Motion Picture Herald (Jul-Aug 1944)

SHOWMEN'S REVIEWS SHORT SUBJECTS CHART THE RELEASE CHART This department deal* with new product from the point of view of the exhibitor who it to purvey it to his own public. anie Varner, 1944-45 — 'Teen-agers ithout Delinquency In contrast with all those juvenile delinquency ctures the studios have been thrusting at trade id public, this presentation of America's 'teenfe girls and boys as they are, think and do, in is era of war, gives the youngsters a clean bill health and their parents some better news about em than they've been getting from the screen, he film comes to the market like a breath of fresh r let into a smoky room. The 'teen-agers in this picture are neither angels ir devils. They look and act like the youngsters the next block, making some mistakes as they i along but neither meaning nor doing evil. By ay of putting pep into the proceedings, Alex Gott:b, producer, and Michael Curtiz, director, strike id maintain a pace of activity which might tax en the most strenuous of the young folk now ing the same time and situations, but the speed presentation does away with opportunities for eeches and preachments such as the other picres about juveniles have been inflicting upon idiences and is to be praised for that. Set forth in the Agnes Christine Johnstonlarles Hoffman script, based on the stage play of e same name, are some events in the lives of ie Janie Conway, daughter of a small town newspcr publisher, the other members of her family, eir friends, and a host of other young people. :luding soldiers, a sailor and, finally, the arines. The events are not overwhelming, but e presentation of them is, and the viewpoints, titudes and reactions of the juveniles are porlyed with a validity that gives the picture impact yond the mere gaiety and amusement in the reground. For marquee strength, the picture offers Edward mold. Ann Harding, Robert Benchley, Alan ale and Hattie McDaniel, playing the adult roles, ie juvenile phalanx is topped by Joyce Reynolds, newcomer with promise, and Robert Hutton, other. There are several standouts in the junior oup. The picture opens fast, goes off pace for a spell the middle, where it was decided to toss in a "lized production number, then picks up speed d romps to a finish that bristles with laughs. Life magazine and the Lone Ranger radio proam are used in the picture as is. Previewed at Warner's Hollywood theatre, HolJtfood, where it played like a solid hit. Reviezvs Rating: Excellent. — William R. Weaver. Release date, Sept. 2, 1944. Running time, 101 tnin. *A No. 9989. General audience classification. lie Joyce Reynolds ;k Robert Hutton ward Arnold, Ann Harding, Robert Benchley. Alan le. Clare Foley. Barbara Brown, Hattie McDaniel, 3k Erdman, Jackie Moran, Ann Gillis, Rotu Tobey. 'ide By Mistake KO Radio — Comedy of Manners For compounding a comedy of manners that irkles like champagne yet neither ignores the -t of war nor stresses it, producer Bert Granet. ector Richard Wallace and scenarists Phoebe 3TION PICTURE HERALD, JULY 29, 1944 and Henry Ephron rate the thanks of trade and public. And for peopling the picture with players whose names and talents mean much to marquee and screen, RKO Radio rates recognition beyond common. The film is the best in the tradition of slick, frothy amusement to come from the production line this summer. The scene is Santa Barbara, as of now, and the hero is one of several pilots, back from overseas, quartered adjacently to the estate of the world's richest girl, who owns a shipyard. Undisposed to be married for her money, she poses as her secretary, who poses as she, in the chain of events, mainly social, which terminate in the usual clinch finish. Familiar in outline, the story prospers in the telling, the script containing better dialogue than most of its kind and the cast doing right by all of it. Alan Alarshal and Laraine Day dispose brilliantly of the top assignments, Allyn Joslyn and Slim Summerville furnishing the broader type of comedy relief and Edgar Buchanan turning in another of his crisply distinguished characterizations. It's a trim attraction for anybody's theatre. Previewed at the Pantages theatre, Hollywood, -where an audience drawn by "Mr. Winkle Goes to War," the film in engagement, laughed heartily and often at the unbilled production. Reviewer's Rating: Excellent. — W. R. W. Release date, Block 7. Running time, 80 min. PCA