Photoplay (Jul-Dec 1952)

v'Vv' Outstanding i''/ Good ^ Fair BRIEF REVIEWS A — For adults p For the whole family See page 22 for this month’s reviews 1/ (F) AARON SLICK FROM PUNK1N CRICK— Paramount, Technicolor: Musical version of the oldtime melodrama with Robert Merrill and Adele Jergens as a couple of crooks who try to fleece farm girl, Dinah Shore. With Alan Young. (May) yz]/ (F) ABOUT FACE — Warners, Technicolor: Uninspired musical remake of “Brother Rat” with Gordon MacRae, Eddie Bracken and Dick Wesson as the three cadets who spend their time involved in ■ the usual military school kind of nonsense. With Phyllis Kirk, Aileen Stanley Jr., Virginia Gibson (June) \ / (F) ACTORS AND SIN — U.A.: A drama and a comedy about the theatre and the motion picture industry are combined in this rather off-beat twopart film. Edward G. Robinson, Marsha Hunt are in the first episode. Eddie Albert, Jennie Hecht in the second. (Apr.) ^ (A) ANOTHER MAN'S POISON— U.A.: A depressing British-made drama in which Bette Davis murders her husband to be free to marry Gary Merrill. (Apr.) (F) ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN— Paraj mount: Jose Ferrer comes to the U. S. in search of I happiness and a long-lost uncle; finds both and a romance with Kim Hunter in the bargain in this charm-laden bit of Americana. With Kurt Kasznar, Eugenie Leontovich. (May) V/ (F) BATTLE AT APACHE PASS, THE — U-I, | Technicolor: Jeff Chandler repeats his Cochise charJ acter, and again tries to live in harmony with the I white settlers until Bruce Cowling stirs up an incident ! that results in a bloody massacre. Susan Cabot, John Lund, John Hudson and Beverly Tyler are involved in the proceedings. (May) (F) BELLE OF NEW YORK, m THE— M-G-M, Technicolor: Vera-Ellen’s a missionary worker and Fred Astaire a playboy in this rather disappointing lightweight musical set in the Gay Nineties period. With Marjorie Main, Keenan Wynn. (May) 1/V (F) BELLES ON THEIR TOES— 2 Oth Century-Fox, Technicolor: The further adventures of the “Cheaper by the Dozen” family with Myrna Loy and her brood of twelve going through humorous and sentimental situations to keep their home intact after the death of Papa. With Jeanne Crain, Jeffrey Hunter, Barbara Bates, Debra Paget, Bob Arthur, Hoagy Carmichael, Edward Arnold. (June) (F) BEND OF THE RIVER — U-I, Technicolor: Jimmy Stewart guides a party of determined Missourians to Oregon and gets involved in some intense action when former pal Arthur Kennedy tries to highjack the pioneers’ food supply. With Julia Adams, Lori Nelson, Rock Hudson. (Apr.) ^l/2 (F) BIG TREES , THE — Warners, Technicolor: Unscrupulous lumberman Kirk Douglas gets reformed by Eve Miller in this trite melodrama concerning the preservation of the Giant California redwood trees. With Pat Wymore, John Archer. (Apr.) I ^ (F) BRONCO BUSTER — U-I, Technicolor: j This tale about a young rider (Scott Brady) who beH comes nasty and big-headed with success is almost one continuous rodeo show with a triangle involving Scott, John Lund and Joyce Holden tossed in to give the horses a respite. (June) V/ (F) BUGLES IN THE AFTERNOON— War ners, Technicolor: Disgraced civil war officer Ray Milland goes west to join the U. S. Cavalry and clashes with villainous Hugh Marlowe and warminded Sioux in this run-of-the-mill sage-brush drama. With Helena Carter. (Apr.) *$1/ (F) CALIFORNIA CONQUEST— Columbia, Technicolor: Cornel Wilde foils Mexicans and Russians and brings California into the Union all by himself according to this corny but fast-moving Western With Teresa Wright. (Mav) ✓ 54 (F) CAPTIVE CITY, THE — U.A. : A suspenseful drama in which small-town newspaperman John Forsythe is faced with the problem of exposing, at the risk of his life, a gambling syndicate’s branch in his community. With Toan Camden. (Tune) (F) DEADLINE U.S. A.— 20th CenturyFox: Newspaper editor Humphrey Bogart struggles to expose the head of a crime syndicate and save his paper from being dissolved. With Kim Hunter, Ethel Barrymore. A walloping drama. (June) yV' (F) ENCORE — Paramount: Another trio of Somerset Maugham short stories unrelated in theme — dealing with a lazy playboy (Nigel Patrick), an j old maid (Kav Walsh) and a high diver (Glynis Johns) — but all delightful. With Terence Morgan, Roland Culver. (Tune) (F) 5 FINGERS — 20th Century-Fox: The I best spy story in years based on actual events which i took place in Turkey during World War II, with James Mason as the cool spy who sold top war secrets to the Nazis for mercenary reasons. With Danielle Darrieux, Michael Rennie. (May) 54l/ (F) FLAMING FEATHER — Paramount, Technicolor: Blood ’n’ thunder Western with Sterling Hayden and Forrest Tucker involved in a bet as to who could discover and capture a vicious outlaw. With Richard Arlen, Barbara Rush. (Apr.