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,<br />
Opinions on Current Productions; Exploitips for Selling to the Publii<br />
FEATURE REVIEWS<br />
^i<br />
Easter Parade<br />
MGM(- -) 103 Minutes<br />
Musical<br />
(Technicolor)<br />
Rel. July 1, '48<br />
Give My Regards to<br />
20th-Fox (827)<br />
92 Minutes<br />
Broadway<br />
Comedy<br />
With Music<br />
(Technicolor)<br />
Rel. June '48<br />
Wholly delightfuU A beautifully Technicolored musical<br />
spectacle held together by a plausible story with both Fred<br />
Astrfire and Judy Garland turning in performances that are<br />
joys to watch and to hear. Irving Berlin's melodies are enriched<br />
by modern orchestrations in a way that will leave the<br />
oldsters with happy memories and the youngsters gaily humming<br />
and whistling jjnder the illusion they are catching up<br />
with the latest song hits. Judy Garland is gay, sad and<br />
comic by turns. Both her singing and her dancing ore outstanding.<br />
Fred Astaire has never been better. They are<br />
practically the whole show—and what a show!—with applause<br />
also due Ann Miller, who does some fine dancing.<br />
Arthur Freed was the producer and Charles Walters the<br />
director. Johnny Green was the musical director.<br />
•tsv;<br />
'ijOll<br />
Still another in the long succession of sparkling filmusicols<br />
for which 20th-Fox has become justifiably celebrated, this has<br />
the earmarks of the profits-and-praise success enjoyed by<br />
most of its predecessors. It is further akin to those antecedents<br />
because it finds its roots in yesteryear's show business<br />
and its accompanying aura of nostalgia, color, comedy and<br />
romance. But the story is far from formula. It merely starts<br />
backstage, chronicling the death of vaudeville. From then<br />
on, the wholesome, heart-warming yarn switches to small city<br />
life revealing how it took 30 years for vaudeville to die in<br />
the heart of one of its denizens Who betimes has become<br />
an industrialist. The script was bench-tailored for a carefully<br />
selected, enthusiastic cast which, under the experienced<br />
direction of Lloyd Bacon, makes a Technicolorful entertainment<br />
field day of its chores.<br />
Judy Garland, Fred Astaire, Peter Lawford, Ann Miller. Jules<br />
Munshin, Clinton Sundberg, Jeni LeCon.<br />
Dan Dailey, Charles Winninger, Nancy Guild, Charlie Ruggles.<br />
Fay Bainter, Barbara Lawrence, Jane Niche.<br />
The Gallant Legion<br />
F<br />
Western<br />
The Big Punch<br />
F<br />
Republic ( ) 88 Minutes Rel.<br />
Warner Bros. (727) 80 Minutes Rel. June 26, '48<br />
When Republic elects to take the rubber bands off that<br />
part of the productional bankroll allocated to action dramas,<br />
it has few, if any, peers in concocting sagebrush fare sufficiently<br />
impressive to easily earn the oft-abused designation<br />
of super-western. This is irrefutable testimony thereto. While<br />
boasting in bumper measures all of the wanted ingredients,<br />
the story cleverly contrives to employ but sparingly the galloper<br />
formula. Finding foundation in an authentic passage of<br />
Texas' turbulent post-bellum history, the offering should prove<br />
a bonus for the six-guns enthusiasts and has plenty to, commemd<br />
the respect of spectators with wider tastes. A highlycompetent<br />
cast, spectacular production values and hairtrigger<br />
direction milk such literary advantages of every drop<br />
of exciting entertainment, qualifying the film the topside at<br />
all but the ultra situations. Directed by Joe Kane.<br />
Patrons who assume from the title that they are going<br />
to see a picture about the manly art of legalized mayhem<br />
are due for a surprise and, in some instances, a disappointment.<br />
True enough, the picture devotes its early passages<br />
to the fight game, with emphasis on its crooked ramifications.<br />
Then the story does a fast switch and develops into<br />
one of those small-town idyllic situations in which the new<br />
young minister goes all out to sell himself to a skeptical<br />
congregation while, at the same time, he goes to bat for the<br />
ex-pug wrrongfully accused of murder. Thus the film is a<br />
strange combination of big-town toughness and rural wholesomeness.<br />
Considering that the picture was modestly bankrolled—<br />
it being the initialer of WB's recently established<br />
low-budget unit—^production values are impressive. Directed<br />
by Sherry Shrouds.<br />
William Elliott, Adrian Booth, Joseph Schildkraut, Bruce<br />
Cabot, Andy Devine, Jack Holt, Grant Withers.<br />
King of the Gamblers<br />
F<br />
Melodrama<br />
r<br />
jojoy<br />
0. Ltt<br />
. Raw<br />
Wayne Morris, Lois Maxwell, Gordon MacRae, Mary Stuart,<br />
