Photoplay (Jan-Jun 1948)

p I [ THINK IT'S MORE A MATTER OF BREATH, i BETH ! WHY NOT ASK YOUR OENTIST ABOUT BAO BREATH, HONEY? THEN SEE IF THE MALES DON'T ' CROWD THE MAILS! IT'S JUST NOT fair.claire! I write THE LETTERS-AND YOU GET THE MAIL! MUST BE WHAT I WRITE IS WRONG! “Colgate Dental Cream’s active penetrating foam gets into hidden crevices between teeth — helps clean out decaying food particles — stop stagnant saliva odors — remove the cause of much bad breath. And Colgate’s soft polishing agent cleans enamel thoroughly, gently, safely!” (Continued from page 14) Lupino and Gig Young cavort about in picturesque costumes, singing for their supper at little cafes. Then, without any fair warning, the film turns into a solemn tear-jerker with tragedy stalking the London slums. The audience just can’t take it — it’s all too quick to be true. Errol and Gig are sons of a famous composer. Gig is the sincere conservative; Errol (guess what?), the carefree gay blade. Eleanor Parker likes Gig — in the first half, that is; Ida likes Errol; Errol likes his music. There’s a minor mix-up that causes Eleanor to dash away from fiance Gig, so to patch things up the other three — plus a babe in arms — put some Tyrolean feathers in their hats and go off in search of her. By the time she and Gig get together, she’s decided she likes Errol. At this point, everyone goes back to London and both Errol and the film sink into maudlin solemnity. The four principals are, as required, gay as gay can be and tragic as all get-out but nothing comes out of their efforts. Your Reviewer Says: You may want to escape. Trail Street (RKO) IT TAKES Randolph Scott to tame these Western ' towns, as every Western follower knows. On Trail Street in Liberal, Kansas, where the law just doesn’t have a chance, lots of things are going on. Robert Ryan is a land agent who hopes to get the farmers to farm; Steve Brodie is a cattleman who hopes to get them out. Everything blows up every so often until U. S. Marshal Scott comes riding in. He gets a few sly boys behind bars, subdues some big mobs singlehanded and makes everything all right for Ryan and his lady fair, Madge Meredith. Madge is a sort of can’t-make-up-her-mind girl; we much preferred the saloon singer, Anne Jeffreys, who went right after what she wanted. George “Gabby” Hayes is there doing his usual stint, and Billy House moves his huge bulk around in an ominous fashion. It’s another law-and-disorder production that stacks up fairly in the Western pile. Your Reviewer Says: Randy does it again. Calendar Girl (Republic) THE music gets all tuned up in this and then has no place special to go — except to a Greenwich Village boardinghouse at the turn of the century. This gay establishment is presided over by Irene Rich and is filled with a crowd of hopeful young people who want to play, or paint, or compose music, or act — or any one of a number of things. Jane Frazee is the fireman’s daughter next door; William Marshall is the boy who loves her in his dull fashion; James Ellison is the young rake who really gives her a carefree whirl. Everyone does what he has to do with a vengeance, and everything goes along at a dizzy pace with the painters and dancers and composers plying their trades in cheerful Bohemian fashion. Chief singer is Kenny Baker; the hearty Irishman is Victor McLaglen. The costumes are quaint, the music modern, but no one cares. Enough unimportant things happen in this to fill twenty calendars. Your Reviewer Says: Tunes, that’s all. Angel and the Bad Man (Republic) DAD MAN John Wayne gets reformed D by Quaker Angel Gail Russell in this, which is a fine idea, except that the refor mation seems just too good to be true. It all occurs when big and tough Wayne is found helpless by a Quaker family and nursed back to health. Living as they do right in the middle of bad man’s land, this Quaker family, practicing the way of j peace, has rather a tough time facing up to Wayne and vice versa. Daughter Gail ! Russell finds the going easiest. Wayne vacillates between his old fightin’ ways i and his lady love while things get hotter j and hotter, with villain Bruce Cabot setting the fires. This has a novel touch in that it gives a quick and interest-stirring look at the Quaker way of life. Had it been done a bit more subtly, it would have made a better picture. Your Reviewer Says: Cupid gets the gun. New Orleans (Levey-United Artists) IOUIS ARMSTRONG and his cornet make an A-l musical combination, but it would be more fun listening to them if you didn’t have to watch the film. Everything but Louis, plus some rhythmic numbers by Billie Holiday and the bands, is so much excess baggage. The story has to do with the birth of jazz in the back room of a New Orleans gambling establishment run by Arturo De Cordova. Nice girl Dorothy Patrick falls in love with this new-type music and also with Arturo. He indulges in some mighty theatrics to give her the idea he doesn’t love her any more, moves off to Chicago where jazz is handed a new high hat and the name bands — Armstrong’s, Woody Herman’s — are born. Meanwhile, she sails off to Europe and fame as a concert singer, prodded by her classic-loving mama Irene Rich. Naturally in the end they get together — both the girl and the boy and jazz and the classics. You’ll like Louis and the music, but you’d probably like them better if they were the whole show. Your Reviewer Says: Nothing to offer but music. Best Pictures of the Month The Sea of Grass My Favorite Brunette Odd Man Out The Beginning or the End The Late George Apley Best Performances Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn in " The Sea of Grass” Bob Hope in "My Favorite Brunette” James Mason in "Odd Man Out” Susan Hayward in "Smash-up — the Story of a Woman” Ronald Colman, Peggy Cummins in "The Late George Apley” Victor Moore, Charles Ruggles in "It Happened on 5th Avenue” 16