The Exhibitor (1956)

MOTION PICTURE EXHIBITOR December 12, 1956 pace. O’Brien’s reputation as TV’s “Wyatt Earp” should be of some help at the boxoffice, if it is properly exploited. This is a routine lower half offering. Story by George Zuckerman and Jess Arnold; screen play by Don Martin. Ad Lines: “Hugh ‘Wyatt Earp’ O’Brien As A Sheriff They Couldn’t Buy, Bluff Or Beat To The Draw”; “Saga Of A Tin Star Tornado Who Cleaned Up The Wickedest Town In The West”; “A Two-Fisted, Two Gun Sheriff Blasts The Brass Legend.” The Wild Parly Drama 81m. (Security) Estimate: Off-beat entry for art, spe¬ cialty, and exploitation houses. Cast: Anthony Quinn, Carol Ohmart, Arthur Franz, Jay Robinson, Kathryn Grant, Nehemiah Persoff, Paul Stewart, and the Buddy de Franco Quartet. Pro¬ duced by Sidney Harmon; directed by Harry Horner. Story: Anthony Quinn was once a well-known football player and he still continues to think of himself as a big man, especially with women. Now he is down and out with a few other down-andouters around him to feed his ego and help him rob to stay alive. The group gets its kicks as well from low-down music in the shabby joints of Los Angeles. Low in funds and morale, Quinn agrees to hanger-on Jay Robinson going out to find a sucker couple to bring into a trap. The others wait, including Nehemiah Persoff, a piano player who dreams of setting up his own combo, and Kathryn Grant, who fell victim to Quinn and has refused to go home since. Robinson comes across wealthy Carol Ohmart and her fiance, Navy officer Arthur Franz. Ohmart is looking for excitement, and they go with Robinson. Quinn is attracted to Ohmart, and Franz is defenseless against his brute strength as they wind up prisoners in his deserted quarters in an empty part of town. Franz offers to raise a large sum of money for their release and fails. Quinn decides to marry Ohmart in Mexico and then get money from her parents. Grant and Persoff fall in love and decide to get away from Quinn. They send for the police. They go to warn the crazed Quinn, and he starts to beat Persoff, whereupon Grant fatally injures him with the car she is driving. The night of terror is ended with Ohmart and Franz brought closer together. X-Ray: Thoroughly unpleasant, savage, brutal might be a description of this entry, and yet, because it is just that, it has a certain amount of fascination and interest about it that will attract as well as repel viewers. This tale of run-down music addicts as differing from out-andout dope addicts has a language, moral, and story all its own. It is suited for adults only, with particular emphasis on those audiences that attend art and spe¬ cialty houses and the seekers of the sen¬ sational in the exploitation spots where sex and the off-beat attract a certain attendance. Audiences will pay attention once they become enmeshed in the telling of the yarn, and the cast makes the night of terror seem realistic enough, with Quinn particularly effective. Direction and production are good for this type of thing. The story and screen play are by John McPartland. The bears a Legion of De¬ cency “B” rating. Ad Lines: “A Night Of Terror Never To Be Forgotten”; “A Story Of The Low-Down Dives Of Los Angeles”; “A Film To Be Seen By Adults Only . . . One That Won’t Be Forgotten.” THE SERVISECTION is the only service of its kind giving a full coverage, listing, and reviews of all features and shorts in the domestic market. U-International Four Girls In Town Comedy Drama (5706) S5^ (CinemaScope) (Technicolor) Estimate: Interesting programmer. Cast: George Nader, Julie Adams, Marianne Cook, Elsa Martinelli, Gia Scala, Sydney Chaplin, Grant Williams, John Gavin, Herbert Andersen, Hy Averback, Ainslie Pryor, Judson Pratt, James Bell, Mabel Albertson, Dave Barry, Maurice Marsac, Helene Stanton, Irene Corlett, Eugene Mazzola. Produced by Aaron Rosenberg; directed by Jack Sher. Story: Film star Helene Stanton re¬ fuses a part in a forthcoming epic, hold¬ ing up her company for exorbitant terms. A world-wide talent hunt for a replace¬ ment results in American Julie Adams, Italian Elsa Martinelli, French Gia Scala, and Austrian Marianne Cook coming to Hollywood. New director George Nader is put in charge, becomes attached to Adams. Martinelli makes a play for playboy Grant Williams. Scala, who is married and has a child, keeps this a secret and spends most of her time with actor John Gavin. Cook, a widow, is attracted to composer Sydney Chaplin, parted from his wife. Scala wins the part, but when her hus¬ band and child pay her a surprise visit she is torn between a career and return¬ ing to France as a wife and mother. Cook is then offered the part and is overjoyed. However, Stanton, realizing she is about to be replaced, comes to her senses and takes the role at the studio’s terms. All of the girls, however, have found happi¬ ness if not stardom. X-Ray: This is interesting all the way but misses being really a good