Harrison's Reports (1950)

July 29, 1950 HARRISON'S REPORTS 119 lin, who had seen the map, draws another one from memory for Grant, who heads for a distant trading post to check the information. En route, he is ambushed and wounded by Gerard, but manages to reach town, where his wounds are treated by Milburn Stone, a doctor. Richard Karlan, head of the gang seeking to locate the pitchblende, kills Gerard for his failure to dispose of Grant, and makes it appear as if Chinook had committed the killing. With Grant away, Vallin tries to save Chinook from the gang by hunting down the wolf. He is captured by the gang and tortured in an effort to make him disclose the spot described on the map. In a further effort to make him talk, Elena is abducted by the gang. Grant, learning of the abduction from Stone, sets out with Chinook, locates the villains and, at gunpoint, forces them to release both Elena and Vallin. The doctor, a secret member of the gang, orders Grant to put up his hands. At that moment, however, Chinook leaps on the doctor and a fight ensues, culminating in the capture of all the villains. As Grant leaves for head' quarters with his prisoners, he promises to return to marry Elena. The screenplay was based on the novel, "Tentacles of the North," by James Oliver Curwood. It was produced by Lindsley Parsons and directed by Frank McDonald. Fine for family audiences. "Eye Witness" with Robert Montgomery (Eagle-Lion, August; time, 104 min.) Made in England, this murder trial melodrama is hampered by an overlong, rambling story that could stand some judicious cutting. On the whole, however, it is a fairly engrossing entertainment of its kind, mainly because of the interesting characterizations. As a glib New York attorney who goes to England to defend a wartime buddy on a murder charge, Robert Montgomery functions as both star and director and does a competent job in both categories, except for the fact that he has kept the pace a bit too slow. The picture is at its best in the sly but good-natured humor poked at British customs and legal traditions as seen through the eyes of an American. The brash tactics employed by Montgomery in the courtroom, and the exchanges between him and Felix Aylmer, the patient judge, are delightfully comical: — Montgomery, a successful New York lawyer, flies to England when he learns that Michael Ripper, a former British soldier who had saved his life on the battlefield, is in trouble with the law. Arriving in a small English village on a Sunday morning, he learns, after much difficulty with the slowmoving authorities, that Ripper was accused of murdering his partner in a livery stable because he suspected the man of making improper advances to his wife (Jenny Laird) . Ripper claimed that he had shot the man in selfdefense, and that an unknown woman who had been in the victim's bedroom could clear him if she would come forward and testify. Montgomery sets out to find the mysterious woman and is aided in his search by Patricia Wayne, widowed sister-in-law of Leslie Banks, high sheriff of the county. Their search is unavailing by the time Ripper is put on trial, but Montgomery doggedly continues his investigation and reluctantly finds reason to suspect that Patricia herself was the mysterious woman. By a stroke of luck, however, he discovers that the missing witness is none other than Ann Stephen, the high sheriff's young daughter, who denies the accusation. Through her father, Montgomery arranges for Ann to take the witness stand and, under his clever cross-examination, she breaks down and clears Ripper. His task with Ripper completed, Montgomery shrewdly brings about a better understanding between Ann and her father, and at the same time wins Patricia's love. It was produced by Joan Harrison and directed by Mr. Montgomery from a screen play by Ian Hunter and Hugo Butler. Adult fare. "Pretty Baby" with Dennis Morgan, Betsy Drake and Zachary Scott (Warner Bros., Sept. 16; time, 92 min.) Although the story is thin and far-fetched to the point of ridiculousness, "Pretty Baby" is an entertaining comedy-farce. Revolving around the "wacky" mixups a young secretary gets herself into as a result of using a life-size doll to get a seat in a crowded subway train, the plot is full of convenient coincidences and unlikely situations, but it moves along at a breezy pace and should amuse those who relish broad fun. Most of the comedy stems from the mistaken beliefcof a wealthy tycoon that the unwed heroine has a real baby, and from the pressure he puts on her bosses to make her happy. As said, it is nonsensical stuff, but it is light and affable, and permits one to relax : — Betsy Drake, a stenographer, is employed by an advertising agency operated by Dennis Morgan and Zachary Scott, whose chief client is Edmund Gwenn, an irascible baby food tycoon, without whose business they could not exist. To solve the problem of getting a seat in the subway each day, Betsy wraps a blanket around a life-size doll to appear like a mother and infant. Gwenn, compelled to ride in the subway when his chauffeur quits, overhears Betsy tell a woman passenger that her "baby" was named after him. Interested, he makes her acquaintance by identifying himself as a watchman in the food company he owned, and learns that she worked for Morgan and Scott. Gwenn summons the pair, tells them about Betsy and her "baby," and insists that they make her happy in her work. They hurriedly agree, although neither one knew that she was in their employ. Returning to the office, they learn that the office manager had fired Betsy for incompetence, but they find her and rehire her with a big raise in pay, and immediately set in motion a plan to use her to sell Gwenn on a new advertising campaign. With Morgan and Scott believing that Betsy is Gwenn s "girl-friend," and with Betsy believing that she had been rehired because of her ability, all concerned become involved in a series of misunderstandings, with matters becoming even more complicated when Betsy discovers Gwenn's real identity and he in turn learns that she is not married and finds reason to suspect that Scott is the "father" of her "child." Betsy wants to tell Gwenn the truth, but Morgan stops her by telling her that she will be responsible for putting several hundred people out of work. To make matters worse, Morgan, by this time in love with Betsy, is compelled to watch Scott date her in order to keep Gwenn happy. More confusion results when Betsy, no longer wishing to fool Gwenn, disappears. Gwenn hires a detective to find her and, after much excitement, learns her whereabouts as well as the truth. It all ends with Morgan and Betsy heading for the marriage license bureau. It was produced by Harry Kurnitz and directed by Brctaigne Windust from a screen play by Everett Freeman and Mr. Kurnitz, based on a story by Jules Furthman and John Klorer. Unobjectionable morally.