The Exhibitor (1959)

October 21, 1959 MOTION PICTURE EXHIBITOR 4647 return from Europe. She works part time for senior editor Joan Crawford in the ab¬ sence of her regular secretary, Suzy Parker, who is trying for a part in a Broadway play. Lange is persuaded to join Parker and Diane Ba^er in meir apartment. Lange also gets to meet editor Stephen Boyd, whom she likes. Crawford takes delight in hazing Lange, being a frustrated woman carrying on an affair with a married man as do others in the office. Baker, also new on the job, does some work for chief editor Brian Aherne, who is continually making passes at any girl within reach. Parker tries out for a part in Louis Jourdan's new play, which is also the start of an affair between them. Lange takes home a manuscript and hands in a report at variance with Crawford’s opinion. Lange is upset when she receives word from Halsey tnat he has married an oil heiress while in Europe. Boyd attempts to comfort her. Park¬ er is not good in tne part and Jourdan at¬ tempts to get rid of her, as well as to break off their affair. Baker makes the acquaint¬ ance of playboy Robert Evans and thinks he is in love with her. When she becomes preg¬ nant, she thinks he will wed her, but instead he sets up an appointment for an abortion. She refuses, steps out of his moving car, winding up in the hospital losing the child. There she becomes friendly with the young attending physician and they are soon in love. Lange receives a promotion and event¬ ually is given Crawford’s job when the latter leaves for a fling at marriage to a mid-west¬ erner. Halsey arrives in town and suggests that Lange become his mistress, but she walks out on him. Crawford is not happy and returns to her old job as Lange agrees to step down to a lesser spot. Parker falls to her death from a fire escape outside of Jourdan’s window while spying on him. As Lange leaves for a weekend alone, successful yet lonely, she finds Boyd waiting for her. They leave for home together. X-Ray: The romantic affairs of an office full of attractive girls are detailed in CinemaScope and Color. Some affairs are legitimate, others are not. The result is an interesting, at times fascinating story that should hold viewer attention throughout. The perform¬ ances by the cast are uniformly good, and direction and production values are of a quality nature. The film falls into the cate¬ gory of frank presentations involving drama and sex which have gone over so well of late, and there is every reason to expect that this will fare just as well. There is a concentrated campaign in the works to pro¬ vide the proper backing which should be of assistance in the selling. The screenplay is by Edith Sommer and Mann Rubin, based on the best seller by Rona Jaffe. Johnny Mathis can be heard singing a tune based on the title. Incidentally, there are some fine photo¬ graphic settings showing the New York City backgrounds to advantage. It’s a natural for the femme trade. Tip On Bidding: Higher rates in many situations. Ad Lines: “Intriguing Entertainment Not To Be Soon Forgotten”; “Women . . . Wo¬ men . . . Women . . . All Of Them With Problems”. UNITED ARTISTS Timbuktu Melodrama 91m. United Artists (Imperial) Estimate: Moderate adventure for the duallers. Cast: Victor Mature, Yvonne DeCarlo, George Dolenz, John Dehner, Marcia Hender¬ son, James Foxx, Leonard Mudie, Paul Wexler, Robert Clarke, Willard Sage, Mark Dana, Larry Perron, Steve Darrell, Larry Chance, Allan Pinson. Directed by Jacques Tourneur. Story: French Sudan during World War II seethes with unrest, and the uneasy peace is kept only by native holy man Leonard Mudie. Local ruler John Dehner plans to destroy French control and build an Arab empire for himself. American adventurer Victor Mature plays both sides in the controversy and is dis¬ trusted by French Colonel George Dolenz, whose wile, Yvonne De Carlo is attracted to the American. Mature promises Dehner to deliver French guns and wins his confidence by explaining that he fights the French for money and because he loves De Carlo. He learns that Dehner holds Mudie a prisoner, and gets word back to Dolenz. Mature and Dolenz manage to free the holy man and take him to Timbuktu where he convinces the people to lay down their arms and live in peace with the French. Dolenz is killed in the fighting and Mature and De Carlo go off to¬ gether. X-Ray: This moderately entertaining pro¬ gram adventure contains nothing new, and Mature, more dead pan than usual, gets only adequate support from the rest of the cast. The pace is uneven, and despite flashes of action, interest lags in spots. It’s formula fare for the duallers, produced and directed with a low budget look. The names are good, but seem a bit wasted in this effort. Screenplay is by Anthony Veiller and Paul Dudley. Tip On Bidding: Program rates. Ad Lines: “Violence and Intrigue In a Strange, Exotic World, Where Passions And Tempers Flare With Equal Fury”; “A Man With No Allegiance ... A Woman With No Shame . . . Their Meeting Set Off An Explo¬ sion That