Motion Picture Reviews (1943)

MOTION PICTURE REVIEWS Seven HIS BUTLER'S SISTER O O Deanna Durbin, Pat O'Brien, Franchot Tone, Evelyn Ankers, Elsa Jansen, Walter Catlett, Akim Tamiroff, Alan Mowbray, Frank Jenks, Sig Arno, Franklin Pangborn, Andrew Tombes. Original screen play by Samuel Hoffenstein and Betty Reinhardt. Musical score by H. J. Salter. Direction by Frank Borzage. Universal. The servants’ entrance makes a novel, if somewhat roundabout approach to stardom in the light opera field. The chummy relationship between the domestics and those they work for could exist nowhere but in America, and probably not even here, but it does make the occasion for a lot of goodhumored ribbing of both classes and plenty of spontaneous fun. Every aspiring songstress is eager to gain the attention of the composer, Gerard (Franchot Tone). When little Ann Carter (Deanna Durbin) comes to New York career-bent, she is at first crestfallen, then elated to find that her brother Martin (Pat O’Brien) is butler to this famous man. Martin, however, keeps her severely in her place as a maid and refuses to let her heckle Gerard lest he lose his place as butler, and through one misadventure after another, she loses her opportunity to sing before him until the final scene. The audience, however, has various chances to hear her sing several well-selected numbers in her best form. The film is beautifully staged, and the Borzage touch is evident throughout, both in the romantic scenes and in the comedy. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 12 Good fun Passable. They would miss many points IN OLD OKLAHOMA O O John Wayne, Martha Scott, Albert Dekker, George Hayes, Marjorie Rambeau, Dale Evans, Grant Withers, Sidney Blackmer, Paul Fix. Based on the story, "War of the Wildcats," by Thomas Burtis. Musical score by Walter Scharf. Direction by Albert S. Rogell. Republic. ‘‘In Old Oklahoma” is one of the plushy Westerns, and it is good entertainment with excellent performances, the wide sweep of mountain and prairie for its background, and a seldom used phase of American history as the nucleus of a stirring, melodramatic plot. Catherine Allen, school teacher and novelist, leaves her stodgy home town in search of a freer life and finds it in the company of Jim Gardiner, a predatory oil promoter who is bent on getting leases on Indian lands with scant benefit to the redskins. Cowboy Dan Somers befriends the lady, when she finds that Gardiner’s object is definitely not matrimony, and he also takes up the fight for the Indians, riding to glory in the lead of a wild race of horse-drawn wagons filled with inflammable oil. John Wayne’s casual, he-man approach is often blended with natural comedy. Martha Scott is very good, although she always looks as if she had come straight from the costumers. Albert Dekker is a smooth villain, and Marjorie Rambeau is winning as the rough and ready hotel manageress. The times, circa 1900, are shown by interesting reproductions of furniture and by the music. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 1 2 Yes. Entertaining Too exciting for some THE IRON MAJOR O O Pat O'Brien, Ruth Warrick, Robert Ryan, Leon Ames, Russell Wade, Bruce Edwards, Richard Martin. Screen play by Aben Kandel and Warren Duff. Original story by Florence E. Cavanaugh. Direction by Ray Enright. R.K.O. Frank Cavanaugh was a famous coach of Fordham, Dartmouth and Holy Cross colleges and made an enviable name for himself through his successful technique in building winning football teams This is his story. It begins with his childhood and his love of the game and follows him through law school, marriage, and his ultimate return to football as a coach. World War I interrupted his career, and in the trenches he won the title of the “Iron Major” for his intrepid leadership under greatest hazards. The wounds incurred at that time shortened his life, but he left a rich heritage of happy and inspirational memories for his family and the boys he coached. The story was written by his wife and its chief interest lies in the beautiful family relationships it pictures, for his home life typifies an American ideal. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 1 2 Good Good ♦ ♦ JACK LONDON <> O Michael O'Shea, Susan Hayward, Osa Massen, Harry Davenport, Frank Craven, Virginia Mayo, Ralph Morgan. Screen play by Ernest Pascal, based on "The Book of Jack London" by Charmian London. Direction by Alfred Santell. Samuel Bronston Production. United Artists Release. The best part of this picture is the characterization by Michael O’Shea. It is Jack London as we like to think of him, big, brawny, fearless, with an active, inquiring mind, a feeling of responsibility for the underdog and a love of adventure which is always leading him into dangerous places. London is one of the red-blooded, fighting men of his own stories. The picture covers so many periods of London’s life that it is necessarily episodic. Included are the days of oyster pirating, seal fishing, prospecting in the Yukon at the time of the gold rush, voyages to India and the Far East, a brief