Motion Picture Daily (Jul-Sep 1954)

6 Motion Picture daily Wednesday, July 21, 1954 Motion Picture Daily Feature Reviews "The Raid" {20th Century-Fox) VAN HEFLIN tops the cast of this well acted and well made Leonard Goldstein production in color by Technicolor, based on an actual incident of the Civil War involving a Confederate raid on the town of St. Albans, Vt., up near the Canadian border. The factual background enhances the drama and, with a good measure of action, suspense and romance included, the picture's chances for healthy grosses are good, especially where adventure films are in demand. As a Confederate major and prisoner of war, Heflin leads 11 other Rebel prisoners in a break from a Union camp in northern Vermont. It is near tile end of hostilities and at this distant Northern location there are few Union troops in the area. Heflin plans to destroy St. Albans, which he has entered, posing as a neutral Canadian business man, and devastate other towns in retaliation for the destruction of Southern communities by Union forces. His plans are complicated when lie falls in love with his landlady, played by Anne Bancroft, and becomes the hero of her small son, Tommy Rettig. Further complications are added by the hot temper of one of his Confederate associates, Lee Marvin, vidioni Heflin is forced to kill to prevent a murder in the village church. The incident makes him a hero in the eyes of the townspeople, but Heflin, nevertheless, proceeds with the burning of the village. Before escaping, he donsthe Confederate uniform, revealing himself in his true role to those who believed him their friend. Robert L. Jacks was producer, with Goldstein as executive producer. Hugo Fregonese directed and Sydney Boehm contributed the screen play, which was based on the Herbert Ravenal Sass story, "AfTair at St. Albans." Running time, 83 minutes. General classification. Release date, not set. "The Earrings of Madame De'' (Arlan Pictures) CHARLES BOYER and Danielle Darrieux head the cast of this Max Ophuls' production, which also offers Italian director Vittorio De Sica as an actor. Performances are uniformly good but the story is weak. What starts of? as something amusing soon begins to take itself too seriously and becomes over-long and tragic. The necessary ingredients of wit, irony and spice are missing from this turn-of-the-century tale, and its prospects for other than "art" houses are not good. Desperate for money, Madame De . . . (Miss Darrieux) sells her diamond earrings to a jeweler. They were a wedding gift from her husband, Monsieur De . . . (their last name is not used), played by Boyer. Fearing a scandal, the jeweler sells them back to the husband. The wife pretends they are lost. The husband presents them to his mistress who is bound for Constantinople. She loses them at cards, after which wealthy diplomat Baron Donati (Vittorio De Sica) purchases them and presents them to his cherished mistress, Madame De. When she pretends to have found them, her husband, who loves her and no other, realizes that the Baron, fresh from Constantinople, gave them to her. For the sake of honor, he demands that his rival take back the earrings and sell them to the jeweler, so that he can buy them back again. ; Madame De is caught in deceit and the Baron's love for her wanes. The earrings change hands a bit more before the lover and the husband meet in a gun duel over honor. Madame De is overcome and dies of a heart attack. Marcel Archard and Ophuls wrote the screenplay. Ophuls directed as well as produced. Running time, 105 minutes. Adult classification. Release date,July 19. flyBQA ARISTOCRAT OF THE AIR Direct New York • London aRITISH OVERSEAS AIRWAYS CORPORATION Reservations through your travel agent or call 6.O.A.C. at 342 Madison Ave., New York 17. N. Y.. tel. MU 7-8900 Walker {Continued from page 1) or Transamerica Corporation. For nine years he was vice-president, treasurer and general business manager of Edward Small Productions, Inc., and, prior thereto, was vicepresident of United Artists Corp. Fellerman to Coast For Product Survey Max Fellerman, vice president and general manager of Lopert Films, Inc., operators of the Astor, Victoria and Bijou Theatres in New York as well as theatres in Washington and Chicago, will leave here today for his annual trip to Hollywood. Fellerman, who recently booked Warner Brothers' "A Star is Born" for a simultaneous showing in both the Astor and Victoria Theatres, will confer with major studios as well as the independents on plans for the Astor and Victoria Theatres for the coming season. "The Weak and the Wicked" {Marble ArchA A) Hollywood, July 20 \\/ITH the absence of top-player names, this British production which * *^ deals with prison life favoring minimum-security jails over the old, iron-barred ball-and-chained