Motion Picture Herald (Mar-Apr 1945)

SHOWMEN'S REVIEWS SHORT SUBJECTS RELEASE CHART BY COMPANIES SHORT SUBJECTS CHART 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. ie Affairs of Susan ramount-W allis — Joan Fontaine Enter■ains ,'tilizing for his first venture under the Paraont trademark an original story designed to dis. Academician Joan Fontaine's virtuosity in a e variety of undertakings, Producer Hal B. :llis has demonstrated again his showmanly acity. Miss Fontaine's role calls upon her to otiate three complete changes of personality, her skill in accomplishing this is something the fans to talk about with gross-building ensiasm. She carries her supporting cast with e, and compensates for talkiness and flashback ration in the bargain, packaging up a neat ney's worth for any and all customers, "he script hy Thomas Monroe, Laszlo Gorog Richard Flournoy, from an original story by first two, opens with Miss Fontaine an estabed stage star engaged to an aviation expert who known her only seven weeks. When she introes him to three men obviously interested in her, her former husband, he invites them to din. and they catch him up — via flashbacks— with development from a simple country girl to present state. Itimately, she remarries her divorced husband, all suitors compete to the finish for her hand, jrge Brent, Dennis O'Keefe, Don DeFore and titer Abel work hard as Miss Fontaine's suit, but her performance dominates theirs at all es. Rita Johnson, seen briefly as her rival for It prominence, provides the only acting compejn. dthough uniforms are shown in the opening uences, when Miss Fontaine is represented as :rning from an overseas entertainment tour, and lough music as recent as "Accentuate the Posi:" is used in the background score, the pic: is without essential reference to wartime, ashioned primarily for theatre-goers who want laugh, the film supplies one reason after an;r throughout its length. William A. Seiter, icting wfth versatility and skill, got maximum .ement out of a fundamentally conversational •jIT' 'reviewed at the studio. Reviewer's Rating : id. — William R. Weaver. rlease date, Block 5. Running time, 108 min. PCA 10574. General audience classification. an Darrell Joan Fontaine er Burton George Brent Anthony Dennis O'Keefe DeFore, Rita Johnson, Walter Abel, Byron Barr, : Field. ie Corn Is Green urner Bros. — Bette Davis Plays Teacher he stage play by Emlyn Williams, in which lei Barrymore scored a great triumph several sons ago, has been translated into a motion pic: that commands respect. Its story is uncomi on the screen, but it is cast with a group of ellent performers led by Bette Davis and iniing two young players making their screen uts with the air of veterans, 'he story deals with knowledge and the thirst it Told in terms of a teacher and her pupil, ITION PICTURE HERALD, MARCH 31, 1945 the drama develops in the clash of their personalities and backgrounds rather than in romantic love. If this is a theme of doubtful box office value, the name of Bette Davis and the success of the play on Broadway should assure it an audience. Under the painstaking direction of Irving Rapper, the treatment is restrained — a bit too much so at times — but always interesting. It has a good deal of humor, some emotionally moving scenes and the picturesque background of. the Welsh countryside at the end of the last century. But it is above all a performance piece. Miss " Davis, as the teacher from England who tries to bring learning to a small mining town and finds one pupil who will take all she has to give, has the commanding role and plays it with suitable authority. She is a woman who forces her will on others and learns too late that understanding would gain a less costly victory. As her pupil, John Dall starts his screen career impressively. He makes the young miner torn between old, familiar ways and new learning a sympathetic and believable figure. The most striking role, that of a Cockney girl whose contempt for books is matched only by her sure knowledge of her own charms, is handled brilliantly by another newcomer, Joan Lorring. She and Nigel Bruce, who plays the fatuous local squire, share the comedy between them and make the most of it. In briefer parts, Rhys Williams, Rosalind Ivan and Mildred Dunnock give fine support. Max Steiner's music captures the spirit of the bare and misty country, and the plaintive folk songs by a mixed chorus of young voices are important and delightful adjuncts to the entertainment, as is the low-keyed photography of Sol Polito. Jack L. Warner and Jack Chertok have done a creditable job in production. Seen in the home office projection room. Revieiver's Rating: Good.