Harrison's Reports (1949)

194 "Malaya" with Spencer Tracy, James Stewart, Sydney Greenstreet, Valentina Cortesa and John Hodiak (MGM, January, time, 94 min.) From the box-office point of view, "Malaya" might do good business because of the drawing power of its stars. As entertainment, however, its story about two fearless American adventurers who, with the backing of the U. S. Navy, smuggle rubber out of Malaya during the war, despite the Japanese occupation, should appeal mainly to those who have no regard for the plausibility of a plot as long as it has excitement and suspense. Those who are the least bit discriminating will probably snicker at the ease with which the Americans, aided by an assortment of Malayan guerillas, operate on the occupied peninsula and carry out their fabulous task. The melodramatics are, for the most part, wild and incredible, but it is the sort of stuff that should please the action fans and keep the youngsters on the edge of their seats. A fine cast of players was assembled for this picture, but it is a pity to see their valuable talents wasted on such mediocre story material: — After four years in the Far East, James Stewart, an exnewspaper correspondent, is summoned home by Lionel Barrymore, a publisher, who seeks his aid in the drive to salvage rubber. Stewart scoffs at such a small effort and discloses a daring scheme to smuggle rubber out of Malaya, needing only gold, the cooperation of the U. S. Navy, and the help of Spencer Tracy, a fearless adventurer serving time in Alcatraz. Barrymore intercedes with Government officials and, after Stewart is thoroughly investigated by John Hodiak, an FBI agent, his proposal is accepted and the necessary facilities placed at his disposal. With the aid of the Navy, Stewart and Tracy, posing as Irish seamen, make their way to the Malay city of Penang, where they visit the saloon of Sydney Greenstreet, an old friend. After hearing their plans, Greenstreet joins the undertaking, organizes a band of guerilla fighters, and puts them in touch with the three biggest planters in the district. All agree to allow their stores of rubber to be "stolen." While Tracy distracts the attention of the Japanese by getting himself arrested, Stewart and the guerillas succeed in delivering the rubber from the first two plantations to a camouflaged U. S. ship hiding offshore near a small island. Meanwhile Greenstreet, friendly with Richard Loo, the corrupt Jap commander, obtains Tracy's release. Afraid to trust the third planter, a German, Tracy decides to quit, but Stewart insists upon making an attempt to get the rubber out. He is ambushed by the Japs and killed. On the following day, Loo visits Greenstreet and Tracy and offers to let them smuggle out the rubber for a price. Tracy, although suspecting a trap, determines to complete the mission. Loo crosses Tracy by boarding his boat as it reached the open sea and signalling a Jap flotilla to attack the camouflaged U. S. ship. But two American PT boats suddenly appear and sink the flotilla with their torpedoes. Tracy, though wounded, kills Loo during the fracas. After the war, he settles down in Malaya with Valentina Cortesa, a singer in Greenstreet's saloon. It was produced by Edwin H. Knopf and directed by Richard Thorpe from a screen play by Frank Fenton, based on a story by Manchester Boddy. The cast includes Gilbert Roland, Roland Winters, Ian MacDonald and others. Harmless for children. "Undertow" with Scott Brady, John Russell and Dorothy Hart (Univ.-Int'l, December; time, IQYi min.) Except for the fact that it has been photographed against actual Chicago and Reno settings, this underworld melodrama offers nothing unusual. It should, however, prove acceptable as a supporting feature in double-billing situations. Centering around a reformed racketeer who, framed for murder, tries to prove his innocence, the story has little novelty and the treatment is routine. Moreover, the plot is so obviously contrived that it lacks conviction. The methods employed by the hero to outwit those who were trying to frame him offer enough excitement and suspense to please the undiscriminating picture-goers. The direction and acting are average: — Scott Brady, a former racketeer, determines to make a clean start after his discharge from the army. He buys an interest in a mountain resort lodge in Nevada, and flies to Chicago to marry Dorothy Hart, whose uncle, his one-time racket boss, objected to the marriage. En route, Brady meets once again Peggy Dow, a school teacher, whom he had casually met earlier in the day in a Reno gambling hall. In Chicago, Brady is