Variety (Jul 1940)

16 PICTURES Wednesday, July 24, 1940 Film Reviews Continued from pace 14. WAGONS WESTWARD RANGER AND LADY ■who's in league with them, Buck Jones. Anita Louise, dance-halL gal, falls for the inpersonation and thinks David is her lover, Tom. At the be- hest of her sister, Ona Munson, whom David really loves, David marries Miss Louise. Tom escapes from prison in time to kill the gal he thmks unfaithful and also gets his deserts, so everything's lovely for David and Miss Munson to pair -off. , Morris is duly Upstanding and ratty Sn the two parts he plays, the two gals do particularly : good . thespic jobs. Buck . Jones has little to do. and George 'Gabby' Hayfes provides thie~ laughs he's supposed to, despite some sour lines. So the personnel is well displaced. It's too bad it didn't have more to work with. Herb. . (WITH SONGS) Republic release ot Joseph Kane produc- tion, Olrected by Kane. Features Roy Rog- ers, GeotKe 'CSabby'. Hayes. Screenplay, Stuart Anthbny-Oerald Geraghly from orlpl- nftl by Bernard McConvlUe; camera, Regute I^'ulnlng; editor, Lester Orclbeck;. noneK Peter Tlnturln; music, Cy Fener. Review<'a In Projection Room. N.T., July W, '40. Run.- nlnjf time,-Se MINS. • (Miptain ("olt. .,.'........ Roy. Rogers Sgt. WhlltaUer.....George 'Gaijby' Hayes.. Jane. Ja<5<iuellne WeU?* KltiMLld ......... ..,,„Harry AVoods General I-ARue.... ... ... .Henry Brandon Kl hobo.,. . i....... i... .Xobli John.von- Piirdv. .SI Jenks Kranie'r..; -.,.; ..;. .Ted Mnpes McNulr.......... .VaKlma Canutt Arihstrohg-Jenkins Fight At PolQ. Grounds, N. T^, July. T7, '40: filmed by Pathc News- .for 20th . Gentury Spor.tlnfr Club: F.r.nnk.Donovan in charge'oC pioduction: Bert Cunningham., auperv.isor; Jay Boniiaflold, editor; Andre Barurh, ;mr- rator: at Palace and Rlalto. N. Y., July 18, '40. Running time, 10 MINS. For the'first time in many: years the group which specialized in film- ing major boxing contests, was 'not in action to record the battle be- tween hammering Jlehry Armstrong, of. Hollywood, and Lew Jenkins, skinny, hard-socking Texan, staged at the Polo Grounds July 17; . Pathe News did the job for Mike Jacobs of the 20th, Century Sporting Club which staged the melee, when the specialists ducked the issue on the ground that this particular eVent was top risky and tiiey were appar- ently right. ' Jack Dietz and Jack Rieger have been taking pugilistic pictures for 20 years and know from experience the type . of . fight film that will make a profit, and those whibh invariably wind up in thie red. They ^^gured . th;at if Armstrong copped, which he, did, the film's value in the South would be nil. Jenkins hails from Sweetwater, Texas. , In the case of Joe Louis it is dif- ferent because the Brown Bomber is the heavyweight topper and. a sensational performer. Dietz and Rieger have a contract with Jacobs which permits, them'to reject fight Shows. Of course had Jenkins brought hpme the .hacon, it would have been different and . a sure money-getter. It was thought, too, that because a long speech by Senator Bob Wag- ner, at. the Democratic National Con- vention in Chicago on the night of the fight, kept the fight off the air, there would be added interest in the film. Specialists say that is a fal- lacy, pointing out that the radio ac- count of such events serve as a ballyhoo for. the pictures. Seems, therefore, that the Armstrong-Jen- kms film had two strikes on it b6fore reaching the projection booths. Film of the recent brawl between Max Baer and Tony Galento, by the way, did but mildly for a time but it now reported sure of a fair profit, the comedy element being the prob- able factor. Armstrong-Jenkins match was cameraed in much the same man- ner as done by Rieger heretofore. There are shots from a platform closevps from the first row at an angle, slow motion clips of knock- downs, and an additiohal feature that of a. narrator on the sound track who managed to work in some mteresting comment. Only ex- traneous talk recorded came from Hymie Caplin, Jenkins' handler who, durmg the rest period at the end of round three, told. his boy. 