The Independent Film Journal (1954)

“Battle Cry” (Warner Bros.) CinemaScope-WarnerColor 149 Min. Cast: Van Heflin, Aldo Ray, Mona Freeman, Nancy Olson, James Whitmore, Raymond Massey, Tab Hunter, Dorothy Malone, Anne Francis, William Campbell, John Lupton, Justus E. McQueen, Perry Lopez, Fess Parker, Jonas Applegarth, Tommy Cook, Felix Noriego. Credits: Directed by Raoul Walsh; Screen play by Leon M. Uris from his novel of the same name. An epic of the Marines in World War II, ‘‘Battle Cry” surges forth as one of the mightiest and most commercial pictures of its category to reach the screen. The story is based on the best-selling novel of the same name and, like the novel, deals with a multitude of personalities and their reactions to that major war. Tying the narrative together is a commentary by one of the players, James Whitmore, who portrays a tough master ser¬ geant, the man who puts into effect the orders of his superior, battalion commander Van Hef¬ lin. As pivotal characters, these two professional Marines begin to shape up a.11 outfit of recruits in 1942, participate with them in the battles for Guadalcanal, Tarawa and Saipan. Prior to the battle sequences of this long picture a variety of compelling romances involving the men of the outfit takes place. Here Aldo Ray, Tab Hunter, William Campbell and John Lup¬ ton play opposite Mona Freeman, Nancy Olson, Dorothy Malone and Anne Francis. These early sequences possess moments of passion, lust, tenderness and humor; wisely, they serve to counterpoint the later battle scenes with a warmth that should find favor with the women in the audience. The vast American public will discover ‘ ‘ Bat¬ tle Cry” to be highly entertaining. Drama is continuous throughout the proceedings, which sometimes border on the talky side but rarely drag. Action crops up intermittently to whet the edge of most of the early sequences, when the Marine outfit is in training and far from the South Pacific spot where the final battles occur. Veteran director Raoul Walsh imbues each action scene with the correct degree of zest while the romantic portions lean heavily “Jupiter’s Darling” (M-G-M) CinemaScope-Eastman Color 96 Min. Cast: Esther Williams, Howard Keel, Marge and Gower Champion, George Sanders, Richard Haydn, William Demarest, Norma Varden, Douglas Dumbrille, Henry Corden. Credits: Produced by George Wells; Directed by George Sidney; Screen play by Dorothy Kingsley; Based on "The Road to Rome" by Robert E. Sher¬ wood; Songs by Burton Lane and Harold Adamson. Howard Keel and Esther Williams in M-G-M's "Jupiter's Darling," CinemaScope-Eastman Color Tab Hunter and Aldo Ray in Warner Bros.' "Bat¬ tle Cry," CinemaScope-Warner-Color on the suggestive side for dramatic effect. Performances are excellently in keeping with the broad and sweeping atmosphere of the film. Heflin, particularly, excels in lending a deep, personal insight to the role of the fighting Marine commander. His death on Saipan is one of the high points of a film that frequently moves the emotions. Miss Olson, playing a New Zealand war widow in love with Ray, one of the Marines, also contributes a stirring per¬ formance. The distaff side will find much sympathy with her portrayal and will react strongly to her dilemmas. In regard to production, ‘ ‘ Battle Cry ’ ’ reg¬ isters with scenic splendor due to fine WarnerColor tinting and adroit CinemaScope photo¬ graphy. Shots of endless lines of Marines in combat, on the parade ground and boardingship are magnificent to behold. Directional sound adds a great deal of realism to these vistas and enhances particularly the drama of exploding shells and scorching flame throwers. Chalk up ‘ ‘ Battle Cry ’ ’ as one of the really big pictures about World War II and a sure¬ fire genera] audience grosser as well. With the accent strongly on fun and frolic, “Jupiter’s Darling,” a bright and spirited CinemaScope-Eastman Color musical, seems likely to brighten the hearts of both movie-goers and exhibitors alike. Strong marquee values are present in star names of Esther Williams and Howard Keel, while solid support is offered by Marge and Gower Champion. The picture is based on Robert