Motion Picture Reviews (1943)

Twelve MOTION PICTURE REVIEWS contact with an ordinary family, the picture manages to evoke irresistible humor out of what are now stock situations. Mary Martin and Dick Powell make a good team for singing and romance, while Franchot Tone is smooth in his light comedy role and Victor Moore make the most of a more farcical part. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 12 Good Wholesome and entertaining ❖ THE UNKNOWN GUEST O O Victor Jory, Pamela Blake, Veda Ann Borg, Harry Hayden, Emory Parney, Nora Cecil, Lee White. Screen play by Philip Yordan. Direction by Kurt Neumann. Monogram Pictures. If you like to get goose pimples from suspense, and all worked up emotionally because you can’t decide whether to loathe or love the hero, you will enjoy Victor Jory in “The Unknown Guest,’” an unpretentious picture which is very entertaining. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 12 Good if they like Exciting mystery WE'VE NEVER BEEN LICKED O O Richard Quine, Noah Beery, Jr., Anne Gwynne, Martha O'Driscoll, Edgar Barrier, Wm. Frawley, Harry Davenport. Direction by John Rawlins. Walter Wanger Production-Universal. It is very difficult to build up a case for a youth reared in the Orient and apparently so sympathetic to the Japanese that after graduation from college he becomes a Far Eastern “Lord Haw-Haw.” Although he is cleared of suspicions of disloyalty in the end, no heroism can obliterate the damage accomplished by such broadcasts. To the average American, a renegade commentator is guilty without trial, and justly so. The body of the story concerns the training Brad Craig receives at Texas A. and M. and gives an excellent description of this institution where military training is combined with academic and allotted almost equal importance. It is unfortunate that the entertaining and colorful scenes of this part of the story should resolve into a welter of melodrama. In spite of delightful music, interesting backgrounds and first class acting, the picture achieves no distinction. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 12 Unsatisfactory Very confusing WINTERTIME O O Sonja Henie, Jack Oakie, Cesar Romero, Carole Landis, S. Z. Sakall, Cornel Wilde, Woody Herman and orchestra. Story by Arthur Kober. Lyrics and music by Leo Robin and Nacio Herb Brown. Musical direction by Alfred Newman and Charles Henderson. Direction by John Brahm. Twentieth Century-Fox. Corny humor, worn out plot developments and too familiar routines pervade this picture except for one skating sequence with spectacular lighting effects which is well worth seeing. Some of the winter scenes are beautiful, and Sonja Henie is slim and graceful both on her skates and in a short dancing number, but the ensembles are cut short, and the comedy is so obvious that only children would find it entertaining. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 12 Fair No objections ★ ★ ★ SHORT SUBJECTS HIT PARADE OF THE GAY NINETIES O Melody Master Series. Warner Bros. This musical short presents charmingly the songs and dances of a past era. The settings are fairly authentic and the film is pleasant relaxation. Family. SEVENTH COLUMN O O Pete Smith Specialty. M-G-M. This is an entertaining short to illustrate the necessity of caution in order to insure safety in the home, on the street and in the factory. Family. ❖ THAT'S WHY I LEFT YOU O O Life at home seems pretty humdrum at times and this short takes a discontented husband to the far away places of the world to relieve his tedium. The ending is a delightful surprise. Mature family. ❖ WOMEN AT WAR O O 2 reels. Warner Bros. While this excellent short has a fictional plot, it also tells the complete story of the cycle of the W.A.C. from the time the raw recruit arrives at the training center until a competent, disciplined woman soldier is ready to release a man from vital military work for active combat duty. It is informative and very well done. Family. WORLD OF PLENTY O O British Ministry of Information. This is a British plea for international control of world food products in order to attain “Freedom From Want” for all peoples in every land. It is interesting and graphic in illustrating by means of charts and maps pre-war problems of food production, overproduction and glutted markets as contrasted with the control exercised over production, distribution and prices during the present war. Mature family.