Photoplay (Jan-Jun 1955)

Vic’s singing Pier lullabies these days HOLLYWOOD WHISPERS BY FLORA BEL. MUIR about the way the stork's been booked solid by famous Hollywood filmites, what with Pier Angeli still looking beautiful in her lovely trousseau finery and at the same time announcing plans that the Vic Damones are expecting a stork visitor . . . About how Janie Powell and Pat Nerney hardly wore off that just-married look when they started sporting a parental glow. Janie’s expecting in July . . . Some other visits from Sir Stork will be made at the Guy Madisons’ and the Bob Taylors’. • About the signs Dorothy Mature has been showing that she might like a reconciliation try if only Vic were more willing . . . And the revival of those rumors that Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio are seeing eye-to-eye since their excursion to Boston . . . The unhappy news that cute Maggie McNamara and writer-husband David Swift are no longer willing to make it a go . . . And the troubles Rita Gam is having in holding her eight-year marriage to stage and tv producer Sidney Lumet together because of career separations . . . The happy smile on Jack Webb’s face these days, put there by new Mrs. Webb. • About the way men have taken a new interest in fashion, what with Liberace and his brocade jackets and Edmund Purdom and his 18th century snuff box and now Van Johnson, who's sporting a pair of black velvet dinner slippers with red leather lining and gold braid monograms, no less! BRIEF REVIEWS For fuller reviews, see Photoplay for months indicated. For this month’s full reviews, see page 20. '/'V'V'V EXCELLENT SY'V' VERY GOOD ^ )/ GOOD k' FAIR A — ADULTS F — FAMII kW AMERICANO. THE— RKO, Eastman Color: Lively Western. Texas rancher Glenn Ford delivers prize hulls to Brazil, gets into a range war, with Frank Lovejoy and Ursula Thiess on opposing sides. Vivid location shots. (F) March kW BAD DAY AT BLACK ROCK— M-G-M; CinemaScope, Eastman Color: In an offbeat mystery, Spencer Tracy finds a small Western town is covering up a past crime, at Robert Ryan’s command. With Anne Francis. (F) March V'V'V' BATTLE CRY — Warners; CinemaScope, WarnerColor: Aldo Ray and Tab Hunter are among young Marine recruits being trained for World War II by Van Heflin. Emphasis is on love stories, notably Aldo's and Nancy Olson’s, Tab’s and Mona Freeman’s. (A) March kW BLACK TUESDAY— U.A.: Edward G. Robinson, Peter Graves break out of the death house in a violent thriller. (F) March kW BRIDGES AT TOKO-RI, THE— Paramount, Technicolor: Simple, well-acted story of carrierbased jets over Korea. William Holden’s a pilot; Grace Kelly, his wife; Fredric March, an admiral; Mickey Rooney, a ’copter pilot. (F) March CARMEN JONES — 20th; CinemaScope, De Luxe Color: Brilliant, unusual musical, set in America's South. Dorothy Dandridge. as the temptress. and Harry Belafonte, as the soldier she ruins, head an all-Negro cast. (A) January kW COUNTRY GIRL, THE— Paramount: Strong theme, intelligent acting. Bing Crosby fights alcoholism to try a stage comeback, aided by wife Grace Kelly and Bill Holden. (A) January k'kV DEEP IN MY HEART— M-G-M, Eastman Color: Jose Ferrer as composer Sigmund Romberg in a rich, all-star musical biography. Doe Avedon is his wife; Merle Oberon, his collaborator ; Helen Traubel, a friend. (F) February kkk" DESTRY — U-I, Technicolor: Brisk, humorous horse opera. Peaceable Audie Murphy cleans up a corrupt frontier town. Lori Nelson’s a nice girl; Mari Blanchard, a siren. (F) February kW DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE— Rank, Republic; Technicolor: Funny, rambling, irreverent tale of students working or trying to bluff their way through medical school. British-made, with Dirk