Motion Picture Herald (Jan-Feb 1945)

a hatchet murder before witnesses that was really an accident. While the theme is melodramatic, the outstanding qualities of the film are its homeliness and warmth. The characters are all simple townsfolk — a factory foreman and his son, a letter carrier who watches over the boys' club on the side, a policeman, a housewife, a baker and the neighborhood kids. The hot-headed foreman quarrels with the baker over his boy, grabs the youngster's hatchet and brings it down, as the store clerk and two customers scream. The man's friends accept his word that he never struck the blow but are unable to make any headway against three witnesses. He is convicted of murder. A stay of execution is won by a clever demonstration in the boys' gym just as the man is breaking jail. After a jjreath-taking contest with searchlights and prison safeguards he gets back undetected. Action hews closely to the story line. Some sequences take only a minute's screen time with a few lines of dialogue, but transitions are natural Performances, too are without flourish, and the more effective for it. Trudy Marshall, Billy Cummings, Ruth Ford, and Byron Foulger are prominent in a good supporting cast. Credit for the unusual story treatment should be divided among Nat Ferber and Sam Duncan who wrote the original, Samuel Ornitz who made the adaptation and Robert Metzler who supplied the screenplay. Seen in the home office projection room. Reviewer's Rating : Good. — E. A. C. Release date, March, 1945. Running time, 67 min. PCA No. 10526. General audience classification. Joe Reynolds Michael (yShea Sam Lord Lloyd Nolan Trudy Marshall, Billy Cummings, Ruth Ford, Reed Hadley. Roy Roberts, Scotty Beckett, Leon Tyler, Marvin Davis, Harry McKira, Hugh Maguire, Byron Foulger, William Frambes. Strange Illusion PRC — Psychological Mystery A mounting sense of uneasiness and excitement is skillfully conveyed to the audience by this polished production for which Leon Fromkess takes personal production credit. Director Edgar Ulmer's handling of the dream sequences, usually difficult to put over, is particularly deft. The film rates among the best in its category. James Lydon carries the major acting load in a role tailor-made for his talents : that of a sensitive, almost neurotic boy who becomes obsessed by the dream with which the picture opens. In it he hears the voice of his dead father, warning him that his mother and sister are in danger. The mother, portrayed by Sally Filers, has become engaged to a handsome stranger, a role to which Warren William does full justice. The son, however, haunted 1 y his dream, becomes suspicious of his mother's s nitor, and, pursuing his hobby of criminology, proceeds to tmearth any amount of damaging evidence against the man. An exciting, suspenseful finish rounds out the film with a punch. Adele Comandini wrote the screenplay, basing it upon an original by Fritz Rotter. Regis Toomey and Mary McLeod are among those in the supporting cast who deserve special mention. Previewed at the studio. Reviewer's Rating : Good. — Thalia Bell. Release date, March 31, 1945. Running time, 86 min. PCA No. 10544. General audience classification. Paul Cartwright James Lydon Brett Curtis Warren William Virginia Cartwright Sally Eilers Regis Toomey, Charles Arnt, George H. Reed, Jayne Hazard, Jimmy Clark, Mary McLeod, Pierre Watkin, John Hamilton, Sonia Sorel, Vic Potel. The Body Snotcher RKO Radio — Horror Tale Val Lewton, who has a way with weird and occult tales, has found one to his liking by an old master, Robert Louis Stevenson, and produced it with all the modern staging and lighting effects which have won him and the horror picture a considerable following. For menace he chose another master, Boris Karloff, and added Bela Lugosi and Henry Daniell for support. The result has both novelty and chills, a highly desirable combination in the horror market. The setting is Edinburgh more than a century ago when the practice of medicine was not the highly respected profession it has since become. The idea of dissection to teach surgery and healing was suspect, and subjects hard to come by. A teaching physician, already driven from practice by his involvement in a scandal some years before, is supplied by a soft-spoken, leering cabby who does his grave-digging by night and a little murder if hard pressed. His vicious tavmting of the doctor arouses the suspicions of a young student who accepts some of the arrangements for the sake of medicine, but rebels at murder and finally breaks away. The doctor, driven to kill because the cabdriver refuses to let the past die, finds himself unable to escape his victim, or perhaps his conscience. In a mad drive with a corpse on a stormy jiight he hears the dead man's taunts and plunges over a cliff. Karloff gives an excellent portrayal of the evil cabby and Daniell almost matches him as the harassed doctor. On the lighter side, the cast includes good supporting performances by Bela Lugosi, Russell Wade and Sharyn Moffett. Philip MacDonald and Carlos Keith adapted the Stevenson story to the screen and Robert Wise directed it skillfully. Jack J. Gross was executive producer. Seen in a New York projection room. Reviewer's Rating : Good. — E. A. C. Release date, not set. .Running time, 77 min. PCA No. 10563. Adult audience classification. Gray Boris KarlofiE MacFarlane Henry Daniell Bela Lugosi, Edith Atwater, Russell Wade, Rita Corday, Sharyn Moffett, Donna Lee. Pan-Americana RKO Radio — Romance and Rhythnns Although lacking name-power for top billing, and long for secondary placement, this tuneful touring of the Latin American countries by a group of American journalists with a romance in their midst accounts for itself pleasantly in point of entertainment and does its bit, not at all ostentatiously, for interAmerican amity. It's especially strong in the production-number department, presenting many acts and ensembles performing Latin rhythms, a circumstance in its favor with respect to the