Showmen's Trade Review (Jul-Sep 1945)

34 S H O W MEN'S TRADE REVIEW July 14, 1945 -itL Road to Alcatraz Republic Mystery 60 mins. AUDIENCE SLANT: (Family) Good mystery to please average audiences. BOX-OFFICE SLANT: Better than usual rufi-of-the-mill program fare. Suitable for any double bill. Cast: Robert Lowei-y, June Storey, Grant Withers, Clarence Kolb, Charles Gordon, Wilham Forrest, Iris Adrian, LilHan Bronson, Harry Depp, Kenne Duncan. Credits: Associate Producer, Sidney Picker. Directed by Nick Grinde. Screenplay by Dwight \', Babcock and Jerry Sackheim from an original story by Francis K. Allen, Photography, Ernest Miller. Special effects, Howard and Theodore Lydecker. Plot: Robert Lowery has invested in a new scientific process of great potential value with its inventor, Charles Gordon; his law partner, Wilham Forrest, and a financier, Clarence Kolb. Their partnership arrangement specifies that in the event of the death of any of the four, profits are to be distributed among the survivors of the agreement. Forrest is murdered and suspicion points to Lowery. He succeeds in uncovering the real murderer, however, who is one of his associates. Comment: The production values are good, the direction is fast moving and includes several interesting tricks of suspense, and the cast does a good job with a good script. The entire picture is considerably better than the usual mystery but probably will be relegated to the dual bill situations because of lack of marquee names. Should be welcomed in any double bill spot. Her Highness and the Bellboy MGM 111 mins. Comedy AUDIENCE SLANT: (Family) Delightful entertainment with wide mass audience appeal. BOX-OFFICE SLANT: Three good marquee names should aid this to deliver better than normal business, if exploited as advised in MGM's press book. Cast: Hedy Lamarr, Robert Walker, June Allyson, Carl Esmond, Agnes Moorehead, "Rags" Ragland, Warner Anderson. Credits: Directed by Richard Thorpe. Produced by Joe Pasternak. Original screenplay by Richard Connell and Gladys Lehman. Photography, Harry Stradling. Special effects. Warren Newcombe. Plot: Princess Hedy Lamarr arrives in New York seeking newspaperman Warren Anderson, with whom she is still in love after several years. She meets bellboy Robert Walker who fancies the princess is in love with him. He prepares to go to her country with her and (he thinks) become its ruler. Upon visiting his childhood sweetheart, June Allyson, to say goodbye he realizes he has always loved her and returns to the princess to tell her she must give him up. The princess emulates his fancied sacrifice, abdicates her throne to marry Anderson, while June Allyson and Walker also plan to marry. Comment: MGM has invested this picture with all of the appurtenances necessary for top production. So too, has Director Richard Thorpe handled it with skill, a fine sense of pace and a tight rein on the excellent cast. The script, however, seems to be too loosely knit to achieve the utmost from a fanciful tale, pleasant though it may be. Miss Lamarr is beautiful, regal and indicates a fine sense for comedy which she plays with skilled restraint befitting the dignity of the heir apparent of a mythical throne. Warner Anderson as the American newspaperman is pleasantly ingratiating in a minor role and Legion of Decency Ratings (For Week Ending July 14) SUITABLE FOR GENERAL PATRONAGE Adventures of Rusty Hidden Eye Anchors Aweigh On Stage Everybody Wagon Wheels Westward SUITABLE FOR ADULTS ONLY George White's Scandals of 1945 First Yank Into Tokyo Robert Walker as the bellboy plays a fairly sympathetic part in a not too highly convincing manner. June Allyson essays the larger part of her role as a bedfast cripple, which is difficult enough technically, but she emerges toward the end of the picture as the attractive youngster more familiar to moviegoers. The entire production seems a little too long and might have been judiciously cut without losing entertainment values and probably enhancing them. The fantasy effect intended in some sequences has not been entirely achieved. The comedy is good in most instances, although Ragland strives too hard for effect. Romantic interludes between Miss Lamarr and Warren Anderson are entirely satisfying and a little bit more of the same would not have hindered the plot's fruition. "Her Highness and the Bellboy" can be made to do better than normal business if the advertising and exploitation themes prepared by MGM for the picture's excellent pressbook are followed without deviation. Most audiences should accept it as delightful escapist fare. And Then There Were None 20th Century-Fox Mystery 97 mins. Sing Me a Song of Texas Columbia Western Musical 65 mins. AUDIENCE SLANT: (Family) A variety of western entertainers in a picture that has