Harrison's Reports (1955)

December 17, 1955 HARRISON'S REPORTS 203 "The Spoilers" with Anne Baxter, Jeff Chandler and Rory Calhoun (Univ.-lnt'l, January; time. 84 min.) This fifth screen version of Rex Beach's lusty adventure story of the Klondike gold rush days shapes up as a pretty good romantic action melodrama, photographed in Techni' color. Like its predecessors, the highlight of the picture is the vicious no-holds-barred fight between the hero and the villain, an epic brawl that was first made famous by William Farnum and Tom Santschi. As staged in this picture between Jeff Chandler and Rory Calhoun, the fight more than matches any of the others both in violence and in length. The story itself is for the most part interesting and since the action throughout is tense and fast-moving it holds one's attention well. Moreover, it has colorful characterizations, a generous sprinkling of comedy, several musical interpolations and good romantic interest: — When claim-jumping gets out of hand during the goldrush in Alaska, the prospectors are pacified by Rory Calhoun, the new gold commissioner, who promises justice upon the arrival of Carl Benton Reid, a judge. The ship that brings Reid and Barbara Britton, his niece, brings also Jeff Chandler and John Mclntire, co-owners of one of the richest mines in the territory. Chandler's attentions to Barbara enrage Anne Baxter, proprietess of a local saloon, who had come to the dock to meet him. In the events that transpire, the judge, in a trial involving Chandler's mine, hands down a ruling that theoretically makes it possible for a group of hand-picked marshals to remove a fortune in gold from the mine. Chandler, sensing a fraudulent motive, and in violation of the judge's order, decides to remove the local bank documents establishing his ownership of the mine. Anne sends Ray Dalton, one of her aides, to help dynamite the safe. Instead, Dalton, who secretly loved Anne himself, notifies Calhoun of the scheme. He then kills a deputy marshal and lays the blame on Chandler, who is arrested. In the complicated events that follow, Anne helps Chandler to escape after discovering that Calhoun is a crook and that the judge and Barbara are his confederates. After a pitched gun battle with Calhoun's men at the mine, Chandler meets up with Calhoun in Anne s saloon. The two engage in a vicious battle that wrecks the saloon but ends with Calhoun beaten to a pulp. It was produced by Ross Hunter, and directed by Jesse Hibbs, from a screenplay by Oscar Brodney and Charles Hoffman. Family. "Storm Fear" with Cornel Wilde, Jean Wallace and Dan Duryea (United Artists, no rel. date set; time, 88 min.) Although well directed and acted, this is a somber and depressing melodrama, unpleasant in some of the characterizations as well as in their actions. Moreover, it is somewhat distasteful and demoralizing, for it attempts to glorify the chief character, a bank robber played by Corney Wilde, who, despite seemingly decent ways, shows inhuman traits when it comes to saving his own skin. The only ones with whom the spectator is in sympathy are Jean Wallace, who shows considerable emotional ability as Wilde's former sweeheart, unhappily married to his sickly, neurotic brother, and young David Stollery, who is completely natural as Wilde's illegitimate son. The story has a seamy, soap-opera quality, and it offers a number of tense situations, but there is no comedy relief: — Wounded during a bank robbery, Wilde, accompanied by Lee Grant, a brassy blonde, and Steven Hill, her mean boy-friend, takes refuge in the isolated mountain home of Jean Wallace, his former sweetheart and mother of David, his 12-year-old son, who believed that Dan Duryea, Wilde's sickly brother, was his father. Wilde, married to another woman at the time of his affair with Jean, had arranged for Duryea to marry Jean and bring up David as his own son. The presence of Wilde and his accomplices gives rise to old hates and conflicts, with the situation aggravated by the fact that a heavy snowstorm delays Wilde's departure. When Duryea escapes from Wilde's watchful eye and heads for town to call the police, Wilde persuades David, who admired him, to lead him and his cohorts to an escape route across a snow-covered mountain. Jean protests, and Wilde ties her to a chair to stop her interference. En route, Hill and Lee quarrel, and he pushes her off a cliff, leaving her there to die. He then schemes to get rid of both Wilde and David in order to make off with the bank loot himself, but when he attacks the weakened Wilde, David manages to shoot him dead. Meanwhile Dennis Weaver, Jean's hired hand, returns from a trip to town and finds Duryea dead in the snow. He rushes to Jean, unties her and sets off after the crooks. He eventuallly overtakes Wilde and fatally wounds him in the mistaken belief that he might harm David. Before he dies, Wilde reveals to David that he is his real father and, using himself as an example, cautions him against a life of crime. It was produced and directed by Cornel Wilde, from a screenplay by Horton Foote, based on a novel by Clinton Seefey. Adults. "Inside Detroit" with Dennis O'Keefe, Pat O'Brien and Margaret Field (Columbia, January; time, 82 min.) Routine melodramatic fare is offered in this gangster-type picture, which is best suited for the lower half of a double bill. Centering around a racketeer's unsuccessful efforts to gain control of an auto workers' union, the story, which has been given a semi-documentary treatment, is commonplace, offers few surprises and follows a familiar formula. It is not a pleasant entertainment, and there are situations that are distasteful in that children are pitted against their father, but it should get by with those who are not too particular about their screen fare, for it has a fair share of excitement and suspense. The direction and acting are adequate: — When a bomb explosion in an auto workers' union hall kills several men including his brother, Dennis O'Keefe, president of the local, feels confident that the blast was engineered by Pat O'Brien, the previous president and now a racketeer, who sought to gain control of the union once again. O'Keefe openly accuses O'Brien of the deed, infuriating Margaret Field, his daughter, who believed that O'Keefe was responsible for sending her father to jail five years previously and was trying to do it again. Mark Danon, her younger brother, unsuccessfully tries to shoot O'Keefe. To show the youngster what is father is really like, O'Keefe forcibly brings him to a party thrown by O'Brien for his gangster stooges. This discovery of the shady side of his father's career disillusions Danon. He storms out, followed by Tina Carver, for whom O'Brien had refused to divorce his wife. In revenge, she makes the boy fall in love with her and involves him secretly in one of O'Brien's dubious ventures. When O'Brien organizes a brutal campaign of terror to gain control of the union, O'Keefe, to set Margaret straight shows her evidence of his brutality and proves that her brother was in the toils of her father's mistress. Her emotional upset causes her to suffer severe injuries in a car crash, and Danon, feeling responsible, tells O'Keefe of Tina's illegal operations through a dubious model agency. Fortified with this information, O'Keefe coerces Tina into setting a trap whereby O'Brien unwittingly makes incriminating statements concerning the bombing. As a result, O'Keefe is enabled to expose O'Brien and win his children to his side. It is a Clover production, directed by Fred F. Sears from a screenplay by Robert E. Kent and James B. Gordon. Adult fare. BINDERS FOR SALE Binders, which clamp sheets in place without making it necessary to punch holes in them, may be obtained at this office for $2.00 each, parcel post prepaid. The cost to Canadian subscribers it $2.25. These binders make Harrison's Reports convenient to handle and easy for reference. CHECK YOUR MISSING COPIES Look into your files and if you find the copy of any issue missing, write to this office and it will be sent to you free of charge. Perhaps, because of the holiday rush, you either misplaced or failed to receive the copy of one of the issues. A sufficient number of copies of many back issues is kept in stock for just such a purpose.