picture because of its lack of story values. It was written by the director, Jack Sher. All the girls are beautiful, and much can be expected from Marianne Cook in par¬ ticular. The Hollywood “inside stuff” angle should prove attractive to most audiences, and this should prove a pleas¬ ing programmer. A new and interesting manner of presenting opening titles is tried, while the Technicolor, CinemaScope and the wealth of feminine beauty all help. There is a special song, “Rhap¬ sody For Four Girls,” by Alex North. Tip On Bidding: Better program price. Ad Lines: “Hollywood’s Own Story About The Most Beautiful Girls In The World”; “The Kind Of Hollywood Adven¬ ture Every Girl Lives In Her Dreams”; “Inside Hollywood, U.S.A.” WARNERS Baby Doll (607) Estimate: Off-beat adult drama is best for sophisticated, metropolitan spots. Cast: Karl Malden, Carroll Baker, Eli Wallach, Mildred Dunnock, Lonny Chap¬ man, Eades Hogue, Noah Williamson. Pro¬ duced and directed by Elia Kazan. A Newtown Production. Story: Karl Malden, slow-witted Mississippian, lives with his child bride, Carroll Baker, in several rooms of a fall¬ ing apart mansion of the pre-Civil War period. He is the unsuccessful operator of a broken down cotton gin and has been forced into complete idleness by the oppo¬ sition of Eli Wallach, whose modern gin has proved too much competition. Frus¬ trated by Baker, his marriage not as yet consummated, Malden gets drunk one night, turns arsonist, and burns down Wallach’s gin. To get his work done, Wal¬ lach is forced to turn to Malden, whose gin he sublets. Suspecting Malden of burning his plant down, Wallach purposely causes a breakdown on Malden’s gin, sends Malden off to town for a new part, and while he is gone plays “games,” ro¬ mantic and otherwise, with Baker, from whom he plots to get a signed confession of Malden’s guilt. Upon his return, Mal¬ den suspects something is up and accuses Baker of unfaithfulness. He. goes shooting for Wallach, who hides on the grounds. Baker sends for the sheriff who takes Malden away when Wallach says he will prosecute. The implication is that Wallach will return. X-Ray: This one will prove a problem to many. Its subject matter, from story and screen play by Tennessee Williams, who seems to specialize in things of this type, is adult and sophisticated to say the least. It will shock many with its frank¬ ness and emphasis on sex, made doubly potent by the presence of the plentifully exposed person of Carroll Baker, making her screen debut and scoring a personal triumph. Her acting is excellent, as is that of Earl Malden and the third side of the triangle, Eli Wallach, also making a film debut. On all counts, productionwise, camera work, supporting parts, some by actual Mississippi natives, this shapes up as a top film. For sophisticated audi¬ ences in metropolitan centers it should click. Situations and dialogue will shock many, particularly in small towns and rural areas. This is one of those contro¬ versial, modern thinking, new approach to entertainment things. This bears a Legion of Decency “C” rating. Tip On Bidding: Higher rates. Ad Lines: “Tennessee Williams’ First Original Screen Play; Elia Kazan’s First Independent Production; Carroll Baker’s Debut As A Star; Eli Wallach’s First Role In Motion Pictures”; “She’s Nineteen — She Makes Her Husband Keep Away — She Won’t Let The Stranger Go!”; “She’s Raw Electricity — She’s ‘Baby Doll’.” FOREIGN Vitelloni Drama 103m. (API Productions) (Italian-made) (English titles) Estimate: Interesting import. Cast: Franco Interlenghi, Franco Fabrizi, Alberto Sordi, Leopoldo Trieste, Riccardo Fellini, Leonora Ruffo, Lida Baarowa, Arlette Sauvage, Maja Nipora. Directed by Federico Fellini. Story: Franco Fabrizi, having seduced Leonora Ruffo, the sister of friend and companion Franco Interlenghi, is forced to marry her. After a honeymoon, he is forced into a job as a salesman of religious objects in a shop. He isn’t changed by marriage and still looks for his women where he can find them. He even tries to get romantic with the boss’ wife and is fired. After each escapade, Ruffo for¬ gives him. He and friends of similar temperament are perfectly content to be idle and over friendly with girls and to leave the job hunting for others. Fab¬ rizi spends one night away from home with another girl, and Ruffo cannot for¬ give anymore and runs off with their child. Fabrizi and the others search every¬ where, fearing the worst, and he finally finds her at the home of his father who gives him a deserved whipping. The couple is reconciled, he pledging to behave in the future. Life goes on for the others in the group, planning but never getting around to doing anything except for In¬ terlenghi, who makes the break and leaves the town to seek his fortune else¬ where. X-Ray: The doings and misdeeds of young men in an average Italian town are recounted here in interesting fashion with ( Continued on page 4264) StrviMction 3 4263