Variety (November 1954)

FILM REVIEWS Wednesday, NovemL«r 24, *1954 Mambo (ITALIAN—-SONGS) Rome, Nov. 23. Paramount release o£ a Pontl-Del.auren- tlia production. Star* Sllvana Mangaro, Michael Rennie, Vittorio Gassmann, Shel- ley Winters, Katherine Dunham; features Eduardo- Clanclli. Directed by Robert Rossen. Screenplay, Rossen. Guido Pto- vene, Ivo Perilil, Ennio De Condni, •, from story by Perilil and De Cortcinl; camera, Harold Rosson; costumes!,_, Jack Pratt, Guido ColteUacci; music, Bernardo No- riega, Dave Gilbert; dances, Katherine Dunham; editor,- Adriana Novelh.- At Cinema Europe, Rome. Running time, 110 MINS. Glovanna Masetll • -Count ■,Enrico Mario Rossi Tony Burns Katherine Dunham .. SilvSna Mangano ; Michael Rennie jttorio Gftssriurin , Shelley Winters Herself Paramount has a moneymaker in this Pohti-DeLaurentiis produc- tion, patterned ' general lines after the two previous Mangano- Gassmann .costarrers, "Bitter Rice’’ pnd "Anna.”. Similar themes, - if not settings, will help, and the title is an added asset. General runs in foreign market,, including the tl. S,, will be aided by such cast names as Michael Rennie, Shelley Winters and Katherine Dunham- Some tightening of the pace is suggested, with the first half especially vulnerable. Actors mouth English dialog and pic gets dubbed release in U. S. Story is again near soap Opera, and involves the trials of a girl who wants to be a dancer. She is torn between the pure love for a dying prince; and. the passionate embraces of an adventurer. For a while Giovanna' (Silvana Mangario) is happy with the dance group led by Tony (Miss Winters), and soon becomes star of. the show. But despite her success: on return- ing to her! home town of Venice, She falls once mor*- under the adventurer’ (Vittorio Gassmann), spell while turning down a mar- riage proposal by . the prince (Rennie); Learning that the prince Is in- curably ill* Gassmann forces her to marry him to cash in on his future inheritance. Married life, however, shows, her it’s the prince whom she always really: loved; When he dies, she gives up the inheri- tance and Gassmann, returning to her other, love, the dance. Like the story, the film is not for the .discriminating, at least in its'pres- ent form. Reportedly, it has been re-cut several times after . Rossen finished . it, and is said to bear little resemblance to the original; Performances are generally good, with Rennie copping honors in a smooth, sympathetic effort as the doomed prince. Miss Mangano goes through her paces believably, and- dances well. Miss Winters contributes ,ably despite a vaguely " drawn charac- ter, while Gassman effectively overacts his villain role in keep- ing with the picture’s spirit; Miss Dunham, and Eduardo Cianelli liven up some minor roles, with the .former also contributing the pic’s choreography, In attempt: to duplicate the b.o. assist given “Anna”Hby its “song,” producers have given Miss Mangano several to sing, but she, or her dubber, does so indifferently, Without the impact found in ‘‘Anna.’’ Some of the film’s music, how-; ever, is good for a spin, and com- bined with the title, can help sell the pic.. The production has been Well fitted technically. Harold Rosson’s camerawork, especially in captur- ing an unusual Venice-in-winter, is expert. Hawk . i >y Vengeance Good melodrama with revenge motivation for general play- dates; ence sympathy as usually accrues to, the screen hero. Two talented femme lookers, Martha Hyep. and Joan Vohs, add’ topnotch. distaff interest to thf plotting in the screen stoty by Warren Douglas and George Bricker. Stevens, released from San Quentin after serving three years ori a frameup, sets Out after Doug- las Kennedy; whom he believes responsible for-killing hiS Wife and child in an auto explosion that dis- figured. the ex-deteetive. The trail leads to Alaska, where Stevens finds Kennedy , a respected business man whose chief interest is in his young daughter, Cheryl Callaway. Kennedy is innocent of the origi- nal fix and explosion, .so the crook who had arranged it sends killer Skip Homeier after Kennedy, .fig- uring the latter’s death will put Stevens back In. prison for keeps. Homeier gets Kennedy, plus his own moll,. Miss Vohs, but she’s able to tip off the law so that Stevens avoids the. new frame and is freed of his complexes. Finale indicates, he will get together with Miss Hyer. after the legalistics are over. The performances