Motion Picture Reviews (1941)

Six MOTION PICTURE REVIEWS might as well have had any title. Errol plays a small town politician named Daniel Boone, who is under the thumb of his socially ambitious wife. Boone sneaks off on a fishing trip, but to keep his wife and the town’s people under the impression that he was on political business, upon his return he plans a dinner party' with the Vice-President as guest of honor. Errol impersonates this gentleman. These scenes are the best in the film. The humor is broad but clean and may amuse the children more than the adults. But it serves as a relaxing antidote to the more serious pictures on programs today. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 12 Matter of taste Harmless fun ♦ MAN HUNT O O Walter Pidgeon, Joan Bennett, George Sanders, John Carradine, Roddy McDowall, Ludwig Stossel, Heather Thatcher, Frederick Worlock, Roger Imhof. Screen play by Dudley Nichols from an "Atlantic" short story and novel "Rogue Male" by Geoffrey Household. Directed by Fritz Lang. Music by Alfred Newman. Associate Producer Kenneth Macgowan. 20th Century-Fox. Captain Thorndike (Walter Pidgeon), internationally famous big game hunter, on a Continental vacation, stalks Hitler as he would a beast of prey. Eluding all the guards protecting Der Fuehrer, he is discovered high on a cliff overlooking a garden, sighting Hitler through the telescope finder. He draws the trigger, but there is no report, for he has purposely omitted the cartridge. In a contemplative mood he loads the gun and sights again, but we do not know what he might have done, for at that moment he is captured. Then follows tense and exciting action. He escapes, hounded by the horrible and uncompromising power of the Gestapo as they stalk him through Europe to England. There is no safety for him even at home for England is not yet at war with Germany and diplomatic relations are strained by Germany’s claims that he tried to assassinate their leader. With the death of a German spy he must evade even English police. The story is breathlessly exciting, and its assault upon the ruthless, brutal, far-reaching power of the Gestapo is intriguing. The ending, while provocative, is inconclusive. It leaves only wishful thinking to compensate for the violent emotions which it has aroused. Walter Pidgeon has the force and the personality to carry his dynamic role. Joan Bennett gives a different and most acceptable portrayal of a little Cockney girl who aids him. George Sanders is the unwavering menace, and John Carradine is good as a cruel spy. Roddy MacDowell is a bright new face. He plays a cabin boy who gives the Englishman his first help on a Belgian ship which brings him to England. “Man Hunt” is a powerful story. Fritz Lang has directed the tense sequences with great skill, and the film is provocative enough to inspire excited interest. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 12 Very tense No; too brutal ♦ MOON OVER MIAMI O O Don Ameche, Betty Grable, Robert Cummings, Charlotte Greenwood, Jack Haley, Carole Landis, Cobina Wright Jr., Lynne Roberts, George Lessey, Condos Brothers, Jack Cole and Co. Screen play by Vincent Lawrence and Brown Holmes, adapted from play by Stephen Powys. Lyrics and music by Leo Robin and Ralph Rainger. Dances by Herman Pan. Direction by Walter Lang. 20th Century-Fox. “Moon Over Miami” is photographed in lovely color, the settings are rich and lavish, there are several glittering dance specialties and tuneful songs, and the cast is a popular one, but to many the general impression will be that it is a somewhat cheap and vulgar show. It tells the story of a gold digging car hop who, when she is disappointed in an inheritance which has dwindled to a paltry $4,000, decides to go after a rich husband. With her sister as her private secretary and her aunt as her personal maid, she descends upon Miami armed with trunk loads of new clothes. The resort life pictured is the glorified dream of the nouveau riche. Gaiety reigns supreme, and liquor flows as from a fount to stimulate the jaded spirits of the play girls and boy«. Kay (Betty Grable) hooks her man, but not without confusion in deciding where the gold is hidden. Actually sister insures the family welfare. While the idea is obviously farcical, it is not elevating. Direction and costuming may be held responsible for the fact that Miss Grable is better cast as the car hop than when she attempts to masquerade as the eligible lady of fortune. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 12 Not recommended No * MURDER BY INVITATION O O Wallace Ford, Sarah Padden, Marian Marsh, George Guhl,. Gavin Gordon, Wallis Clark, Minerva Urecal, J. Arthur Young, Herbert Vigran, Philip Trent, Dave O'Brien, Hazel Keener, Isabel La Mai, Lee Shumway, John James, Kay Deslys. Original screen play by George Bricker. Direction by Phil Rosen. Monogram Pictures. When a movie can satirize a mystery thriller and yet manage to provide real thrills and suspense, it is doing very well. This is a comedy melodrama, the story of an elderly rich spinster whose relatives have brought her to trial for mental incompetency. The court adjudges her sane. She then invites the greedy heirs to visit her for a weelc and instructs them to arrive at midnight, an unusual request which instills a premonition of danger in each. However, avarice overbalances fear, and they accept.