Harrison's Reports (1948)

66 HARRISON'S REPORTS April 24, 1948 "The Woman in White" with Alexis Smith, Eleanor Parker and Sidney Greenstreet (Warner Bros. May 15; time. 109 min.) An overlong but fairly good psychological drama that holds one's attention mainly because of the expert performances. Set in England in the 1850's, the story itself is rather old-fashioned and familiar and, for the most part, one has to pay close attention to the dialogue to understand what it is all about. Even then it leaves one confused, for the story unfolds in so perplexing a manner that one cannot comprehend just what is motivating the actions of several of the characters. Towards the end the mystification is cleared up, but the explanation comes as an anti-climax. Dealing as it does with the ruthless efforts of plotters to gain control of a girl's fortune by driving her insane, the story is ugly and sordid. But the characterizations, though not clearly defined, are fascinating. It has a considerable amount of suspense, but since there is more talk than action, and since the dialogue is on a rather high level, the picture seems to be more suited to the classes than to the masses: — On his way to the home of John Abbott, an eccentric invalid, who had hired him as a drawing instructor for his niece, Eleanor Parker, Gig Young encounters a babbling young lady (also played by Miss Parker), who disappears into the woods when a carriage approaches and its occupants ask Young if he had seen her, explaining that she had escaped from an insane asylum. At the house, Young is greeted by Alexis Smith, Eleanor's cousin and companion, and by Sidney Greenstreet, an art critic and family friend. When he meets Eleanor, Young mistakes her for the babbling girl because they resembled one another so closely. He tells the family of his strange experience and, through some old letters dug up by Alexis, they identify the insane girl as a childhood playmate of Eleanor's. The disappearance of these letters, obviously stolen by Greenstreet, makes Young suspicious of him. Actually, the insane girl was Eleanor's cousin, born out of wedlock to a younger sister of Abbott's. Greenstreet, in league with John Emery, a penniless nobleman, was using this information to compel Abbott to enter into a scheme whereby Emery would marry Eleanor and gain control of her fortune. Young falls in love with Eleanor, but the shrewd Greenstreet engineers his dismissal. Leaving the house, Young again encounters the insane girl, who warns him of Greenstreet's scheme. He endeavors to warn Eleanor and Alexis, but to no avail. Eleanor and Emery are married and, after a series of odd events, she becomes aware of the fact that Greenstreet and her husband had designs on her money. She confides her suspicions to Alexis, who overhears Greenstreet and Emery planning Eleanor's death. In the course of events, the insane girl attempts to warn Eleanor, who had been put under the influence of drugs. Greenstreet catches her in Eleanor's room, frightening the demented girl to death. Thinking quickly, he arranges for the dead girl to be buried as Eleanor, who in turn take the insane girl's place in the asylum. Aware that a switch had been made, Alexis enlists Young's aid. He manages to free Eleanor from the asylum after a series of complicated happenings, which end with the murder of Emery by henchmen who mistake him for Young, and with the killing of Greenstreet by his wife, Agnes Moorehead, who is revealed as Abbott's sister and the mother of the dead girl. Henry Blanke produced it and Peter Godfrey directed it from a screen play by Stephen Morehouse Avery, based on the novel by Wilkie Collins. Adult fare. "The Argyle Secrets" with William Gargan and Marjorie Lord (Film Classics, May 7; time, 64 min.) A pretty good program murder-mystery melodrama of the stolen secrets variety, suitable for double-billing. The production is not cheap, despite the budget limitations. The direction and the acting are good, and the photography, although dark in places, clear. One of the weaknesses of the script is the fact that the hero, after obtaining the secret document, keeps it for himself. Thus one is left perplexed wondering whether he intended to use it for blackmailing purposes or just to write a story for his newspaper. There are several thrilling situations, the most thrilling being that in which William Gargan is shown trapped by the villains, who use an oxygen torch to cut a hole in the iron bars that protected him. The spectator is held in pretty tense suspense throughout as a result of the fact that the hero has several encounters with the blackmailers, who are out to get the secret document by whatever means they could: — A famous political columnist is in the hospital, ill. Several reporters call on him but no one is allowed to see him except William Gargan. Fearing death, the sick man hands to Gargan a note about the Argyle Album, which contained the names of big shots who had been trading with the enemy during the war. Some international blackmailers, too, are after the document, their purpose being to blackmail the guilty persons. As soon as Gargan leaves the sick room, the columnist is found dead, murdered mysteriously. Gargan, the last man to leave the room, is suspected of the murder. He escapes with the intention of, not only obtaining the document, but also uncovering the murderers. Marjorie Lord, one of the gang, is detailed to lure him into the lair of the blackmailers. She succeeds. The blackmailers, mistakenly believing that Gargan had the document, beat him unmercifully in vain. After the beating, Miss Lord relents and tries to help Gargan. He eventually obtains the document, but instead of delivering it to the police, keeps it for himself. Although a love affair had started between Gargan and Miss Lord, in the end each goes his separate way. Alan H. Posner and Sam X. Abarbanel produced it, and Cyril Endfield directed it from his own screen play, based on the "Suspense" radio play, "The Argyle Album." Not unsuitable for children. "French Leave" with Jackie Cooper and Jackie Coogan (Monogram, April 25; time, 65 mm.) A mixture of brawls, chases, and other slapstick doings, this is a fast-moving, enjoyable program comedy, dealing with the misadventures of two young American merchant seamen in a highly improbable plot. The story formula and treatment are of the "Flagg-Quirt" variety, with both men vying for the attentions of the same girl, and with each resorting to tricks to take her away from the other. Worked into the proceedings are the machinations of a French black market ring, but one does not take this seriously since the accent is on the comedy. Jackie Cooper and Jackie Coogan, as the hapless sailors, make a good comedy team. Ralph Sanford, as their tough skipper who makes life miserable for them, contributes much the general hilarity: — Cooper and Coogan arrive in Marseilles, eager to resume their friendship with Renee Godfrey, with whom both were in love. But both are ordered by their skipper, Sanford, to remain aboard the freighter to guard against theft of foodstuffs by a black market gang. While on guard, they are lured from their posts by a pretty French girl, an accomplice of the black marketeers, who raid the ship. Realizing that they had been duped, the boys set out to trap the gang. First, however, they visit Renee and, to their surprise, find in her apartment canned goods of the same brand that had been stolen from the ship, thus linking her to the gang. By following Renee, the boys get a lead on the different members of the gang, whose headquarters were in a wine cellar of a bistro where Renee entertained. They become mixed up in a series of fights and cafe brawls and, by disguising themselves as members of the gang, eventually succeed in bringing their operations to light and in aiding the police to capture them. Renee, however, proves to be a secret police agent, who had been trying to break up the black market but had allowed the boys to suspect her. Cooper and Coogan head back for the U.S.A., satisfied that they had done a good job but feeling foolish at having been fooled by a couple of pretty girls. Sid Luft produced it and Frank MacDonald directed it from an original screen play by Jameson Brewer and Jack Rubin. Unobjectionable morally.