Harrison's Reports (1950)

July 15, 1950 HARRISON'S REPORTS thereby increasing his income many fold. O'Brien, threatening to quit, compels Kelley to give him a cut of the profits, and later, when Kelley is murdered by a disgruntled client, O'Brien takes over the operation and through daring and cunning becomes one of the biggest bookies on the coast. Before long, however, he is "persuaded" to join forces with a powerful Eastern syndicate controlled by Otto Kruger and represented by Donald Porter. O'Brien falls in love with Joanne Dru, Porter's wife, who hated her husband. Learning that the syndicate had been short-changing him on the profits, and that Porter had been beating Joanne, O'Brien hires Robert Osterloh, a killer, to murder Porter. Later, O'Brien murders Osterloh when he attempts to blackmail him. He decides to flee the country with Joanne, but first engineers an ingenious scheme whereby he wins a fortune from Kruger by intercepting race results and placing bets before they reach Kruger's bookies. Kruger discovers the double-cross just as the police trace Osterloh 's murder to O'Brien. With both the police and the underworld on his trail, O'Brien, accompanied by Joanne, heads for other parts. They encounter a roadblock set up by the police on Boulder Dam and, after a hectic chase through the vast structure, Joanne is captured and O'Brien cut down by police bullets. It was directed by Joseph H. Newman from an original screen play by Richard English and Francis Swan. Adult fare. "A Lady Without Passport" with Hedy Lamarr and John Hodiak (MGM, August; time, 72 min.) Although the running time is unusually short considering the magnitude of the stars, this is an interesting romantic melodrama revolving around the efforts of an American immigration inspector to track down a gang of racketeers smuggling aliens into the United States from Cuba. Capably directed and acted, it is a swiftly-paced story, with enough romance and high spots of melodramatic action to appeal to the rankand-file movie-goers. A particularly good chase sequence, highlighted by some outstanding aerial photography, is where a plane carrying a group of illegal immigrants is forced down by a Navy plane in the Florida swamplands and the passengers caught after a futile attempt to escape. Much of the action was shot against actual Havana backgrounds, adding much to one's interest in the proceedings: — Posing as a refugee seeking admittance to the United States, John Hodiak, an immigration inspector, seeks evidence against George Macready, leader of the alien smuggling gang. He makes contact with Macready in Havana and through him meets Hedy Lamarr, a Vienna refugee, with whom he falls in love, much to the chagrin of Macready, who desired her for himself. In the course of events, Macready 's henchmen discover Hodiak's true identity, and Macready uses this information to turn Hedy against him, claiming that he had been using her as a dupe. Despite Hodiak's offer to man y her so that she may become an American citizen, Hedy listens to Macready 's overtures and joins him and several other aliens on an illegal flight to the United States. Hodiak notifies his superior of the flight and an intense search with Navy planes is set into motion. Finding a Navy plane on his tail, Macready crash lands in the Everglades. The location of the landing is reported and Hodiak sets out for the spot. He catches up with Macready after a hectic chase and, to save Hedy from harm, permits Macready to make a shortlived escape. Hedy prepares to pay the penalty for entering the country illegally but looks forward to a happy future with Hodiak. It was produced by Samuel Marx and directed by Joseph H. Lewis from a screen play by Howard Dimsdale, based on a story by Lawrence Taylor. Suitable for the family. KEEP THEM OPEN! H. V. (Rotus) Harvey, board chairman of the Pacific Coast Conference of Independent Theatre Owners, had this to say in a current bulletin under the above heading : "Every day we hear about another theatre closing its doors . . . out of business . . . another exhibitor or theatre manager out of work, disillusioned, his dreams shattered, his investment gone! "Most of these theatres are the so-called marginal theatres, that is, up to this time. BUTT there are about six to eight thousand theatres in the United States rapidly facing the possibility of 'turning out the lights.' These are NOT wartime babies. They are subsequent run theatres and theatres in small communities. "Grosses have been dropping and expenses have been steadily increasing over the years. The two lines have crossed . . . result? Losses! "Something MUST be done. The motion picture industry will suffer greatly IF these theatres are closed. Theatre patrons are creatures of habit and closed theatres break that habit. "CUT EXPENSES? HOW? You cannot cut Projectionists' wages, the unions won't let you. Pay their scale or close up! If it is a non-union town you will find the scales already at a minimum. In California you must pay a minimum of 65c per hour for women and minors, so you can't cut there. Taxes have gone up EVERY year and you can't cut them. Rent? Every exhibitor has tried ... no results. "FILM RENTAL— In most of these situations film rentals are running ABOVE 40% and many times over 50%, and the Distributors WILL NOT cut. They do not care about these small theatres, they're perfectly willing to LET THEM CLOSE . . . they cannot be bothered. "We know it costs money to produce pictures and we know producers' overheads are high. BUT, we also can read what astronomical salaries and bonuses are paid to their Executives. "In the so-called NORMAL DAYS, small theatres could buy features from $10.00 up; sometimes as low as $7.50. Now the only thing you can get for $12.50 is JUNK which you are ashamed to run. "It is not a question of the admission prices being too high. These small theatres are only charging from 40c to 50c and then when they take out Uncle Sam's blood money what is left? 33c and 42c. "Uncle Carl Laemmle, when he was active, once had what was called a 'Universal Complete Service Contract.' He gave you a feature, comedy and newsreel for $1 2.50 up— ONCE A WEEK -and he made MILLIONS on it until some wiseacre unsold him. "Why doesn't some Major Distributor, who has this business at heart, revive this deal and offer it to those theatres that are struggling to keep open? It will not only cost them nothing, they will make money. Remember you cannot sell a closed theatre; that revenue is gone!"