Motion Picture Herald (Mar-Apr 1945)

SHORT SUBJECTS' RELEASE CHART BY COM PAN1ES ADVANCE SYNOPSES THE RELEASE CHART This department deals with new product from the point of view of the exhibitor who is to purvey it to his own public. dan iversal — Fantasy in Technicolor !aria Montez, Jon Hall and Turhan Bey are in the colorful costumes of ancient Egypt, nst vast expanses of desert scenery. But Paul vern's production is no static tableau : there's igh action in it to satisfy the requirements of most restless fan. John Rawlins' direction ;ses swordplay, horse-races, and a superb cliscene in which an avalanche comes tumbling n the mountains to bury the cohorts of evil in ass of rocks and rubble. rimund L. Hartmann wrote the screenplay, in :h, the introduction avers, it is hard to distinh truth from fantasy. It concerns an Egyptian in whose father has been murdered by his treachs privy councillor. He persuades the girl that father has been killed by the leader of a band reed slaves who roam the desert and live by ge and thievery. When the queen, incognito, out to find the leader of the outlaws, she is :pon by the councillor's henchmen, and sold into sry. Rescued by a pair of pickpockets, she ts and falls in. love with the outlaw chief. Be:ig him a murderer, she betrays him, in spite er professed love. After that, it's only a quesof time, a jailbreak and a torture scene before villainous privy councillor is exposed, and he his men are brought to destruction, he success of earlier 'films in Universal's series Fechnicolor fables augurs well for this one, :h is as good as any of the previous ones, if not Er. rez-iewed at the studio. Reviewer's Rating : d. — Thalia Bell. lease date, March 2, 1945. Running: time, 76 min. Xo. 10489. General audience classification. I Maria Montez W Jon Hall la Turhan Bey ' Devine, George Zucco. Robert Warwick. Phil Van Harry Cording. George Lynn, Charles Arnt. rl Carroll Vanities public — Musical fie lavish floor shows which Earl Carroll nightrtages in his Hollywood restaurant are here Induced on an even more grandiose scale. There 'dance numbers, song numbers, and girls, girls, .. There are also such competent players as inis O'Keefe, Constance Moore, Eve Arden and \> Kruger. he story is one made familiar by the late Antv Hope, who started the vogue for fiction about ,:esses from vague Balkan kingdoms. In Frank k screen version, based on an original by Cort. Fitzsimmons, the princess and her mother K to the United States in order to float a loan :heir country. The princess, who prefers meat • to caviar, and night life to high society, :es up an acquaintance with a young woman owns a night club. By the usual series of obable coincidences, the night club's singing ! sprains her ankle on the very night when ; Carroll visits the club, looking for a new j for his show. The princess is pressed into tcfej and makes such a hit with the impresario l he insists upon signing her for his revue. The most notable numbers are the "Rockabye Boogie" and a song, rendered pleasantly by Miss Moore, called "Endlessly." Albert J. Cohen acted as associate producer, and Joseph Santley directed. Previewed in a Hollywood projection room. Reviewer's Rating : Good. — T. B. Release date, not set. Running time, 91 min. PCA No. 10607. General audience classification. Danny Baldwin Dennis O'Keefe Drina Constance Moore Tex Donnelly Eve Arden Otto Kruger, Alan Mowbray, Stephanie Bachlor, Pinky Lee, Mary Forbes, Parkyakarkus, Leon Belasco. Molly and Me 20th Century -Fox — Situation Comedy Gracie Fields, Monty Woolley, Roddy McDowall and Reginald Gardiner — a nice quartette of names for a marquee — work hard and sometimes successfully at getting laughs for this comedy of situation, but indecisiveness on the part of producer, director and writer works against them. As if not quite sure whether comedy or human interest were the objective, the off -screen talent has provided the players with dialogue and business which leans first in one direction and then in another, winding up on mid-ground with the actors pretty much on their own resources and with not much help from any quarter. Two or three situations click nicely, but many fail to. Leonard Praskins' script, from Roger Burford's adaptation of a novel by Frances Marion, presents Miss Fields as an actress who enters domestic service as a housekeeper for a man of wealth and replaces the staff of servants with other actresses and