'Now dp . as I tell you.' Armstrong, the one-to-two shot, xame through as the experts said he ^ould but he had to take plenty rom the Texan slugger. Henry waded, m, making himself a perfect terget for Jenkms and during the first three rounds.. absorbed many sohd wallops. . But 'perpetual ino- tion, fas .Armstrong Is called, started taking his opponent in the fourth '^f^i ' commentator so states, if the films do not clearly in- dicate the turriuig of the tide. Most of the knockdowns in the fifth and sixth rounds (Jenkinis Kit the deck SIX times) are shown in slow motion. Fight ended wh^n the bell termi^ nated the JSixth heat. Jenkins was unable, to continue and was so all m that he fell off. the stool. Curi- not show that. No title was at stake, although "^t" i^re .champs, Jenkins having won the lightweight title recently inat IS another angle why it i«! thought the film is* not vJluVbli- Boys have been rematched, however Jenkins was panned in the press for breaking training, and.his young IVife Katie, was blamed, fight writers making no bones about it. The SoMtherner sought a second meeting but it IS; doubtful that Dietz and Reiger will take on that camera as- signment either. Ibee. . Stronger, from a story angle, .than most saddle-country ehtries, this lat- est Roy Rojgers-Gabby Hayes turn- out should have little trouble getting over. Though the. writing end is more sharply defined it doesn't at all over-balance or detract from' the ac- tion. Latter is: well taken care of. running the xisiial gamut of fist and gun fights, chases, and thie everlast- ing last miniite roundup of the lugs on the wrong side of the law. ' Yarn is logically liaid out and told, picturing Rogers as a captain of the Texas Rangers, with Hayes his usual .sidekick. Contrary to the usual duties of a western femme lead, Jac-: queline .Wells takes an active part in the goings-on.; She's the owner of . a .wagon train of trading goods from whom Rogers unwillingly is forced to attiempt the collection of a passage tax to license its trip over the Santa Fe TraiL Her part is ex- panded as the film moves along. Whole thing is built around the Teixas Republic, Sam Houston, presi- dent, and the snaky moves of a sub^ prez while Houston is away at Wash- ington trying to get his territory ad- mitted to the U. S. Heavy, played convincingly by Hem'y Brandon, has idea^" of his own about who should govern Texas and, to finance those thoughts, imposes the passage tax on the Santa Fe. Rogers . is a loyal Houstonite. and strings along with the rebel leader only so he can be in a position to protect JHoustoh's in- terests. Of . the two tunes siirig by Rogers, at Ipgical times for a chainge, 'As Long as We Are Dancing* sounds good. Peter Tinturin, penned 'em. — Wood. CARSON CITY KID {WITH SONGS) Republic production and release. Stars Roy Rogers; features George 'Gabby' Hayes, Bob Steele, Noah Beery, Jr., Paul- ine Moore. Directed, by Joseph Kane, ifcraenplay, Robert Tost, Gerry Geragbty; .^tory, Joseph Kane;'- camera, WilUam Noblea; editor, Helene' Turner; Rongs, Peter Tlnturln, Reviewed at Colonial, TJncoln'. July 18, '40. Running time, 68 MINS. Kid.... .Roy Rogers Gabby. ^........ v. .George' Hayes Jeanup... .Bob Steele Warren;.'... Noah Beery, Jr. .Toby,.......... .Faiiline Moore Laramle, , Francis MacDenald Hn rmon^ Hal Taliaferro Klrke.Arthur Loft Tucker Georgo Rojsener Won^,.:,..., , .Cheater Gan Marking a new trend in westerns, Republic is going out after multiple names this season for the casts'. This is evidenced in 'Carson City Kid,' where four sagebrush speciiali^ts get cast calls—Roy Rogers, George Hayes. Bob Steele and Noah Beery, Jr. All of them, with exception of Hayes, have had starring assign- ments in the saddle sagas of the past, but are now gathered into one huddle to give the picture abnormal name strength with which to bait the marquee, 'Carsoq City Kid' is no k,o. west- ern, and it's so similar to the others it hardly qualifies as an unbranded production maverick. However, it has better than average biz possi- bilities, due entiirely to the casting. It represents a change of pace for Bob Steele, who has always been in the leads, save in Hal Roach's 'Mice ahd Men,' where he did a change- over to the bad side. He followis' through on that pattern in .'Carson City,' and opens up a new avenue for hirii. His own seriies of weisterns the last couple of seasons petered out in audience response, pSrtly be- cause of their quality, and partly becausehe didn't look McCoy, a little guy whipping all the big one.s. He, on the other hand, makes a good, bad inan. Rogers is a reputatiori-gunslinger, chasing Steele, who killed his brother. Steele, under another name, is running a gambling den, when they meet, so Rogers hires out as a guard. He eventually forces Steele to show- his cards, Along the way, he nurses a friendship with Noah Beery. Jr., George Hayes and Paul- ine Moore, the dancehall gal -with a 24-carat heart. Billing for Saturday matinees .should make effort to capitalize on this extravaganza , of western-stars, assenibled in a single picture. It can be boomed into a good'take.; ■.. .