—E. A. Cunningham. Release date, not set. Running time, 114 min. FCA No. 9366. General audience classification. Miss Moffat Bette Davis Morgan Evans John Dall Bessie Watty Joan Lorring The Squire Nigel Bruce Rhys Williams, Rosalind Ivan, Mildred Dunnock, Arthur Shields, Gwenyth Hughes, Thomas Louden, Billy Roy, Brandon Hurst, Tony Ellis, Elliott Dare, Leslie Vincent. Leave It to Blondie Columbia — Comic-Strip Comedy The latest in the "Blondie" series based on a comic strip by Chic Young is a refreshing, heartwarming little comedy whose characters are as familiar and lovable as the family next door. Connie Lee's original screenplay is a simple, human story that might happen to any average American family in any average American town. Its chief charm lies in that very simplicity and credibility. Penny Singleton and Arthur Lake are at ease in their usual roles of Blondie and Dagwood. The story plunges the family into a series of complications caused by the fact that both write checks against a bank balance large enough to meet only half of them. Their efforts to meet the other half lead them into a variety of situations all played for full comedy value by a cast under Abby Berlin's competent direction. Burt Kelly rates credit for simplicity and taste in his production. Seen at the Pantages theatre, Hollywood, where an audience which had come to see "A Song to Remember" laughed wholeheartedly at the secondary offering. Reviewer's Rating : Good. — Thalia Bell. Release date, February 22, 1945. Running time, 72 min. PCA No. 10532. General audience classification. Blondie Penny Singleton Dagwood Arthur Lake Larry Simms, Marjorie Weaver, Jonathan Hale, Daisy. Wild Horse Phantom PRC— Western The latest opus to come from the producer-director team of Sigmund Neufeld and Sam Newfield should satisfy the fans. George Milton's story sticks close to formula, but there's enough action, most of it taking place in and around an abandoned mine, to keep the customers interested. Al St. John's comedy becomes tedious, and interferes with the telling of the story. Buster Crabbe gives a standard performance as the lawabiding cowboy who sets out to right the wrongs of the ranchers. He trails a gang of escaped convicts in the hope of discovering the hiding-place in which the gang's leader had previously secreted a roll of the rancher's money. There's a time limit put on his efforts, which helps the suspense. The money must be returned to the ranchers by noon, otherwise the bank will foreclose on all the surrounding property. After a morning spent chasing the robbers in and out of mine-tunnels, Crabbe makes the deadline with two minutes to spare. Previewed at Hollywood's Hitching Post theatre, Reviewer's Rating : Average. — T. B. Release date, Oct. 28, 1944. Running time, 55 min. PCA No. 10359. General audience classification. Billy Carson Buster Crabbe Fuzzy Al St. John Ealine Morey, Kermit Maynard, Hal Price, Budd Buster, Robert Meredith, Frank Ellis, Frank McCarroll. The Lady Confesses PRC — Melodrama to Music Music, the night club variety, backgrounds most of the proceedings in this melodrama about a man who kills his wife to get her out of his way before marrying again and then finds it necessary to keep on killing to keep from being found out. One of the three songs, "It's All Your Fault," has the makings of Hit Parade popularity, although all are interpolated rather than featured in the picture. An Alexander-Stern production produced by Alfred Stern and directed by Sam Newfield, the film accents the satin side of life as lived by the night club set (prior to the midnight curfew thing, incidentally), but takes its plot from their extracurricular activities. The killer is a smoothie, unsuspected by everybody until near the finish, and the forces of law and order are as misled about him as the audience is up to the point where writer Helen Martin exposes him. Mary Beth Hughes' name is the best available for billing, and Hugh Beaumont's portrayal of the 2381