Showmen's Trade Review (Apr-Jun 1944)

30 SHOWMEN'S TRADE REVIEW April 29, 1944 Gambler's Choice {Continued from Page 13) succeed is extremely effective, even to the end where he gives his life for the friends he loves. Nancy Kelly is the girl that both men love. She is attractive, does a fine acting job, and puts over the songs delightfully. Russell Hayden plays the friend who has become a cop and will not do anything dishonest. This trio is surrounded by Lloyd Corrigan, Lee Patrick, Sheldon Leonard and Lyle Talbot, all of whose portrayals smack of the gambling days of old New York as many remember it and as the others have always heard of it. Production stacks up liandsomely, for the skeleton of the story is richly embroidered with sets and mountings that would do justice to any major production. Credit for this belongs to William Pine and William Thomas who have made what could have been average fare into top entertainment. At the megaphone maintaining continuity and keeping the performances to the high level which distinguishes the result is Frank McDonald. Both the title and the story have outlets for exploitation in tieups with bridge clubs, whist clubs and all sporting goods stores. A number of good stunts are explained at length in Sections 341 and 923 of Showmen's Encyclopedia of Exploitation. Song of the Open Road United Artists Musical 93 mins. AUDIENCE SLANT: (Family) A new twist for musical shows, slow in spots but cancer can be cured Learn the danger signals! Get early diagnosis and prompt treatment. Delay is dangerous! Enlist as a Volunteer in the Women's Field Army of your State and support its activities for Cancer Control. If you are a resident of the Metropolitan area of New York, write the NEW YORK CITY CANCER COMMITTEE, 130 East 66th Street, New York 21, N.Y. AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR THE CONTROL OF CANCER 350 MADISON AVENUE, N. Y. 17, N. Y. generally liberal in fun and youthful exuberance. Talented Jane Powell makes screen debut. BOX-OFFICE SLANT: The cast makes this a potential money bet for the neighborhood and small town spots. A juvenile field day. Cast: Charlie McCarthy, Edgar Bergen, Jane Powell, W. C. Fields, Bonita Granville, Sammy Kaye and Orchestra, Peggy O'Neill. Jackie Moran, Bill Christy, Reginald Denny. Regis Toomey, Rose Hobart, Sig Arno, Irene Tedero, Pat Starling, Condos Brothers, Lipham Four, Chuck Faulkner and his Band, Catron & Popp. Credits: Produced by Charles R. Rogers. Directed by S. Sylvan Simon. Screenplay by Albert Mannheimer from a story by Irving Phillips and Edward Verdier. Photographic direction by John W. Boyle. Plot: A youthful movie star, fed up with her confining career, makes a short film with a bunch of kid members of the victory corps aiding farmers harvest crops — and likes their carefree spirit. She decides to join them for a holiday. The starlet tries to straighten out a youthful romance, runs into complications and redeems herself with the gang, by a clever ruse saves an orange crop. Comment: While the story is highly improbable, it does supply opportunity to tie together some popular stars and a flock of talented kids. The result of this combination will be likely to pay off in the subsequentruns and small town theatres. The picture will just be average screen fare for the key runs. Producer Charles R. Rogers has brought to light a talented young lady in the person , of Jane Powell, possessed of a fine voice and definite acting ability. This is her first picture and despite the Durbinesque handling she shows promise. The presence of Bergen & McCarthy, W. C. Fields, Sammy Kaye and his Orchestra sharply elevates the grossing potential of the film. In particular the attraction will find wide acceptance among juvenile audiences. Mortimer Snerd has the best line in the show. Some humorous by-play between Fields and McCarthy can be recommended for a feud build-up in the ad copy. This Is the Life Universal Musical 87 mins. (Nat'l Release, June 2) AUDIENCE SLANT: (Family) Very super entertainment for everybody and his brother. Fast, hilarious fun, convincing drama, romance and music to the queen's taste. BOX-OFFICE SLANT: Deserves "A" playing time and you can praise this one to the skies for sheer enjoyment. Tops all O'Connor films. Cast: Donald O'Connor, Susanna Foster, Patric Knowles, Louise Allbritton, Dorothy Peterson, Peggy Ryan, Jonathan Hale, Eddie Quillan, Maurice Marsac. Otto Hoffman. Frank Jenks. Ray Eberle. Smoky, and