The Exhibitor (1960)

March 30, I960 MOTION PICTURE EXHIBITOR 4689 REVIEWS ne famous pink paper SA VIABLE SECTION in which Experienced Trade Analysts evaluate coming product Published every second week, as a separately bound and easily saveable section of MOTION PICTURE EXHIBITOR, this exclusive 24 year old service is both numerically more complete, and Informatively more candid, than any similar trade analysis. Cumulatively numbered by film seasons (September to September), it is recommended that readers consecutively save all REVIEWS sections in a permanent file. The last issue of each August will always contain a complete annual Index to close the season. Combined, the every second week >ellow paper SERVISECTION Indexes to the past 12 months' product, and the alternating everv second week pink paper REVIEWS, represent a unique informative service to theatremen. Please address ail inquires or suggestions about these two service features to the Editors of MOTION PICTURE EXHIBITOR, 246-48 N. Clarion St., Philadelphia 7, Penna. SECTION TWO VOL. 63 NO. 19 MARCH 30, 1960 COLUMBIA MCM 20th-FOX The Mountain Road Columbia melodra^ Please Don’t Eat The Daisies co^dy 102m 111m MGM Thirteen Fighting Men Melodrama ® ® 69m 20th Fox Estimate: China war story offers James Stewart and action. Cast: James Stewart, Lisa Lu, Glenn Cor¬ bett, Henry Morgan, Frank Silvera, James Best, Rudy Bond, Mike Kellin, Frank Max¬ well, Eddie Firestone, Alan Baxter. Produced by William Goetz; directed by Daniel Mann. Story: In 1944, the American forces in China are forced to retreat before the ad¬ vancing Japanese during World War II. !]^ft behind to cause as much damage as possible and to delay the Japanese is Major James Stewart and an eight-man demolition team. After blowing up the airfield follovnng the departure of ranking American officers, they continue on to local Chinese headquarters where they are given permission to blow up a bridge and other facilities along the road and where they are also assigned a Chinese officer, Frank Silvera, and a passenger, Lisa Lu, wife of a Chinese gener^ killed in the war. Stewart is resentful at having to take her along, but he has no choice. Stewart is annoyed at the continual stream of refu¬ gees that bog their path and doesn’t tmderstand Lu’s attempts to justify much of the horror that he sees. They are drawn close during the trip. Stewart’s anger grows to savagery when one of his men attempts to give some surplus food to the starving and is trampled to death in the rush. He also sends a sick soldier on ahead in a truck that contains the dead body. As he advances, he finds the men murdered by Chinese mili¬ tary deserters and his rage knows no bounds. He catches up with them in a village and orders the village destroyed to get at the kiUers despite pleas from Lu. At the end of the road, he is calm once again, having learned compassion and having lost Lu. X-Ray: Take the critical days of a war; complicate them by streaming refugees; and add to this a mission of foreign soldiers in a land whose people, customs, and ways are strange to them, and you’ve got a film that offers imusual adventure and different situ¬ ations. To all this, add action and romance, and the pieces begin to fit together in a pattern that could satisfy many audiences and leave others wanting more. The cast takes hold of the story in adequate fashion, and direction and pr^uction are of satis¬ factory quality. The Stewart name has proven itself in the past, and there is every reason to believe that it can do so again. Tie an effective campaign to the release, and you’ve got good commercial prospects. The screen¬ play is by Alfred Hayes, based on a novel by Theodore White. Tip On Bidding: Higher rates in many situations. Ad Lines: “War Is Hell . . . Especially If You’re Retreating”; “He Found Something On ‘The Mountain Road’ That Helped EUm In Later Life.” (Cinemascope) (Metrocolor) Estimate: Doris Day, David Niven, Janis Paige, Spring Byington, Richard Haydn, Patsy Kelly, Jack Weston, John Harding, Margaret Lindsay, Carmen Phillips, Mary Patton, Charles Herbert. Produced by Joe Pasternak; directed by Charles Walters. Story: Professor David Niven leaves his university job to take a position as the drama critic on one of New York’s daily news¬ papers, and this means that wife Doris Day will get a chance to get out more, taking leave of their brood of four boys. His first assignment is to review a play by friend Richard Haydn, which unfortunately is not good. When Niven calls the score as he sees