Showmen's Trade Review (Oct-Dec 1944)

32 SHOWMEN'S TRADE REVIEW December 16, 1944 Beachhead to Berlin (Remarkable) WB (1002) Technicolor Special 20 mins. At last the arm-chair Americans can participate in the Normandy invasion — and in Technicolor too. This film unquaHfiedly rates as the very finest photographic coverage of a miHtary undertaking yet ofifered the general pubHc. The Warner studios, through the cooperation of the U. S. Coast Guard, were supplied with 80,000 feet of 16-mm Kodachrome film exposed by eight Coast Guard cameramen prior to and during the establishment of the beachhead in France. This footage cut, enlarged to 35mm by Technicolor, cut again, edited, cut and then scored with sound and narration emerges in the short space of three months' time as breathtaking drama seen through the eyes of a wounded Navy Chaplain who is shown writing to a friend back home of the experience. Much gore has judiciously been eliminated, but death and wounds and courage is no stranger to the scenes. Few, if any, short subjects have been more beautiful, more dramatic nor with greater human interest for every theatre patron. In the words of the men in the armed forces: "This is it!" Feather Your Nest (Good) RKO (53,401) Edgar Kennedy 18 mins. Advised by his jeweler that he has taken the wrong ring, Edgar seeks to return it, becomes involved with a flock of chickens on the way, one of which swallows it, buys the fowls only to learn from the jeweler that "it was all mistake." The conclusion finds "Slow Burn" Edgar hawking fresh-killed poultry on his front porch. There are numerous laughs in this film for average audiences. It was produced by George Bilson and directed by Hal Yates. Safety Sleuth (Hilarious) MGM (S-558) Pete Smith Specialty 10 mins. This might well be termed a comedy of errors, predicated on the human weakness of one individual's eagerness to laugh at the misfortune of another. Joe Doakes slips on a banana peel and hits the asphalt while John Doe roars, but with a Satanic sort of sympathy. Pete Smith, in an effort to assist the showmen of the nation in contributing to the effort being made by industry to reduce accidents, has produced this fast-moving, hilarious but above all educational short which will be enthusiastically received by any movie patron. Utilizing as central characters the "Safety Sleuth" employed by a manufacturer to ascertain accident causes and a typical dumb guy. Director Will Jason drives home the morale of careful conduct while Smith builds up the entertainment with his clever offscreen comments. The result is a happy combination of education and comedy. Local safety councils should be eager to help exploit this short. V.I. (Film of the Robots) (Top Notch) RKO-WAC — Documentary 9 mins. Produced by the British Ministry of Information and narrated by Canadian author Fletcher Markle, this is a top-notch screen item showing the German robot bomb, the measures taken to combat it and the destruction in London it has wrought. With American interest high in this most effective of Hitler's secret weapons and the announced experiments in this country now in process of developing a more accurately controlled bomb of its type, this short has definite box-office value. It is well worth showing and exploiting. Many robots are shown being destroyed in flight while others are filmed striking in the near distance. Strife of the Party (Pleasing) Columbia (6421) 16 mins. Vera Vague's troubles start when she inadvertently locks the garage door on herself. Her next-door neighbor, a friendly man, arrives on the scene and frees her after deft manipulations with a hairpin. Suspicious of his adroitness, Vera mistakes him for a professional lock-picker. When her husband's boss arrives for dinner and complains of his wife's necklace having been stolen, Vera promises to recover it in return for a raise for her henpecked husband. The boss agrees, and Vera's tricks to recover the jewels from the neighbor bring a new note of hilarity. Fast paced and should be pleasing to its audiences. Hedge Hoppers (Selective) Columbia (6802) Sports Reel 9 mins. Looks like a natural for racing fans, particularly for admirers of the steeplechase form. With a smooth, articulate commentary by Bill Stern, this short proceeds with the training of the preyearling in the exacting paces of this most difficult form of racing. Projected over a background