Variety (June 1954)

FIUI REVIEWS Ig££&L&1 9«m«triw iini the. GUdhtoiV - (C’S£ppe-Col©r) Socko followup io /‘The Robe” with m*is appeal and hearty b.o. potential. * ’ Hollywood, June 1. are William MsrahalL the .huge. Nubian ,flatU*tor, Blqwrd Egan ■ and Ernest Borgnjne,' arena ex- perts, Debra Paget, the gentle Lucia who loves Demetrius, and Anne Bancroft, who tr|es to help them/ are good without making too ' much" impact. A credit run-down finds Milton Krasner’s photography, the music a OthJox releaf« of Frank Rom JPro- by Waxman, with themes ward7 n co^r« V tu ^’nni»! , Debr*' from .Alfred Newman’s “Robe” pasot, Ann* Bancroft, j«y iwuimmitea. score,. the editing, art direction, set ture* Barry Jo n't a, Wljlutn Mannaii, decorations costiimintf and other Richard Egan, Ernest BorgnJne, Charles «®corauons, cos^ming ana oiner Evani. Directed by Delmer Daves. Writ> contributions figuring most im- ten by pwup Dunne; biiedon ». portantly in making this a well- Ro r b^ r **ime5i KoKSi kTm- rounded, entertaining, motion pfc- ner; editors, Dorothy Spencer. Robert ture. BrOQ. Fritch; music, Franz Waxman; themes - - - - from "The Robe" by Alfred Newman. «... «, Previewed May 21. r 94. Running Time, $even. BrlUOS For Demetrhui ....... ...Victor Mature S«*Veil Brother® Messaiina * (C'Scope Musical-Color p«ter Michael Rennie ■ . Lucia Paget . —, v ' ’ Paula Anne Bancroft Slick, entertaining country- Cauguia style musical with a B’way Giycon 1 * .*.’. ’.’.*.*.*.*.*.".*.*.wuiiam^Jarshkii polish, good, songv cast and Dardanius Richard Egan WOrd-of-mouth possibilities for Strabo Ernest Borjnine kturelv ' Cassius Chaerea Charles Evans MUrUy taxes. Ka«so Everett Glass ■ — ■ — Macro Karl Davis Hollywood, June 1. Albus .•.......•••Jeff Yo*!u Metro release of Jack Cummings pro- Slave Girl Carmen de Lavallade auction. Stars Jane Powell. Howard Keel; Varus - ■ - ■ Matures Jeff Richards, Russ Tamblyn, Specialty Dancers Barbara James. Willetts Smith Senator ...Selmer Jackson «% m !*«•«- *vw»mve uv** uot siuse *au*wv*a I Tommy Hall. Howard Petrie. Virginia ! S“>8on, Ian . Wolfe. Directed by Stanley S, e V?ii5- Donen. Screenplay. Albert Hackett, Fran- Couiin DouirtM BrooKs ces Goodrich. Dorothy Kingsley; based Decurion .Fred Graham on the sto ry, ‘The Sobbin' Women" by Magistrate *-•Dayton Lnmmis Stephen Vincent Benet;. camera (Ansco Flavius . ..Robert E. Griffin color), George Folsey; editor, Ralph E. i — Winters; songs, Johnny Mercer, Gene de (A tnprt ratio • 2 55-1) Paul; musical direction. Adolph Deutsch; aspect TUiiv. t.oo-i./ musical supervision, Saul Chaplin; dances ~ and musical numbers staged bjfc. Michael “Demetrius and the Gladiators Kidd. Previewed May 26, *54, Running is 20th-Fox’s answer and followup M,N ** 1 to its tremendously successful Adanf 0ntipe ® Br0th * I,: Howard Keel “The Robe.” It would be a hit even Benjamin”*.*. I Jeff Richards without the tie to last season’s Gideon ....Russ Tamblyn smash grosser because. In many .Sjft ways, it is a show of more popular celeb Matt Mattox entertainment appeal. This doesn’t Ephraim Jacques d'Amboise mean “Robe”-type grosses; after Jane Poweu. all, it's not introducing Cinema- Dorcas ....Julie Newmeyer Scope, nor re-creating the Lloyd C» * Douglas best-selling, novel. It does Liza . .".*.*.*.*.V.V’.Y.Y.Y.Y.V’. Virginia Gibson have socko action—-dramatic pull, Ruth -Ruta KUmonis with just enough religious over- \V/;.'.•.•.. <, ™ui. wSu“ tones, to keep the boxoffice bell Pete Perkins Howard Petrie tolling loud and profitable. K a !5 y • ^ — v, E ? rl ™2, rto / p While Douglass fine novel from Carl KeUy Brown which 20th-Fox and Frank Ross Rut^'*. u^e . filmed “The Robe” springboards ^ Bixb^ . .”::.