Variety (December 1953)

PICTURES FMni Reviews Continued from ptf« <- the Wild One . to hop in his automobile and go for help, although they are pic- tured .as free to go strolling. Logic may be beside the point, since emotional merchandise can still be potent iri profitmaking with- out too close adherence to ^reality. Also beside the point is the im- pression of life in the ^United States which this release may leave with the rest of the world. Early In the dialog there’s a squarer for .the sensitivities of . the American motorcycle manufacturers,, a po- liceman observing, “These charac- ters give guys on cycles a paa name.” Yeah, man. The young cyclists are a motley mob of jivesters, some carrying their own female cargo. Much giv- ing to showoff antics and mimicry, they also drink beer in vast quan- tities and < incessantly deposit , nickels in jukeboxes. Reckless, im- pudent, cruel and knife-carrying, they break and borrow things and drive motorcycles into and through saloons. Some of them affect, prop whiskers ■■■ and outlandish pirate garb, for touring the highways. They are hellers one and all. Not one of them apparently was ever loved by his mama. As types they vividly suggest the vandals de- scribed in a recent Variety news account. Exhibitors- will readily identify Brando’s chums as spir- itual kinsmen of seat-slashers and delinquents who like- to throw ushers down from - the balcony foyer. And yet this is the impres- sion the story leaves: however in- . tolerable and barbarian the cyclists are, aothing they do is as vicious and. Vindictive as the “vigilante” spirit which develops among the merchants of the village. Big bruisers , twice the size of the young cyclists, these adults readily and joyously beat Brando to a pulp and then later try to frame him by their silence for a manslaughter rap-of which he was innocent, and they know he was innocent. Only a. grudging last-minute speaking out saves the boy, so at the end he can manage that wispy smile. Picture was made some time ago and has had three titles in suc- cession, “Cvclists Raid.” “The Wild One” and “Hot Blood.” Admitted- ly the subject matter is novel and bespeaks the perceptive imagina- tion of producer Kramer. The picture packs punch. No denying that. It’s undoubtedly a major Count for the attraction that Brando has recently grown in boxoffice pull Much is owing the taut, di- rection of Laslo Benedek and the shrewd scene evaluations of editor A) Clark. Add, too, the mood- heightening score of Leith Stevens as'conducted by Morris Stoloff. All performances are highly competent. The star convincingly makes the moral of the story, that he is a young man so brutalized in his childhood that-he literally can- not respond,to affection nor e xpress gratitude when the girl saves him in the end by browbeating her weakling dad, the village con- stable, into coming clean to the county sheriff, who finally shows up. Brando is leader of a mob of 30 motorcyclists. Where they came from, apart from loveless homes, and how they exist or pay for gas and beCr and food (and they, do pay for everything!) is not cleared up. The gang simply rides in over the horizon. From nowhere, go- ing nowhere. Just hellers; A sec- ond band of ruffians comes along later and complicates the plot by a little gang warfare. The second group is led by a colorful young character named Lee Marvin. The femme interest is intelli- gently managed by Mary Murphy. Motivated by a desperate need to escape from the beer tavern en- vironment where she works for her uncle, the girl makes a romantic pitch at Brando. But he don’t feel nuttin', remember, just nuttin’. His mama never loved him. Robert Keith; is excellent as the mush-soft village constable, and a . variety of small parts are all com- mendable. The county sheriff is the nicest guy in the film, and nearly the only one. He’s imper- sonated with professional sincerity by the old vaudcman, J. C. Flip- pen. A picture with so many solid merits cannot be dismissed simply because it derives its power from a cesspool of unattractive traits and accents the downbeat on hu- man conduct. But there's no duck- ing the issue. Exciting though the film is. many people are going to be offended by the unrelieved grimness. Land. Man In Hie Atile : - (SONGS) Remake of * ‘The ^ Lodger/ Jack *the Ripper thriller, . launches new Panoramic *gjg ductftns program for smaU^r. . situations, . * v ’V r r' ■ ■■ •• ■■ Hollywood, Bec-4%s. 20 th-Fox <re|ea«« of. Goldstein) ProduoUom.O^uc^W^ljO- ert L. Jack*. St»rt J»ck Constance Smith . Byron JPsIm^ * Frances Bav.cr, ghys WlUiam*. Directed by. Hugo Fregonese. Screenplay, Robert Fresnel! Jr., Barre Lyndon; from The Lodger’* by Mary Belloc Lowndes;- cam*- era, Leo Tover; editor, Marjorie Fowler; musical direction,.Lionel Newman; chore* ography. Wlletta Smith, Previewed Dec. 15, *53. Running time, H MINS. Artistic value* make this. • natural' for ■. kooklnffs In the specialized houses. Has wide . potential appeal. William L. Snyder presentation of .an Albert Lamorisse film. FeaturesAJain Emery. Direction and. original screenplay, Lamorisse; adapted- toy Denys Colonib de Daunent; commentary. Lamorisse, and James Agee; spoken by Frank Silver*, music toy Maurice Le Roux. Previewed at the Museum of ..Modern Art. N.Y., .Dec.. 17, *53. punning time, 40 MIN$. $65,000 Feature — continued from page 1 ; known to film-goers.