Harrison's Reports (1949)

November 19, 1949 HARRISON'S REPORTS 187 CD C C 0) £ ID ID £ D CD CD — £ co OT O C CO iS » W ID « (0 o 3 c 111 9 P o 55 cd 73 ~ fi c3 CO — "a CD 1 * C CD w 5 12 £ c c co • CO 1 52 8 «j co o ■g1 O O H co 5= 2 c CD CD CO t o 8 il 5 X) "> — CO ■— _ CD y > CO co CD a o t D CD as CO 3 O O c -d CD = > 3 '5>0 CD E CO f E CO ±= — o CD CD 5 -d 1 1 cd m "Tell It to the Judge" with Rosalind Russell and Robert Cummings (Columbia, no rel. date set; time, 87 min.) A pretty good sophisticated romantic comedy-farce, re volving around an ex-husband's efforts to win back his wife. The story is thin, implausible, and zany, and at times the comedy is forced, but what it lacks in substantial story values is made up for in gags, dialogue and comical situations that should prove entertaining to most audiences. Moreover, the pace is fast and there is hardly a dull moment. On occasion, the comedy is of the slapstick variety, but it is amusing. Some of the situations border on the risque, but it is doubtful if any one will take offense at them for they have been handled well. The performances are uniformly good. Rosalind Russell's glamorous wardrobe should be of particular interest to the ladies: — Appearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee for approval of her appointment as a Federal judge, Rosalind Russell, an attorney-at-law, finds considerable opposition from those who disapprove of her recent divorce from Robert Cummings, another lawyer, whom Rosalind mistakenly suspected of being too friendly with Marie Mac Donald, a witness in one of his law suits. Rosalind goes to Florida to await the Committee's decision, and Cummings, still very much in love with her, follows. She refuses to see him when he telephones and pretends that she is enter' taining a man to arouse his jealousy. She decides to go out for the evening and, as she steps from the hotel elevator, she sees Cummings waiting for her in the lobby. She quickly grabs the arm of Gig Young, a suave but shady character who had tried to flirt with her in the elevator, and pretends that he is her escort. Cummings, consumed with jealousy, follows th'em to a gambling club, where Young was employed as a shill, and is later instrumental in helping her to escape a police raid. They become reconciled and decide to remarry. But Harry Davenport, Rosalind's grandfather, fears that the remarriage will ruin her chance to become a Federal judge. In the zany events that follow, Cummings becomes the accidental victim of a "Mickey Finn," and while in a drugged condition is placed by Davenport on a train bound for Philadelphia. Rosalind, peeved over his disappearance, tells the newspaper reporters that she had married Young, but gives him a fictitious name. She then goes to a mountain resort in the Adirondacks, where she is followed by both Cummings and Young. She allows Cummings to believe that she had really married Young. After many complications, during which Rosalind manages to prevent Young from exercising any marriage privileges, she reveals the hoax and becomes reconciled with Cummings. It was produced by Buddy Adler and directed by Norman Foster from a screen play by Nat Perrin, based on a story by Devery Freeman. Adult fare. "Feudin' Rhythm" with Eddie Arnold, Gloria Henry and Kirby Grant (Columbia, no rel. date set; time, 65 min.) If after playing this picture you fiind the leather of your seats ripped, don't blame any one else but yourself for playing it, for the picture really features the pranks of a youngster who plays practical jokes on everybody throughout the action. Most of these jokes are vicious. This critic believes that a paddle on the youngster's soft anatomy would have been the best comedy relief. As for the rest of the picture, it is too silly for words; it is the sort of film that makes intelligent people wonder whether the Hollywood producers have any sense, or not: — When the television equipment of Eddy Arnold, hillbilly singing star of Kirby Grant's radio show, is destroyed in a warehouse fire, Eddy is compelled to accept the financial aid of Isabel Randolph, wife of Dick Elliott, a millionaire, who lets his wife meddle in show business so as to get her out of his hair. He feels the same way about Tommy Ivo, his adopted son, a prankster. Although Tommy gets into Eddy's hair, he is patient with