Harrison's Reports (1950)

June 10, 1950 HARRISON'S REPORTS 91 "Spy Hunt" with Howard Duff and Marta Toren ( Univ.-lnt'l, June; time, 75 min.) This post-war espionage melodrama, with its spies and counterspies, is a fair enough picture of its kind, although it does not rise above the level of program fare. The story is on the far-fetched side, but it moves along at a steady clip and whips up enough excitement and suspense to keep the spectator interested. The fact that all the spies concerned are after a piece of microfilm hidden in the collar of an escaped panther loose in the Swiss mountains adds much to the suspense. The performances, while not exceptional, are adequate, and the mountain backgrounds are interesting: — Marta Toren, a spy for an Eastern European democracy, seeks to smuggle out microfilm evidence of a political murder to UN authorities in Paris, while counterspies of the party that committed the crime seek to intercept it. When the film is passed to her by a fellow-agent who arrives in Milan, Marta, posing as a reporter, goes to a railroad siding to interview Howard Duff, an adventurous American, who was escorting two man-eating panthers that had been consigned to a circus in the United States. She makes a date to meet Duff in a nearby cafe and, when he leaves the freight car, she dopes one of the panthers with drugged meat and conceals the microfilm in its collar. The counterspies learn of her move, and phone ahead to a confederate in Switzerland to derail the train as it speeds through the Alps. Duff, knocked unconscious when he leaps to safety, wakes up in an inn operated by Walter Slezak and learns that both panthers had escaped from their wrecked cages. Before long, Philip Friend, a British correspondent; Philip Dorn, a famous hunter; Robert Douglas, an artist; and Marta, check into the inn as guests. Marta, suspecting all her fellow-guests, tells Duff the truth about the microfilm and enlists his aid. Outwardly friendly but inwardly suspicious, all join in the hunt for the panther. Marta and Duff trap one of the animals, but it proves to be the wrong one. In the events that follow, the other panther is killed and Marta, aided by Duff, recovers the microfilm, but not before Friend, Dorn and Douglas expose themselves as counterspies and die in different attempts to recover the microfilm themselves. It ends with Marta and Duff agreeing to form a partnership for life. It was produced by Ralph Dietrich, and directed by George Sherman, from a screen play by George Zuckerman and Leonard Lee, based on the book "Panther's Moon," by Victor Canning. Unobjectionable for the family. "Armored Car Robbery" with Charles McGraw and Adele Jergens (RKO, no rel. date set; time, 68 min.) The followers of cops-and-robbers melodramas should get ample satisfaction out of this program picture. Other than the fact that the action depicts an armored car robbery, giving the exhibitor an exploitable angle because of the recent Brinks holdup in Boston, the story itself follows a familiar pattern, offering little that is novel. It holds one's interest well, however, for the action is fast and the encounters between the police and the crooks generate considerable excitement. The closing scenes, where the police close in on the villain and rescue one of their colleagues who had been trapped posing as a crook, are thrilling. The direction and performances are good: — William Talman, an expert mobster, lays careful plans to pull an armored car robbery, and lines up his helpers, Douglas Fowley, Steve Brodie and Gene Evans, and drills them in their duties. Fowley, married to Adele Jergens, a burlesque queen, was unaware of the fact that she was having an affair with Talman. The four crooks hold up the armored car under cover of a tear gas attack. Police lieutenants Charles McGraw and James Flavin, cruising nearby when the radio alarm comes, rush to the scene. Flavin is wounded mortally in the chase that follows, and the crooks, with Fowley badly hurt, manage to escape. Talman kills Fowley when he demands a doctor, and Evans is shot down by the police when he attempts to dispose of the body. Talman and Brodie separate hurriedly, with Talman taking charge of the loot. When Fowley's body is identified, McGraw questions Adele. She denies all knowledge of the affair, but McGraw orders a watch on her activities. Through clever detective work, McGraw finds evidence of Talman's involvement in the robbery and traces him to a motel, but the wily crook escapes just in time. A break comes in the case when Brodie, broke, is picked up by McGraw as he tries to contact Adele to learn of Talman's whereabouts. Learning that Adele had never met Brodie, McGraw arranges with Don McGuire, a detective, to impersonate the thief so as to get information about Talman from Adele. The trap backfires when Talman discovers the ruse and, at gunpoint, forces McGuire into Adele's car and plans to kill him. But McGraw, having anticipated such an emergency, had secretly installed a tiny radio transmitter in Adele's car. By keeping up a running conversation with Talman, McGuire keeps McGraw informed of their route, thus enabling him to close in on the criminal and effect his (McGuire's) rescue. It was produced by Herman Schlom, and directed by Richard Fleischer, from a screen play by Earl Felton and Gerald Drayson Adams, based on a story by Robert Angus and Robert Leeds. Adule fare. "Winchester '73" with James Stewart, Shelley Winters and Dan Duryea (UnivAnt'l, July; time, 92 min.) This is a rip-roaring big-scale western, superior to most pictures of this type offered in recent months. Even those who ordinarily stay away from westerns should find this one entertaining, for, in addition to the fact that it is crammed with excitement and suspense, the story is different enough to hold one's attention throughout, even though the situations are not always convincing. It should provide a field day for the action fans in particular, for it is loaded with killings, shootings and violence, and a spectacular rifle duel at the finish will make their hair stand on end. The story is, however, unpleasant, for it pits brother against brother in a vicious display of hatred, with one killing the other at the end. The direction is good, the characterizations colorful, and the performances first-rate: — James Stewart and Millard Mitchell, his friend, ride into Dodge City to compete in a rifle match, the winner of which was to receive a prized 1873 model Winchester rifle. Stewart finds his chief competitor to be none other than Stephen McNally, his brother, whom he had long sought to kill for having shot their father in the back. Will Geer, the sheriff, compels them to keep the peace. Stewart wins the contest and the rifle, only to have it stolen when he is ambushed by McNally. While Stewart and Mitchell go in search of him, McNally loses the rifle in a poker game with a dishonest Indian trader (John Mclntire), who in turn loses it to an enraged Indian chief he tries to cheat. Meanwhile Stewart and Mitchell, continuing their manhunt, take refuge with an encampment of U. S. Cavalry soldiers when they are menaced by the Indians. There, Stewart meets Shelley Winters, a dance hall girl, and Charles Drake, her cowardly fiance; they, too, had taken refuge in the camp. Stewart helps the soldiers to repulse an attack by the Indians, then leaves to continue his search for McNally. Meanwhile his prize rifle is found next to the dead Indian chief and given to Drake. On the following day, Shelley and Drake meet up with Dan Duryea, a vicious outlaw, who kills Drake in an argument precipitated by Shelley's charms, and takes possession of the rifle. Duryea, taking Shelley along with him, goes to meet McNally to carry out a bank holdup in a town nearby. McNally, upon meeting Duryea, retrieves the gun. Stewart and Mitchell ride into town at the moment when McNally and his desperadoes emerge from the bank with the loot. McNally flees into the hills, where he is finally trapped and killed by Stewart after a hair-raising gun duel. With his father's murder avenged, and with the prized Winchester back in his possession, Stewart turns his attention to Shelley. It was produced by Aaron Rosenberg and directed by Anthony Mann from a screen play by Robert L. Richards and Borden Chase, based on a story by Stuart N. Lake. Unobjectionable for the family.