Harrison's Reports (1958)

14 HARRISON'S REPORTS January 25, 1958 "The Story of Vickie" with Romy Schneider (Buena Vista, February; time, 108 min.) There is much that is charming in this Technicolor, Viennese-made production about young Queen Victoria of England, centering around her ascendency to the throne at the age of eighteen and around the romantic events that led to her marriage to her cousin, Prince Albert of SaxeCoburg. Unfortunately, the picture suffers from choppy editing and from an inferior job of dubbed-in English dialogue, which is considerably distracting because it does not match the lip movement of the characters. Despite these handicaps, however, the picture should be received fairly well by better class movie-goers that patronize the art houses, where the story's charm and light humorous touches will best be appreciated. Romy Schneider, a pert and pretty Austrian actress, is impressive in the leading role, giving the characterization the demureness one expects to find in a teen-aged girl yet endowing it with the patience, tact and intelligence that made Queen Victoria a revered sovereign. The production values are lavish but the quality of the color photography is inconsistent in that it ranges from poor to excellent: — Kept busy studying poise and British history, Victoria suddenly finds herself faced with the duties of a reigning Queen when William IV of England, her uncle, passes away. Her advisors and attendants, including her wilful mother, scramble for political position, but Victoria, stubborn and independent, sees through their selfish motives and places her trust in Lord Melbourne (Karl Ludwig Diehl), her dead uncle's prime minister, and asks him to head her government. A firm friendship grows up between the young Queen and the elder statesman, and under his guidance she serves England justly and well. Victoria balks when a movement is started by the royal family to find her a husband, and three royal candidates, including Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg (Adrian Hoven), are invited to attend her birthday ball. Just prior to the ball, Victoria secretly leaves the palace for a trip to Paris, accompanied by Baroness Lehzen (Magda Schneider), her trusted confidante, and a valet (Rudolf Vogel). A storm compels them to seek shelter in Dover at a common inn, where she meets Albert under amusing circumstances. Neither one is aware of the other's identity, however, for each was traveling incognito. They fall in love after spending a romantic evening together, and Victoria, quite by accident, discovers his identity. Still concealing her own identity, she rushes back to London to preside at her birthday ball. Arriving at the ball, Albert is both shocked and delighted to find that the girl of Dover and the Queen are one and the same. Albert's stiffness, however, disappoints Victoria and leads her to believe that he had lost interest in her, but she realizes the truth when she learns that a monarch's hand is never asked in marriage. When she proposes marriage, the love-lorn but delighted Albert gathers her into his arms. It was written, produced and directed by Ernst Marischka, based on the letters and diaries of Queen Victoria and on a comedy by Sil-Vara. Family. "Darby's Rangers" with James Garner (Warner Bros., Feb. 22; time, 120 min.) A good but overlong war melodrama, centering around the World War II exploits of a commando-type unit of American Rangers. The story's mixture of combat action, wartime romances, tragedy and broad comedy should go over pretty well with the general run of audiences, but the picture will need strong exploitation to draw at the box-office, for the players, though talented, are generally unknown, except for James Garner, who has won considerable popularity as the star of "Maverick," the high-rating television show. Garner, incidentally, turns in a very impressive performance as Colonel William Darby, who founded and organized the Rangers, and who personally led them when they spearheaded the landing assault on North Africa, the invasion of Sicily and the storming of the Anzio beachhead. Garner gives the characterization a human as well as coura geous quality, for he takes time out from his heavy war duties to help his men with their personal problems. The combat sequences have been staged in thrilling and realistic fashion. The comedy provokes considerable laughter, but there are spots where it is more silly than funny. Several of the sequences depict the American soldiers in a most uncomplimentary manner because of their disrespectful attitude toward European women. The story, which includes several sub-plots, has Garner convincing the Pentagon that there is need for a commandotype fighting force in the Army. He is given the assignment to organize such a unit, to be known as the Rangers, and he assembles them from selected volunteers, aided by Jack Warden, his master sergeant. Garner takes his unit to Scotland, where they are put through an intensive training course by a British Commando officer. Upon completion of their training, the Rangers spearhead successful assaults in North Africa and Sicily but suffer a glorious defeat in the Anzio campaign, during which they succeed in blunting a bigscale German offensive. It ends with the surviving Rangers disbanded, and with a saddened but proud Garner returning to the Pentagon for reassignment. The sub-plots deal with the romances of several of the men during training and while at the battlefront. One concerns Stuart Whitman, a card sharp as a civilian, who makes a play for Joan Elan, a London bus conductress, who proves to be the daughter of titled parents (Reginald Owen and Frieda Inescort) . Joan's aristocratic parents do not favor the courtship at first, but they give it their approval when they recognize that Whitman is basically decent and that his love for Joan is genuine. A second romance concerns Corey Allen, a ne'er-do-well "Romeo," who carries on an illicit affair with Andrea King, young wife of a middle-aged professor, in whose home he had been billeted. Learning of the affair, the professor gives Andrea her freedom. She joyfully rushes to camp to tell Allen the good news, only to learn that he had died in an accident. The third romance between Peter Brown, a comparative youngster, and Venetia Stevenson, a Scottish lass, has a happy outcome when her gruff father, a drill-master, becomes convinced of the boy's honorable intentions. A fourth romance between Edward Byrnes and Etchika Choureau, an Italian girl, is an involved emotional affair that comes to a happy conclusion after a number of misunderstandings concerning Byrnes' intentions and Etchika's pregnancy by a partisan fighter who had been killed in action. It was produced by Martin Rackin and directed by William A. Wellman from a screenplay by Guy Trosper, as suggested by the book by Major James Altieri. Adult entertainment. "Fort Dobbs" with Clint Walker, Virginia Mayo and Brian Keith (Warner Bros., Feb. 8; time, 90 min.) This western offers better than average marquee value in the names of Virginia Mayo and Clint Walker, who has gained considerable popularity as the star of the "Cheyenne" television series. As an entertainment, however, it is a routine picture of its kind, with a running time that is much too long for the formula tale it has to offer. The action centers around Walker as an accused murderer who eludes a sheriff's posse but who takes time out from his own troubles to protect a young widow and her little boy from marauding Comanches. Gunplay and fast action are served up in generous quantities and many Indians bite the dust before the closing sequence, but much of this suffers from repetition. Walker does good work as the tight-lipped, courageous hero, and Virginia Mayo is acceptable as the young widow who is attracted to him but who wrongly suspects him of murdering her husband. Brian Keith turns in an interesting characterization as a villainous desperado who crosses paths with Walker. The photography is fine: — Although he had killed a man in self-defense, Walker finds himself accused of murder. He flees into hostile Comanche territory, pursued by a sheriff's posse, and comes across the body of a dead man with an Indian arrow in his back. By changing clothes with the dead man and throwing