Motion Picture Herald (May-Jun 1946)

his wife (they are co-authors of the piece) for once in a way haven't produced quite such a well-knit scenario as is their wont. But the paying customer won't feel that way. There's a smoothness in the direction which overcomes all the knotty corners; Francis Searle, director, rates high praise for that. Joan Greenwood, as the not-so-dumb young person, exhibits a quite remarkable winsomeness and even in shrewish mood rates the friendly audience hand. Hugh Williams is comfortably assured as the intending woman-hater. No two words about it. Sydney Box has done it again. Seen at the London tradeshow. Reviewer's Rating: Gooc?.— Peter Burnup. Release date, not set. Running time, 86 min. Adult audience classification. Tony Hugh Williams Gay Joan Greenwood Prendergast Basil Radford Fotheringh-im Naughton Wayne Eileen Joyce, Wylie Watson, Yvonne Owen, Hartley Power, Edward Le.vy, James Knight, Charles Rolfe, Gwen Clark, MilHcent Wolf, Aubrey Mallalieu, Garry Marsh, Michael Hordern, Julian D'Albie, John Salew, John, Olson. Talk About A Lady Columbia — Comedy with Music When an innocent hometown girl falls into an inheritance of two million dollars, the consequences can be rather troublesome, especially if the girl is pretty and the benefactor a night club owner of dubious reputation. Jinx Falkenburg finds herself in this situation in the screenplay by Richard Weil and Ted Thomas. The result is a light-hearted comedy punctuated by musical interludes. ■ Although the plot situations are not altogether novel, the film emerges as entertaining, aided and abetted by the peculiar brand of daffiness of Joe Besser and the vocals of Miss Falkenburg. It takes a lot of exertion on her part to prove that her from-rags-to-riches metamorphosis involved no indiscretion, but by the time this is done, Forrest Tucker has already fallen in love with her, and back from the "dead" strides the wealthy benefactor, who really didn't die, but thought the pretense would be a good gag and test of loyalties. Stan Kenton and his orchestra are on hand with a host of tunes, including "Avocado," "You Gotta Do Whatcha Gotta Do," "A Mist Is Over the Moon," and others. George Sherman handled the direction ; Michel Kraike produced. Seen at the Fox theatre, Brooklyn, where an afternoon audience seemed pleased. Reviewer's Rating : Fair. — Mandel Herbstman. Release date. Match 28, 1946. Running time, 71 min. PCA No. 11353. General audience classification. Janie Clark Jinx Falkenburg Bart Manners Forrest Tucker Roly Q. Entwhistle Joe Besser Trudy Marshall, Richard Lane, Jimmy Little, Frank Sully, Jack Davis, Arthur Harrison, Robert Regent, Letitia Harrison, Mira McKinney, Peaches Berkeley, Robin Raymond and Stan Kenton and His Orchestra. Little Mister Jim MG^M— Butch Jenkins, Unassisted MGM here offers a showcasing of the juvenile virtuosity of Jackie "Butch" Jenkins. If it were figured that the way to make him look his best was to surround him with talent, material, plot and dialogue that would offer no challenge for interest, the undertaking may be called successful. The showman here may tell his customers that Butch is to be seen here, and for 94 minutes. "Little Mr. Jim," is the title finally chosen for "Army Brat," which was a novel by Tommy Wadelton and became a script by George Bruce, which Fred Zinnemann directed for producer Orville O. Dull. The period of the picture is 1938, the place an Army post, and the story is about an officer who neglects his small son, in favor of whiskey, following the death in childbirth of his wife. The tale is told mainly in terms of the small boy, played by Master Jenkins, and a Chinese cook, played by Chingwah Lee, who takes good care of the boy while the old man is alcoholically preoccupied, and finally shames the parent into sobriety and an appreciation of his responsibility. Messrs. Jenkins and Lee get some realism into their moments alone. Just Jackie Jenkins, folks, unassisted. Previcived at the Village theatre, IVestwood, ivliere any and every picture gets a response from previciv-conscious college kids, and where this number had quite a very quiet time of it. Reviezi'er's Rating : Fair.— W. R. W. Release date, not set. Running time, 94 min. PCA No. 11378. General audience classification. Little Jim Tucker Jackie "Butch" Jenkins James Craig, Frances Gifford, Luana Patten, Spring Byington, Cliingwah Lee, Laura LaPlante, Henry O'Neill, Morris Ankrum, Celia Travers, Ruth Brady. Under Arizona Skies Monogram — Western Johnny Mack Brown handles with his usual two-fisted competence the task of wiping out a band of cattle rustlers. In his assignment of helping Brown uphold the interests of law and order, Raymond Hatton also manages to hold up the comic end. The film is patterned on the usual Western formula and is on par with others in its class. As payment for his unsuccessful attempt to expose the outlaws. Brown finds himself behind bars. A jail break follows, succeeded by some hard riding and shooting sequences, with the gunmen brought to book in the climax. A slight romantic angle is woven around Reno Blair, making her screen debut in this film, and Riley Hill. Lambert Hillyer directed from a screenplay by J. Benton Cheeny. Scott R. Dunlap produced. Seen in the New York theatre, on Broadway, where the Western