Photoplay (Jul-Dec 1947)

mwfr v'v'S Indicates picture rated ' outstanding wken reviewed Indicates picture rated 'very £ood wken reviewed * Indicates picture rated "j)ood” wken reviewed \/ AFFAIRS OF BEL AMI, THE — Loew-LewinUA: A savoir-faire piece with George Sanders playing a French rake of the last century. Also John Carradme, Angela Lansbury, Frances Dee and Ann Dvorak. Plenty of atmosphere if you go for bon mots and the French spirit of things. (May) ANGEL AND THE BAD MAN— Republic: A Quaker touch gives a novel angle to this Western. Big tough John Wayne falls in with a Quaker family; daughter Gail Russell falls in love with him. This spells reformation, with villain Bruce Cabot in the background just to keep John vacillating between Gail and his gun. (May) BEAT THE BAND — RKO: Gene Krupa and his band try to beat some sense into this, but even with Frances Langford and Phil Terry chiming in musically it turns out a silly bit about a girl who takes lessons from orchestra leader Terry, masquerading as a classical maestro. Not enough here to cook up anything. (June) l/t /BEGINNING OR THE END, THE— M-G-M: The atom bomb comes up for some pretty good celluloid discussion with Brian Donlevy, Robert Walker and Tom Drake heading a fine cast. It’s the history of the bomb from laboratory to Hiroshima done in a factual manner. See it and think. (May) yfy'BOOMERANG — 20th Century-Fox: New-type picture based on a Reader’s Digest feature in which honest state’s attorney Dana Andrews tries to decide the innocence or guilt of a suspected murderer. Straight realistic film with suspense. (Apr.) BRASHER DOUBLOON , THE — 20th CenturyFox: George Montgomery takes over Bogart’s role of detective Philip Marlowe to go hunting for a valuable coin. Meant to be a chiller-diller but misses by a gasp or two. (May) BUCK PRIVATES COME HOME— Universal-International: Like Abbott and Costello? Then you’ll probably like this gagged-up bit about their return to the home front and their tangles with copper Nat Pendleton. Silly as a Silly Symphony, with Lou climaxing things in a runaway midget auto. (June) \/ CALCUTTA — Paramount: Enough action out in Calcutta centering around American flyer Alan Ladd, his pal Bill Bendix and Gail Russell to keep you wondering who did smuggle the jewels. You may be surprised at the way things turn out; then again, maybe you won’t. (June) CALENDAR GIRL — Republic: A Greenwich Village boardinghouse at the turn of the century has Irene Rich as the motherly hen, Jane Frazee as the girl next door and William Marshall and James Ellison as two of Irene’s artistic proteges. The costumes are quaint and there’s lots of tunes but not much else. (May) \/ CHEYENNE — Warners: Nice bad man Dennis Morgan is fascinating to both Jane Wyman and Janis Paige in this fancy Western that has to do with the stage-coach robbery days of old Cheyenne. An anonymous bandit called “The Poet” puts this in a different— and good — class by itself. (June) \/DUEL IN THE SUN — Vanguard: Jennifer Jones loves two men — wild-oat sower Gregory Peck and his even-keel brother Joseph Cotten way down in Texas. Its big-time overtones, plus Lillian Gish and Lionel Barrymore, still don’t make it any more than a dressed-up “melodrammer.” (June) ESCAPE ME NEVER — Warners: Errol Flynn, Eleanor Parker, Ida Lupino and Gig Young cavort around lightly for the first half, then get maudlin in a tear-jerking second half. Errol’s a carefree composer; Gig, a conservative; rich Eleanor likes Gig, poor Ida likes Errol. It jumps around from the Tyrol to London slums but it’s still a big miss. (May) FABULOUS DORSEYS, THE — Rogers-UA: Tommy and Jimmy give out with the trumpet and sax but aside from the music, the picture hasn’t much. It shows the Dorseys’ life, featuring Sara Allgood as their mother, and Janet Blair as their singer. William Lundigan carries the love interest. (Apr.) is at home imself 5 with • . . but when Aunt Matilda cries "Please!" . . . pardner, he jjijj 13