The Exhibitor (1966)

■ MOTION PICTURE EXHIBITOR 5439 August 31, 1966 down time, Keel finds the townspeople back¬ ing him up with blazing guns. Smith is killed but so, too, is Corey, who was defending Keel’s back. Keel decides to stay as sheriff. X-Ray: Once again producer A. C. Lyles has combined a score of well-known screen “names” to help put across a routine western plot that is replete with drama, romance, in¬ trigue, action, etc. The result is an action film that can round out any program. The per¬ formances are generally adequate, while direc¬ tion and production are average. The use of color helps dress the entry for market. The screenplay is by Steve Fisher based on a novel, “Emporia,” by Harry Sanford and Max Lamb. Ad Lines: “Blazing Guns Decide The Fate Of A Town”; “One Man Stood Ready To Save A Town — He Was ‘Waco’.” 20TH CENTURY-FOX Blues For Lovers Drama 89M. 20th-Fox (English-made) Estimate: Good programmer. Cast: Ray Charles, Tom Bell, Mary Peach, Dawn Addams, Piers Bishop, Betty McDowall, Lucy Appleby, Joe Adams. Produced by Her¬ man Blaser; directed by Paul Henreid. Story: In London while playing some the¬ atre dates, blind jazz pianist Ray Charles en¬ tertains at a school for blind children where he makes the acquaintance of one of the youngsters, Piers Bishop, and his attractive widowed mother, Mary Peach. Charles gives the boy his braille wrist watch. Peach re¬ luctantly agrees but later goes to return it as too expensive for a casual gift. Peach is ro¬ mantically involved with a young composer, Tom Bell, who is liked by her son and who treats Bishop in regular fashion. While Peach goes to work as a dancer, Bishop is left with a neighbor who has a girl slightly older. Bishop boasts to her how he met Charles and how they are friends. She refuses to believe him, and he offers to introduce her to him. Peach reaches Charles at the theatre after the show, returns the watch, and impulsively invites him to a night club where Bell is working as a pianist. The youngsters catch up with Charles before he reaches the club, and he takes them home before meeting Bell. Charles likes Bill’s work and asks him to work for him on arrange¬ ments, compositions, song writing, etc. When Charles goes to Paris, Bell tries to get Peach and Bishop to come along, but she is fearful. Charles discovers a doctor in Paris who may be able to help Bishop, and he urges her and the boy to discuss it. Eventually, she agrees, and the operation is performed. While it comes off well, several weeks must pass before they know whether or not Bishop will be able to see. Bell, Peach, and Bishop are determined to remain together in any case. X-Ray: A love story and one concerning a blind child are helped along through the mu¬ sical talents of Negro jazz pianist Ray Charles, and many audiences will be touched by some of the sequences. The story is of average in¬ terest, and performances, direction, and pro¬ duction are good. Charles plays some numbers he is known for like “Lucky Old Sun,” “I Got A Woman,” etc. Another point of in¬ formation could be the fact that director and co-author Paul Henreid used to be a talented actor of some prominence. The screenplay is by Burton Wohl, based on a story by the lat¬ ter and Henreid. It should do okay as part of the show. Ad Lines: “Jazz-man Ray Charles Helps A Small Boy Find Light In The World Of Darkness”; “He Had A Way With Children, As Well As With Music.” UNITED ARTISTS Ambush Bay United Artists (Schenck-Zabel) ( Color by DeLuxe) Melodrama 109M. Estimate: Action-packed film of Philippine jungle warfare. Cast: Hugh O’Brian, Mickey Rooney, James Mitchum, Tisa Chang, Pete Masterson. Harry Lauter, Greg Amsterdam, Jim Anauo, Tony Smith, Clem Stadler. Produced by Hal Klein; directed by Ron Winston; executive producer, Aubrey Schenck. Story: In 1944, a nine man Marine patrol secretly lands on a Japanese-held island. Their mission is to contact a spy who has information concerning General MacArthur’s planned in¬ vasion of the Philippines. When their captainis killed, sergeant Hugh O’Brian takes charge. Although others are also killed, O’Brian man¬ ages to contact and free the spy, who turns out to be a woman, Tisa Chang. Sergeant Mickey Rooney is wounded and sacrifices himself to buy time for the survivors, who finally arrive at the coast where they are greeted by friendly Filipinos before a Japanese detachment arrives. Chang sacrifices herself to the Japanese commander and is shot as O’Brian and private James Mitchum escape. At Bican Bay, O’Brian holds off the Japanese while Mitchum detonates the mined area moments before the fleet arrives. O’Brian is killed. Mitchum is the lone survivor. X-Ray : This carefully made, lengthy actionpacked war meller of Marine vs Japanese action in the Philippines has the stamp of authenticity about it. Technical advisor was Lt. Col. Clement J. Stadler, USMC, Ret., and it was shot on location in the jungles of the Philippines. For the most part, the actors playing the marines give Creditable perfor¬ mances, and Tisa Chang in her film debut as the American spy of Japanese heritage is a standout. Production and direction are first rate, and the whole thing is bathed, blood and all, in brilliant color by DeLuxe although some of the deep jungle stuff is naturally quite dark. This was written by Marve Feinberg and lb Melchior. The film has three male names to help in O’Brian, Rooney, and Mit¬ chum. It should do nicely as part of the pro¬ gram. With all these things in its favor, per¬ haps it is incongruous that we should ask of the entire picture, the single question “Why?” Ad Lines: “The Screen Steps On A Mine¬ field”; “Their Top Secret Mission Paved The Way For The Return Of The Invasion Fleet.” WARNERS An American Dream Warner Bros. (Technicolor) Drama 107M. Estimate: Fairly interesting drama. Cast: Stuart Whitman, Janet Leigh, Barry Sullivan, Lloyd Nolan, Murray Hamilton, J. D. Cannon, Susan Denberg, Les Crane, Warren Stevens, Joe DeSantis, Stacy Harris, Paul Mantee, Harold Gould, George Takei, Kelly Jean Peters, Eleanor Parker. Executive pro¬ ducer, William Conrad; directed by Robert Gist. Story: Stuart Whitman has a successful television show wherein he has the public call in with questions and comments while on the air. He needles the police continually about their tie-in with underworld head Joe De¬ Santis. Whitman is separated from his wealthy, imoral, drunken wife, Eleanor Parker, and when she returns from abroad he agrees to see her so that he can ask for a divorce. There is a terrible scene as she attacks him while drunk, and a battle winds up with her being shoved over the railing that surrounds her penthouse. She falls in the path of a car carrying De Santis, his henchman, and night club singer Janet Leigh, who used to be an old flame of Whitman’s before he married Parker. The police take them all in for questioning. Under questioning by lieutenant Barry Sullivan and sergeant J. D. Cannon, Whitman insists Park¬ er’s death was an accident, but they believe it was murder. Whitman and Leigh arrange to meet later, and their affair resumes with what he hopes will be some kind of future. One of the nation’s wealthiest men and Parker’s father, Lloyd Nolan, arrives to bury his daugh¬ ter and refuses to do anything when Whitman breaks down and admits he killed her, figuring that his conscience will take care of him. De Santis’ henchmen decide to kill Whitman and force Leigh into revealing the whereabouts of their meeting. They wait for him and kill him. X-Ray: An unpleasant tale about unpleas¬ ant people is to be found in this overly-dramatic offering dealing with the personal life of a sensation-seeking television reporter. There is some raw dialogue and name-calling, as well as some attention-holding sequences. The end result is a fairly interesting drama about a bunch of characters who don’t seem to evoke much sympathy from viewers even with a fair amount of suspense and soulsearching thrown in. Performances range from fair to good, and direction and production are average. Color helps to dress up the grim proceedings. Incidentally, newcomer Susan Denberg impresses in both appearance and acting, and more should be heard from her. The screenplay is by Mann Rubin based on a novel by Norman Mailer. It is more suitable for audiences from which the young have been excluded. Ad Lines: “A Hard-Hitting Television Re¬ porter Tangles With The Underworld”; “He Couldn’t Take The Pressure — The Result Is Explosive Drama.” Chamber Of Horrors Melod^“a Warners (Technicolor) Estimate: Okay exploitation horror entry with gimmicks. Cast: Cesare Danova, Wilfred Hyde-White, Laura Devon, Patrice Wymore, Suzy Parker, Tun Tun, Philip Boumeuf, Jeanette Nolan, Marie Windsor, Wayne Rogers, Vinton Hay¬ worth, Richard O’Brien, Inger Stratton, and Patrick O’Neal. Produced and directed by Hy Averback. Story: In Baltimore before the turn of the century, Patrick O’Neal forces a minister to perform a marriage ceremony for himself and a dead woman. The police are summoned but find him gone. Cesare Danova, Wilfred HydeWhite, and dwarf Tun Tun, expert amateur criminologists and operators of the House of Wax depicting famous crimes, take an interest in the case. They trace O’Neal to a brothel where officer Wayne Rogers makes the arrest. He is tried and sentenced to be hanged by ( Continued on page 5451)