Showmen's Trade Review (Oct-Dec 1941)

Page 22 SHOWMEN'S TRADE REVIEW October 25, 1941 Small Town Deb 20th Century-Fox Comedy-Drama 73 mins. (Block No. 4, Nat'l Release, Nov. 7) AUDIENCE SLANT: (Family) A pleasant piece of entertainment. Swell for the Withers fans. BOX OFFICE SLANT: Excellent for the houses catering to the family trade. Cast: Jane Withers, Jane Darwell, Bruce Edwards, Cobina Wright, Jr., Cecil Kellaway, Katharine Alexander, Jack Searl, Buddy Pepper, Robert Cornell. Margaret Early, Douglas Wood and others. Credits: Directed by Harold Schuster. Screenplay by Ethel Hill. Original story by Jerrie Walters. Director of photography, Virgil Miller. Plot: The fifteen year old daughter of a small town family gets a chance to show the other members who have been continually shoving her around, the kind of stuff she's made of. She is responsible for catching a boy friend for her older sister and in helping her dad in a business deal. Comment: Taking a page from the "Hardy Family" series, this latest Jane Withers starrer turns out to be a pleasant piece of entertainment with plenty of appeal for the family trade. Highlights of the film are Jane's impersonation of Carmen Miranda and a very clever performance at the drums. Her host of fans will enjoy these two sequences. A carefully selected cast, which includes Jane Darwell, Cobina Wright, Jr., Bruce Edwards, Cecil Kellaway, Jack Searl, Buddy Pepper and Katharine Alexander, all turn in amusing portrayals. Harold Schuster's direction is good, as are the other technical aids. Offer prizes for the largest families attending the picture. Check with your local exchange on tieup stills. With newspaper cooperation, arrange a contest seeking the best juvenile trap drummer in town, with awards handed out on the stage opening night. Catchline: "A frenzied family affair with Jane as the 'little sister'." Three Girls About Town Columbia Comedy 72 mins. (Prod. No., Not Set; Nat'l Release, Oct. 23) AUDIENCE SLANT: Good support for heavy dramatic feature; not strong enough to stand alone. BOX OFFICE SLANT: Cast names strongest drawing element. Cast: Joan Blondell, Binnie Barnes, Janet Blair, John Howard, Robert Benchley, Eric Blore, Hugh O'Connell, Una O'Connor, Almira Sessions, Dorothy '''a"1 TTarvev, Frank McGlynn, Walter Soderling, Dick Elliott, Bert Roach, Ray Walker, Vera Lewis, Grady Sutton, others. Credits: Directed by Leigh Jason. Produced by Sam Bischoff. Original screenplay by Richard Carroll. Director of photography, Franz F. Planer. Art director, Lionel Banks. Plot: Joan Blondell and Binnie Barnes are educating their younger sister, Janet Blair, by acting as professional hostesses to conventions in Robert Benchley's hotel. Janet leaves school, joins them and falls in love with Joan's fiance, John Howard, newspaper reporter. From here on it's a mixup of longhairs trying to get the girls fired; Howard and Joan stealing a "corpse"; police; an undertakers' convention and a burlesqued police force. All ends well, with Janet getting spanked. Comment: Only the least critical of audiences will like this picture as a whole, despite the fact that clever directional touches give occasional sparkle to a story which includes 75 per cent of the standard farce situations. The great majority of patrons, on the other hand, will be impressed by the work of Janet Blair, as promising a newcomer as the season has produced. This is the first camera job for the former soloist of the late Hal Kemp's band; and she possesses photogenic qualities, unaffected wholesomeness and a good speaking voice. Her acting ability meets the demands in this "trial" and warrants the prediction that you'll hear a lot more from her. A long cast list of seasoned players keeps the story from sagging more than it does. The names of these offer about the strongest exploitational value there is for this one, unless yours is a location where Hal Kemp was so well known that the picture debut of his vocalist can mean something. Catchline: "Everything happens in this 'everytown's' hotel." _ Hard Guy Producers Releasing Corp. Gangster 68 mins. (Prod. No. 205— Nat'l Release, Oct. 17) AUDIENCE SLANT: (Adult) Has sufficient action and plot complication to appeal to the faithful followers of sensational melodrama. BOX OFFICE SLANT: Geared primarily for the downtown metropolitan grind theatres, the emphasis on the gold-diggers-whomake-a-racket-of-marriage angle may attract. Cast: Jack La Rue, Mary Healy, Kane Richmond, Iris Adrian, Gayle Mollott, Jack Mulhall, Howard Banks, Ben Taggert, Montague Shaw, Inna Gest, Arthur Gardner. Credits: Original story and screenplay by Oliver Drake. Directed by Elmer Clifton. Photography by Eddie Linden. Plot: Jack La Rue operates a night club, but makes his "big money" engineering "romances" between sons of wealthy socialites and the charmers who entertain his patrons. One girl, Gayle Mallott, is genuinely in love with Howard Banks, but is deceived by the crafty La Rue into accepting $50,000 to have the marriage annulled. She discovers his deception and wants to give the money back, but La Rue kills her and hangs the murder on Banks. Gayle's sister, Mary Healy, determines to find the murderer, because she trusts Banks, and to do so pretends she will marry Kane Richmond to "shake down" his wealthy