Harrison's Reports (1950)

20 HARRISON'S REPORTS February 4, 1950 "Joe Palooka Meets Humphrey" with Joe Kirk wood, Leon Errol and Robert Coogan (Monogram, Jan. 29; time, 65 min.) A fine double-bill picture. As a matter of fact, it should take better with some audiences than any of the past pictures in the "Palooka" series. The story is mostly silly but mirth' provoking. The fight between Joe Kirkwood and Robert Coogan, a man of huge proportions, should provoke the most laughter. There is much laughter also in the sequences in which Leon Errol changes from one role to another — that of the manager of Kirkwood, and as Lord Cecil Poole, an English fight manager. The direction is good and the photography clear: — Joe Kirkwood the heavyweight champion, and Pamela Blake go to a resort to spend their honeymoon. Their car is damaged en route and Robert Coogan, a huge dim-witted mechanic, repairs it but, because he guarantees his work for thirty days, follows them everywhere to be present in case the car went out of order again, annoying them no end. They lose all peace of mind when Leon Errol, Kirkwood's manager, joins them. Word soon gets around that the champ is at the resort and, before long, Kirkwood is tricked into accepting a match for a local benefit performance. When Kirkwood's opponent is hurt seriously in an altercation, Jerome Cowan, the injured man's manager, substitutes Coogan. Errol approves the match, but, realizing that Coogan's giant-like power is a menace to Kirkwood's professional standing, he poses as Lord Cecil Poole, an English fight manager, and assumes the management of Coogan so as to make sure that Kirkwood will not suffer a defeat. Cowan becomes suspicious and orders two of his henchmen to kidnap the imposter. Errol, however, escapes and manages to reach the arena in time to advise Kirkwood to keep circling around Coogan so as to make him dizzy. Coogan, feeling hungry as always, becomes wobbly, falls on his face, and is counted out. Thus Kirkwood wins the fight and is enabled to enjoy an uninterrupted honeymoon with Pamela. Hal E. Chester produced it and Jean Yarbrough directed it from a story and screen play by Henry Blankfort. Fine entertainment for the family circle. "Hoedown" with Eddy Arnold, Jock O'Mahoney and Jeff Donnell (Columbia, no rel. date set; time, 64 min.) There is only one word that could describe adequately this picture, but because I don't use such words, even though other reputable critics have used them, I leave it to the imagination of the readers to determine how poor this program picture is. Even children will be bored with it. Nobody loves a dumb hero, and Jock O'Mahoney, who proves himself in the end to be the hero, is given a stupid part. For this reason no one cares what fate befalls him. The story is inane, the direction poor, and the acting worse: — Jock O'Mahoney, a handsome but none-too-bright movie actor, is dropped by his studio for loss of popularity while he is on a personal appearance tour in Smokey Falls, Tennessee. He finds himself broke and without a friend, and to make matters worse his personal appearance tour had been financed by his mother, who had mortgaged her home to raise the necessary money. He meets Jeff Donnell, a young and pretty reporter, who had been assigned to get the story of his rise and fall. Both run out of gas on a highway and ask for help at a farm owned by Eddy Arnold, a famous folk-song singer, who was preparing a hoedown and holding amateur tryouts for a hospital benefit. Carolina Cotton, Eddy's cousin, falls for O'Mahoney, and Eddy, thinking that the songs he had heard O'Mahoney singing in his pic tures were sung by himself, wires Fred Sears, an agent, to sign O'Mahoney. While driving to the farm, Sears is held up by three bank robbers sought by the authorities, and is compelled to take them to the farm as his associates. On the day of the hoedown and the try-outs, it is discovered that O'Mahoney can't sing. The identity of the bank robbers is discovered when they try to steal the money collected from the audience. A wild battle follows, and O'Mahoney, who was thought by everybody to be spineless, beats up the crooks. The wide publicity given to this feat causes the fans to clamour for O'Mahoney's return to the screen. Offers pour in, and in addition he receives a reward for capturing the robbers, enabling him to pay off the mortgage on his mother's home. At the finish he realizes his love for Carolina, while Jeff finds romance with Eddy. It was produced by Robert Clark and directed by Ray Nazarro from a screen play by Barry Shipman. The cast includes Douglas Fowley, Don Harvey, Charles Sullivan and others. Harmless for children. "The Palomino" with Jerome Courtland, Beverly Tyler and Joseph Calleia (Columbia, no rel. date set; time, 75 min.) Being a natural color picture, photographed by the Technicolor process, "The Palomino" should go over fairly well where wild horse pictures please, even though the color photography in the scenes themselves is poor. The story is trite and as such can hardly hold the spectator's interest. It is predominantly melodramatic, for the villains are vicious, and plan their villainous acts without any compunction. The horses look beautiful in color, and in one situation the action is somewhat thrilling. Jerome Courtland is a pleasing actor, and with a good story he ought to gain popularity. Beverly Tyler is so-so. Joseph Calleia is his usual self, and Roy Roberts is a good actor and formidable villain :— Jerome Courtland, just starting out as a cattle buyers' relations man, runs into Joseph Calleia, a hand at Rancho Las Granadas, and is advised by him to meet Beverly Tyler, his beautiful boss, on the ground that she knows all the ranchers in the valley. Courtland introduces himself to Beverly and learns that the ranch is unprofitable, for after the death of her father her priceless palomino stallion, El Rey, had disappeared, and she could no longer breed prizewinning palominos. Duke, another good horse, is the only palomino left to her. Beverly suggests to Courtland that he meet Roy Roberts, an influential rancher, whom she looked upon as a friend. In reality, Roberts is a crook and is the one who had stolen El Rey to breed expensive palominos of his own. Roberts refuses to sell any cattle to Courtland out of fear that his crookedness might be discovered by him. During the loading of a number of colts by Roberts and his henchmen, one breaks loose and takes off. Courtland ropes the colt and breaks its neck. Beverly, believing that the dead colt was her Duke, orders Courtland off the ranch. Roberts, to confirm her belief, has Duke abducted. Convinced that Roberts is the man behind the nefarious doings, Courtland sets out with Calleia to find El Rey and Duke. They discover the horses and Courtland orders Calleia to ride back and inform Beverly. But Beverly will not believe him. Roberts discovers Courtland and a fierce fight ensues. Beverly, at last convinced, arrives in time to see the end of the fight, with Courtland victorious. The incident serves to draw Courtland and Beverly closer together, much to the joy of Calleia. With El Rey back in the fold, the future of the ranch is assured. The picture was produced by Robert Cohn; it was directed by Ray Nazarro, from a screen play by Tom Kilpatrick. Harmless for children, because the villains are bested in the end and virtue triumphs.