Showmen's Trade Review (Apr-Jun 1943)

16 SHOWMEN'S TRADE REVIEW June 26, 1943 Cowboy Commandos Monogram Western 53 mins. (Nat'l Release, June 2) AUDIENCE SLANT: (Family) Okay western of the conventional type. BOX-OFFICE SLANT: Should be satisfactory for the Saturday matinee trade. Cast: Ray Corrigan, Dennis Moore, Max Terhune, Evelyn Finley, Johnny Bond, Bud Buster, John Merton, Edna Bennett, Steve Clark, Bud Osborne. Credits: Directed by S. Roy Luby. Original story by Clark Paylow. Screenplay by Elizabeth Beecher. Photography by Edward Kull. Produced by George W. Weeks. Plot: When the sheriff of a small miningtown is killed by enemy agents who tried to blow up a mine supplying the government with magnesium, the Range Busters step in and take over. As undercover agents they soon find the saboteurs, capture the entire gang and turn them over to the authorities for quick action. Comment: An average western offering that should do okay with the Saturday matinee crowd. Its title will attract the attention of the youngsters, whose love of action and uncritical attitude will permit them to find the excitement they look for in this type of film fare. A number of fights between Ray Corrigan, one of the Range Busters, and a huge guy will have the kids howling and a few scenes of Max Terhune, also will amuse them. Production and direction are average with the photography satisfactory. Sell in the same manner as others of this series. You can also arrange tieups with the sale of War Bonds and Stamps . . . and have a lobby display of headlines about Nazi saboteurs, since these timely occurrences are reflected in the plot. Dixie (Technicolor) Paramount Music-Comedy-Drama 89 mins. (Block No. 6) AUDIENCE SLANT: (Adult) Nostalgic story of minstrel days has music, warmth and color to make it popular entertainment. BOX-OFFICE SLANT: Looks like a money-maker, especially if smart showmanship is exercised to put it over. Cast: Bing Crosby, Dorothy Lamour, Billy de Wolfe, Marjorie Reynolds, Lynne Overman, Raymond Walburn, Eddie Foy, Jr., Grant Mitchell, Clara Blandick, Tom Herbert, Olin Howland, Robert Warwick, Fortunio Bonanova, Brandon Hurst, Josephine Whittell, Paul McVey, Charles La Tone, Charles R. Moore, Tom Kennedy, Charles Cane, Edward Emerson, Cyril Ring, James Burke, Dudley Dickerson, Jimmy Conlin, George Anderson, Wilbur Mack, Harry C. Bradley, Bill Halligan, George H. Reed, Willie Best. Credits: Associate Producer, Paul Jones. Directed by A. Edward Sutherland. Screenplay by Karl Tunberg and Darrell Ware. Adaptation by Claude Binyon. From a story by William Rankin. Director of photography, William C. Mellor. Special effects, Gordon Jennings. Process photography, Farciot Edouart. Art direction, William Flannery. Musical direction, Robert Emmett Dolan. Other music, Johnny Burke and James Van Heusen. Dances staged by Seymour Felix. Plot: Dan Emmett (Bing Crosby) leaves his home to seek fame and fortune as an actor and composer. If he doubles his nest egg of $500 in six months, he will be permitted to marry his sweetheart, Jean Mason (Marjorie Reynolds). On the way to New Orleans, he loses his money in a card game to Mr. Bones (Billy de Wolfe), catches up with the rascal in New Orleans. To make amends, Bones invites Emmett to a theatrical boarding house, where sultry housekeeper Millie Cook (Dorothy Lamour) works her charms on Emmett. With two other boarders, Bones Legion of Decency Ratings (For Week Ending June 26) SUITABLE FOR GENERAL PATRONAGE Bordertown Gunfighters Leather Burners Good Luck, Mr. Yates Prairie Chickens Wolves of the Range SUITABLE FOR ADULTS ONLY Dixie Submarine Alert Isle of Forgotten Sins Swing Shift Maisie OBJECTIONABLE IN PART Stage Door Canteen and Emmett form a minstrel quartet which proves a hit. But the theatre burns down. While it is being rebuilt, Emmett returns home to tell Jean he plans to marry Millie. He finds her a victim of paralysis. The couple marry and go to New York. While there, one of the boarders finds Emmett, persuades him to come back to New Orleans. When Millie discovers Jean's plight, her hatred for the girl who took Emmett away from her changes to sympathy and understanding. Meanwhile, Jean has learned that Emmett had planned to marry Millie. Thinking she has ruined his life, she sends a farewell note to his dressing room. Millie discovers it, ignites it while Emmett is introducing a new ballad, Dixie. Then she announces her engagement to Bones. The ignited note starts a fire, forces Emmett to speed up the tempo of his ballad, causes Dixie to emerge as a rousing martial song. Jean happily discovers that her note never reached her husband. Comment: One doesn't have to have lived down south in the good old minstrel days to