* i”! ’Marjod?wdS this followup, it is a completely Mr. Blxby RusseU Simpson new story, beautifully fashioned (Aspect ratio: 2.55-1)' with all the basics of good drama and action that can play, and quite This Is a happy, hand-clapping, often do, against any setting, pe- foot-stomping, country type of riod or modern. In the compelling musical with all the slickness of a Philip Dunne screen story, and un- Broadway show. It offers songs, der the equally compelling direc- dances -and romancing in such a tion by Delmec Daves, “Demetrius” delightful package that word-of- swings from “The Robe’s” mysteri- mouth could talk it into solid busi- ous, religious miracle theme of the' ness at the boxoffice. On merit crucifixion, that pictured the estab- alone, it rates sturdy returns and lishment of a faith, to a story of can be sold almost without quali- the trial of a man’s faith by the fixations as one of _ the fresher temptations of an attractive, amor- al woman and a pagan Rome, pieces of tune entertainment to hit the current market. Cinemascope The opening scene of "Demetri- ?? d Ansc0 Co,or * id the visual «*" us” is the closing scene of “The e .f'. . _ Robe” in which Marcellus and - Johnny Mercer.«and Gene de Diana, condemned to death be- Paul provide the slick, showy Jack cause of their Christian beliefs, Cummings production with eight pass on the robe worn to the Crai- s °ujS s - all of which jibe perfectly cifixion by Jesus Christ so thdl it with the folksy, hillbilly air main- can find its way to the Apostle tamed in the picture. Howard Peter, “the big Fisherman.” Later Keel r ?£ Bst baritone and Jane in the picture another scene from Powell s lilting soprano, make their “The Robe” is used—that tremen- so «gs extremely listenable. In that dous Crucifixion sequence in which category is Keel S handling of the the Greek slave Demetrius kneels B ea utifulHide, at the feet of Christ, mute anguish Miss Powell’s “Wonderful, Wonder- mirrored on his face. Other than lu Day ’ ’ their work together and these two scenes, the same Roman s °t? . on /When You re In Love, settings and the overlying religious wind}.gets two re pnses; the hearty theme of Christianity’s troubled ^ omeB , by %&}; beginning, “Demetrius” strides a and Mlss Powell’s “Goin* Co’tm.” different course than the picture to The Broadway show touch comes which it is a worthy successor. from having Michael Kidd to stage Victor Mature again scores with the dances and musical numbers. A the character of the slave in this j; e{d standout is the - acrobatic hoe- second Frank Ross production. A down staged around a barn-raising mighty man is he battling three shmdig, during which six of the huge tigers in the Roman arena to title s seven ^brothers vie in love satisfy the mad urges of the crazy rivalry with .the town boys for the Emperor Caligula and the wicked f avor °* mountain belles. From Messaiina, dueling to the Jleath a sq^re dance, to acrobatics, to a with five of Rome’s best gladia- spirited free-for-all brawl, it s a tors, or making love to the same with wicked temptress who has tempo- rb r^!V? l f. JDayhem. rarily caused him to forget his God. j o® +i, bry As in all basic stories, this one has F° a - s a happy endinfc, not unwelcome tbe « m 5f" after the trial by fire and brime- stone through which the fallen has Y*. a been riraPrfpH song, older brother Keel tells his Deen araggea. youn kin the wonderful stor y of . c Jj5® usly * aBd exampled how some ancient Romans raided in The Robe, Cinemascope is the homes of the Sabines and ran never seen to better advantage 0 ff w ith the women, a saga that than when mirroring the pagentry cues the p i 0 t and title. Stylized to of the pagan Roman setting. It al- the extreme is the posturing ballet most seems that the anamorphic to “Lament.” Virginia Gibson leads Y' as Dieant for Bibical drama, the brides, garbed in corsets and Certainly it is hard to concieve of bloomers, in an okay song-terp any other photographic process do- blen d to “June Bride?’ Least ef- . ing as. much with the scenes of the f cc tive in fact seeming «imKct arena fights between man and man, to the othef staein? S and man and beast, or the sweep- "SDrimr Sorinc qnrin^ ing panoramas of pagan court sef- daneed bv the 8 hHde. !nrt 0 rL^. the* 1 neriod other vlsual o£ With Mature easily winning top too n mUch # for l Stanley g Donen e to S do acting honors for his splendidly except direct the story bridges be- project Demetrius, he is pressed by tween the numbers. This he does S^san Hayward as the evil Messa- adequately enough, though he Wh a 5 d y ? obln ^ n * repeating should have given the characters Caligula. Fine more depth and less broadness, W’ ^ eBnie » a 8 ain seen as particularly in the earlier se- s?reifrSh St {fnr^v te rnnic m / n °/ quie j °* u ^ nces - What plot there is in the strength. Bariy Jones, too, is good script by Albert Hackett, Frances ‘ £?JSf e Claudius, elderly hus- Goodrich and Dorothy Kingsley &Wf of < thRJamofal 'Messaiina, as i based'pn Stephen Vincent Benet/s - ; Cfrollfie Chcri© : ^ ^Garoltet. ^|ierie/% Frettcb Import curjeetit *t the Theatre, N, Y., was reviewed in Variety In the issue of > March 21, 193L JSeen at the ColiSee, Paris, bV' MosJe, the film was described as “a Gallic costumer of the revo- lutionary period that reminds one or ‘Forever Amber.’ ” Reviewer found it’ adroit and thought Martine "Carol’s s.a. should make it good for the U, S, arty sureseaters. . . ( ' UM IA (“Caroline,”' which original- ly ran 135 minutes, has now been trimmed to 115 minutes by distrib Arthur Davis. Tightening up process obvi- ously hasn't hurt this entry which is still slow in spots. However, Miss Carol ‘ is a charmer and the pic’s spicy treatment provides it with a hefty exploitation angle. This —is pretty earthy stuff with definite possibilities both for the Arties and otherwise. It’s got'the making of a b.o. click. Hift. “The Sobbin* Women,” almost plays itself, being concieved for amusement in dialog and situation. It’s the story of seven brothers liv- ing on a mountain farm. The eldest gets a bride and the others decide likewise, steal their maidens and, after a snowed-in winter, the girls’ parents mastermind a mass shot- gun wedding. The long and the short of the teaming of Keel and Miss Powell is that the pairing comes off very satisfactorily, vocally and other- wise. The brothers are all good, with Russ Tamblyn standing out in particular for performance and his dance work with such terpers as Tommy Rail, Marc Platt and Jacques d’Amboise. Jeff Richards also more than holds his own. Pleasing as the brides are Julie Newmeyer, Nancy Kilgas, Betty Carr, Virginia Gibson, Ruta Kil- monis and Norma Doggett. Those portraying the townspeople do their parts well. The Cinemascope lensing by George Folsey is clear as a bell, with no movement blur or image fuzziness. Ralph E. Winters’ edited the footage effectively. The musi- cal supervision by Saul Chaplin and the musical direction by Adolph Deutsch are first-rate credits. Brog, Johnny Dark (COLOR) Good sports car racing actioner with Tony Curtis, Piper Laurie ] and pop market* Trossibilitles. Hollywood, June 1. . Universal release of William Allanll production. Stars Tony Curtis, Piper Lau- rie. Don Taylor; features Paul Kelly, Ilka Chase, Sidney Blackmer, Ruth Hamp- ton. Directed by George Sherman, -writ- ten by Franklin Coen; camera (Techni- color), Carl Guthrie; editor, Edward-Cur- tiss; technical advisor, H. Haile Chace. Previewed May S, ’54. Running time, II MINS. Johnny Dark Tony Curtis Liz Piper Laurie Duke Benson .....Don Taylor Jim Scott Paul Kelly Abble Blnns Tlka Chase James Fielding Sidney Blackmer Miss Border-to-Border ... Ruth Hampton Emory ..Russell JohnSon Svenson Joseph Sawyer Smitty Robert Nichols E. J. Winston Pierre Watkin Himself Scat Man- Crothers Morgan Ralph Montgomery (Aspect ratio: 2-1) Sports car racing backgrounds this actionful Universal entry and its rpm output along the pop mar- ket tuack should be good,- especial- ly'since it teams Tony. Curtis and % 1954 Pipe? Liurie to tfe# young*: Prison in northtm N*lf Yoric,Tak- tti set ot tick&Jt buytW; • ' W tmpQrmztm* itfcrCanada, Footage ha* plenty of thrills for Jh* return* to the hamlet df st Ai- the woutdbie sports car enthusiasts turns* Y£, neai£ horde*,' in guise of in such sequences^ a* ,f*st ride* a Montreal butineasman looking over proving ground tracks, an ,aii> tp V a site to set up shop, but actual- port race over a .fixed course, and jy to'survey geography of the town the staged border-to-border road tor a daring venture. This is to race that served .as the story s take the town with a handful of climaxing action. Members of the Confederate soldiers, sack and real ring-and-plston set may mar* destroy it to divert Northern vel gt.the.Ingenuity and dispatch troops back to.N^w England and with Which motion pictures bring thus relieve, >,Union pressure on these things off, but for the pay- Gen. Lee. ing customers it’s a good show* ex-» star delivers impressively as he pertly fashioned to entertain un- carefully lays, his