of the entire cast come over in good style. Par- sons’: production. supervision, with John!. H: furrows as associate, achieves, smart, values for the budget through thy Pacific North- west locales and the way they are used. On the technical side, Wil- liam Sickner’s camera work, the editing by Elirio Veron and the score by Paul Dunlap are among the good points. Drop. The Yellow Mountain (COLOR) Formula western feature for regulation dating. In the Out- door market,. Hollywood, Nov. 23. - .Universal release of Rosa,Hunter pro- duction. Stairs Lex Barker, Mala Powers. Howard Duff; co-stars WiUiam pemarest, John Mclntire; feature* Leo Gordon. Day- ton Lummls, Hal K; Dawson; 'William Fawcett, James Parnell..Directed .by Jesse Hlbbs; Screenplay, George Zuckerman, Russell Hughes; Adaptation, Robert Blees; based on the story by . Harold Channlng Wire; camera (Technicolor), George Rob- inson: editor, Edward Curtiss; music supervision,.,- Joseph Gershenson. Pre- viewer Nov.. 10, .’84. Running time,. 77 MINS. Andy. Martin Nevada Wray Pete Menlo ... Jackpot Wray . Bannon ....... Drake Goraghty ;....., Sam Torrence . Old Prospector Joe (Aspect: ratio :.. 2-1) . Lex Barker. Mala Powers Howard Duff William Demarest . . . John Mclntire ...... Led Gordon .. Dayton Lummls ... Hal K. Dawson William Fawcett James Parnell. Hollywood, Nov. 19. Allied Artists release of Llndslev Par- sons production. Stars Mark; Stevens; features Martha Hyer, Skip Honieicr, Joan Vohs. frected, by Mark Stevens. Written by Warren Douglas, George Bricker; camera, William Sickncr; editor, Elmo Veron; music. Paul Dunlap. Pre- viewed Nov, 17, '54. Running time, 81 Ml NS*. Vic. Barrdii Peggy Harding. Roxcy. ' Lily Arnold ..... Tino Morelli ■. ;,. LieUt. Ryan Marie. Moielli .. . Mike Walters. . Johnny. B) u e'Ey es Red .Miller. ..... ,Nick Budii Emily Miller Mark Stevens Martha Hyer Skip Homeier: ........ Joan Vohs ,... Douglas Kennedy ...... Don Haggerty ,..., Cheryl Callaway .. ... Warren Douglas , Mort Mills .;.... John Doucette Lewis Martin Dorothy Kennedy. A chase that carries a vengeance- seeking man to Ketchikan, Alaska; motivates this tough melodrama, and gives it an. interesting back- ground, Allied. Artists should en- . joy a satisfactory payoff from it ! generally, since it shapes up as- 1 acceptable filmfate for those who like their mellers bn the rugged side. Mark Stevens both stars in and directed the Lindsley Parsons pro- duction and does well on both counts. He keeps attention on his character of an ex-cdp out to re- venge a frame and the death of his family,, even though the role doesn’t command as much audi- The outdoor .market will prob- ably, put an okay stamp bn "The Yellow Mountain.’’ It has all the well-used ingredients of the com- monplace western actloner, plus a color treatment end some familiar names. Plot is made up of formula oater-action ; predicaments, Jesse Hibbs’ direction stirs up some reg- ulation outdoor movement in han- dling story and players. Familiar motivations have Lex Barker and Howard Duff, his. larcenous part- ner. at odds over a gold mine and a girl, Mala Powers, but getting to- gether at the finale to defeat ef- forts of John Mclntire to oust Miss Powers’ father, William Demarest, from a supposedly worthless -claim. A lot of complications, too many, feature the script by George Zuck- erman and Russell Hughes, based % on Robert Blees’ adaptation of the Harold Channing Wire story. Assisting the five stars through the plot chores In featured spots are Leo Gordon, Mclptire’s chief gunman; Dayton Liimmis, Hal K. Dawson and others. Cast toppers and the others give adequate em- phasis to the action requirements. Technicolor lensing by George Robinson makes good use of the outdoor locations and the other technical assists measure up, Brog. outdoor actfoner, and the bang- ‘bang they supply sets the offering up as an okgy entry for the pro- grammer market. Montgomery is seen in the title role, while James Griffith does Doc Holiday* and Bruce Cowling the character of Wyatt Earp. As a sharp-shooting trio, the threesome provides the picture with sufficient interest and movement to see it through its playdates. The char- acterizations come over well un- der William Castle’s direction of the screen story by Douglas Heyes, and Sam Katzman backs the pres- entation with suitable outdoor ac- tion values. William A. Henry heads the heavy lineup,' representing cattle interests that have