Hollywood (1942)

MY GAL SAL irkM Twentieth Century-Fox ■ Most commendable feature of My Gal Sal is the fact that it offers Rita Hayworth in technicolor. The story is based on the life of Paul Dresser, the song writer. Victor Mature has the role of the talented young composer who runs away from home to pursue a musical career rather than study for the ministry. Carole Landis appears briefly as a medicine show entertainer. Miss Hayworth sings and dances effectively, and old-timers will enjoy the rendition of the old favorites, "My Gal Sal" and "On the Banks of the Wabash," two of Dresser's best loved tunes. THE WIFE TAKES A FLYER **] i Columbia H This is another in the series of recent comedies which spoof the Nazis. The foreword blandly states: "Any resemblance to any Nazi character is intentional and not coincidental." Franchot Tone plays a downed pilot in Holland who hides in a Dutch household. To Nazi officer Allyn Joslyn, Joan Bennett passes him off as her mentally unbalanced husband. Many hilarious episodes result. Joslyn walks away with the acting honors. THE SPOILERS ••1i Universal ■ The Spoilers offers you a fight to end all fights. John Wayne and Randolph Scott trade punches for over a reel, in which they demolish a saloon, innumerable chairs and tables, and reduce each other to pulp. The fight is brought on over the claim-jumping of Scott, who tries to walk away with Wayne's gold mine and gal (Marlene Dietrich) . Miss Dietrich was never lovelier than she is as Cherry Malotte, barroom queen. Harry Carey plays Wayne's partner. JUKE GIRL *• ' '2 Warner Brothers ■ The Florida tomato country is the background of Juke Girl. Ronald Reagan and Richard Whorf are a couple of down and out hitch-hikers who wander into it and get themselves mixed up in the battle that is raging between the farmers and packers over wages. They encounter Ann Sheridan, who is a hostess in a juke joint — a cheap saloon in which music is furnished by a coin dropped into a machine. She falls for Reagan and in so doing gets herself fired from her job. Reagan, who has taken sides with the farmers, almost gets himself lynched before justice triumphs. Ann Sheridan acquits herself well in her role, as does Reagan. George Tobias, as a Greek farmer, gives his usual excellent performance. THIS GUN FOR HIRE irkVz Paramount I Alan Ladd scores heavily in his second important picture. As a hardened gangster who comes to see the error of his ways, he is convincing and sincere. The excellent cast throughout keeps This Gun 70 Important Pictures [Continued from page 69] for Hire from falling into the usual run of gangster films. Among the players are Laird Cregar, Veronica Lake and Robert Preston. Miniature Reviews •**• ALL THAT MONEY CAN BUY (R-K-O) Cast: Walter Huston, James Craig, Anne Shirley. Although many liberties have been taken with Stephen Vincent Benet's Faustian fantasy, The Devil and Daniel Webster (including a change of title), it emerges as a striking film. Walter Huston is magnificent. HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY (20th Century-Fox) Cast: Walter Pidgeon, Maureen O'Hara, Roddy McDouiall. The picturization of the popular book was voted the best film of 1941. See it for the unforgettable performance of young Roddy McDowall. SUSPICION (R-K-O) Cast: Joan Fontaine, Cary Grant, Sir Cedric Hardwicke, Nigel Bruce. Compelling film in which Hitchcock again proves himself the superb master of direction and production. Miss Fontaine, as the young wife who suspects that her husband plans to murder her. won 1941's Oscar as the year's best actress. TARGET FOR TONIGHT (War Documentary! In a simple, unpretentious little short, the story of the heroic fighters who drop bombs on Germany is told in straightforward, engrossing fashion. There are no women or professional actors in the film. THE GOLD RUSH (United Artists) Charlie Chaplin has reissued his great epic and added narration and musical scoring. Film fare at its best. Take the whole family. THE LITTLE FOXES (R-K-O) Cast: Belle Davis, Herbert Marshall, Teresa Wright. Richard Carlson. An even finer film than the magnificent stage play from which it was adapted. TO BE OR NOT TO BE (United Artists) Cast: Carole Lombard, Jack Benny. A subtle satire on the Nazis, which kids them wholeheartedly. Carole's last film is a fitting tribute to her memory. WOMAN OF THE YEAR (M-G-M) Cast: Katharine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy. Loaded with laughter. It's a new twist to the old story of the battle of the sexes, with Hepburn and Tracy giving sparkling performances. Katy's satire of a brilliant woman columnist is brittle and beautiful. Men will love the scene at the ball park where Tracy patiently tries to explain the game to Miss Hepburn. •k-k-k'A H. M. PULHAM, ESQ. (M-G-M) Cast: Robert Young, Hedy Lamarr, Ruth Hussey. For the first