Showmen's Trade Review (Oct-Dec 1946)

40 The Lone Wolf in Mexico Columbia Mystery 70 mins. AUDIENCE SLANT: (Adult) A light weight addition to the Lone Wolf series that is not as good as some of its predecessors, but which will provide sufficient entertainment for mystery fans who like the casual touch. IBOX-OFFICE SLANT: Good enough for any double bill program but lacks sufficient drawing power as a lead feature. Cast: Gerald Mohr, Sheila Ryan, Jacqueline de Wit, Eric Blore, Nestor Paiva, John Gallaudet, Bernard Nedell, Winifred Harris, Peter Brocco, Alan Edwards, Fred Godoy. Credits: Screenplay by Maurice Torabragel and Martin Goldsmith from a story by Phil Magee, based upon a work by Louis Joseph Vance. Produced by Sanford Cummings. Directed by D. Ross Lederman. Director of photography, Allen Siegier. Plot: The Lone Wolf and his valet visit Mexico City on vacation and run into a couple of murders, two jewel thefts and other illegal activities with the Lone Wolf the chief suspect. To clear himself and to aid a woman who has become embroiled with crooked gamblers, he and the valet contrive a scheme with the roulette wheel of a gambling house, force the real crooks to flee, assist in their capture and clear themselves. , Comment: While this is not the best Lone Wolf story produced it is good enough to fill the bill for which it was intended — as a supporting feature on double bill programs. Production values are fair, direction is the same and the cast do just about all right. Gerald Mohr as the suave, polished Michael Lanyard has an engaging personality, a nice smile and a tendency to over-act. Sheila Ryan is excellent in a not too difficult or sympathetic part and Eric Blore plays Eric Blore. Nestor Paivo as Mexico City's chief of police is perhaps the best part in the film with another bow to Jacqueline de Wit. Okay as a supporting feature on double bills. Alias Mr. Twilight Columbia Drama 69 mins. AUDIENCE SLANT: (Adult) Good, light entertainment Should please average audiences. BOX-OFFICE SLANT: Satisfactory supporting fare for double-bill programs. Cast: Michael Duane, Trudy Marshall, Lloyd Corrigan, Rosalind Ivan, Alan Bridge, Gi-Gi Perreau, Jeff Vork, Peter Brocco, Torben Meyer, Olaf Hytten. Credits: Screenplay by Brenda Weisberg with additional dialogue by Malcolm Stuart Boylan from an original story by Arthur E. Orloff. Produced by John Haggott. Directed by John Sturges. Photography, Vincent Farrar. Plot: Lloyd Corrigan, kindly indulgent grandfather and guardian of five-year-old Gi-Gi I'crreau, turns out to be a clever confidence man involved in several swindles. Gi-Gi's nurse, Trudy Marshall, is in love with police lieutenant Michael Duane, whose specialty is swindlers. Corrigan's cousin, Rosalind Ivan, knows of Corrigan's real source of income and threatens to have the child taken from him unless payment of a large sum is made to her. Corrigan arranges a gigantic swindle in which he involves his cousin so that they both can be caught by police and sent to prison. He also schemes to have the youngster adopted by Trudy and Michael Duane, who marry. Comment: While this picture carefully, goes into detail about the way various swindles are manipulated, thus possibly serving as a classroom for prospective crooks in the audience, it does provide an hour or so of good, light entertainment which should please average audiences. Production and direction are nicely handled from a somewhat verbose script which lets the film drag in spots, but as a whole it is well enough done. Lloyd Corrigan is thoroughly convincing as the confidence man and almost dominates the picture. Trudy Marshall and Michael Duane have little to do, but do it well. And young Gi-Gi Perreau is a pleasant, pretty child. "Alias Mr. Twilight" will do satisfactorily as a supporting feature on double-bill programs. A Diaiy for Timothy English Films Documentary 40 mins. AUDIENCE SLANT: (Family) A wistful and sometimes almost poetic argument for an improved world. More than just another documentary it carries an impassioned argument against war and should entertain and inform intelligent audiences. IBOX-OFFICE SLANT: ProblematicaL With a musical or comedy as a lead feature it might do okay. Cast: The people of Great Britain, with a scene from Hamlet by John Gielgud and piano music