Harrison's Reports (1950)

206 HARRISON'S REPORTS December 30, 1950 "Korea Patrol" with Richard Emory (Eagle Lion Classics, ]an.; time, 57 min.) A mediocre program war melodrama. Produced on a very low budget, it is a shoddy job of picture-making that is obviously being rushed into release to capitalize on the current headlines. Even though the running time is only 57 minutes, the producer has resorted to considerable padding to give it that length. A good deal of the footage is made up of newsreel clips that have been tied in with the staged action, but the manner in which this has been done is unskillful. What there is in the way of a story is an extremely thin affair that barely holds one's attention. Keen observers will notice that a number of action shots are duplicated several times in the course of the proceedings. The direction is poor and the acting so amateurish and mechanical that hardly any effect is produced on one's emotions. The best that may be said for it is that there is plenty of action : — While on maneuvers with Al Eben, Danny Davenport, Wong Artarne, Harold Fong and Benson Fong, a five-man patrol of South Korean and American soldiers, Lieut. Richard Emory receives word that the North Koreans had crossed the 38th Parallel. Emory finds himself cut off from headquarters, but shortly thereafter Li Sun, a South Korean scout, arrives with orders for Emory to blow up a strategic bridge to halt the Red onslaught. Benson Fong recognizes Sun as a weakling and suspects him of being a Red sympathizer. Pushing its way through dangerous enemy territory, the patrol has several skirmishes with Red patrols, during which Davenport and Harold Fong are killed. On the way the men pick up Teri Duna, a native girl, who offers to lead them to their objective. Eben and Artarne lose their lives while holding off the enemy so that the others may reach a hill overlooking the bridge. Sun, panic-striken, tries to run away but he is knocked out by Fong who accuses him of cowardice. Emory and Fong continue to make their way to the bridge but both are wounded trying to get through the Red fire. Sun, now ashamed of his fear and anxious to redeem himself, gets through the enemy fire, plants the dynamite under the bridge, and helps Emory and Fong to safety before the explosive goes off, thus delaying the Red advance. It is a Jack Schwarz production, produced by Walter Shenson and directed by Max Nosseck from a story and screen play by the producer and Kenneth G. Brown. Unobjectionable morally. "Gambling House" with Victor Mature, William Bendix and Terry Moore (RKO, no rel. date set; time, 80 min.) A fairly interesting if not exceptional gangstertype melodrama, with a message on Americanism. The story, which is the old one about the reformation of a gambler, offers little that is novel and is fashioned along familiar lines, but it manages to hold one's attention to a fair degree. There are some good moments of excitement in some of the gangland activities depicted, but on the whole the action is not brisk; it is, in fact, draggy in spots because of excessive talk. Victor Mature is colorful as the gambler whose imminent deportation makes him realize the value of citizenship, but William Bendix, as a bigshot racketeer, and Terry Moore, as the social worker with whom Mature falls in love, are no more than adequate. On the whole, the picture will have to depend on the marquee value of the player's names: — Having killed a man in a gambling game, Bendix, to avoid trouble with the police, offers Mature $50,000 to take the rap for the killing and claim selfdefense. Mature agrees, but to protect himself against a double-cross he snatches from Bendix a little notebook containing a record of his illegal activities. Mature is acquitted at the trial only to be picked up by the immigration authorities. As he enters the Immigration Service building, Mature manages to slip the little book into the pocket of a pretty girl in the lobby. The immigration inspector informs Mature that, since he was born in Italy and was not naturalized, the Service felt that he should be deported as an undesirable alien. He is released on bail, pending a hearing, and begins a search for the pretty girl. He discovers that she is Terry Moore, a socialite member of a league that helped newly-arrived immigrants. He makes her acquaintance and retrieves the book. They fall in love and, through her work, he gains a new appreciation of the value of American citizenship. Bendix, seeking to get away with the $50,000 he had promised Mature, has two henchmen beat him up and recover the book. Mature avenges himself by staging a holdup of Bendix's gambling joint. Terry, who had driven Mature to the club without realizing his motive, is furious with him. On the day of the hearing, Mature arranges with a friend to turn the $50,000 over to Terry to help immigrants. Mature, making his plea before the judge, acknowledges that he owes a debt to society and the United States, and pleads that he can best pay that debt by becoming a citizen. Moved by his plea, the judge releases him. Bendix, seeking revenge, catches up with Mature on a deserted street and orders two of his gunmen to shoot him. Mature tells the gunmen not to shoot because Bendix, to save his own skin, will "rat" on them. Realizing the truth of his words, the gunmen shoot Bendix instead just as a police car arrives on the scene and takes them into custody. Mature sets off to meet Terry. It was produced by Warren Duff and directed by Ted Tetzlaff from a screen play by Marvin Borowsky and Allen Rivkin, based on a story by Erwin Gelsey. Adult fare. "Double Deal" with Marie Windsor, Richard Denning and Taylor Holmes (RKO, no rel. date set; time, 65 min.) A weak program melodrama, produced on a modest budget, but it has enough action and excitement to get by as a supporting feature in small-town and neighborhood theatres where patrons are not too fussy about story details. Revolving around an unemployed oil-rigger who becomes involved in a complicated maze of events, including several murders, the plot has a touch of mystery, but it is so lacking in logic that those who are the least bit discriminating will find it painful. The stilted direction and the ordinary performances do not help matters: — Hunting around for a job, Richard Denning arrives in an Oklahoma oil town, where Carleton Young hires him to do a rush job on a "wildcat" well he is trying to sink before his lease expires. Denning learns from Marie Windsor, Young's protege, that Fay Baker, Young's sister, who controlled most of the oil lands in the territory, was determined to delay the drilling job since the land would revert to her if her brother failed to bring in the well. Fay attempts to win Denning over to her side by vamping him, but