junior generation. Lawrence Kimble's screenplay, based on a story by Frederick Kohner and producer-director John H. Auer, shows Phillip Terry, Audrey Long, •Robert Benchley and Eve Arden as staff members of a New York magazine who tour Latin America in quest of material for a Pan-American edition. Terry and Miss Long are principals in a romance that arrives, after suitable and not entirely routine deviations, at the usual destination. Meanwhile, the party tours the Latin American nations, with principal stops in Mexico, Cuba and Brazil. Production numbers, several of them extraordinary and all characteristic of their settings, feature Rosario and Antonio, Miguelito Valdes, Harold and Lola, Louise Burnett, Chinita Marin, Chuy Castilion, Padilla Sisters, Chuy Reyes and orchestra and Nestor Amaral and his samba band. Sid Rogell was executive producer. Previewed at the Pantages theatre, Hollywood, to a Thursday night audience which appeared pleased. Reviewer's Rating: Good. — W. R. W. Release date. Block 3. Running time, 84 min. PCA No. 10312. General audience classification. Dan Phillip Terry Jo Audrey Long Robert Benchley, Eve Arden, Ernest Truex, Marc Cramer, Isabella. Fog Island P«C— Shudders in the Shadow This personally-produced Leon Fromkess production is a spine-tingling mystery with all the trimmings— trap doors, secret passage-ways, and a central character who is more than a little stircrazy, as one of the other players aptly remarks. _ Pierre Gendron wrote the screenplay, basing it upon a story by Bernardine Angus. It concerns a financier who seeks revenge upon those who ruined him and, in particular, upon the man who murdered his wife. Uncertain just which one of his associates is the murderer, he invites them all to spend a quiet weekend with him on a fog-shrouded island. The weekend turns out to be far from quiet, as the host, five of the guests, and the butler all meet violent ends. Only the financier's step-daughter and the man she loves are spared. !> The cast is uniformly good. George Zucco, as 1 the ruined financier, contributes a fine, blood-curd ! ling characterization. Jacqueline DeWit adds an ; amusing portrayal of an astrologist. Jerome Cowan, I Lionel Atwill and Ian Keith are also worthy of |; mention. The young lovers — Sharon ^Douglas and i John Whitney — are pleasing in the only sympa I thetic roles. Terry Morse directed with a fine feeling for i suspense. The musical score also contributes much [ to the eeriness of the film. | Previewed at the studio. Reviewer's Rating : f Good.—T. B. ! Release date, February 15, 1945. Rimning time, 70 min. i PCA No. 10626. General audience classification. Leo Grainger George Zucco ' Alec Ritchfield Lionel Atwill I Kavanaugh Jerome Cowan \ Sharon Douglas, Veda Ann Borg, John Whitney, Jacque I line DeWit, Ian Keith, George Lloyd. i Keep Your Powder Dry j MGM—lhree Girls in Khaki i Three lovely stars don khaki for this first full } scale screen treatment of the Women's Army ' Corps, and exhibitors may well find it a made-to \ order combination. Heading the list is Lana Turner, looking quite as attractive as ever and doing a bit more acting than usual. Matching her [ step for step are Laraine Day and Susan Peters [ and a company of trim Wacs whose appearance i should dispel any lingering doubts about the j uniform. Their importance to a nation at war, however, is not made clear in the film. ' The story which Mary C. McCall, Jr. and j George Bruce have written for them broadly 1 traces the careers of civilians' from varying backgrounds through basic training to their final acceptance as officers. But it is more particularly a story of rivalry between two girls, a cruel and ! petty battling for superiority which is resolved only I when they discover that the Corps is greater than I either of them. _ ! The opposition of these two themes — for the girls } are certainly not meant to be representative of the ' thousands of women who have joined the Army — i considerably lessens the dramatic impact of the j film, while the familiarity of the larger framework j robs it of suspense. i On the credit side are competent performances, j some bright lines of dialogue, occasional humorous incidents and a touching sequence which illustrates the tragic import of the war. Laraine Day as the colonel's daughter who resents the spoiled heiress for personal as well as military reasons is especially good. Miss Turner, as her rival, and Miss Peters, the constant peacemaker, give effective if not always believable characterizations. Among the supporting players, Agnes Moorehead, Bill Johnson and Jess Barker stand out. Production values, under the supervision of George Haight, are satisfactory, and direction by Edward Buzzell maintains steady pace. Seen in the home office projection room. Reviewer's Rating : Average — E. A. C. Release date, March, 1945. Running time, 93 min. PCA No. 10596. General audience classification. Valerie Parks Lana Turner Leigh Rand Laraine Day Ann Darrison.... Susan Peters Agnes Moorehead, Bill Johnson, Natalie Schafer, Lee Patrick, Jess Barker, June Lockhart, Martin Linden, Tim Murdock. Betrayal from the East RKO Radio — Spy Melodrama Drew Pearson's introduction to this film states that it is based on fact and should be an object lesson for all Americans. While this gives a sobering air of authenticity to the picture, the plot remains one that should be familiar to all who have watched the recent crop of espionage dramas on the -screen. This one has been directed smoothly by William Berke and capably acted by Lee Tracy and Nancy Kelly. It has the added advantage of a sleek group of Oriental villains who will arouse' no sympathy, and a tough hero who is neither too noble nor too cunning. The story itself, based on Alan Hynd's novel, is good melodrama with a satisfactory amount of suspense. Interest lies quite as much in the duplicity of our Pacific enemies as in the fate of the characters. It opens some time before the Pearl Harbor 2318 PRODUCT DIGEST SECTION. FEBRUARY 17, 1945