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    POPULAR PICTURES of the Hollywood 1940s
    POPULAR PICTURES of the Hollywood 1940s
    POPULAR PICTURES of the Hollywood 1940s
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    POPULAR PICTURES of the Hollywood 1940s

    By John Howard Reid

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    Headed "Fascinating Tour of the 1940s for Movie Buffs", the following review by Maria Trefely-Deutch appeared in The Sunday Telegraph: John Howard Reid’s latest offering is every bit as idiosyncratic as his previous books in this series, and equally compulsive reading for film buffs. The present book provides a wealth of information. However, in his enthusiasm for the golden oldies, Reid does tend to go over the top with his prose. In his review of Captain Kidd, Charles Laughton is described as "hamming up the part with such lively gusto as to turn an almost featherless screenplay into a veritable feast of robust entertainment." Then again, no film commentator ever made his name by showing restraint. While all Reid’s reviews are entertaining and informative, some show exceptional insights... The following review by John Weyland was published in The West Australian: “POPULAR PICTURES of the Hollywood 1940s” is a minor masterpiece in the film book genre. Although the author finds much excellence in the films he has chosen, he is also not afraid to criticize harshly. Generally, however, Reid finds much to admire in the films he writes about. He is a full-fledged movie buff, but not a drooling one. His selections range from Son of Dracula ("a minor masterpiece of the 'B' Gothic cinema") to Tarzan Triumphs ("the climax in which Johnny Weissmuller taunts the Nazi before leading him to a gruesome death, has a prolonged, psychologically violent intensity rare in the kiddies' matinee movie"). All told, more than 150 films are featured in this surprising book. They all contain exhaustive information on credits, casts, box-office figures and release dates... Headed, "Much to entertain for the film buffs", this review by Peter Dean appeared in The Courier-Mail: This sixth book in the Hollywood Classics series is as pertinent, illuminating and controversial. For instance, many inoffensive and obliging actors are labeled dull. Walter Pidgeon, for one. The antipathy exhibited towards him in "Memorable Films of the Forties" is continued, even when he earns a left-handed compliment for his performance in "How Green Was My Valley", in which (while dull, of course) he was "brilliantly cast". On the other hand, Reid finds Spencer Tracy, Gene Lockhart, Claude Rains, Cedric Hardwicke, Raymond Massey, Norman Lloyd, Jack Carson, Bruce Bennett, Zachary Scott, Lionel Barrymore, John Garfield, Adolphe Menjou, David Niven, Dudley Digges, John Hodiak, Wendell Corey, Ronald Colman, William Benilliam Bendix and Noel Coward consistently pleasing. There’s little to argue about there. Proving gallantry isn't dead, Reid also expresses warm regards for a swag of actresses, including Dorothy Lamour, Ilona Massey, Marilyn Monroe, Barbara Stanwyck, Ann Blyth, Ginger Rogers, Jean Arthur, Doris Day, Katharine Hepburn and most particularly Alice Faye ("so electrifying") and the incomparable Ingrid Bergman, both of whom, in Reid's eyes, could do no wrong. In his review of "Keys of the Kingdom", Reid provides a most interesting section on how Hollywood used to pander to the vested interests of organized religion, particularly the Catholic Church. Reid describes the movie as a milksop version of A.J. Cronin’s novel in which "not a single one of his points or arguments are allowed even a shadow of expression on the screen". Yet Fox’s publicity department had the audacity to hail the novel as "one of the most excitingly discussed books of our times!" even though every single reference, word or incident that excited discussion had been scrupulously removed from the film by executive producer, Darryl F. Zanuck. This review of "Keys of the Kingdom" is film criticism at its best. Indeed there is much to savor and respect in this book. John Howard Reid speaks his mind intelligently and entertainingly. Even if you don’t always agree with him, your outlook has been so stimulated that it may never be quite the same again.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherJohn Howard Reid
    Release dateMar 29, 2011
    ISBN9781458143860
    POPULAR PICTURES of the Hollywood 1940s
    Author

    John Howard Reid

    Author of over 100 full-length books, of which around 60 are currently in print, John Howard Reid is the award-winning, bestselling author of the Merryll Manning series of mystery novels, anthologies of original poetry and short stories, translations from Spanish and Ancient Greek, and especially books of film criticism and movie history. Currently chief judge for three of America's leading literary contests, Reid has also written the textbook, "Write Ways To Win Writing Contests".

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      Book preview

      POPULAR PICTURES of the Hollywood 1940s - John Howard Reid

      POPULAR PICTURES OF THE HOLLYWOOD 1940s

      John Howard Reid

      ****

      Published by:

      John Howard Reid at Smashwords

      Copyright (c) 2011 by John Howard Reid

      ****

      All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

      Smashwords Edition Licence Notes

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy.

      ****

      Original text copyright 2011 by John Howard Reid. All rights reserved.

