Motion Picture Daily (Jan-Mar 1956)

y, February 27, 1956 Motion Picture Daily 11 lotion rici lure Udiiy r Gature ii iGVlCWS 3r-Exposed Columbia Please Murder Me DCA-Gross-Krasne sjJndout performance by Richard Crenna, who masters a supportive easily, might well be a box-office "find" in Columbia's modify budgeted film, "Over-Exposed." Cleo Moore is featured as a is girl turned photographer who unwittingly rises to the top of Irofession while turning a deaf ear to thriving crime. Itraying an ambitious reporter who risks his life to rescue Miss I j from her criminal associates, Crenna gives an admirable pergnce, one that could serve as a springboard to starring roles. As Ibine photographer, Miss Moore fails to match Crenna's dramatic Is and apparently depends heavily on him to produce the dramatic Bus. I Lily Krensa, Miss Moore, ordered to leave the city after being led during a night club raid by police, befriends Raymond Greenlas a free-lance photographer. Offering to pay her for modeling, ■deaf assists her in learning the mechanics and technical aspects 1: photo trade, eventually giving her his prize camera as she sets |>r New York. There she meets Crenna who, in addition to putting |i contact with a favorable night club owner who gives her a job, In love with her. ■ satisfied with the work at the club, she later transfers to another |:ainment spot known to have criminal backing. During her work, Inadvertently snaps a picture of a criminal who earlier that night Iiurdered an accomplice. Unfortunately for Miss Moore, she buries Iicriminating print in her files to be used later for bribery rather ■release the convicting evidence to the police. Subsequently, her backfires and Crenna rescues her from the crime syndicate ie kidnapped her in their attempt to find the master print. Cleared ice for her efforts in abolishing the syndicate, Miss Moore marries a in time for a European honeymoon as staffers for the same news Inning time, 80 minutes. General classification. Release date not J. E. i letable Mark Stevens-United Artists htly directed and written, "Timetable" is an interesting picture, incipal fault lies in the fact that the pace at which it starts is not intact to the end. Mark Stevens, known to TV audiences as a starlcer-director, performed all three chores on "Timetable." starts with an ingenious train payroll robbery executed by an aldoctor. Roth the insurance company and the railroad put their etectives to work on the case but there isn't a loophole to be found, railroad man insists there's no such thing as a perfect crime, but lsurance investigator, Stevens, isn't as certain. And well he might, it of nowhere comes the realization he's the brains behind the encaper." The audience is given no indication of his complicity and relation, about one-third of the way through the film, is a stunning twist. vens' direction is terse and tense and proves he is capable of really tant work. His acting, as well as the others', is in the same tempo ontributes enormously to the film's effectiveness. None of the other s are known but that doesn't prevent their giving good perform. King Calder is the cop, Felicia Fair the doctor's wife in love with xis and Marianne Stewart is Stevens' wife who learns too late his 'isfaction with his life and thus his flirtation with crime, e title refers to the split second precision with which Stevens has led the robbery and the escape. "Timetable," which has a screenby Aben Kandel from a story by Robert Angus, is a cut well above )rdinary melodrama, and most audiences should find it to their r )• nning time, 79 minutes. General classification. Release date not When it comes to suspense and a guessing game, "Please Murder Me" qualifies as a film sure to please both the audience and the box office. It combines selling elements of superb casting, an intriguing plot and deft photography that aptly serve to boost the performances of Angela Lansbury, Raymond Burr and Dick Foran. As Myra Leeds, Miss Lansbury offers an appropriate contrast to her recent portrayal in "The Court Jester." Here, she assumes the cloak of a murderess and shares her criminal life with her husband, Foran, and a painter. Burr, as Foran's criminal lawyer, falls for Miss Lahsbury's trap, that of falling in love with her, with an alternate motive that he would defend her in event of any later court action. The somewhat complex plot brings about the murder of Foran and Miss Lansbury's subsequent acquittal at the trial under Burr's capable guidance. Realizing his fatal mistake in protecting her when she did commit the murder, Burr organizes a plan that includes his own subsequent murder by Miss Lansbury and the killing of her amorous painter with whom she was planning a European voyage. The guessing game ends with Burr's murder at the hands of Miss Lansbury and her subsequent apprehension by police who, via the use of a tape recorder, have the necessary evidence for a conviction. Donald Hyde directed the production which gives the audience, particularly adults, the opportunity to solve the crimes. Running time, 78 minutes. Adult classification. March release. Uranium Boom Columbia The lure of uranium and the cut-throat tactics of surveyors who envision complete control of its sources are the themes of Columbia's "Uranium Boom." Featured are Dennis Morgan, Patricia Medina and William Talman. A moderately budgeted film directed by William Castle and produced by Sam Katzman, it offers an unusual plot on an original and timely subject and treats it realistically. Morgan gives a favorable performance as a cowhand and lumberjack who, after having been drawn to the much publicized uranium town, joins up with Talman, portraying a similar fortune hunter, and then sets out for the Colorado hills armed with mining equipment. At the outset the story moves rapidly, then slackens after the team makes a rich uranium strike, to introduce Miss Medina who, unknown to Morgan, was seeking Talman, her presumed fiance. However, she meets Morgan, falls in love with him, they marry and return to the mine with Talman, who leaves it in the hands of the newly married couple. Envisioning even more riches than he had previously dreamed, Morgan sets out to take over claims of adjoining prospectors who fail to meet annual improvement obligations as required by law. Meanwhile, Talman completes plans for the financial doom of Morgan and through two accomplices spreads the rumor to his former mining partner that a new railroad spur is coming to the area. Money-hungry Morgan mortgages his interests to buy new claims near the rail line and then learns of the hoax that leads to his bankruptcy. All ends well as Morgan, Miss Medina and Talman return the claims to adjoining prospectors and set out anew for another strike. Running time, 67 minutes. General classification. Release in March. J.E. AMP A Meets Thursday A nominating committee for the new administration of Associated Motion Picture Advertisers will be elected at a closed meeting of the organization to be held Thursday at the Hotel Piccadilly here. Gets Story Post at RKO Archibald G. Ogden, formerly editor-in-chief of Appleton CenturyCrofts, book publishers, has been named associate story editor in the new Eastern story department of RKO Radio.