-Art. DEBS FOE WOODEUPF Hollywood, July 23, . Frank Woodruff gets the director a.s,signment on the RKO feature, 'Debutante, Inc.' Heading the" cast are Kay Francis and James Ellison. SUICIDE LEGION (BrlUsh-Made) (WITH SONGS) Film Alliance release of Herbert Wlloox pnxluctioii, tVaturts TulHo Curmlnati and Lilli'P«lmor. Oliectod by Norman Walker. Screenplay liy Florence Tranter; dialog, Harrison Cwrn, Marjory Gaffney; mu.sic by J^rncr, G«ibdhtirt and Hoffman; camera, F. A, YounK.. At Arena, >N'. Y., dual, July 17-1«, '40. Running time, BO MINS. Tonl..,,,.,............ Tulllo Carminati Oolda..l-IUl Palmer Adolph ;..,;..,, John Garrlck Wanda ;.....; .Geraldino Hislop mat Lady. .................. .Onvlnft Craig Aualrlun G<»nerul...,...... .Hubert, Harban Tonl's natniim.,............. lidgar Driver Maddulena.. -;......;..Alice O'D.ay Despite Tullio Carminati's singing, and forthright performances by the Italian song star and Lilli Palmer, 'Suicide Legion' is sadly disappoint- ing, Title will make: patrpns think this is awartime film, which it isn't. It is another. British . production which Film Alliance has re-titled to heighten boxPffice possibilities. Less than a reel ■ is deVoted to sky dare- devils in action, obviously the only excuse for .such a tag. Okay for mild dual return.s if patrons, don't kick too much over the picture's title ■'cis misleading. Instead of being an actionful war production, plot focuses on the ro- mance between ian Italian cavalry officer, later turned aifplane pilot, and a Viennese beauty. When ived, Italy and Austria^ are friendly na-?. tions. but the story follows developr ments in the World War of 1914" with Italians swinging over to the side of the Allie."?. The Austrian girl, mar-r ried to the Italian officer, thinks he is to blame for her. brother's death when latter is caught working, ias a spy behind, the Italian lines. This disagreement forces, the Italian : to search many world ports for his missing, wife after he returns woundied from the front. 'Sunset ir Vienna' and 'We'll Never Run Short of Love' arie prin-. cipal songs, with Cairmlnati clicking solidly with the former. Carminati's acting is far ahead of the yarn and treatment given it, . Obviouisly the! original was mate- rially cut for American consumption. Most of production technique and acting are dated, Lilli Palmer is fairly effective. Remainder of the cast means nothing to American audiences, ... Wear. ONE NIGHT IN PARIS (Musical) (BRITISH-MADE) Alllancft' production" .and' releiase.' Fea,- tures ■ John I^odge, Judy Kelly, Hugh Wil- liams/ Joan Marlon, Directed by Walter Suminen. Screenplay by P, JtfcGrew Wil- lis; editor, T,>ionel Tomllnson;'songs. Denes v. Buday. Hans .Sehachtner, 'Peter Fenn, Clifford .Grey; camera, Otto Kanturek. At Central, N. Y., dual, week July 19, '40. Running , time, 62 MINS. John Lodge Inspector Bonnard Judy Kelly Carmen Davlot Hufeh Williams .;..^.., .Rene Nlssen Joan Marlon, ...Lydla Lavalle E<1mohd ■ Breon ,...:. .Morel Wallace Geoff rey, .Renoir Geoffrey Sumner.,. ....Captain Curry .Steve Geray , i.........,,,,. .Frolich Edward Chapman ,..',TiObrma9n Josa Ambler. .Spectator Lavish musical froni the British studios capable only of filling , time on dualers these hot days, 'One Night in Paris,', released in Great Britain as 'Premiere,' stacks up as an odd mixture of murder mystery and elaborate musical production. Lack's the names to mean much for the American exhib even if the flawis could be overlooked.. F, McGrew Willis' screen writinjg effort smacks of many previous Hol- lywood pictures of this type. The 'angel' of a musical show is slaiii as he sits in a box at th^ premiere of his latest try. sleuths early learning that the fatal shot was fired from the stage: With the old formula of having nearly everybody backstage su^ected^ the identity of the actual culnrit is not too cleverly concealed. Film offers the phenomenon of an all-British cast portraying