E. Sherwood ’s political satire, “The Road to Rome,” but the scripters have left out the serious implications of the original play to concentrate on the comedy and songs. In doing so, the top-drawer score of songwriters Burton Lane and Harold Adam¬ son is allowed to come to the fore, and the witty and tuneful songs spark the entire picture. In addition to affording excellent entertainment in themselves, they should prove a valuable aid in exploiting the film. Set in ancient Rome, the picture purports to tell, tongue-in-cheek, why the Carthaginian leader Hannibal and his army stopped their victory march at the gates of Rome rather than conquer the city. The answer, of course, is Miss Williams, fiancee of the Roman Emperor and seductress who steals the heart of the mighty warrior. With Keel playing Hannibal in a style harmonious with the genera! spoofing tone of the plot, the whole thing is never to be taken too seriously. In the course of the proceedings. Miss Williams gets the chance to perform an underwater ballet and participates in an excitingly lensed underwater chase. The major share of the vocal chores are handled by Keel, while the Champions lead most of the dance numbers. One of their rout¬ ines, ‘ ‘ The Life of an Elephant, ’ ’ in which they dance with a group of these animals, is a sheer delight. The film contains a rousing victory march, catchy love ballad and several humorous songs. Sets and costumes are colorful, and director George Sidney has used his Cine¬ maScopeEastman Color photography with great skill. It all adds up to a highly pleasant show that should leave all concerned with a feeling of general good humor. “The Racers” (20th-Fox) CinemaScope-DeLuxe 112 Min. Cast: Kiik Douglas, Bella Darvi, Gilbert Roland, Cesar Romero, Lee J. Cobb, Katy Jurado, Charles Goldner, John Hudson, George Dolenz, Agnes Laury, John Wengral. Credits: Produced by Julian Blaustein; Directed by Henry Hathaway; Screen play by Charles Kaufman; From a novel by Hans Ruesch; Song by Jack Brooks and Alex North, sung by Peggy Lee. An exciting romantic adventure melodrama about auto sports car racing in Europe is dished up by 20th Century-Fox in this CinemaScope, DeLuxe Color presentation. Boasting a tremendous number of fascinating sport racing scenes and the star name of Kirk Douglas, the picture should acquit itself very well with the action fans. An equal amount of footage de¬ voted to the up-and-down romance between Douglas, who plays a champ racer, and Bella Darvi, as a ballet dancer, should find appeal with the distaff side, thus greatly broadening the audience potential for ‘ ‘ The Racers. ’ ’ Plot has been painstakingly contrived and smoothly enough executed to surmount most of the obvious situations that a picture of this sort usually would contain. Douglas, with his main ambition to become a champ racer, re¬ ceives ample opportunity from the script to develop a strong character and thus wrest understanding and often sympathy from the audience. His arrogance, selfishness and down¬ right meanness is dramatized with a fresh and convincing slant. Reasons for the changes in his character are sound. A racing accident brings him a crippled leg, and his success at being a champion despite the handicap causes him to become socially obnoxious. His romance with Miss Darvi consequently suffers and only when he goes out of his way to help a rival racer in distress, and thus lose his own race, does he redeem himself in her eyes. Adding punch to this story are the performances of Gilbert Roland, Cesar Romero, Lee J. Cobb and Katy Jurado. Picture comes through with strong atmos¬ pheric flavoring due to location shooting at the sites of some of the most famous auto sports car racing in Europe. CinemaScope adds to the sensation of reality in depicting the broad and winding stretches of road on which the cars surge along. Stereophonic sound and coloring also contribute greatly to achieving the desired effects. The above-mentioned technical aides help build quantities of suspense during each Kirk Douglas, Cesar Romero, Bella Darvi in 20thFox's "The Racers," CinemaScope-DeLuxe Color 14 THE INDEPENDENT FILM JOURNAL— February 5, 1955