Photoplay (Jan-Jun 1945)

G01N' TO TOWN — Votion RKO: This fails to catch the homey spirit of Lum and Abner and it’s packed to the ears with corn. The story has to do with a city slicker who pretends to locate oil beneath the old fellow's store in Pine Ridge, Arkansas. Chester Lauck and Norris Goff play Lum and Abner as usual, and Florence Lake, Dick Elliott and Grady Sutton are in it too. (Dec.) y GREENWICH VILLAGE — 20th Cenury-Fox: Bill Bendix operates a Greenwich Village cafe in which Vivian Blaine sings, and into which wanders composer Don Ameche. Talented people including Carmen Miranda, Felix Bressart, Tony and Sally De Marco entertain you and it’s all very gay. (Nov.) GYPSY WILDCAT — Universal: Maria Montez and Jon Hall romp around again in Technicolor, this time in a story of a gypsy girl who turns out to be a missing heiress. Nigel Bruce, Leo Carrillo and Gale Sondergaard go around in it too. (Nov.) yyiMPATIENT YEARS, THE— Columbia: This comedy, built around a vital problem, emerges vitalizing entertainment. Sgt. Lee Bowman returns home on furlough to find his wife Jean Arthur, whom he has known only four days, embroiled in household duties and child care. When they fly to the divorce courts, Jean’s father, Charles Coburn, and the judge order them to relive their courtship. (Nov.) y IN SOCIETY — Universal: Abbott and Costello are a pair of plumbers summoned to a wealthy matron’s home to fix a faucet. After practically destroying the home, the matron sends them a note of complaint, but by mistake they receive an invitation to a week end party and the riot goes on from there. (Nov.) IN THE MEANTIME, DARLING— 20th CenturyFox: Jeanne Crain, used to luxury, undergoes a hasty and unpleasant wedding ceremony to young officer Frank Latimore and then tries to adjust herself to their single shabby room. Gale Robbins, Eugene Pallette and Mary Nash are a few of the many people in this timely little story. (Dec.) I /yJANIE — Warners: Young, gay, heart-warming and so funny: You'll love this picture. Sixteen-yearold Janie, played delightfully by Joyce Reynolds, keeps her family in a constant uproar due to her beaus and her sister Claire Foley’s tattling and when a company of soldiers moves into town it becomes a furor. Robert Hutton is Janie’s boy friend. (Oct.) JUNGLE WOMAN — Universal: Acquanetta is an ape girl who is transformed into a beautiful girl by means of a magic drug. But when she escapes and returns to her kindly doctor as a beautiful girl she falls in love with ihe boy friend of the doctor’s daughter and the fur flies in all directions. (Oct.) yy KISMET— M G-M: A fanciful fairy tale, beautifully mounted, with Ronald Colman as the king of the beggars who’s determined that only a prince may wed his lovely daugnter, Joy Ann Rage. Edward Arnold is the grand Vizier who wants to overthrow the Caliph, Janies Craig, who has fallen in love with Joy Ann, and Marlene Dietrich is the tempestuous beauty in Arnold’s harem whom Colman loves. (Nov.) LOST IN A HAREM: Abbott and Costello and Marilyn Maxwell are a vaudeville troupe stranded in the Orient, and John Conte is a deposed prince who promises to get them back to America if they’ll help him regain his kingdom. Jimmy Dorsey’s music helps out, but it’s a none too funny picture. (Nov.) y MADEMOISELLE FI FI — RKO: This is a story of the Franco-Prussian war in 1870 and a mighty good little story it is, too. Simone Simon proves herself a fine little actress as the French peasant who suffers humiliation and scorn from the Prussian officers and Kurt Krueger is really one of the most loathsome villains you'll ever meet. (Oct.) yMAISIE GOES TO RENO— M-G-M: Maisie’s ordered to take a rest, so she joins a band which opens in Reno for a fortnight, but before she leaves she undertakes a mission for soldier Tom Drake. Once in Reno, trouble develops, so Maisie, played as usual by Ann Sothern, enlists the aid of card-dealer John Hodiak to get to the bottom of the affair. (Nov.) yy MARRIAGE IS A PRIVATE AFFAIR— M-G M: Lana Turner lifts this treatment of marriage among our young moderns into entrancing entertainment by the sincerity of her performance. John Hodiak is miscast as her Boston blue-blood husband and James Craig is solid as Lana’s suitor who almost wrecks her marriage. (Nov.) yy MASTER RACE, THE — RKO: A gripping and grimly realistic picture showing, through the rebirth of a village freed from German occupation, how the Nazis plan to sow the seeds for World War III. George Coulouris is the Nazi colonel who pretends to be an Allied sympathizer. Carl Esmond, Nancy Gates, Osa