Harrison's Reports (1959)

46 HARRISON'S REPORTS March 21, 1959 "Alias Jesse James" with Bob Hope, Rhonda Fleming and Wendell Corey (United Artists, March; time, 92 min.) Bob Hope's latest comedy effort shapes up as an amusing satirical western that should go over well with his many fans. Set in the 1880 s, the story idea is a natural for Hope, for it casts him as a bungling Eastern insurance agent who unwittingly sells a $100,000 life insurance policy to Jesse James, the notorious outlaw, and who is immediately shipped west by his irritated superior to guard the outlaw's life. As can be anticipated, Hope plays his role with a false bravado that fits his brand of humor, provoking many laughs by the lucky manner in which he narrowly escapes with his own life while carrying out his assignment. Much of the comedy stems from the whacky situations that arise when Hope falls for Rhonda Fleming, James' dance hall sweetheart, and unknowingly frustrates the outlaw's elaborate scheme to kill him. Comical also are the closing scenes where Hope has a showdown with the outlaw and his gang, the members of which are picked off one by one by concealed sheriff's deputies, while Hope believes that his accurate aim is responsible. These deputies, incidentally, are portrayed by such well known personalities as Bing Crosby, Gary Cooper, James Garner, Roy Rogers, James Arness, Gene Autry, Ward Bond, Hugh 0'Brian,Tonto and Fess Parker. Their appearances are brief but amusing. Wendell Corey adds to the fun with his tongue-in-cheek portrayal of Jesse James. The film has a few dull spots here and there, but they detract little from the comical flavor of the whole. The photography, in Deluxe color, is first-rate: — After selling a hugh paid-up policy to Corey, a westerner on a one-day visit to New York, Hope learns to his dismay that he is the most notorious outlaw in the country, wanted dead or alive. Will Wright, Hope's exasperated superior, sends him west to either retrieve the policy or stay at Corey's side indefinitely to protect him. To carry out his assignment, Hope joins Corey's gang and the outlaw leader accepts him as a tolerable character, just for laughs. But when Hope dresses like Corey and begins to emulate him to the point of resemblance, the outlaw decides to kill him and to pass off his body as his own, thus enabling him to collect the insurance loot and to flee forever to California with Rhonda, who had been named as his beneficiary. Left for dead in a ditch, Hope, who wore a bullet-proof vest, frustrates Corey's plans. Moreover, he stymies Corey's attempt to flee with Rhonda, who by now had fallen in love with him (Hope). Finally realizing that Corey was out to kill him, Hope has a showdown with the outlaw and his gang, and either kills or captures them when surprise reinforcements arrive on the scene. His mission accomplished, Hope heads back to New York with Rhonda as his bride. It was produced by Jack Hope and directed by Norman Z. McLeod from a screenplay by William Bowers and Daniel D. Beauchamp. Family. "Gidget" with Sandra Dee, James Darren, Cliff Robertson and Arthur O'Connell (Columbia, April; time, 95 min.) A delightful and refreshing romantic comedy with some music, photographed in CinemaScope and Eastman color. It should go over well with all types of audiences, particularly young Folk, for it centers around the first romantic adventures of a a pert and pretty but naive teenage girl, who is adopted as a mascot by an exhuberant group of collegians, all surf board enthusiasts, who spend their vacation at Malibu Beach and who nickname her "Gidget" — a contraction of girl and midget. The lighthearted story moves along at a brisk pace and has a gay and amusing quality because of the playful, care-free actions of the youthful cast, as well as the complications the heroine gets herself into when her plan to win the love of one of the boys by flirting with another backfires. Sandra Dee is ideally cast as the wideeyed, artless heroine, and James Darren is just right as the object of her affections. An amusing characterization is turned in by Arthur O'Connell as Sandra's fretful father, a bewildered man who cannot fathom the problems of a girl growing up. Worked into the proceedings to good effect are several catchy songs. The photography is excellent, especially the extraordinary shots of surf board riders skimming along the ocean's waves. Columbia is putting an exceptionally good exploitation campaign behind this picture, and it is offering to exhibitors without charge fine