framed John Maxwell so that the latter will riot be .able to turn oyer rich grass lands to an Indian tribe led by Jay Silverheels. Although Master- son and Holiday are sworn enemies out to get each other, they join to- gether to. save Maxwell, mostly be- cause the latter’s daughter, Nancy Gates, is. so appealing. Climax finds Masterson, Holiday and Earp mov- ing in on a mob for a last-minute save of Maxwell from a lynching —a stunt that , also averts the In- dian war threatened by Silverheels if his friend were to die. , Jean Willes, Benny Rubin and David Bruce are among others in the cast who back up the outdoor action values satisfactorily; Tech- nicolor lerisirig by Henry Freulich and the other technical credits are Brog. intelligently filled by Geoffrey! Keefi, Liam- Redmond* ' Eddie I Byrne and Theodore BlkeK Charles Crichton’s direction strike’s a note of sincerity. Main technical credits are more than satisfactory. Myro. Black 1 J Inferior British import for- smaller situations. Tlie DIvlded Heart (BRITISH) Real life story of . adopted wartime child claimed by real mother; sincerely told; but absence of marquee, strength hurts U. S. Chances. Loridon, Nov. 9. General ilm Distributor* release of Ealing Studios-Mlchael Balcon production. Stars Cornell Borchers. Yvonne Mitchell, Armin D&hleii, Alexander Knox. Directed by Charles Crichton. Screenplay, Jack Whlttlngham and .Richard Hughes: cam- era, Otto Heller; editor, Peter. Bezencenet; music, Georges Aurie; At ddeon. Leices- ter Square, London, Nov. fl, ’54. Running time, |9 MINS. Inga ........ Sonja ..;.... Franz ....... Chief Justice Marks First Justice Second Justice Josip . . . . .... Dr. Muller . . . Prof,' Miran ... CorneU Borchers ., Yvonne Mitchell .Armin Dahlen Alexander Knox ... Geoffrey Keen .. Liam-Redmond ..... Eddie Byrne .. Theodore Bikel .... Ferdy.Mayrie , Andre Hlkhelson Hollywood, Nov. 22, Twentieth-Fox. release' of a Roger Proudlock production. Stays Peter Rey- nolds, Rona Anderson. Patrlc Barr, Lana Morris. Directed by Ken Hughes. Story, Pietro Germi; camera, Gerald Gibbs; edi-. tor, Sarn Simmons. Previewed Nov. '9, '54» Running time, 75 MINS. Stephen ,Peter Reynoitis Claire •.,;;. Rona Anderson Robert...:;... ....,...,, Patrlc Barr Marion ..... v........ ..... Lana Morris Stella Genine Graham w 0 ,, • , Michael Balfour Wally . v,, John ^Forrest Mrs, Barclay Viola Lye! Professor Barclay ....... . Martin Walker Inspector John Le Mesurler Bruno Martin Benson (Aspect ratio : 1.33-1) Mile. Poncet .. . Pamela Stirling Toni lchel. Ray, Martin Keller Mltzl Krystyna Rumlstrzcwicz Max .., ...... . ..: Mark Guebhard Sonja'a Daughters.. .... • • Gilgi Mauser. Maria Leontovitsch Hans - Martin Stevens Matron .............. ..^ananneWaUa vhreg .. 1-., v • Dorit V/elles Foreman ; • Hans Kuhn A human story takeh from real life, “The Divided Heart” fails to tug: the emotional heartstrings and ends up as little more^than a con- ventional if convincing meller. It is a questionable b.b. preposition, with , little name value to help as a selling factor on either side of the Atlantic. " Film is based ori an actual story featured in “Life” in which a “blood mother” claims her son, who had legally been adopted dur- ing the. war by German parents. The , narrative Js sincerely de- veloped from the actual documen- tation of the case. It spotlights the dilemma of the American tribu- nal which has to decide whether the boy should remai with bis foster parents or be sent to his real mother. The circumstances are mainly depicted in flashback during the hearing by the Ameri- can judges. The boy’s father Is shot by the Nazis after he- had helped the partisans in Yugoslavia. His two daughters are taken by the Ger- mans but his wife escapes into the woods with her infant son until the child’s ill-health drives her back into the city. She is captured and sent to Auschwitz while 4he child goes to ari orphanage: The foster parents are a childless couple arid found the boy in the orphanage where he was shy arid uncooperative. With tenderness and love, they make him into a friendly, healthy youngster. The real drama conies with, the court’s decision to base the final verdict on the boy’s own decision. Despite the fact that the child prefers to stay with his foster parents, there is a two-to-one rul- ing from the judges that he should be repatriated to his real mother. At no time does the script measure up to the real heartache of the