Rocked The East.” UNIVERSAL Operation Petticoat (6003) CoMEDY r 120m. Universal-Int. (Eastman Color) Estimate: Hilarious service farce. Cast: Cary Grant, Tony Curtis, Joan O’Brien, Dina Merrill, Gene Evans, Arthur O’Connell, Dick Sargent, Virginia Gregg, Robert F. Simon, Robert Gist, Gavin Mac¬ Leod, George Dunn, Dick Crockett, Madlyn R'flue, Marion Ross, Clarence Lung, Frankie Darro, Tony Pastor, Jr. Produced by Robert Arthur; directed by Blake Edwards. A Granart Production. Story: During the opening stages of World War II in the Philippines area, a submarine commanded by Cary Grant is sunk dockside by a surprise Jap air raid. Determined to get his sub back in action, Grant elects to bypass regulations and uses the enterprising but thieving methods of his new supply officer, Tony Curtis, to procure the parts necessary to take the sub to Australia for repairs. Swallowing his Navy pride, Grant looks the other way while Curtis breaks every rule in the book to get the needed parts. A second air attack forces the sub to leave port, but once at sea, leaks develop and they limp to a tiny island for emergency repairs. Once again, Grant is forced to turn to the undeni¬ able talents of Curtis, to whom he has now taken a strong personal dislike. Curtis re¬ turns not only with the supplies but with five stranded Army nurses including Joan O’Brien and Dina Merrill. Grant is forced to take them aboard although key officers tell him it is bad luck. The sub is forced to sail, due to a shortage of material, painted a charming pink. Curtis, a wolf at heart, pitch¬ es woo at one of the nurses, while another with a talent for fouling things up in the confining quarters makes life miserable for Grant. A mixup in intelligence makes the pink sub the target of both the Japs and American Navy patrols. To offset the death dealing depth charges, they sent up to the surface the bras of the nurses. This clinches their identity. They finally reach Australia amid the din of the wildly cheering Navy, and the strange voyage is over. X-Ray: This is a sure fire laugh hit with star names for marquee lustre. The situa¬ tions are novel and well integrated. It shapes up as an all family entertainment, sure to gamer healthy word of mouth. The entire cast blends together to pull off one of the most delightful service comedies, and pro¬ duction and direction are good. This has a screenplay by Stanley Shapiro and Maurice Richlin. Tip On Bidding: Better rates. Ad Lines: “The Thrilling Exploits Of The Pink Submarine”; “A Cargo of Beauty, Laughs and Thrills.” FOREIGN Miracle In Soho Comedy Drama 98m Lopert (Rank) (Eastman Color) Estimate: Lightweight romantic comedy drama. Cast: John Gregson, Belinda Lee, Cyril Cusack, Peter Illing, Rosalie Crutchley, Marie Burke, Brian Bedford, Ian Bannen, Barbara Archer, John Cairney. Written and produced by Emeric Pressburger; directed by Julian Amyes. Story: John Gregson, pneumatic drill op¬ erator on a road repair gang, has his own philosophy on women. On every block he works, he meets and has several women fall¬ ing for him. He finally meets Belinda Lee, youngest daughter in an Italian family living in Soho, and she falls harder than all those in the past. Meanwhile, he tries to give her the usual kindly let-down as her family makes frantic preparations to move on to Canada. Their departures come at the same time, but on the way to the boat, Lee runs out on the family and returns to search for Gregson. She, of course, can not find him, but goes into a church to pray for a miracle to reunite them. A water main breaks, Greg¬ son is in the road gang that comes to repair the damage, and they are reunited. X-Ray: With this slight story, considerable padding has been added to stretch things out for the given running time. There is a cer¬ tain amount of charm about this, due mainly to the excellent performances by Gregson and Lee, but some of the dialogue as spoken by bit players and supporting actors is pretty thickly accented English, don’t you know. Another thing is that this was photogrphed mainly in the studio, and the thick atmos¬ phere of Soho is entirely lost. It looks as artificial as it is. The Eastman Color photog¬ raphy is excellent. One song heard over the titles, “The Miracle,” is fine. X-Ray: “He Loved A Girl On Every Street On Which He Worked”; “A Charming Down-To-Earth Romance With Comedy Overtones.” MISCELLANEOUS The Mating Urge documentary Citation (Eastman Color) Estimate: Exploitable item for art, specialty spots. Credits: Produced by Howard C. Brown and Richard F. Morean. Narration written by Richard F. Morean; narrated by Art Gil¬ more. Filmed by 17 cameramen in Africa, Malaya, India, Ceylon, Bali, New Guinea, and New Hebrides. Story: This is a study of the love and marriage customs in the various countries above mentioned. X-Ray: This film depicts strange love rites in strange lands. It is interesting for the most part as a study in anthropology, but unfortunately has been sensationalized, par¬ ticularly in its advertising, so that it will ( Continued on page 4648)