Independent Exhibitors Film Bulletin (1948)

REVIEWS in This Issue 'HOMECOMING' GABLE PLUS TURNER IN STRONG DRAMA Rates •••-( generally Mctro-Goldivyii-Mayer 113 Minutes Clark Gable, I.aiia Turner, Anne Baxter, John Hodiak, Ray Collins. Gladys Cooper, Cameron Mitchell, Marshall Thompson, Lurene Tuttle, Jessie Grayson, J. Louis Johnson, Eloise Hardt. Directed by Mervyn LcRoy. Important news for exhibitors : Clark Gable finally has hit his stride after two disappointing attempts to regain the popularity he had amassed in pre-war days. Gable fairly radiates animal magnetism as he portrays a highly successful surgeon, drawn into the war and into an uiivvilling love for his brash and beautiful Army nurse. Lana Turner is excellent in the latter role, turning in a performance that surpasses any of her previous efforts. To enhance the Gable-Turner draw, M-G-M has endowed the film with Anne Baxter and John Hodiak as co-stars, a strong slick drama scripted by Paul Osborn from a Sidney Kingsley original and unstinting production values. Producers Sidney Franklin and Gottfried Reinhardt have fashioned "Homecoming" in the mold of the old-time M-G-M successes, and it is sure to strike the fancy of the ticketbuying public. "Homecoming" is powerful boxoffice, undoubtedly. But even better than that, it re-establishes one of the brightest stars in the cinematic sky, a long-range insurance policy for the exhibitor. The current trend for reality is by-passed in favor of gilded theatrical devices and the Gable-Turner glamor s! lines forth in this setting. Director Mervyn I.eRoy has concentrated on this facet, often at the expense of the story, and male patrons may find stretches of inactivity dulling the film's \alue. The women, however, will eat up every bit of its rather long 113-minute running time. EXPLOITATION: The stars, of course, are the obvious selling point, but this should ■ be played up as Gabk's best role. The drama and love story are also points to emphasize. In New York harbor, Clark Gable, a colonel in tlie medical corps, returning home aboard a troopship, recalls 1941 when he was a socially prominent and successful surgeon, happih' married to Anne Baxter. Another doctor and his boyhood friend, John Hodiak, continually tries without success to interest him in wiping out malaria-infested slums in a nearby village. \\ hen war is declared, Gable enlists because "it's the thing to do." Sailing for Europe, he has a verbal run-in with Lana Turner, widowed mother turned nurse, and learns she is assigned to h.is service. Between spats he finds her Homecoming 9 All My Sons 9 The Noose Hangs High 9 The Search 10 The Pirate 10 Winter Meeting 10 Tarzan and the Mermaids II Man From Texas 11 Man of Evil 11 Arizona Ranger 11 superbly efficient and under trying battle conditions, indispensable. The crucible of war, plus her guidance, work a change in his principles. Despite themselves, they fall in love, but are separated when she is transferred. They meet in Paris, on leave, and when Gable finds his outfit in peril at Bastogne, and leaves to join them, she insists on accompanying him. She is wounded and dies shortly thereafter. Confused and bitter. Gable returns to Baxter and cannot recapture their old relationship until he tells her about Turner. They are reunited and Gable determines to exert his medical skill toward helping Hodiak with his work. BARN. 'ALL MY SONS' POWERFUL VERSION OF PRIZE PLAY Rates • • • generally I ' nil er salInternational 9-1 Minutes. Edward G. Robinson, Burt Lancaster, Mady Christians, Hoivard Duff, Frank Conroy, Lloyd Gongh, Arlene Francis, Henry Morgan. Elisabeth Eraser. Directed by Irving Reis. There is plenty of solid meat in this hardhitting attack on war profiteering, which follows somewliat tardily upon the front-page post-war exposures. This will not entertain all types of audience, for it is a thought-provoking stimulant directed toward those patrons who demand nifire substance and less froth. It packs a good deal of intense emotional excitement, due to son-.e splendid performances. Edward G. Robinson brings us another of his dynamic characterizations in the sharp, sure and detailed study of a small-town manufacturer, whose sense