actual incident and there is rarely more than a superficial approach to this postwar problem. The cast is more than adequate, however, and Cornell Borchers and Yvonne Mitchell give stirring per- formances as the two mothers in- volved in the dilemma. Armin , , Dahlen is not tbo convincing as Three legendary western gun- the other foster parent but Alex- inen qOcupy positions of. promi- . andcr Knox is always dignified as hence in this George Montgomery 1 the chief justice, Other roles are Masterson of Kansas (COLOR) George Montgomery in out- door actioner suitable for the regular programmer iriarket. Hollywood, Nov. 17. Columbia release of Sam Katzmpn pro- duction. Stars George Montgome-ry; : fea- tures Nancy 1 Gates, James Griffith. Di- rected by William Castle. Story arid screenplay, Douglas Heyes; camera (Tech- nicolor), Henry, Freulich; editor, Henry Datista. Previewed Nov. 16, ’54. Running time, 72 MINS. Bat Masterson George Montgomery Amy Merrick Doc Holliday Dallas Corey Coronet-, ... Charlie Fry , Clay BOnriett Wyatt Earp . Sutton ... Virgil. Earp. . Mitch .... ............, Tyler .. \ ............. Yellow Hawk Merrick Gage Lt. Post Nancy Gates Janies Griffith .:., Jean Willes Benny Rubin William A. Henry .... David Bruce ... Bruce Cowling Gregg Barton . Donald Murphy ..: Gregg Martell . Sandy Sanders . . Jay Silverheels ... John Mnxwell Wesley Hudniah .... Leonard Geer Twentieth-Fox seemingly im- ported this inferior British film for exhibs who lack widescreens, arid the choice isn’t a happy orie, Even ini the smaller program market the going will be tough. A cast of unknowns isn’t: helped either by story or direction in the overlong tale. Yarn unfolds in London, where the son of a col- lege professor has turned to hold- ups and eventual murder, while his sister is going with a detective assigned to the series of crimes. Premise static develop- ment. Peter Reynolds is the criminal, an unpleasant blighter, arid Rona Anderson as the sister is as good as part will permit. Patric Barr oc- casionally manages an okay im- pression of the dick,' and Lana Morris, in love with Reynolds, is notable .mostly for a striking re- semblance at times Bette Davis. Genine Graham displays an inter- esting personality as a hardboiled mtery pianist. Technical credits -are. adequate. Roger Proudlock is producer and Ken Hughes handles the direction. Whit: The End ol the Road (BRITISH) Routine tear jerker; dialect and lack of marquee names will hurt U.S. chances. » ^ r, London, Nov. 16. ,. British Lion release of Group-3 produc- tion. ‘Features Finlay CUrrie, Duncan Lamont, Naomi Chance. Directed by Wolf MlUa. Screenplay, James Forsyth arid Geoffrey^Orme; camera, Arthur Grant; . j Bernard Grlbble; music, John Addison. At . Gaumont (private theatre), London, Running time, 76 Ml NS. Works Manager , Time-keeper v Old Worker . . .: Old *?MJck-Mack" Gloomy Gerti Barney Barney. Wee' Molly Young Kenniev.. Personnel Manager. BUilder Manager Madge .. . .... Edward Chapman ...... George Merritt. •... Eugene Leary .., . Finlay Currie Edie Martin ,... • Duncan Laifiont David Hannaford ....... Naomi. Chance .... Gordon Whiting ....-.Pauline Winter .,Michael. Bird -:... Tony Kllshawe . ... Hlnda Fehemore This is a conventional weepie, riiade on a modest scale, the origi- nality of whose story has been blurred through- recent stage and radio presentations of “The Wooden Dish” (with an . identical theme—-a woman rebelling against the care of her aged father-in-law). It should make an acceptable dualer here, being well constructed and a coriimendable specimen of its type, but the dialect and lack of: topliners v probably will detract from its appeal in the U.S. Story is set in. the industrial Midlands, the drab environment of factory chimneys being reflected in the: lives and characters of the people. A skilled old workman is retired by his firm of electro- platers, but resents being shelved and tries in vain 4 for other work. He shares his son’s home but upr sets his daughter-in-law who threatens to quit unless he is sent, to an institution. The husband gets fired and in desperation his father gets a. job as. night: watchman at his old works, but loses it after a misunderstanding. His apparent inefficiency results in his probing the. secret of a deterioration in a smelting vat, which restores his prestige and he takes over the post of timekeeper. Tilie personalities are all stock, but of real human