Motion Picture Herald (Mar-Apr 1947)

I sleuthing, plus a good measure of shooting and ! fist-fighting, before Dean digs at the bottom : of the plot and exposes the culprits, i Dean's usual partner, Roscoe Ates, supplies j the comedy, and Miss Mowery, occupying more : footage than usual for a girl in a Western, per! forms with pleasant competence. Ray Taylor directed the Jerry Thomas production. Seen at a New York projection room. Reviewer's Rating : Fair. — Mandel Herbstman. Release date, March 17, 1947. Running time, 53 min. PCA No. 12140. General audience classification. Eddie Dean Eddie Dean Soapy Roscoe Ates Margie Rodgers Helen Mowery Bob Duncan, Ted Adams, Bill Hammond, George j Turner, Ted French, Brad Slavin, Steve Clark and the Sunshine Boys Francis the First Vog Films — Historical Comedy With the name of Fernandel, France's fore! most screen comedian, on the marquee, this I French picture should make an excellent attracI tion for any art theatre. It's Fernandel from beginning to end and the comedian's antics, together with a good, imaginative story that proI vides the opportunity for some typically French film making and a number of riotously funny scenes, should make a hit wherever French pictures are popular. The Calamy production, directed by ChrianJaque and with a scenario by Paul Fekete, tells of Honorin, played by Fernandel, a simple and naive stage manager of a traveling theatre, whose one ambition is to once play the role of the cavalier in the opera "Francis I, or the Loves of the Beautiful Ferroniere." A hypnotist puts Fernandel to sleep and h his dreams he is transplanted to the days of the Renaissance. The rest of the story is a take-off on Mark Twain's story, "A Yankee at King Arthur's Court," flavored with gallic humor and seasoned with some excellent acting on the part of Fernandel. In the course of his adventures he is made a Duke by Henri VIII, fights an old-fashioned duel, meets a ghost, and survives a series of medieval tortures. Also he bestows some of the blessings of 20th century civilization on the unsuspecting members of the court of Francis I. Seen at a New York projection room. Reviewer's Rating : Good — F. H. Release date, March 25, 1947. Running time, 90 min. Adult audience classification. Honorin Fernandel La Belle Ferroniere Mona Goya Henry VIII Alexandre Rignault Henry Bosc, Sinoel, Genin, Lemontier, Mihalesco. Ferval, Faivre, Amato, Vitry Angel and Sinner AFE Corp.— French Resistance — 1870 Two of Guy de Maupassant's sardonic short stories of the Franco-Prussian War, "Ball of Fat" ("Boule de Suif") and "Mademoiselle Fifi," have been skillfully woven together and and have emerged as a screen story entitled "Angel and Sinner." Like many films from the French studios it is a swift-paced, sometimes racy melodrama which utilizes every available bit of talent and ingenuity on the part of the director, the cast and the production staff. As originally written by de Maupassant each story concerned itself with the resistance of a French girl to the Prussian occupation of 1870. "Boule de Suif" tells of a girl whose heart is good but whose morals are questionable. Fleeing from the occupying forces in a stagecoach with aristocrats, she is shunned. At a waystation all are held as hostages until the aristocrats persuade the girl to submit to a German officer, who then allows the coach to proceed. For this she is held in even more disdain by her traveling companions. In the second story "Mademoiselle Fifi" is the name attached to a Prussian officer with an eye for the ladies who is killed by a girl resisting his advances, ^or the screen, writers Henri Jeanson, Louis d'Hee and Christian Jacque have placed Micheline Presle in both situations and thus tell their story without interruption. The epilogue explains that the girl eventually marries the one traveling companion who has sympathized with her and appreciates her sacrifice for the others. Reviewed in a New York projection room at a screening for the press. Reviewer's Rating : Good. — G. H. S. Release date, February 22, 1947. Running time, 85 min. Adult audience classification. Boule de Suif (Elisabeth) Micheline Presle Mademoiselle Fifi (Lt. Eyrick) Louis Salou Cornudet Alfred Adam Palau, Roger Karl, Marcel Simon, Jean Brochard, Michel Saline, Denis D'Ines Her First Affair Distinguished Films — Humorous Romance Starring Danielle Darrieux and introducing handsome Louis Jourdan, "Her First Affair" is another in the long list of foreign films currently being imported into this country. It is a simple story, simply told and containing sufficient romance, subtle comedy and touches of pathos to satisfy most patrons of foreign films. However, it is a story that depends for the most part upon dialogue for its telling and as such is weighted down with an over-abundance of English subtitles which keeps the audiences' eyes more on reading what is going on than actually seeing the picture itself. Written and directed by Henri Decoin, who has written many screenplays for Miss Darrieux, the story concerns an orphan girl who becomes a "pen pal" to an aging professor. Fleeing the orphanage she meets the teacher, who poses as