Harrison's Reports (1955)

32 HARRISON'S REPORTS February 19, 1955 "New York Confidential" with Broderick Crawford, Richard Conte, Marilyn Maxwell, Anne Bancroft and J. Carrol Naish (Warner Bros., March 12; time. 87 min.) A well conceived gangster story, skillfully produced and directed. It should go over well in theatres that cater to audiences that enjoy this type of picture. The acting is very good, and the believability of the characterizations results in one's attention being held tight from start to finish. It is a story in which the gangsters destroy one another, their object being self-preservation, but in the end all pay for their sins. Richard Conte does outstanding work as a hired gunman, and so does Broderick Crawford as head of the crime syndicate. There is considerable brutality in some of the situations, as well as sex. It is grim stuff, with no comedy to relieve the tension. The photography is excellent: — Operating from a lavish suite in a New York skyscraper. Crawford guides the activities of a powerful crime syndicate dealing in legitimate enterprises as well as rackets. When Ted Hecht, a minor member of the crime ring, violates its rigid code, Crawford imports Conte from Chicago to murder him. Conte carries out the assignment with such efficiency and coolness that Crawford decides to keep him in New York for more important jobs. When Charles Evans is appointed as head of a citizen's committee to clean up crime, J. Carrol Naish, Crawford's trusted assistant, is forced by the immigration authorities to leave the country. Evans, however, is unable to obtain incriminating evidence against Crawford. Anne Bancroft, Crawford's respectable daughter, berates her father for being a racketeer and moves out of their home. Conte is assigned to find her, and though he eventually locates her, he does not inform Crawford. Marlyn Maxwell, Crawford's girl-friend, makes a play for Conte, but he remains loyal to his boss and does not "bite." In the course of events the syndicate is doublecrossed by its Washington lobbyist in connection with an oil deal, and Crawford orders three of his gunmen to murder the man. The murder is accomplished, but in the process a policeman is killed. Crawford leaves town out of fear that the gunmen will "sing" if caught. Conte kills two of the gunmen but cannot locate the third, who surrenders to Evans and offers to turn state's witness. Crawford decides to "sing" to save his own neck, but the syndicate, leafhing of his decision, orders Conte to kill him. Conte commits the murder, despite his fondness for Crawford. But Onslow Stevens, the new chief, decides that Conte now knows too much about the syndicate's affairs, and sees to it that he, too, is "rubbed out." Clarence Greene produced it, and Russell Rouse directed it, from an original screenplay written by themselves. Adults. "Tarzan's Hidden Jungle" with Gordon Scott, Vera Miles and Peter Van Eyck (RKO, February; time, 72 min.) As long as stock shots of animals and jungle scenes exist, Sol Lesser will always be able to make Tarzan pictures, which appeal to a certain class of adults and to children. "Tarzan's Hidden Jungle" is not the best he has ever made — if anything, it is one of the weakest, but it should get by with the undiscriminating followers of the series. As in the other Tarzan pictures, the stock shots have been blended into the staged action to good effort. Gordon Scott, the latest to portray the Tarzan characterization, is properly muscular, but his acting lacks conviction. The usual light touch of comedy is provided by the antics of two chimpanzees. The photography is fair: — The story has Tarzan pitted against Jack Elam, an unscrupulous white hunter, who had contracted to deliver ivory, lion skins and barrels of animal fat. Lest Elam deplete the region of game, Tarzan drives the animals across a river into the Sukulu country, where the savages worshipped animals and killed all who entered the area to kill game for profit. The Sukulus only contact with white people is Peter Van Eyck, a doctor, who, under the auspices of the United Nations, had established a hospital clinic nearby. Elam, to combat Tarzan, works out a plan to use Van Eyck to get him and one of his men into the Sukulu country, so that they might stampede the big game back across the river into their own area to kill the animals at their leisure. Elam talks Vera Miles, the doctor's nurse, into persuading Van Eyck to take him into Sukululand. Shortly after they depart, Vera becomes aware of Elam's purpose. She gets word to Tarzan, who had been trying to offset the white hunter's selfish plans, but he reaches the Sukulu village too late to stop Elam from stampeding the game back across the river. The natives, incensed at the apparent treachery of the doctor and his nurse, plan to kill them. But Tarzan makes a deal by which the natives agree to spare their lives if he brings the animals back into the Sukulu sanctuary. Tarzan, of course, is successful, but not until after much struggling with the villains. Sol Lesser produced it, and Harold Schuster directed it, from a screenplay by William Lively. Mostly for children. "The Big Combo" with Cornel Wilde, Richard Conte and Brian Donlevy (Allied Artists, Feb. 13; time, 89 min.) Another well written, expertly produced and carefully directed gangster melodrama, which holds the spectator's attention nailed to the screen up to the final scenes. The story revolves mainly around the efforts of a courageous detective to obtain evidence that would enable him to convict the head gangster of a crime syndicate, despite the discouragement of his superior officer. The action is violent and sadistic, and there are many scenes of brutality, just as there are in almost every gangster picture. Richard Conte is believable as the top gangster, and so is Cornel Wilde as the heroic detective. Brian Donlevy has a relatively minor part as Conte's chief aide, but he acts it well. There are a few sex scenes, but no comedy relief. The photography is very fine: — Wilde, a lieutenant-detective, is determined to trap Conte, head of a tightly-knit crime syndicate, but, despite his efforts, he is unable to make any one of the syndicate's members talk. By thorough investigation work, he learns that Jean Wallace, Conte's girl-friend, was trying to break away from the gangster. He asks (Capt.) Robert Middleton, his superior, for permission to pursue the case until he breaks it, but Middleton, objects because Wilde had already spent more money than had been appropriated, and he tries to make him stop pursuing what he considered to be a hopeless case. Wilde, however, remains persistent. Knowing that Jean is trying to break away from him, Conte has her shadowed by Lee Van Cleef and Earl Holliman, two of his gunmen. Meanwhile Wilde learns from Ted de Corsia, a former gangster, and John Hoyt, a retired yacht captain, that Conte had murdered the former syndicate head, whom he had replaced, and that he had also committed Helen Walker, his wife, to an insane asylum to silence her about the murder. He locates Helen after persistently following one clue after another, and the case begins to break. Conte becomes frantic and sees to it that Van Cleef and Holliman murder Brian Donlevy, his first lieutenant, who knew too much about his past. He then uses a booby trap to kill the two men who had murdered Donlevy. In a final effort to escape, Conte kidnaps Jean, but Wilde and his forces close in on him, make their arrest and rescue Jean. It is a Security-Theodora production, produced by Sidney Harmon, and directed by Joseph Lewis, from a screenplay by Philip Yordan. Adults.