The Exhibitor (1956)

MOTION PICTURE EXHIBITOR December 12, 1956 to the studio that made it, but to the industry as well.” Tip On Bidding: Reissue rates. Ad Lines: “Famous Screen Masterpiece Brought Back To Thrill You Anew”; “One Of The Screen Masterpieces Of All Time”; “Your Screen Favorites In One Of The Films That Brought Them Fame.” PARAMOUNT Hollywood Or Bust (5605) Comedy with Music 95m. (VistaVision) (Color by Technicolor) Estimate: Average Martin and Lewis. Cast: Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, Anita Ekberg, Pat Crowley, Maxie Rosenbloom, Willard Waterman, Jack McElroy, Mike Ross, Wendell Niles, Frank Wilcox, Kathryn Card, Richard Karlan, Tracey Roberts, Ben Welden, Ross Westlake. Pro¬ duced by Hal B. Wallis; directed by Frank Tashlin. Story: Gambler Dean Martin is in trouble with some bookies, but he has an angle, winning a car in a theatre drawing with a phony ticket. A hitch develops when the real ticket is held by Jerry Lewis, an avid movie fan and an admirer of Anita Ekberg. He has plans to drive out to Hollywood to see her. The manager turns over the car to both of them, and Martin agrees to go to Hollywood, hoping to double-cross Lewis. The latter’s huge Great Dane foils that idea. Enroute, they pick up Pat Crowley, headed for a chorus job in Las Vegas. In the latter town, Lewis gets lucky and wins a fortune. He also gets to meet Ekberg and spends the money in a fabulous gift for her. Her pooch gets a crush on the Great Dane. They arrive in Hollywood where Crowley is tested; she and Martin find they are really in love and plan a future together, and Lewis gets to meet Ekberg again. Somehow, they wind up in a picture about the Great Dane, and everybody is more or less famous and happy. X-Ray: There’s slapstick to be found everywhere and anywhere as Martin and Lewis travel across the country on their way to Hollywood. What happens to them shouldn’t happen to a dog, but it does, to a Great Dane, who turns out to be a pretty good actor. The film has its ups and downs, and an unaware audience took it all for granted when this was shown in a theatre. The cast is okay, and the direction and production are average, with a special bow due the special effects department. To sum up, where Martin and Lewis are appreciated this latest of their films will be welcomed. An espe¬ cially good audience should be the young¬ sters who go for the obvious and the slapstick. Erna Lazarus claims credit for the screen play. Musical numbers include “Hollywood Or Bust,” “A Day In The Country,” “It Looks Like Love,” “Let’s Be Friendly,” “The Wild And Woolly West.” Tip On Bidding: Martin and Lewis rates. Ad Lines: “It’s Fun . . . Fun . . . Fun . . . All The Way”; “Chase Your Blues Away With Martin And Lewis On Their Hilar¬ ious Trip To Hollywood”; “A Cute Comedy Of Cross Country Capers The Martin And Lewis Way.” RKO Bundle Of Joy (807) with Music 98m. (Color by Technicolor) Estimate: Pleasant entertainment for all. Cast: Eddie Fisher, Debbie Reynolds, Adolphe Menjou, Tommy Noonan, Nita Talbot, Una Merkel, Melville Cooper, Bill Goodwin, Howard McNear, Robert H. Harris, Mary Treen. Produced by Edmund Grainger; directed by Norman Taurog. Story: Salesgirl Debbie Reynolds in Adolphe Menjou’s department store gets fired. While looking for another job, she saves a baby from falling off the steps of a foundling home and is mistaken by home head Howard McNear as the infant’s mother. She leaves the baby, but McNear takes the baby to the store and “explains” the situation to Menjou’s son, Eddie Fisher, who tells Reynolds that instead of being fired, she will be given a raise. He arranges for the delivery of the baby to her apartment, and McNear warns her she had better not try to “desert” the infant again. Reynolds finally takes the baby to the Menjou residence, leaves it with the butler, saying it is Fisher’s re¬ sponsibility. Fisher chases after Reynolds with the baby and becomes involved in a rock ’n’ roll dance contest at a night club, where Reynolds is a participant with stock clerk boy friend Tommy Noonan. When Reynolds and Noonan reach Reynolds’ apartment, they find Fisher and the baby waiting. Noonan mis¬ understands as Fisher tells Reynolds off, making it clear she can still keep her job if she keeps the baby. Landlady Una Merkel offers to help Reynolds with the baby, and Fisher, now interested in Reynolds, uses the excuse of an interest in the child as reasons for seeing Reyn¬ olds. More complications arise when he takes her to a New Year’s Eve party with a wardrobe “borrowed” from the store, but after the party he confesses his love and she explains everything. X-Ray: Lots of fun, songs that are melodic and tuneful, colorful settings, humorous situations, and a plot that will tax no one yet please many are to be found in this gay film that should prove entertaining