Harrison's Reports (1949)

50 HARRISON'S REPORTS March 26, 1949 "The Undercover Man" with Glenn Ford and Nina Foch (Columbia, April; time, 85 min.) Good. The semi-documentary treatment of its theme has made this formula crime-busting story an exciting and interesting melodrama of its kind. Centering around the efforts of Government Treasury agents to obtain tax evasion evidence against an underworld overlord, the story depicts in an absorbing way the methods employed by the Treasury Department to catch income tax evaders. The violence is kept to a minimum, despite the several murders and sluggings, but the action keeps one in suspense throughout because of the mounting danger to the agents as they close in on the gang leader and his underlings. There is considerable human appeal in some parts of the story, and an appealing relationship between the hero and his wile. The direction is extra good and the performances of the entire cast impressive and convincing: — Glenn Ford, a Treasury agent, arrives with two aides in a big midwestern city to obtain evidence of income tax evasion against a gangster overlord who had successfully outmaneuevered every effort to convict him of any crime. Ford soon finds himself up against the power of the gangster's organization; former employees who offer to turn stoolpigeon are murdered before they can talk, and other potential witnesses, terrorized, refuse to testify. The organization reaches everywhere, even going so far as to intimidate top officials in the police department. The gangster's clever lawyer, Barry Kelley, makes it impossible for Ford to make any headway. Discouraged, Ford decides to quit, but he changes his mind when the aged Italian mother of one of the gangster's murder victims gives him a ledger found among her son's effects, and pleads with him to continue the investigation. From the entries in the ledger, Ford learns the identity of the gangster's chief accountant (Leo Penn) and gets him to testify for the Government by offering him immunity and protection. Following Penn's lead, other witnesses accept Government protection, enabling Ford to secure an indictment against the gangster. Kelley, realizing that the "jig" was up, turns on the gang chief and hands vital evidence to Ford after making a deal for immunity. He tells him also that the entire trial jury panel had been "fixed." As they finish talking, a gangster car whizzes by spurting machine-gun fire. Kelley is killed but Ford escapes. Armed with the information given to him by Kelley, Ford sees to it that the "fixed" jury panel is switched and finally sends the underworld czar to prison. Sidney Boehm wrote the screen play, based on an article written by Frank J. Wilson. It was produced by Robert Rossen and directed by Joseph H. Lewis. Adult fare. "The Set-Up" with Robert Ryan, Audrey Totter and George Tobias (RKO, no rel. date set; time, 72 min.) An exciting prizefight melodrama, capably acted and intelligently directed, but it is a pretty sombre entertainment, with little comedy to relieve the tension. Primarily it is more suitable for men, for it deals with the sordid side of the fight game and parts of it are quite brutal. It holds one in tense suspense throughout because of the danger to the leading character, a washed-up 35-year-old fighter, who, hoping to make a comeback, wins a fight in defiance of an arrangement made between his doublecrossing manager and a gang leader that he "take a dive." The fight scenes are highly exciting. But the most interesting thing about the picture is its graphic depiction of the different characters who make up the fight game, such as the different types of fight fans, the rising and declining fighters, the dressing room personnel, and the "fixers." The closing scenes, where the gangster and his aides beat up the hero and deliberately smash his hand to end his fighting days permanently, are tensely dramatic and tragic. Robert Ryan is very good as the "has been" fighter, as is Audrey Totter, as his concerned wife, who pleads with him to give up the ring before he receives one punch too many. The picture is of program quality, but it is strong enough to top a double bill: — Despite Audrey's pleas that he quit the ring because years of savage fighting had slowed him down, Ryan looks forward to beating a younger boxer in order to establish himself as a top fighter once again. George Tobias, his manager, accepts a $50 bribe from Alan Baxter, the other fighter's owner, to have Ryan "take a dive." But since Tobias felt that Ryan would lose the match anyway, he pockets the money and does not tell Ryan of the "fix." During the second round of the four-round bout, Ryan's opponent tells him to lie down in accordance with the agreement, bringing Ryan to the realization that Tobias had doublecrossed him. Tobias, fearful of what Baxter might do to him if Ryan should win, breaks down at the end of the round and offers Ryan the entire bribe to lose the fight. Angered, Ryan refuses, and in a wild slugfest knocks out his opponent in the final round. As he leaves the arena to return to his hotel room, Ryan is waylaid in an alley by Baxter and three of his henchmen, who beat him up severely and savagely smash his right hand to make sure that he will never fight again. Audrey finds him in the street, more dead than alive, but takes comfort in the thought that they will both be happier because of his inability to continue fighting. It was produced by Richard Goldstone and directed by Robert Wise from a screen play by Art Cohn, based on a poem by Joseph Moncure March. The cast includes Wallace Ford, Darryl Hickman, James Edwards and others. An adult picture. "Adventure in Baltimore" with Robert Young, Shirley Temple and John Agar (RKO, no rel. date set; time, 90 min.) Revolving around the unconventional escapades of a 'teen-aged girl in the year 1905, this domestic comedy-drama is not without its moments of charm, warmth and humor, but on the whole the pace is slow and it is no more than mildly diverting. Its chief appeal will be directed to family audiences in the smaller situations. Most of the action centers around Shirley Temple, as the daughter of a liberalminded minister, and the comedy stems from the predicaments in which she involves herself and her family because of her advanced ideas, which cause considerable gossip among the strait-laced citizenry and almost cost her father his appointment as bishop. Robert Young, as the understanding clergyman, is very good. As a matter of fact, it is his performance that gives the picture its charm and warmth : — Shirley, an aspiring painter, is expelled from finishing school when she suggests to her prim principal that she be permitted to paint nude models. She returns to her home in Baltimore, where her father (Robert Young) tolerantly comforts her and calms the apprehensions of her mother (Josephine Hutchinson). Shirley is glad to see John Agar, her long-time boyfriend, but her jealousy is aroused over his attentions to Carol Brannan. One day Shirley tries to stop a brawl among several loafers and winds up in jail with them. Agar pays her $50 fine. To repay the money, she persuades him to pose for a painting of "The Spirit of Labor," which she intended to enter in a prize competition. She does not permit Agar to see the painting, which had his face on an almost nude figure. The painting wins the prize, but when the townspeople recognize the face as that of Agar's, a scandal develops, endangering her father's chances of becoming bishop of the Maryland diocese. Bowing to the insistence of several vestrymen, Young agrees to send Shirley to out-of-town relatives for several weeks until things blow over. On the way to the railroad station with her mother, Shirley finds a jeering crowd of men blocking a suffragette parade. A riot develops when she and her mother go to the suffragettes' aid, and both land in jail. Young gains their release and, on the following day, delivers a stinging sermon on tolerance and the right of every human being to follow the dictates of his own conscience without being slandered by petty gossips. Despite his family's foibles, Young wins the post of bishop to every one's surprise. Meanwhile Shirley and Agar are reunited. It is a Dore Schary presentation produced by Richard H. Berger and directed by Richard Wallace from a screen play by Lionel Houser, based on a story by Lesser Samuels and Christopher Isherwood. Suitable for the family.