Harrison's Reports (1949)

92 HARRISON'S REPORTS June 4, 1949 stay at home or seek other forms of amusement. Con' sequently, unless picture quality improves and "A" productions are shot in color, the industry will have a difficult time keeping the movie-habit in people. GET BACK OF "THE RED MENACE" As president of Republic Pictures, and as executive producer, Herbert J. Yates, Sr. has reason to be proud of "The Red Menace," the first effective anti'commu' nist picture. The story is based on documented factual incidents revolving around the activities of the Communists, and it depicts in a convincing manner their insidious attempts to spread their antidemocratic doctrines among unsuspecting Americans. Most of us are inclined to feel that there is no danger from Communism since the number of Com' munists in this country is so small, but many of us are unaware of the methods the Communists use to infil' trate into labor unions, the different strata of society, our schools, and even our societies of scientists. They let no opportunity go by to create dissatisfaction among workers, and even among veterans. The history of Communism shows that a handful of them can take over a government unless the people watch out. "The Red Menace" is not merely a preachment against Communism; it is also a worthwhile entertainment. Because of the nature of the picture, it is the duty of every patriotic exhibitor to show it, exploiting it to the fullest extent. In doing so, he not only has a chance of reaping a profit, but also of rendering his country a great service. Moreover, by exhibiting this picture he will help to dissipate whatever feeling there may still exist among the public that Hollywood is a hotbed of Communism, for, if it were, "The Red Menace" could never have been produced. "My Brother Jonathan" with Michael Denison (Allied Artists, June 1; time, 102 min.) Fair. The story of a self-sacrificing brother who marries the girl his young bother had seduced in order to give the child a name should have made a fine pic' ture even though the theme has been used several times in American pictures. Unfortunately, the ponderousness of this British production, the somberness with which it was handled, both spiritually and physi' cally, makes it not very attractive for the American market. Another weakness is the fact that the story is told in flashback. The photography is dark : — In a flashback, Michael Denison, a doctor, tells to his son, Peter Murray, just home from the Second World War, the story of his life. At the age of four' teen, he had fallen in love with Beatrice Campbell, then aged twelve. He did not meet her again until years later. He had proposed marriage but she had asked for time. The death of his father had compelled him to give up his career so that he may go to work and thus help Ronald Howard, his younger brother, through Cambridge. He had become a partner to a general practitioner in a grimy coal town, and was soon at odds with Stephen Murray, a doctor who used the local hospital, not for the poor, but for profitable patients. Beatrice had returned from abroad and, finding Denison immersed in his work, had seen Ron' aid often and had become engaged to him. Ronald, having enlisted in the First World War, had been killed in action, following which Denison had married Beatrice to give the expected child of his dead brother a name, despite the fact that he (Denison) was in love with Dulcie Gray, his associate's daughter. Meanwhile Murray had started a whispering campaign when he had seen Beatrice living with Denison's mother, and had eventually succeeded in having Denison arraigned before a hospital committee for unprofessional conduct because he had sent a boy with a contagious disease to the hospital, thus endangering the lives of others. Beatrice, however, had cleared him of the charges. Beatrice had died after her son had been born, and Denison had married Dulcie. Both had treated Peter, the child, as if he were their own son. As the story returns to the present, Peter accepts his adopted parents as his own. Warwick Ward produced it, and Harold French directed it, from a screen play by Leslie L. Landau and Adrian Alington, based on a novel by Francis Brett Young. Adult fare. "Leave It to Henry" with Raymond Walbura and Walter Catlett (Monogram, June 12; time, 57 min.) Harmless. It is suitable for the second half of a double bill. The story is inane — rather childish; but there are in it some slapstick situations that cause hearty laughter. These should be more effective if the house should happen to be full. The story revolves around a centennial celebration and the efforts of Raymond Walburn to put it over in grand style. The motivations are senseless. The scenes that show the burning of the steamboat replica, "Prairie Queen," burned a century previously, may thrill a few persons and amuse them when it becomes stranded against a bridge, setting fire to it. Twelve-year-old Gary Gray is a pleasant youngster. The photography is sharp : — Gary testifies at the trial of Raymond Walburn, his father, accused of having deliberately burned down the bridge of Houseley Stevenson. Gary tells the court that he and George McDonald, the Mayor's son, had crossed the bridge to get home, unaware of the fact that a toll was charged. Unable to pay the toll, he had been compelled to leave, as a pledge, the watch his father had given him to take to a jeweler. Moreover, Stevenson had told the boys that the charge for the two would be two dollars instead of the regular fifty cents charge. Gary relates that his father had induced the Mayor (Walter Catlett) to join him in putting over the town's centennial celebration planned by his wife's organization, the main event being the reenactment of the burning of the "Prairie Queen" in replica. The replica got loose while on fire, floated down the river, and came to a stop against the bridge, destroying it. Walburn is acquitted. Meanwhile in an endeavor to straighten out the matter, Pat Phelan, Stevenson's grandson, had called on Walburn but had been received coolly by Mary Stuart, his daughter. But he eventually convinces her of his good intentions, and both fall in love. Peter Scully produced it, and Jean Yarbrough di' rected it, from a screen play by D. D. Beauchamp, who based it on his own Cosmopolitan Magazine story, "The Cruise of the Prairie Queen." Children should enjoy it better than adults.