plans, which der the production guidance Of nearly are stymied , when a column 'William Alland and the muck- 0 f Union cavalry shows up minutes paced direction of George Sher- before the .'scheduled raid, delayed man; then for 49 hours. Heflin-shades Curtis plays the title character his role with - fine - restraint, a in Franklin Coen’s screen original: quality further reflected in the He’s an engineer* at an indepen- manner in which Freganese helms dent automobile plant who sudden- the full progress of . the planned ly gets a chance to build the attack; sports car he has designed under Excellent support is afforded company sponsorship. When he r i ght down the line, headed by finds out the construction was just Anne Bancroft, a young war widow a maneuver in a fight between old- A t”>hose boarding, house Heflin fashioned management, repre- tabes a room: Richard Boone as a sented by Sidney Blackmer, and one-armed Union veteran; and Lee progressive stockholders, repre- Marvin, a Southern officer whose sented ^ Pierre Watkin, Curtis fleyy temper neatly wrecks the swipes the car. With his buddy Don proposed-raid and who Js shot Taylor, driving, the. car xomes a down by Heflin.' Peter Graves and cropper in .the airport race and the John Dierkes also stand out as buddies fall out. This sets the Rebels, Tommy Rettig is in for a stage for Curtis to drive the ma- key spot as M iss Bancroft's young chme in the border-to-border son who rides for union help when (Canadian-Mexican) race and if t he raid begins, and Will Wright you don’t know before-hand that is t he banker. Balance of cast in- he finishes the race in front of dividually score «f^h b J«.1. ,Slf-’SiS- 8 Technical departments are Hncwfn 1 °' ' y£>e der strongly handled, Lucien Ballard’s photography graphically attuned to Miss Laurie is pretty as a pic- Robert Golden’s fast editing. Roy tore as the romantic prize that Webb’s musical score fits the ac- Curtis Wins along with the race. tion pat i y . Whit. Paul Kelly, plant foreman and Cur- v y ' tis* supporter, Ilka Chase, another Vtnfslncinn Curtis supporter and long-suffer- Adventare®^®! ^lottlnson ing secretary to Blackmer, an 1 the latter give the picture some sub- stance in performance, although the.demands do not draw heavily on the trio’s experience. Ruth Hampton shows up the correct that should excite and delight lines as the scantily-clad Miss the Juves. Berder-to-Border who greets the drivers along the way. _ United ArtistS Teleas* of *n Oscar . . ,, , Dancigcrs-Henry Ehrlich production Stars The long road race IS- thrillingly Dan O’Herllhy and James Fernandez; staged to get the most reaction features f ® u p* d* a A lba,. <?hei - J^p*** Jose ; Chavez, Emilio -Ganbay. Directed from the viewer. Cameras either |,y Luis Bunuei. screenplay by Phillip ride the hood Of a car - around RoU and Bunuei. based on the Daniel mountain curves, or take to the air in helicopter and plane for other ValSSuela ? 1 Previewed^April * 26 , '54 in thrill footage that will keep the n.y. Running-time,- w mins. customers on edge. Carl Guthrie *Z b J™, on Cruso ® did the excellent color lensing. capt y oberzo’ *. ‘*..^ Felipe d* Alba Editing by Edward Curtiss leaves Bos'n chei Lopez Crasoe •, (COLOR) Attractively done-up version of the Daniel Defoe classic that should excite and delight the Juves. Editing by Edward Curtiss leaves I Bos'n little excess footage and the other | technical assists deliver capably. Brog. (Aspect Ratio: 1.33 to 1) The Raid (COLOR) ‘Girls Marked Danger 9 New York. Editor, Variety: In reading your May 26th reviews, I was disturbed and concerned as to why the Eng- lish dubbed slug was omitted under the title of “Girls Mark- ed Danger.” Secondly, how can a strictly exploitation film be referred to by the reviewer as follows, “this looks oke for arty spots and foreign language thea- tres.” This attraction is entire- . ly in English. It was re- adapted for the American • market by new editing, visual and dialogue-wise, solely for the purpose of playing in all types of conventional and drive-in theatres. Won’t you make clear to your exhibitor reader that (a) “Girls Marked Danger” is in American dialogue. (b.) The previously stated expression, “this looks oke for ■ arty and foreign