Harrison's Reports (1950)

150 HARRISON'S REPORTS September 23, 1950 "Timber Fury" with David Bruce and Laura Lee (Eagle'Lion, September; time, 60 min.) The fact that it is an outdoor picture, that it has been based on a story by James Oliver Curwood, and that the action is pretty fast, may make it suitable for the lower half of a double bill. But the direction is not so good, and the script, based on an amateurish treatment, is inadequate. There happen in the action things that are forced. For instance, the movie-goers will not believe that the hero could have been held for the murder of the log mill owner, least of all that he would run away for the purpose of establishing his innocence. And the villain finds it so easy to get away with his nefarious schemes! David Bruce is a weak hero; his noisy breathing before starting to speak is annoying in the extreme. If the director could not have corrected this fault in Bruce he should have told the producer to get some one else in his place. Sam Flint is "hammy" in his part. The photography is good: — Returning from college to her home in the great Northwest timber country, Laura Lee learns that Flint, her father, is trying desperately to fulfill a contract for timber delivery, unaware that George Slocum, his foreman, was being paid by a business rival to delay the delivery. After the derailing of a logging train, the work of Slocum and his henchmen, Flint hires David Bruce, a river engineer, to dam the river to enable him to float enough logs to fulfill the contract. Bruce and Laura meet and fall in love. Beaten by Bruce when he tries to harm Laura's dog, Slocum vows vengeance. The dam is finished and Bruce prepares to blow it up so as to let the logs float down the river. Slocum, however, instructs his henchmen to break the log jam ahead of Bruce 's signal. But Bruce, risking his life, blows up the dam ahead of time and thus prevents a catastrophe. Flint surprises Slocum in the act of stealing dynamite to blow up the saw mill, and Slocum in desperation, clubs him to death. Attracted to the scene by the mournful howlings of Laura's dog, Bruce is found there by the sheriff and jailed for the crime. Slocum incites a mob to lynch Bruce, but Laura, finding the imprint of a woman's shoe at the scene of the crime, traces it to Nicla di Bruno, Slocum's woman, and extracts from her a confession that Slocum had murdered Flint. The sheriff is informed and he and a posse finally corner Slocum who, during a fierce battle with Bruce, slips and falls to his death in the raging waters of the river. Bruce and Laura plan to wed. The screen play, based on the James Oliver Curwood story "Retribution," was written by Michael Hansen from an adaptation by Sam Neuman and Nat Tanchuck. It is a Jack Schwarz production, produced and directed by Bernard B. Ray. Harmless for family audiences, despite the relationship between Slocum and Miss Di Bruno. "The Glass Menagerie" with Jane Wyman, Gertrude Lawrence, Kirk Douglas and Arthur Kennedy (Warner Bros., Oct. 28; time, 107 min.) Adapted from Tennessee Williams' hit stage play of the same name, this drama has been produced artistically, but as entertainment it will appeal mainly to cultured picture-goers who will appreciate the sensitive writing, the expert direction and the flawless acting. That it will prove satisfying to the masses is doubtful, for it is almost like a photographed stage play — all talk and little movement. Morever, nearly all the action takes place in a dingy tenement apartment, and the story, though it has its touches of humor, is cheerless and tends to distress one. Another drawback insofar as the rank and file picture-goers are concerned is that the story, which is a character study of four people, has been given an unconventional treatment and ends on an inconclusive note that will leave many a spectator bewildered. The pivotal character in the story is Gertrude Lawrence, as the middle-aged mother of two children — Jane Wyman, a shy, crippled girl, and Arthur Kennedy, a frustrated poet, who worked in a warehouse at a job he disliked so as to support the family. A faded Southern belle who had been deserted by her husband years previously, Miss Lawrence dominates her children to the point of tyranny out of a desire to make them overcome their life of poverty and achieve the sort of life that she had once known. Kennedy, hounded by his mother to bring home a "gentleman caller" for his sister, is constantly at odds with her because of her nagging. Jane, whose shyness stemmed from her physical deformity, avoids people and finds contentment by playing with her collection of miniature glass animals. When Jane fails to make the grade in a typing school, Miss Lawrence resolves that, if her daughter cannot make a career of business, she at least can make one of marriage. She finally prevails on Kennedy to bring home to dinner Kirk Douglas, a fellow-worker at the warehouse. Douglas, sympathetic to Jane, draws out the shy, gentle girl and does his utmost to help her get over her inferiority complex, even taking her to a dance hall to prove to her that her ailment is no bar to happiness. Extremely happy during the few hours that she is with Douglas, Jane falls in love with him. Realizing that he had gone too far, and afraid to hurt her further, Douglas confesses that he is already engaged to another girl. Jane is crushed, but the meeting cures her of her introspection and shyness. After Douglas leaves, Miss Lawrence, bitterly disappointed, upbraids Kennedy for bringing home an engaged man instead of an eligible one. Kennedy leaves home in disgust and goes off to sea. The closing scenes show Kennedy in a distant port months later, visualizing a more confident Jane and her mother awaiting the arrival of another "gentleman caller." The story has many touching and pathetic moments that cannot be described in a brief synopsis. Gertrude Lawrence is excellent as the mother, a role that calls for the portrayal of a wide variety of human qualities, which she achieves with subtle shadings. Miss Wyman is deeply sympathetic in her part, and Kirk Douglas and Arthur Kennedy are highly effective in their respective roles. It was produced by Jerry Wald and Charles K. Feldman, and directed by Irving Rapper, from a screen play written by Tennessee Williams and Peter Berneis. Unobjectionable morally, but it is a film for mature minds.