Motion Picture Daily (Jan-Mar 1952)

6 Motion Picture Daily Tuesday, March 18, 1952 Motion Picture Daily Feature Reviews "The Story of Robin Hood" Ol'alt Dis)icy-RKO Radio) THE FAMILIAR Robin Hood legend is given a new and exciting reworking in this Walt Disney presentation. The film, in color by Technicolor, was made in England in authentic settings in Sherwood Forest and surrounding areas, with considerable historical research adding factuality to the screenplay. Robin Hood, as the timeless symbol of opposition to tyranny, has a universal appeal. As such the picture should register well with patrons of all ages, but especially with the younger set. Richard Todd plays the focal role as the dashing and adventurous outlaw who takes to the woods and builds up a freedom-loving following that plays havoc with the sinister and selfish rule of Prince John, portrayed by Hubert Gregg. The screenplay, by Lawrence E. Watkins, has its setting at the time when King Richard the Lionhearted left England to lead a Crusade to the Holy Land. As a consequence his evil brother conspired to usurp the throne with a view towards wringing from the people their wealth. There is a fresh and exhuberant loveliness to Joan Rice who plays the feminine lead as Maid Marian. Martita Hunt, who will be remembered here for her role in the Broadway hit "The Mad Woman of Chaillot" lends a touch of grand acting in the role of Queen Mother. Feats of hard riding, lusty combat and precision marksmanship surge through the picture at a continuous clip that is assured to keep the outdoor action fans tense and content. The story was directed by Ken Annakin. The basis of the story is built around the attempts to raise a huge ransom to free King Richard from his German captors. Robin Hood and his men are called into heroic action towards this end. By the finale Robin Hood is made an Earl and Maid Marian's hand is his. Perce Pearce produced. In other roles are James Hayter as Friar Tuck; Peter Finch as the wicked sheriff of Nottingham; and James Robertson Justice as Little John. Running time, 84 minutes. General audience classification. For July release. Mandel Herbstman "Whispering Smith vs. Scotland Yard" {RKO Pictures) SCOTLAND YARD had written off the death of a rich American's daughter as an apparent suicide, but Richard Carlson who portrays the vacationing U.S. railroad detective Whispering Smith discovers otherwise in this standard mystery film. The star and the all-British supporting cast render competent performances in the Julian Lesser-Exclusive Films production which was made in England. Although the film is at times exciting, it taxes one's credulity on occasion. The greater part of the marquee appeal probably lies in the famous "Whispering Smith" tag. Going to England for a vacation, Carlson, immediately becomes involved in the "apparent" suicide case, lured by a pretty secretary, Rona Anderson, to a rich American whose daughter died mysteriously some months earlier. Starting the case as a lark, the American quickly finds himself deeply involved in mayhem. Characters include a lovely suspect, Greta Gynt, a crooked lawyer, a puppet fancier and a ring of blackmailers. Scotland Yard found the case a suicide, but Carlson finds that it was murder and while dodging a similar fate himself, has time for a light romance with Miss Anderson. Miss Gynt gives a good account of her abilities as the beautiful and neurotic suspect posing as the American girl's best friend. English landscapes, street scenes and country houses add interest to Steve Fisher's screenplay. Francis Searle directed the story and adaptation by John Gilling, using the "Whispering Smith" character created by Frank H. Spearman. Others in the cast include Herbert Lorn, Alan Wheatley, Reginald Beckwith, Dora Bryan and Daniel Wherry. Running time, 77 minutes. General audience classification. March release. "Tarzan's Savage Fury" (Lesser Productions-RKO Pictures) THE full weight of Tarzan's savage fury falls on Charles Korvin and, to a lesser extent, Patric Knowles, a pair of jungle interlopers who rtupe Tarzan. They deceive him into guiding them to the land of the Wazuri, fierce, war-like tribesmen who possess fabulous amounts of diamonds. The plot thus set gives Lex Barker, as the Ape Man, plenty of opportunity to indulge in the kind of heroics that have paid off so well for many years. Dorothy Hart is his beautiful helpmate and young Tommy Carlton, introduced in this film, plays his foster son. Tarzan's idyllic existence here is disturbed by the appearance of Korvin and Knowles who, posing as British agents, pursuade the jungle man that England, in its defense effort, needs the Wazuri diamonds for the manufacture of precision instruments. Some members of the audience will immediately detect the pair as a couple of Russian agents ; although never stated specifically, they address each other in private as "Comrade." A passport uncovered by Cheeta, the chimpanzee, reveals the true identity of the pair after they have murdered several Wazuri and left Miss Hart to be executed by the tribe. Barker, with the aid of Cheeta and the young son, is able to dispatch the villains and make amends with the Wazuri in time to save Miss Hart's life. The main plot line is supplemented with numerous brushes with African wildlife and a brief psychological interlude during which the son overcomes