Harrison's Reports (1949)

April 16, 1949 HARRISON'S REPORTS 63 "The Lawton Story" (Hallmar\, April 1; time, 111 min.) This picture cannot be judged by the regular critical standards, for, since it is a religious subject, it is different from even the exceptional run of picture entertainment. Though there are some doings such as one finds in the every day production, the main event is the reproduction of the Life of Christ, as enacted in the Wichita Mountains, out' side Lawton, Oklahoma, every year on Easter Sunday morn' ing. The cast is local, but because of William Beaudine's skillful direction most of them act proficiently. This is true particularly of Millard Coody, who takes the part of Jesus Christ. The colorful costumes of those days, enhanced by the good Cinecolor photography, make the scenes much more impressive than they would have been in black and white. Being the first picture portraying the Life of Christ since Cecil B. DeMille's "King of Kings," the picture should go over well with most people, particularly when one considers that sixty per cent of the people are active church members and millions of others inactive members. The picture has been handled in good taste: — Although suffering from a severe cold, the Reverend A. Mark Wallock (impersonated by Forrest Taylor) prepares for the annual Wichita Mountain Easter Pageant, with him' self playing the part of Christ. The Reverend collapses during a church service, and his sister, Gwyn Shipman, who had arrived with her six-year-old daughter, Ginger Prince, persuades him to forego the part of Christ and remain in bed. The Reverend offers the part to Ferris Taylor, his brother, a banker, but he turns down the offer because the two were estranged as the result of a family feud. Hurt by the banker's refusal, Millard Coody, his teller, resigns his position. He is then given the part of Christ. Ginger tries unsuccessfully to patch up the feud between her two uncles. On Easter Sunday, thousands of people gather to watch' the Pageant. The Reverend, confined to his bed, is overjoyed when a television set enables him to watch the proceedings. Ginger pleads with her uncle, the banker, to take her to the Pageant. Stubborn at first, he relents when his housekeeper threatens to quit her job and take Ginger to the Pageant herself. He determines not to watch the Pageant, but remains once it starts and the different familiar phases of the Life of Christ are enacted by the cast. With the services over, the banker, affected by what he had witnessed, takes Ginger back to the Reverend's home, where for the first time in many years he greets his brother warmly. Scott Darling wrote the screen play from an original story by Mildred A. Horn. The Pageant story is by the late Rev. A. Mark Wallock. It was produced by Kroger Babb and directed by William Beaudine. BOX-OFFICE PERFORMANCES (Continued from bac\ page) RKO "The Pearl": Fair-Poor "Bodyguard": Fair "Station West": Good-Fair "Design for Death": Poor "Every Girl Should Be Married": Very Good-Good "Blood on the Moon": Good "The Boy with Green Hair": Good "The Last Days of Pompeii" (reissue) : Good-Fair "She" (reissue): Good-Fair "Tarzan's Magic Fountain": Fair "A Woman's Secret" : Fair "The Clay Pigeon": Fair "So Dear To My Heart": Good "Joan of Arc": Very Good "Enchantment": Fair Fifteen pictures have been checked with the following results: Very Good, L; Very Good-Good, t; Good, 3; Good-Fair, 3; Fair, 5; Fair-Poor, 1; Poor, 1. 20th Century-Fox "Cry of the City" : Good-Fair "Apartment for Peggy": Very Good-Good "Night Wind": Fair-Poor "Road House": Good "When My Baby Smiles At Me": Very Good "Jungle Patrol": Fair "Bungalow 13": Fair "Belle Starr's Daughter": Fair "Yellow Sky": Very Good-Good "Unfaithfully Yours": Good-Fair "Trouble Preferred" : Fair "The Snake Pit": Excellent-Very Good "That Wonderful Urge": Good-Fair "This Was a Woman": Poor "Johnny Apollo" (reissue) : Fair "Show Them No Mercy" (reissue) : Fair "A Letter To Three Wives": Very Good-Good Seventeen pictures have been checked with the following results: Excellent-Very Good, 1; Very Good, 1; Very GoodGood, 3; Good, 1; Good-Fair, 3; Fair, 6; Fair-Poor, 1; Poor, 1. United Artists "Girl from Manhattan": Fair-Poor "An Innocent Affair" ("Don't Trust Your Husband"): Fair "The Angry God" : Poor "The Plot to Kill Roosevelt" : Poor "My Dear Secretary": Good-Fair "High Fury": Fair "Just William's Luck" : Poor "Siren of Atlantis": Fair-Poor "Lady of Burlesque" (reissue) : Poor "Guest in the House" (reissue) : Poor "Cover Up" : Fair "The Lucky Stiff" : Fair-Poor Twelve pictures have been checked with the following results: Good-Fair, 1; Fair, 3; Fair-Poor, 3; Poor, 5. Universal "Kiss the Blood Off My Hands": Fair "Rogues Regiment" : Good "Countess of Monte Cristo" : FairPoor "Mexican Hayride": Fair "You Gotta Stay Happy": Good-Fair "An Act of Murder" : Fair "The Fighting O'Flynn": Fair "Criss Cross": Good-Fair "Family Honeymoon": Good Nine pictures have been checked with the following results: Good, 2; Good-Fair, 2; Fair, 4; Fair-Poor, 1. Warner Brothers "Smart Girls Don't Talk" : Fair "Johnny Belinda": Excellent-Very Good "June Bride": Good "Fighter Squadron": Good-Fair "Angels with Dirty Faces" (reissue) : Fair "They Drive By Night" (reissue): Fair "Decision of Christopher Blake" : Fair-Poor "One Sunday Afternoon": Good-Fair "Whiplash": Fair "Adventures of Don Juan": Good-Fair "Flaxy Martin" : Fair "John Loves Mary": Good-Fair Twelve pictures have been checked with the following results: Excellent-Very Good, 1; Good, 1; Good-Fair, 4; Fair, 5; Fair-Poor, 1. ORDER YOUR MISSING COPIES Now and then your copy of Harrison's Reports is lost in the mails, but you don't know that it is missing until you look up for some information you want. In such a case you are greatly inconvenienced. Why not look over your files now to find out whether a copy of an issue or two issues is missing? A sufficient number of copies for each issue is kept in stock for such an emergency. All such copies are furnished to subscribers free of charge.