\ l/l/ (F) FLESH AND FURY — U-I : Tony Curtis, a deaf-mute fighter, incited by mercenary Jan Sterling to become champ, almost forfeits his career and Mona Freeman when he regains his hearing. An off-beat and absorbing behind-the-scenes fight yarn. (June) (F) GIRL IN EVERY PORT, A— RKO: Bill Bendix and Groucho Marx, as two oldest sailors in the Navy, are involved in a lot of whacky goings on with horses. Marie Wilson and Don De Fore are in this nonsense comedy too. (Apr.) (F) GIRL IN WHITE, THE — M-G-M : June Allyson plays the first woman doctor ever to be attached to a public hospital. Her work as an ambulance surgeon and her fight against bigotry and prejudice make for an interesting biographical drama. Co-starring Arthur Kennedy, Gary Merrill. (June) (F) HIGH NOON — U.A.: Gary Cooper, on the morning of his marriage to Grace Kelly, learns a man he sent to jail five years previously is returning to kill him. Tenable to obtain help from the townspeople, Gary faces the killer and three henchmen alone in this adult and unbearably suspenseful Western. With Lloyd Bridges, Thomas Mitchell, Katy Jurado. (June) \/ (A) ISLAND OF DESIRE — U.A., Technicolor: Fair adventure story about the events that ensue when Linda Darnell and Tab Hunter are shipwrecked on a South Pacific island. With Donald Gray. (May) ^/2 (F) LION AND THE HORSE, THE— Warners, Warnercolor: A beautiful and touching Western concerning Steve Cochran’s love for a fiery stallion, climaxed by a fierce battle between the stallion and an escaped rodeo lion. (June) t/V (F) LONE STAR— M-G-M: Clark Gable is for the Unionization of Texas, Brod Crawford is against it and Ava Gardner wavers politically and romanti callv between them in this lusty outdoor drama. (Apr.) \/ (F) LOVE IS BETTER THAN EVER — M-G-M : A silly little comedy in which dancing teacher Liz Taylor pursues agent Larry Parks all over the place until she catches him. (Apr.) )/ (F) MA AND PA KETTLE AT THE FAIR— U-I : Further misadventures of the homespun couple in which Ma loses a jam-making contest and Pa a sulky race. With Lori Nelson, James Best. (May) Vz'S (F) MACAO — RKO: Robert Mitchum, Jane Russell and William Bendix meet on a ship to Macao and all the shenanigans they get into on the island add up to a merely routine mystery. With Gloria Grahame. (June) (F) MAN IN THE WHITE SUIT, THE— U-I: A delightful British-made comedy in which Alec Guinness invents an everlasting cloth — and throws the whole British textile industry into a turmoil. With Toan Greenwood. (Apr.) ^ (F) MARA MARU — Warners: An average adventure story with Errol Flynn as a salvage diver who becomes involved in intrigue and murder when he goes after an unusual treasure which went down with his ship during World War II. With Ruth Roman, Richard Webb, Raymond Burr. (June) (F) MARRYING KIND, THE— Columbia : Humor, tragedy and a lot of everyday plain living are unfolded in a marriage story of average couple Judy Holliday and Aldo Ray. With Madge Kennedy. Sheila Bond. (May) (F) MUTINY — U.A., Technicolor: Mark Stevens as the skipper of a U.S. ship during the War of 1812 tries to break the British blockade and bring French gold back to America. A routine adventure yarn. With Angela Lansbury. (May) H/V1/* (F) MY SIX CO N VICTS— Columbia: Marshall Thomoson, Gilbert Roland, Henry Morgan, Millard Mitchell, Alf Kjellin, Jay Adler prove to be unusual assistants to John Beal’s experiment in establishing prison reforms. An entertaining and different kind of picture. (Mav) \Sy/V* (F) MY SON JOHN— Paramount: Helen Hayes returns to the screen after a seventeen-year absence in the heartbreaking role of a woman who has to face the realization that her beloved son. Robert Walker, is a traitor to his country. A bold if somewhat talky anti-Communist propaganda piece. (Tune) \/Vz (F) PAULA — Columbia: A heavy tear-iet^ing drama in which Loretta Young, after accidentally hitting Tommy Rettig with her car, takes him into her home and helps him regain his power of speech With Kent Smith. Alexander Knox. (May) j/t/ (F) PHONE CALL FROM A STP ANGER — 20th Centurv-Fox. An absorbing and different story with Gary Merrill as the sole survivor of an air crash, who calls on the relatives of Michael Rennie, Keenan Wynn and Shelley Winters; each visit provides