language the- atres” was in error, Bernard Jacon. , > L F; E. Releasing Corp. “Robinson Crusoe,” the ’Daniel Defoe classic which has thrilled and excited youngsters all over the , rnT nD . the world for more than two cen- ituLuiw turies, has been brought to the i« l Jm^#. U ^«73 r ?» bas t d on Henry Ehrlich with taste and a par ^ cular y stron * good deal -of pictorial imagina- programnler. nation. Pic, which by. the very „ nature of.. the story is turned Twentieth-Foi^^lif^ 0 nV JUmta into a tour-de-force for Dan Goidstein-Robert l! jlciw production! O’Herlihy as Crusoe, is a natural Stars Van Heflin; co-stars Anne Bancroft, for the juve trade. If properly ex- tKSS Pieter ’SKSS. P lolted ’ « sh .°“ 1 4 parUy ite adven- spencer. Paul cavanagb. win Wrigbt, ture theme into a hefty b.o. take. D * le 5 ke S’ H , e T len Ford. Made in Mexico. “Crusoe” is the gonese. Screenplay. * Sydney ^Boehm; first sound, and color version of the screen story, Francis Cockrell; based on Defoe tale. Although a good part *n«i*w py Herbert Rav- 0 f it is taken up with the shipwreck idf'o™ mu c :f" and Crusoc’a establishment of a Roy Webb. Previewed May 26 , *54. Run- home on the island on which he is mng time. «2 mins. to dwell for more than 28 years, Scat” BuIhlJn Benton Y«-Y a "director Luis Bunuei keeps the captain Foster ' '.Riyhard Boone hero on the move but doesn’t neg- Lieutenant Keating Lee Marvin leCt to establish the torment of a Capuin DwTer' '.V.V.V.V.'.^Pet?/ ££$& "? an suddenly cut off from all out- Reverend Lucas.........Douglas Spencer Side communication, a dog hlS only Colonel Tucker ..........Paul Cavanagb companion. There’s plenty In the Defoe booh Corporal Dean John Dierkes to fill the screen With all sorts Of Mr P n"mta #at " activity and O’Herlihy, a graduate Captain Hfnderson V.V.'.V.Y. Simon Scott Dublin's Abbey Theatre, enters Lieutenant Ramsey . : Claude Akins With gusto into, the spirit Of the (Aspect ratio: 1.66-1) thing. Film realistically shows him . aging through the years and he’s Depiction of a little-known inci- excellent in communicating emo- dent during the Civil War, “The tions which screen rarely has a Raid” stacks Up as a stirring and chance to express. All this changes, suspenseful entry for top bracket- of course, when he has his run-in ing in the program market and with the cannibals and rescues Fri- should run up better than average, day from death. He gains a faithful returns. One of • Leonard Gold- companion whom he teaches Eng- stein’s slate for 20th-Fox release, lish and the ways of. civilized men production handling by Robert L. as far as the primitive surround- Jacks is distinctive and Hugo ings will permit. Fregonese has given film particu- O’Herlihy, with the exception of larly rugged direction, a cast a few scenes, is completely be- headed by Van Heflin competently llevable, whether it’s working on delineating colorful characters.' his house or holding conversations Screenplay by Sidney Boehm is with flowers add insects. His per- based upon the raid of a small forroance, aided by Bunuel's expert Vermont town in 1864 by a band of direction and Alex Phillip’s find Confederate soldiers crossing over lensing, gives the film distinction, from Canada, to give Northerners James Fernandez as Friday, the a taste of the tragic events which savage who learns to respect and have beset Southern families, love his rescuer after an initial pe- Taken from Herbert Ravenal Sass’ rlod of uneasy suspicion and dis- true story, ‘‘Affair at St. Albans,” trust, steps right out of the pages episode has been developed dra- of the book. . Felipe De Alba is ma i and rea bstically, its tense splendid as - the captain, upfoldment assuring rapt audience Pathe color comes through very attention during its full length, well and in natural tones that pro- Tecnnicolor , feature should bene- vide added values. Bunuel’s meg- fit by word-of-mouth publicity as ging is intelligent and places the well as by the exploitation poten- accent where it belongs, building ■ « sub J ec * matter. suspense And tension as Crusoe Heflih portrays a Confederate suddenly discovers that he’s shar- nwjbr who leads the escape of ’ing the w island "-with* car^^als. seven Rebel officers from a Union.) * m < -<, .*♦,!*•* ft