Harrison's Reports (1950)

80 HARRISON'S REPORTS May 20, 1950 "Square Dance Katy" with Vera Vague, Virginia Welles and Phil Brito (Monogram, March 25; time, 76 min.) Inoffensive— it will startle nobody. The story is slow and at times tiresome. There are spots here and there that please, but there are not enough of them to put the picture over. As a matter of fact, the story is nothing more than a frame work for some square dancing, and for some musical numbers in which several of the actors either play or sing with a band. Jimmie Davis, former Governor of Louisiana, appears with his Sunshine Band. Virginia Welles is winsome, and with better stories she should make herself popular. Not much can be said for Vera Vague, as a night-club hostess; her talk is inane. There is, in fact, too much talk. Despite its defects, however, the picture may prove suitable for small towns, particularly where there is a square-dancing craze: — When Warren Douglas and Sheila Ryan, representatives of a soap manufacturing company, go to a rural community in search of talent for the company's new television show, they are met by Virginia Welles, who believes that Phil Brito and his hill-billy band are entitled to a break in television. Douglas meets Brito, but he is impressed by Virginia's singing more than by Brito's band. Shortly thereafter, Virginia is summoned to star in the company's television show. While in New York, she looks around with the hope of finding a spot for Brito. She finds one at a Greenwhich Village night-club operated by Vera Vague. Virginia becomes an immediate hit. Brito gets along fairly well, but he feels that, if he had a chance to give a big concert, he would fare better. He soon disappears and later is found by Sheila at a seaside resort, where he had won great popularity among square-dancing 'teen-agers. Virginia persuades him to return to the big town. He takes his band to Vera's place, where he becomes a sensation. It ends with his teaming up with Virginia for life. Lindsley Parsons produced it, and Jean Yarbrough directed it, from a screen play by Warren Wilson. Good for the family trade. "Fortunes of Captain Blood" with Louis Hayward and Patricia Medina (Columbia, June; time, 91 min.) A pretty good swashbuckling melodrama, of the bloodand-thunder type. Perhaps the limited budget handicapped the director, but whatever the cause, the direction does not seem to be of the best. Most of the exciting action takes place at the finish, during the battle between the pirate frigate and the ship of the King of Spain. The action is pretty slow in the beginning, but as the story progresses it manages to hold one in suspense, particularly because of the danger to the hero who, disguised as a fruit peddler, goes ashore in an effort to liberate a boatload of his men, who had been captured and sold as slaves. The acting is so-so, and the romance is fairly interesting. The story has been founded on the late Raphael Sabatini's novel "Captain Blood," produced twice before — once by Vitagraph, in the silent days, and once by Warner Bros., as a talkie. The story, however, has been altered considerably: — Louis Hayward, commander of a buccaneer ship preying on shipping in the West Indies, is short of supplies. He is tricked into sending a boatload of his men ashore by Lowell Gilmore, a rascal in the pay of George Macready, a nobleman, who had been ordered by the King of Spain to capture Hayward lest he (Macready) be stripped of his title. The men are captured and imprisoned, but one manages to escape and inform Hayward. To effect the liberation of his men, Hayward goes ashore and disguises himself as a fruit peddler. In the course of events, he meets Patricia Medina, Macready's niece, who is intrigued by him. He learns that she is unhappy on the island and that she had been begging Gilmore to spirit her away and send her back to Spain. Gilmore captures Hayward and prepares to kill him just as Macready's guards approach him (Gilmore) for keeping a forbidden rendezvous with Patricia. Hayward helps Gilmore to repulse the guards and escapes with him and Patricia to a disreputable inn, where they outwit the guards again. In the excitement, Hayward hides Patricia's jewels. Gilmore, finding that Patricia no longer has her jewels, loses interest in her. Hayward returns her jewels and promises to take her away in his ship if she could have her uncle pardon him. That night, Hayward steals into Macready's private office, takes hold of an official seal, and forges a pardon for his men, who were held as slaves. Hayward and his men get by all but the last guard, who notices that the wrong seal had been used on the forged pardon. A fight ensues, but Hayward and his men manage to escape and reach their ship. Soon after, Macready's ship moves into sight to give battle. Aware that he had no chance against Macready's powerful guns, Hayward orders his men to abandon ship, leaving two men to fire the guns and spike them. Macready, believing that his guns had subdued the pirates, goes to the buccaneer ship in a small boat to obtain Hayward's surrender. Meanwhile Hayward and his men swim to Macrady's «hip, hi-jack it, and train the guns on their own ship, killing Macready and most of his men. As he sets sail for new adventures, Hayward promises Patricia that he will one day return to her. It was produced by Harry Joe Brown and directed by Gordon Douglas, from a screen play by Michael Hogan, Robert Libott and Frank Burt. Unobjectionable for the family trade. "State Penitentiary" with Warner Baxter (Columbia, June 8; time, 66 mm.) For a low-bracket picture, "State Penitentiary" is very good. The results are owed to the good script and the expert direction. The action is realistic and the players enact their roles with force and conviction. Since there is hardly any comedy relief, it should be paired with a lighter picture in double-billing situations. Warner Baxter acts with restraint and wins the spectator's sympathy because, despite the danger of his being accused of infractions of the prison rules and the law, he does not "squeal." The action, at times, is thrilling. The photography is sharp and clear: — Although innocent, Baxter, an aviation engineer, is sent to prison for embezzling four hundred thousand dollars from stockholders. Onslow Stevens, a Federal agent, continues to pursue Baxter in the belief that he could tell him where he hid the money. Stevens attempts to obtain the information also from Karin Booth, Baxter's beautiful wife, but to no avail. Karin and Baxter begin to suspect Robert Shayne, Baxter's partner, because he had not defended Baxter at the trial as vigorously as Baxter had a right to expect. Karin decides to go to Florida, where Shayne now resided, in the hope of learning something from him. Meanwhile Baxter gets in bad with a gang of prisoners when he helps quell an uprising, and he is "ridden" unmercifully. Stevens, unaware of the fact Karin was playing up to Shayne, hands Baxter a newspaper clipping stating that Karin planned to divorce him to marry Shayne. Hoping to obtain a confession from Shayne, Baxter, too, decides to go to Florida. He assures Stevens and the warden that he will recover the money if they will free him for a few days. Unable to convince the two officials that his proposal was sincere, Baxter escapes and heads for Florida. En route, he is caught by Stevens and ordered back to prison, but Stevens relents when Baxter pleads for a chance to prove his innocence. The two continue to Florida together. They reach Shayne's home in time to catch him with the money and just as he was trying to subdue Karin, who was holding him at gun-point. Shayne again tries to escape, but Stevens and Baxter capture him. Having proved his innocence, Baxter is set free. Sam Katzman produced it, and Lew Landers directed it, from a story by Henry E. Helseth, and a screen play by Howard J. Green, Robert Libott and Frank Burt. Harmless for the family.