father. Actually in love with Richmond, she finds evidence of La Rue's guilt and with Richmond's aid brings him to justice. Comment: A plotty story, but one supplied with a sufficient amount of the melodramatic situation's which feature pulp-magazine yarns, this picture will satisfy the lovers of action and melodrama. It is for adults, and concerns the adventures of girls exploited by a night-club operator who makes a racket of collecting from wealthy parents willing to buy off brides who marry their sons. The acting is adequate, with Mary Healy as a country girl who avenges her sister's death at the hands of the Hard Guy, Jack La Rue, having the only sympathetic part. La Rue, Kane Richmond, Iris Adrian, Gayle Mollott and Jack Mulhall give unconvincing characters as much reality as necessary to carry the interest along. The picture will suit best and draw best in the smaller downtown locations, and can be exploited most effectively, perhaps, by strong emphasis on the sensational angle of gold diggers posing as innocent beauties to win men's hearts — and money. Catchline: "He made a racket of love — until true love brought him to justice." Appointment for Love Universal Comedy 89 mins. (Prod. No. not set— Nat'l Release, Oct. 31) AUDIENCE SLANT: (Adult) Delightfully entertaining; should click with adult patrons of better class theatres. BOX OFFICE SLANT: With Boyer and Sullavan and a title that intrigues, its box office career should be successful. Cast: Charles Boyer, Margaret Sullavan, Rita Johnson, Reginald Denny, Ruth Terry, Eugene Pallette, Cecil Kellaway, Gus Schelling, Roman Bohnen. Credits: Produced by Bruce Manning. Directed by William A. Seiter. Screenplay by Bruce Manning and Felix Jackson. Based on an original story, "Heartbeat," by Ladislaus Bus-Fekete. Director of photography, Joseph Valentine. Art direction, Jack Otterson. Plot: Boyer falls in love with Margaret Sullavan, whose profession as a doctor keeps her constantly busy. At first she rebuffs him, but finally she consents to marry. Fol South of Tahiti (Continued from Page 18) looks, figure and singing voice which compare more than favorably with Dorothy Lamour's early ones. Old but sure to help this one are creation of a tropical lobby, planting Hawaiian music programs or using spot announcement to follow those already on your stations and a beauty contest for entrants wearing the new sarong type bathing suits — prize to the girl most nearly approaching the measurements of Maria. See your book stores about special map windows, with a center spot for one showing the South Seas and your poster. Novelty statuary of the Bali type which is so common with specialty shops now is another good tieup. Perhaps there are fashion design classes in your high school, junior colleges or universities, where you can set a contest for the best set of designs for costumes of the sort worn by Maria and Armida — winning sketches to be shown in your lobby several weeks before opening. Catchline: "Pearls, a peach and a pinchthrowing trio." Swamp Water 20th Century-Fox Drama 88 mins. (Block No. 4, Nat'l Release, Nov. 14) AUDIENCE SLANT: (Adult) A perfect film for patrons looking for something different in screen entertainment. Top-flight dram2i.tic feirc BOX OFFICE SLANT: Will cause plenty of comment, the kind that sells tickets. Will profit by word-of-mouth. Deserves a strong selling campaign. Cast: Walter Brennan, Walter Huston, Anne Baxter, Dana Andrews, Virginia Gilmore, John Carradine, Mary Howard, Eugene Pallette, Ward Bond, Guinn Williams, Russell Simpson, Joseph Sawyer. Credits: Directed by Jean Renoir. Screenplay by Dudley Nichols. From the Saturday Evening Post story by Vereen Bell. Photographed by Peverell Marley. Art direction, Richard Day and Joseph C. Wright. Produced by Irving Pichel. Associate producer, Len Hammond. Plot: A young man, following the trail of his lost dog through the mysterious swamps of Georgia, comes across a man hiding from the police. He learns the man's story and then comes back to help find the real murderers and clear his name. Comment: The sensational Saturday Evening Post serial, read by millions, becomes one of the most out-of-the-ordinary pictures of the year, and as such, will profit by word-ofmouth advertising. It's a masterpiece of breath-taking suspense, beautifully done, and boasts of some of the finest performances seen in a long time. With proper selling, it should equal the box office success of "Tobacco Road"; but this selling must be strong enough to attract patrons in every walk of life. Its other merits are an absorbing story and the skill of the direction and production. As stated above, the performances are excellent, especially the work of Dana Andrews, Walter Brennan, Walter Huston and Anne Baxter. The picture may never be listed as the greatest film of the year, but it will cause plenty of comment, the kind that sells tickets. Carry out the background, suggested by the title, in your lobby and out front. Distribute bookmarks to circulating libraries, book shops and department stores, advertising your opening day. "Wanted" tack cards, with picture of Brennan, could be sniped around town. Make a play for feminine interest by playing up the three leading women. Catchline: "The strangest story the screen has ever told."