Showmen's Trade Review (Jan-Mar 1945)

18 SHOWMEN'S TRADE REVIEW March 24, 1945 MGM The Clock Drama 90 mins. AUDIENCE SLANT: (Family) Everyone will be delightfully and sentimentally amused and thoroughly entertained. BOX-OFFICE SLANT: Sold as a sentimental love story with top marquee names of Robert Walker and Judy Garland, this should do very well. Cast: Judy Garland, Robert Walker, James Gleason, Keenan Wynn, Marshall Thompson, Lucille Gleason, Ruth Brady Credits: Directed by Vincente Minnelli. Produced by Arthur Freed. Screenplay by Robert Nathan and Joseph Schrank. Based on a story by Paul and Pauline Gallico. Photographed by George Folsey. Plot: Robert Walker, an Army corporal, visits New York for the first time on a twoday furlough, his last before going overseas. In Penn Station he meets Judy Garland who, reluctantly at first, agrees to show him New York. Inevitably they like each other.. In Central Park they stay past bus schedule time and get a lift from milk wagon driver James Gleason. Events keep them out later than they thought possible. They fall in love and hurriedly marry just before Walker's furlough is up. Comment: No delineation of a plot, herewith sketched so briefly, can even hint at the delightful, sentimental attachment quickly ripening into love and marriage that takes place in this picture. Produced by Arthur Freed with even more care and opulence than is usually accorded big productions and directed deftly with skill, feeling and a fine sense of light comedy by Vincente Minnelli, it leaves audiences completely satisfied. From it every adult will get many a reminiscent thrill. Robert Walker and Judy Garland are superb as the two youngsters who know that "whoever arranges these things" will permit Walker to come home after the war to continue the one-day honeymoon which concludes the picture. James and Lucille Gleason are excellent. Keenan Wynn, as a vociferous drunk, is excruciatingly funny. He would steal almost any picture but this one. All other parts are well portrayed. There is nothing in the picture that could draw adverse criticism. As an entity "The Clock" is one of the nicest, most entertaining sentimental stories to be shown in a long time. It certainly should do well for MGM and for every theatre privileged to show it. Without Love 111 mins. MGM Comedy-Drama AUDIENCE SLANT: (Adult) Witty, gay, provocative and delightful entertainment for discriminating adult moviegoers. Will register solidly with the women. BOX-OFFICE SLANT: The marquee names and the attractive title should effect long lines and extra ticket-punching activity at the box-office. Cast:^ Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, Lucille Ball, Keenan Wynn, Carl Esmond, Patricia Morison, Felix Bressart, Emily Massey, Gloria Grahame, George Davis, George Chandler, Clancy Cooper. Credits: Produced by Lawrence A. Weingarten. Directed by Harold S. Bucquet. Screenplay by Donald Ogden Stewart. Based on the play by Philip Barry as produced by the Theatre Guild, Inc. Director of photography, Karl Freund. Montage effects, Peter Ballbusch. Special effects, A. Arnold Gillespie, Danny Hall. Plot: Spencer Tracy, a scientist performing secret experiments for the Government, meets Katharine Hepburn. Both disappointed in previous love affairs, they decide to marry "without love" because of their mutual in Legion of Decency Ratings (For Week Ending March 24) SUITABLE FOR GENERAL PATRONAGE Bells of Rosarita Corpus Christi Bandits Cisco Kid Returns Gangs of the Waterfront Road to Alcatraz SUITABLE FOR ADULTS ONLY Behind City Lights Earl Carroll Vanities Brewster's Millions God Is My Co-Pilot Rough, Tough and Ready OBJECTIONABLE IN PART The Corn Is Green A Royal Scandal Salty O'Rourke terests. Much transpires during their platonic association before they finally realize they're really in love. The "loveless" pact is forgotten and all ends happily. Comment: Witty, gay, provocative and delightful, "Without Love" is certain to prove one of the most entertaining adult films of the season. Based on the play by Philip Barry, whose "Philadelphia Story" also provided ideal stage and screen material for Katharine Hepburn, this picture poses an intriguing situation handled cleverly and entertainingly, and above all, convincingly. It is good to see Spencer Tracy divested of his customary dramatic trappings to essay the role of a sleepwalking, practical-minded scientist who has no time for love, and in one of his rare comedy characterizations he aciiieves a noteworthy