interest, the most appealing being that of- the small grandson who plays hookey to follow the distraught old man far into the night, fearful for his safety. Finlay Currie gives a grand portrait of the old diehard while Duncan Lamont registers well in the minor role of his. son, torn be- tween loyalties, The harassed wife is well played by Naomi Chance and Edward Chapman is alter- nately crisply officious arid hu- manely understanding as the works manager. David Hannaford is an endearing moppet.. Pic is deftly directed by Wolf Rill a. Clem. CMtlniwI from pair I c a — 3 such a tieup r the French Would benefit from IFE coin in the form of guarantees—as the Italians do now-^also goes begging. IFE. topper Eitel Monaco stated recently that IFE would ; release French pix. that aren’t Franco-Italo coproductions.' This caused sur- prise in N.Y.. and a good ^deal of speculation as to whether IFE. might eventually be turned into an international releasing outfit, han- dling also German and British pix. Renato Gualino, > IFE gerieral manager, stated in N.Y. yesterday (Tues.) that the IFE board in Rome had changed the bylaws of the: out- fit to 'allow it to' take. on releases from any. nationality. There was no elaboration of specific intentions re IFE’s future. However, Gualino . plans to 'confer with the French producer, George Lourau, when the latter arrives in N. Y. later this Week. Independent Motion Picture Dis- tributors Assn., to which iriany of the iridic ops belong; is due to take up the IFE question at an early meet; IMPDA pfexy Arthur Mayer acknowledged in N.Y. this week that iriany of his organization’s members were greatly disturbed over the reports of IFE release of French pix. One of the indies’ problem’s is the recent tendency of circuits to go into the “foreign film biz. Ex- ample is the latest Alec Guinness starrer, ‘To Paris With Love,” be- ing grabbed off by Continental.. Pictures; in which Frank Kassler and Walter Reade are pards. Guar- antee is said to run very high on that one. Top British. entries are particu- larly out of reach for the indies unless they Ire , well-heeled. Univer- sal* United Artists and Republic are ip the bidding for the Rank films and the indies get a crack at the Rank pix if- the guarantee of- fered is high enough. Associated British features get an Allied Artists release but agaiq may be sold away if the indie guarantee makes it desirable to do so. Re- nown’s output is tied up with Trans-Lux. 20th Recoups Continued from page 3 underwriting Bausch & Lomb re- tooling. It also bought into a screen manufacturing outfit and took the risk- of underwriting largescale lens, screen and sound equipment orders both in the U. S. and abroad. Outfit plans to continue licensing both the major; studios and indies for the making of C’Scope pix. Former are given blank one-year licenses for $75,000 and the latter are charged $25,000 per pic. Pur- pose, at least as far as the indies are concerned, is to assure quality Under the Cinemascope trademark. Cine.maScope installations in the U. S. are running almost' exactly, true to predictions made by A1 Lichtman, 20th director of sales, a year ago when he said there would be 10,000 by the end of 1954: Count as of Nov. 6 was 9,234, and orders continue to come in at the rate Of about 200 a week. It’s ex- pected that, by 1955, there will be 11,000 U. S. arid Canadian theatres equipped, or about 50% of all the houses operating in the two coun- tries. " Abroad, some 2,000 theatres have C’Scbpe and 20th reports 4,000 or- ders currently being processed. Continued from page 4 recognition from both festivals un- less they could reach agreement. Americari film execs recall that, once before, the. Federation; had urged Cannes and Venice to go for a rotating deal and that, despite a lot of talk, nothing had happened then. Feeling is that something simi- lar will occur again. . It's pointed out that both the Italians arid the French are well represented on the council arid that* when the chips are down, neither party was likely to jeopardise its position. The fes- tivals are considered prime tourist attractions, i. e. dollar earners, and Closing shop on either is likely to rouse governmental ire, it’s felt. As for the American position should a stalemate arise, company spokesmen take the view that Hol- lywood would probably collaborate with any of the major festival . “We don’t want to be caught in the middle,” was one comment.