Photoplay (Jul-Dec 1954)

; VVVV EXCELLENT VVV VERY COOD V V GOOD ^ FAIR A — ADULTS F — FAMILY ^V' ABOUT MRS. LESLIE — Wallis, Paramount: Shirley Booth’s charm and superb acting sustain a rambling love story in which she recalls her affair with a married man (Bob Ryan). (A) August VVVV ADVENTURES OF ROBINSON CRUSOE— U.A., Patbecolor: Dan O’Herlihy is the famous castaway in a strong, completely believable version of the desert-island tale. (F) August VVVV APACHE — U.A., Technicolor: As a proud Indian warrior who won’t accept defeat with the rest of his tribe, Burt Lancaster’s a realistic, unglamorized figure. So is Jean Peters as the girl sharing his outlaw life. (F) August VVV BETRAYED — M-G-M, Eastman Color: Exciting if not too convincing thriller of World War II. Lana Turner, Clark Gable, Vic Mature are Dutch underground agents. (F) October VVV BLACK SHIELD OF FALWORTH. THE— U-I; CinemaScope, Technicolor: Tony Curtis attains knighthood to avenge his family, save England, win Janet Leigh. (F) October VVVV BROKEN LANCE— 20th; CinemaScope, Technicolor: Unusual drama of discord in a Southwestern family. Cattle baron Spencer Tracy browbeats his eldest son (Widmark), favors his youngest (Bob Wagner), whose romance with Jean Peters brings on a crisis. (F) October W BULLET IS WAITING, A— Columbia, Technicolor: Too-talky suspense film. Rory Calhoun, alleged killer, and sheriff Steve McNally invade Jean Simmons’ isolated ranch. (F) October VVVV CAINE MUTINY, THE— Columbia, Technicolor: Good acting gives power to the filmed best-seller. Van Johnson, goaded by Fred MacMurray, leads the mutiny against a psychotic Navy captain (Humphrey Bogart). (F) August l/V/ DAWN AT SOCORRO— U-I, Technicolor: Slightly pretentious Western. Rory Calhoun tries to retire from gunfighting and rescue Piper Laurie from a life of sin. (F) October VV DUEL IN THE JUNGLE— Warners, Technicolor: Vivid African backgrounds enhance a routine melodrama. Dana Andrews, Jeanne Crain track a man who faked his own death. (F) October VVV FRANCIS JOINS THE WACS— U-I: A snafu lands Don O’Connor in an all-WAC unit, but the talking mule helps him lead the girls to victory in mock battle. Affable fun. (F) October VVV GARDEN OF EVIL — 20th; CinemaScope, Technicolor: Lusty action, magnificent Mexican locales. Cooper, Widmark and Susan Hayward seek gold, fight Indians. (F) September f VV HELL BELOW ZERO— Columbia, Technicolor: Against authentic backgrounds of today’s whalers in the Arctic, Alan Ladd investigates the death of Joan Tetzel’s dad. (F) July VVV HER TWELVE MEN— M-G-M, Ansco Color: Greer Garson teaches at a boys’ school, makes a romantic choice between Bob Ryan and Barry Sullivan. Sentimental, humorous. (F) September V'V'V'V' HIGH AND THE MIGHTY, THE— Warners; CinemaScope, WarnerColor: Gripping story of aviation. Pilots John Wayne, Bob Stack fight to get a crippled trans-Pacific plane to land. Passengers’ reactions vary vividly. (F) August VVVV HOBSON’S CHOICE— U.A.: Warm, witty British comedy. Pompous Charles Laughton bullies his three daughters, gets his comeuppance from the eldest (Brenda de Banzie), after she marries John Mills. (F) September VVV INDISCRETION OF AN AMERICAN WIFE — Columbia: Unusual drama, shot in Rome. Tourist Jennifer Jones tries to end her love affair with an Italian (Montgomery Clift). (A) May l/pV JOHNNY DARK— U-I, Technicolor: Lively yarn of sports-car racing. Aided by Piper Laurie, Tony Curtis designs a striking new-model car, races it himself. (F) August VV JOHNNY GUITAR — Republic, Trucolor: Joan Crawford’s the dashing, gun-toting heroine of a wildly off-beat Western. Sterling