Bogarde, Kenneth More. (A) March kVW FAR COUNTRY, THE— U-I, Technicolor: Vigorous, skillfully made Western. In oldtime Alaska, hard-bitten James Stewart is stranded in a town terrorized by hoodlums. Corinne Calvet s a tomboy; Ruth Roman, an adventuress. (F) March kkk"k GREEN FIRE — M-G-M; CinemaScope, Eastman Color: Robust, good-natured adventure movie, about a search for emeralds in Colombia. Stewart Granger, Paul Douglas are bickering partners; Grace Kelly, a proud heroine. (F) February kkk PHFFFT — Columbia: Judy Holliday and Jack Lemmon expertly portray a divorced pair who grimly try to lead gay single lives. Slight but smoothly done farce. (A) January kW PURPLE PLAIN, THE— Rank, U.A.; Technicolor: Action, gentle romance, vivid war scenes combine in a story set in Burma, but shot in Ceylon. Gregory Peck, neurotic RAF flyer, finds healing in a Burmese girl’s love. (F) February kVW ROMEO AND JULIET— U.A.: Beautify absorbing English version of Shakespeare’s pis shot in Italy. Youthful Susan Shentall, Lauren Harvey are lovers parted by a feud. (F) Janua kW SIGN OF THE PAGAN— U-I; Cinen Scope, Technicolor: Spectacle, intrigue and w in the fifth century. As Attila the Hun, Ja Palance plots to attack the Roman Empire; o cer Jeff Chandler, to defend it. (F) Februa kW SILVER CHALICE, THE— Warners; Cir maScope. WarnerColor: Pageant of the Rom Empire, with handsome sets. Sculptor Paul Ne man weds a Christian girl (Pier Angeli), remai infatuated with Virginia Mayo, assistant to power-mad magician (Jack Palance). (F) Mar kW SIX BRIDGES TO CROSS— U-I: Rap. fire cops-and-robbers yarn. Cop George Nader tr to reform Tony Curtis, juvenile delinquent w becomes a master crook. (A) Mar kW SO THIS IS PARIS— U-I, Technicolc Cheerful, youthful tune-film. Tony Curtis, Ge Nelson, Paul Gilbert are sailors seeking roman on shore leave. Gloria DeHaven gets them into plan to help French war orphans. (F) Februa kkkk STAR IS BORN, A — Warners; Cinen Scope, Technicolor: Judy Garland and James IV son are excellent as a rising film star and her al liolic husband. Dazzling music-drama. (F) Janus kVkV THERE’S NO BUSINESS LIKE SHO BUSINESS — 20th; CinemaScope, De Luxe Col< Big musical about a family of vaudevilliam parents Ethel Merman and Dan Dailey, kids Mi Gaynor, Johnnie Ray and Donald O’Connor (w falls for singer Marilyn Monroe). (F) Mai kk THREE RING CIRCUS— Wallis, Paramour VistaVision, Technicolor: Martin and Lewis ere; a fair number of laughs in a vaguely plotted tale the big top. (F) Janu. kkW' 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEj» Disney; CinemaScope, Technicolor: Splendid, e filling science-fiction adventure. Brooding Jan Mason captains a 19th century submarine, c tures Kirk Douglas and others. (F) Mai kkk UNCHAINED — Warners: Earnest, mov close-up of an honor prison designed to rehabilit inmates. Chester Morris is the warden; El. H irsch, a rebellious convict. (F) Janu; I UNDERWATER! — RKO; SuperSco < Technicolor: Humorous, excitement-filleil treasu ■ t hunt tale. Jane Russell, husband Richard Eg, i pal Gilbert Roland borrow Lori Nelson’s yacht' . seek a galleon sunk in the Caribbean. (F) Ma k'WV’ VERA CRUZ — U.A.; SuperScope, Tech color: Lusty, lighthearted melodrama of Mexh ' fight to shake off French rule. Gentlemanly G, ' i Cooper, scoundrelly Burt Lancaster hire out th • guns. Filmed on location. (F) Ma i V'V'V' VIOLENT MEN, THE— Columbia ; Cinei • Scope, Technicolor: Grim range-war tale. Edw 1 G. Robinson's a cattle baron; Barbara Stanw) , t his faithless wife; Dianne Foster, their daught ; Glenn Ford, a rancher. (F) Febru t V^V'V' YOUNG AT HEART— Warners, Wan • Color: Leisurely musical romance. At first in 1 2 with Gig Young, Doris Day weds Frank Sina , a self-pitying musician. (F) Ma i