Showmen's Trade Review (Oct-Dec 1949)

SHOWMEN'S TRADE REVIEW, December 31, 1949 23 mother, a widow, blossoms into a blond flirt and the daughter sets about getting a second husband for her in the person of a middleaged bachelor. She keeps her suitor on jealous tenterhooks until the bachelor proposes to her mother. Comment: This light Italian comedy depends so much on its dialog for humor and appeal that those not understanding Italian will have a difficult time trying to fathom its comedy implications. The English titles explain the outline of the plot but miss the finer points of comedy and characterization which the action suggests but cannot always make intelligible. Direction, production and photography are good, as is most of the acting. The cast is headed by two young Italian starlets, Carla de Poggio and Adriana Benetti, who gives promise of developing into competent actresses. lone Moreno and Ruby D'Alma, as the aunt and the mother, are more skillful players. The two lovers of the girls act with considerable earnestness and good comedy sense. (Italian Dialog — English Subtitles) Superfilm Opera 105 mins. AUDIENCE SLANT: (Family) Tops musically, though filming right off the stage is controversial technique of presenting opera on film. BOX-OFFICE SLANT: One of Verdi's most popular works and a cast headed by Tito Gobbi can expect a welcome in the established opera-film market. Cast: Tito Gobbi, Mario Filippeschi, Lina Pagliughi, Marcella Govoni, Giulio Neri, Anna Maria Canali, Marcello Giorda, Giuseppe Varni, Gentilumini Alabardieri. Credits: Produced by Giulio Fiaschi for Excelsa Studios of Minerva Films. Director, Carmina Gallone. Camera, Anchise Brizzi. Tullio Serafin conducts the Royal Opera House of Rome orchestra. Singers from La Scala of Milan. The complete version of the opera by Giuseppe Verdi. Plot: Rigoletto, jester in the court of a libertine Duke, receives a father's curse when he taunts one whose daughter has been seduced by the nobleman. When the jester's own secret, beloved daughter is victimized, he plots revenge. The sack that was to contain the body of the Duke, however, is delivered to Rigoletto with a willing substitute: his daughter. Comment: Should an opera be filmed straight or should it be cinematically adapted? Whether "Rigoletto," photographed right off the stage, is good cinema or not, it is good opera and can expect a welcome in the established opera-film market. One of the most popular of Verdi's works, it has a dramatic plot (explained by pre-act notes), powerful score and familiar arias. It is excellently recorded here and sung by a cast headed by Tito Gobbi, of previous opera-films. D. 0. A. United Artists Melodrama 83 mins. AUDIENCE SLANT: (Adult) Top melodrama plus the strong, unusual and medically genuine angle of a "murdered" man hunting his own killer. BOX-OFFICE SLANT: Highly exploitable. O'Brien in familiar characterization. Very good for most situations, especially with the deserved good campaign. Cast: Edmond O'Brien, Pamela Britton, Luther Adler, Beverly Campbell, Lynn Baggett, William Ching, Henry Hart, Neville Brand, Laurette Luez, Jess Kirkpatrick, Cay Forrester, Virginia Lee, Michael Ross. Credits: Executive producer, Harry M. Popkin. 'The Hidden Room' This British film has the American style imparted by Edward Dmytryk and the all-around quality to rank as a sound offering for general audiences. It's a suspenseful drama of a doctor's efforts to liquidate his wife's men friends. Very good performances by Robert Newton, Sally Gray and American Phil Brown back up the super-exploitable acid bath murder theme. STR's London review (Aug. 6, 1949, when the title was "Obsession") called it expert. An Independent Sovereign Film presented by J. Arthur Rank, released here by Eagle Lion. 93 mins. Producer, Leo C. Popkin. Associate producer, Joseph H. Nadel. Director, Rudolph Mate. Story and screenplay, Russell Rouse and Clarence Greene. Music, Dimitri Tiomkin. Photography, Ernest Laszlo. Plot: An accountant is dosed with a poison for which there is no antidote. He spends his remaining days tracking down his "murderer." It soon develops that the foul play concerns an innocently notarized document in a crooked iridium deal, but it takes time and some rough experiences before the real villain is detected and killed. The accountant finally reports to the police, dies. Comment: D. O. A. is an established term in homicide bureaus. It stands for "dead on arrival," and it is the final report on Frank Bigelow (Edmond O'Brien), though he walks into the police station on his own two feet. The handling of this very unusual and highly exploitable angle by Director Rudolph Mate will not disappoint the flock attracted by the selling efforts of United Artists and theatre managers. The paradox is pounded home strongly and remains always genuine — according to a final note, it's based on actual medical facts. The manhunt staged by this "dead" man is top melodrama throughout. Pamela Britton's scenes, which serve as a sort of relief from tension, serve also to heighten the irony of the main story line. Left behind when O'Brien went to San Francisco on vacation, this loving girl gradually realizes that he is in real trouble. The mood is well established pictorially and musically, and there's plenty of action with an exceptionally realistic sniping sequence and some vicious pushing about by a psychopathic gorilla (Neville Brand). There are several sirenish women, and O'Brien is very good in the sort of characterization for which he is familiar. Hollywood Varielies Lippert Prod. Variety Acts 60 mins. AUDIENCE SLANT: (Family) A "vaudeville" show on film for all those who like vaudeville and also for the old-timers who remember some of the acts presented. Should attract the curious who have never seen and may never have an opportunity to see this type of entertainment. BOX-OFFICE SLANT: Should do well in the small towns and rural sections in place of the usual second feature. Cast: Robert Alda, Hoosier Hot Shots, Shaw & Lee, Glenn Vernon & Eddie Ryan, Peggy Stewart, De Pina Troupe, Lois Ray, Sandy and his SealSj Paul Gordon, Shavo Sherman, Charles Cirillo, Cliff Taylor, Three Rio Brothers, Britt Wood, Twirl, Whirl & a Girl, The Four Dandies, Hector and his Pals, Johnson Brothers, Dolores Parker Sammy Wolfe, Aurora Roche, Russell Trent, The Eight Carlyle Dancers. Credits: Directed by Paul Landres. Photography, Ernest Miller. Associate Executive, Murray Lerner. Executive Producer, Robert L. Lippert. Plot: This is a group of vaudeville acts, (Continued on Page 26)