others. Credits: Bernard Burton, associate producer. Directed by Felix Feist. Screenplay by Wanda Tuchock from a stage play by Sinclair Lewis and Fay Wray. Photographic direction by Hal Mohr. Musical direction by Charles Previn. Plot: An eighteen-year-old girl inherits a modest legacy, enabling her to pursue a musical career. Feeling mature, she shuns the romantic inclinations of her young boy friend and falls in love with an Army major who, being much older than she, treats her as a child. The boy friend after persistent maneuvers unearths the major's ex-wife with a happy ending for all concerned. Comment: This film definitely tops previous Donald O'Connor ef¥orts in all departments. It is a finely mounted production with elaborate settings, excellent direction and timing by Felix Feist, a more toned down role for O'Connor, swell dialog and very good acting and singing by Miss Foster. The entire cast is well chosen and the picture is loaded with magnetism, charm and that quality which makes an audience glad they came to see it. We believe that this attraction will be in great demand and word-of-mouth praise should assure box-office success for theatres showing it. The title should lend itself to general exploitation. DEVIL'S BROOD (Universal) Mystery. Principals: Boris Karloff, Lon Chaney, John Carradine, J. Carrol Naish, George Zucco, Anne Gwynne, Peter Coe, Lionel Atwill, Sig Rumann, Glenn Strange, Elena Verdugo. Director, Erie C. Kenton. Plot: Two men, imprisoned for macabre experiments with corpses, are freed when a storm wrecks the prison. Seeking vengeance on the man responsible for their imprisonment, they release the Dracula skeleton and have him help them in their work. Much horror occurs before they are disposed of. MANHATTAN SERENADE (RKO) Comedy-Music. Principals: Frank Sinatra, George Murphy, Gloria DeHaven, Adolphe Menjou, Walter Slezak, Eugene Pallette, Wally Brown, Alan Carney, Anne Jeffreys, Frances King, Harry Noble. Director, Tim Whelan. Plot: After wheedling the owner of a play out of his savings, a fast-talking producer uses the cash for a musical of his own. He keeps the young man around to prevent him from carrying out his threats — even introduces him to his singing lady friend. She convinces him that he should forget the play and sijig in the musical, and they all find themselves with a hit on their hands. CALL OF THE JUNGLE (Monogram) Drama. Principals: Ann Corio, James Bush. John Davidson, Claudia Dell, Edward Chandler, Muni Seroff, I. Stanford Jolley, J. Alex Havier, Phill Van Zandt, Harry Burns. Director, Phil Rosen. Plot: When sacred pearls are stolen on a South Sea Island, a young villager, a white girl, sets out to find them in order to prevent mass murder of the whites by the natives. With the help of a police officer, she restores the gems to the islanders, which done, the girl and the police officer plan their future together. MEXICAN FIESTA (PRC) Comedy-WithMusic. Principals: Armida, El Brendel, Wallace Ford. Jack LaRue, Luis Alberni. Director, Harold Young-. Plot: A young man and his Swedish partner are hired to deliver an elephant, but get the wrong address and find themselves in a rather awkward position. Finally they sell the animal to a carnival. Then the young man falls in love with the daughter of the carnival owner. Due to mistaken identity, detectives arrest the boy for a crime. Eventually, the mistake is corrected, with a would-be friend of the carnival owner found to be the guilty person. SONG OF NEVADA (Republic) Musical Western. Principals: Roy Rogers, Mary Lee, Dale Evans, Thurston Hall, John Eldredge. Lloyd Corrigan, LeRoy Mason, Forrest Taylor, Kenne Duncan, Sons of the Pioneers. Director, Joseph Kane. Plot: When a rancher is reported killed because the plane in which he rode was wrecked, his daughter and a Park Avenue stuffed shirt she's fallen for. decide to sell out. The rancher, however, wasn't on the plane at the time of the accident, so he gets Roy Rogers to assist him in saving his property. Rogers has a time of it, tangling with the boy-friend and a crooked foreman before he wins the girl over. Then, told that her father is alive, and shown that the man is a fortune hunter, there is a happy reimion. Added to Alaska' Cast, Iris Adrian and George Cleveland have been added to the cast of Monogram's Jack London story, "Alaska," which Vernon Keays, associate producer, has just brought back from the filming of snow scenes in the mountains of the June Lake district.