Independent Exhibitors Film Bulletin (1947)

■VARIETY GIRL" HAS VARIETY. GREAT CAST — A CROWD PLEASER Rates • • • on name draw in all situat Paramount 93 minutes Mary Hatcher, Olga San Juan, D^Forreit Kelley, Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, Gary Cjoper, Ray Milland, Alan Ladd, Barb-ira St-nwyck, Paulette Goddard, Dorothy Lamour, Veronica Lake, Sonny Tufts, Joan Caulfield, William Holden, Lizabeth Scott, Burt Lancasttv, Gail Russell, Diana Lynn, Sterling Hayden, Robert Preston, John Lund, WUliam Bendix, Barry Fitzgerald, Cass Daley, Howard Da Silva, Billy De Wolfe, Macdona!d Carey, Arleen Whelan, Patric Knowles, WiUiam Demarest, Mona Freeman, Cecil Kellavvay, Johnny Coy, Virginia Field, R'chard Webb, Stanley Clements, Frank Fayleii, Frank Ferguson, Cecil B. DeMille, Mitchell Leisen, Frank Butle'r, George Mai^ shall, Roger Dann, Pearl Bailey, The Mulcays. Spike Jones and his City Slickers. Paramount has poured virtually its erf re star roster into this variety show and that guarantees topflight grosses in most locations. For mass audiences who will willing ly overlook the fragile, tongue-in-cheek story of a modern Cinderella's fantasticallvrapid rise to stardom, "Variety Girl" will be a great show, for it is chock-full of amusing and entertaining specialties, not the least of which are a couple of routines by those ever-popular kibitzers, Crosby and Hope, and some behind-the-scenes revela lons tions of cartoon making. The principals of the story thread are Mary Hatcher, Olga San Juan and DeForrest Kelley, and all l.iiree display talent that augurs well for iheir futures. But the "supporting" cast is the big thing in this musical comedy revue and the lure that will roll up strong boxcfflce returns. High spots of the picture, in addition to the Crosby-Hope routines, are the singing of Pearl Bailey and a hilarious number by Spike Jones' City Slickers. George Marshall's direction is rather slipshod, but only hypercritical patrons w 11 notice it; most of the audience will be enjoying the stars. EXPLOITATION: The big selling point, obviously, is the cast. All receipts of gala premieres in 30 Variety Tent cities will go to the organization's Heart Fund for c'li'd v/elfare; the ensuing publicity should hsip £howmen in those and adjacent communities. Don't overlook mention of the keyhole insight into Hollywood. Seeking a film career, Mary Hatcher assumes the stage name of Amber LaVonne and goes to Hollywood. There she discovers brassy blonde Olga San Juan has appropriated both her name and hotel reservation. Despite this, the two become pals. Studio head Frank Ferguson hears Mary is seeking a career, sends talent scout DeForrest Kelley to find her. Unknown to Mary, she'd been abandoned in Fred's Pittsburgh theatre 18 years before and subsequently been car REVIEWS in This Issue Variety Girl 19 Merton of the Movies 19 Black Gold 19 The Secret Life of Walter Mitty 20 Black Narcissus 20 Slave Girl 20 Her Husband's Affairs 21 The Trespasser 21 Lured 21 Second Chance 22 Rustlers of Devil's Canyon 22 Gas House Kids Go West 22 The Green Cockatoo 22 The Vow 23 Shopgirls of Paris 23 ed for secretly by the Variety Club. Mary and Olga run into many hilarious adventures. Because Olga has assumed Mary's nom-de-movie, she gets all the breaks, louses up ever;' one of them. Ensuing complications reach their peak when Fred gives the crow-voiced Olga an opportunity to sing at t!:e Variety Club convention, whoi? all the sta:s are to appear in songs and s'^its. To aid her chum, Mary does the actual warbling from a hidden mike. DeForrest, in love with Mary, helps with the deception. After several false starts, Olga, suddenly contrite, reveals Mary as the vocalist. All ends hrppily. 'MERTON OF THE MOVIES' UNLIKE ORIGINAL. BUT OK SKELTON VEHICLE Rates • • + as top dualler except for action houses M-G-M 82 minutes Red Skelton, Virgina O'Brien, Gloria Grahame, Leon Ames, Alan Mowbray, Charles D. Brown, Hugo Haas, Harry Hayden, Tom Trout, Douglas Fowley, Dick Wessell. Directed by Robert Alton. This is a remake of a picture made in 1924 by Paramount from a novel by Harry Leon Wilson and the Broadway stage hit by George S. Kaufman and Marc Connelly. Metro and producer Albert Lewis have taken many liberties with the original, substituting slapstick for pathos, gags for poignancy and heart-throbs. A Mack Sennett climax, as out of character as it is unnecessary, has