French characters in a story with a Paris lopale. To add to this craxy-quilt pattern, John Lodge, who's been in several American pictures, is cast as the French police inspector. .It's musical comedy technique circe 1932. Reasonable facsimile. of earlier passage of dialog include: 'what is Renoir to you?', '.vou must be bitter,' •so you haven't torgottten entirely,' 'is that meant as a threat?', 'no, a warning!' Song is 'Come and Teach Me Love,' Lodge makes; an acceptable, forth- right inspector while Hugh Williams, .standard British screieri star, squeezes all he can from the mawkish role of lover to Carmen, star of musical in the picture. Judy Kelly. Australian- born actress, gets small chance to shine as Carmen, handicapped by disr mal makeup. Walter Summers' di- rection is dated. Wcctr. Dorothy Fay-s Pilgrimager Holly wood, July 23. ■ . Dorothy - Fay, who just completed four . v)e.sterns for Monogram, is playing the lead in the 17th annual production . of the Pilgrimage Play." It's her first legit appearance in a couple of years. Finial picture of the qUart^t for Monogram was 'Rainbow Over the Range,' which was filmed at the ac- tress' home town, Presfcott, Ariz. Shooting was delayed several times by riding accidents resultiiig in in- juries to Warner Richmond, Dennis Moqre and Chuck Morrison, mcm- ber.^ of the cast. Inside Stuff-Pictures studio expieriences of a couple of Pittsburgh hoofers, Sunhle O'Dea arid Gene Kelly, have been paralleling each other pretty closely of late. Mi.ss O'Dea, who was known in her home town as Martha Boninl, and wa;? originally picked up there from the amateur ranks by Benny Davis for hi.^ Stardust unit, was inked by U .«;everal years 9go but dropped aftcer making one picture, 'Show Boat/. in which she played Irene Dunne's daughter. Now she's going back, this time to Metro, under a terriicir as result of her click in 'Keep Off the Grass,' Broadway musical. Kelly, vfho operated a dance studio in Pittsburgh and did little theatre work in the town, in J936 was ticketed by RKO but l*ft there after a few months without rnaking a single film. Now several studios are bidding for. him again since his perforrnance last season in "Time of Your Life' and subsequent contract to do 'My Pal Joey' for George Abbott. Curiously enough, Kelly has let it be known that he'd iprefer to be a top dance director rather than a star. He recently staged the numbers for Billy Rose's Diamond Honseshoe show and also for stra'what revue, 'Two Weeks' With PayV , Ejiamination before trial of Alexander Kbrda, London Films Frbductiohs, Inc, and Alexander Korda Films Productions, originally set for Thurs- day (11), was shifted to Sept. 16 in N. Y, Federal court Apiplication for the postponement was made by Max D. Steuer, attorney for Samiiel Gold- wyn, and Judge Vincent L; Lei bell granted the request. Korda and his (Jompahies. will be examined as material witnesses in connection .with Goldwyn'.s .action against United Artists Corp., in the producer's attempt to break his di.stribution contract'which has until 1945 to run. All books and records rnateiial to thfe action ^re to be produced. Punching the clock at the. Paramount h,o, means punching the clock, and not by any stand-in. A memoiahdiim making that plain has come repu- tedly from above, warning that there bie ho substitute punching for a friend. Two gals were let oiit,: one ■because she punched .the clock for a friend, the bthetr (thie friend) because it waf. discovered she was put altogether four days. ^' .■ ' ' 'Ballad for Americans,' by .Tohh LaTouche and Earl Robinson, the com- position that came out of a WPA musical, 'Sing for Your Supper,' has now been set back by Metro for incorporation into 'Babes on Broadway' (Mickey Roohey-Judy Garland), next Arthur !Freed musical production,' sequel to 'Babes in. Arms'. It was bought for $4,000 for a previouis Metro pictiirce, 'Strike Up the Band,' but its growing importance as a rnusical. work; In line With renewed patriotic feeling of recent weeks, decided the Coast studio to. give it an even better production opportunity. Desultory stock market of recent weeks has taken its toll on .Walt.Disney Productions preferred stock. Offered to the.public at$25, this .weiek it was beings quoted in Over^the-Counter transiactions at ^15-$l(i. Even at thi price it is higher than the low bid price of $14. Decline is in line with weakness in all piictiire issues •which have not been helped recently by lack of public participation, in the market. 