The Exhibitor (1966)

February 1, 1967 MOTION PICTURE EXHIBITOR 5493 REVIEWS The famous pink paper 5AVEABLE 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 29-year-old service Is both numerically more complete and Informatively more candid, than any similar analysis. Cumulatively numbered by film seasons (September to September). It is recommended that readers consecutively save all REVIEWS section in a permanent file. The last Issue of each August will always contain a complete annual exhibit to close the season. Combined the every second week, yellow paper SERVISECTION Indexes to the past 12 months' product, and the alternating every second week pink paper REVIEWS, represent a unique informative service to thestrmmen. Plated address all Inquiries or suggestions about these two service features to the Editors of MOTION PICTURE EXHIBITOR, 117 N. Broad St., Philadelphia, Penna. 19107. SECTION TWO Vol. 76, No. 24 February 1, 1967 AMERICAN INT. Trunk To Cairo (6620) AIP (Filmed abroad) Melodrama 80M. Estimate: For the lower half of the pro¬ gram. Cast: Audie Murphy, George Sanders, Marianne Koch, Gila Almagor, Joseph Yadin, Bumba Zur, Zeev Berlinsky, Hans Von Borsodi. Produced and directed by Menahem Golan. Story: Audie Murphy, posing as a German scientist but in reality an undercover agent, presumably for Israel, has a rendezvous with German scientist George Sanders, who is work¬ ing on a missile program for the Egyptians outside of Cairo. Enroute, he meets Sanders’ daughter Marianne Koch, and they are at¬ tracted to each other. They are met by Hans Von Borsodi, who acts like her fiance. He is an assistant to Sanders. An attempt is made on Murphy’s life, after which he is taken to Sanders at a heavily guarded laboratory where Sanders is almost finished with his rocket project. When Koch learns the kind of work that Sanders is involved in, she tries to get him to leave, but he refuses. Murphy gets into the lab to photograph the plans and blueprints when he is discovered by Von Borsodi. They have a fight, and Von Borsodi is killed. Mur¬ phy sets fire to the plans and part of the in¬ stallation before the guards arrive. He man¬ ages to escape. His dropped camera is picked up by singer Gila Almagor, who is also an Israeli agent and the girl friend of police captain Joseph Yadin. Murphy becomes a hunted man when his real identity is dis¬ covered, and when Almagor helps him, she is killed. Murphy arranges for Koch to be kid¬ napped and then blackmails Sanders into i leaving his job. There is a showdown in Italy when negotiations break down, and Murphy is 3 captured to be transported in a trunk to Cairo. Other agents bring in the Italian police who find that Murphy escaped. One of the Egyp¬ tians is now imprisoned in the trunk. Murphy : thwarts another kidnap plot and reunites Koch and Sanders. X-Ray: This is a minor release despite the “names” of Audie Murphy and George San¬ ders, and it will serve best as filler on the program with routine acting, sub-standard di¬ rection, and fair production values. The story has a few moments of action and intrigue f; which help. The screenplay is by Marc Behm and Alexander Ramati. Ad Lines: “Tom From The Headlines”; “What Was The Secret Of The Diplomatic Trunk Bound For Egypt? Don’t Miss The Thrill-Packed Answer.” IMPORTANT In order to bring reviews on new films to our subscribers as quickly as possible, we are presenting an expanded REVIEW section in this issue. There will be no EXPLOITATION section until the next Pink section. Please include this entire eight-page section in your folder of Pink REVIEWS. This complete, cumulatively numbered service provides the finest REVIEW library in the motion picture industry. Back sections are available through MOTION PICTURE EXHIBITOR Bookshop service to subscribers only. BUENA VISTA Monkeys, Co Home Buena Vista (Technicolor) Comedy i01M. Estimate: Amusing comedy for the family. Cast: Maurice Chevalier, Dean Jones, Yvette Mimieux, Bernard Woringer, Clement Harari, Yvonne Constant, Marcel Hillaire, Jules Munshin, Alan Carney, Maurice Marsac, Darken Carr. Co-produced by Ron Miller; directed by Andrew V. McLaglen. Story: American Dean Jones arrives in a French village to claim an inheritance left him, an olive farm, and finds it neglected and in need of repairs. He is welcomed by local priest Maurice Chevalier, who informs Jones that he may have a problem with the olives, which must be picked as soon as they are ripe and fall to the ground. Only farmers with large families can handle the situation as there is a shortage of labour, and it is also very expen¬ sive. The next morning, neighbor girl Yvette Mimieux arrives to help out, sent by Chevalier, who hopes that Jones will start a family rea¬ sonably soon. Jones has other ideas and im¬ ports four female chimps to help out, figuring he can train them to work better, faster, and longer than humans. Mimieux offers to help with the training, but when the others learn of it, egged on by crooked realtor Clement Harari and Mimieux’ would-be boy friend, Bernard Woringer, the local butcher, there are com¬ plications. The townspeople protest. With Chevalier’s help, Jones overcomes the protests and even offers to have his chimps help the others harvest their crops. Of course, there are disagreements between Jones and Mimieux, and she makes him jealous. Eventually, this is smoothed over. Harari and Woringer find a “cousin” to lay claim to her share of the farm and further complicate matters, but she is scared off by the chimps. When the olives fall, Jones starts his chimps gathering them as the townspeople watch. Mimieux, trying to help, brings a male chimp on the scene, at which point all work stops. The harvest is threatened. Chevalier appeals to the onlookers to help, and everybody pitches in for the harvest. Jones and Mimieux plan on starting a family as soon as possible so that their olives can be picked in the conventional way. X-Ray: Once again, the Disney organiza¬ tion has come through with a romantic comedy that should find takers and lookers among the youngsters and family attendees. They will be generally amused by the antics of the chimps and their human counterparts, even though the proceedings are sometimes silly and on the long side. The cast, human and otherwise, per¬ forms well; the direction serves its purpose; and the production values are good, aided by the use of color. Where other Disney efforts have served, this too should accomplish its intent. The lightweight screenplay is by Mau¬ rice Tombragel, based on the book, “The Monkeys,” by G. K. Wilkinson. Ad Lines: “Monkey Business Is Funny Business”; “There’s A Laugh In Every Monkeyshine And There’s Fun And Romance For Humans As Well.” COLUMBIA The Deadly Affair mystery drama Columbia (Technicolor) (Filmed in England) Estimate: Good spy thriller. Cast: James Mason, Simone Signoret, Maximilian Schell, Harriet Andersson, Harry Andrews, Kenneth Haigh, Lynn Redgrave, Roy Kinnear, Max Adrian, Robert Flemyng, Corin Redgrave, the Royal Shakespeare Com¬ pany, David Warner, Michael Bryant. Pro¬ duced and directed by Sidney Lumet. Story: When an anonymous letter is sent regarding the loyalty of a member of the British Foreign Office, Robert Flemyng, secret service agent James Mason is sent to investi¬ gate. He is prepared to give Flemyng a clean bill of health but later receives word that Flemyng shot himself. Mason is summoned to the office in the wee hours of the morning and meets his wife, Harriet Andersson, coming home alone from a party. It is obvious that she is a nymphomaniac, a situation of which Mason is well aware. They have worked out some sort of arrangement so that they can re¬ main together. Mason investigates the suicide together with associate Kenneth Haigh and Harry Andrews, a police advisor. He inter¬ views the widow, Simone Signoret, who doesn’t