Photoplay (Jan-Jun 1948)

r ns % j ’Howto Relieve \ i PERIODIC ! j PAIN ? j \ ill answer tAatZ | i i i i i i i i i i i i i i Just take a Midol tablet with a glass of water. That’s all! Then you can forget that oldfashioned idea that functional periodic pain means suffering, for you will be doing what millions of girls and women do, to get relief from periodic pain, headache, backache and that “let-down” feeling. You see, Midol’s formula is so compounded that it doesn’t interfere with the normal menstrual process, yet it helps give quick relief from pain and discomfort in 3 ways: 1 — Midol contains an exclusive ingredient that relaxes tense muscles — soothes cramps fast. 2 — A second ingredient relieves menstrual headache quickly. 3 — Still another ingredient acts to dispel “blues”, picks you up! So take a Midol tablet with a glass of water at the first sign of menstrual pain, and learn how easy you can go through your period. Your druggist has Midol. I I 1 1 1 I I I I I I P ERSONAL SAMPLE— in plain envelope. Write Dept. N-27, Room 1418, 41 East 42nd St., New York 17, N. Y. 1 CRAMPS -HEADACHE -BLUES'' 1 ( Continued from page 4) FV Magnificent Doll (Universal) AMERICA’S glamour girl of revolutionary times, Dolly Madison, is the central figure here with Ginger Rogers (the very epitome of the modern miss) donning oldfashioned hoop skirts to play the part. When Virginia-born Dolly turns on the charm, men capitulate after one look. First, there’s the kindly young Quaker of her father’s choice, Horace McNally, and not bad either. But Dolly resents being forced into a loveless marriage. Together with her mother (graciously played by Peggy Wood), she takes in boarders when Philadelphia’s yellow fever plague widows them both. Because of a housing shortage, occasioned by the presence of the U. S. Congress, every room is filled by a distinguished guest prominent in America’s political life. Two of them soon become rivals for Dolly’s hand: The traitorous Senator Aaron Burr, scheming for a higher office, and the dignified, democracyloving James Madison. Burgess Meredith is impressive as Congressman Madison, destined for the presidency one day. David Niven makes Burr a suave scoundrel but a very human one to whom Dolly is drawn irresistibly. Her big moment comes when she makes an impassioned plea to a bloodthirsty mob, determined to hang Burr, not to flout the laws of the country they love. As Actionized history, “Magnificent Doll” is an interest-packed picture that spells entertainment in capital letters. Your Reviewer Says: Pleasing historical portrait. v' Undercurrent (M-G-M) WHATEVER else you may think of this Katharine Hepburn-Robert Taylor vehicle, you’ll agree it’s “unusual.” Perhaps a shade too unusual to be entirely credible. Certainly, the story is a far-fetched one, full of pseudo-suspense, its moral apparently being: Know the man you marry! Katie doesn’t know Robert very well when she says “I do,” apart from the fact that he’s a big-shot industrialist who has made millions through some invention. As a result, following her debut in Washington society, she’s in for a series of unforeseen surprises. Biggest surprise of all is Brother Bob Mitchum whom Robert paints as a veritable monster. Confused and curious, Katie tries to track down the elusive object of her husband’s hatred. Hepburn lends realism to her dramatic portrayal of the trusting but terrified bride who discovers she has married a man with a Jekyll-Hyde personality. This first screen appearance, since his release from the Navy, places Taylor in a sinister role, hardly calculated to win the warm approval of his feminine following. The character is a complex one which fails to carry sufficient conviction. Bob Mitchum (somehow remindful of Bing Crosby) more than holds his own as Robert’s much maligned brother. Edmund Gwenn is Katie’s scientist-father, and Marjorie Main is a sharp-tongued housekeeper. The performances of all these players are the frosting on a half-baked cake, which isn’t the tasty dish it might be if concocted by cooks capable of creating a masterpiece. Your Reviewer Says: Disturbingly different! W The Man from Morocco (English Films) HERE’S a spirited story of international intrigue, spiced with romance. Anton Walbrook, a fine figure of a man, is a Czech veteran of the Spanish Civil War who seeks refuge in France for himself and his bedraggled comrades. He meets Margaretta Scott, a Spanish senorita with soulful eyes and a tragic air. Duty comes first so he pushes on to France but, once there, he and his men are interned as political prisoners. Their plight is pitiful indeed when they learn they’re to be shipped off to Morocco to slave in the desert sun. Margaretta moves heaven and earth to free her sweetheart but the cruel camp commander, Reginald Tate (who will invite your heartiest hisses), interferes. Not the man to bow to such an ignoble fate, Walbrook devises ways and means to make good his escape and, at the same time, serve the cause of the Free French. There are enough breathtakingly close calls, resulting from this espionage and counterespionage, to hold you enthralled for the eighty-nine minutes’ running time. Its fast tempo and foreign flavor make “The Man from Morocco” a lively successor to that powerful picture, “The Raider,” produced by the same company. Your Reviewer Says: Spine-tingling spy story. V Never Say Goodbye (Warners) THE stormy sea of matrimony has a pair of very personable passengers in Errol Flynn and Eleanor Parker. These two contrive to make some silly situations seem much funnier than they are, actually. Flynn, as a popular illustrator of pin-up girls, engagingly plays the gay Lothario to his not too reluctant “ex.” Cheering on the sidelines is their precocious child who is tired of being bandied about from one parent to another. Forrest Tucker amuses as a muscular Marine who offers the dashing Flynn brief competition, and Peggy Knudsen is a stunning blonde with a penchant for straying husbands. Jowl-shaking S. Z. Sakall is a sympathetic onlooker whose cafe provides the scene for most of the monkey * shines. Lucille Watson adds an acid note as Flynn’s disapproving mother-in-law while Donald Woods plays Eleanor’s stuffy suitor. Previously seen in “Of Human Bondage,” Eleanor Parker is an elegant eyefu) here, despite an irritating tendency to walk with a pronounced wiggle. As her daughter, little Patti Brady is a bright new starlet in the Hollywood firmament. A flimsy farce about flighty people, “Never Say Goodbye” is as thin as the caviar on a cocktail canape, yet its polished trivia manages to set you snickering. Your Reviewer Says: One for the funnybone. V Bedelia (Eagle Lion) LIKE the little girl with the curl in the middle of her forehead, when Bedelia is good, she’s very, very good and when she’s bad, she’s horrid. As pla >• ?d by Margaret Lockwood who continues her career of crime (embarked upon with a vengeance in “The Wicked Lady”) she’s a complex creature, one moment callous to the core, the next warm and lovable. Although Bedelia protests her ardent love for her nice architect-husband, Ian Hunter, she has an odd way of showing it. Their honeymoon is spoiled when Barry K. Barnes turns up. Posing as an artist, he is actually an investigator for several insurance companies, seeking to ascertain if the poisonously pretty Bedelia hatched a plot to hustle off her assorted husbands to the undertaker. And if she is guilty, will Ian be next on the list? He’s such a downright decent chap, it hardly seems possible but one can’t be sure with Bedelia around.