his fear of lions. The up-to-date script was written by Cyril Hume, Hans Jacoby and Shirley White, based on the Edgar Rice Burrough's characters. Sol Lesser produced and Cyril Endfield directed. _ Running time, 80 minutes. General audience classification. March Release. "Ma and Pa Kettle at the Fair" (Universal-International) A HOMESPUN TALE, chock-full of the previously tested ingredients, is unravelled in this latest "Ma and Pa Kettle" production. Percy Kilbride as Pa is his whimsical, winning self, while Ma, played by Marjorie Main, remains true to form — the strong, warm and humorous personality, Pa's perfect mate. Its humor is for the unsophisticated audience. There are many persons throughout the country who prefer their fun in broad, unsubtle strokes. In "Ma and Pa Kettle at the Fair," the family, consisting of 14 unmarried children, is in financial straits. The house is mortgaged up to the hilt and at the beginning it looks as if the eldest daughter, just out of high school, will not be able to afford college. But Ma and Pa Kettle's resourcefulness overcame similar obstacles previously. In order to obtain money in this instance, they stake everything on Ma's showing at the country fair in the jam and home-baked bread contest. The plan is to capitalize on Ma's winning the jam contest by retailing the "Kettle Special" in stores. This falls through, however, when Ma inadvertently enters the harness race instead of the jelly event. Undauted, an old trotter is entered. It would not be cricket to tell who wins the race, but be assured the money is raised to put the daughter through college. Others in the cast include James Best, Lori Nelson, Esther Dale, Emory Parnell and Oliver Blake. Leonard Goldstein produced, while Charles Barton directed, from a screenplay by Richard Morris and John Grant. The story was written by Martin Ragaway, Leonard Stern and Jack Henley. Running time, 78 minutes. General audience classification. For April release. Murray Horowitz "The Pace That Thrills" (RKO Pictures) A STRAIGHTFORWARD action picture which should find a ready reception among action fans has been fashioned in "The Pace That Thrills," a film concerning motorcycling enthusiasts. Comprising the triangle about which the story moves are Bill Williams, an ace motorcycle test driver and racer ; Carla Balenda, pretty newspaper reporter who objects to some of Williams' ethics in the rough and tumble sport, and Steve Flagg, Williams' sidekick and rival for Miss Balenda's affections. The two men work for Robert Armstrong, manufacturer of motorcycles whose company is heading for a bad spot unless it can perfect a "revolutionary hydraulic transmission." Miss Balenda begins by being shocked at Williams' ways of winning a race and ends up loving both him and the sport and even investing her money in the new transmission. Numerous scenes of racing and trick riding punctuate the proceedings and make them quite lively. Lewis J. Rachmil produced and Leon Barsha directed, from a screenplay by DeVallon Scott and Robert Lee Johnson. Others in the cast are Frank McHugh, Cleo Moore, John Mallory and Diane Garrett. Running time, 63 minutes. General audience classification. For March release. "Valley of the Eagles" (Nat Bronsten-Lippert) Hollywood, March 17 THE best elements of natural history and melodrama are combined in this adroitly-made film. Laplanders' hunt-trained eagles swoop down and deal furious death to a pack of wolves on an Arctic plain at 45-below, in a scene of high impact. You will have to see a thousand-head herd of reindeer plodding in a milelong queue against a limitless snow-packed terrain, and then storm-driven into a self-destroying stampede over a vertical precipice, to realize the gripping power of this picture that held an unprepared audience at Hollywood's Egyptian theatre motionless and silent until breaking into applause at the conclusion of its previewing. Or, of course, you can take that audience's and this reporter's word for it that "Valley of the Eagles" is an entertainment experience rare and stimulating beyond the power of nomenclatural or adjectival billing to convey. That's what thrilled customers, with their own matchless eloquence, will be telling friends and neighbors after they have seen it. The overpowering natural drama of life as lived and forces unleashed in Lapland are mentioned first in this report because they are without precedent on the screen, but come second to a tensely melodramatic story that opens, and is photographed, in Stockholm, which has a Norwegian scientist robbed by his venal assistant and faithless wife of an invention valuable in peace or war which he is about to present to the United Nations. They flee across Sweden enroute to Finland and, presumtively, Russia, with the scientist and a Norwegian inspector of police in close pursuit. This melodramatic story, enacted principally by Jack Warner, Nadia Gray, John McCallum and Anthony Dawson, is finely told and highly suspenseful in its own right, and is brought to a smashing climax in a snow avalanche the like of which has not been seen on film. Producer Nat Bronsten and writer-director Terrence Young earn a lasting credit by combining this fiction and the thrilling facts of nature so skillfully that each enhances the other. Running time, 83 minutes. General audience classification. Release date, March 21.