Harrison's Reports (1949)

December 10, 1949 199 Without a drop of whiskey, and with no anticipation of any arriving in the immediate future, the people on the island of Todday are dismayed. The only person not bothered by the whiskey famine is Basil Radford, who took his post as commander of the Home Guard on the island seriously. A break in the situation comes when a ship, carrying a cargo of fifty thousand cases of whiskey, founders on the rocks off the island and is abandoned by the crew. Because of the Sabbath, the islanders control their urge to salvage the whiskey, but they watch the tantalizing wreck all day Sunday, uneasy because Radford was taking steps to confiscate the precious cargo. At the stroke of midnight they converge upon the sinking ship in many small boats and manage to come away with several hundred cases of whiskey before the craft sinks beneath the waves. They cache a large supply of whiskey in a beach cave, and hide the bah ance in their homes, away from the prying eyes of Radford. But Radford, aware that they had taken the whiskey, locates the cave and goes to the mainland to summon the government agents. He arrives with the agents just as a big party is in progress, with the whiskey flowing freely, but the islanders, warned of their approach, ingeniously conceal all the evidence within a few minutes. Foiled, the government agents head for the cave, but a party of islanders arrive there ahead of them, load the whiskey, and race away. Their victory almost turns into defeat when they run out of gas, but while several of the islanders throw up a barricade in front of the agents' car, the others hurry off, their fuel tank replenished with a supply of alcohol from their bottled cargo. It is a J. Arthur Rank presentation, produced by Michael Balcon and directed by Alexander Mackendrick from a screen play by Compton Mackenzie and Angus Macphail, based on Mr. Mackenzie's novel, "Whiskey Galore." "Master Minds" with the Bowery Boys (Monogram, J^ovember 20; time, 64 min.) For theatres that cater to child trade, "Master Minds" should prove to be a very fine attraction, for it will keep the children laughing throughout. And it is not a bad program comedy entertainment for adults either. The story is different from those used in the other pictures in the series in that it deals with supernatural powers, with which Huntz Hall is supposed to be endowed. Much of the laughter is provoked by the sight of Glenn Strange, an "apeman" type, using the mannerisms and the voice of Hall, after being injected with Hall's nature by means of a scientist's electrical apparatus. The attempt of Leo Gorcey and the Bowery Boys to avoid capture while in the scientist's laboratory is another comedy-provoking sequence. The direction is good and so is the acting : — Leo Gorcey discovers that Huntz Hall has prophetic powers whenever he gets a toothache. Seeing an opportunity to make money for the Bowery Boys, Gorcey puts Hall into a carnival and attracts many customers with his ballyhoo. The boys stand to make a sizable fortune until Alan Napier, a warped scientist experimenting on thought-transfer, sees Hall perform. He has his stooges abduct Hall, then prepares to transfer Hall's nature into Glenn Strange, an "apeman" he had acquired from the African jungle. Through electrical apparatus attached to the heads of both Hall and Strange, Napier succeeds in making Strange a docile human being like Hall, while giving Hall the physical power of Strange. Gorcey and his gang, wondering what had happened to their meal ticket, set out to find Hall. They finally locate him in Napier's laboratory, only to be made captives themselves. At a moment when Hall reverts back to his own nature, he telephones the police for help, and they rush to the rescue. With Hall safe from the maniacal scientist, the future again looks bright for the Bowery Boys. It was produced by Jan Grippo and directed by Jean Yarbrough from an original screen play by Jane Adams, Billy Benedict, Bernard Gorcey, David Gorcey and others. Suitable for the entire family. "Bodyhold" with Willard Parker, Lola Albright and Hillary Brooke (Columbia, no rel. date set; time, 63 min.) A routine program melodrama, revolving around the wrestling game. Because of the fact that wrestling has become a very popular sport in the past year or two, exhibitors may be able to exploit the picture to good advantage. But the story has "whiskers"; it is just another version of the rise of an honest champion who turns on a crooked promoter and cleans up the sport. This theme has been used many times in prizefight pictures. It should, however, get by with the undiscriminating movie-goers, for it offers a fair amount of excitement in the wrestling matches, and there is some comedy and romance. The direction and acting are passable: — In control of all the leading wrestlers, including Gordon Jones, the champion, Roy Roberts balks when Jones demands an increase in salary. He matches Jones with Sammy Menacker, another member of his troupe, and through treachery, not only arranges for Menacker to win the championship, but sees to it that Gordon is injured permanently. Jones ends up in a wheel chair as a result of his injuries, and Roberts, in true hypocritical fashion, calls a meeting of his wrestlers and compels them to contribute to a fund for Jones' welfare. While this meeting is in progress, Willard Parker, a strapping young plumber, enters the office to install a radiator. One of the wrestlers gets tough with Parker to make him work quietly, only to find himself hurled bodily into Roberts' private office. Recognizing Parker as potential championship material, Roberts offers him a contract, but Parker turns it down. Roberts then tells Hillary Brooke, his girl-friend, to see what she could do. Hillary employs her womanly wiles to good effect, and before long Parker joins the wrestling combine and is well on his way to the championship. Meanwhile Lola Albright, sister of the injured ex-champ, becomes convinced that her brother had been the victim of Roberts' treachery but is unable to prove her claim with the State Athletic Commission. She tries to enlist Parker's aid, but he makes light of her claim. Later, when Parker discovers that Hillary had played him for a sucker, and that Roberts controlled the wrestling game through crooked tactics, he makes friends with Lola and determines to take the crookedness out of wrestling. He talks Roberts into matching him with Menacker, the champion, and, despite a foul plot to injure him permanently, Parker wins the match and becomes the new champion. It all ends with Roberts being jailed for his treachery, and with Jones becoming the new wrestling commissioner, while Parker, with Lola as his bride, gives up wrestling to become the head of his own plumbing concern. It was produced by Rudolph C. Flothow and directed by Seymour Friedman from a screen play by George Bricker. The supporting cast includes Allen Jenkins. Unobjectionable morally.