Harrison's Reports (1949)

192 HARRISON'S REPORTS November 26, 1949 "Square Dance Jubilee" with Don Barry, Wally Vernon and Mary Beth Hughes (Lippert-Screen Guild, N.ou. 11; time, 78 min.) This musical western is genuine entertainment and will undoubtedly prove to be a "sleeper" wherever exhibitors back it up with adequate exploitation and advertising, for it has all the ingredients that appeal to small-town audiences in particular, and to some audiences in the bigger towns. The story, though not extraordinary, holds one's interest all the way through, and there is plenty of music, of the hillbilly variety, played and sung by different bands and persons. The music is worked into the story so intelligently that, while one is watching the musicians do their stuff, one is always mindful of what is likely to happen next in the action. The musical talent employed includes Spade Cooley and his band; the Cowboy Copas; the Broome Brothers; Smiley and Kitty; Herman the Hermit; Ray Vaughn; the Tumbleweed Tumblers; the Elder Lovelies and others. There are also many comical situations. The direction, acting and photography are very good: — Thurston Hall, head of an important New York television network, sends Don Barry and Wally Vernon, his prize talent scouts, west to search for authentic western talent. Vernon garbs himself in typical western "dude" finery, and the two head for Prairie City, reputed to be a veritable talent beehive. Mary Beth Hughes, owner of the Star Ranch near Prairie City, is concerned over the disappearance of many of her cattle. When Marshall Reed, her foreman, discovers that John Eldredge, owner of the Frontier Saloon, had shipped cattle rustled from the Star Ranch, he is shot down by one of Eldredge's henchmen to keep him from talking. Barry and Vernon find the mortally wounded man and try to help him, but to no avail. They give Mary the bad news and then head for the Frontier Saloon. There, Eldredge offers to let them use the saloon for a Square Dance Jubilee, in which all the local talent was to perform before television cameras. Eldredge plans to rustle more cattle while every one is attending the Jubilee. Before the show begins, the sheriff arrests Vernon on suspicion of cattle rustling when his spur is found near a robbed ranch. Eldredge dispatches one of his henchmen to murder Vernon in prison, but Barry, suspecting Eldredge and guessing his intentions, apprehends the henchman and compels him to change clothes with Vernon. Thinking that Vernon was leaving the jail, Eldredge shoots and kills his own henchman. Barry uses this incident to prove that Eldredge was behind the cattle rustling and the murders, then turns him over to the sheriff after giving him a merciless beating. Barry and Mary, by this time in love, return to New York with Vernon and with the finest group of Western talent ever assembled for a television show. It was produced by Ron Ormond and directed by Paul Landres from a screen play by Mr. Ormond and Daniel B. Ullman, based on a story by William Nolte. Good for the entire family. "Black Midnight" with Roddy McDowall and Lyn Thomas (Monogram, October 2; time, 66 min.) This will do for the second half of a double bill in theatres that specialize in action features. The story is not unpleasant, but it is not one to set the world afire. Some of the wildly melodramatic situations, such as, for example, the one where the mountain lion is about to attack Roddy McDowall, but is shot and killed in the nick of time by Damian O'Flynn, are a bit forced; the audiences are likely to laugh at them rather than be thrilled. But those who like horses may overlook some of the defects. The photography is fair: — Roddy McDowall and Damian O'Flynn, his uncle, take time out from their own ranch chores to welcome home Fay Baker and Lyn Thomas, her daughter, absent from their neighboring ranch for years. Rand Brooks, O'Flynn's runaway son, returns home with Gordon Jones, a friend, and several horses. Because of the wildness of Midnight, a black stallion, Rand decides to kill him, but Roddy buys the horse from him because of a feeling that he could tame him. Unknown to Roddy, the horse had been stolen by Rand and Gordon. Roddy patiently trains Midnight and succeeds in riding him. When sheriff Kirby Grant becomes suspicious of the brand on Rand's horses, Gordon steals Midnight and plans to kill him, but Midnight tramples him to death. Roddy locates Midnight and, with Lyn's aid, dresses the animal's wounds and then hides him. The sheriff convinces O'Flynn that, in his opinion, Gordon had attacked Midnight first. At his hiding place, Midnight succeeds in beating off an attack by a mountain lion. The lion makes ready to jump on Roddy just as he approaches, but O'Flynn, who had been following Roddy to assure him that he is no longer prejudiced against Midnight, shoots and kills the lion. Learning from the sheriff that Rand's horses had been stolen from traders who had been found shot dead, Roddy confronts Rand with this information. Rand knocks out Roddy and plans to kill the sheriff, but Midnight foils his getaway. Rand then gives himself up. The sheriff recovers the horses and drops the charges of theft, but he leaves Midnight behind to Roddy. The stallion goes off with a mare, while Roddy and Lyn find romance. Lindsley Parsons produced it, and Oscar Boetticher directed it, from a story by Clint Johnson, who wrote the screen play in collaboration with Erna Lazurus. Harmless for children who like westerns. "Chinatown at Midnight" with Hurd Hatfield (Columbia, no rel. date set; time, 66 min.) A very good program melodrama. The action is so tense and realistic that the spectator remains pinned to his seat up to the very last scene. The results are owed to the good script, the skillful direction, and the fine acting by every one in the cast. Even though the chief character is a criminal, one follows his fate with tense interest. He is a hunted man, and one wonders how the police will obtain clues leading to his identity and arrest, for his part has been constructed so intelligently that no clues are left. But since the "perfect crime" does not exist, he is eventually caught. The photography is fine: — Hurd Hatfield is so completely under the spell of Jacqueline de Wit, a French adventuress who operated an interior decorating shop in San Francisco, that he steals from oriental shops in Chinatown to satisfy her lust for gold. In attempting to steal a priceless jade vase for her, Hatfield murders a young Chinese couple in charge of the shop and, to cover up his crime, telephones the police, speaks in Chinese, and informs them of the murders. The police, hunting for a Chinaman, learn of the stolen vase and arrange for a picture of it to appear in the newspapers. One of Jacqueline's clients informs the police that she has bought the vase from Jacqueline, but before the police can question the interior decorator Hatfield murders her. To avoid pursuit, he tosses his coat, hat and necktie into an incinerator, and joins a group of derelicts on a breadline. Later, he rents a room in a cheap Chinatown hotel lest he be traced to his swank apartment. A janitor finds his coat on the following morning, and the police, through a tailor's identification mark, are led to Hatfield's apartment. There they discover recordings of English and Chinese lessons in Hatfield's voice, and they broadcast them in the hope that some one will recognize his voice. Subject to periodic attacks of malaria, Hatfield, needing medicine, telephones a pharmacist and impersonates a doctor. His voice is recognized by the same Chinese telephone operator who had put through his call to the police at the time of the murders. She notifies the police, who get on his trail and eventually corner him in his room. He escapes to the roof and is trapped after a wild chase, but is shot to death when he refuses to surrender. It was produced by Sam Katzman and directed by Seymour Friedman from an original screen play by Robert Libott and Frank Burt. It is an adult picture but will thrill children.