fans seemed to enjoy it. Reviezver's Rating : Fair. — M. H. Release date, April 27, 1946. Running time, 59 min. PCA No. 11467. General audience classification. "Dusty" Smith Johnny Mack Brown Cindy, Reno Blair Santa Fe Jones ...Raymond Hatton Riley Hill, Tristram Coffin, Reed Howes, Ted Adams, Raphael liennett, Frank LaRue, Steve Clark, Jack Rockwell, Bud Geary, Ted Mapes, Kermit Maynard, Smith Ballew and the Sons of the Sage. Centennial Summer 20th Century-Fox — Fun in Philadelphia In capsule : "Centennial Summer" is a topgrade musical as good as the best and heading for the kind of money the best deserve, and get. In detail, it's like this : Albert E. Idell wrote a popular novel about people against a background of the Centennial Exposition of Philadelphia in 1876. Michael Kanin did a screenplay and Otto Preminger produced and directed for 20th Century-Fox. For the music, the late Jerome Kern was engaged. For the lyrics. Kern collaborated with Oscar Hammerstein II, Leo Robin and, E. Y. ("Yap") Harburg. Cast power was assembled via Jeanne Craine, William Eythe, Linda Darnell, Walter Brennan, Constance Bennett, Dorothy Gish and then supercharged with Cornel Wilde, who started to go places in "A Song to Remember" and gathered momentum with "Leave Her to Heaven" and "The Bandit of Sherwood Forest." A period piece, there was considerable opportunity for considerable production display and an authentic application of Technicolor. Full advantage was taken thereof. In point of story content, "Centennial Summer" is like a stroll, and just as leisurely. Brennan, railroad man, is married to Miss Gish. Their grown-up daughters are Miss Craine, who waits for her romance and learns his name is Cornel Wilde, and Miss Darnell, who finally discovers hers is William Eythe. But not without complications. The love strain breaks bounds when Miss Darnell bypasses Eythe in a play for Wilde, Frenchman representing his country at the Centennial. Miss Grain decides to fight back and, in the end, of course wins out. This returns Miss Darnell to Eythe. Meanwhile, Brennan, who has invented a clock telling simultaneous time by zones, runs into trou ble until Miss Bennett, visiting sister-in-law, interests the president of the railroad in the device. Everyone turns out to be happy in a happy picture. What makes '"Centennial Summer" a delightful attraction, however, is the cohesion arrived at by expert interweaving of the Kern score with the slight story and the pleasant blending of performance, incident, directorial touches and mood. The mixture of these assets is soundly and intelligently contrived by Preminger. The score registers and thereafter lingers nostalgically. Thematically, the chief number is "Up With the Lark," which deserves to register as a hit and undoubtedly will. The whole enterprise on the music side, however, is reflective of Kern and caught in the atmosphere of the period. In a word, it fits snugly and eminently well. Seen in the home office projection room. Reviewer's Rating: Excellent. — Red Kann. Release date, August, 1946. Running time, 102 min. PCA No. 11378. General audience classification. Julia Jeanne Craine Philippe Cornel Wilde Edith Linda Darnell Ben William Eythe Walter Brennan, Constance Bennett, Dorothy Gish, Barbara Whiting, Charles Dingle, Larry StevAis, Kathleen Howard. (Review reprinted from last week's Herald) ADVANCE SYNOPSES DANGER WOMAN (Universal) PRODUCER: Morgan Todd. DIRECTOR: Lewis Collins. PLAYERS: Brenda Joyce, Don Porter, Samuel S. Hinds, Patricia Morison, Milburn Stone. MELODRAMA. A college professor engages a secretary to help him develop peace time uses for atomic energy. The two fall in love. Thereupon the professor's estranged wife returns to claim her place in the household. Simultaneously, a gang of crooks attempt to steal the professor's discoveries. The leader of the crooks is in cahoots with the professor's wife, and when they quarrel, he kills her. The professor is thus free to marry his secretary. BLONDE FOR A DAY (PRC) PRODUCER: Sigmund Neufeld. DIRECTOR: Sam Newfield. PLAYERS: Hugh Beaumont, Kathryn Adams, Cy Kendall, Marjorie Hoshelle, Richard Eraser, Paul Bryer, Mauritz Hugo, Charles Wilson, Sonia Sorel, Frank Ferguson. MELODRAMA. Newspaper attacks by a reporter on the city's police department for failing to solve a series of murders nearly lead to the reporter's death. He calls in Michael Shayne, a private detective, to help him. The latter discovers that the murders have been committed by a woman bent on blackmail. SHINE ON. TEXAS MOON (Republic) ASSOCIATE PRODUCER: Edward J. White. DIRECTOR: William Whitney. PLAYERS: Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, George "Gabby" Hayes. WESTERN WITH MUSIC. A singing cowboy becomes involved in a dispute between sheepherders and cattlemen. Convinced of the justice of the sheepmen's cause, he throws in his lot with them, and helps them win. THE DARK HORSE (Universal) ASSOCIATE PRODUCER: WiU Cowan. DIRECTOR: Will Jason. PLAYERS: PhU Terry, Ann Savage, Allen Jenkins, Jane Darwell, Eddie Gargan, Donald MacBride. COMEDY-DRAMA. A returned veteran becomes involved in an argument which brings him to the attention of his city's political boss. He is persuaded to run for alderman and. after complications, he is elected. 3030 PRODUCT DIGEST SECTION, JUNE 8, 1946