Motion Picture Herald (Nov-Dec 1948)

Seen at the New York theatre. Reviewer's Rating: Average. — M. R. Y. Release date, August 13, 1948. Running time, 61 minutes. PCA No. 13261. General audience classification. ilike Patton George Reeves Greta Venderhorn Wanda McKay VVanama Armida Bob Simpson Ralph Byrd Smoki Whitfield, Dolores Castle, Rudy Robles, feinda Johnson, Helena Grant The Snake Pit 20th Century-Fox — A Study in Realism From the artistic and cinematographic point of view "The Snake Pit" undoubtedly represents an achievement, destined to stand out in Hollywood's quest for realism and proof of the medium's ability to interpret human problems to the masses. Director Anatole Litvak here presents exhibitors with a film of unusual interest, a motion picture dealing with a woman gone insane, lier long stay in an asylum and her eventual ;ure. It is merchandise filled with box office dynamite. It is also a frightening picture and what laughs there are come at the expense of some of the poor mentally unbalanced going through the blank and senseless routines their unthinking minds prescribe. Olivia de Havilland, an actress of distinction, here gives the performance of her life. To a large degree she is the picture and her portrayal of a mind tortured with past experiences and gradually shocked back to sanity and understanding is overwhelmingly realistic. She is supported by a large and uniformly capable cast headed by Leo Genn as the doctor and Mark Stevens as the husband. Realism bordering on the documentary, a superb script by Frank Partos and Millen Brand, fashioned from the best-selling novel of the same title by Mary Jane Ward, outstanding performances and a top-notch direction job combine to make this Darryl F. Zanuck presentation what probably will be one of the most talked-about films of the year. There will be those who will hail "The Snake Pit" as superb cinema and there will be others who will argue that it is the task of the screen to entertain and not to shock. And there will be a third group, who, still hearing the screams of Miss de Havilland in their ears and remembering for days after the pitiful and deeply impressive scene of her relapse into insanity, will debate the discretion of using the material on the entertainment screen. The producers, Litvak and Robert Bassler, have spared no effort to avoid all indications of make-believe in the insane asylum wards. At the same time they have cleverly played on recent publicity pointing up crowded conditions in the nation's mental hospitals. The film ranges from the tragic to the deeply emotional and the comic, although this last element is undoubtedly unintentional on the part of the producers. The preview audience promptly laughed with a sense of relief when an insane inmate did a fantastic dance in bare feet. There are many who will view that sequence with a strong feeling of distaste. Litvak has succeeded admirably in creating the desired atmosphere and the touch of his skilled hand enhances the production with important values. Genn does a fine job as the doctor in this picture to end all psycho-analytical pictures. Celeste Holm, Grayce Hampton and especially Betsy Blair, whose face will be long remembered by those who see the picture, do outstanding jobs. The same is true of the actresses portraying the nurses. Alfred Newman's music and Leo Tover's photography deserve highest praise. The story is told in the same manner as the book, with Miss de Havilland in a mental blackout some of the time, and thinking reasonably, although as in a daze, the rest of the time. The film also uses to an effective end the stream-of-consciousness technique which give the audience a chance to hear the some times clear, sometimes muddled, thoughts of a woman suffering from a severe nervous breakdown. Previewed at the Academy Award theatre, Hollywood, before a press audience which gave the picture enthusiastic applause, but left the theatre in a somewhat depressed mood. Reviewer's Rating : Excellent for realism and performances. — Fred Hift. Release date, January, 1949. Running time, 108 minutes. PCA No. 12490. Strictly adult audience classification. Virginia Cunningham Olivia de Havilland Robert Cunningham Mark Stevens Dr. Kik Leo Genn Glenn Langan, Helen Craig, Leif Erickson, Beulah Bondi, Lee Patrick, Howard Freeman, Natalie Schafter, Ruth Donnelly, Betsy Blair (.Review reprinted from last week's Herald) ADVANCE SYNOPSES THE ACCUSED (Paramount-Wallis) PRODUCER: Hal B. Wallis. DIRECTOR: William Dieterle. PLAYERS: Loretta Young, Robert Cummings, Wendell Corey, Sara Allgood, Suzanne Dalbert, Douglas Dick. MELODRAMA. Miss Young, a psychology instructress, kills one of her students in self defense but under circumstances which she believes require her to conceal her connection with the killing, which is therefore regarded by police as a murder. The boy's guardian and a police detective fall in love with her during the