Motion Picture Herald (May-Jun 1946)

SHOWMEN'S REVIEWS SHORT SUBJECTS SERVICE DATA 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. Blondie's Lucky Day Columbia — Bums+ead Family Comedy In this, the 17th screen adaptation of Chick Young's comic strip "Blondie," Dagwood again runs into his usual difficulties, only to be saved as expected by the ingenuity of Blondie. Directed by Abby Berlin and based on an original screen play by Connie Lee, this episode in the life of the Bumsteads is given the usual light comedy treatment of the series. Exhibitors who in the past have found the pictures profitable at the box office and entertaining for their audiences, can expect the same result from "Blondie's Lucky Day." After being fired by Mr. Dithers for hiring a woman architect, Dagwood invests the family savings in his own construction company. A series of business boners on the part of Dagwood nearly ruins the financial standing of the company, but Blondie manages to patch up the differences between her husband and Mr. Dithers and thus saves the family bank account. All of the regulars are on hand : Penny Singleton, Arthur Lake, Larry Simms, Marjorie Kent and Daisy the dog as members of the Bumstead family, and Jonathan Hale as Mr. Dithers. In supporting roles are Angelyn Orr and Robert Stanton, who lend romance to the plot. Reviewed at Loew's 42nd Street theatre in New York where a mid-afternoon audience found the picture entertaining and amusing. Reviewer's Rating : Good. — George H. Spires. Release date, April 4, 1946. Runing time, 69 min. PCA No. 11235. General audience classification. Blondie Penny Singleton Dagwood Arthur Lake Alexander Larry Simms Cookie Marjorie Kent J. C. Dithers Jonathan Hale Angelyn Orr, Robert Stanton, Paul Harvey, Jack Rice, Bobby Larson, Charles Arnt, Margie Liszt, Frank Orth, Frank Jenks, and Daisy. Freddie Steps Out Monogram — Musical The second of Monogram's new "Teen-Ager" series is a pleasant little musical with one song, "Patience and Fortitude," a standout. Sam Katzman, producer of the series, can take a bow for this one. Arthur Dreifuss' direction stresses fun and frivolity. Hal Collins wrote the original screenplay, which provides Freddie Stewart with a dual role. A radio crooner disappears, and Freddie's schoolmates, animated by a desire to get the boy into trouble, name him as the missing star. His denial goes unheeded, and by the time the real crooner's wife and baby show up, things are in a fine mess. However, the crooner himself eventually reappears, and straightens things out for the young people involved. June Preisser, a vigorous young lady who can dance as well as act, does a particularly good job as Freddie's girl friend. Charlie Barnet and his orchestra is another asset. Seen at the Campus theatre, in Hollywood, where the audience appeared to enjoy the proceedings. Reviewer's Rating: Good. — Thalia Bell. Release date, not set. Running time, 75 min. PCA No. 11594. General audience classification. ^'I'^e^fie \ Freddie Trimball t rankle 3 Lee Warren Mills Dodie June Preisser Ann Rooney, Noel Nefll, Jackie Moran, Frankie Darro, Milt Kibbee. Valley of the Zombies Republic — Imaginative Tale This is aimed to bring home to the horror fans what they are supposed to like. It has a generous portion of murders and things of a creepy sort happen all around. The half-alive and half-dead Zombie is that good actor, Ian Keith. The story which is in the Zombie cycle tells of Keith getting a secret potion in the "Valley of the Zombies" which suspends him in a state between life and death. He steals human blood from a laboratory but when he finds no blood of his type, which he seems to be looking for, he kills the doctor, played by Charles Trowbridge. Robert Livingston, as a young doctor, and Adrian Booth as the nurse, attempt to locate the murderer. After trips to a graveyard and a mausoleum and after several more murders have been committed, Keith is shot by a detective. Dorrell and Stuart McGowan are the associate producers and the authors of the screenplay. It is not a very believable story and the suspense is uneven. Philip Ford directed. Seen at the home office projection room. Reviewer's Rating : Average. — M. R. Y. Release date, May 34, 1946. Running time, 56 min. PCA No. 11200. General audience classification. Terry Evans Robert Livingston Susan Drake Adrian Booth Ormand Murks Ian Keith Thomas Jackson, Earle Hodgrins, Charles Trowbridge, LeRoy Mason, William Haade, Wilton Graff, Charles Cane, Russ Clark, Charles Hamilton. It Shouldn't Happen To a Dog 20th Century-Fox — Comedy A light-hearted film which doesn't pretend to do anything but entertain, William Girard's production does just that. It doesn't make much sense in point of plausibility, but laugh-provoking lines and situations, and the presence in the cast of a remarkable dog, named Rodney, more than offset its lack of logic. Allyn Joslyn, cast as a crime reporter who has been kicked upstairs to an editorship in the Science Department, longs to get back on his police beat, and believes he can do so if he turns up a missing witness in a tax-evasion case. His path crosses that of Carole Landis, cast as a policewoman working on the same case. Miss Landis is the owner of Rodney, a doberman-pinscher recently discharged from the K-9 Corps. The dog is a pivotal point in the screen play by Eugene Ling and Frank Gabrielson, based on a story by Edwin Lanham. Accused of participating in hold-ups, the dog is sought by every cop in the city. He justifies himself in the final sequences, however, by holding halfa-dozen gangsters at bay, and saving the principals from a watery grave in the East River. Herbert I. Leeds' direction gets the most out of every gag. In the supporting cast, Henry Morgan and John Alexander are outstanding. Seen at the studio. Reviewer's Rating: Good. — Thalia Bell. Release date, July, 1946. Running time, 70 min. PCA No. 11496. General audience classification. Carole Landis Julia Andrews Allyn Joslyn Henry Barton Margo Woode QUve Stone Henry Morgan, Reed Hadley, Jean Wallace, Ray Roberts. . {Review reprinted from last week's Herald) Ghost of Hidden Valley PiSC— Buster Crabbe Western The long-established standby s of fist and gun fights, swift riding across the cow country, a touch of romance, the forces of justice vanquishing the parallel forces of evil, plus a few new twists provide the zest to this Buster Crabbe-Al (Fuzzy) St. John Western. Based on an original story and screenplay by Ellen Coyle, the plot concerns a band of cattlerustlers who use the land of a young coupleJohn Meredith and Jean Carlin— to conceal the stolen cattle. Crabbe and St. John volunteer their services to rid the country of the outlaws and eventually accomplish their mission, but only after the usual number of adventures. The picture was produced by Sigmund Newfeld, and directed by Sam Newfield, with Art Reed in charge of the photography. Others in supporting roles are Jimmy Aubrey, Charles King and Karl Hackett. Seen in a projection room in New York. Revieiver's Rating : Average. — G. H. S. Release date, June 3, 1946. Running time, 56 min. PCA No. 11654. General audience classification. Billy Carson Buster Crabbe Fuzzy Jones Al St. John Kaye Jean Carlin Henry John Meredith Dawson Charles King Jimmy Aubrey, Karl Hackett, John L. Cason, Silver Harr, Zon Murray, George MorreU, Burt Dillard. SHORT SUBJECTS BORED OF EDUCATION (Para.) Little Lulu (D 5-3) Little Lulu, the cartoon character, falls asleep in school and dreams of all the great events in American history and the trouble she gets into at each event as the leading figure. Release date, July 26, 1946 7 minutes COLLEGE QUEEN (Para.) Musical Parade Featurette (FF 5-3) Tom Cannon, a young tap-dancer senior at the state university, sets out to find the Col MOTiON PICTURE HERALD. JUNE I, 1946 3017