Showmen's Trade Review (Jan-Mar 1947)

SHOWMEN'S TRADE REVIEW, February 1, 1947 mm mm v. South of the Chisholm Trail Columbia Western 58 mins. AUDIENCE SLANT: (Family) The usual combination of gun and fist fights, with comedy and songs thrown in, should make this acceptable to the average western fan. BOX-OFFICE SLANT: Should do just as well as its predecessors in the Durango Kid series — which means it should do all right. Cast: Charles Starrett, Smiley Burnette, Nancy Saunders, Frank Sully, Jim Diehl, Jack Ingram, George Chesebro, Frank LaRue, Jacques O'Mahoney, Hank Newman, Edward Parker, the Georgia Crackers. Credits: Original story and screenplay by Michael Simmons. Produced by Colbert Clark. Directed by Derwin Abrahams. Photography, George F. Kelley. Plot: A carefully organized series of raids against cattle drives to the market at Abilene threatens to ruin the ranchers near the town of Bearcat. But Charles Starrett, as the Durango Kid. rallies the ranchers and they catch the raiders. Comment: This is no better but just as good as others in the Durango Kid series, with the usual number of fights, the usual number of songs from Smiley Burnette and the Georgia Crackers, and the usual young lady introduced for romantic interest. Starrett is the hard riding, fast gun slinger who defeats the outlaws and goes on to further adventures which western fans will undoubtedly see in the next Durango Kid picture. Good wherever westerns are popular. Song of Scheherazade (Technicolor) Universal-International Operatic Musical 106 mins. AUDIENCE SLANT: (Family) Involving an episode in the life of famed Russian Composer Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakoff, this is a beautifully produced picture with many of the composer's works faithfully delineated. Excellent entertainment. BOX-OFFICE SLANT: While it is essentially a big-city picture, there is in it so much to appeal to the eye and ear that, with proper exploitation, theatremen in the hinterlands should not have too much difficulty in arousing interest. Cast: Yvonne DeCarlo, Brian Donlevy, Jean Pierre Aumont, Eve Arden, Philip Reed, Charles Kullman, John Qualen, Richard Lane, Terry Kilburn, George Dolenz, Elena Verdugo. Credits: Written and directed by Walter Reisch. Producer, Edward Kaufman, Associate producer, Edward Dodds. Musical adaptation and direction, Miklos Rozsa. Lyrics, Jack Brooks. Photography, Hal Mohr and William V. Skall. Plot: Homeward bound from a worldwide tour, a Russian naval training ship in 1865 is becalmed in a Mediterranean port. The captain gives the men shore leave and Midshipman Rimsky-KorsakofT hurries to find a piano to try out an opera he wrote during the voyage. He meets a dancer in a cafe, who turns out to be the penniless scion of a once-wealthv family. They fall in love and she inspires him to compose a wealth of music during the week in port. With the ship ready to sail, the men smuggle the girl aboard, but she is discovered and put ashore. Later, however, she gets to Moscow and joins the ballet. Comment: Walter Reisch deserves great credit for writing the original story and screenplay, as well as directing this filmization of an episode from the life of the famous Russian composer, Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakoff. It was a difficult task. Done in striking Technicolor, the film is a feast for the eyes and ears, with Yvonne DeCarlo handling a demanding job of both dancing and acting in neat fashion. Charles Kullman, Metropolitan Opera tenor, sings three of the numbers, including probably the best known composition, Song of India. Also heard in instrumental form are a half-dozen other immortals from the facile pen of RimskyKorsakoff. Outstanding in the cast are Eve Arden, never better as the scatterbrained mother of DeCarlo, Brian Donlevy as a chain-smoking martinet and Philip Reed as the autocratic prince. Somewhat disappointing is Jean Pierre Aumont as the composer, Uut this does not detract from the film's goodness. The entire production is staged lavishly and with emphasis on laughs. And while it is essentially a big-city picture, there is in it so much to appeal to the eye and ear that, proper exploitation, theatremen in the hinterlands should not have too much difficulty in arousing interest. The title is not so difficult to pronounce as it is unknown to a great many people, so exhibitors will be wise to learn its correct pronunciation (sha-HAIR-a-zod, with second syllable accented and last syllable to rhyme with nod) and publicize it. Doubtless by the time the picture has played a few engagements the talk about it will make the title well known and, as a consequence, comparatively simple. It's Still 'Bedelia' Equipped with an ending filmed (at considerable expense, says Producer Isador Goldsmith) for the American market because of original objections under the Production Code forbiddance of suicide scenes, Eagle-Lion's '"Bedelia" is still the picture of murder — cold and calculating by a constitutional homocide — that was shown to enthusiastic English audiences. "Bedelia" was reviewed by STR's London bureau head, Jock MacGregor, in the issue of June 8, 1946. Aside from the ending, which adroitly eliminates the suicide phase without in any way changing the dramatic content or force of the picture, and the apparent reduction of nine minutes running time (81 minutes American as compared with 90 minutes in England), ''Bedelia" remains a show quite strictly limited in its appeal to the confirmed lovers of murder tales. The author's name has selling value of particular application for American showmen, because Vera Caspary gave Hollywood one of its most successful stories — that used for the film "Laura" made by 20th-Fox. Columbia Blind Spot Mystery 73 mins. AUDIENCE SLANT: (Adult) Should prove acceptable to most mystery fans. ^OX-OFFICE SLANT: Good enough fcr a single feature in some few spots where mysteries are favored, but best as part of a double-feature bill. Cast: Chester Morris, Constance Dowling, Steven Geray, Sid Tomack, James Bess, Paul E. Burns, William Forrest. Credits: Screenplay by Martin Goldsmith, based on a story by Barry Perowne. Produced by Ted Richmond. Directed by Robert Gordon. Photography, George B. Meehan, Jr. Plot: Chester Morris has written several excellent novels from an artistic point of view, but they have failed to achieve monetary success. In a conference with his publisher, at which he is very drunk, Morris tells the publisher and another author, Steven Geray, that he could write detective stories if he wanted to, and outlines a plot in which a man is discovered murdered in a room in which the windows and door have been locked from the inside. Next day he is arrested for the murder of the publisher, found murdered under the exact circumstances outlined by Morris in his discussion with the publisher. Morris cannot remember the solution of the crime, but it turns out that he had told the answer to several people. His hunt for the real murderer before he is arrested is the motivation for the action of the story. Comment: Although the story of how a man can be murdered and found inside a room that has been locked from the inside is an old one to inveterate mystery fans, it has been quite well told in this case, and developed around a logical series of events and characters placed logically in the right spots at the right times to make the picture move with a fast pace. The production is good, the direction adequate and Morris, particularly, does a good job of journeyman acting. The others are well cast and are convincing. This is an unimportant but interesting mystery story that should prove acceptable to most mystery fans and might play singly in some few situations where this type of film story is favored. It will do best, however, as part of a double-feature program. Trail to San Antone Republic Western 57 mins. AUDIENCE SLANT: (Family) A good exciting western for the regular Gene Autry followers and all who like outdoor films. BOX-OFFICE SLANT: Should satisfy in any situation where Autry has a following. Cast: Gene Autry, Peggy Stewart, Sterling Holloway, William Henry, John Duncan, Tristram Coffin, Dorothy Vaughan, Edward Keane, Ralph Peters and the Cass County Boys. Credits: Associate Producer, Armand Schaefer. Directed by John English. Original screenplay by Jack Natteford and Luci Ward. Photography, William Bradford. Plot: Autry arrives in time to discover that the boys on his ranch were swindled out of a thousand dollars in buying a horse from someone who didn't own him In try(Continued on Page 45)