of moral responsibility is obscured by his faith in himself and in his ideals. Burt Lancaster, as the son who probes his father's conscience, is a bit too tense, yet presents his most convincing acting to date. Louisa Horton, Mady Christians and Howard Duff contribute fine support to the general strength and sincerity of the picture. The original force of Arthur Miller's play has been diluted by Chester Erskine's treatment to some extent, but it retains plenty of dynamite and dialogue that is punguent and true to life. The direction by Irving Reis, though not especially imaginative, is in perfect kev. "EXPLOITATION: The Arthur Miller play won the N. Y. Critics Award last year. Stress the sock performances of Robinson and Lancaster. Catchlines: "He Profiteered in Death" . . "He Bartered his Soul for Wealth." During the war, Robinson had deliberately ordered shipment of defective parts from his airplane cylinder factory, ultimately causing the crash of 21 planes. In the resulting investigation he shoved the blame on his partner, Frank Conro}^ who was sentenced to prison. Conroy's daughter, Louisa Horton, had been engaged to Robinson's aviator son, now missing in action. The mother, Mady Christians, refuses to accept the knowledge of his death, Louisa comes to visit the family and falls in love with their otiier son, Burt Lancaster. From her and her brother, Howard Duff, he begins to have doubts Jibout his father's innocence. Robinson finally confesses his defection, but even after Lancaster beats him in an agonized frenzy, he does not feel any qualms. Only when he reads the farewell letter from his son, who had chosen to die rather than live with his father's guilt, does he realize the frightfulness of his crime. His suicide bullet rings the climax. ABRAMS. 'THE NOOSE HANGS HIGH' TYPICAL ABBOTT & COSTELLO SLAPSTICK Rates — where stars click: goo Eayle-Lion 77 Minutes. Bud Abbott, Lou Costello. Cathy Dozs.'ns, Jo.<!c/h Calleia. Leon Errol. Mike Maaurki. Jack Overman, Ben Weldon, Joe Kirk. Matt Willis. Isabel Randolph, Harry Broivn. Directed by Charles Barton. The irrepressible .A.bbott and Costello romp through their time-tested gags in a comic display that will please their fans. "The Noose Hangs Higii" is about as subtle as a Mack Sennett custard pie, but a staple piece of comedy merchandise. It is unadulterated slapstick that will accommodate A C fans on a laugh-spree. With seven writers on the job, they might have been expected to work up some new material, but following the theory that a good joke is worth d dualler generally repeating, they omitted any romance and polished up the gags that have served them for years. Director-producer Charles Barton has also added some visual gag stuff that gives the film variety, although it falls sliort of being sidesplitting. The two clowns are mixed up in a screw-ball story of tough bookies and gamblers, ^vitli excitable Lou Costello providing his familiar pratfalls and slow burns, while Bud Abbott dead-pans tlie straight part. Leon Errol adds a touch of droll humor, and Cathy Downs, Joseph Calleia and Mike Mazurki are competent stooges. EXPLOITATION: Sell it as a loud and funny picture loaded with laughs. Make up a circular to look like a "tip" sheet — the best tip being advice to see this picture. .Abbott and Costello are busy at their job of window cleaning, when Ixiokie. Joseph Calleia, mistakes them for messenger boys. He sends them to collect $50,000 from a gambler, who pays them and then tries to hi-jack them. Tiiey manage to mail the dough, but in a mix-up, it is sent to Cathy Downs. Calleia needs it in a hurry to pay a debt to Leon Errol, so the boys are on a spot. They trace Downs and find that she has spent most of the money. With the remaining $2,000, they place a bet on a sure tip — and lose. Fearful of Calleia and his hoods, they run up a big bill in a fancy restaurant in hopes of finding safety in jail. Calleia catches up with them and is about to bump them off, when Errol and Downs arrive. Errol had lost a bet of $50,000 to her, and with this money everybody gets paid off — and everybody is hripp}-, with the exception of Calleia, who gets pushed into a vat of cement.' YORK. APRIL 12, 194 »