-And, between them, they manage to keep the unit’s overhead at a low figure by cd-produclng, co-directing and co- writing their pix. "Raid” Is based on an episode in World War II when commarido troops slipped into France to knock oiit a communications center and Every once in a while there pave the way for an assault the comes along a film lensed with following day. Its action covers a such skill and expert understand- period of 24 hours and the 16-day Wedn esday, December 23, 19 53 TOLL-TV ECONOMICS^ UNSOUND: SCHWARTZ Subscription-television may work technically, but it. Isn’t economic- Slade Lily Bonner ...... Paul Warwick ... Helen Harley William Hr rley . . 1st' Constable ..,. 2nd Constable .... Daisy Inspector Melville Sergeant Bates ... Annie Rowley — Mary Lebihan ... Katy Jack Balance Constance Smith ., Byron Palmer . Frances ;Bavier ,; Rhys Williams .. Sean McClory. . . Leslie Bradley . Tita PhUllps . Leslie Mathew’s .. Harry Cording ... Lillian Bond ... Lisa Daniels ... Isabel Jewell: Panoramic Productions, new out- fit headed by Leonard Goldstein, digs into the remake field to launch its program of offerings, which 20th-Fox will distribute, for the smaller situations. Since a majority of the country’s theatres are not in the de luxer class, panoramic will be filling a basic exhibition need for well-made, medium-budg- eted product. However, it probably would have been smarter to test its wings with new material. Even SO, “Man in the Attic” has good pro- duction values, competentperfor- mances and a general pattern of budget excellence' and atmosphere a cut above the usual programmer level. ;. Pretty much a straight remake of 20th-Fox’s 1944 “The Lodger,” Mary Belloc Lowndes’ old shocker about Jack, the Ripper: BaTte Lyn- don, who scripted the oldie, also draws screenplay credit on this new version with Robert Presnell, Jr. it is to director Hugo Frego- nese’s credit that he makes so much of an old-hat tale. ^Direction creates a mood that almost puts the picture over big and most, of the players respond to Fregonese’s guidance with performances which lift, many scenes to thriller pitch. Starring as the psychotic killer who roams London’s streets at night slicing up femmes is Jack Palance.. His physical appearance and talent put the role over effec- tively". Co-starring is Constance Smith, the musical comedy actress who has a sympathetic interest in the killer, an interest fortunately returned by Palance because it saves her from his knife at the finale and sends him to a suicide end in the Thames. Miss Smith is very good in all phases of her role except when playing musical comedy in the play-within-a-play sequences. She has the figure but not the talents for tune-terp chores. These sequences are out of place in the picture, anyway. Byron Palmer does the Scotland Yard is spector who falls for Miss Smith while, hunting Palance; but the character, hasn't as much authority as it requires. Frances TJa vie r and Rhys Wil- liams, the couple, that rents a room to the ripper, are sock, leavening the melodramatics with many light moments. Sean McClory and Les- lie Bradley, as two constables; Tita Phillips, a frightened maid; Lilian Bond, Lisa Daniels and Isabel Jewell, as victims of the killer, are good, particularly Miss Daniels w;ho leaves a most favorable im- pression as a sweet-voiced Irish girl. The Robert L. Jacks production achieves excellent atmospheric val ues. So does Leo Tover’s photog- raphy, the settings arid other tech- nical contributions. Brog ,.... ing of the true potential. of the camera. that it is distinctive as much for the manner of its execu- tion as for the story it tells; “White Mane,” a short feature"import from France; falls into that category. Beautifully arid sensitively han- dled, this is the kind of semi-docu- mentary on which the arties thrive and which could prove a strong draw also in regular situations. It’s w w a v.natural for youngsters and yet tertainment. has plenty of appeal for adult audi- ences who will acclaim it for many • nK striking qualities. “White Mane” is the story of a boy who falls in love with a. white stallion, the leader of a herd of wild horses in the deserted region of southern France where the river Rhone reaches the sea. Local ranchers repeatedly try to catch White Mane, but the proud animal shooting schedule was so arranged to simulate actual conditioris. Thus, a scene depicting action at 5 P.M. was-actually shot at" 5 P.M. Unlike most new producers, Lyon and Bartlett iriake no claim that “Dieppe Raid” will be one of the year's great pictures, or even that it will turn o^ut to be a sleeper. They merely believe it is good eri- all unknowns, was shot on a budget of $65,000. No release has beep set, but the part- ners have had; some offers for out- right purchase^ and expect to reach a decision in another week or so, after scoring has been completed. Once “Raid” is out of the way, Enterprise Cinema. Productions will move on to “Calliope,” a car- ally practical. That's the opinion of Fred J. Schwartz, Century circuit topper.’ . . Schwartz said In N, Y, Monday (21) that he didn’t think tollview ing Would .ever amount . to much “The Federal , Communications Commission fnay approve* it, but they are mostly; engineers. They know very little about distribution. And that’s where the snag is going tb come,” he observed. Other exhibs, such as S. H. Fa* bian, have taken a different ap- proach arid have actually discussed cooperation with;subscription-video with execs of Skiatron which spon- sors the Subscriber-Vision pay-as- you-see system. Schwartz, who is working closely with Fabian in try- ing to get theatre TV rolling again, said he wasn’t interested in talking to the toll TV people. Continued from pace 5 Story Which will be 'shot on ally, the boy and the horse’ become friends. The men come after White Mane again, there is a chase, the horse arid its young rider plunge into the river and are swept out to sea. This may sound deceptively'sim- ple. Actually, it is in the photo- graphic handling of the subject that its true excellence emerges. The background is a picturesque and lonely region reminiscent of the Louisiana /country. The hoy, played by Alain Emery, - is appeal- ing and completely natural. The horse, fiery and magnificent, is a joy to the eye as the camera studies location, The budget on that one Will be a little higher than “Raid,” but Lyon, and Bartlett, don’t an- ticipate any startling increases in expenses in subsequent pictures. Final quote: < “Good pictures aren't necessarily expensive pic- tures—and vice versa.” 1 Continued from page 5 was declared unfit for Memphis by its graceful motions. Frank Silvera-1 the same censor. The case was lost is the narrator In the film in which few words are spoken. Maurice Le Roux’s music is strikingly apt. It is the camera- that does the talking most of the time; La-! morisse, an expert craftsman with a flair for both sweep and imagina- tive detail, has captured many ex- citing scenes arid they are matched, by tender almost poetic ones. There are the rousing shots of the two stallions fighting and the boy being dragged through mud and shallow water as- he captures the horse. And. there is the unspoiled charm of a two year old following the progress of a turtle and of the boy astride his horse, chasing a rabbit over a mud-caked beach. The composition, of Lamorisse’s shots is forever intriguing and on .a technical count—UA Was found corporately unqualified to institute ah action in Tennessee courts—after close to $100,000 was spent on the appeal. The “Thompson” matter could have significant repercussions so far as Binford’s political life is concerned, it’s believed. Memphis’ two dailies, the Commercial Ap- peal and Press Scimitar, have un- capped new editorial blasts at the antiquated censor. These point up that the films which Memphisites may see are subject to the. whims ever, top executives of both com- panies have delayed in issuing defi- nite policies. Metro sales topper Charles Reagan, queried egairi this week, said; “We haven’t resolved the problem yet.” With “Knights of the Round Table," 'Metro’s’ first C’Scoper opening in about a dozen situations starting Friday (25), Reagan said they were all theatres where C’Scbpe pix had already played: and hence the. sound ques- tion was not: an immediate profc lem. He. said the general release date of the picture depended on .the speed with which the coriipany could get prints ready. At that time, Reagan said, “we'll make a statement regarding our policy.” Meanwhile, exhibs who are adamant against the use of stere- ophonic sound, are reportedly weighing the use _; ol a mixer/. De- vice charihels the four-track sound into a single horn. Reac- tion* of 20th-Fox, which has' been insistent that C’Scope pix be pre- sented with four-track * sound, is still undetermined; General atti- tude of 20th relating to the sound question is expected to be clarified when prexy Spyros Skouras re- turns from abroad shortly. During Skouras’ absence the exhib attacks on 20th have, increased. The con- tinuing pressure arid beefs, iPs be- of One man. If the press raps sue ceed in sufficiently stirring the lo- iieyed, were instrumental in forc- cal public, it s seen, possible lhat a j n g 20th to alter its policy in in- thrilling and reminds occasionally get underway. move to . check his powers might of a series of masterfully-posed still photographs. It isn’t at all surprising that White Mane” should have received the Grand Prize at Cannes this year. Every minute of it has a unique quality that makes it com- parable