Motion Picture Herald (Jul-Aug 1943)

July 31, 1943 MOTION PICTURE HERALD the investigation reveals an officer in the uniform of the U. S. Navy or Merchant Marine (the point is not made clear) as the traitorous killer. False clues, narrow escape, attempts at assassination and related materials are strung between establishment and solution of the mystery. The picture differs from norm in two respects. One is its length. The other is its^ fixing of traitorous guilt upon a man in a unifo'rmed service. B. Reeves Eason directed. Previewed at the studio. Reviewer's Rating : Poor.— W.R.W. Release date, not set. Running time, 48 min. PCA No. 8956 General audience classification. Joe Davis Warren Douglas Gloria Joan Winfield John Loder, Ruth Ford, Bill Crago, Bill Kennedy, William B. Davidson, Don Costello, James Flavin, Bill Edwards, Ross Ford, DeWolf Hopper, John Maxwell, Phil Van Zandt, Frank Mayo, Fred Kelsey. Young Ideas (MGM) Farce Comedy Sophisticated farce, this is handled with such deftness and warmth that the popular chord is struck repeatedly. The story is a series of situations, arising out of the desire by writer Mary Astor's youngsters, Susan Peters and Elliott Reid, to rid their mother of an unwelcome marriage. That marriage is to Herbert Marshall, chemistry professor. The youngsters, sophisticated, smart, and carefree, feel Marshall is stuffy, that he will end Miss Astor's writing career, and that life in the small college town will keep them away from New York forever. So they plant in Marshall's mind jealousy of his wife, fed by suspicions situations which they create. Marshall gets drunk, which almost ruins his reputation; and then he blows up, throwing out of his home his wife's teatime visitors, and her flippant agent, Allan Joslyn. This causes Miss Astor to leave. The youngsters are successful. But they regret it. Susan has fallen in love with Richard Carlson, instructor. Her brother breaks that up, with the same methods. Susan feels what her mother feels, and both Susan and her brother realize that Marshall is not so bad. Brother and sister proceed to the divorce court and interview the judge, who in turn reconciles Marshall and Miss Astor. The last scene is a chase, in which Marshall and Miss Astor give their children a hiding. The picture's success is to a large extent based on convincing characterizations, especially by Reid and Miss Peters, as intolerant and clever adolescents ; and from the situations and fast dialogue in the original screenplay by Ian McLellan Hunter and William Noble. Jules Dassin's direction keeps pace and comedy mood throughout. Robert Sisk was the producer. Seen in a New York projection room. Reviewer's Rating: Good— Floyd Elbert Stone. Release date, September, 1943. Running time,_ 77 min. PCA No. 9205. General audience classification. Susan Evans ■•• • -S usan Peters Michael Kingsley Herbe" M-arAsha11 Jo Evans Mary Astor Jeff Evans .. . Elliott Reid Richard Carlson, Allyn Joslyn, Dorothy Morris, Frances Rafferty, George Dolenz, Emory Parnell. Honeymoon Lodge (Universal) ^pie of Minor Musical r|gt aftp' Universal's succession of minors ..nuiicals that pay major dividends continues here, as Clifton Fadiman would say, "along its merry, unrehearsed way." That is to say, the picture, like Fadiman's Information Please radio program, bears no imprint of elaborate preparation or painstaking fabrication but throws its sparkles and its blank spaces at the audience in an in formal way which, say the record books, has proved to be to the liking of the young people of whom so many are buying so many admission tickets this year. For the young, of any age, the picture provides Ozzie Nelson and his orchestra; Harriet Hilliard in song with and without Nelson, also in a role; Veloz and Yolanda, submitting one of their silken ballroom dances ; Tip, Tap and Toe in a rhythm routine ; Bobby Brooks and quartette in a session of harmony on the sweet side, and Ray Eberle singing a balland. The musical numbers are from the open market. For old or young it offers a tale about a young couple who detour the divorce court to revisit the scene of their wooing and find there much they don't expect, salvaging their marriage, however. Warren Wilson, author of several of the Universal musicals preceding this one, made his debut here as associate producer of his own story, by Clyde Bruckman. Here' too, June Vincent, of the New York stage, is to be seen for the first time. Both debuts display promise. Previewed at the Fairfax theatre, Hollywood, to a midweek audience which found much in the picture at which to chuckle, some at which to laugh. Reviewer's Rating : Good. — W.R.W. Release date, not set. Running time, 63 min. PCA No. 9492. General audience classification. Bob Stirling David Bruce Carol Stirling June Vincent Harriet Hilliard, Rod Cameron. Franklin Pangborn, Andrew Tombes, Martin Ashe, Ozzie Nelson and band, Veloz and Yolanda, Tip, Tap and Toe, Bobby Brooks and quartette. Wagon Tracks West (Republic) Wild Bill Fights for Justice A story laid in a western frontier town with Indian warfare, a double dealing Indian Commissioner, a crooked medicine man and rich grazing lands as the stake unfolds