be lulled into a languid and nostalgic mood on viewing "Dixie." For this Technicolor musical, with all the atmosphere of that period, takes the spectator away from presentday wartime conditions and transports him back through the years to the days when entertainment was being revolutionized with minstrelsy. It is the story of Dan Emmett, the composer of Dixie and the man instrumental in introducing the new black-face form of stage entertainment. While the result, as a whole, leaves something to be desired, there is still no gainsaying the fact that "Dixie" looms a box-office bell-ringer and a picture to be warmly received by audiences everywhere. Of its reception in the South, there can be no doubt, and for other sections of the country it has nearly all the ingredients to make it a popular motion picture. The story itself becomes a trifle involved, and some moviegoers may be slightly irritated at a conclusion in which the two principals, Bing Crosby and Dorothy Lamour, fail to get together for a clinch, inasmuch as Dorothy is "the other woman" in the case. It's a logical conclusion, however, and in all probability has kept faith with the actual event in Dan Emmett's life. Still, any such irritation should be shortlived in one's memory of the warmth and color, the music and rhythm of the film. There are no outstanding performances, each player apparently having been cast in the sort of role suited to his or her ' particular talents. "Dixie" may not prove sensational, but most likely it will please, and smart showmanship should make its engagement highly profitable for most exhibitors. Henry Aldrich Swings It Paramount Comedy 65 mins. (Block No. 6) AUDIENCE SLANT: (Family) Chucklesome, lightweight summertime screen fare to balance a dramatic top feature on most programs. BOX-OFFICE SLANT: Should do the usual "Henry Aldrich" business. Cast: Jimmy Lydon, Charles Smith, Mimi Chandler, Vaughn Glaser, Marian Hall, Beverly Hudson, John Litel, Olive Blakeney, Dick Baron, Fritz Feld, Steve Geray, Matt McHugh, Bernard Medell, Ed Dearing, Charles Arnt. Credits: Produced by Walter MacEwen. Associate Producer, Michael Kraike. Directed by Hugh Bennett. Original screenplay by Val Burton and Muriel Roy Bolton. Additional dialogue, Aleen Leslie. Director of photography, Daniel Fapp. Art direction, Hans Dreier and Frank Bachelin. Song by Jule Styne and Kim Gannon. Plot: When violinist Fritz Feld plays a concert at Centerville High School, his Stradivarius is mistakenly picked up by embryonic violinist Henry Aldrich. At the same time, a couple of crooks steal the violin they think is the Strad. When Feld later discovers the theft, the guilt points to Henry, and mother and father are nearly separated by the events that follow. But all's well that ends well. Comment: While the Henry Aldrich screen series still fails to match the refreshing and delightful pleasure afforded by the weekly radio version, this latest effort fares somewhat better than its predecessors, turns out to be fairly amusing summertime diversion for the entire family. On the air, the situations appear natural, while for motion picture consumption they seem a trifle exaggerated. Nevertheless, Henry's "crush" on the pretty young school teacher, his innocent and unintentional misadventures provide chuckles if not outright laughter. Jimmy Lydon, Charles Smith, John Litel and Olive Blakeney have by now performed their respective characterizations of Henry, Dizzy and Mr. & Mrs. Aldrich so much that they are more or less "at home" in their assignments. As the teacher, Marian Hall is every adult's ideal of the one to whom he used to bring an apple every morning; her simplicity and charm in the role evokes one o admiration. Mimi Chandler possesses a refreshing and appealing beauty one hopes will not succumb to so-called Hollywood glamor. And Vaughn Glaser's old-fogey schoolmaster nearly steals the show. Since the Henry Aldrich series is pretty well established by now, exhibitors know what to expect at the box-office. 'Henry Aldrich Swings It" will add pleasantly amusing diversion to a dramatic top feature. Paramount Alaska Highway Drama 68 mins. (Block No. 6) AUDIENCE SLANT: (Family) Will appeal to average audience, but will disappoint some who may expect an epic because of title. BOX-OFFICE SLANT: Sell it entirely on the title. Cast : Richard Arlen, Jean Parker, Ralph Sanford, Joe Sawyer, Bill Henry, Harry Shannon, Edward Earle, Keith Richards. Credits: Produced by William H. Pine and William C. Thomas. Directed by Frank McDonald. Screenplay by Maxwell Shane. Photographer, Fred Jackman, Jr. Plot: Richard Arlen joins his father, Harry Shannon, and brother, Bill Henry, in constructing a part of the Alcan Highway aim