The Exhibitor (1954)

MOTION PICTURE EXHIBITOR December 29, 1954 Woog and Hoche productions; directed by Ralph Habib. Story: When Francoise Amoul, unwed mother, is released from jail, she and her son, Christian Fourcade, get a lift to Paris from a friendly truck driver, Pierre Cressoy. Arriving without work, she is forced to enter upon her old occupation, prostitution. A heartless procurer, Ray¬ mond Pellegrin, sends her child to a home. Arnoul becomes embittered and hope¬ less, seeing no way out. However, she meets Cressoy again and he is willing to offer her love. He takes her and Fourcade to the zoo where he finds himself getting along well with the boy and offers her marriage. Pellegrin warns Amoul agaii^t leaving his employ. Meanwhile, Pellegrin, who gets new girls for his house by leading them on with promises of love and marriage, gets into an arguement with one of his disillusioned girls, Nicole Maurey. He kills her. Arnoul now can blackmail him into giving her her son and letting . her go. Pellegrin sets out to kill her, but Cressoy saves her. Amoul kills Pellegrin. Indications are that Cressoy will recover and Amoul will be acquitted to join him. X-Ray: An intimate insight into the prostitution racket in Paris, this should have plenty of angles for exploitation. The story is built on sentimentality and sharp contrasts between good and bad, but it is engrossifigly told and holds in^ terest. Aided by its frank approach to a taboo subject, this should be an adequate entry for art and exploitation spots. The screen play was written by Jacques Companeez. Ad Lines: “A Searing Story Of The Street Of Sin”; “A Stark Picture Of The Prostitution Racket”; “An Engrossing Tale Of A Woman Caught In A Trap With No Way Out”; “A FVank Glimpse On A For¬ bidden Portion Of Life.” An Inspector Calls Drama 80m. (Associate Artists) (English-made) Estimate: Okeh entry for the art and class spots. Cast: Alastair Sim, Arthur Young, Olga Lindo, Eileen Moore, Bryan Forbes, Brian Worth, Jane Wenham, Pat Neal, Amy Green, Catherine Willmer, Norman Bird, Olwen Brookes. Produced by A. D. Peters; directed by Guy Hamilton. Story: A well-to-do British couple are celebrating the engagement of their daughter, Olga Lindo, to Brian Worth. The occasion is interrupted by a police investigator, Alastair Sim, inquiring about the background of a girl who committed, suicide. Sim learns from the father that the girl in question was fired by him. It is also learned that Worth had had an affair with her. Lindo also became in¬ volved with the girl when she caused her to be fired from a fashionable store. The mother, a leader of a charity organiza¬ tion, had refused to help the girl when she applied for assistance. Sim then in¬ troduces a connection between the girl and the errant son of the family, Bryan Forbes, the father of the girl’s illegitimate child. Each member of the family becomes aware of his or her part in the girl’s suicide. Meanwhile, they discover that Sim is really not a police officer but a mys¬ terious visitor who came to make the family reflect on their own misdeeds. X-Ray: This British import blends mys¬ terious atmosphere with serious com¬ ments. Sim registers solidly as the super¬ human inspector. Audiences at art and class houses should find this above aver¬ age entry to their tastes. Desmond Davis wrote the screen play from the play by J. B. Priestley. Ad Lines: “A Piercing Study Of A Middle Class Family And The Discov¬ eries They Make About Themselves”; “England’s Noted Character Actor, Ala¬ stair Sim, In A Different Role”; “A Stim¬ ulating Film Based On J. B. Priestley’s Broadway Hit.” One Summer Of Happiness Drama 93m. (Times) (Swedish-made) (English titles) Estimate: Import can be exploited, especially by art houses. Cast: Folk Simdquist, Ulla Jacobsson, Edvin Adolphson, Irma Christensson, Gosta Gustavsson, Berta Hall, John Elfstrom, Erik Hell, Nils Hallberg, Sten Mattsson, Ame Kallerud, Gunvar Ponten, Hedvig Lindby, Axel Hogel, Sten Lindgren. Produced by Norisk Tonefilm; pro¬ duction supervisor, Lennart Landheim; directed by Ame Mattsson. Story: A funeral is being held in a small cemetery in the country. Folk Simd¬ quist enters, and in flashback is shown the love story of Simdquist and Ulla Jacobsson. Sent to work on his uncle’s farm, Sundquist meets Jacobsson, and they join the young people of the village in putting on amateur theatricals in the uncle’s bam. Frequently, however, they steal away by themselves. One night they seek shelter from a storm and hide in an attic where Sundquist’s aunt finds them. Jacobsson is sent away, but Sundquist finds out where she is staying. They are now fully aware of being in love, swim in a lonely lake in a forest. Sunquist’s father makes him return home, but he runs back to the farm and his love. A mentally deficient farm hand sets fire to the barn, but the show is put on anyway. The lovers endeavor to return home