a drama of its own. Bette Davis has small but effective role. (Apr.) I/V' (F) PRIDE OF ST. LOUIS , T HE — 20th Century-Fox: Baseball’s Dizzy Dean comes jauntily to life with Dan Dailey as the pitcher whose screwy antics provided amusement for thousands of fans, Joanne Dru as his understanding wife and Richard Crenna as his brother. With Richard Hylton. (May) \ZV* (F) RANCHO NOTORIOUS— RKO, Technicolor: A tongue-in-cheek Western in which Arthur Kennedy, seeking revenge for the murder of his sweetheart, is led by Mel Ferrer to a robbers’ hideout run by Marlene Dietrich. (May) (F) RED BALL EXPRESS — U-I : The real story of the work done by the U.S. Transportation Corps during World War II to keep the supply trucks rolling is lost among hoked-up quarrels between Jeff Chandler and Alex Nicol and a couple of contrived romances. (June) (F) RETREAT, HELL!— Warners: A true and gripping story of our soldiers in Korea and the hardships they went through before and during the infamous attack at Chosin Reservoir. With Frank Lovejoy, Richard Carlson, Anita Louise. (May) \S (F) RETURN OF THE TEXAN— 2 0th CenturyFox: A modern-day Western in which widower Dale Robertson returns to his ranch and tries to make a new life for himself. Joanne Dru and Robert Horton provide the romantic triangle, Walter Brennan the humor, Richard Boone the villainy. (May) ✓ (F) SAN FRANCISCO STORY, THE— Warners: A routine tale set in 1850 with Joel McCrea as a miner who tries to bring law and order into the corrupt seacoast town despite complications by Yvonne De Carlo and Sidney Blackmer. (June) 1/V (F) SCANDAL SHEET— Columbia : John Derek tracks down the murderer of an unknown woman in order to get a scoop for newspaper editor Brod Crawford — and discovers that Brod is the murderer. An absorbing and suspenseful drama with Donna Reed. (Apr.) ✓j/V! (F) SINGIN* IN THE RAIN — M-G-M, Technicolor: This super-happy musical pokes fun at the roaring twenties. Gene Kelly and Jean Hagen play a famed silent screen team who try to re-adjust themselves to the new-fangled talkies with hilarious results. Debbie Reynolds is the girl recruited to dub for Jean, and Donald O’Connor is great as Kelly’s life-long pal. (June) \/\/ (A) SNIPER. THE — Columbia: A powerful drama about a young psychopathic killer (Arthur Franz) who roams the streets shooting innocent women. Marie Windsor and Mario Dwyer are his victims, Richard Kiley, the psychiatrist who helps track him down. (May) ^ (F) STEEL TOWN — U-I, Technicolor: The steel industry provides the background for the romantic complications which occur when the boss’s nephew, John Lund, falls for Ann Sheridan, Howard Duff’s girl. Fair to middling drama. (May) l/; (F) TALK ABOUT A STRANGER— M-G-M: Billy Gray, son of orange ranchers Nancy Davis and George Murphy, almost causes his parents’ ruin when, suspecting unfriendly neighbor Kurt Kasznar of killing his dog. he sets out to seek revenge. A minor but unobjectionable drama. (June) \SY2 (F) TREASURE OF LOST CANYON— U-I, Technicolor William Powell and Rosemary DeCamp adopt Tommy Ivo who was cheated out of his inheritance by Henry Hull, and set out to reclaim it for him. With Tulia Adams. Charles Drake. (Anr.) \Z\yx/2 (A) VIVA ZAPATA! — 20th Century-Fox: Marlon Brando’s excellent as the humble Mexican zealot who fought for nine years in order to regain the land stolen from his people. A baffling but brilliant motion picture. With Jean Peters, Anthony Quinn, Toseph Wiseman, Margo. (Apr.) l/V (F ) WALK EAST ON BEACON— Columbia: This exciting semi-documentary nicture shows the authentic methods used by the FBI to track down Communist plotters bent on stealing a top scientific secret. With George Murphy, Virginia Gilmore, Finlav Currie. (Tune) A/V'J* (F) WITH A SONG IN MY HEART— 20th Century-Fox, Technicolor: Heart-warming musical based on the true story of Jane Froman (Jane’s beautiful voice is on the sound tracks) and the courage that carried her through after a tragic plane crash. With Susan Hayward, Rory Calhoun, David Wayne, Ffielma R’tter. (Apr.) .1/ (A) WITHOUT WARNING— U.A. : Adam Williams, a young gardener who has a penchant for picking up and stabbing blondes to death, .finally gets his due as lie’s about to slash pretty Meg Randall. Grim film fare. (Tune) i/r/2 (F) YOUNG MAN WITH IDEAS— M-G-M: Glenn Ford tries to establish himself in Los Angeles to prove to wife Ruth Roman that he’s not a failure, and becomes involved with French singer Denise Darcel, student Nina Foch and a mob of gangsters. A light-weight amusing picture. (May)