Massen and Stanley Ridges do excellent work. (Dec.) y MERRY MONAHANS, THE — Universal: Donald O’Connor and Peggy Ryan cavort against a backstage setting and it’s mighty entertaining over halfway through the picture. Then the old corn moves in. Jack Oakie plays the kids’ father, Ann Blyth is" Donald’s sweetheart, John Miljan is the passe actor, and Isabel Jewell the meanie. (Oct.) MOONLIGHT AND CACTUS — Universal: Chief Officer Leo Carrillo takes the crew of a merchant marine ship out to his ranch and finds that it’s been taken over by women. Elyse Knox is the foreman, the Andrews Sisters sing like mad. (Nov.) yyMR. WINKLE GOES TO WAR— Columbia: An appealing movie, with timid, hen-pecked Eddie Robinson going off to war. In the Army he heckles his sergeant until he gets into the combat mechanic unit and finally sees action. Ruth Warrick, Bob Haymes, Richard Lane and Robert Armstrong contribute to this whimsically different story. (Oct.) yyMRS. P ARRINGTON — M-G-M : Those who have read Louis Bromfield’s novel will find no fault with its^ translation to the screen, for it’s superbly done. Greer Garson as the young Western girl who marries the wealthy Major Parkinqton and matures graciously into a magnificent old woman. Pidgeon as the dynamic major does his best work to date. With Edward Arnold, Frances Rafferty, Agnes Moorehead and Gladys Cooper. (Dec.) y MU SIC IN MANHATTAN— RKO: A cute, snappy little yarn. Anne Shirley is a fine comedienne, Phillip Terry is so good and Dennis Day is a riot as Annie’s suitor. (Oct.) MY PAL WOLF— RKO: Sharyn Moffett is a little girl whose parents leave her in the care of peculiar servants, and her only interest is the police dog she finds and tries to shield from her governess, Jill Esmond. The story’s weakly constructed, but in spite of this, it isn’t at all a bad picture. (Dec.) yNA TIONAL BARN DANCE— Paramount: If you like the corny but lively radio show of the National Barn Dancers you’ll like their movie even better. Bob Benchley plays the radio agent to whom Charles Buigley attempts to sell his idea of a National Barn ance show. Pat Buttrom is funny and Jean Heather is the girl Quigley romances. (Dec.) Your hearts will he young and gay with DIANA LYNN who plays Emily Kimbrough on the screen. Now Emily Kimbrough gives you an exclusive story on Diana — next month. yNONE BUT THE LONELY HEART— RKO: The attempts of a cockney to reach out to a better life, laid against the dreadful atmosphere of London’s slums, make up this tale of Richard Llewellyn’s. Cary Grant gives a truly understanding performance as the cockney and Ethel Barrymore does beautiful work as his mother, June Duprez and Jane Wyatt are the girls in his life. (Dec.) OH. WHAT A NIGHT — Monogram: Edmund Lowe is a jewel thief out to snatch the jewels of burlesquequeen Marjorie Rambeau, but Ivan Lebedeff, George Lewis and Claire DeBrey are after the same thing. Jean Parker is very cute as the girl. (Nov.) yyOUR HEARTS WERE YOUNG AND GAY— Paramount: Diana Lynn and Gail Russell are perfect choices for the roles of the two innocent young girls who practically throw Europe into an uproar. James Brown and Bill Edwards couldn’t be better and Charlie Ruggles and Dorothy Gish as Gail’s parents fit ihe story beautifully. (Oct.) yyPRINCESS AND THE PIRATE, THE— Goldwyn: It could have been funnier, but Bob Hope as a friendly coward back in pirate days will give you laughs. Vic McLaglen is the leader of the pirates, Walter Brennan the nitwit u rate and Virginia Mayo is the beautiful princess. (Nov.) yySAN DIEGO, I LOVE YOU — Universal: A refreshing, zany story packed with chuckles and laughter, this has professor Edward Everett Horton and” his mad family traveling to San Diego to be near the testing plant of Horton’s invention, a collapsible life raft. Louise Allbritton as the daughter turns in a fine performance, and Jon Hall is so good as the wealthy railroad owner. (Dec.) SAN FERNANDO VALLEY— Republic: Roy Rogers and Ed Gargan try to get jobs on Dale Evans’ ranch in order to find some thugs. The cow hands are girls because Dale is trying to thwart her sister Jean Porter’s romantic tendencies. The story is too frail for Rogers, but the music is first-rate. (Nov.) SEVEN DOORS TO DEATH— PRC: A mystery chiller, with cute June Clyde inheriting a shopping center with a stray corpse or two thrown in. With Chic Chandler, George Meeker and Casey MacGregor. (Nov.) yy SEVENTH CROSS — M-G-M: Seven men attempt to escape from a German concentration camp in a film that’s tops in adult entertainment. Spencer is wonderful as the harassed, tortured