on Sundquist’s motor-bicycle, but Jacobsson dies in an accident. Back to the opening scene, Sund¬ quist can not stand the priest’s reproach¬ ing words and he runs away from the funeral. Alone at the lake he looks for memories of Jacobsson. X-Ray: While there are some good scenes in this much talked about film such as lovely shots of the Swedish land¬ scape, the festivities of midsummer’s •night, including some excellent folk dancing, and a crackling good fire at the end, the picture generally drags. The two young lovers handle their roles acceptably, and even their nude bathing scene is handled with taste and, possibly, innocence. TTie film won the grand prize at the Berlin Film Festival in 1952, and the grand prize at Le Festival De Phmta de l£te in 1952. It is from a novel by Per Olof Ekstrom, with screen play by W. Semitjov. Original music is by Sven Skold. English titles are by Herman G. Wein¬ berg. It should do best in art houses but might be exploited along “for adults only” lines elsewhere. Uncensored, the running time is 103 minutes. Ad Lines: “The Picture Everyone Is Talking About!”; “The International Prize Winning Film”; “In An Outburst Of Com¬ plete Surrender On A Warm Summer Eve, They Find Supreme Joy!” Profile Mystery Meller 65m. (American Feature Attractions) (English-made) Estimate: Import for lower half or art spots. Cast: John Bentley, Kathleen Byron, Thea Gregory, Stuart Lindsell, Garard Green, Ivan Craig, Lloyd Lamble, Frank Henderson, Bruce Beeby, John Parkes. Produced by J. Temple-Smith; directed by Francis Searle. Story: Stuart Lindsell starts a new magazine and names John Bentley editor. Lindsell’s second wife, Kathleen Byron, younger than he, likes to play aroimd and makes a pass at Bentley, who’s not inter¬ ested. The latter is attracted to Lindsell’s daughter by his first marriage, Thea Gregory. Garard Green, a disreputable artist who was Byron’s first husband, tries to blackmail her unsuccessfully. Lindsell is told he has but a few months to live unless he undergoes an operation. He asks Bentley to take over some of his duties including the signing of checks after Green tells him of the situation between Byron and Bentley. When Lind¬ sell dies, it turns out that much money has been withdrawn on checks signed by Bentley, who denies the whole thing claiming forgery. Byron offers to produce evidence clearing him if he will go away with her, but he refuses. Later she is found murdered and Bentley and Green are suspected. However, artist Ivan Craig is the murc^rer, jealous of Gregory’s art work which is accepted for the cover and involved with Byron. Bentley pursues him until Craig falls to his death in the giant presses, and Bentley and Gregory can now plan for a future together. X-Ray: Well-made, this entry has drama, intrigue, and a plot which should keep adult audiences fairly interested in the proceedings. There is some suspense. It could make up as part of the program in regulation bills, although the cast is relatively unknown, or in the art and specialty spots. (No screen play credit is available.) Ad Lines: “It Started With A Kiss And Ended With Murder”; “A Dynamic Tale Of A Wife Who Invited Murder When She Played Around With Other Men”; “Angel To One Man ... A She-Devil To Another.” True Friends Comedy Drama 99m. (Artkino) (Russian-made) (English titles) (In Sovcolor) Estimate: Routine Soviet import. Cast: V. Merkuryev, Boris Chirkov, A. Porisov, A. Gribov, L. Gfitsenko, L. Shagalova. Directed by Mikhail Kalatozov. Story: Three Moscow boys enjoy them¬ selves playing on a raft on a small river. Years later, one is a noted surgeon, an¬ other is an expert in animal husbandry, and the third has become a famous archi¬ tect and bureaucrat in the Soviet regime. The surgeon and the livestock expert lure the now pompous architect to come along on a cruise down a river on a small raft. In the course of the trip they become stranded on a small islet. They arrive at a collective farm where a minor bureau¬ crat is bungling a building project be¬ cause of incompetent orders from Moscow, from the architect member of the trio, himself. The architect realizes that he is responsible. He corrects his error and re¬ turns to Moscow a humbler and more de¬ termined man. The shy livestock expert finds his old fiancee and gets up enough courage to propose marriage. X-Ray: An innocuous little comedy, this should be best suited to those houses that specialize in Russian films. There is not much of interest to general audiences, and it spends much of its time on the intricacies of the Soviet system. The color photography is good. Ad Lines: “A Hilarious Romp”; “A Delightful Comedy With Warmth And Romance”; “A Rare And Human Comedy.” MISCELLANEOUS Religious Drama 110m. (George J. Schaefer) (Eastman Color) Estimate: Well-made religious drama with special or limited appeal. Cast: Lee J. Cobb, Joanne Dru, James Day Of Triumph Servisection 4