it, a rift develops between the friends. Actress Janis Paige is so upset over words damning her performance that she slaps Niven publicly in a restaurant. The resulting feud makes ^1 the papers. Niven is wined, dined, and flattered until Day fears it may turn his head. Other problems arise, like their having to look for a house in the coimtry when their lease expires and then being forced to renovate the gem they found 70 miles from the city. Niven is forced to remain in the city to finish a book on dead¬ line which gives forgiving Paige a chance to make a play for him. He’s not having any. Meanwhile, the local players are seek¬ ing a property to put on for a benefit and Day appeals to Haydn for help. The latter, still smarting from the review, seeks to get even by digging up Niven’s only attempt at playwriting many years prior. When Niven learns what is happening, it is too late to do anything about it. He beats everyone to the punch by prematurely reviewing the work, ripping it to shreds, and restates his credo that a critic must call things as he sees them. He and Day are reconciled after a slight tiff and the future looks real rosy. X-Ray: Containing quite a bit that’s hu¬ morous, light, and gay, this ^try should prove a big crowd pleaser with resulting attention boxofficewise. The story holds in¬ terest all the way; the cast is good; the direction is smart; and the production values have quality. The end result is a cute comedy that should get lots of laughs from those who like their entertainment on the amusing side. The all-star cast offers additional in¬ ducement. The sprightly screenplay is by Isobel Lennart, based on the book by Jean Kerr. Among the songs heard are “Please Don’t Eat The Daisies” and “Anyway The Wind Blows.” Tip On Bidding: Higher rates. Ad Lines: “Spring Does Fimny Things To Different People . . . What It Does To David Niven And Doris Day Is A Scream”; “The Funniest Screen Scream In Many A Moon With A Cast of All-Star Funsters.” (Cinemascope) Estimate: Lower half filler. Cast: Grant Williams, Brad Dexter, Carole Mathews, Robert Dix, Richard Garland, Ray¬ ford Barnes, John Erwin, Richard Crane, Rex Holman, Bob Palmer, Mauritz Hugo, Dili; Monahan, Ted flight. Produced by Jack Leewood; directed by Harry Gerstad. Story: A 13-man Union cavalry unit com¬ manded by Captain Grant Williams protects treasury agent Richard Crane and a large sum of money to be used to pay off spies behind the ([^onfederate lines. M^en they meet spy Mauritz Hugo, he informs them that the war is over, and they are now faced with the pros¬ pects of returning through hostile territory with many of the men facing them not know¬ ing that the war is over. A ragged band of Confederate troops led by Major Brad Dexter learns of the patrol and the money, and they try to take same, forcing the Union men to take cover in a farmhouse inhabited by paci¬ fist ex-Confederate Richard Garland and his embittered wife, Carole Mathews, who is f^up with the poverty and plans on leaving Garland. When she learns of the gold being carried by the men, she and several others plan on sharing it, and she even offers to make a deal with Dexter. After all kinds of com¬ plications, Dexter is killed following losses on both sides, and the money is retrieved for return to Washington. Mathews decides to remain with Garland. X-Ray: A simple plot is complicated by all sorts of side plots and poor marksmansbip so that one becomes annoyed trying to follow what is happening on screen. Mayhaps there is enough at hand to keep the yoimgsters and the rabid, uncaring action fans interested. As such, it could serve as filler for the lower half of the program. The cast, direction, and production are only fair. Tbe screenplay is by Robert Hamner and Jack Thomas. Ad Lines: “An Unknown Action Of The Civil War”; “She Was The Only Woman Among Thirteen Savage Men.” _ Wake Me When It’s Over 126m 20th-Fox (Cinemascope) (Deluxe Color) Estimate: Laugh-loaded comedy should be a winner. Cast: Ernie Kovacs, Margo Moore, Jack Warden, Nobu McCarthy, Dick Shawn, Don Knotts, Robert Strauss, Noreen Nash, Parley Baer, Robert Emhardt, Marvin Kaplan, Tom¬ my Nishimura, Raymond Bailey, Robert Bur¬ ton, Frank Behrens, Linda Wong, Caroline Richter, Robert Peoples, Ron Hargrave, David Bedell, Jay Jostyn, Byron Morrow, Michael Quinn, Owen Cunningham, Richard Tyler, Ralph Dumke. Produced and directed by Mervyn LeRoy. Story: Dick Shawn, Aii* Force veteran who hated the service, is goaded by his wife to take out G.I. insurance and finally does. Cap