Harrison's Reports (1955)

162 HARRISON'S REPORTS October 8, 1955 "The Second Greatest Sex" with Jeanne Crain, George Nader and Bert Lahr (Univ.-Intl, December; time, 87 min.) A gay and charming musical comedy, set against a western background and photographed in Cinema' Scope and Technicolor. It should appeal to all types of audiences, for its flavor is somewhat similar to MGM's "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers,11 although it doesn't quite match the quality of that film. The story idea is based on "Lysistrata," the satirical play of Aristophanes, the great Greek playwright of 24 centuries ago. In those days, just as is the case in the present, most people abhored war, and the women decided to do something about it. While their men folk were warring, they got together and decided to deny the husbands their conjugal duties until they signed a pact to stop fighting. In this picture, the men of several towns war over a small safe containing official records, possession of which determines the location of the new county seat, and to stop the fight' ing their wives go on a love strike. The characterizations are amusing, and there are good comedy situations throughout. The eight songs presented are tune' ful, and the rhythmical dancing is highly entertaining. The color, photography and production values are tops. The story takes place in 1880: — While the men of Oswaki, Kansas, battle the men of Jones City and Maradoon for the safe containing the county records, the Oswaki women remain at home and do the work that should be done by their men. Led by George Nader and by Bert Lahr, the sheriff, the Oswaki men capture the safe and return home exhausted. Nader is too tired for the romantic advances of Jeanne Crain, his fiancee, and the other women get a similar reception from their men. Pressured by friends and family, Nader and Jeanne finally set their wedding date and the whole town attends the wedding celebration. Their honeymoon, however, never gets under way, because the Maradoon men steal back the safe and the Oswaki men, including Nader, give chase. Determined to put an end to this foolish war, Jeanne borrows the idea from "Lysistrata11 and talks the other Oswaki women into barricading themselves behind the walls of an old fort to compel the men to sign a peace pact. The men soon become lonesome for their women folk and agree to a truce. As the wives and sweethearts come back to the arms of their men, even 'teen-aged Jimmy Boyd and his man-hating Cousin Emmy look for mates to celebrate the women's victory over the second greatest sex. It was produced by Albert J. Cohen, and directed by George Marshall, from a screenplay by Charles Hoffman. Family. "The Trouble With Harry" with Shirley MacLaine, John Forsyth and Edmund Gwenn (Paramount, November; time, 99 min.) As described by Alfred Hitchcock, who produced and directed it, this picture is "a comedy about a corpse." It is a whacky, off-beat type of film, well directed and acted and quite amusing throughout, but as an entertainment it may be received with mixed audience reaction because many movie-goers may feel sensitive about a story that draws its principal laughs from the fact that the corpse is interred and disinterred several times by a group of gentle and innocent people, a few of whom have motivations for murdering the man, while two of them think that they actually did murder him. Much of the comedy is provoked by the imagined dilemmas of those who become involved with the corpse and by their efforts to help keep each other out of trouble with the law. The cast is weak from the viewpoint of marquee value, but all contribute amusing characterizations. Worthy of special mention is Shirley MacLaine, a newcomer, who has the feminine lead. Recruited from the stage, she is a pretty girl with a decidedly different personality. The picture, which is in Technicolor and Vista Vision, was shot against actual Vermont backgrounds and offers eye-filling scenes of foliage that is ablaze with glorious autumnal coloring. Because of its subject matter, the picture seems best suited for class audiences that enjoy unusual screen fare. Its reception by small-town audiences is questionable. The story opens with 4-year-old Jerry Mathers finding a dead man in the woods. He runs home and informs Shirley MacLaine, his mother, who discovers, happily, that the dead man, named Harry, is her estranged second husband. Meanwhile the body is discovered also by Edmund Gwenn, a retired sea captain, who believes that he had accidentally shot Harry while hunting. Mildred Natwick, Gwenn's spinster neighbor, finds him with the body and helps him to hide it. A romance blossoms between the two and she then confesses that she had killed Harry while defending her honor. When John Forsyth, a local artist, discovers the body, Gwenn comes out of a hiding place and tells him everything. Forsyth is sympathetic and helps Gwenn to bury the body before it is found by the police. In the course of events, Forsyth meets and falls in love with Shirley, who informs him that, earlier in the day, she had resisted Harry's efforts to resume their marriage and feared that she might be suspected of killing him. At the same time Forsyth realizes that his love for Shirley might be mistaken as reason for him to get rid of an existing husband. They discuss the matter with Gwenn and Miss Natwick and in their efforts to help each other subject the body to a series of burials and unburials. In the bizarre happenings that follow, they finally take the body back to Shirley's home to clean it up and then put it back in the woods. This move is complicated by the arrival of a deputy sheriff who had found reason to suspect the existence of a missing corpse, but it all turns out well when they manage to get rid of the deputy and when a local doctor finds that Harry had died of natural causes. It was produced and directed by Alfred Hitchcock, from a screenplay by John Michale Hayes, based on the novel by Jack Trevor Story. Adults. "Svengali" with Hildegarde Neff, Donald Wolfit and Terence Morgan (MGM, ~}<{pvember; time, 82 min.) This British-made version of George du Maurier's classic novel "Trilby" should appeal chiefly to better class audiences in art houses. The theory that a hypnotist can put a woman with a flat voice under his spell and make a great operatic singer out of her can hardly be believed even by the most gullible, but Noel Langley's screenplay writing and direction are so fine that the action seems realistic. The performances are excellent, and so is the photography in Eastman color. Hildegarde Neff is very good in the role of "Trilby," and the close-ups made of her are so striking that they appear as if they are oil paintings. Donald Wolfit is highly competent as the sinister