with the effects achieved by some of the great masters of the camera. The running time presents a problem to exhibs, Actually, to slant the film mofe to juve audi- ences, it would not hurt to cut some feet from the scene showing the stallions going at one-another with' teeth and hoofs, a spectacle that might prove urisetting to some younger patrons. The final chase also could be tightened up although the climactic shots are a rare pho- tographic treat, . Hift. . In the case of previously nixed pix, as “Curly,” there wasn’t enough public interest to matter one way or the other. sisting on specially - approved C’Scope screens. Exhibs are hop- ing the. Same pressure will result in capitulation on the sound con- troversy. ’ AT RADIO CITY (16YRS) Metro’s 30th anni special, “Knights of the Round Table,” its first Cinemascope entry, will be the company’s 8Qth picture to play the Radio City Music Hall, N. Y., over a 16-year span. Pic botys at the Hall early in January. M-G’s romance with the Rocke- feller showcase began in 1938 with “Young Dr. Kildare.” ‘Not a Clean Spot In It* 'Memphis; Dec. 22 Lloyd T. Binford, worldfamed censor of this river metropolis, was invited by' Variety to comment bn his banning of Columbia’s “Sadie Thompson” starring Rita Hay- worth. As articulate as he is opinionated, the 88-year-old (last week) snipper flatly declared: “This picture is the dirtiest I have ever seen—there isn’t a clean spot in it.” . He went on: “It ‘violates every section of our city moral code, It’s rotten, lewd, immoral, just a plain raw, dirty picturfe, that’s all, And what’s more, it’s a direct slam on religion. It should be banned with or without this filthy dance scene. Other members of ; the Memphis board would have passed “Sadie Thompson” If Cblumbia had been willing to cut the scene before a group of United Statbs Marines. “Act Of Love”: Running time of \ release was omitled }n. last It’s 108 Minutes. UA week's review. (Continued from page 3 ss ance given by some execs in pro- duction-distribution that fewer blit better pictures will keep the- atres going via extended runs. “This principle sounds fine,” stated one exhib leader; He added: “But I’m afraid the proportion of good and poor pictures will re- main the same. Consequently, cuts in overall production schedules can only mean a lesser number of both types of film, good and bad. I don t mind the drop in inferior product but I certainly fear the drof> in good pictures.” Third dimension still has many friends among exhibitors. Three-D is an added value but on condition that the film has; quality, many u aLH.fs marines said. They figure. that early 3-D Columbia’s New/ York office quickies stirred turned thumbs down on. this sug- j, ic resentment J)ut | 00 “ „ gestion and said through their ^rom now on— Kiss Me Kate . Memphis rep, Norman Colquhoun, cited numerously can serv we’re through cutting Our pictures change^ th;s public attt-it:ude^H Cinemascope widescreen lens is put to impressive use in the 20th-Fox short, “Vesuvius Express.” Filmed in Italy by producer Otto Lang and cameraman Charles Clarke, the subject uses the crack express train from Milan to Naples (it’s been discontinued since) on which to hang a fascinating cinematic sightseeing tour. There remains now no question what CinmeaScope can do for such a travelog. Taken in the wide scope and brought close up, landscapes and historic landmarks are exciting in excellent color. One shot rivals the next in beauty and composition to make this a highly enjoyable ahd unquestionably popular attrac- tion. C’Scope is plainly second best way to see Italy as camera focuses on four great cities—Milan, Florence, Rome and Naples. Short is a real treat and is excellent theatre material. Hijft. for censors—either the pic plays in its entirety or it won’t play this special Memphis key city ruri at all.” Binford also told Variety in in- terview at his home here where he now maintains his office headquar- ters, "despite rumors on Memphis film, row, the picture ‘Moon Is Blue’ will, never play here while I am alive.” He okayed the stage version some years ago. Says. Bin- ford: “The play was different and only for adults but the picture is not for children. I have never backed down on banning a picture yet and I am. not going to change my mind now after 27 years as head of the Memphis censor board.'* ful ecdnomically for 3-D adoption of a single-projector sys- tem, such as the Moropticon or Nord process, theatremen point out. , Interesting note Wa$ made py some exhibitors anent the "B” P IC " ture. Hollywood’s stress on im- portant films, the corn petition from television and the widening gap between “A” and “B” product at the boxoffice have had many in the trade writing an Obit for Hol- lywood’s “B”s. Not so, in some exhib opinion. It’s belieyed that theatres which Will not of cannot switch to widescreen pix ana stereosound, driveins included, will . continue to serve as a sufficient 1 market for the lesser-scale product.