laughs, music and action to please the average outdoor fan. BOX-OFFICE SLANT: Satisfactory supporting material. Cast: Rosemary Lane, Tom Tyler, Guinn Williams, Slim Summerville, Carole Mathews, Marie Austin. Noah Beery, Kenneth Trietsch, Charles Ward, Gilbert Taylor, Paul Trietsch, Dick Reinhardt, Foy Willing, Al Sloey, Hal Mclntyre Orchestra, Hoosier Hot Shots, Pinky Tomlin, Riders of the Purple Sage. Credits: Produced by Colbert Clark. Directed by Vernon Keays. Original screenplay by J. Benton Cheney and Elizabeth Beecher. Photography, George Meehan. Plot: To determine to which one of his two nieces he should leave his property in event of his death, a wealthy rancher moves in with them, poses as a cook, and in this way is able to pick the worthier one of the two girls. Comment: Routine outdoor musical that has the specialties of such entertainers as the Riders of the Purple Sage, Hoosier Hot Shots, Pinky Tomlin and Hal Mclntyre's orchestra to pep it up and give it something, besides the oft-repeated plot, to amuse the regular theatregoers. It's satisfactory material for the western spot, for it has action in addition to the above-mentioned variety of entertainers. Rosemary Lane and Carole Mathews are good as the nieces of Noah Beery, the old rancher who starts all the trouble. Tom Tyler is very satisfactory as the romantic lead for Rosemary Lane, and Guinn Williams and Slim Summerville do well among the others in the cast. Direction is by Vernon Keays and production by Colbert Clark. AUDIENCE SLANT: (Family) Intensely absorbing mystery. Must be seen from the beginning, however, to be fully appreciated. BOX-OFFICE SLANT: Can be a sleeper. Has possibilities of doing better than normal business if intelligently exploited. Lack of showmanship would be unfair to the film's box-office potentialities. Cast: Barry Fitzgerald, Louis Hayward, Walter Huston, Roland Young, Mischa Auer, Sir C. Aubrey Smith, Judith Anderson, Richard Haydn, June Duprez, Queenie Leonard, Harry Thurston. Credits: Produced and directed by Rene Clair. Screenplay by Dudley Nichols from the story, "And Then There Were None," by Agatha Christie. Associate Producer, Leo C. Popkin. Photography, Lucien Andriot. A Popular Pictures Production presented by Harry C. Popkin. Plot: Ten variegated persons arrive on a lonely island off the British coast to spend a weekend with a host they have never met ljut who invited each through mutual friends. Upon arrival, they are accused, via a recorded voice, of individual crimes including murder, perjury, conspiracy, poisoning and other felonies, and none has paid society for his crime. The voice hints that they have been brought to the island to expiate their deeds and one by one they fall victim to an unknown murderer. The killer finally is discovered as the picture ends with an extraordinarily clever denouement. Comment: This is one of the really good Hollywoodian efforts to translate a topnotch murder mystery novel into a topnotch murder mystery film, in which the actual murderer is almost impossible to discover as the action unfolds, but who is the logical killer after all. The production values are excellent and Rene Clair's direction, his creation of suspense and eerie atmosphere, will be cheered by intelligent audiences. Average audiences may not appreciate the fine touches given by Mr. Clair's masterly hand but they essentially are what make the film as absorbing as it undoubtedly is. Barry Fitzgerald, Walter Huston, Louis Hayward and June Duprez turn in excellent performances as does Richard Haydn, radio comedian, who plays a straight role. In exploiting the picture it should be stressed that only by seeing the picture from its very beginning can its superb entertainment value be fully appreciated. The picture is really a fine exposition of the popular novel and handled correctly can do better than normal business. Lack of showmanship would be unfair to the film's box-office potentialities. On Stage Everybody Universal Comedy-With-Music 75 mins. AUDIENCE SLANT: (Family) A Jack Oakie-Peggy Ryan musical with a variety of good entertainment for the general public. BOX-OFFICE SLANT: Worthy of top billing wherever the names of Oakie or Peggy Ryan are draws. Popularity of radio program should also affect returns. Cast: Peggy Ryan, Johnny Coy, Jack Oakie, Julie London, Otto Kruger, Esther Dale, Wally Ford, Milburn Stone, Stephen Wayne, Jimmy Clark, King Sisters, Jean Richey, Billy Usher, Georgiana Bannister, Ilene Woods, Bob Hopkins, June Brady, Cyril Smith, Ronnie Gibson, Jean Hamilton, Beatrice Fung Oye, Ed (Strawberry) Russell. Credits: Directed by Jean Yarbrough. Original screenplay by Warren Wilson and Oscar Brodney. Photography, Charles Van Enger. Musical director, Milton Rosen. Produced by Warren Wilson. (Continued on Page 49)