Motion Picture Reviews (1943)

Ten MOTION PICTURE REVIEWS Greek refugees training to man a Greek destroyer built by the English. Later the ship joins in convoying goods to Murmansk. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 12 Excellent Excellent ❖ THE SILENT VILLAGE O O British Ministry of Information. This simple, restrained film recreating the tragedy of Lidice demonstrates the power of documentary treatment to interpret history. The citizens of Cwmgiedd, South Wales, a mining town similar to Lidice, re-enact the event as it might have happened to them. There are no professional actors. First, the men and women and children of the town are shown following the normal pursuits of peace and freedom. Then they hear the voice of the Nazis, coming from a loud speaker on a truck, taking away one by one their freedoms and offering in return the fantastic “protection” they had never needed. The murder of the “Hangman” occurs off stage but its effect and the effect of the reprisals are shown on the faces of young and old. No Actionized drama so far has touched the emotional peak that this reaches. At the end the citizens of Cwmgiedd rededicate themselves to fight for the freedom of all Lidices. It is a remarkable film which everyone should see. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 12 Excellent Yes ❖ SOMEONE TO REMEMBER O O Mabel Paige, John Craven, Dorothy Morris, Charles Dingle, Harry Shannon. Screen play By Frances Hyland. Direction by Robert Siodnak. Republic. There is a strong human appeal in this story of an old lady who refuses to give up her apartment in a shabby residential hotel when it is converted into a dormitory for college boys. She fervently believes that her son who disappeared in his youth will return some day to his own home, and when a freshman from South America arrives, bearing the same name, she is sure he is her grandson. The genuine sweetness of the old lady and her influence on the boys is beautifully portrayed by Mabel Paige, and their protective attitude towards her is amusing and heart-warming. The dialogue is especially good. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 12 Good Rather mature ❖ SO THIS IS WASHINGTON O O Chester Lauck, Norris Goff, Alan Mowbray, Mildred Coles, Sarah Padden, Minerva Urecal. Original screen story by Roswell Rogers and Edward James. Direction by Raymond McCarey. R.K.O. Lum and Abner have their following, and those who listen to them over the radio will enjoy this account of their trip to Washing ton, bearing a concoction of tar and chewing gum to win the government’s award for a synthetic rubber formula. The humor is just as hayseedy as the vaudeville gems of the Gay Nineties, and the story is told with the exaggerated flourish of a comic strip. You can take it or leave it. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 12 If they like the radio Enjoyable program ❖ THE STRANGE DEATH OF ADOLF HITLER Ludwig Donafh, Gale Sondergaard, George Dolenz, Fritz Kortner, Ludwig Stossel, Fred Giermann. Screen play by Fritz Kortner. Direction by James Hogan. Universal Pictures. This tells a strange and interesting story of a gentle, peace loving Austrian who is transformed against his will into a double for Hitler. How his disappearance affects the members of his family and how his wife decides to destroy the man who she believes is the sole cause of German and Austrian degradation, provide a logical and moving plot. The film expounds the theory that Nazism, not only its figurehead, must be crushed. The cast is excellent with Ludwig Donath giving subtle differences in the triple role he portrays. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 12 Not under 1 5 No SUBMARINE ALERT O O Richard Arlen, Wendy Barrie, Nils Asther, Roger Pryor, Abner Biberman. Original screen play by Maxwell Shane. Director, Frank McDonald. Paramount. The work of the F. B. I. is always interesting and this film attempts to show the huge job this department had on its hands at the beginning of the war to keep information on convoy sailings from reaching the enemy. The idea was good but the plot is so complicated that any dramatic effect has been lost. The result is fairly entertaining melodrama. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 1 2 Matter of taste Too Involved SWEET ROSIE O'GRADY O O Betty Grable, Robert Young, Adolphe Menjou, Reginald Gardiner, Virginia Grey, Phil Regan, Sig Ruman, Alan Dinehart. Screen play by Ken Englund. Direction by Irving Cummings. Twentieth Century-Fox. Going back to the ’80s for its colorful setting, this musical will have general appeal because of its gaiety and a cast which makes the most of the light material. An American musical comedy star whose success in London has been crowned by a proposal from a duke, returns to New York, and an Irish reporter on the Police Gazette publishes the fact that she began her career in Flugelman’ s saloon as a burlesque queen. The manner in which the girl, Irish herself,