Motion Picture Daily (Oct-Dec 1951)

8 Motion Picture Daily Wednesday, October 17, 1951 Reviews "The Unknown Man" (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) WALTER PIDGEON and ANN HARDING co-star in this quietly exciting drama dealing with the legal profession. Their solid and competent performances are matched by those of an excellent supporting cast, which includes Barry Sullivan, Keefe Brasselle, Lewis Stone, Eduard Franz, Richard Anderson and several others. The screenplay of Ronald Millar and George Froeschel focuses on Pidgeon, a famous corporation counsel, who is duped into defending a murderer in a criminal action Believing the man to be innocent, Pidgeon allows his own conscience and a wily attorney to trick him into pleading the defense in :ourt. The murderer goes free, whereupon Pidgeon encounters circumstances that leave him with little doubt that he saved a guilty man from the electric chair. The lawyer then engages in some quiet sleuthing with a view to incriminating the client who so brazenly played him for a fool. Before the plot completes its labyrinthian course, Pidgeon discovers the identity of the kingpin of the city's rackets empire, kills him, is amazed to find this murder neatly pinned on his former client. Pidgeon himself then willingly meets death at the hands of the now erroneously accused man on a visit to the latter's prison cell. As a cross between a courtroom drama and a detective story, "The Unknown Man" should find more or less easy acceptance among devotees of either. Equally, it is an emotional drama, drawing such reserve from the interpersonal relationships of Pidgeon and his genteel, understanding wife, Miss Harding ; Pidgeon and Brasselle, the client ; Pidgeon and Franz, a crime commissioner, and Pidgeon and Sullivan, the district attorney. It is to filmgoers who find entertainment in drama of this second category that the film will have greatest appeal. It was produced by Robert Thomsen and directed by Richard Thorpe. Running time, 86 minutes. General audience classification. Release date, not set. Charles L. Franke "The Lavender Hill Mob" (J. Arthur Rank-L1 niversal-International) A LIVELY, humorous film which bubbles with good-natured pokes at the efficiency of modern police methods has been fashioned in this J. Arthur Rank production, starring Alec Guinness. "The Lavender Hill Mob" should do especially well in "art" houses, the audiences of which have already responded favorablv to light, sophisticated British humor. The film concerns a meek, modestlv paid bank employee, played by Guinness, whose daily task is to supervise the transportation of millions of dollars worth of gold bullion to the Bank of England. But Guinness, although outwardly a Mr. Milquetoast, has dreams of grandeur — of committing the perfect crime and taking off with a million-dollar gold swag. For this purpose he lines up one of his boarding house neighbors, an artist and business man, played by Stanley Holloway. Together they plan to convert the gold bullion into innocuous looking molds of Eiffel Tower paper-weights and in that way sell the gold on the Continental black market. The perfect crime goes haywire, however, when some of the gold paper weights are innocently sold in Paris to a group of vacationing English school girls. The two then must make their way back to London and try to retrieve the evidence. What follows is one of the most hilarious scenes in British comedy with Guinness adeptly snarling up practically the entire London police force. The winning, crooked ma-stermind Guinness is apprehended finally, to be sure, but after a year of luxurious living in Brazil. The film contains many witty asides at the foibles of present day society. Others in the cast include Sidney James, Alfie Bass, Marjorie Fielding, Eddie Martin, John Salew, Ronald Adam and Arthur Hambling. Michael Baleen produced and Charles Crichton directed, from a screenplay by T. E. B. Clarke. Running time, 82 minutes. General audience classification. October release. Murray M. Horowitz National Pre-Selling GOOD HOUSEKEEPING was the first magazine to tie-in with the industry's Council of Motion Picture Organization's "It's Movietime U. S. A." in its recent trade advertising. In the October and November issues. Good Housekeeping carries advertisements for M-G-M's "An American in Paris," Paramount's "A Place in the Sun," Warner Brothers' "Captain Horatio Hornblower" and "A Streetcar Named Desire" ; also two advertisements on M-G-M's "Westward the Women" and RKO's "The Blue Veil." The November issue of Coronet magazine will feature Paramount's "Detective Story" as its recommended "Movie of the Month," which marks the eighth time this year the company has been cited on this list. And, in counterpoint, a recent bulletin of the Allied Independent Theatre Owners of Iowa and Nebraska suggested that exhibitors write letters of appreciation to Coronet for its article on motion pictures in the September issue. • Over 400 stores in the Greater New York area are joining with 20th Century-Fox in one of the most intensive promotions for "The Desert Fox," which will open here today at the Globe Theatre on Broad-way. Book and department stores will feature the bestseller, "Rommel, the Desert Fox" on which the picture is founded. • George Pal's forthcoming science-fiction fantasy, "When Worlds Collide,'' has received the endorsement of Boys' Life