commencing with birth in blue-grass Kentucky to the private stables on a Long Island estate, the climax reaches pitch over the competitive course in Belmont Park. Scenes in slow and natural motion as the horses clear the barriers to the final drive before the winning post is interesting plus. Never a dull moment. Listen to the Bands (Fair) Warner Bros. (1502) Melody Masters 10 mins. This is a hodge-podge of the doings of four different bands — in reality, clips of sequences evidently left on the cutting room floor in the process of trimming feature pictures. Glen Gray and his men play "Hep and Happy," Skinnay Ennis does "Three Little Words," Joe Reichman's group plays a swing version of Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata" (which merely proves that Beethoven knew more than Joe Reichman), and Milt Britton and his boys render (the word "render" is used in its dictionary meaning) the "Poet and Peasant Overture." Britton's boys also render each other, which is • good fun. Use it after the feature. The Beach Nut (Good) Universal (9232) Swing Symphonies 7 mins. Woody Woodpecker is a pesky fellow, as Wally Walrus finds out in this Technicolor cartoon, for he keeps the Swedish-accented Walrus in a continual pother on his day off. Wally picks the shore for his day of rest, but Woody takes his food away, buries him in the sand and almost chokes him in a smoke screen, until Wally ties Woody to an anchor and throws him out to sea. The boardwalk, to which the anchor is attached, is torn up and Wally and all visible pedestrians are wafted into the ocean. Good for any audience, especially the children. Film-Vodvil No. 2 (Excellent) Col. (6952) 11 mins. Featured are Al (Mairzy Doats) Trace and his Silly Symphonies ; Hector and his Pups, an amusing dog act ; "Uncle Tom" a rhythm specialty, and Frances Urban, tap dancer. Seldom does an orchestra and its leader (Trace) have as much to offer individually or combined. The "Uncle Tom" number hits high in comedy vein, while another is their satire on Hitler and his gang. Miss Urban's tap dancing is a pleasant interlude. Hector and his Pups proves an unconventional dog act. Good all-around fun. Porkuliar Piggy (Funny) Columbia (6601) Lil Abner 7 mins. Lil Abner's responsibilities become very confusing and amusing when a villainous farmer covets his pig and threatens to grind him into sausage. To Abner's worries add the ubiquitous Daisy Mae, who still persists she will marry him one day, and a background in Technicolor, the result is good, clean fun. Design for Loving (Tops) Columbia (6428) 21 mins. Tops in musical revues, this short is set against a background of the trials of the conventional theatrical agent who tries to keep a husbandwife team together for a client and radio sponsor. Ray Sinatra's band furnishes the musical obligato for the cultivated voices of Edna Skinner now appearing in "Oklahoma" and Frank Borden, singing star. Entertainment value is added with Sammy Kaye, comedian (not the famed orchestra leader) ; Harry Gibson, who is virtuoso in boogie-woogie renditions ; Ollie Franks, comedy singer, and the popular vocal group, The Grenadiers. A colored dance who also make a distinct contribution. If it misses on any bill, the audience is on the wrong side of values. Open Season for Saps (Farce) Columbia 18 mins. In bad with his wife because of late hours at the Hoot Owls Club, Shemp Howard resolves to reform and take her on a belated honeymoon. Arriving at the resort, he is met by a fellow Hoot-Owler — in a jam with a blackmailing girl — who demands help from the lodge brother. The culminating fracas, highlighted with burlesque duel, ends when Shemp's wife, hardily convinced of her husband's reformation, decorates both Shemp and his lodge brother with two ever-so-gooey custard pies. From Spruce to Bomber (Interesting) Univ. (9351) Variety View 9 mins. This is the story of plywood and the part it is playing in the construction of the deadly Mosquito bomber that has plagued Berlin. From the giant Sitka spruce which grow on Queen Charlotte Islands off the coast of British Columbia, the reel traces the steps of felling the trees, transporting them to the mills, the making of the laminated plywood boards and the shaping of them in Toronto factories into bombers. The reel concludes with a test flight of the Mosquito bomber before it is sent into combat. Picturesque, timely and interesting.