Motion Picture Reviews (1944)

MOTION PICTURE REVIEWS Seven KNICKERBOCKER HOLIDAY O O Nelson Eddy, Charles Coburn, Constance Dowling, Ernest Cossart, Shelley Winter, Johnny "Scat" Davis, Otto Kruger, Richard Hale, Fritz Feld, Chester Conklin, Carmen Amaya and her Company. From the stage success by Maxwell Anderson. Screen play by David Boehm and Rowland Leigh. Produced and directed by Harry Joe Brown. Producers Corporation of America. United Artists. The gay, lilting quality’ of the music and the satiric play on political trends is reminiscent of a Gilbert and Sullivan opera. Peter Stuyvesant, Governor of New Amsterdam in early days, is commissioned to put down a rebellion of the tax-ridden colonists under Bron Broeck, whom he also plans to rob of his lady love. In true musical comedy fashion the tables are turned. Sometimes the dialogue is tedious, but the picture has many good features, including Nelson Eddy’s fine singing, the seasoned comedy of Charles Coburn, abetted by Ernest Cossart, Fritz Feld and Percy Philborn, and the charm and poignant beauty of Constance Dowling. Stage settings have been designed with admirable attention to detail It is novel entertainment with excellent musical numbers Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 12 Good if they like Little interest fanciful plots ❖ LADY LET'S DANCE O O Belita, James Ellison, Walter Catlett, Frick and Frack, Lucien Littlefield, Maurice St. Clair, Emmett Vogan, Harry Harvey, Eugene Mikeler, Henry Bussy and His Orchestra. Original screen play by Peter Milne and Paul Gerard Smith. Direction by Frank Woodruff. Monogram Pictures. Monogram has been very succcessful in allowing the camera to catch the full effect of Belita’s intricate and novel routines which she performs with exquisite grace. In seeing her both as a dancer and as a skater, we realize how she adapts dancing technique to ice routines. Her dancing and skating partners are excellent, and the comedy of Frick and Frack is displayed to full advantage. The story is slight but entertaining, and the picture is an excellent substitue for an evening at the Ice Follies. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 12 Good Good ♦ LADIES COURAGEOUS O O Loretta Young, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Richard Fraser, Anne Gwynne, Diana Barrymore, Evelyn Ankers, David Bruce, June Vincent, Lois Collier, Phillip Terry, Samuel S. Hinds, Frank Jenks. Screen play by Norman Reilly Raine and Doris Gilbert. Direction by Dimitri Tiomkin. Walter Wanger production. Universal Pictures. This is a fictionalized story of how the WAFS became an official part of the Army, the Women’s Air Force Service Pilots. It is concerned with the personal experiences of the women pilots at their army base, the way in which they spend their free time and their relationships with men. A frank view is also given of their attitude toward the work. If the film is intended to indicate how they won the confidence of the Army, it misses fire, for the impression is left that in at least two instances pilots were so concerned with their own affairs that they actually endangered the service. However, the cast is good, and the action is quite realistic in picturing the emotions, faults, ideals, and humor of the various types of women in the unit. It is fair entertainment. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 12 Rather emotional No value ♦ MEET THE PEOPLE O O Lucille Ball, Dick Powell, Bert Lahr, Virginia O'Brien, "Rags" Ragland, June Allyson, Steve Geray, Paul Regan, Howard Freeman, Betty Jaynes, John Craven, Morris Ankrum. Screen play by S. M. Herzig and Fred Saidy. Direction by Charles Reisner. M-G-M. This musical offers some effective backgrounds, amusing dialogue and a few fairly good specialty acts, but the story of an actress who goes to work in a shipyard for a publicity stunt and finds herself “frozen on the job,” is loosely written and singularly uninteresting. Fair entertainment. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 12 Matter of taste If interested ❖ THE MEMPHIS BELLE O O Paramount release. Photographed by Eighth Air Force Cameramen and Combat Members, in Technicolor, under direction of Lt. Col. William Wyler. Released by Office of War Information through War Activities Committee. Narration written by Technical Sergeant Lester Koenig, spoken by Eugene Kent and John Beal. Music written by Corporal Gail Kubic. The Memphis Belle holds to the high standard of excellence we are learning to expect from documentary war reports. It has no plot and no simulated heroics, but it glows with the factual beauty of truth. It is a splendid contribution to our understanding of what bombing raids mean in careful planning, team work, and bravery, and also the price we pay for victory. It is an exciting and stimulating picture of the twenty-fifth mission of a single ship and its crew, but multiply this by thousands and we get an impression of what war in the air means It is exceptionally fine Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 12 Excellent Older boys