Harrison's Reports (1949)

94 HARRISON'S REPORTS June 11, 1949 ALLIED COMMENDS TONE BUT WITHHOLDS JUDGMENT ON 20TH-FOX POLICY The following statement has been issued by the Board of Directors of Allied States Association of Motion Picture Exhibitors in reference to the declaration by Mr. Spyros Skouras, president of 20th Cen' tury-Fox, outlining his company's sales policy: "The Board has noted with satisfaction the marked difference in tone and content between Mr. Skouras' statement of policy and the threatening and inflam' matory utterances attributed to other 20th Century' Fox officials when they embarked upon a series of so-called 'grass-roots' conferences earlier this spring. "Of immediate significance is the fact that the statement brought to a halt a campaign by subordinate officers of the company which constituted a grave threat to the theatre owners and to the company's good will. The Board congratulates Mr. Skouras for having adopted a conciliatory attitude towards his customers in place of the provocative tactics employed by his subordinates. "However, Mr. Skouras' statement is couched in such broad language that it is impossible for the Board at this time to predict how these policies will work out in practice. Therefore, the Board cannot at this time undertake to express any opinion on the merit or lack of merit of the newly announced policies. "For the time being the Board can only recommend to the Allied regional associations and their members that they observe carefully the working of these policies and come to the next Board meeting prepared to report whether, in actual operation, they are beneficial or detrimental to the independent exhibitors." "Her Man Gilbey" with Michael Wilding and Lilli Palmer (Univ.'Int'l, no rel. date set; time, 77 min.) Produced in England in 1944, under the title, "English Without Tears," this is a fairly amusing comedy about an aristocratic English family whose social viewpoint is changed as a result of the war. It is a thin story at best, and most of the action is concerned with the romance between the daughter of the noble family and their butler, an austere, humorless chap who resists her advances while in the family's employ, but who becomes more "human" when he joins the army and rises to the rank of major. The humor is of the refined type, and the proceedings unfold with considerable charm, but on the whole it is fluffy stuff and at times somewhat tedious. It is more a picture for the classes than for the masses : — Margaret Rutherford, a noblewoman and passionate defender of migratory birds, accompanied by her nephew, Roland Culver, a member of the foreign office, her niece, Penelope Ward, and her impeccable butler, Michael Wilding, attends an important League of Nations meeting in Geneva, where her eloquent plea in behalf of her feathered friends is misunderstood by several of the foreign delegates. These gentlemen en' gage Lilli Palmer, a beautiful interpreter, to flirt with the butler and try to learn Miss Rutherford's "true" motives. Seeing Wilding with Lilli, Penelope feels pangs of jealousy and openly declares her love for him, much to her aunt's discomfiture. War breaks out after their return to London, and Wilding, having spurned Penelope's advances, joins the army. But Penelope soon finds herself occupied when her aunt opens her mansion as a recreation center for Allied soldiers. Penelope starts an English class for foreign Allied officers, and two of them, Albert Lieven and Claude Dauphin, vie for her attentions. Wilding, now a major, returns to England on a furlough and, having a new outlook on life, tries to take up with Penelope, but she is no longer interested in him when she finds him within reach, causing him to vie with the Latins for her hand. A misunderstanding occurs when Penelope finds all three in Lilli's London flat and, as a result, she swears off men and joins the A.T.S. She is assigned to Headquarters, where she finds Wilding in charge. He sends her to another post when she falls below his standards of efficiency. This action reawakens her love for him. In the end, they decide to marry, and her aunt, realizing that times have changed, gives them her blessing. It is a Prestige picture, produced by Sydney Box and William Sassoon, from a screen play by Terence Rattigan and Anatole de Grunwald. Harold French directed it. The cast includes Peggy Cummins and others. Unobjectionable morally. "The Secret of St. Ives" with Richard Ney and Vanessa Brown (Columbia, June 30; time, 76 min.) Decidedly dull program fare. To begin with, the story of the wars between the British and the French in the Napoleonic period is too far removed to be of interest to most picture-goers, particularly the younger generation. In addition, the plot is uninteresting. And on top of all this, the direction is poor. Although the action is supposed to be fast, it is doubtful if it will disturb the spectators' slumber. One can hardly find justification for the production of such a picture. Moreover, the title is misleading; it may make many movie-goers believe that the picture has a religious angle : — Captured by the British, Richard Ney, an adventurous young Frenchman in Napoleon's army, is taken to Edinburgh Castle along with six of his companions and interned for the duration of the war. At the castle, Ney comes upon Vanessa Brown, a Scotch girl, whom he had known briefly in Switzerland, and they fall in love. She pleads with Henry Daniell, commander of the fort, for Ney's release, but Daniell rebukes her for carrying on an intrigue with an enemy. Daniell then reveals that he, too, loved her, and orders her out of the castle when she refuses to marry him. Meanwhile Ney and his companions dig a tunnel under the fortress in a plan to escape. Resenting Ney's aristocratic background, John Dehner, a CO' prisoner, forces him into a duel. Ney emerges the victor. Later, Dehner is killed accidentally when he tries to stab Ney in the back. The other prisoners swear that it is suicide, but Daniell informs Vanessa that Ney had murdered the man and threatens to bring him to trial unless she marries him (Daniell) . Fearing for her beloved's life, Vanessa agrees. Mean' while Aubrey Mather, a British subject and solicitor to Ney's wealthy uncle, brings Ney one thousand pounds to make his imprisonment more comfortable. Ney informs Mather he will use the money to further his escape. Mather, in league with Douglas Walton, Ney's cousin, who wanted to be the sole heir of the rich uncle, betrays Ney by informing Daniell of his escape plan. Daniell determines to kill Ney as he escapes. But Ney escapes before Daniell can act, and is smuggled out of the country by Vanessa's aunt, accompanied by Vanessa, dressed as a boy. Ney man'