institutions of confinement, is given earnest dramatization by a cast headed by Glynis Johns, the principal player, who has some U. S. following which may help the picture commercially. The film contains plenty of melodramatic material, emotions and reactions of feminine prisoners. The production appears to rely to a large extent on the sensationalized type of promotion, and it does present cases and dialogue lines that suggest limitation to adult audiences. The film, which is a collection of events rather than one single story, stays on the high road and proves its point. The screenplay by J. Lee-Thompson and Anne Burnaby, from a novel by John Henry, opens with the framing of Miss Johns, on a charge of fraud by a gambling house owner to whom she owes more than she could pay. This is the story device to get her innocently into prison, so the audience can view through her experiences, the troubles and causes which got her fellow inmates into jail. After a period in the maximum-security prison, she is moved to a minimum-security annex where she, and the others, prove themselves trustworthy and are appropriately rewarded. This film is a Marble Arch Production produced by Victor Skutezky and directed by co-writer Lee Thompson. Running time, 72 minutes. Adult classification. Release date, July 18. WILLIAM R. WEAVER f-ff River Beat' {Lippcrt-Abtcon) Hollywood, July 20 W ITH American Phyllis Kirk heading a list of top British players, this film qualifies as a standard English melodrama for satisfactory exhibition on this side of the Atlantic. Because of its 73-minute running time, the picture can be handily fitted into either panel of a dual program, or, if suitably surrounded by appropriate subsidiary subjects, the picture can play on a single bill. It is, in whatever way or connection it is booked, a properly professional story of an American sea captain who does a spot of diamond smuggling on the side, gets caught at it, plus some murdering, and is jolly-well given the what's-for for the minions of the law, namely Scotland Yard. Miss Kirk portrays an American girl who is a radio officer aboard a ship captained by the gentlemanly smuggler whose complicated operations include using her as an unknowing conveyor of diamonds concealed in cigarette packs. How she meets and falls in love with a man who turns out to be a British detective and the ultimately successful victor over the perfidious seaman and his felonious associates is set forth in orthodox fashion, with occasional violence and the usual climactic chase. The Am.erican Herman Cohen is down as executive producer, with England's Victor Hanbury as producer of this hands-across-the-sea melodrama which is directed by Guy Green from a screenplay written by Rex Rienitz. Running time, 73 minutes. General audience classification. Release date, July 16. W. W. Eady Levy (Continued from page 1) ment merely confirming that the Eady Plan was discussed and that the talks were "friendly." Observers attribute the official reticence to the fact that the subject has been set down for discussion in the House of Commons on Thursday. In answering the question which will be put to him then, Thorneycroft is expected to make a full statement. Cinerama {Continued from page 1) Loew Net {Continued from page 1) for the 40 weeks ended June 10 were estimated at $138,250,000 against $133,612,000. For the current June quarter, these were estimated at $41,144,000 against $39,684,000. Censor Law (Continued from page 1) principle that the power to censor motion pictures is reserved to the states, but only where "definite and specific standards" are provided by statute. The Kansas statute "does not provide these standards," Judge Miller said. time in the fall, to be followed by Cinerama shows in Rome, Tokyo and a city in Western Germany before the end of 1954. When "This Is Cinerama" is launched in these five countries, Stanley Warner, in association with the Robin International group, will further extend its operations in certain other foreign countries. Robin International, Inc., is a corporation dealing exclusively in foreign trade, with offices in all parts of the world. It represents some of the largest American enterprises abroad. This is not Mr. Reisini's first venture in motion pictures since he has been engaged in foreign film distribution. Commenting upon his association with Cinerama, Reisini said that there is no doubt that "This Is Cinerama" will be a "spectacular" audience success abroad, perhaps even more so than in the United States. "However," he continued, "I am fascinated by the future of Cinerama because its export to foreign countries is more than a commercial enterprise. • It is a remarkable example of American 'know-how' in the motion picture field, demonstrating a technical advance beyond anything known."