      Enquiries: johnreid@mail.qango.com

      ****

      Hollywood Classics 6

      2011

      --

      Other Books in the Hollywood Classics series:

      1. New Light on Movie Bests

      2. B Movies, Bad Movies, Good Movies

      3. Award-Winning Films of the 1930s

      4. Movie Westerns: Hollywood Films the Wild, Wild West

      5. Memorable Films of the Forties

      6. Popular Pictures of the Hollywood 1940s

      7. Your Colossal Main Feature Plus Full Support Program

      8. Hollywood’s Miracles of Entertainment

      9. Hollywood Gold: Films of the Forties and Fifties

      10. Hollywood B Movies: A Treasury of Spills, Chills & Thrills

      11. Movies Magnificent: 150 Must-See Cinema Classics

      12. These Movies Won No Hollywood Awards

      13. Movie Mystery & Suspense

      14. America’s Best, Britain’s Finest

      15. Films Famous, Fanciful, Frolicsome and Fantastic

      16. Hollywood Movie Musicals

      17. Hollywood Classics Index Books 1-16

      18. More Movie Musicals

      19. Success in the Cinema

      20. Best Western Movies

      21. Great Cinema Detectives

      22. Great Hollywood Westerns

      23. Science-Fiction & Fantasy Cinema

      24. Hollywood’s Classic Comedies

      25. Hollywood Classics Title Index to All Films Reviewed in Books 1-24

      --

      Additional Movie Books by John Howard Reid

      CinemaScope One: Stupendous in Scope

      CinemaScope Two: 20th Century-Fox

      CinemaScope 3: Hollywood Takes the Plunge

      Mystery, Suspense, Film Noir and Detective Movies on DVD: A Guide to the Best in Cinema Thrills

      WESTERNS: A Guide to the Best (and Worst) Western Movies on DVD

      Silent Films and Early Talkies on DVD: A Classic Movie Fan’s Guide

      MUSICALS on DVD

      Copyright 2011 by John Howard Reid

      Table of Contents

      A

      Abe Lincoln in Illinois (1940)

      Adam’s Rib (1949)

      Adventures of Ichabod and Mr Toad (1949)

      Africa Screams (1949)

      Anchors Aweigh (1945)

      And Baby Makes Three (1949)

      B

      Behave Yourself (1951)

      Belle of New York (1952)

      Bells of Rosarita (1945)

      Berlin Hotel (1945) {see Hotel Berlin}

      Bill and Coo (1948)

      Black Hand (1950)

      Black Magic (1944)

      Black Magic (1949)

      Bright Leaf (1950)

      Buck Privates (1941)

      C

      Cabin in the Sky (1943)

      Cagliostro (1949) {see Black Magic}

      Captain Kidd (1945)

      Charlie Chan in Black Magic (1944) {see Black Magic}

      Coney Island (1943)

      Copacabana (1947)

      Crash Dive (1943)

      Cry Wolf (1947)

      Curse of the Allenbys (1946) {see She Wolf of London}

      D

      Darling How Could You (1951)

      Deception (1946)

      Desert Fury (1947)

      Destination Tokyo (1943)

      Dude Goes West (1948)

      Dumbo (1941)

      F

      Fantasia (1940)

      Father Is a Prince (1940)

      Flying Deuces (1939)

      G

      Gay Sisters (1942)

      Green Grass of Wyoming (1948)

      H

      He Ran All the Way (1951)

      He’s a Cockeyed Wonder (1950)

      Hitler’s Children (1943)

      Holiday Affair (1949)

      Hollywood Cavalcade (1939)

      Homecoming (1948)

      Hotel Berlin (1945)

      Howards of Virginia (1940)

      How Green Was My Valley (1941)

      I

      Ichabod and Mr Toad (1949) {see Adventures of Ichabod and Mr Toad}

      International Lady (1941)

      In Which We Serve (1942)

      It’s a Wonderful Life (1947)

      It’s Magic (1948) {see Romance on the High Seas}

      I Want a Divorce (1940)

      J

      Jungle Book (1942)

      K

      Kansan (1943)

      Keys of the Kingdom (1944)

      Kit Carson (1940)

      L

      Lady of Burlesque (1943)

      Last of the Buccaneers (1950)

      Laughing Lady (1946)

      Life Begins for Andy Hardy (1941)

      Love Happy (1950)

      Lucky Stiff (1949)

      Lulu Belle (1948)

      M

      Magnificent Doll (1946)

      Magnificent Lady (1946) {see Magnificent Doll}

      Make Believe Ballroom (1949)

      Man on the Eiffel Tower (1949)

      Meeting at Midnight (1944) {see Black Magic}

      Mildred Pierce (1945)

      Ministry of Fear (1944)

      Miniver Story (1950)

      Mr Ace (1946)

      Mrs Miniver (1942)

      My Friend Flicka (1943)

      N

      National Velvet (1944)

      Night in Casablanca (1946)

      O

      Out of the Blue (1947)

      Ox-Bow Incident (1942)

      R

      Raffles (1940)

      Rains Came (1939)