Hayden helps her defend her gambling house. (F) August VVV KING RICHARD AND THE CRUSADERS— Warners; Cinema-Scope, WarnerColor: Bright pageantry. George Sanders as Richard; Rex Harrison as Saladin, gallant foe; Laurence Harvey, Virginia Mayo as young lovers. (F) October VV LAW VS. BILLY THE KID, THE— Columbia, Technicolor: More legend than history; Scott Brady as a glorified outlaw. (F) October VVVV LITTLE KIDNAPPERS, THE— Rank, U.A.: Delightful story of Nova Scotian settlers. Two orphan boys are adopted by their stern grandpa. Adrienne Corri’s a wistful heroine, in a forbidden romance. (F) October LITTLEST OUTLAW, THE— Disney, Technicolor: Pleasant child-and-animal yarn, filmed in Mexico. Young Andres Velasquez steals a beloved horse that’s been mistreated. (F) October V'V'V'V MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION— U-I, Technicolor: Moving personal drama. Rock Hudson’s a playboy who, blaming himself for Jane Wyman’s blindness, becomes a dedicated surgeon. Barbara Rush and Gregg Palmer also do a tender love story. (F) September VVVV MR. HULOT’S HOLIDAY— G-B-D: Mad, totally plotless French film, recalling silent slapstick comedies. Everything goes wrong on Jacques Tati’s shore vacation. (F) September VVVV ON THE WATERFRONT— Columbia: Smashing melodrama of the racket-ridden docks near New York. Marlon Brando serves the gang, then fights it, influenced by Eva Marie Saint and Karl Malden. (F) September VVV PUSHOVER — Columbia: Tough, crisp tale of crime. Hunger for money and for Kim Novak, a bandit's girl, makes detective Fred MacMurray go wrong. Phil Carey stays straight. (A) October VVVV RAID, THE — 20th, Technicolor: Excellent, fact-based Civil War film. Van Heflin leads fellow Confederates in a prison break and attack on a North Vermont town. (F) October VVVV REAR WINDOW — Paramount, Technicolor: Ingenious thriller. Wheelchair-bound. James Stewart spies on city neighbors, suspects one of murder. Grace Kelly’s bis sweetheart; Wendell Corey, a detective. (F) October VV RING OF FEAR — Warners; CinemaScope, WarnerColor: Mickey (himself) Spillane tracks down a homicidal maniac as Clyde Beatty’s circus goes through its routines. (F) September VVV SABRINA — Paramount: Audrey Hepburn’s a charmer as a chauffeur's daughter in a slender comedy-romance. Bill Holden’s a playboy; Bogart, a stuffy Wall Streeter. (F) October VVVV SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS— M-G-M; CinemaScope, Ansco Color: Delectable, unusual musical. After frontier farmer Howard Keel brings home a bride (Jane Powell), his brothers all want wives, too. (F) September VV SUDDENLY — U.A.: Frank Sinatra’s a psychopathic gunman hired to kill the President of the U. S.; Sterling Hayden, a doughty local cop. Moderate degree of tension. (F) October VV SUSAN SLEPT HERE— RKO, Technicolor: Debbie Reynolds sparkles as a “delinquent" in the temporary care of writer Dick Powell. Preposterous but amusing. (A) October TANGANYIKA— U-I, Technicolor: With Ruth Roman and Howard Duff, Van Heflin tracks down a crazed jungle dictator (Jeff Morrow) who has stirred an African tribe to war. (F) August VVVV UGETSU — Harrison and Davidson: Strange, beautiful Japanese film about peasant families caught in ancient wars. (A) October VVVV VALLEY OF THE KINGS— M-G-M, Eastman Color: High adventure, filmed in Egypt. Bob Taylor, Eleanor Parker look for a Pharaoh’s lost tomb, also sought by robbers. (F) September VVVV VANISHING PRAIRIE, THE— Disney, Technicolor: Fascinating documentary, showing drama, comedy and violence among wild creatures of America’s great plains. ( F) September