him because he is really his own son: the boy's dead mother was the sister of Isabel, who had adopted him. Instead of putting on the kind of show Grant had in mind, Isabel insists on having a classic type of program, with the performers dressed in Roman togas. Kirby knows that the show will flop, but is helpless. The day the show is to go on, Elliott is faced with bankruptcy unless he can raise considerable cash. Kirby and his performers convince Elliott that they can raise the cash he needs if they put on their own show. They conceive a plan to thwart Isabel: As soon as the curtain is raised, they shove her into a back room and lock the door. After several numbers are given. Isabel escapes and puts on her "Roman show." Thinking that the Roman sketch was the burlesque part of the show, the audience enjoys it. But after the show, Elliott assumes command; he orders his wife to cease interfering between Eddy and his son. Father and son are reunited, and Grant and his performers are happy to be rid of the meddling Isabel. It was produced by Colbert Clark and directed by Edward Bernds from a story and screen play by Barry Shipman. Children should have a good laugh at the absurdities of the picture. "Holiday Affair" with Robert Mitchum, Janet Leigh and Wendell Corey (RKO, no rel. date set; time, 87 min.) A good romantic triangle comedy drama, with a heartwarming sentimental quality. Set against a New York background at the height of the Christmas season, its story about a young war widow's romantic problems is not unusual, but it has human appeal and has been developed in so charming and amusing a fashion that it leaves the spectator relaxed and satisfied. The heroine and the two men in love with her are appealing characters, and their reactions seem real and natural. As a matter of fact, not one of the characters is unsympathetic. The individual performances are very good, but worthy of special mention is young Gordon Gebert, as the heroine's six-year-old son, who acts in a natural manner and speaks his lines well. The dialogue, incidentally, is exceptionally good: — To support her young son and herself, Janet Leigh, a young widow, works as a comparison shopper for a big department store, buying goods from rival stores to check on quality and prices. Robert Mitchum, a sales clerk in one of the rival stores, sells her an electric train set although he suspects her real purpose. He refunds her money on the following day, when she returns the train, and is promptly discharged for failing to report her. Accepting his fate, Mitchum takes Janet to lunch, spends a hectic day helping her shop, and then loses her in the crowd. He goes to her apartment to deliver her packages, and there meets her son and Wendell Corey, a prosperous lawyer, who wanted to marry her. Corey resents Mitchum's familiarity and easy ways, but young Gordon takes to him at once. On Christmas morning, Gordon finds a shiny new train under the tree. Janet, aware that Mitchum had sent it and that he could not afford such an expensive present, trails him to a bench in Central Park, where he refuses to be reimbursed. She does, however, present him with a tie, which he puts on immediately, giving his old tie to a vagrant. The vagrant, unknown to Mitchum, steals a salt shaker set and gives it to Mitchum. Later, Mitchum is arrested for robbery, and Janet, aided by Corey, convinces the police of his innocence. She then invites him to Christmas dinner, at which time Corey proudly announces that Janet had agreed to marry him. Mitchum shocks every one by congratulating Corey and then telling Janet that she ought to marry him instead. Janet asks him to leave. In the days that follow, Janet cannot get Mitchum out of her mind but she realizes that marriage to Corey offered her a life of security. In the end, however, Corey realizes that Janet and her boy would be happier with Mitchum, and he bows out gracefully. It was produced and directed by Don Hartman from a screen play by Isobel Lennart. The cast includes Esther Dale, Griff Barnctt, Henry O'Neill and others. Excellent for the entire family. "Tough Assignment" with Don Barry, Marjorie Steele and Steve Broidy (LippertScreen Guild, Dec. 17; time, 64 min.) Through an inadvertent error, last week's review of this picture listed it as a Film Classics feature instead of Lippert-Screen Guild.