No. 10057. General audience classification. Tony Alan Marshal Norah Laraine Day Marsha Hunt, Allyn Joslyn, Edgar Buchanan, Michael St. Angel, Marc Cramer, William Post, Jr., Bruce Edwards, Nancy Gates, Slim Summerville. John Miljan, Robert Anderson. Republic — Musical Romance . Here's some very old folklore in a modern setting for the many folks who like Cinderellas, Prince Charmings and skinflints with hearts of gold. The production, in the hands of Harry Grey, is cast with a group of gay and talented young people and wrapped up with pert songs and lively band music. Mary Lee, Ruth Terry and Cheryl Walker play the three young laundresses who pretend to be heiresses of a long-vacant manor house. The masquerade is played out for a host of young men in uniform, who really don't care when explanations have to be made. Obstacles are many, but not too many for Miss Lee. She charms the young clerk in the office of the man who foreclosed on the house, frightens away prospective owners by dressing up in a slip cover and finally presents the miserly owner with a full-blown reputation for generosity and patriotism before he can show his true colors. The house becomes a canteen for soldiers, the girls have all found admirers and the sister confined to a wheelchair has the promise of full recovery as the picture closes. Olive Cooper wrote the screenplay from a story on which she collaborated with Maurice Clark. Joseph Santley directed Four songs by Walter Kent and Kim Gannon and the title number, a favorite of last season by Irving Taylor and Vic Mizzy, complete the musical bill and set the tempo for the make-believe. Seen in the home office projection room. Reviewer's Rating: Good. — E. A. Cunningham. Release date, July 31, 1944. Running time, 69 min. PCA No. 10042. General audience classification. Sue Scott Mary Lee Hallie Scott Ruth Terry Lilly Scott Cheryl Walker William Terry, Jackie Moran, Charles Arnt, Frank Jenks, William Shirley, Tom Fadden, Tom London, Milt Kibbee, Addison Richards, Lillian Randolph, Sam McDaniel, Forrest Taylor. Music in Manhattan RKO Radio — Comedy with Music Dennis Day's way with a song and hi^ own kind of humor, highlight of Jack Benny's radio program last season, come to the screen and its customers intact and to high purpose in this comedy with music. Matching him stride for stride, in song and performance, Anne Shirley adds to a picture filled with able performances' her best work to date. It's a fine specimen of light, timely entertainment. The script, by Lawrence Kimble, from a story by Maurice Tombragel, Hal Smith and Jack Scholl, concerns an actress mistaken for the wife of a war hero and compelled by circumstances to permit the mistake to stand temporarily, to the discomfiture of her fiance. Phillip Terry plays the hero and Day the fiance, and the synopsis sounds like something you've heard before, but the picture isn't. Five production numbers, presented as portions of the stage play which is in danger of closing until the mixup in identities brings customers Hocking, add spirit to the enterprise without running the budget out of bounds. They're by Lew Pollack and Merb Magidson, and a couple of them could turn out to be hits. John H. Auer produced and directed the picture, displaying skill and judgment in both departments. Previewed at the Pantages theatre, Hollywood, where it followed "Mr. Winkle Goes to War" and collected a running fire of pleased laughter from an audience which had just finished laughing plentifully at the picture in engagement. Reviezver's Rating: Good.—W. R. W. Release date, Block 7. Running time, 80 min. PCA No. 1O056. General audience classification. Frankie Anne Shirley Stanley Dennis Day Phillip Terry, Raymond Walburn, Jane Darwell, Patti Brill, Charlie Barnet and orchestra, Nilo Menendez and band. Mademoiselle Fifi RKO Radio — Occupied France, 1870 Posing something of a problem for showmen, with respect to programming and billing, this Val Lewton production based on Guy De Maupassant's short story of the same title portrays in a manner to entertain adults the reaction of the people of France to the German occupation of 1870. The film excels in craftsmanship beyond the promise of the names in the cast, and attains at times a high level of excellence, but the somberness of its subject matter mitigates against its usefulness as a supporting feature and there are passages which 2017 Three Little Sisters