Showmen's Trade Review (Jan-Mar 1949)

SHOWMEN'S TRADE REVIEW, Febriiary 5, 1949 21 good dramatic entertainment, with plenty of action and a love story that holds the interest. BOX-OFFICE SLANT: Draw of the Preston Foster name, plus the other entertainment elements, should help account for high grosses in most situations. Cast: Preston Foster, Barbara Britton, John Ireland, Reed Hadley, J. Edward Bromberg, Victor Kilian. Barbara 'Woodell. Tom Tyler, Tom Noonan, Byron Foulger, Eddie Dunn, Jeni Le Gon, Robin Short. Credits: Directed by Samuel Fuller. Written by Samuel Fuller. Suggested by an article in American Weekly by Homer Croy. Photography, Ernest Miller. Produced by Carl K. Hittleman. Executive Producer. Robert L. Lippert. Plot: After Bob Ford shoots Jesse James in the back, in order to win the girl he loves and also get the reward mone3^ Ford finds himself ostracized by everyone, including his girl. Her fear of him makes her come at his bidding, after he discovers silver and is rich. But another man who loves her fights it out with Ford for her hand, and the latter is killed in the gun-battle. Comment: This Robert Lippert Production is a fine job of picture-making, for it has all the entertainment ingredients that appeal, and pay off, at the ticket windows. As the title implies, it is an outdoor action drama, with the action and fist-fights one expects to find in this tj^pe of film. Added to that is a well-contrived love storj' that holds the interest and builds to a suspenseful finish. These strong elements, plus the fine jobs turned in hy the entire cast, should help account for high grosses in most situations. John Ireland handles the leading role with abilitj-; he is a first-rate actor who should be given more opportunities to appear on the screen. Preston Foster is splendid in his part and Barbara Britton is beautiful and capable as the young ladj^ they both love. Robert Short makes an impressive appearance in the one scene in which he appears as the singing troubadour, and Reed Hadlej-, J. Edward Bromberg and Barbara Woodell are fine in supporting roles. Direction credit goes to Samuel Fuller, and production to Carl K. Hittleman. The Red Pony (Color by Technicolor) Republic Drama 88 mins. AUDIENCE SLANT: (Family) Magnificently photographed human drama concerned more with character than plot — which is practically non-existent in this narrative relating episodes in the lives of a ranch family and a hired hand who becomes a hero to the young boy because of his knowledge of horses. The acting, all in the rigidly restrained mood of the entire play, is exceptionally good and the atmosphere most convincingly maintained by all elements of direction, camera work and the outstanding color photography. BOX-OFFICE SLANT: Can become a strong contender for high grosses in all situations if potent showmianship is applied from first runs right down the line. Exploitation angles are there. Cast: ilj-rna Loy, Robert ilitchum. Louis Calhem, Shepperd Strudwick, Peter Jliles, Margaret Hamilton, Patty King, others. Credits: Produced and directed by Lewis Milestone. Screenplay by John Steinbeck. Photographed by Tony Gaudio. Technicolor color director Natalie Kalmus ; associate. Francis Cugat. Art director. Victor Greene. Special photographic effects by Howard and Theodore Lydecker. Plot: A nine-3'ear-old ranch hoy has but one ambition : to own a horse or pony of his own. So when his father buys him a pony, the lad's absorption in his possession leads him 'The Woman in the HaW Excellent acting by a cast including Ursula Jeans, Jean Simmons, Cecil Parker and Jill Raymond distinguish a film that may profit also by virtue of being adapted from a G. B. Stern novel and the growing reputation of Miss Simmons. On the other hand. Miss Jeans' dominant role is extremely unsympathetic and the story, told at great length, is quite depressing. It is necessary to agree with Jock MacGregor's full review from London (STR, Nov. 15, 1947) that this "Wessex production is a reasonable art house offering but of limited use to the average American theatre. An Eagle Lion release running 93 minutes. to look more to the hired hand, who is so expert with horses, than to his father for leadership. This further embitters the father, a former school teacher, who feels he is a stranger to his own family and surroundings. But when the pony dies, after the hired hand had assured the boy he would cure the animal of a fatal case of the strangles, the boy loses faith. The hired hand's willingness to sacrifice the life of his own stock mare in order to deliver a ioal he wants the hoy to have is the means of bringing harmony back into the home. And when nature blesses the event with a normal delivery of the colt, there is exuberant happiness all around. Comment: Here is an outstanding example of Hollywood's supremacy in the skills and techniques requisite to wholly professional and finished motion picture production. From every standpoint of direction, acting, camera work and outstanding color photograph}^, "The Red Pony" is a superb achievement. Indeed, the production by Lewis Milestone is flawless. John Steinbeck's story of