Motion Picture Herald (Nov-Dec 1946)

SHOWMEN'S REVIEWS ADVANCE SYNOPSES SHORT SUBJECTS 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. Cross My Heart Paramount — Courtroom Comedy Betty Hutton here _ is the whopper-telling chorine who becomes involved in a murder and professes her guilt to the crime in an effort to give her lawyer boy-friend, Sonny Tufts, the opportunity to display his court room ability and win a reputation. As Miss Hutton's name as the star of the picture suggests, "Cross My Heart" is a comedy, and one which will keep audiences chuckling with its swiftly moving situatioiis and rapid-fire gags. But more than that it is a burlesque of judicial procedure. In a more serious type of drama the activities in and out of the halls of justice would be implausible, but here John Berry, director, had his tongue in his cheek as he put the Louis Verneuel and Georges. Berr play on the screen. Graduating from the chorus line to private secretary to a pawing producer so that her lawyer fiance may receive the benefit of the producer's legal business, Miss Hutton finally flees the producer's domesticated office, leaving her hat, coat and purse behind. Later he is found dead and Miss Hutton is accused of the crime. Admitting the charges her lawyer pleads self-defense on the ground that the defendant was trying to protect herself. She is acquitted but eventually the true murderer is found. Miss Hutton has ample opportunity to dash her way through several songs in her own style. These include "That Little Dream Got Nowhere," "Love Is the Darndest Thing" and "How Do You Do It?" written by Johnny Burke and James Van Heusen. Harry Tugend, the producer, and Claude Binyon adapted the play to the screen. Robert Emmett Dolan wrote the musical score. Previewed in a Nezo York projection room as a screening for the trade press and home office executives. Reviczvcr' s Rating : Good. — George H. Spires. Release date, not set. Running time, 83 min. PCA No. 10822. Adult audience classification. Peggy Harper Betty Hutton Oliver Clarke Sonny Tufts Prosecutor Rhys William* Eve Harper Ruth Donnelly Alan Bridge. Iris Adrian, Howard Freeman, Lewis L. Russell. Michael Chekhov Magnificent Doll Universal— Fictionalized Biography Jack Skirball and Bruce Manning have given "Magnificent Doll" opulent production values, and the attraction has for the marquee the names of Ginger Rogers, David Niven and Burgess Meredith. This should be enough to get the customers into the theatre, and the liveliness of the story should suffice to keep them there. Considered purely as entertainment, the picture comes off well. Any resemblance, however, between the events described therein and MOTION PICTURE HERALD, NOVEMBER 23, 1946 the accepted facts of American history appears to be purely coincidental. Irving Stone, who wrote the original story and screenplay, has seen fit to stress the early years of Dolly Madison's life, before she reached the position of First Lady. A widow in straitened circumstances, she takes lodgers into her Philadelphia home, among them Aaron Burr and James Madison. The former, portrayed with spirit by David Niven, woos her in "vain. It is the quiet, level-headed Madison, a role played with distinction and skill by Burgess Meredith, who wins her love. One of the factors which determines her choice is Burr's abortive dream of empire. The least convincing episodes of the film are those which deal with Burr's infamous career. The finale, in which the wife of the then Secretary of State pleads with an impassioned mob not to lynch Burr, and saves his life with a few platitudes about liberty and justice, is a scene which strains even Miss Rogers' talent. Frank Borzage's direction is at its best in the depiction of the day-to-day life of the times, and his handling of the love scenes is admirable. But it tends to be uneven, perhaps because of the similarly spotty character of the material. Alexander Golitzen, the art director, everywhere provides a treat to the eye. Miss Rogers' gowns, designed by Travis Banton and Vera West, will arouse envy in many a feminine heart. Notable in the supporting cast are Peggy Wood as Dolly's mother, Horace McNally as her first husband, and Grandon Rhodes, who appears briefly as Thomas Jefferson. Seen at a press screening at the Academy Award theatre. Hollywood. Reviewer's Rating: Good. — Thalia Bell. Release date, November. 1946. Running time, 94 min. PCA No. 12024. General audience classification. Dolly Payne Ginger Rogers Aaron Burr David Niven James Madison Burgess Meredith Horace McNally. Peggy Wood. Frances Williams. Robert H. Barrat. Grandon Rhodes, Henri Letondal. Joe Forte The Mighty McCurk MGM — Remake of "The Champ" Fifteen years ago MGM made a picture called "The Champ," with Wallace Beery in the title role and Jackie Cooper, then a tow-headed tenyear-old, as an orphan boy whom Fate throws in the pugilist's path. That early film was highly successful at the box office. Whether this later version will fare so well is doubtful. Beery is cast once more as the boastful, boozy ex-heavyweight champion of the world. Cooper has been replaced by young Dean Stockwell, whose performance is less notable than was his portrayal of "Tom Shannon" in "The Green Years." Added name values are supplied by Edward Arnold and Aline MacMahon, and the romantic sub-plot has been entrusted to Dorothy Patrick and Cameron Mitchell. The time is the turn of the century ; the place is the Bowery. Beery, employed as a bouncer by a wealthy saloonkeeper, bolsters his flaggingspirits with beer and boasting. By chance he takes over the care of an orphan boy, an immigrant lad just off the boat from England. Resentful of his charge at first, Beery keeps' the boy with him in the hope that the lad's uncle eventually will reward him for his pains. By the time he discovers that the uncle is a penniless swindler, he has become attached to the boy. The juvenile authorities, however, do not consider him a fit guardian for the child. To add to the protagonist's troubles, his employer threatens to reveal the fact that his highly-prized championship was won through a "fixed" fight. There's a happy ending for all concerned, nonetheless. New evidence establishes the fact that Beery won his championship on the level, and his marriage to a business woman of the neighborhood facilitates his adoption of the English boy. The budding romance between the saloonkeeper's daughter and a Salvation Army leader also comes to a successful consummation. John Waters' direction is paced somewhat slowly, with over-emphasis on sentiment. Nat Perrin's production values lend an air of authenticity to the proceedings. Seen at the studio. Reviewer's Rating : Good. — T. B. Release date, not set. Running time. 87 min. PCA Xo. 11814. General audience classification. Roy "Slag" McGurk Wallace Beery Nipper Dean Stockwell Mike Glenson , Edward Arnold Aline MacMahon, Cameron Mitchell, Dorothy Patrick, Aubrey Mather, Morris Ankrum. Clinton Sundberg. Charles Judels Perfect Marriage Paramount-W allis — ComedyDrama Dealt with mainly for purposes of humor, but with perception and due regard for the seriousness of the subject, marriage is put on the testing block and placed under a variety of strains which it survives in this Hal B. Wallis production, dependent for its draw upon the names of Loretta Young, David Niven and a competent supporting cast. As directed, fastidiously, by Lewis Allen, from a script by Leonard Spigelgass, the film falls into the general category of glossy product, interesting to look at and listen to. Standard business is indicated. Niven and Miss Young are seen as man andwife, married ten years, and parents of a daughter about nine, who live well, pursuing separate careers, alhough afflicted with overattentive inlaws and surrounded by sophisticated friends. On their wedding anniversary they tell each other that they are no longer in love, and decide to get a divorce. Much conversation precedes this decision, and much more follows it, with 3321