'The Fugitive,' .Univer.«;al release which opened Monday (22) at the Rialto, N. X. W3ts made in«Eng)and last summer under the title, *Ofi the Night of the Fire,' fronri Frederick Laurence Green's novel of the same i;iame. It was reviewed in London under, that title by. VAniBrrT Nov. 22, 1939. At .that time it ran 94 minutes, but it has since been cut to 75 min- utes; Vogue of serials based on cartoon strips is doing a tailspin. Hollywood producers are no longer optioning screen rights to pen-and-ink cliffhanger books which have been flooding the newsstands for the last year. More than 80 of these books were in circulation a month ago but many of them have folded for lack of dough. Producers are convinced that Young Amier- ica is fed up with strip cartoons. Mono's 50 (24 Westenis) On a Unh Pr od. Basis Unit production will be tried by Monoigram oh its forthcoming sea- son's films, not only to secure more diversification in stories but also as a means of t'-imming production costs. This was revealed at the two- day sales huddle of eastern district concluded here Friday (19). Un- derstood thptt such a procedure was agreed on following a survey of stu- dio setup and recommendations by T. P, Loach, new company treasurer and v.p. Unit alignment will enable Mono to duck much of the present produc- tion financing. According to reports here none of the unit producers will be completely financed, or in some instances financially aided to all by the disti-ibiiting cdmpany, Edwiard A. Golden, general sales chief, who presided at the sessions, announced three pictures in col^r for 1940-41, Full lineup includes 26 features and 24 westerns; New players the company has for the coming season include Charles Bick- ford, Boris Karloflf, Gilbei-t Roland and Irene/Rich, Instead of going ahead with plans for moving most of the home office staff to the Coast, top officials at the confab in N, Y. claimed ,that it would be a year and possibly never before any changes are made, . Monogram has a three-year lease on its offices in the RKO Bldg., in N, Y., and ap- parently has been tihable to get out of this lease. Also understbod that present high officials are opposed to breaking up the home office organi- zation and splitting the activities of the advertising and publicity staff between her* and the Coa.st. Recapitulation .of actual revenues obtained from the foireign niairket also reveal that Mono was getting less than 20% of its money from distributing outside the domestic market. Unless the market in Great Britain and Australia is completely disrupted, it does not anticipate heavy dent into this total.: EDISON STUDIO, BRONX, STILL IS UNTENANTED Edison studio? in the Bronx, which were , sold six weeks ago to N. Y. theatre realty firm headed by Jacob Levy, have acquired no tenants m yet. Levy declared last week that he has been, deluged with idea men, but few with worthwhile proposi- tions. As a result no production has been done in the studios siiice they were taken over, nor is any planned at the moment. Levy asserted he has numerous offers for turning out both feature and commercial pictuires. Most of the would-be producers, however, want financing. Levy said he is pre- pared to offer the usual studio credit, generally amounting to about 15% of production cost, 'but the proposition would have to be a top- per to obtain any more than that. Reports that the Sam iSax-Frank Orsatti Phonovision outfit had taken over Edison studios to make briefies for coin machines was termed inac- curate by Levy. He said there were merely negotiations. Paul Hueter Injured Toledo, 6., July 23. Paul S. Hueter, of the American Theatre Supply Co.,Toledo, was seriously ; injured when an airplane he was piloting crashed into, a coi"n- field last •week (15); killing hiis companion. Hueter, a commercially licensed pilot, is suffering from shock, an arm fracture, and head injuries. BEBURN ENLISTS Toronto, July 23, Stewart Reburn, skating partner of Sonja Henie in 'Second Fiddle' .(20th) and during her two icie-carnival tours, enlisted in the 48th High- landers over the weekend. Former North American figure skating champion, now a lieut^riimi; claimed he had 'put his skates awjiy for the duration because there was a more important job to do.' IttMillliEMMIMiiKf^f^^