time in his career. Robert Young has an opportunity to show he is a truly good actor. Adapted from the popular novel by John P. Marquand. JOE SMITH. AMERICAN (M-G-M) Cast: Robert Young, Marsha Hunt, Darryl Hickman. Don't miss this exceptionally good film, the simple story of an average American and how he proved he could take it, when the time came. LOUISIANA PURCHASE (Paramount) Cast: Bob Hope, Zorina, Victor Moore. Comedy, alluring girls, Irving Berlin runes, Technicolor, plus Bob Hope's comic antics make this swell entertainment for the whole family. MY FAVORITE BLONDE (Paramount) Cast: Bob Hope, Madeleine Carroll. This is an hilarious tale of a second-rate vaudevillian en route to Hollywood who gets involved with a beautiful blonde eluding the clutches of Nazi agents. Hope at his best. ••* BALL OF FIRE (R-K-O) Cast: Gary Cooper, Barbara Stanwyck. About an unworldly professor (Cooper) who goes out seeking firsthand information on modern slang to include in his encyclopedia. He meets Sugarpuss O'Snea (Stanwyck), a nightclub entertainer, who increases not only his vocabulary but his heartbeats. BEDTIME STORY (Columbia) Cast: Loretta Young, Fredric March, Robert BencMey. Dizzy farce with good acting by the principals. Nice for the evening you're in the mood for light entertainment. I WAKE UP SCREAMING (20th CenturyFox) Cast: Betty Grable, Victor Mature, Carole Landis, Laird Cregar. A better-than-average "whodunit" because of the capable actors in the leading roles. (Reviewed under the former title. Hot Spot.) JOHNNY EAGER (M-G-M) Cast: Robert Taylor, Lana Turner. A romantic gangster film with Taylor as a bad boy who reforms when true love comes along in the person of Lana Turner. JUNGLE BOOK (United Artists) Cast: Sabu. Rosemary de Camp. From Kipling's story of the boy who strayed into the jungle and was brought up by animals. Beautiful technical jungle shots. Children will love it. KINGS ROW (Warners) Cast: Robert Cummings. Betty Field, Ronald Reason, Ann Sheridan, Nancy Coleman. A gloomy adaptation of the popular best-seller. If you like psychiatric studies, you'll enjoy this. Otherwise, you may find it pretty depressing. REAP THE WILD WIND (Paramount) Cast: Ray Milland, Paxdette Goddard, John Wayne. With its excellent cast, brilliant technicolor and fast-moving story, you won't want to miss De Mille's latest production. Complete with hurricane, shipwreck, an underseas fight and a gala ball. RIO RITA (M-G-M) Cast: Abbott and Costello, Kathryn Grayson, John Carroll. Those funnymen are loose again and run riot through a rather weak story, uncorking new and better gags. Very entertaining. SHANGHAI GESTURE (United Artists) Cast: Gene Tierney, Victor Mature, Ona Munson. The famous stage play suffers in its transposition to the screen. Muddled and confusing, but you'll want to see it because of the splendid cast. SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS (Paramount) Cast: Joel McCrea, Veronica Lake. Again Preston Sturges goes against many of the accepted rules to produce an excellent, refreshing picture. Joel McCrea portrays a Hollywood director anxious to produce an epic of hard times, who goes out as a hobo looking for trouble. He finds plenty of it in the person of Veronica SUNDAY PUNCH (M-G-M) Cast: Dan Dailey, Jr., William Lzmdisan, Jean Rogers, Guy Kibbee. Run-of-the-mill prize fighter film. Dan Dailey. Jr., is effective as a dumb Swede who turns fighter to win the girl he loves. SYNCOPATION (R-K-O-Radio) Cast: Jackie Coope-' Bonita Granville. Good entertainment for those who like lots of music with their films. THE COURTSHIP OF ANDY HARDY (M-G-M) Cast: Mickey Rooney, Donna Reed. The latest chapter in the Hardy saga is the most appealing vet. Throughout there is the endearing warmth of the Hardy family and their typical life in a small American town. THE GREAT MAN'S LADY (Paramount) Cast Barbara Stanwyck, Joel McCrea, Brian Donlevy. A century of American progress is portrayed through the life of a woman who helped to make it great. The background swings from Philadelphia in the 1800's to the raw West. A moving performance by Barbara Stanwyck. THE INVADERS (United Artists) Cast: Leslie Howard, Laurence Olivier, Raymond Massey. The gripping story of a German U-Boat crew marooned at Hudson Bay and their attempted escape from enemy soil. Filmed in Canada, it is a savage commentary on German ideology. THE MALE ANIMAL (Warners) Cast: Henry Fonda, Olivia de Havilland. Screen adaptation of the stage play. Story of a college professor who risks his job and his wife to make a stand for academic freedom. THE TUTTLESOF TAHITI (R-K-O) Cast: Charles Laughton, Jon Hall, Peggy Drake. Against a lush South Sea Island background is told the tale of a Tahitian family fathered by Laughton, who didn't know how to make money but always managed to have fun. Light, amusing escapist fare.