trailers, records and other accessories that can be used to promote the picture in their individual situations to profitable advantage:— Naive and petite, 16-year-old Sandra is taken on her first "manhunt" to Malibu Beach by several slightly older but more sophisticated girl-friends who flirt with a group of muscular young surf board enthusiasts. It is Sandra, however, who attracts their attention by almost drowning accidentally. She is rescued by Darren, who introduced her to the rest of his college pals, including Cliff Robertson, their leader, an exAir Force pilot with no aim in life beyond beachcombing. Sandra decides to take up surf board riding and the boys make her their mascot. Sandra's enthusiasm for the sport and for her new pals worries Arthur O'Connell and Mary La Roche, her parents, and the former tries to arrange a blind date for her with the son of an old friend, but Sandra refuses. Meanwhile, she finds herself falling in love with Darren and becomes distraught to learn that he is interested in another girl. When the end of the season rolls around and the boys throw a beach party for sophisticates only, Sandra bribes Robert Ellis to take her to the party and plans to arouse Darren's jealousy by making love to Robertson, who was much older. The plan backfires when Darren substitutes for Ellis, but Sandra carries on her scheme by persuading Robertson to take her to an isolated beach house. The sophisticated Robertson rejects her awkward invitation to make love and sends her home, but he allows Darren to think that something happened and comes to blows with him. Meanwhile, Sandra is picked up by the police for driving home without her license. Her father censures her for attending the party and compels her to make a blind date with his friend's son. The young man proves to be Darren. It ends with Sandra accepting Darren's fraternity pin and with Robertson, influenced by her, giving up beachcombing for a job as a pilot. It was produced by Lewis J. Rachmil and directed by Paul Wendkos from a screenplay by Gabrielle Upton, based on a novel by Frederick Kohner. Family. "The Little Savage" with Pedro Armendariz, Terry Rangno and Robert Palmer (20tJi CenturyFox, March; time, 69 min.) A dull and ordinary adventure melodrama that has little to recommend it even for lower half billing. Set in 1739, it is a sort of "Treasure Island" story that centers around a pirate who is left for dead on an isolated island by a cohort after they bury a treasure chest, but who is nursed back to health by a 10-year-old lad, the only survivor of an earlier ship tragedy. How the two learn to live and survive together is depicted in a manner that is given more to talk than to movement, slowing down the pace to a point where one loses interest in the proceedings. Their encounter with a band of savages, from whom they rescue a pretty half-caste girl, and their fight with the pirate who returns, after ten years, to recover the treasure, offers some moments of excitement here and there, but these are not enough to overcome the picture's overall dullness. Not much can be said for either the direction or the acting:— Pedro Armendariz, first mate of a pirate ship, is shot and left for dead by Rodolfo Hoyos, his captain, after they bury a treasure chest on a small Pacific island. Armendariz is found and nursed back to health by 10-year-old Terry Rangno, the sole survivor of a ship sunk by pirates six years previously. Terry proves to be an apt and eager pupil, and Armendariz patterns their life on the island upon shipboard routine, with both standing "watch" for a passing ship. They become devoted to each other with the passing years, and the lad grows into a handsome young man (Robert Palmer). One day the island is invaded by a band of natives who prepare to kill Christiane Martel, a half-caste girl, in a sacrificial ritual. Both Robert and Armendariz frighten off the natives with a makeshift bomb and rescue the girl. In the days that follow, Robert busies himself preparing a dugout for their escape in the event the natives return for vengeance. Meanwhile he and the girl fall in love. Compli cations arise when Hoyos suddenly returns to the island for the treasure. Armendariz defies him and they kill each other in the ensuing struggle. It ends with Robert and Christiane heading for England with the treasure on the ship that brought Hoyos to the island. It was produced by Jack Lecwood and directed by Byron Haskin from a screenplay by Eric Norden, based on the book by Frederick Marryat. Family.