Harrison's Reports (1962)

10 HARRISON'S REPORTS January 27, 1962 "Saintly Sinners" with Don Beddoe, Ellen Corby, Stanley Clements, Paul Bryar (United Artists, Current; 78 mins.) POOR. This is another low-budget, low entertain' ment entry from the keepers of the "B's" " Harvard Film Corp. It is amateurish in its make-up, weak in its approach, and unavailing in its residue of entertainment. It plays it safe by making the chief protagonist a man of the cloth. But, the good Father is cut from a pattern of innocent gullibility that doesn't ring true. As played by Don Beddoe, you don't get the feel of spiritual authority. On the other hand, Addison Richard's Monsignor has its impressive quality. There are hoodlums, ex-cons, horse-bettors who use a statue to boot home their selections, and other assorted characters who look upon prayer as a means to an end that is not always righteous. It fails to impress, be' cause the script was hammered out without the professional skill of knowing how to deal with such a delicate theme. There is unnecessary absurdity throughout much of the telling of this. Besides the weakness of the story, there is anemia in the acting. Also, there is no real name-value to hold this up. Photography, fair. Father Dan (Don Beddoe) likes to go fishing. At last, he is on his way. But, it's in a used car he picked up. It's the same car that was stolen from a young ex-con (Ron Hagerthy) by two sharpies. They commit a bank robbery. The plates are noted and traced. The boy is brought in, of course. At the same time Beddoe is picked up and accused of the bank robbery (the plates, you know). The Monsignor doesn't like Beddoe's coddling of the parishioners, decides to transfer the Father. The off-beat characters besiege the Monsignor, who lets Beddoe stay on. The real thieves confess, the horse-bettors continue to place their pieces of paper under a statue in the church courtyard, the nags continue to come in, the winners want to share their loot with the Father. The cleric accepts all this as part of his mission. Produced by Robert E. Kent; directed by Jean Yarbrough; written by Kevin Barry. General patronage. "Siege of Syracuse" with Rossano Brazzi, Tina Louise, Enrico Maria Salerno (Paramount, February; 97 mins.) FAIR. This entry from Italy is yet another one of those spectacles with lots of people. There are thousands in the cast. The surging armies of people are involved in a lengthy story that touches on the historical at times. There are moments of strong drama as well as good action. In addition, there are romance, palace intrigue, good-looking girls and well-done battle sequences. As for the cast, it does well by its assignments with the names of Rossano Brazzi and lovely Tina Louise perhaps best known to audiences here. The latter is hardly Academy Award timber. The direction is comprehensive and some of the production values are lavish with the import best suited for the supporting slot of the program. The dialogue has been dubbed into English. The Eastman Color photography is impressive in the Dyaliscope process. Rossano Brazzi portrays scientist and mathematician Archimedes of Syracuse. He has an informal agreement to marry the daughter of the king. When dancer Tina Louise appears, he falls in love with her and decides to marry her instead. Her stepbrother has aspirations to become powerful at court. He feels that her marriage to Brazzi could ruin these high hopes. He arranges for the lady to be drugged and shipped to Rome on a vessel commanded by Enrico Maria Sa' lerno. After a fall, she loses her memory. Salerno looks after her. In so doing he falls in love with her. He persuades her to marry him and when she has Brazzi s baby, he accepts and treats it as his own. As the years pass, he is elected consul. Miss Louise's memory returns when Brazzi visits Salerno to negotiate a new treaty. She finds she still loves Brazzi. Salerno however, refuses to give her up or the boy. Instead he decides to attack Syracuse and destroy Brazzi who has become king. He reluctantly agrees to let his son go to Syracuse as a spy. He is captured, and sentenced to death, but escapes as the Roman fleet attacks. An invention of Brazzi routs the vessels destroying several. The Romans, later, are led into the city by a traitor, Miss Louise's stepbrother, who is killed by Brazzi. During the fighting Salerno is also killed and his son vows to follow in his father's steps. Brazzi knows that he must keep the secret about the boy, but Miss Louise is now free to come to him. They can spend their remaining years together. This is a Glomcr production; directed by Pietro Francisci; screenplay credits not available. General patronage. • "A View From the Bridge" with Raf Vallone, Maureen Stapleton, Morris Carno vsky , Jean Sorel, Carol Lawrence (Continental, February; 110 mins.) GOOD. This is Arthur Miller dealing with a small segment of Greater New York, " the tough, rough, squalid Red Hook section of Brooklyn. Miller knows his locale, its people, its life. Out of it he had fash' ioned a play. Now, it makes its turbulent transition to the screen. Not far away from the action in the street and its nearby raw, brawling Brooklyn waterfront stand the gaunt, granite cliffs of Manhattan. But Red Hook is an island apart from the rest of New York. The neighborhood is ever in the harsh moil of action. Using the stage play as a springboard, screen-writer Norman Rosten and director Sidney Lumet took it from there and emerged with a tense, tight, tragic drama of love and hatred, lust and fierce obsession, frustration and self-murder. There are very few light moments in the film. It is well acted with Raf Vallone carrying the greater burden of the story. Maureen Stapleton, as his wife, stands strong as a symbol of mental suffering and biological frustration. Carol Lawrence is introduced in this one. She shows dramatic promise and photographs much softer than the harsh Tv angles have revealed. Jean Sorel, though a rugged longshoreman, is a sensitive romantic. Raymond Pellegrin is strong and vibrant in his role (longshoreman). Veteran Morris Carnovsky is convincing as the neighborhood Blackstone, advising, counseling, philosophising. The cameras were moved to the Brooklyn locales for ex'