Harrison's Reports (1950)

March 4, 1950 HARRISON'S REPORTS 35 "Stars in My Crown" with Joel McCrea, Ellen Drew and Dean Stockwell (MGM, no rel. date set; time, 89 ruin.) A deeply appealing, heartwarming human interest drama, dealing with the life and work of a fearless parson who settles down in a small Southern town at the close of the Civil War. It is the type of picture that family audiences in particular should enjoy, for the manner in which the parson brings spiritual guidance to the community, while combatting racial prejudice, greed and mistrust, is unfolded in a sympathetic and impressive way. Some of the situations are powerfully dramatic. One such situation is where the parson shames a hooded mob to thwart the hanging of a dignified, kindly old Negro. An outbreak of a typhoid epidemic among the townspeople serves as the basis for other dramatic situations. Although the action unfolds with a minimum of excitement, there is considerable charm in the story's simplicity and nice touches of humor and romance. The direction is expert and the acting uniformly excellent: — Joel McCrea, a Civil War veteran, comes to the town of Walesburg with a determination to become its minister, despite the scoffers. Within a few years the villagers build a church for him, and he marries Ellen Drew. Together they adopt and raise Dean Stockwell, Ellen's nephew, who idolizes McCrea. Although outwardly peaceful, the town has disturbing undercurrents. Juan Hernandez, a kindly old Negro farmer, is hounded by Ed Begley, greedy owner of the general store, because of his refusal to sell his small plot of land, which Begley wanted for the mica vein running through it. Begley incites a group of villagers to raid the old man's farm, destroying his crops and livestock. Community unrest stems also from the people's lack of confidence in James Mitchell, a young doctor, who had taken over the practice of his failing father (Lewis Stone). Shunned, Mitchell finds consolation in his love for Amanda Blake, the schoolteacher. When a typhoid epidemic strikes, Mitchell works day and night to combat it, finally winning the respect and admiration of everyone. In the process, Mitchell, who thought little of spiritual needs, gains a new appreciation of McCrea, whose prayers help to save Amanda from the disease. When word reached McCrea that a gang of hooded riders planned to lynch Hernandez that night, McCrea hurries to the old man's farm unarmed, and thwarts the hanging by reading the Negro's will, in which he leaves all his earthly possessions to the very men who were preparing to kill him. Ashamed, the mob slinks away. Young Dean, picking up the will when it drops from McCrea's hand, discovers that the paper is blank! McCrea heads for home, happy that calm had been restored to the community. It was produced by William H. Wright and directed by Jacques Tourneur from a screen play by Margaret Fitts, based on the novel by Joe David Brown. Excellent for the family. "Perfect Strangers" with Ginger Rogers and Dennis Morgan (Warner Bros., March 25; time, 88 mm.) An interesting human interest drama, revolving around two married persons who fall in love while serving as jurors in a murder trial. Based on the 1939 stage play, "Ladies and Gentlemen," by Charles MacArthur and Ben Hecht, it holds one's attention, not so much because of the story itself, which is rather thin, but because of the enlightening and entertaining way in which it goes behind the scenes of a murder trial to show the proceedings of a jury and the individual behavior of the jurors themselves. Thelma Ritter, as the simpleminded wife of a truck driver; Margalo Fillmore, as a frustrated society matron; Anthony Ross, as a middle-aged masher; Howard Freeman, as a skinflint "sourpuss"; and all the others make up a colorful cross-section of the type of people who serve as jurors. Both Ginger Rogers and Dennis Morgan are highly effective and sympathetic in the leading roles. There is considerable drama in their own romance because of the fact that it parallels the unfortunate love affair of the defendant on trial for the murder of his wife. The ending, though it satisfies the production code, may not please many patrons. It is the type of picture that should fare better in the big cities than in the small towns, because of the leisurely pace and of the adult treatment of its theme: Ginger, a business woman separated from her husband, and Morgan, a married man and the father of two children, serve as jurors in the murder trial of a man accused of killing his wife for another woman. The judge locks up the jury in hotel rooms during the trial, and as it progresses Ginger and Morgan fall madly in love. Ginger, however, makes Morgan promise that he will try to make a go of his own marriage before he decides to get a divorce. When the trial is over and the jurors begin their ballotting, nine vote for acquittal and three for conviction, with the three voting guilty insisting that the killing could not have been an accident because of the defendant's love for another woman. The jurors remain deadlocked until Ginger, by exposing her own romance with Morgan, convinces the three holdouts that it is wholly possible for a married man to fall honestly in love with another woman, and that such a love need not be the motive for criminal action. The jury votes acquittal. With the trial over, Ginger and Morgan discuss their situation soberly and come to the conclusion that, because of the pitfalls before them, a lasting love between them would not be possible. They agree to part and return to their respective spouses. It was produced by Jerry Wald and directed by Bretaigne Windust, from a screen play by Edith Sommer. Adult fare. "A Woman of Distinction" with Rosalind Russell and Ray Milland (Columbia, no rel. date set; time, 85 min.) Smart dialogue and slapstick have been blended to good advantage in this highly amusing romantic comedy. The story itself is thin, but the well contrived gags and situations keep one laughing all the way through. As the dean of a women's college with no place for romance in her life, Rosalind Russell is cast in the type of role that is tailored to her comedy talents. Even though the part calls for her to be smeared with mud, sprayed by a garden hose and almost strangled when her garment gets caught in an electric fan, she puts over the slapstick in fine tyle. Most of the comedy stems from the predicaments she find herself in when she becomes romantically involved with a British lecturer as a result of an imaginative press agent's machinations. Ray Milland, as the lecturer, an astronomy professor, adds much to the fast and funny proceedings: — Rosalind, entirely engrossed in her career, reveals in a published interview that she has no room for romance in her life, and that she preferred to live with her father, Edmund Gwenn, and her adopted daughter, Mary Jane Saunders. When Milland arrives in the United States for a lecture tour, Janis Carter, a press agent handling the tour, learns that he wanted to visit Rosalind to give her some mementos entrusted to him by a dying French soldier she knew in France. Janis, looking for an angle to sell the stuffy lecture tour, informs the press that Milland and Rosalind are in love. Rosalind, who had never met Milland, is so annoyed by the publicity that she takes the first train to Boston, where he was to deliver his first lecture, determined to scotch the rumors. Both meet on the train and are mutually attracted, although unaware of each other's identity. But she learns who he is when they arrive in Boston and, in a rage, hits him with her handbag. Her action is snapped by a news photographer, resulting in more publicity. To add to Rosalind's woes, her father invites Milland to their home in an effort to foster a romance between them. This leads to numerous complications, aggravated further by a rumor that little Mary is Rosalind's own child. The rumor about Mary's parenthood becomes so insistent that the faculty demands an investigation. Furious at the implications as to her character and morals, Rosalind finds herself in a deeper mess when Milland, believing the rumor, chivalrously claims that he is Mary's father. After many other mixups, Rosalind resigns as dean and surrenders to her love for Milland, after proving that Mary is an adopted child. It was produced by Buddy Adler and directed by Edward Buzzcll from a .screen play by Charles Hoffman, based on a story by Hugo Butler and lan M. Hunter. Unobjectionable morally.