picked up by detective Bruce Bennett, a boyhood pal, who takes him to headquarters. There, Brady is told to get out of town because of a tip that he planned to murder Dorothy's uncle. He stalks out indignantly, and later arranges with Dorothy to call on her uncle to ask his consent to their marriage. Arriving at the uncle's home, Brady is slugged before he can enter. He regains consciousness in a huge basement and blacks out again. He comes to in his car, which had been parked on a highway, and learns from a radio broadcast that the uncle had been murdered and that he is suspected of the crime. He hides out in Peggy's apartment and plans a campaign to clear himself. He meets secretly with Dorothy and John Russell, her uncle's chief aide, but neither one can offer him any clues to the murderer. He then goes to Bennett's home and, at gunpoint, explains his plight. Bennett, convinced of his innocence, determines to find the building to which Brady had been taken after being slugged. Through scientific methods, he narrows the search down to several buildings. In the events that follow, the first building on the list proves to be Russell's apartment house, and Brady discovers that Dorothy and Russell, in love, had framed him for the murder as part of a plan to take over her uncle's gambling empire. Both are apprehended, and Brady, cleared of all charges, turns his attentions to Peggy. It was produced by Ralph Dietrich and directed by William Castle from a story by Arthur T. Horman, who collaborated on the screen play with Lee Loeb. Adult fare. "And Baby Makes Three" with Robert Young and Barbara Hale (Columbia, December; time, 84 min.) An amusing comedy, but the degree of pleasure the patrons will feel will depend, first, on whether the theatre is crowded, for it seems as if some of the comedy situations will fall flat if the theatre is half empty; secondly, on whether or not they find the theme distasteful; and, thirdly, on whether or not their religious beliefs are against divorces. There are spots where the action is slow and the proceedings dull. One line of dialogue has been objected to by Catholic churchmen; it is where Robert Young expresses the hope of winning back Barbara Hale and of having the courts award him the child, and his lawyer tells him that miracles have not happened since the Thirteenth Century. The picture has been produced well, and the direction and acting are up to standard: — Barbara Hale is about to marry Robert Hutton, a rich playboy, only three days after she had obtained a Reno divorce from Robert Young, a successful publisher. She faints during the ceremony, and the wedding has to be postponed when her uncle (Lloyd Corrigan), a doctor, tells her that she is pregnant. Barbara and Young then enter into a legal battle for the custody of the unborn child. Hutton's parents make a half-hearted show of wanting the child to go to their son, but they secretly tell him to let the child go to Young. Howard Chamberlin, Young's lawyer, tells Young that he has no chance to get the child unless he marries again. Young, caring little about the child but wanting Barbara back, insists that Chamberlin carry on a court battle. Meanwhile he sends for Janis Carter, a grass widow, whose husband had named Young as a co-respondent in his divorce suit. Janis, who had a craving for Young, readily agrees to marry him. By this time, however, Barbara wants Young back, and even though she had been told that she is not going to have a baby she tells Janis that she is going to have triplets, and that she is willing to give them up to Young. Janis prepares to drop Young until she learns, by chance, that Barbara is not going to have a baby after all. She arranges for the false information to be printed in the newspapers, then brings Barbara and Young to the Hutton mansion in an attempt to humiliate her. Meeting for the first time, Janis and Hutton find themselves attracted to each other. Young, however, has eyes for no one else but Barbara. He proudly boasts that Barbara is to have triplets. Hutton balks at this, and even the revelation by the doctor that Barbara will not have a baby does not help matters. Barbara, in tears, drives away in her car, with Young, still unaware that she is not pregnant, in pursuit. He finally catches up with her, and Barbara agrees to remarry him, but she decides not to tell him that she is not pregnant until after they are wed. It was produced by Robert Lord and directed by Henry Levin from an original screen play by Lou Breslow and Joseph Hoffman. The cast includes Billie Burke, Nicholas Joy and others. Unobjectionable morally.