Motion Picture Reviews (1944)

MOTION PICTURE REVIEWS Eleven a charming and highly talented cast and is full of spontaneously funny situations Even parts which might be very risque are handled so skilfully that they are not offensive. The crux of the problem is a satin slip which a recent bridegroom bestowed upon a personable young woman on a trip to Mexico in his bachelor days, and the ruses to obtain this fluffy bit of evidence are breath-taking and hilarious. Most of the play takes place during a house party at a lovely modernized New England farmhouse while a blizzard rages outside. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 1 2 Passable. Subject No interest matter mature ❖ UP IN ARMS O O Danny Kaye, Dinah Shore, Dana Andrews, Constance Dowling, Louis Calhern, George Mathews, Benny Baker, Elisha Cook, Jr., Lyle Talbot, Walter Catlett, George Meeker, Richard Powers, Margaret Dumont, Donald Dickson, Charles Amt. Screen play by Don Hartman, Allen Boretz and Robert Pirosh, suggested by Owen Davis' character, "The Nervous Wreck." Direction by Elliott Nugent. Produced by Samuel Goldwyn. RKO. Done in Technicolor in the grand style, with pretty girls, elaborate sets, singing and dancing, this musical pictures a mad dream of what the Army is NOT. Danny Kaye, fresh from Broadway, is a sensational comedian for this kind of musical; his routines, the “Lobby Number,” “Melody in 4F,” “Jive Number” and others are hilarious. Dinah Shore and lovely Constance Dowling take leading parts, and they, as well as a host of Goldwyn beauties, are sure to raise the G. I. blood pressure. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 12 Good Yes, if it meets their taste * VOICE IN THE WIND O O Francis Lederer, Sigrid Gurie, J. Edward Bromberg, J. Carrol Naish, Alexander Granach, Olga Fabian, David Kota, Jacqueline Dalya. Screen play by Frederick Torberg from an original story by Arthur Ripley. Direction of Arthur Ripley. United Artists. This gives an eloquent picture of the mental breakdown of a sensitive artist unable to endure Nazi torture. Its treatment is mainly through a psychological approach which produces a vivid impression of inner emotional turmoil. Each member of the cast is excellent. Photography, music score and direction complement each other in an artistic, if depressing production. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 12 Too mature No THE WHISTLER O O Richard Dix, J. Carrol Naish, Gloria Stuart, Alan Dinehart, Don Costello, Joan Woodbury. Screen play by Eric Taylor, story by J. Donald Wilson, suggested by the C.B.S. program. Direction by William Castle. Columbia. Announced as the first of a series of pictures based on the radio program of the same name, “The Whistler” has little to recommend it. The plot is concerned with one Earl Conrad, harassed by insinuations of his one-time friends that he was responsible for the loss of his wife in a shipwreck. He hires a professional killer to put an end to his miserable existence. He survives all perils, which seems rather a pity. The picture points no moral and is mediocre in every way. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 12 Poor Impossible ♦ THE WHITE CLIFFS O O Irene Dunne, Alan Marshal, Roddy McDowell, Frank Morgan, Van Johnson, C. Aubrey Smith, Dame May Whitty, Gladys Cooper, Peter Lawford, John Warburton, Jill Esmond, Brenda Forbes, Norma Varden. Based on the poem by Alice Duer Miller. Screen play by Claudine West, Jan Lustig and George Froeschel. Art director: Cedric Gibbons. Musical score by Herbert Stothart. Direction by Clarence Brown. Produced by Sidney Franklin. M-G-M. Alice Duer Miller’s beautiful narrative poem has been used as the basis of a deeply touching picture. Little has been added to the original story, only enough action to complement and expand the verse form to picture requirements. It remains the story of an American girl who marries into a great old English family and loves her foster country so deeply that that she is able to remain unembittered, although she has lost her husband and her son in wars for the protection of the kingdom. Again we feel the significance of the poem, that in spite of minor differences, the Americans and English are one people in fundamental beliefs and ideals. The picture is very well done. Irene Dunne is particularly lovely, often in an ethereal way, but she remains human. These people, with their amusing foibles, are all true to life. It is hard to forget Frank Morgan and C. Aubrey Smith fighting over the chess set taken from the White House in 1812. Alan Marshal is well cast; Roddy McDowell is as appealing as ever; all parts are competently acted. The atmosphere of the days of the first World War is well established by details of furniture, transportation, women’s clothes, soldiers’ uniforms. Although the picture is sad, it is inspiring, carrying a message of hope for a world in which such great sacrifices will no longer be required. Adolescents, 12 to 16 Children, 8 to 12 Yes Too sad