Harrison's Reports (1949)

190 HARRISON'S REPORTS November 26, 1949 "Always Leave Them Laughing" with Milton Berle, Virginia Mayo and Ruth Roman (Warner Bros., no rel. date set; time, 116 min.) Very good mass entertainment! It is a laugh-fest from start to finish. There is no question that the picture will go over in a big way, not only in territories where Milton Berle is a favorite television star, but also in areas that do not have television, for blended with the hilarious comedy and the musical numbers are just the right touches of romance and pathos to give the picture wide appeal. As a small-time comedian who aggressively battles his way to the top, Berle does a whale of a job in a role that is tailored to his brand of buffoonery. He is hardly ever off the screen, and his clowning and fast gags keep one in a constant state of laughter. Comical as he is, however, Berle is surprisingly good in the story's more serious moments, at which times he proves himself to be a dramatic actor of considerable ability. Although it is Berle's show from beginning to end, the others in the very fine cast, including Virginia Mayo, as a sultry gold-digger, Bert Lahr, as her husband, and Ruth Roman, as the girl with whom Berle falls in love, contribute much to the picture's entertainment values. Lahr, incidentally, is exceptionally good in one dramatic sequence, where he tells the brash Berle of the qualities one must have before he can become a successful comedian. All in all, the picture presents a mixture of comedy, wisecracks, musical numbers, slapstick, romance and pathos that cannot miss: — Told in flashback, the story opens on Labor Day in Asbury Park, where Berle, appearing in a second-rate hotel, knocks himself out trying to get laughs on the final show of the season. Back on Broadway, his efforts to gain a foothold as a night-club comedian fail because of his use of other comedians' material. He gets together with Ruth Roman, a performer he had met in Asbury Park, and persuades her to join him in a song and dance act, based on material that had been used by her parents (Grace Hayes and Alan Hale), both ex-vaudevillians. They rehearse for days, but when Berle gets an offer to do a single at a club party, he leaves Ruth flat to accept the engagement. He turns out to be a flop but Ruth consoles him. He next obtains an engagement as a chorus boy in a minor musical, but he tells Ruth and her parents that he had the comedy lead. He becomes frantic, however, when they show up in the audience on opening night, and puts on an impromptu comedy routine, ruining the performance and getting himself fired. He becomes a cab driver after this fiasco, while Ruth gets a job in the chorus of a musical show starring Bert Lahr and Virginia Mayo, his flirtatious wife. Several days before the opening in New Haven, Lahr is stricken with a heart attack. Berle, who had made a study of Lahr's routines, auditions for the role and wins the job. He becomes a smash hit. Success goes to his head, and he neglects Ruth for Virginia, who plays up to him while Lahr is in the hospital. On the last night in Boston, with Lahr recovered and ready to open in New York, Berle introduces him to the audience and persuades him to do a routine with him. The strain proves to be too much for Lahr, who collapses and dies. Berle, feeling responsible, reproaches himself and, in a complete reversal of character, declines Virginia's offer to step into Lahr's shoes and tells her that their affair is finished. He returns to Ruth and goes on to become one of the country's foremost comedians, using his own material. It was produced by Jerry Wald and directed by Roy Del Ruth from a screen play by Melville Shavelson and Jack Rose, based on a story by Max Shulman and Richard Mealand. Suitable for the entire family. "Port of New York" with Scott Brady (Eagle-Lion, T^ovemher; time, 79 min.) Set against authentic New York backgrounds, and given a semi-documentary treatment, this crime melodrama should give fairly good satisfaction wherever action pictures are favored. The story, which revolves around the efforts of Federal agents to smash a dope-peddling ring, follows a familiar formula and is not always convincing, but it manages to generate enough excitement and suspense to overcome the lack of plot originality. The direction is skillful and the acting good, but the players mean little at the box-office. Worthy of mention is the first-rate photography: — K. T. Stevens, girl-friend of Yul Brynner, head of a narcotics smuggling ring, helps the assistant purser of the S.S. Florentine to sneak aboard a rubber raft with a package of narcotics as the liner approaches New York. Members of the ring meet the raft, take the package, and kill the purser. When the liner docks, agents of the Customs Bureau discover that sand had been substituted for a shipment of raw narcotics consigned to a drug firm. Federal agents Scott Brady and Richard Rober are assigned to the case, and their first break comes when Miss Stevens, having quarreled with Brynner, offers to lead them to the missing narcotics. Brynner, however, murders her before she can talk, and Brady and Rober, investigating the crime, find clues that eventually lead to the discovery of the narcotics in a railroad station locker. Ownership of the package is traced to Arthur Blake, a night-club entertainer, who proves to be a stooge for the ring, but Brady and Rober manage to learn from him that the gang operated from a boat works, which they used as a front. Searching the boat works that night, Brady and Rober are surprised by the smugglers. Rober escapes, but Brady is caught and murdered. Through information he had acquired in the boat works, Rober impersonates an unknown but expected buyer of narcotics, and in that way meets the different members of the gang and learns that Brynner is their leader. He sets up an elaborate scheme to trap the gang aboard a yacht with the aid of the Coast Guard, but the scheme backfires when his identity is discovered at the last minute. This leads to a furious battle, with the Coast Guard arriving in the nick of time to save Rober and apprehend the gang. It was produced by Aubrey Schenck and directed by Laslo Benedek from a screen play by Eugene Ling, suggested by a story by Arthur A. Ross and Bert Murray. Adult fare. "There's a Girl in My Heart" with Lee Bowman, Elyse Knox and Peggy Ryan (Allied Artists, J^ovember; time, 79 min.) A pleasant musical, with singing and dancing. The story, which takes place during the period of the Gay Nineties, is thm, but it serves as a suitable framework for the plentiful musical numbers. Some of the songs are old and some are new, but all are pleasing to the ear. The dance routines by Peggy Ryan and Ray McDonald are very fine. The action of the story is not tense, but it is human. Lee Bowman, despite his lack of scruples as a politician, is not hateful, and manages to win mild sympathy. Elyse Knox, as the young widow and star of the Music Hall, is appealing, and Lon Chaney, as the not-too-bright saloon-keeper, is believable. Good touches of comedy and romance are worked into the plot: — Bowman, a smooth politician, persuades Chaney to join him in a plan to erect a huge sports arena on McTaggart Street, in New York. But to put the plan in operation, they must acquire certain properties, including Chaney's Music Hall, which he leased from Elyse Knox, the owner. Both men hoped to buy the property at a low figure by letting business drop to an unprofitable point, but Elyse, a good business woman, with beauty and talent, has other ideas: She takes the place of Iris Adrian as star of the Music Hall show, causing business to boom. Bowman, who had been interested in Gloria Jean, daughter of Ludwig Donath, a music teacher, switches his attentions to Elyse, but she refuses to sell the property, not only because of the improvement in business, but also because the erection of a sports arena would cause many families on the block to be evicted from their homes. Seeking to close down the Music Hall through trickery, Bowman persuades Elyse to give Peggy Ryan and Ray McDonald a chance to dance in the show, then notifies the police that she was employing minors. But the scheme backfires when Elyse convinces the police that she had merely given the youngsters a chance to prove their talent, without pay. Bowman takes an option on another piece of property without which the sports arena could not be built. Chaney doublecrosses him by attempting to acquire the property himself. They agree to settle the issue by a fist fight, the winner to take the option. Bowman wins, but he refuses to exercise the option because of his love for Elyse, who felt that the block should remain unchanged. Elyse, appreciative, returns his love. It was produced and directed by Arthur Dreifuss from a story and screen play by Arthur Hoerl and John Eugene Hasty. Good for the entire family.