investigation, and when it is brought out that she killed the student it is also established that she did so in self defense. DYNAMITE (Paramount-Pine-Thomas) PRODUCERS: William Pine and William Thomas. DIRECTOR: William Thomas. PLAYERS: William Gargan, Virginia Welles, Richard Crane, Irving Bacon. MELODRAMA : A veteran dynamite man, Gunner Peterson (William Gargan) and college graduate Johnny Brown (Richard Crane) find it hard to get along when Johnny attempts to install new methods in a dynamite company headed by Jake (Irving Bacon). Complications ensue when Jake's daughter, Mary (Virginia Welles) pays attention to Johnny. When a co-worker is killed, the two men learn that there is no room for personal feelings in the dynamite business. LAST OF THE WILD HORSES (Screen Guild-Lippert) DIRECTOR: Robert L. Lippert. ASSOC. PRODUCER: Carl K. Hittleman. PLAYERS: James Ellison, Jane Frazee, Mary Beth Hughes, Reed Hadley, Douglas Dumbrille, James Millican. WESTERN : Ellison, cowboy, is arrested on suspicion of being a masked rider who's been spotting stagecoaches for holdup purposes, but is freed on assurance by Miss Hughes, who pretends she is her ranch hand. He finds ranch owner Dumbrille is at difference with neighboring ranchers about raids upon a herd of wild horses, and determines to help him. But the real villains in the piece strangle Dumbrille with Ellison's bandana and he is convicted of the killing but escapes, hiding out until the time is ripe to clear himself by unearthing the killers and turning them in. ALIAS NICKY BEAL (Paramount) PRODUCER: Endre Bohem. DIRECTOR: John Farrow. PLAYERS: Ray Milland, Audrey Totter, Thomas Mitchell, Geraldine Wall, George Macready. MELODRAMA. Milland, a slick politicoracketeer, promotes Mitchell, a successfull district attorney, into the governorship, with the aid of Miss Totter. Mitchell, finally learning the depths of deception and chicanery to which Milland has gone in getting him elected, resigns in favour of the lieutenant-governor. SHORT SUBJECTS THE FABULOUS FRAUD (MGM) Passing Parade (K-976) * Out of the Passing Parade John Nesbitt brings the story of Anton Mesmer, father of mesmerism. He accidentally stumbled on a great scientific truth which brought him fame and then obscurity. Release date, August 28, 1948 9 minutes BERMUDA (20th-Fox) Movietone Adventures (8527) Bermuda, which some publicist named the "Isle of Enchantment," is visited by 20th-Fox's camera — showing you the horse-drawn buggies still the vogue, the sports on the coral isle, and giving you a glimpse of the slow, unhurried life. Release date, August, 1948 8 minutes MIGHTY MOUSE IN LOVE'S LABOR WON (20th-Fox) Terrytoon (8523) Mighty Mouse is the hero ,in this parody of the Old West and a maiden abducted. Oil Can Harry, the villain, tries to make off with Pearl Pureheart, but he reckons without the muscle and brain of Mighty Mouse, who comes to the rescue in the nick of time. Release date, August, 1948 7 minutes HOME OF THE ICEBERG (Universal) Answer Man (3398) The Answer Man goes to the land where the snow fall is greater than the melting process and explains about icebergs. Then he tells us that flies have something like a gyroscope behind each wing to keep them on their course. The Answer Man shows us that the bear is a better fighter than the mountain lion. In conclusion the Answer Man proves the chances of bowling a perfect score are two in a million. Release date, August 23, 1948 10 minutes DOUGH RAY ME-OW (Warner Bros.) Cinecolor (4707) A parrot tries to get rid of a cat when he realizes that his master's will has bequeathed a fortune to the cat. Since the will also provides that in case of a mishap the parrot becomes the beneficiary, he doubles his efforts. In the end the parrot is frustrated because the cat refuses to leave this world. Release date, August 14, 1948 7 minutes STRIKES TO SPARE (RKO) Sportscope (84,313) Today there are more than ten thousand centers serving the nation's eighteen million pin smashers. In this short many greats of bowling pass before your eyes with each demonstrating the reason for their greatness. They include Miss Jo Etien of Los Angeles, Catherine Fellmuth of Chicago, Ned Day, Joe Wilman of Chicago and many others. Release date, August 20, 1948 8 minutes KEEP SHOOTING (RKO) Ray Whitley Western Musical (93,501 ) Here is a fast action short, with Ray Whitley and the Six Bar Cowboys singing several popular numbers and outsmarting a group of stagecoach bandits. Ray gets the girl whom he has saved from her father's treacherous hired hands. Release date, September 10, 1948. 17 minutes GREETINGS BAIT (Warner Bros.) Blue Ribbon Cartoon (4311) A worm that resembles Jerry Colonna is trained as fishing bait. The worm almost gets caught himself but talks himself out of many hilarious predicaments and winds up with his greatest haul. Release date, August 28, 1948 7 minutes ' PRODUCT DIGEST SECTION, NOVEMBER 13, 1948 4383