the conflicts in relationships of the members of a familj' living on a California ranch is in the author's realistic style, and the author's script as well as Alilestone's direction adheres strictly to the characterization. The result is drama that is repressed and smoulders within the individual characters rather than breaking obviously to the surface as is the case in melodramatic treatments which are familiar to screen dramas with western locales. The atmosphere is pervasive and the spectator is held in the mood of the play from the beginning to the delightful ending in which happiness beams from tlie countenances of the five principal characters. Myrna Loy, Robert Mitchum, Louis Calhern, Shepperd Strudwick and young Peter ^Hles give excellent performances. The boj^ Miles, is another who will be boomed into prominence among the long parade of youngsters who have so frequently' popped up to steal the show. There are some moving moments and several tense ones, one (a sanguine struggle in which the boy, enraged at the vultures feeding on the bod}' of his dead pony, grapples with one of the birds in a furious effort to kill it), being something of a shocker in terms of physical savagery. But the even tenor of the play is one of repression, with action suppressed and emotional theatrics muted — perhaps too much for the average moviegoer's thirst for excitement. A (anlsrbury Tale Eagle Lion Drama 90 mins. AUDIENCE SLANT: (Family) Audiences should be stirred by the expert telling of an unusual and charming story. The good cast includes an appealing non-professional, a U. S. soldier. BOX-OFFICE SLANT: Should do well at the art houses but needs star-name help at most theatres. Powell-Pressburger team and U. S. soldier are seUing points. Watch for critical boosts. Cast: Eric Portman. Shiela Sim, Sgt. John Sweet of the U. S. Army. Dennis Price, Esmond Knight, Kim Hunter. Credits: Written, produced and directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. Production design, Alfred Junge. Photography, Erwin Hillier. Music, Allan Gray. A production of The Archers. Plot: Early in the recent war, three persons find themselves on the way to Canterbury, England. A local resident likens them to the pilgrims of old. So do the makers of the film, for each of the three receives a blessing in Canterbury. The English girl learns that her lover has not really died in the war; the English soldier, a disappointed organist, plays the cathedral's mighty instrument; and the American soldier receives a stack of long delayed letters from his girl. Comment: The stars of this British effort are definitely Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger (The Archers), writers-producers-directors who have been responsible for such films as "Colonel Blimp," "I Know Where I'm Going," "Stairway to Heaven," and "The Red Shoes." The audience should be stirred by their expert use of a very good cast and other materials in the telling of a charming and unusual story. Most prominent in the cast is a non-professional. Playing himself. Sgt. John Sweet seems almost too American at times, but he will appeal to most who see him and certainly help the boxoffice. Intense-looking Eric Portman has his minor fault also — he is too well known as pure villain — but he is excellent as the prophetic local resident and he's a consistent box-office leader in England. Dennis Price as the English soldier and Sheila Sim as the English girl are also very good, as is an assortment of characters. A very small role has been added for Kim Hunter in the American release. Background music is very good and the most is made of the organ episode and a marching military band. Nice photography includes some scenic views. Critical response may boost this picture. It should do well at the art houses but needs star-name help at most theatres. The Judge Film Classics Crime Drama 69 mins. AUDIENCE SLANT: (Adult) A clever and tautly-constructed crime picture that will entertain audiences for its sheer story interest and original twists, with added zest given it by some excellent acting. First audiences will give a good report on it to their friends. BOX-OFFICE SLANT: While no bigbudget feature, "The Judge" has production values to make it stack up fairly close to some of its bigger brothers. Worth first-runs in average situations and will make a good second half of dual bills in the larger cities. Cast: ]\Iilbum Stone, Katherine DeMille, Paul Guilfoyle. Stanley Waxman. Xorman Budd, Jonathan Hale, John Hamilton. Joe Forte, Jesse Kirkpatrick and others. Credits: An Emerald Productions presentation. Produced by Anson Bond. Directed by Elmer Clifton. Original screen story hy Anson Bond. Screenplay by Samuel Newman, Elmer Clifton and Anson Bond. Based in part on a story by Julius Long. Plot: Conscience-Stricken at having won acquittals for so many murderers, Milburn Stone frees yet another. Paul Guilfoyle, that he may use him to get revenge on the police psychiatrist. Stanle} Waxman, and Stone's wife, Katherine DeMille. whose love aflfair he has discovered. In Waxman's apartment. Stone goads Guilfoyle into killing him v»'ith {Contimted on Page 34)