Harrison's Reports (1962)

90 HARRISON'S REPORTS June 16, 1962 "Hatari!" with John Wayne, Hardy Kruger, Elsa Martinelli, Gerard Blain, Red Buttons (Paramount, August; 159 mms.) VERY GOOD. This is the fourth time in two months that we've had good reason to head a Paramount release with a rating of "very good." There were "My Geisha," "The Counterfeit Traitor," and "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance." Now comes this thundering thriller, daring to extend itself to two hours and 39-minutcs of running time and coming out of it with enough exciting entertainment to fill a truckload of Tanganyika (East Africa) monkeys. As a matter of fact, that's where producer-director Howard Hawks took his cameras, production crew, stars for the filming of "Hatari!" meaning danger. This release seems to have almost everything: high adventure, smoothly interwoven comedy, fine acting, hair-raising thrills, plenty of romance (unforced on the scriptwriter) genuine excitement. Add them all together and you have motion picture entertainment of a high order fit for the whole family. The elusive monkeys and the friendly little baby elephants alone will bring endless shrieks of glee from the kids. Add to all this the fact that this was shot in Technicolor with scenic backgrounds seldom caught by cameramen of courage, and you can appreciate the box office values of this one. But, it's not all animals, lush scenery, dangerous camerawork. It's a splendid job of acting, too! « and, a smooth job of strong story-telling. It seems that many of us were all wrong in the innocent contention that that ever-dependable box office stalwart (John Wayne) is not much on acting. Of late, he delivers his roles in almost subdued style. At times you think he is underplaying his part (without weakening it, of course) so that a Red Buttons, let's say, can almost walk off with a scene. In fact, Buttons turns in perhaps the best acting job of his career. He came out of this one with a lot of effective footage thrown his way. But, Wayne,--the chief protagonist-delivers the goods. The big, likeable guy wins you over to his side, especially when he even allows love to intrude and in the final scenes he too is on his way to the romantic reward of all men who, sooner or later, realize that it's bigger than all their aversions, antipathies, abhorrences put together. --and, that is of course, that little thing that makes this big, bad world go 'round,--love!! The lady who finally wins him over is Elsa Martinelli. She fails to impress either as a beauty or (at least in this case) as an actress delivering a convincing job of work. She's handicapped by a garbled delivery. At times, she seemed in the way with silly little antics which may have read well in the script, but failed to play itself out with any conviction. The story deals with a game farm known the world over to the keepers of zoos. Situated near the wild animal-roaming plains and jungles (in Tanganyika) John Wayne heads up this devil-may-care group. With Hardy Kruger, Red Buttons (a former cab driver from New York) and others these game-hunters go about their work supplying zoos with the animals they need, Into this setup comes a photographer, Elsa Martinelli. Wayne doesn't like it at all, but allows her to stay on. She too has a job to do. Soon a baby elephant attaches itself to Signora Martinelli, and that means more trouble. However, there's a lot of work to be done, many animals to be caught if the group is to stay in business. All the orders seem to be filled with the exception of that murderous rhinoceros. One of the breed had already killed the former owner of the game farm, another almost fatally wounding Bruce Cabot. The men are for letting the order go unfilled until the next season. But not Wayne. The final try is on and the raging mountain of beef with lethal tuskal front almost makes mincemeat out of the animal hunters. But, the valuable beast is caught as are Wayne and Buttons by the respective man-hunters (Miss Martinelli and Michele Girardon) an alluring young beauty. Produced and directed by Howard Hawks; screenplay by Leigh Brackett from a story by Harry Kurnitz. General patronage. "The Phantom of the Opera" with Herbert Lom, Heather Sears, Thorley Walters (Unwersal-Int'l, September; 84 mins.) FAIR. The trend continues of keeping the titles of old, proven film classics but making the remake a departure from the original. Here we have one of the great thrillers of years gone by. Its setting to a background of melodic beauty gave the motion picture added excitements and joys that left their imprint on one's memory. The appeal of the music still throbs with the vibrancy of enduring melody. But, the plotstructure surrounding or supporting the music (either way) fails to be in tune with the melodic compositions. It is a pity because the title of the film retains some of its old box office magnetism. The story of creative fakery, revenge and danger is not only loosely woven together, but its believability is weak. Its denouement is thin and vaporish. When the loosely hanging threads of the story are cut away from and the film picks up its melody strains, then you're in for some of the enjoyment you may have expected from this remake. It's a product of the British studios and the Eastman color (processed by Pathe) into which this is dipped adds its eye-compelling attractiveness. Herbert Lom ("The Phantom") is fairly well known. Heather Sears and the others are not familiar names. --and so, the first night of a new opera in London, falls flat. An empty (haunted) box is the cause of an argument between the bogus composer of the opera and the manager of the house. In fact, everyone backstage is in a jittery state. It isn't long before a sceneshifter is found hanging from the rafters. The prima donna refuses to continue with the opera. Auditions are held for a new one. A young voice is selected (Heather Sears). Her beauty attracts the pompous Lord D'Arcy (Michael Gough) and he begins making passes at her. She fails to respond, so she is dismissed. So is the young, handsome producer who is on her side. Convinced that Gough never wrote the music, the producer and Miss Sears begin a search. Before long, the real composer is found living in a secret chamber underground. Wearing a hideous mask because of the burns he endured when destroying the printing plant of the man (Gough) who stole his music, "The Phantom" holds Miss Sears prisoner in an elegant layout underground. "The Phantom" wants to make a great singer out of her. Finally, the opera is staged, again. She sings her heart out to the audience. In the midst of an aria the dwarf (who was