to the entire family. Eddie Fisher makes his film debut here and emerges as a surprising talent in the acting department as well as superior in his usual forte, which is singing. The cast is fine, the direction is good, and the production in the better category. Of course, the fact that Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds are married in real life and do have a “Bundle of Joy” of their own may also prove stimulating at the boxoffice. The screen play is by Norman Krasna, Robert Carson, and Arthur Sheekman, based on a story by Felix Jackson. Songs heard include “Bundle Of Joy,” “All About Love,” “Some Day Soon,” “I Never Felt This Way Before,” “Worry About Tomorrow,” “Lullabye In Blue,” “You’re Perfect In Every Depart¬ ment.” Tip On Bidding: Higher Bracket. Ad Lines: “Two Of America’s Greatest Entertainment Names Pair Their Talents To Give You A ‘Bundle Of Joy’ ”; “Fun For All The Family”; “Eddie Fisher Fans Will Go Wild About His First Starring Film.” REPUBLIC A Woman's Devotion drama (5602) 88m (Filmed in Mexico) (Trucolor) Estimate: For the program. Cast: Ralph Meeker, Janice Rule, Paul Henreid, Rosenda Monteros, Fanny Schil¬ ler, Jose Torvay, Verye Beirute, Tony Carbajal, Jaime Gonzales, Carlos Riquelme. Produced by John Bash; directed by Paul Henreid. Story: Ralph Meeker, well-known art¬ ist and hero of World War II, and his wife, Janice Rule, have been happily mar¬ ried for six months when they arrive in Mexico on a holiday. The first night he feels the need for a walk and meets an attractive waitress whom he asks to pose for him. She agrees and takes him to her quarters. The next morning, she is found dead, and Rule and Meeker are questioned by police captain Paul Hen¬ reid. The latter checks back and finds that Meeker was in a hospital with a mental disturbance caused by the war. Maid Rosenda Monteros and the dead woman’s husband try to blackmail Rule and Meeker. Rule seeks to get away, but is stopped by Henreid. Meeker takes the money to Monteros, and the next morning she is found dead in much the same man¬ ner as the waitress. They are given per¬ mission to leave, but at the last moment, Henreid decides there is need for further interrogation and catches up with them at the airport. Meeker’s guilt becomes a certainty, and he goes beserk at the sound of planes arriving and taking off. A police bullet ends his tortured existence. X-Ray: The setting and scenery are colorful and interesting, with the on-thespot filming in the picture’s favor. There is some suspense and drama and a plot that is of average interest. Direction, pro¬ duction, and cast are adequate. Mayhaps the femmes may get a boot out of the romance sequences, but on the whole it’s for the program. The story and screen play are by Robert Hill. A song is heard, “A Woman’s Devotion.” Ad Lines: “Their Holiday In Mexico Spelled Big Trouble”; “A Story Of Over¬ powering Romance And The Price She Had To Pay”; “Love ... Or Love Mad?” UNITED ARTISTS The Brass Legend Western * 79m. (Goldstein) Estimate: For the lower half. Cast: Hugh O’Brien, Nancy Gates, Ray¬ mond Burr, Reba Tassell, Donald Mac¬ Donald, Bob Burton, Eddie Firestone, Wil¬ lard Sage, Stacy Harris, Norman Leavitt, Dennis Cross, Russell Simpson, Michael Garrett, Jack Farmer. Produced by Her¬ man Cohen; directed by Gerd Oswald. Story: While riding a new pony, 11year-old Donald MacDonald follows dance hall girl Reba Tassell and sees her meet Raymond Burr, a notorious killer whom everyone had believed dead. MacDonald tells sheriff Hugh O’Brien, who goes to the hideout and captures Burr. Fearing that Burr’s friends might hurt the boy, O’Brien tells MacDonald not to say any¬ thing. Willard Sage, the town editoi’, car¬ ries a big story stressing a large reward, which later turns out to be nonexistent. MacDonald’s father, Bob Burton, be¬ lieves O’Brien is trying to cheat his son and tells Sage the story. He runs it in his paper. Burton’s daughter, Nancy Gates, who is engaged to O’Brien, quarrels with him over the matter. Eddie Firestone, the town drunk, shoots MacDonald in an at¬ tempt to prove his devotion to Tassell. O’Brien seeks out three brothers who are friends of Burr, and when they draw he kills two of them and puts the third, Stacy Harris, in the same cell with Burr. Harris gives Burr a derringer he had hidden and Burr breaks out, asking Tassell to tell O’Brien he will meet him alone. Firestone admits shooting the boy and is killed when he draws on O’Brien. Burr and O’Brien meet and Burr is killed in the gun fight. With Burr dead, and Mac¬ Donald on the road to recovery, O’Brien and Gates look to a new life together. X-Ray: What might have been a better than average western is hampered by a heavy burden of dialogue and a minimum of action or suspense. The cast did its best, but could not overcome the slow Servisection 2 4262