escapee who is helped by Hume Cronyn, whose performance is brilliant Signe Hasso Felix Brestart. Agnes Moorehead and Jessica Tandy are all good. (Oct.) yyySINCE YOU WENT AWAY— Selzmck: Overly long and repetitious in spots, this story of the experiences rf one family in the year the husband anil father is at war is an emotionally moving one. Claudette Colbert, Jennifer Jones and Shirley Temple her daughters, Monty Woolley, their lodger Joe | Cotton, Robert Walker, Agnes Moorehead as the busybody, and Hattie McDaniel are all standouts. (Oct.) STARS ON PARADE — Columbia: Stand-ins Larry Parks and Lynn Merrick decide to organize a show to prove they’re as good as the stars for whom they stand-in. Jeff Donnell is a cutie but has too little to do; the musical numbers are none too good. (Oct.) STORM OVER LISBON — Republic: Vera Hruba ] Ralston is a beautiful spy who poses as a dancer in Eric yon Stroheim's cafe, and Richard Arlen is the ■ American secret agent. Otto Kruger, Eduardo Ciannelli and Mona Barrie add intrigue. (Nov.) y SWEET AND LOW-DOWN— 20th Century-Fox: Benny Goodman promotes young trombonist James Cardwell whom Linda Darnell loves until he gets a swelled head, and with some persuasion by singer I Lynn Bari and agent Allyn Joslyn, steals Benny’s boys and starts his own band. Jack Oakie is funny, but it’s the music that makes the picture. (Nov.) j yyTAKE IT OR LEAVE IT— 20th Century-Fox: I Taken from the radio show, the bulk of this picture is made up of scenes from old Fox films to which contestant Eddie Ryan, whose wife is going to have a baby, must guess the right answers. Phil Baker plays himself and you’ll enjoy seeing Alice Faye, Betty Grable, Shirley Temple and others in various L former films. (Oct.) • yyT ALL IN THE SADDLE— RKO: A Western mystery drama with action and romance, and John Wayne as the new ranch foreman who arrives in town to find the man who hired him has been mar | dered. Ella Raines becomes his boss instead, and Wayne is romantically caught between Ella and the ' | Eastern Audrey Long. The fight sequence between Wayne and Ward Bond is one of the best screen fights you’ve seen. (Dec.) THAT’S MY BABY — Republic: Richard Arlen is the best thing about this picture, which could have been funnier. The screen’s crowded with actors, specialists and all kinds of music. Ellen Drew is mixed up in it, as are Leonid Kinskey and Minor Watson, and you can hardly find the poor little plot. (Dec.) y THREE LITTLE SISTERS — Republic: A cute little picture. Mary Lee, Ruth Terry and Cheryl Walker are the sisters who pretend to be what they aren't for the sake of a visiting soldier, though you’d think they could have found something less strenuous than laundry work. Their boy friends are Bill Terry, Jackie Moran and Frank Jenks. (Oct.) yTILL WE MEET AGAIN — Paramount: Suspense and tender appeal are woven into the time-worn tale about an American aviator, Ray Milland, who’s forced down in France and eventually reaches the coast through the help of Barbara Britton, a novice in a convent, but the story should have been better constructed. Constantin Shayne is the German major. (Nov.) WAVE, A WAC, AND A MARINE, A — Monogram: This is about two Broadway stars and their understudies who are signed by rival Hollywood agents. Elyse Knox, Anne Gillis, Sally Eilers, Marjorie Woodworth and Ramsay Ames do their best. (Oct.) WHEN STRANGERS MARRY — Monogram: A whodunit that sends Kim Hunter off with the husband she’s met only a few times on a chase from the police. Seems as how husband Dean Jagger is suspected of murder. Neil Hamilton is excellent. (Nov.) WHEN THE LIGHTS GO ON AGAIN— PRC: A post-war story of pre-war vintage, with Jimmy Lydon as a Marine back from the South Pacific who suffers amnesia in a traffic accident. Regis Toomey is good. Grant Mitchell and Dorothy Peterson are the parents. (Dec.) yyy WILSON — 20th Century-Fox: One of the outstanding pictures of the year. Alexander Knox plays Wilson with complete conviction and the story of this great Democrat, his term as president and his fight for the League of Nations is truthfully and brilliantly told. Charles Coburn, Gertrude Fitzgerald and Thomas Mitchell are just a few of the impressive cast of this impressive picture. (Oct.) yyWING AND A PRAYER — 20th Century-Fox: At ,ast a war story, devoid of Hollywood bunkeroo, becomes an almost factual sincere document. It tells the story of a carrier and its cargo of planes. Dana Andrews as the squadron commander, Don Ameche, Bill Eythe, Richard Jaeckel and Kevin O’Shea all turn up with fine performances. (Oct.)