Photoplay (Jan-Jun 1940)

gler, who is his perfect double. Naturally the Saint can't have such a thing, so he sets out to rectify the situation. It's all a bit confusing, since Sanders looks so much like Sanders you sometimes forget which man he's supposed to be, but there's plenty of suspense and the pace holds throughout. Helene Whitney, Jonathan Hale and the rest are good. SOUTH OF THE BORDER-Republic CASHING in, a little late perhaps, on that song you heard umphty-'leven times a day recently, Republic offers Gene Autry, the fabulous cowboy success, in a film intended for top billing at big theaters. It's the best picture he has made and adequate entertainment even for city -feller audiences. Gene plays a secret Federal agent in South America to foil a revolution — he knows, you see, the whole ruckus is just to establish a submarine base for a foreign power. Autry 's voice is as good as ever. MUSIC IN MY HEART-Columbia lONY MARTIN, having emerged from his practical seclusion at his own studio to make a great success on radio, now stars for Columbia in an unpretentious but acceptable musical, which has good music and Andre Kostelanetz to play it. Martin plays an understudy in a Broadway show who gets a chance to act just before he's supposed to be deported. He meets love interest, Rita Hayworth, by crashing into a taxi in which she is riding — an extreme measure, but effective, as the story turns out. THE MAN WHO WOULDN'T TALK— 20th Century-Fox REMEMBER "The Valiant?" Here it is again, with a new title and with Lloyd Nolan cast as the confessed murderer who refuses to say what his name is or why he committed his crime. Opposite him, as the sister who tries to make him talk, is Jean Rogers. She gives a sympathetic performance. Nolan's work is better than he has done in many months. Onslow Stevens, Eric Blore and Elizabeth Risdon have supporting roles. • THE FIGHT FOR LIFE-United States Him TARE LORENTZ, supreme master of the documentary film, again pulls no , punches in showing us the world we i live in. Inspired by Paul de Kruif's best seller, "The Fight For Life," he has used the heroic work of the Chi I cago Maternity Center to demonstrate the crying need for more obstetricians , and better trained ones. This cannot be termed, in any sense, an entertaining film, yet in its unsparing realism, it is definitely astringent. Doctors and patients at the Center have co-operated liberally in offering authentic case material for the story of the young doctor, Myron McCormick, who, after losing a hospital maternity case, comes to the Center to serve his apprenticeship. Here there are not the refinements of a wealthy medical center; here the earnest, hard-working doctors and nurses must go out into the homes of their slum patients to deliver their babies. They must cope with the most sordid surroundings— and yet they have established an amazing maternity record. The relentless camera of Lorentz shows the actual conditions under which the Center doctors work; the actual methods they use in their child birth cases. There is much here to make you wince and perhaps shock you, but you cannot deny the power of the film to stir you immeasurably. It may even serve to recruit new medical crusaders and slum clearance advocates. • THE OUTSIDER-ALLIANCE I HERE is natural appeal in a story of the struggle to overcome a physical handicap. And when it deals with a very beautiful cripple in the person of Mary Maguire, assisted by a handsome doctor in the person of that superlative actor, George Sanders— the result is bound to be good. These two English stars in their respective roles turn in a duet of excellent performances. The former — as a frail, lovely girl, brilliant, talented, but a miserable outsider in the world of love and sport. The latter — as a precocious, cocksure bone specialist — a modern miracle man, whose