Harrison's Reports (1956)

186 HARRISON'S REPORTS November 24, 1956 "Rock, Pretty Baby" with Sal Mineo, John Saxon and Luana Patten (Univ.'Int'l, January; time, 89 min.) The prime asset of "Rock, Pretty Baby" is the fact that it is loaded with rock-and-roll tunes and should, therefore, draw the 'teen-agers if properly exploited. As an entertainment, however, the picture is quite routine and leaves much to be desired. The story is ordinary, and the songs, though played and sung in a loud and bouncy style, are not par* ticularly outstanding and are not of a type that remain in one's mind. As a matter of fact, unless one is really a rockand-roll enthusiast, its story about the trials and tribulations of an 18-year-old boy who wants to become a band leader, despite parental opposition, and about his romantic problems with a girl his own age, probably will prove to be wearisome and tedious. In fairness to the youthful players it should be said that they play their parts with exhuberance and skill, but it is a case of their performances being superior to their material: — John Saxon, leader of a high school rock-and-roll band, is crushed when Ed Piatt, his father, refuses to advance him money for an electric guitar. Piatt, who wanted Saxon to follow in his footsteps as a doctor, refuses to take seriously the boy's ambition to be a professional musician, but Fay Wray, his mother, encourages him. Saxon obtains the guitar by pawning some medical books given to him by his father, and by borrowing from members of his band, including Sal Mineo, his drummer. While playing at a college fraternity dance, Saxon meets Luana Patten and learns that she is studying arranging. She accepts his invitation to become the arranger for his combo and a romance blossoms between them. Later, the band auditions for a job at a summer camp, but they are turned down because their music is not considered sedate enough. Undaunted, the boys start rehearsing for a rock-and-roll band contest conducted by a local disc jockey. Meanwhile a break develops between Luana and Saxon when she suggests that they date others to make sure of their own love. Brokenhearted, he mopes around for a few days and then decides to give a big party at his home while his folks are away. Everything runs smooth until Luana shows up with another fellow. Jealous, Saxon takes a swing at her escort and starts a free-for-all fight that makes a shambles of the house and damages a nextdoor negihbor's property. As punishment, Saxon's father makes him pawn his guitar to pay for the neighbor's damages. Saxon becomes morose and loses all interest in the band. Piatt, realizing that he may have been too hard on the boy, reclaims the guitar and persuades Luana to make up with him. He then rushes Saxon to the television station in time to join the band for the contest finals. They fail to win, but all looks bright when they are signed up by the summer camp that had previously turned them down. It was produced by Edmond Ghevie, and directed by Richard Bartlett, from a screenplay by Herbert Margolis and William Raynor. Family. "Finger of Guilt" with Richard Basehart, Mary Murphy and Constance Cummings (RKO, October 17; time, 84 min.) A taut and suspenseful British-made mystery melodrama. Although it is of program quality, it is strong enough entertainment-wise to top a double bill. The intriguing story revolves around the emotional and mental disturbance suffered by an American film producer working in London when he receives a series of compromising letters from a beautiful girl who is unknown to him but who seemingly knows him intimately. What upsets him is the fact that the letters threaten to break up his recent marriage to the studio chief's daughter and to cost him his job, and what plagues him is the fact that little credence is given to his protestations of innocence because of his unsavory past in affairs of the heart. The screenplay, though somewhat far-fetched, is so well constructed that even the spectator is not sure of his guilt or innocence until the closing sequences, and is kept guessing until that time. The direction and acting are highly competent, with Richard Basehart thoroughly convincing as the harassed producer, and Mary Murphy believable as the beautiful but shrewd young woman who nearly drives him out of his wits. The photography is fine: — Settled in London and happily married to Faith Brook, daughter of Roger Livesy, head of a large film studio, Basehart makes good progress as a producer and is virtually in charge of the entire studio. Complications arise when he receives a series of compromising letters signed by Mary. He tells both Livesey and Faith about the letters and swears that he had never met the girl. His situation becomes desperate when Mary writes to Faith and gives details of places where she and Basehart had been together. This proves too much for Basehart, and he insists that Faith accompany him to Newcastle to confront Mary. There, Mary, a repertory actress, greets Basehart as if she new him intimately and is entirely convincing in her claim that he had married Faith only to further his career, and that he had promised to continue seeing her secretly. Faith, angered, refuses to believe Basehart's protestations and leaves him. Basehart goes to the local police and charges Mary with an attempt to blackmail him, but after they interview her, they, too, are convinced that she is telling the truth. He then accompanies Mary to a local bar to find out more about her, and when he is unable to break her story he begins to believe that he has unknowingly led a double life. His dejection increases when Faith refuses to see him and Livesey discharges him. Just as he prepares to take his leave from the studio, he notices Mary on the lot, follows her secretly and overhears her demanding a film role from Livesey in accordance with a promise made by Mervyn Johns, Livesey's former right-hand man, who had been displaced by Basehart. In a series of swift-moving events, it comes out that Johns had paid Mary to discredit Basehart so that he could take over again as Livesey's assistant. It ends with Johns and Mary in the hands of the law, and with Faith and Basehart reconciled. It was produced and directed by Alec Snowden, from a screenplay by Peter Howard. Adult fare. "Gun the Man Down" with James Arness (United Artists, November; time, 78 min.) A fairly tense program western, centering around a gunman who, after paying his debt to society, sets out to hunt down and wreak vengeance on fellow thieves and his sweetheart, who had deserted him during a bank holdup. Stories based on a vengeance theme are rarely if ever pleasant, and this one is no exception, but its ingredients of hard-riding, gunplay and fisticuffs make for the kind of excitement that should fill the entertainment requirements of the action fans. There is no marquee value in the names of the players, but all handle their assignments in capable fashion. The photography is good: — James Arness is wounded in a bank holdup executed by Don Megowan, Robert Wilke and himself, but manages to accompany them back to their cabin hideout, where Angie Dickinson, his sweetheart, awaited them. With a posse hot on their heels, and with Arness having lost too much blood to be moved, Wilke and Megowan decide to abandon him and force the protesting Angie to ride off with them. Arness is captured by the posse and, after serving one year in jail, sets out to avenge himself on his former pals, as well as Angie, believing that she, too, had deliberately abandoned him. He tracks them to a small frontier town, where Wilke now operated a saloon, aided by Megowan and