Motion Picture Reviews (1941)

MOTION PICTURE REVIEWS Seven TARGET FOR TONIGHT O O Filmed with the full cooperation of the Royal Air Force, under the direction of Harry Watt. Photography by Jonah Jones and E. Catford. Sound by Ken Cameron. Film edited by S. McAllister. Music by the Royal Air Force Central Band. Released by Warner Bros. “Target For Tonight” is an English documentary film showing the flight of a Wellington bomber with its crew of six men assigned a specific objective in a general air raid over Germany. It is a detailed account of the R.A.F. in action. Each member of the bomber squad is a veteran of two hundred flights over Germany, recipient of citations for distinguished service, and every man from the Commander in Chief to aircraft hand plays his own role daily in the fight for England. It is a remarkable experience to follow the progress of a flight from the location of a target by reconnaissance photographs to the final achievement of a direct hit and the hazardous return trip. It is a fascinating picture, which because of its stark realism packs more excitement in its reels than any fictional film. No one seeing it can fail to have added appreciation and respect for the ability and splendid morale of the youthful aviators. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Exceptional ❖ Children, 8 to 12 Especially those interested in aviation UNHOLY PARTNERS O O Edward G. Robinson, Edward Arnold, Laraine Day, Marsha Hunt, William T. Orr, Don Beddoe, Walter Kingsford, Charles Dingle, Charles Halton, Jos. Downing, Clyde Fillmore, Emory Parnell, Don Costello, Marcel Dalio. Direction by Mervyn LeRoy. M.-G.-M. When Edward G. Robinson and Edward Arnold meet head-on, the result is much like a collision between giant bombers. In this film the former represents a veteran of the A.E.F., editor of the soldiers’ newspaper in France, who utilizes a similar size and shape of paper in founding the first tabloid in New York. Since he fills his sheet with lurid accounts of vice and crime, pandering to the worst in human nature, and is so avid of success that he obtains financial backing from a gangster, he is scarcely a savory character, but he seems almost admirable in comparison with his partner (Edward Arnold) who is one hundred per cent coldblooded racketeer. For both of these men this is a reversion to the type of acting they have done in the past and in which they excel. The director has handled his material with a strong hand. Some will enjoy it as exciting melodrama, but in spite of the promise of a better order at the end, the film has no more constructive value than the tabloid which rises and falls with the fortunes of the main characters. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 12 No. Confused ethics Impossible ❖ YOU BELONG TO ME O O Barbara Stanwyck, Henry Fonda, Edgar Buchanan, Roger Clark, Ruth Donnelly, Melville Cooper, Ralph Peters, Maude Eburne, Renie Riano, Ellen Lowe, Mary Treen, Gordon Jones, Fritz Feld, Paul Harvey. Screen play by Claude Binyon based on story by Dalton Trumbo. Direction by Wesley Ruggles. Columbia. Since popular taste often seems geared to the lightest subject matter, far removed from topical mundane affairs, the insane behavior of a rich playboy who is jealous of his wife’s professional associations should prove diverting. If this succeeds, it is chiefly because Henry Fonda’s expressive pantomime is so unexpected and hilarious that dialogue is frequently lost in the uncontrolled laughter it arouses. The picture is the broadest farce and the only concession to realism which the script allows is the remark of the wife that they will no doubt soon have to live in one room with a gas plate for light housekeeping. This comes when the husband purchases a bankrupt hospital in order to busy himself in its management and allow his wife to continue her medical career uninterrupted by his tantrums. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 12 Sophisticated; Unsuitable not recommended ★ ★ ★ SHORT SUBJECT THUMBS UP, TEXAS O O The March of Time. Produced by the Editors of Time. Released by RKO Radio. Another film in the state series turns the spotlight on our largest state, reviewing its history, describing its great men, emphasizing its tremendous wealth and size and the way its potentialities are being developed for the defense program. Photography is excellent. Interesting for all ages.