actors. The strictly humorous complications which arise from this have a certain robust quality, but the script imposes on top of them a serious story about the employer and his son, which doesn't blend with the funny stuff. Woolley has a few good moments, Miss Fields is permitted to sing occasionally, under disadvantage, and McDowall sparks a couple of times but is sacrificed, for the most part, to a role that discounts his ability. Robert Bassler produced and Lewis Seiler directed. Previezved at the Village theatre, Westzvood, Cal., where a Friday night audience composed largely of students found it mildly amusing. Reviewers Rating : Average. — William R. Weaver. Release date, April, 1945 Running time, 77 min. PCA No. 10569. General audience classification. M'olly Gracie Fields Graham Monty Woolley Roddy McDowall, Reginald Gardiner, Natalie Schafer, Edith Barrett, Clifford Brooke. Aminta Dyne. Queenie Leonard, Doris Lloyd, Patrick O'Moore, Lewis L. Russell, Ethel Griffies, Eric Wilton, Jean Del Val, Lillian Bronson. Hollywood and Vine PRC — Cinema City In a comedy vein with a Hollywood background the story which emerges here centers about a boy, a girl and a dog. Jimmy Ellison is a young and successful playwright working on his first Hollywood assignment, a story about Hollywood itself. He meets Wanda McKay, an aspiring actress, in a hamburger stand about 30 miles from Hollywood. A mongrel puppy wandered in and the boy believed the dog belonged to the girl and followed her to return it. The dog did not belong to the girl but she was willing to take care of it. One day the puppy wanders on a set and is chosen to play the lead in a picture. After that there arise consternation and strife about the ownership of the dog. Finally the dog problem is settled and the girl and the boy are reunited. The puppy is a smart performer with a large repertory of stunts. He steals several scenes. The leading parts are ably handled and the comedy features are supplied by Ralph Morgan, Franklin Pangborn and Emmett Lynn. Leon Fromkess produced and Alexis ThurnTaxis directed from a loosely woven story, but one which contains unusual touches which add to the attractiveness of the film. It should please patrons desiring a light and carefree romantic comedy. Seen in a Nezv York projection room. Rcviczver's Rating: Good. — M. R. Y. Release date, April 25, 1945. Running time, 58 min. PCA No. 10459. General audience classification. Larry James Ellison Martha Wanda McKay June Clyde, Ralph Morgan, Franklin Pangborn, Leon Belasco, Emmett Lynn, Vera Lewis, Karin Lang, Robert Greig, Charlie Williams, Ray Whitley, Dewey Robinson, Cy Ring, Grandin Rhodes. Billy Bendict, Donald Kerr, Lillian Bronson, John Elliott, Jack Raymond, Charles Jordan, Lou Crocker, Hal Taggart. Navajo Trails Monogram — Western Johnny Mack Brown and Raymond Hatton are teamed again as "Nevada" and "Sandy," U. S. marshals, whose names inspire uneasiness in the hearts of all malefactors of the old West. The boys are at their best in this fast-moving drama which Howard Bretherton directed under Charles J. Bigelow's supervision. The pair is about to take off for a much-needed vacation when a sergeant of the 'Texas Rangers is shot dead on their doorstep. "Nevada" trails the outlaws to the town of Muleshoe, and there assumes the identity of a notorious bandit. In this guise he is accepted by the outlaws as one of themselves and learns of their plans to rustle a herd of horses belonging to a neighboring Indian tribe. "Nevada's" plan to catch the rustlers red-handed is frustrated when one of the latter recognizes "Sandy." The picture is climaxed by a rousing gun-battle in which Jennifer Holt, portraying the wife of a Ranger, shows herself an expert rifle shot. A plausible screenplay by Frank H. Young, based on a story by Jess Bowers, and convincing performances by the cast — particularly Hatton's comedy touches — combine to make this a morethan-acceptable Western. Seen at the Hitching Post theatre, Hollywood, where patrons expressed audible appreciation. Reziewer's Rating : Good. — T. B. Release date, Jan. 5, 1945. Running time, 56 min. PCA No. 10565. General audience classification. Nevada Johnny Mack Brown Sandy Raymond Hatton Mary Jennifer Holt Riley Hill. Jim Bond. Jasper L. Palmer. Edmund Cobb. Bud Osborne, Earl Crawford, Charles King. Ray Bennett, Tom Quinn, Josh Carpenter, Mary MaClaren. JON PICTURE HERALD, MARCH 10, 1945 2349