been tossed in to wind up the picture. All this will displease and disappoint the older generation who remember the novel and the play, but the current version will prove to be quite satisfactory to Red Skelton's following. His antics are amusing, some very funny, and what is left of the original plot is more basis than is usually found in his films. Virginia O'Brien, whose forte is singing and mugging, does neither, but handles her first straight rcle capably enough. The others in the cast are strict stereotypes. Robert Alton's direction is routine. Production just ordinar". Boxoffice returns will be best in naborhood and rural houses; weakest in action spots. EXPLOITATION; Plav up the fame of "Merton of the Movies" as a best-selling novel, a theatrical smash hit on Broadway, and a picture so good it had to be remade. Let Skelton's myraid fans know it's his best role to date. In personal column of Iccal nev/spaper place an ad: "Do you want to become a film star? See 'Merton of the Movies' at Blank Theatre." Fired for watching too many movies, theatre usher Red Skelton foils a boxoffice robbery by employing a trick of his favorite star Leon Ames. As a publicity stunt, Ames brings Red to Hollywood as his protege. After a day of intensive publicity stills taking, the screenstruck Red is given a brushoff by Ames. For weeks he haunts the studios vainly seeking a break. When the long-awaited chance comes, he muffs it by overacting. Virginia O'Brien, stunt girl for Red's dream girl Gloria Grahame, takes pity on the youth and persuades producer Charles D. Brown to use him as a burlesque replacement of Ames, off on one of his periodic binges. Knowing hov/ seriously Red takes his career, Virginia prevails on Erown to order the company to keep Red frcm knowing the film is a travesty. Not until he sees the sneak preview does Red realize he has been hoaxed. His grief turns to dismay on seeing Ames and tv/o henchmen enter the theatre intent on murdering him for making a mock of the replaced star. Fast thinking by Brown effects a reconciliation. Red, his career now assured, weds Virginia. "BLACK GOLD' CINECOLOR RACE HORSE YARN HAS HEART INTEREST Rates • O +as dualler generally -Allied Artists f^'J minutes .\nthony Quinn, Katherine DeMille, Elyse Knox, Kane Richmond, Ducky Louie, Raymond Hatton, Thurston Hall, Alan Bridge, Moroni Olsen, H. T. Tsiang, Charles Trowbridge, Jack Norman. Directed by Phil Karlsen. Here is a straightforward, entertaining story of a horse, a colt bred by an Indian and ridden by a Chinese to victory in the Kentucky Derby. As might be expected, it has nlenty of hokum — and plenty of heart interest, elements which will put it over v/ith family audiences. It also contains a subtle preachment on racial tolerance as an integral part of its well-knit plot, ably scripted by Agnes Christine Johnson. "Black Gold" should please adult and juvenile patrons in most situations and, suitably exploited, register gratifying grosses. Its Cinecolor tints, somewhat pallid in exterior long shots, are particularly striking in interiors and portraits. Best performances are those of Anthony Quinn as a genial, horse-loving Indian, and Ducky Louie as his youthful Chinese ward. Production quality is superior. Phil Karlson's direction is sympathetic and deft. EXPLOITATION: Aim your appeal at the family trade. For animal-lovers, obtain the cooperation of local SPCA, livery stables and riding academies. Editors, clergymen and welfare workers may be counted on to aid in promoting the film's racial tolerance theme. Stress the exciting race sequences photographed in Cinecolor at Churchill Downs, Ky.; the thrilling scenes shov/ing the bringing in of an oil well, and the authentic depiction of American Indian tribal customs. Orphaned when smugglers shoot his father, Sino American Ducky Louie is adopted by full-blood Indian Anthony Quinn and his college-bred squaw Katherine DeMille. To pay a $2,000 stud fee so his mare Black Hope may be bred to a prize Kentucky stallion, Quinn leases his land to oilman Kane Richmond, betrothed to Ducky's schoolteacher, Elyse Knox. The well comes in but Black Hope dies while foaling Black Gold. Quinn, injured in an accident, leaves his now palatial home to die near the graves of his ancestors. Ducky later rides Black Gold to victory in the Kentucky Derby, Katherine proudly receiving the trophy in the name of her late husband. JULY 21, 1947 19