Harrison's Reports (1950)

34 "Buccaneer's Girl" with Yvonne De Carlo, Philip Friend and Elsa Lanchester ( Universal, March; time, 77 mm.) Although it is handicapped by a hackneyed plot and by a script that even the world's best cast could do little with, this Technicolor romantic adventure melodrama is a fair enough entertainment for the undiscriminating picturegoers. It has all the ingredients one expects to find in a swashbuckler, such as cannon fire, flashing swords, fisticuffs, piracy on the high seas, scuttled ships and last-minute rescues, all of which should satisfy the demands of those who enjoy this type of action. As a fiery, quick-tempered singer who falls in love with a gentleman pirate chief, a sort of Robin Hood character, Yvonne De Carlo isn't called upon for much in the way of a performance, but she is good to look at and, like the others in the cast, her acting is adequate enough, considering the flimsiness of the material: — Yvonne, a stowaway on a sailing ship raided by pirates, is captured and held prisoner by Philip Friend, notorious leader of the buccaneers, known to all as Baptiste. When Friend goes ashore at New Orleans, Yvonne escapes and meets up with Elsa Lanchester, operator of a school for feminine entertainers, who offers to help her develop her talents. Yvonne is assigned to sing at a seamen's fund benefit party at a waterfront saloon. There she discovers that the fund's chief benefactor and host at the function is none other than Friend, known to all as a socially acceptable gentleman. He persuades her to keep his secret, explaining that Baptiste, the real pirate chief, was dead, and that he had assumed his identity and activities only to avenge himself on Robert Douglas, a wealthy shipowner, who had ruined his (Friend's) father by hiring Baptiste to destroy his ships. He explains also that he turned the proceeds of his loot over to the seamen's fund. Yvonne gets herself involved with Andrea King, Friend's haughty fiancee, who jealously creates a disturbance while she sings. Yvonne gives her a beating and hides out on Friend's ship to elude arrest. In the events that follow, Andrea marries Douglas, who by this time had discovered Friend's pirate activities. Through a ruse, Douglas has Friend captured and condemned to hang. Yvonne takes matters in hand and, while Friend awaits the execution, she incites his buccaneers into attacking the jail. Friend, freed, escapes to his ship and, with Yvonne at his side, sets sail for the open seas. It was produced by Robert Arthur and directed by Frederick de Cordova, from a screen play by Harold Shumate and Joeph Hoffman, based on a story by Joe May and Samuel R. Golding. The cast includes Jay C. Flippen, Henry Daniell and others. Suitable for the family. "Quicksand" with Mickey Rooney, Jeanne Cagney and Barbara Bates (United Artists, March 25; time, 79 min.) A fine production. It has been produced with such skill that the spectator is made to feel as if present in the unfolding of a real-life drama. Mickey Rooney is an accomplished trooper; he gives his part realism — one feels as if his acts are committed by a real person instead of a screen character. The story shows him breaking the law and in his efforts to extricate himself he sinks deeper and deeper, as in quicksand; he is sucked in, and the more he tries to extricate himself by committing other crimes, the deeper he sinks. To this extent, the picture might prove a lesson to young men who think that they can get away with a small crime. Jeanne Cagney, as the callous woman who does not hesitate to let Mickey suffer the consequences of his crime, which she herself had suggested, is realistic. Throughout the story one feels sympathy for Barbara Bates, who loves Mickey with such devotion that she is willing to share whatever his fortunes might be. Taylor Holmes is good as the understanding lawyer. The direction is expert: — Rooney, a mechanic at Art Smith's garage, vows that he is through with women because Barbara had pressed him for marriage. But he changes his mind when he meets Jeanne, the new cashier at a restaurant nearby; he dates her. Short of money to entertain her, he takes $20 from the garage cash register with the intention of returning it on the following day because a friend had promised to repay $20 he had lent him. The friend fails to pay him, and Mickey, fearing that the bookkeeper will discover the shortage, buys a watch on the installment plan and hocks it to replace the $20. The jeweller, suspicious, traces the transaction and demands full payment or return of the watch within 24 hours under threat of informing the district attorney. Desperate, Mickey holds up a drunkard who had flashed a roll of $50 bills. He squares himself with the jeweller and then goes looking for Jeanne. He finds her in Peter Lorre's penny arcade, jut as Lorre is trying to force his attentions on her, claiming that she owed him $50. Mickey knocks him down and throws a $50 bill at him. Lorre rightly suspects that the $50 bill was evidence of the robbery and, under threat of going to the police, forces Mickey to steal a new car from the garage he worked in and to deliver it to him. Smith, Mickey's boss, bluntly accuses Mickey of stealing the car and threatens to jail him unless he makes payment of $3,000. In desperation, Mickey tells Jeanne of his predicament, and she suggests that they rob Lorre's place after he closes. The robbery nets them $3,600, which Mickey leaves in Jeanne's custody until the following day. She crosses Mickey by spending half the loot for a fur coat. Smith, however, accepts $1,800, then attempts to call the police. Mickey, infuriated, knocks the gun out of his hand, chokes him, and leaves him for dead. He bumps into Barbara and persuades her to go with him to Mexico. Their car stalls en route and Mickey holds up Taylor Holmes, a lawyer, and forces him to drive to Mexico. On the way Holmes makes Mickey realize that he is implicating Barbara, an innocent person, and that it would be best for him to make a getaway by himself. Mickey orders him to drive to a wharf in San Diego, where he hoped to board a boat for Mexico. He is recognized by the police, who wound and capture him after a wild chase. Meanwhile Holmes learns that Smith is alive. He so informs Mickey and offers to defend him, telling him that, as a first offender, he may get him off with a one year sentence. Barbara promises to wait for him. It was produced by Mort Briskin and directed by Irving Pichel from an original screen play by Robert Smith. It is a Samuel H. Stiefel production. (Mr. Stiefel is a well known Philadelphia exhibitor.) An adult picture. "Blonde Dynamite" with the Bowery Boys and Adele Jergens (Monogram, February 12; time, 66 min.) While "Blonde Dynamite" will in all likelihood satisfy the followers of this series of pictures, it is the weakest that has been released for some time. The efforts of the producer to present something new is praiseworthy, but the action is slow most of the time, and the offense to logic more pronounced. The comedy situations provoke some laughter, but not much. The photography is pretty good, as usual: — Leo Gorcey and his gang induce Bernard Gorcey and his wife to take a vacation while they operate his malt shop. While Bernard is away, Leo turns the shop into an escort bureau, with Billy Benedict, Buddy Gorman and David Gorcey as professional escorts. Gabriel Dell, a bank messenger and one of their friends, is robbed of $5,000 in bank funds. Suspecting Adele Jergens as the one who had relieved him of the money envelope, Dell calls on her and in her apartment finds Harry Lewis and his two confederates, with whom Adele was in league. Dell is told that the money would be returned to him only if he should deliver to them the combination of the bank's vault. Lewis planned to use the malt shop to dig a tunnel leading to the bank, to rob it. The crooks go to the shop and, when they find Huntz Hall there, they tell him that they are government men, in search of a uranium deposit. Believing their tale, Hall aids in the excavation. Meanwhile Dell, aware of their scheme, goes to the police. Lewis' blue print for a tunnel leading to the bank misfires when he and his pals bore through to a police station instead. Jan Grippo produced it and William Beaudine directed it from a screen play by Charles Marion. Harmless for children.