Motion Picture Reviews (1943)

MOTION PICTURE REVIEWS Seven The situations are forced and silly, and the slapstick is repetitious. Leon Errol’s impersonations, though laughable, have been offered so many times that they lack novelty. The film has little to offer. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 12 Matter of taste Nothing objectionable ❖ NO TIME FOR LOVE O O Claudette Colbert, Fred MacMurray, Ilka Chase, Richard Haydn, Paul McGrath, June Havoc, Marjorie Gateson. Screen play by Claude Binyon, adapted by Warren Duff, from a story by Robert Lees and Fred Rinaldo. Direction by Mitchell Leisen. Paramount. This is a clever comedy with a top-notch cast and a highly entertaining plot enhanced by the skilful touches of Director Mitchell Leisen. A girl from an ultra sophisticated society set, with a position as a commercial photographer, is sent to get shots of the “sand hogs,” men building a tunnel under the Hudson River, and under these adverse conditions becomes infatuated with one of their number. His rebuffs only increase her ardor, and she takes a good deal of punishment before the romance ends happily. Ill-assorted as the pair may seem, their mutual attraction is made plausible by excellent characterizations by Claudette Colbert and Fred MacMurray. The action is often hilarious and on the whole the picture is one of the best of the recent gay comedies. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 12 Entertaining Needs older evaluation ❖ PETTICOAT LARCENCY O O Ruth Warrick, Joan Carroll, Walter Reed, Wally Brown, Tom Kennedy, Jimmy Conlin, Vince Barnett, Paul Guilfoyle, Screen play by Jack Townley and Stuart Palmer, Direction by Ben Holmes. R.K.O. This comedy melodrama is unsavory entertainment, harking back to the days when attractive children were starred in gangster settings. Many unpleasant devices are employed, including a kidnapping by a deadly underworld criminal. The direction is uneven, sometimes convincing and sometimes so poor that the action is laughable. It culminates in a wild melee that is unintentionally reminiscent of Keystone Comedy. Joan Carroll, in spite of a thankless role, is a wide awake youngster with acting ability. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 12 Poor ethics Impossible THE SKY'S THE LIMIT O O Fred Astaire, Joan Leslie, Robert Benchley, Robert Ryan, Elizabeth Patterson, Marjorie Gateson. Original screen play by Frank Fenton and Lynn Root. Lyrics by Johnny Mercer. Music by Harold Arlen. Dances created by Fred Astaire. Freddy Slack and his orchestra. Direction by Edward H. Griffith. R.K.O. The plot of this picture has somewhat more depth than is usual in musical comedies for it is the story of a flier who thinks himself “expendable” and is therefore reluctant to allow a flirtation to become serious. Fred Astaire expresses all the wistful emotion of modern youth facing an uncertain future, but he does it by brilliant dancing and lilting songs and in dialogue which is refreshingly spontaneous and amusing, so that for those who do not look beneath the surface, the film is all gay romance and sparkle. Robert Benchley adds priceless comedy, especially in an after-dinner speech which is completely unintelligible. Joan Leslie is beauful as usual. There is some drinking, and in one scene Astaire paints his frustration in destructive but effective pantomime. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 12 Yes If interested ♦ SO PROUDLY WE HAIL O O Claudette Colbert, Paulette Goddard, Veronica Lake, George Reeves, Barbara Britton, Walter Abel, Sonny Tufts, Mary Servoss, Ted Hecht, John Litel. Screen play by Allan Scott. Music by Dr. Miklos Rozsa. Directed and produced by Mark Sandrich with the cooperation of the War Dept, the Army Nurse Corps, and the American Red Cross. Paramount. Paying tribute to the nurses who served through the siege of Bataan, this picture is done in a sincere, straightforward manner. While it recounts the experiences of individual nurses, it never loses sight of the larger scope of the war and of the desperate situation of the forces who held off the enemy for many weeks against insuperable odds. The prologue shows the young women as they are taken off a plane from Corregidor, and later as they recuperate on shipboard. One of their number, Lt. Janet Davidson, does not want to live and makes no response to treatment. In a final effort, the ship’s doctor begs the others to tell him everything they remember that may shed light on her mental condition, and so the story unfolds. It tells of the embarcation from San Francisco, of the days of the voyage when there is still time for dancing and a Christmas party, of swiftly snatched moments of romance. Then comes the landing on Bataan where they are plunged into heavy nursing duty in a hospital of shacks with makeshift facilities and pitifully inadequate supplies; later they are driven back to a base where the trees and the sky overhead provide the only shelter for five thousand wounded. Then