a representative of a young friend who wrote the letters and then goes with him to the men's college to live and await the return of her correspondent. Her attempts to remain hidden from the prying eyes of the schoolboys ; the return of the handsome student with whom she falls in love ; her return to the orphanage and finally her release, constitute the various situations in the picture. Like many pictures depending almost solely upon dialogue it is at times slow-paced, but there are undertones of friendliness and humor which will bring a few smiles and chuckles. Reviewed at the Apollo theatre in New York. Reviewer' s Rating : Average. — G. H. S. Release date, February 20, 1947. Running time, 91 min. Adult audience classification. Micheline Danielle Darrieux Pierre Louis Jourdan Angele Rosine Luguet Gabrielle Dorbiat, Suzanne Dehelly, Eliza Ruis, Fern and Ledoux REISSUE REVIEWS YOU CAN'T CHEAT AN HONEST MAN ( Universal) One of the late W. C. Field's best film comedies, it is being reissued in April, 1947. In addition to Mr. Fields, there are Edgar Bergen and his two assistants, Charlie McCarthy and Mortimer Snerd, plus Constance Moore, Mary Forbes and Thurston Hall. Reviewing the picture in Motion Picture Herald, issue of February 18, 1939, William R. Weaver said: "The W. C. Fields of this roaring comedy is the Fields of the unforgettable Follies, rakish, rowdy and unpredictably funny. Edgar Bergen is the debonair Bergen of the (radio program). Charlie McCarthy is funnier, and Mortimer Snerd has some of the best (lines) in the picture. Constructed for laugh purposes and aimed, alternately, at mind and midriff, the film is howling funng and clean." It was produced by Lester Cowan and directed by George Marshall. I STOLE A MILLION (Universal) Starring George Raft and Claire Trevor, Dick Foran and Henry Armetta, "I Stole a Million" is based on a crime-does-not-pay theme and concerns a gangster continually harassed by the law until the final scenes when death ends his career. A review of the picture appearing in the July 22, 1939, issue of Motion Picture Herald said : "Documentary in its melodramatic phases, its love story is natural and human. Paradoxically, the show, while being grim and bitter, is warmly appealing. ... It is a meaty story and as such is told in honest straightfrom-the-shoulder fashion. No punches are pulled." Frank Tuttle directed and Burt Kelly was associate producer. SAN FRANCISCO — PACIFIC GATEWAY (RKO) This Is America (73,105) The short marks the 100th anniversary of San Francisco's founding by telling the dramatic story of this, one of America's great financial, industrial and shipping centers. The camera visits historical sites, gives some beautiful views of the whole city and then watches the city's millions at work and play. A good part of the film is given over to a visit to the port now teeming with commercial activity. We see large liners leaving for the Far East, and fishing boats darting in and out of the harbor. San Francisco's old-fashioned trolley cars, as well as its famed Chinatown are informally caught by the camera. Release date, March 7, 1947 14 minutes ADVANCE SYNOPSES TIME OUT OF MIND (Universal -International) DIRECTOR: Robert Siodmak. PLAYERS: Phyllis Calvert, Robert Hutton, Ella Raines, Eddie Albert, Helena Carter, Leo Carroll, Olive Blakeney, Maudie Prickett. DRAMA WITH MUSIC. A young man longs to be a composer, though his father, a shipping magnate, forbids him a musical career. With the help of a devoted woman, a servant in his father's household, the young man escapes to Paris, where he is able to study music. He marries a wealthy girl, but the marriage is unhappy, and he takes to drink. His concert debut in New York is ruined by the fact that he is drunk at the time. He flees again, this time to his childhood home, where the servant girl nurses him back to health, and encourages him to compose a new concerto, which meets with great success. Whereupon he leaves his wife, and goes off with the servant girl. KING OF WILD HORSES (Columbia) PRODUCER: Ted Richmond. DIRECTOR: George Archainbaud. PLAYERS: Preston Foster, Gail Patrick, Big Boy Williams, Billy Sheffield, Patti Brady, Charles Kemper, Buzz Henry. HORSE STORY. An orphan goes to live with his uncle and cousin on the former's ranch. He is unable to adapt himself to ranch life until he encounters a wild stallion, and befriends him. The stallion is captured by the boy's uncle ; the boy sets the horse free, and, angry with his uncle, runs away. Subsequently, he saves the life of the stallion's colt, and is himself rescued from an avalanche by his uncle. The uncle then frees the colt, and good feeling is restored between him and his nephew. THE RETURN OF RIN TIN TIN (PRC) PRODUCER: William Stephens for Romay Pictures. Inc. DIRECTOR: Max Nosseck. PLAYERS: Rin Tin Tin III, Donald Woods, Bobby Blake, Claudia Drake. ADVENTURE-MELODRAMA. A European boy, orphaned by the war, has lost all faith in humanity. Brought to this country by a clergyman his confidence and faith are gradually restored through association with Rin Tin Tin. MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MARCH 15, 1947 3527