Photoplay (Jul - Dec 1940)

(Continued jrom page 4) • DR. EHRLICH'S MAGIC BULLET-Warners Edward G. Robinson takes full advantage of the greatest chance of his career, as the brilliant doctor who fired the first effective shotsinthe battle against diphtheria and syphilis. It's another of Warners' moving documents of medical history, with Ruth Gordon's work outstanding. (Apr.) • DOCTOR TAKES A WIFE, THE-Columbia Another of those risque setups, which has Ray Milland, a doctor, and Loretta Young, a novelist of a best seller glorifying the spinster, thrown into a compromising situation through a "just married" sign on the wrong car. To avoid a scandal they pretend they are married. The picture's fun and worth the money. (June) • DOUBLE ALIRI— Universal f Wayne Morris, number one suspect, poses as a crime reporter in order to hunt down a murderer. Against City Editor William Gargan's orders, Margaret Lindsay teams up with Morris and snoops, too. The story moves swiftly and you'll have fun dissecting the plot. (June) FARMER'S DAUGHTER, THE-Paramount A subdued Martha Raye, but still amusing, gets caught up in the cross-fire when a Broadway producer sends his gold-digging girl-friend to a barn theater to get her out of town. You'll get plenty of laughs from Martha, Charlie Ruggles and Gertrude Michael. (May) * FIGHT FOR LIFE, THE-United Artists Film Inspired by Paul de Kruifs book of the same name, this Pare Lorenz documentary film about the heroic work of the Chicago Maternity Center in the face of almost insuperable odds is unsparingly realistic, possibly shocking, but undeniably powerful and moving. (April) FLORIAN-M-G-M A lavish production with sweep and color, but the story is curiously mixed up. It's about Florian, champion of the Lippizans (Austrian animals bred for the Royal House), and his influence on the lives of people. Robert Young is his trainer who is in love with a duchess, played by Helen Gilbert. Irina Baronova, the ballet dancer, makes her American debut and dances beautifully. "Florian" will enchant you. (June) FORTY LITTLE MOTHERS-M-G-M Not the usual Cantor girl show, but there're plenty of them, what with Eddie cast as a sad-eyed prof in a school with forty ingenues. He becomes a father by proxy when Rita Johnson abandons her baby. He hides it in his quarters, but complications end happily. Judith Anderson and youngsters Bonita Granville and Diana Lewis are excellent. (June) FREE, BLONDE AND 21— 20th Century-Fox Like "Hotel for Women," this has a woman's hostelry for background. Mary Beth Hughes gets herself into a murder jam; Lynn Bari holds out on men and lands a millionaire; and Joan Davis is wonderfully funny as a chambermaid. Henry Wilcoxon, Robert Lowry and Chick Chandler make life interesting for the girls. (May) FRENCH WITHOUT TEARS-Paramount-British Once a successful stage play, now a movie of allright entertainment. It's about a school in France where aspiring English diplomats study French. Enter Ellen Drew — who holds to the theory that all men were created to be her playthings. One of her catches is Ray Milland, who, incidentally, has never done better work. You'll like this. (June) GHOST COMES HOME, THE-M-G-M Frank Morgan's incomprehensible English and Billie Burke's vaporings are okay for comedy relief, but it's all too much in this story of a man who is nagged by his wife into becoming an unpleasantly dominant person. Ann Rutherford and John Shelton are in the cast, too. (May) * GRAPES OF WRATH, THE-20th CenturyFox Steinbeck's unforgettable Joad family lives and breathes with startling reality in the screen saga of migratory workers who fled the Oklahoma Dust Bowl in a vain search for jobs among the orange groves. Fine acting of Henry Fonda, Jane Darwell and the entire cast is on a par with the uncompromising newsreel quality of the whole film. (Apr.) HALF A SINNER-Universal Schoolmarm Heather Angel goes on a glamour spree; finds adventure in the shape of a stolen car, a mysterious corpse and handsome John King. Constance Collier and Walter Catlett add comedy. (May) HE MARRIED HIS WIFE— 20th Century-Fox Joel McCrea, Nancy Kelly, Mary Boland and Cesar Romero are gay as all get-out, but they can't do much to lift this out of the doldrums. Nancy divorces Joel because of his penchant for horse races, alimony trouble sets in, and Mary, as a screwball matron, adds to the confusion. (Apr.) HONEYMOON DEFERRED— Universal This murder mystery has Edmund Lowe as an insurance-claim investigator who resigns to get married, disappears on his honeymoon to help a "£• ^$mte£&