by Dame Myra Hess. Orchestral music by Richard Addinsell, played by the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Muir Mathieson. Credits: Made by the Crown Film Unit. Produced by Basil Wright. Directed by Humphrey Jennings. Commentary by E. M. Forster and narrated by Michael Redgrave. Photography, Fred Gamage. Plot: Timothy James Jenkins was born on 3 September 1944. This is the story of what happened to the world into which Timothy was born, as told to him by the narrator (supposedly his soldier father). The narration continues through the first six months of Timothy's peaceful life, surrounded by the war and the hopes of the British for a new and better world. At the conclusion, Timothy's dad poses a question, "What will your generation do toward eliminating the causes of war?" Comment: "A Diary for Timothy" combines the factual approach of the newsreel with a vivid presentation of the plain "guts" with which Great Britain took a terrible beating during the days of the buzzbomb "blitz." The film is difficult to describe, because it is a film with a "message," one that hits home and might well be seen and heard by everyone. It is solemn but it has its light touches. It is always in good taste. What its chances are commercially is anyone's guess. Booked with a musical or comedy it might do satisfactorily. AUDIENCE CLASSIFICATIONS Will Be Found on Page 53 SHOWMEN'S TRADE REVIEW. Oeomber 28. 1946 stars Over Texas PRC Western with Songs 57 mins. AUDIENCE SLANT: (Famfly) Good western entertainment with a couple of new plot twists, BOX-OFFICE SLANTS: Eddie Dean's rising popularity should bring it up to as good, if not better, than its predecessors in the series. Cast: Eddie Dean, Roscoe Ates, SKirley Patterson, Lee Bennett, Lee Roberts, Kermit Maynard, Jack O'Shea, Hal Smith, Matty Roubert, Carl Mathews, Bill Fawcett and the Sunshine Boys. Credits: Original screenplay by Frances Kavanaugh. Associate jiroducer, Jerry Thomas. Produced and directed by Robert Emmett Tansey. Photography, Ernest Miller. Original songs by Eddie Dean with Hal Blair and Glen Strange. Plot Eddie Dean and his pals, Roscoe Ates .and Lee Bennett, secretly representing the Cattlemen's Association in its investigation of cattle rustling, deliver a herd to Lee Roberts' ranch where they are signed for by Roberts' sister, Shirley Patterson. Bennett looks so much like the ranch foreman (also Bennett) that he substitutes for him to get evidence against rustlers who are trying to ruin Roberts. Dean, Ates and Bennett eventually clean up the rustlers. Comment: The double-identity twist is a rather new one in western plots but it's a welcome addition, adding a bit of zest to a tired plot. Dean is good, sings three songs well, acquits himself ably in several spots and slings guns with the best of them. Ates supplies a bit of comedy and Bennett and Miss Patterson are involved in a tepid romance. The picture is good light Western entertainment with not too much to think about and, with £ddie Dean's rising popularity, should do as well as its predecessors in the series. Humoresque Warner Bros. Drama 126 mins. AUDIENCE SLANT: (Adult) A stirring, emotional drama that will appeal to all lovers of melodramatic art. For the Joan Crawford followers there is a performance by her that they will never forget ; that of a wealthy dipsomaniac. The Garfield fans will find their favorite at his best and Oscar Levant will also entertain all those who enjoy his humor and his piano-playing. BOX-OFFICE SLANT: A natural for the houses that cater to patrons of dramatic fare, with the name-draw of Joan Crawford and John Garfield and the title "Humoresque" to help make it a huge box-office success. Cast: Joan Crawford, John Garfield, Oscar Levant, J. Carrol Naish, Joan Chandler, Tom D'Andrea, Peggy Knudsen, Ruth Nelson, Craig Stevens, Paul Cavanagh, Richard Gaines, John Abbott, Bobby Blake, Tommy Cook, Don McGuire, Fritz Leiber, Peg LaCentra, Nestor Paiva, Richard Walsh. Credits: Produced by Jerry Wald. Directed by Jean Negulesco. Screenplay by Clifford Odets and Zachary Gold. Based on a story by Fannie HursL Photography, Ernest Haller. Plot: Told in retrospect, this is the story of a poor violinist and his desire for a musical career. He is introduced to a beautiful woman who tries to forget her unhappy