performance. Nonetheless effective is Katharine Hepburn as his co-starring teammate. With each new picture, Miss Hepburn seems to expand in warmth and humanness and individual, captivating charm, a feat all the more remarkable because her most recent screen portrayals have all been excellent. Splendid support is contributed by Keenan Wynn, fast becoming one of the screen's most talented and ingratiating personalities, Lucille Ball, Felix 'B'ressart, Carl Esmond and Patricia iVIorison. Lawrence A. Weingarten's production values are of the highest order, and Harold S. Bucquet's direction is a remarkable tribute to one who, from a start involving MGM short subjects, has risen within a few short years to one of the industry's finest directors. For discriminating adult moviegoers, and especially for women, "Without Love" will not be without its admirers and boosters. Nor will the boxoffice, in view of the marquee names and the attractive title, be without its long lines and extra ticket-punching activity. ANIMATED DISCUSSION. If this is a little discussion between scenes of the forthcoming 20th-Fox release, "Ten Little Indians," it seems somewhat animated. In any event, those pictured above include Walter Huston, Roland Young, Louis Hayward, Barry Fitzgerald and Director Rene Clair. There Goes Kelly Monogram Comedy-Drama 61 mins. AUDIENCE SLANT: (Family) There are a few laughs and songs in this routine program picture. BOX-OFFICE SLANT: A filler for the neighborhood and subsequent-run houses. Cast: Jackie Moran, Wanda McKay, Sidney Miller, Ralph Sanford, Dewey Robinson, Jan Wiley, Anthony Warde, Harry Depp, George Eldredge, Edward Emerson. John Gilbreath, Pat Gleason, Don Kerr, Chadie Tordon, Terry Frost, Ralph Linn, Gladys Blake. Credits: Directed by Phil Karlstein. Photography, William Sickner. Original screenplay by Edmond Kelso. Produced by William Strohbach. Plot: Two page boys, trying to help a young radio station receptionist attain stardom, fake an audition. When the star vocalist is found murdered and their hoax uncovered, they find themselves forced to get the killer. The man they suspect is also murdered before he can be questioned, so it's up to them to solve the mystery and clear everyone's name. Comment: A routine program offering that will serve its purpose in filling the bill in neighborhood and subsequent-run houses. The story, revolving around a page-boy in a radio station, uses the time-worn formula about the minor employe who tries to be important. There are a few laughs and a few songs, but other than that there's little to offer in the way of entertainment. Jackie Moran and Wanda McKay head a cast of players who try their best to rise above the material given them. The picture was directed by Phil Karlstein and produced by William Strohbach. United Artists Colonel Blimp (Color) Comedy Drama 148 mins. AUDIENCE SLANT: (Family) If your patrons liked "Good Bye, Mr. Chips" they will like this, for Colonel Blimp is a military Mr. Chips. BOX-OFFICE SLANT: A stunning production in Technicolor, this is one of the biggest and best yet put out by British filmmakers. If your patrons are made to realize this is a super production it should pile up the cash. Cast: Anton Walbrook, Deborah Kerr, Roger Livesey, Dennis Arundell, David Ward, Robert Harris, Count Zichy, Jane Millican, Ursula Jeans, Muriel Aked, John Laurie, Capt. W. Barrett (U. S. Army), Corp. Thomas Palmer, Yvonne Andrese, A. E. Matthews, Edward Cooper, James McKechnie, Neville Mapp, others. Credits: Written, produced and directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. Photography by Georges Perinal. Music by Allan Gray. An Archers Production made in London, England. Plot: Young Clive Candy, V.C. (Roger Livesey), on leave from the Boer War, fights a duel in Berlin with a Uhlan officer, Theo Kretschmar Schuldorff^ (Anton Walbrook), and thereby starts his greatest friendship. He also meets the girl (De'Borah Kerr) who is to haunt his life. Theo marries her before Candy realizes he loves her. The end of World War I finds Theo a war prisoner and contemptuous of Candy's fair-minded idea that England will help Germany recover. "They are like children," Theo says. Then the Nazis take over and Theo flees Germany. World War II begins. Candy has now aged and his services as an active officer are refused because his military methods are too old-hat; he has become Colonel Blimp, the personification of the old-fashioned, stiff British professional soldier. But Candy finds