here to provide a fast moving Western calculated to please young and old. The plot unfolds from the time Gabby Hayes takes a drink of fever-infected swamp water and falls in. Victim of the fever, he is mistaken for a drunk, and toughs of Six Gun proceed to put him through some rough horseplay. Rick Vallin, as a young Indian doctor just returning to his tribe, attempts to hajt them only to be slated for similar treatment and faces the ire of rough cattlemen when Wild Bill arrives on the scene and halts proceedings by administering a first class licking to the ring leader. Through hard riding and straight shooting Wild Bill and Gabby untangle the plot to wring a confession from the Indian commissioner's henchman. The pair ride into town with their fever-infected prisonor just in time to halt an Indian war and save Vallin from the hangman's noose. Elliott captures the Indian commissioner and turns him over to the sheriff. The cattlemen decide the town needs a doctor and offer to outfit an office for Vallin. Elliott and Hayes are excellent as hard riding, straight shooters. Onne Jeffreys is an appealing Indian maid while Tom Tyler, as the medicine man, and Robert Frazer, the commissioner, contribute the villainy with the aid of Roy Barcroft, the commissioner's henchman. The picture was well produced by Lou Gray and directed by Howard Bretherton. Previewed at Hitching Post theatre, Hollywood, where an early afternoon , audience whistled and cheered the hero and his friends with evident enjoyment. Reviewer's Rating : Good. Release date, not set. Running time, 55 mins. PCA No. 9416. General audience classification. Wild Bill Bill Elliott Gabby George "Gabby" Hayes Dr. Fleet Wing Rick Vallin Tom Tyler. Anne Jeffreys, Robert Frazer, Roy Barcroft, Tom London, J. W. Cody. Headin' for Cod's Country (Republic) Alaskan Drama God's country is a place called Sunivak in Alaska — a quiet place. In fact, it's a little too quiet until the 10-minute action finish in which a Jap landing party is neatly wiped out by the Sunivak home guard. The story's hero, William Lundigan, in disfavor with the townspeople because of their natural animosity toward strangers, finds his one bright spot in Virginia Dale, the outpost's weather observer. Hearing of her abandoned mercury mine, he hits upon a prank to restore its value, and using the local printer's equipment, fakes an announcement in the paper to the effect that the United States is at war. It is only December 4th. The village Shylock appears on the scene, already priority-minded, and acquires Miss Dale's property for $20,000. The war news spreads, and Sunivak becomes a well-guarded fortress, civilian defense measures, war production and home guard included. The hoax, however, backfires three days later with the Jap attack on Pearl Harbor, and Lundigan's foresight is rewarded with Miss Dale's love. The cycle is complete in another respect, too, as Sunivak's Quisling is exposed. The associate producer was Armand Schaefer, and direction by William Morgan was from the screenplay by Houston Branch and Elizabeth Meehan. Seen at Republic's home office projection room. Review's Ratings Fair — Lew Barasch. Release date, August 12, 1943. Running time, 78 min. PCA No. 9334. General audience classification. Michael Banyan William Lundigan Laurie Lane Virginia Dale Clem Adams Harry Davenport Albert Ness Harry Shannon Addison Richards, J. Frank Hamilton, Eddie Acuff, Wade Crosby, Anna Q. Nilsson. Black Sea Fighters (Artkino) Russian Documentary The siege of Sevastopol, the city of 100,000 population which held off 15 Nazi divisions for 260 days and surrendered when only 11 buildings were left standing, is shown here with the concise and jagged clarity of Soviet cameras which followed the defenders on their forays against the enemies by land, air and sea. It is footage that commands interest throughout. A commentary written by Clifford Odets and confined principally to explanatory material is spoken by Fredric March. The camera shows the city at the start, during and at the close of the siege. It shows the subterranean hangars used by the defenders, the munitions plants operated in the caverns under the town, the strafings and bombings by the enemy, the counterattacks by the Soviets on foot and by armored train. A tank battle, in which flame throwers are used to wipe out Nazi machine gun nests, is a highlight. A commando raid carried out from the sea, with a submarine releasing commandos via its torpedo tubes to prepare the way for landing barges bringing fighters from a battle squadron, is material of utmost interest. Apart from some irregularities and imperfections of music score and sound track, the film is a compelling picturization of the event it deals with. Previewed for the press at the Esquire theatre. Hollyzvood, in advance of its world premiere at that place. Reviciver's Rating : Good. Release date, July 27, 1943. Running time, 64 min. General audience classification. Produced by Central Newsreels Studios, Moscow, U.S.S.R. Directed by Vasili Belyaev. English text by Clifford Odets. Narration by Fredric March. Release in North and South America by Artkino. Product Digest Section 1 455