and Scouting magazines, official publications of the Boy Scouts of America, and will be recommended to their more than 2,700,000 readers in the November issues. Boys' Life is read by more than 2,000,000 youngsters each month, while Scouting is distributed to 700,000 adults who are active as scout leaders. The picture, now playing its world premiere engagement in London, will be released here by Paramount in November. • Half an hour after the October issue of Esquire arrived in Vancouver, B. C, Norman J. Duncan, manager of the Strand Theatre there had copies of the Susan Hayward color fold on display and placed in store windows as part of his exp^dta^on for "David and Bathsheba." In addition, the magazine distributors placarded their delivery trucks and arranged 27 magazine displays around the city. The candy bar at the theatre had a s'milar display with the cooperation of the magazine distributors. • American Youth Institute has given RKO's "On the Loose" a special citation for "excellence in faithfully mirroring one of the symptomatic causes of tccn-aifc problems." The picture, produced by Filmakers, co-stars Joan Evans and Melvyn Douglas, and tells a story of parental neglect. The Institute, a non-profit organization set up to study youth problems, makes an annual selection of motion pictures that reflect the most honest representations of the American scene. Keathe, MacNamara, Ban on Board Ottawa, Oct. 16. — Stuart Keathe of Victoria, British Columbia, Arthur MacNamara of Ottawa, and Charles S. Ban of Toronto have been appointed to the board of governors of the National Film Board of Canada for terms of three years. The forthcoming issue of Look, on the stands next Tuesday, has a twopage story on "Decision Before Dawn" which the magazine says is "a spy story with a reverse twist which makes a compelling movie about Germany's last days at war." The November Woman's Home Companion carries Hollywood reviews, and a fullpage on RKO's "The Blue Veil" with a "co-op" ad from Lux. — Walter Brooks Wald and Krasna to Attend Premiere Jerry Wald and Norman Krasna will visit New York to attend the world premiere of their film, "The Blue Veil," scheduled for the Criterion Theatre on Oct. 26. The RKO Radio release will open to a benefit performance for the 73rd annual campaign of the United Hospital Fund of New York with 100 per cent of the proceeds going to the fund. John Jenkins, 55 Dallas, Oct. 16. — Funeral services were held here today for John Jenkins. 55, head of Jenkins and Bourgeois, Astor Pictures' franchise distributor in Dallas. Jenkins died Saturday after a short illness. Survivors include the widow and a daughter. JVEWS in Brief . . . A final public hearing on proposed revisions in the Confectionery Industry Minimum Wage Order having been held here last weekend by a New York State Minimum Wage Board, it now is up to State Industrial Commissioner Edward Corsi to hold hearings on the Board's recommendations preparatory to putting the order in force. Motion picture theatres are important retailers of confections. Major revisions which have been under consideration by the board include raising the basic minimum hourly rate in the industry from 57JA cents to 75 cents for full time workers. Part time workers, . those working up to 32 hours a week, would receive a minimum hourly rate of 80 cents. • Buffalo, Oct. 16. — Dipson Theatres of Batavia, N. Y., will take its anti-trust case against six distributors to the U. S. Supreme Court. Last July, the Circuit Court of Appeals in New York upheld a decision of Federal Judge John Knight that the anti-trust laws were not violated by the defendants — Warner, Loew's, Paramount, RKO Radio, 20th Century-Fox and United Artists, and Buffalo Theatres. Now the high court will be asked to review the decision. • Distributive, Processing and Office Workers of America (District No. 65) has withdrawn from the NLRB election which will be held on Oct. 22 at Columbia's home office to determine the collective, bargaining agent for the company's 350 "white collar" workers, Russell M. Moss, executive vice-president of IATSE Motion Picture Home. Office Employes Local No. H-63, reported yesterday. The ballot will provide a choice between H-63 and "no union." • Hollywood, Oct. 16. — Jack L. Warner has been awarded the American Cancer Society's 1951 Award for Distinguished Service, in behalf of the Warner studio. The citation, signed by William J. Donovan, chairman of the board of the American Cancer Society, commended the studio's assistance and cooperation in the fight to conquer cancer. • Milwaukee, Oct. 16. — Warner's downtown Alhambra Theatre here, one of the oldest houses in the country, has reopened with the Midwest premiere of "A Streetcar Named Desire." The Alhambra will continue to play first-run films. • Denver, Oct. 16. — Five new drivein theatres are under construction m this territory, some of them to start operating this fall. Theatre Enterprises is setting up drive-ins at Belen, Gallup and Deming, all in New Mexico ; Westland Theatres has a new site at Grand Junction, and John Roberts is building at Ft. Morgan, the latter two in Colorado. • Plans for the distribution of UA's "The Big Night," will revolve a good deal around a personal appearance tour by John Barrymore. Jr., who is the star of the vehicle. It is planned to have him visit key spots and appear extensively on radio and television programs.