skill has healed hundreds, but who is, nevertheless, labeled an outsider by his colleagues. The girl, Lalage Sturdee, goes to Doctor Ragatzy as a last resort when she has been given up as a hopeless case. He agrees to treat her for the publicity. His method of cure is long, and during it, the girl's spiritual qualities have a humanizing effect on the arrogant, insufferable egotist the doctor is. The climax, of course, is the day the Doubting Thomases come to witness the results of the treatment. The young man for whom the lame girl wishes to get well is Peter Murray Hill; the other woman, Barbara Blair. They are shadowy figures compared to the clear strength of the two main characters. You can't go wrong on this one — but come prepared to shed a tear or two. MY LITTLE CHICKADEE— Universal W ELL, just what you might expect from the combined efforts of la Belle West and that master of comic chicanery, W. C. Fields, you get, in this lurid mellerdrammer of frontier life in Greasewood City. It is as ribald a piece of hi-jinks as has skidded by the Hays Office in many a moon. The team of West and Fields don't miss a chance, in this tale of a fair lady named Flower Belle Lee and her partner in crime, Cuthbert J. Twillie, to use the double entendre and innuendo supreme. The two rate some honest laughs besides. It's a "Destry Rides Again" story, with Mr. Fields sporting the dummy sheriff's badge, while the town boss and saloon keeper, Joseph Calleia, makes love to his fulsome wife. There is also a Masked Bandit who visits the West boudoir by moonlight, and when Mr. Fields adopts the bandit's intriguing disguise, a case of mistaken identity arises and plenty of trouble. Somehow the setting of a raw Western town, with its gun-in-holster props, is a perfect set-up for the talents of the co-stars who, by the way, don't quite succeed in stealing the picture from the other. You'll see Dick Foran, Margaret Hamilton, Fuzzy Knight in supporting roles. Typical shots: W. C. Fields shooting Indians with a sling shot; Mae West beguiling a grizzled guard to let her out of jail. LITTLE OLD NEW YORK— 20th Century-Fox IT may be that Don Ameche missed out on being Robert Fulton because of his recent illness. Richard Greene plays the inventor of the steamboat instead, and if you don't think they had some difficulties getting that contraption in the water, just see the picture. Everyone from a very heavy boatbuilder with a grudge against Fulton to Thomas Jefferson himself gets in the way. Finally, of course, off it goes to revolutionize the transportation industry and Mr. Greene embraces Brenda Joyce, and everyone is happy except the aforementioned villain. Fred MacMurray is at his best as the rough and ready shipwright who builds the Clermont on money raised partly by Alice Faye. He not only makes time with the boat, but with Alice too. She's a tavern keeper without much refinement but with plenty of what MacMurray wants. These great troupers struggle valiantly with a story cast from a convenient and ancient mold. The situations are masterpieces of banality and supporting performances are routine. The picture probably will make a fortune as Darryl Zanuck's epics do, but nevertheless "Little Old New York" is a little old bore of a box-office hit. • VIGIL IN THE NIGHT— RKO-Radio I HIS is reminiscent of "Nurse Edith Cavell" except that Carole Lombard plays the leading character. The production has the stamp of authenticity on it, dealing as it does in a solemn and sincere manner with such enormities as life and death and integrity and loyalty to one's job. It must be said that the picture is magnificent cinema, as emotional and gripping as anything you have seen this year. It is also without one moment of lightness and unless you are in a mood for tragedy you will find it inexpressibly dreary. Miss Lombard is the nurse