "Letter from an Unknown Woman" with Joan Fontaine and Louis Jourdan (Universal-International, May; time, 86 min.) Although it has been given a very dressy production, and a sincere effort has been made by all concerned to make it a meaningful drama, "Letter from an Unknown Woman" is handicapped by a hackneyed, talky 6tory which, for the great bulk of its running time, is tedious. Set in Vienna in the 1890's, its tale about a young woman's misguided love has all the ingredients of a grim romantic tragedy, but as presented it fails to come through the screen with any power of conviction. Moreover, the camera dawdles too long on inconsequential matters, making it a drawn-out affair that seems much longer than its actual running time. It has 6ome good dialogue, acting and direction in individual scenes, but on the whole it packs only a weak emotional punch: — About to leave the country to avoid fighting a pistol duel, Louis Jourdan, a once brilliant pianist, receives a letter from Joan Fontaine in which his past is brought sharply into focus. She relates how, as a girl of fifteen, she had fallen madly in love with him when he, then a man of twenty-five, had moved into the same apartment house where she had lived. Rebelling when her widowed mother had remarried and her stepfather had tried to arrange her marriage to an army man, she had left her family to make her own way. At the age of eighteen, while working as a dress model, she had managed to meet him again and, after a night of love making, he had taken his leave with a promise to return to her within a fortnight. But by the time he had returned he had forgotten all about her. Shortly thereafter she had given birth to their illegitimate son and, after a struggle of eight years, had married a kindly middle-aged man to whom she had admitted her youthful indiscretion. While thus happily married she had met Jourdan again at the opera, and her love for him had been awakened. She had gone to his apartment and, to her dismay, had discovered that he did not remember her, and that, to him, she was just another beautiful woman and a possible conquest. She had fled from the apartment, and several days later tragedy had struck when her son, stricken with typhus, had died. She, too, had been stricken with the disease and was writing the letter to inform him of the love she had carried through the years. A postscript on the letter from the hospital authorities informs Jourdan that she had died. After reading the letter, Jourdan prepares to fight the duel, now aware that his opponent was Joan's middle-aged husband. John Houseman produced it and Max Opuls directed it from a screen play by Howard Koch, based on the story by Stefan Zweig. The cast includes Mady Christians, Marcel Journet, Art Smith, Howard Freeman and others. Adult entertainment. "Arthur Takes Over" with Lois Collier, Richard Crane and Skip Homeier (20th Century-Fox, May; time, 63 min.) An unpretentious but entertaining domestic comedy. Revolving around the farcical complications that arise when a young lady returns to her small-town home secretly married and finds her doting mother prepared to marry her off to a local bore, the story is a mixture of family crises and adolescent doings, all of it quite improbable and none of it too original. But it moves along at a swift and merry pace and adds up to harmless and diverting film fare that is easy to take, for it is packed to the hilt with slapstick antics and exaggerated domestic touches which, though silly, are amusing enough to raise giggles. All in all, it should serve nicely as a supporting feature in theatres that cater to family audiences, particularly where something light is needed to round out a double-bill: — Aware that her mother (Barbara Brown) had picked out William Blakewell, a stuffy, young autocrat, for a future son-in-law, Lois Collier returns home after a year's absence, accompanied by Richard Crane, her sailor-husband, whom she introduces as a friend. The effort to keep their marriage a secret proves too much for Crane, who finally blurts the truth out to her mother. Lois' father, Howard Freeman, and her 'teen-aged brother, Skip Homeier, are delighted with the news, but not so her mother, who felt that the secret marriage would make her family the subject of gossipy tongues and thus affect her election as head of the Parent-Teachers Association. She orders Crane out of the house, and Lois, rather than break her mother's heart, refuses to leave with him. At this point, Skip decides to take matters in hand: He arranges to become engaged to Ann E. Todd, his bobby-sox girl-friend, the objective being that his mother will be so happy to break up the engagement that she will let Lois and Crane alone. The idea gets out of hand, however, when Ann takes the engagement too seriously and, to compel Skip to elope with her, informs him that her father, Jerome Cowan, was determined to shoot him on sight. After a series of complications, during which Skip is charged with kidnapping, his mother becomes uncontrollably frantic, and Cowan threatens to ruin Freeman's business name, Crane sets out to find the youngsters and brings them home none the worse for their experience and still unmarried. It all ends with Crane being accepted as Lois' husband with her mother's blessing, and with Skip swearing off women until he reaches the age of seventeen. Sol M. Wurtzcl produced it and Mai St. Clair directed it from a story and screen play by Mauri Grashin The cast includes Almira Sessions and others. Suitable family entertainment. "Old Los Angeles" with William Elliott, John Carroll and Catherine McLeod (Republic, April 25; time, 88 min.) Just fair. Except for the fact that it can boast of slightly better-than-average production values, and of fair name value, this is a typical 60-minute western dragged out to a one and one-half hour's length through the interjection of too many musical interludes, none of which are particularly outstanding and all of which serve to slow down the film's pace. The formula plot has a fair quota of thrilling highlights but in between the action is too rambling and on the whole will hold few surprises for even the avid followers of this type of entertainment. The characterizations are standard, and the players go through their paces in workmanlike fashion but they never really succeed in making their portrayals convincing. The action takes place in 1848: — Accompanied by Andy Devine, his partner, William Elliott arrives in Los Angeles to prospect for gold. He finds that outlaws rule the territory, and learns that his brother (Henry Brandon) had been murdered for a gold claim he had staked. Elliott sets out to avenge his brother's death but runs into difficulties when Estelita Rodigruez deliberately misleads him to protect her lawless lover, John Carroll, who unbeknownst to Elliott, had killed his brother. In the course of events, Elliott finds reason to suspect Joseph Schildkraut, a gambling house proprietor, and Catherine McLeod, an entertainer, with whom he (Elliott) had fallen in love. Actually, Schildkraut was the brains behind the lawless elc ment, which was headed secretly by Grant Withers, a crooked sheriff. With the aid of Estelita's mother, who ob' jected to Carroll, Elliott baits the outlaws by leaving a gold storage vault open to a raid. Carroll, who had killed Withers, takes comamnd of the gang and prepares to lead them on the raid. When Schildkraut reveals himself as the brains behind the gang and demands that Carroll take his orders, Carroll shoots him down and leaves him for dead. But he lives long enough to inform Elliott that Carroll had killed his brother. In a final showdown, Elliott kills Carroll during a gun battle. Meanwhile Catherine clears herself of complicity in the lawlessness by revealing that she is a secret government agent sent to the territory to obtain evidence against the outlaws. With the outlaw element cleaned up, Los Angeles returns to a peaceful existence, while Catherine and Elliott prepare for their marriage. Joe Kane produced and directed it from a screen play by Gerald Adams and Clements Ripley, based on an original story by Mr. Ripley. The cast includes Virginia Brissac, Roy Barcroft and others. Unobjectionable morally.