Anthony Warde, Jimmy Ames, Mcnrc Logan.<br />
Deal<br />
Action<br />
Drama<br />
Republic (709) 60 Minutes Rel. May 10, '48<br />
While the story is strictly ala formula, unusually good<br />
performances for pictures of its type elevate this mobstersand-murder<br />
melodrama and earn it appraisal as first-rate<br />
supporting material. In fact, in the less important exhibition<br />
spots where patrons relish gore and suspense the film can<br />
get by at the top of the bill. The story concerns itself with<br />
the fixing of sporting events and focuses principally upon<br />
professional football. When one star player, who has sold<br />
out to the gambling syndicate, is murdered, his rival is<br />
framed to take the rap. How he is saved from the gas<br />
chamber by a pal in the D.A.'s office is the backbone of the<br />
plot. Considering the picture's budget classification, it reflects<br />
impressive production values and the sincere and willing<br />
cast is kept moving at a lively clip by the experienced direction<br />
of George Blair. -<br />
Eagle Lion (822)<br />
78 Minutes Rel. May 26, '48<br />
A powerful, fast-moving gangster melodrama made to order<br />
for the devotees of action fore. Although not quite as realistic<br />
as "T-Men," which was also produced by Edward Small,<br />
the film is less like a documentary and carries ample romantic<br />
and feminine appeal. The names of Dennis O'Keefe,<br />
who is fast becoming the leading portrayer of tough-guy<br />
roles, and Claire Trevor and Marsha Hunt, will insure good<br />
business generally. It should clean up in action spots. Miss<br />
Trevor has rarely looked better or given a more effective<br />
performance. Director Anthony Mann occasionally uses firstperson<br />
narration by Miss Trevor's embittered but faithful<br />
gun-moll to bridge story gaps but he never permits interest<br />
to lapse. The picture opens with a prison break and winds<br />
up wilh a thrilling shooting, fist-fighting sequence. The<br />
striking camera angles deserve special mention.<br />
Janet Martin, William Wright, Thurston Hall, Stephanie Bachelor,<br />
George Meeker, Wally Vernon, William Henry.<br />
Dennis O'Keefe, Claire Trevor, Marsha Hunt, John Ireland,<br />
Curt Conway, Chili Willicxms, Raymond Burr.<br />
The Damned<br />
Discina International 100 Minutes<br />
A<br />
Rel.-<br />
Sword of the Avenger<br />
F<br />
Action<br />
Drama<br />
Eagle Lion (823) 76 Minutes ReL June 2, '48<br />
Like the majority of French-language features, this is<br />
melodramatic fare for adult audiences only. Because Florence<br />
Marly, now under contract to Paramount in Hollywood,<br />
is not yet known to American patrons and the other players<br />
are also unfamiliar, the picture is best suited to art theatre<br />
showings. In these spots the title and grim theme should<br />
result in good grosses. Except for the young doctor who relates<br />
the tale and the submarine captain's young daughter,<br />
the characters are either cruel, weak or unsympathetic.<br />
Director ReneT;iement focuses on each of the eight people<br />
in a Nazi submarine and shows how they crack under the<br />
strain while the boat is heading for South America. Suspense<br />
builds slowly but steadily and the finale is realistic and<br />
inevitably tragic. Miss Marly gives a performance in the<br />
Dietrich manner. Discina Int'l is at 250 West 57th St., N.Y.C.<br />
Henri Vidal, Florence Marly, Jo Dest, Kurt Kronefeld, Michel<br />
938<br />
Auclair, Anne Campioru Marcel Dalio, Fosco Giachetti.<br />
Jilh<br />
Hal,<br />
maker.<br />
Ten -ye;<br />
A Monte Cristo tale in a Philippines setting which has<br />
enough swashbuckling adventure to please the action devotees.<br />
Except for the striking outdoors backgrounds photographed<br />
in the infrequently-used sepia-tone and a fine musical<br />
score composed and directed by Eddison von Ottenfeld,<br />
the picture is routine adventiire fare. Will make a fair<br />
supporting dualler generally. Sigrid Gurie, the best known<br />
player, does good work as the heroine and Ralph Morgan<br />
and Duncan Renaldo are other familiar faces. Although the<br />
star, Ramon Del Gado, is suitably cast as a Filipino patriot,<br />
he is not handsome or dashing enough to appeal to American<br />
women patrons. Laid in the early part of the 19th century,<br />
the story deals with a Filipino patriot who is unjustly jailed<br />
but eventually escapes and frees his people from their<br />
oppressors. Directed by Sidney Salkow.<br />
Ramon Del Gado, Sigrid Gurie, Ralph Morgan, Dunccm<br />
Renaldo, Leonard Strong, Trevor Bardette, Lee Baker.<br />
BOXOFnCE May 29, 1948 937
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