assigned to the less glamorous floors of the hospital whose job is everything to her. Anne Shirley plays her sister and Brian Aherne is the doctor who fights desperately against disease, common enemy of all three. The performances are superb, especially that of Lombard who here proves again how versatile an actress she is. Casts of Current Pictures "ABE LINCOLN IN ILLINOIS" — RKORadio. — Screen play by Robert E. Sherwood. Based upon the Pulitzer Prize play by Robert E. Sherwood. Directed by John Cromwell. Cast: Abraham Lincoln, Raymond Massey; Stephen Douglas, Gene Lockhart; Mary Todd Lincoln, Ruth Gordon; Ann Rutledge, Mary Howard; Elizabeth Edwards, Dorothy Tree; Ninian Edwards, Harvey Stephens; Joshua Speed, Minor Watson, Billy Herndon, Alan Baxter; Jack Armstrong, Howard da Silva; Judge Bowling Green, Aldrich Bowker; John McNeil, Maurice Murphy; Mentor Graham, Louis Jean Hevdt; Ben Mottling, Clem Bevans; Denton Offut, Harlan Briggs; Seth Gale, Herbert Rudley; Stage Driver, Andy Clyde; Mr. Crimmin, Roger Imhof; Mrs. Rutledge, Leona Roberts; Mr. Rutledge, Edmund Elton; Mrs. Bowling Green, Florence Roberts; Dr. Chandler, George Rosener; Mrs. Seth Gale, Fay Helm; John Hanks, Trevor "ADVENTURE IN DIAMONDS" — Paramount.— Screen play by Leonard Lee and Franz Schulz. Based on a story by Frank O'Connor. Directed by George Fitzmaurice. Cast: Capt. Stephen Dennett, George Brent; Felice Falcon, Isa Miranda; Michael Barclay, John Loder; Col. J. W. Lansfield, Nigel Bruce; Nellie, Elizabeth Patterson; Lloyd, Matthew Boulton; Piano Player, Rex Evans; Bartender, David Clyde; Pageboy "Buttons," Rex Downing; Steward, Douglas Gordon; Stout Man on Boat, Harry Stubbs; 1st Immigration Officer, Guy Bellis;_2H<i Immigration Officer, Norman Ainsley; Mr. Perrins, Ralph Forbes; Mrs. Perrins, Nikolayeva, Mr. MacPherson, E. E. Clive; Mrs. MacPherson, „Vera Lewis; Lou, Ed Gargan. "BAKER'S WIFE, THE"— Marcel Pagxol Production. — Adaptation and dialogue by Marcel Pagnol. From the story by Jean Giono. Directed by Marcel PaKnoI. Cast: The liaker, Raimu; The Baker's Wife, Ginette Leclerc; The Handsome Shepherd, Charles Moulin; The Priest, Robert Vattier; The School Teacher, Robert Bassac; The Marquis, Charpin. "BLUE BIRD, THE"— 20th Century-Fox.— Screen play by Ernest Pascal. Based upon the play by Maurice Maeterlinck. Directed by Walter Lang. Cast: Mytyl, Shirley Temple; Mummy Tyl, Spring Byingion; Mr. Luxury, Nigel Bruce; Tylette, Gale Sondergaard; Tylo, Eddie Collins; Angela Berlingot, Sybil Jason; Fairy Berylune, Jessie Ralph; Light, Helen Ericson; Tvllvt. Johnny Russell; Mrs. Luxury, Laura Hope Crews; Daddv Tvl, Russell Hicks; Granny Tyl, Cecilia Loftus; Grandpa Tyl, TRY A SPARKLING GLASS OF Alka-Seltzer CONVINCE yourself how quickly its analgesic action, aided by alkaline buffers, relieves the discomfort and makes you feel better. Pain and misery seem to be eased away with its pleasant, speedy action. Try it Yourself! Your druggist has Alka-Seltzer. Enjoy a glass at the fountain or ask for the convenient, 30cent or economical 60-cent packages. Ask Your Druggist for Alka-Seltzer GRAY FADED Ask famous expert from France how to shampoo and color your hair the same time at home with "SH AMPO KOLOR" Any shade. No dved look, most lasting. Permits perm, nave. Free Book. Valligny Prod. Inc., Dept. 43-K, 254 W 31 St. NY. tyscot£ v»v»»*j Jli J** ik them together in youbmind! WHEN colds cause sniffling, sneezing, soreness, and stuffiness In the nostrils use Mentholatum. It gives quick relief from these discomforts and promotes healing of the irritated membranes in the nostrils. Its vapors also reach deep Into the air passages, bringing grateful comfort. Also rub some Mentholatum on your chest and back to improve the local blood circulation. Rub it on your forehead and temples to allay headache and neuralgia due to colds. APRIL, I 940 95