Harrison's Reports (1956)

188 HARRISON'S REPORTS November 24, 1956 the program will be varied and there will be many subjects upon which the delegates can contribute views and information. If I may be permitted a personal observation, there is one subject which I hope will be discussed boldly. I am tired of seeing the theatres absorb all of television's punches without fighting back. In the past the film companies have discouraged efforts along this line. In recent months we have seen why. The film companies are playing both sides of the street — urging the people to go the theatres to see their new pictures and at the same time to stay home and enjoy their epics of the past on television. "The broadcasters' and sponsors' advertising has reached a point where the theatres will have to strike back in self' defense. When they advertise the presentation on television of a picture like 'Wizard of Oz,' they in effect tell the people to stay home and enjoy free a better picture than they can see at the theatre for a price. Why cannot the theatres properly remind the public that while the supply of old pictures may seem inexhaustible, the supply of 'classics' will soon be depleted; that the best place to see the best motion pictures is at the theatre, where one fine new picture follows another and where they are presented in proper sequence and proper dimensions without raucous and distracting commercials? "Those who have worked so hard to stage this convene tion — Col. Cole, President Shor, Bob Morrell, Jack Kirsch and Wilbur Snaper among others — are hoping for a lively, interesting and truly constructive convention. If there are those who insist on medical metaphors, let them regard the motion picture business as a patient, ill but not mortally so. The sessions will be presided over by experienced, able men — the 'old docs.' But all the rest will be residents or interns who are privileged to speak their minds as to both the diagnosis and the treatment. That in substance is what is meant by Allied's clinical approach to industry problems." "The Great American Pastime" with Tom Ewell, Anne Francis and Ann Miller (MGM, December; time, 89 min.) An intermittently amusing comedy that does not rise above the level of program fare. It will appeal chiefly, though only mildly, to family audiences. Centering around the trials and tribulations experienced by a small-town lawyer when he reluctantly becomes the manager of a Little League baseball team to get closer to his son, the story does have its funny moments here and there because of the troubles he has with parents and clients when the team loses consistently, but on the whole the comedy is pretty feeble. Tom Ewell's characterization as a father and husband is stereotyped, and it is his good handling of the role that gives the picture its meagre laughs, but neither he nor the other principal characters impress one as being real. An effective comedy sequence is the one where Ewell is put in his place by Ann Miller, an attractive young widow, when he mistakenly believes that she is making a play for him. Actually, she had cultivated his friendship to see that her son is given a chance to pitch. The ball games between the youngsters have been staged effectively and offer some chuckles: — Ewell lets himself be talked into managing the Panthers, a Little League baseball team, in the belief that it will bring him closer to Rudy Lee, his young son. As it turns out, Rudy gets a position on another team. Ewell soon learns that the parents of the boys on his team can be problems, and rather than offend Ann he lets Raymond Windston, her son, pitch. The Panthers play badly, and as they lose games, Ewell loses friends and clients. Meanwhile Anne Francis, his wife, is not too happy over his involvement with the team or his friendship with Ann. Ewell turns to Ann for consolation, but her interest in him is confined solely to her son's activities as a pitcher, whereas Ewell mistakenly believes that she was making eyes at him. She puts him in his place in no uncertain terms. Brought to his senses, Ewell redoubles his efforts to put the Panthers in shape, changes their tactics and wins enough ball games to clinch the League championship. Those who had condemned him now hail him as a hero and approach him to take on a new job as a cub scout leader. At first he demurs, but he soon forgets about all the complications that may ensue and becomes fully committed to the new enterprise. It was produced by Henry Berman, and directed by Herman Hoffman, from a screenplay by Nathaniel Benchley. Family. "The Great Man" with Jose Ferrer, Dean Jagger, Keenan Wynn and Julie London (Univ.-Int'l, February; time, 92 min.) A fascinating and decidedly different drama is offered in "The Great Man," which is an unflattering but highly interesting behind-the-scenes story of people in radio and television. Thanks to the expert direction, fine acting and exceptionally good dialogue, the action grips one's attention from start to finish in its depiction of the fakery and double-dealing encountered by a news commentator when he is assigned to prepare a memorial program befitting the fame of a top-ranking radio and TV star, known as "America's most beloved humorist," who had met sudden death in a automobile accident. He discovers that the "beloved" star actually had been a ruthless and dishonest character, utterly despised by those closely associated with him, but all sorts of pressures are put on him by the network's officials to retain the myth that the dead man had been a wonderful human being, dedicated to his fellows man and to all that is good and decent. The manner in which he explodes the myth in the interests of his own selfrespect and at the same time assures his own future in the broadcasting field, despite the machinations of the top brass, is highly dramatic and satisfying. The characterizations are most impressive, with outstanding performances contributed by Jose Ferrer as the news commentator who prepares the memorial program but finds the lie too much to endure; Keenan Wynn, as the opportunistic radio station manager who uses his intimate knowledge about the dead star as an axe over the network's officials and as a means of keeping Ferrer in line for personal gain; Julie London, as a singer made famous by the Great Man but who had been driven to drink by the sordid personal association he had forced on her to induce her to maintain her success; Ed Wynn, as the eccentric but well-meaning owner of a small-town radio station who received nothing but ingratitude and grief after giving the Great Man his start; and Dean Jagger, as the shrewd president of the network, who plans to build up Ferrer as the dead star's successor under a double-dealing arrangement that would squeeze the unprincipled Keenan Wynn out of the control he sought. The story's treatment is realistic and believable, and it is sprinkled here and there with good touches of humor. There are times when the dialogue is concerned with "trade talk" that might not be fully understood or appreciated by the movie-goers, but this is a minor flaw in a picture that undoubtedly will receive much favorable word^ of-mouth advertising. Briefly, the story has Keenan Wynn masterminding a memorial program dedicated to the Great Man and inducing Jagger to assign the handling of the project to Ferrer. Keenan's plan was to use the memorial show to groom Ferrer as the dead star's successor, and he compels Ferrer to sign a personal contract with him so that he would be cut in on his future earnings. Aided by Joanne Gilbert, his secretary, and Jim Backus, a press agent, Ferrer methodically delves into the Great Man's career and, in talks with different people who had been associated with him, discovers that he had been a ruthless man who took advantage of the people who worked for him and who was ungrateful to those who helped him gain fame. Disillusioned, Ferrer thinks of giving up the assignment but he finds reason to pay an honest tribute when he hears a tape recording in which the Great Man, speaking from a field hospital at a European battlefront, made so fervent a plea for blood donations that the public flocked to the nation's blood banks. Just prior to the broadcast, however, Keenan, warmed by too many highballs, reveals to Ferrer that the plasma appeal was a pure hoax because the Great Man had never been at the field hospital. This revelation, coupled with an attempt by Jagger to involve him in a double-cross against Keenan, so disgusts Ferrer that, at the start of the memorial program, he discards the prepared script and begins to detail to the listening public the true facts about the Great Man. By this action he rids himself and the network of the axe held by Keenan, and at the same time dramatically promulgates his own buildup as a new star. It was produced by Aaron Rosenberg, and directed by Jose Ferrer, who collaborated on the screenplay with Al Morgan, based on his novel of the same name. Adult fare.