      Rendezvous (1951) {see Darling How Could You}

      Rhapsody in Blue (1945)

      Romance on the High Seas (1948)

      Rookies (1941) {see Buck Privates}

      Roxie Hart (1942)

      Rudyard Kipling’s Jungle Book (1942) {see Jungle Book}

      S

      Saigon (1948)

      Salerno Beachhead (1945) {see Walk in the Sun}

      Saludos Amigos (1943)

      Samson and Delilah (1949)

      Sea Hawk (1940)

      Sentimental Journey (1946)

      Seven Days’ Leave (1942)

      She Went to the Races (1945)

      She Wolf of London (1946)

      Since You Went Away (1944)

      Sitting Pretty (1948)

      So Great a Man (1940) {see Abe Lincoln in Illinois}

      Somewhere I’ll Find You (1942)

      Song of Texas (1943)

      Song of the South (1946)

      Son of Dracula (1943)

      South of Pago-Pago (1940)

      South of Santa Fe (1942)

      South of Tahiti (1941)

      Spirit of the People (1940) {see Abe Lincoln in Illinois}

      Stage Door Canteen (1943)

      Strange Incident (1942) {see Ox-Bow Incident}

      Striptease Lady (1943) {see Lady of Burlesque}

      T

      Talk of the Town (1942)

      Tap Roots (1948)

      Tarzan Triumphs (1943)

      Thirteenth Letter (1951)

      Three Came Home (1950)

      Three Little Words (1950)

      Thunderhead Son of Flicka (1945)

      Till the Clouds Roll By (1946)

      Tin Pan Alley (1940)

      Tree of Liberty (1940) {see Howards of Virginia}

      Tulsa (1949)

      Tycoon (1947)

      U

      Under Capricorn (1949)

      W

      Walk in the Sun (1945)

      White Savage (1941) {see South of Tahiti}

      White Tower (1950)

      Woman of the Year (1942)

      Y

      Yellow Sky (1948)

      Abe Lincoln in Illinois

      Raymond Massey (Abe Lincoln), Ruth Gordon (Mary Todd), Mary Howard (Ann Rutledge), Gene Lockhart (Stephen A. Douglas), Harvey Stephens (Ninian Edwards), Clem Bevans (Ben Mattling), Esther Dale (cook), Andy Clyde (stage driver), Elizabeth Risdon (Sarah Lincoln), Charles Middleton (Tom Lincoln), Dorothy Tree (Elizabeth Edwards), Minor Watson (Joshua Speed), Alan Baxter (Billy Herndon), Howard da Silva (Jack Armstrong), Maurice Murphy (John McNeil), Herbert Rudley (Seth Gale), Roger Imhoff (Crimmin), Edmund Elton (Rutledge), George Rosener (Dr Chandler), Trevor Bardette (John Hanks), Napoleon Simpson (Gobey), Aldrich Bowker (Judge Bowling Green), Louis-Jean Heydt (Mentor Graham), Harlan Briggs (Denton Offut), Leona Roberts (Mrs Rutledge), Florence Roberts (Mrs Bowling Green), Fay Helm (Mrs Seth Gale), Syd Saylor (John Johnston), Alec Craig (Trem Cogdall), Dick Elliott (committeeman — not safe), Byron Foulger (clergyman — primitive idealist), Peggy Ann Garner (little girl).

      Director: JOHN CROMWELL. Screenplay: Robert E. Sherwood. Adapted by Grover Jones from 1938 stage play by Robert E. Sherwood (as produced on Broadway by The Playwrights Company). Photography: James Wong Howe. Film editor: George Hively. Art directors: Van Nest Polglase and Carroll Clark. Set decorator: Casey Roberts. Costumes: Walter Plunkett. Special photographic effects: Vernon L. Walker. Montages: Douglas Travers. Dance director: David Robel. Music: Roy Webb. Assistant director: Dewey Starkey. Sound: Hugh McDowell, Jr. RCA Victor Sound System. Producer: Max Gordon.

      Copyright 22 January 1940 by RKO Radio Pictures, Inc. Presented by Max Gordon Plays & Pictures. New York opening at the Radio City Music Hall: 22 February 1940. U.S. release: 19 April 1940. Australian release: 30 April 1940. 110 minutes.

      U.K. release title: SPIRIT OF THE PEOPLE.

      Australian release title: SO GREAT A MAN.

      SYNOPSIS: Abraham Lincoln — from log cabin to White House.

      NOTES: Nominated for two prestigious Hollywood awards: Best Actor (Massey lost to James Stewart in The Philadelphia Story); Best Cinematography in Black-&-white (Wong Howe lost to George Barnes’ Rebecca).

      At the beginning of April 1940, Frank S. Nugent resigned as chief film critic of The New York Times to pursue a career as a Hollywood screenwriter. (His last review, Rebecca, was published on 29 March.) His deputy, B.R. Crisler, took over for less than a month before Bosley Crowther, the paper’s Hollywood correspondent, began his long reign in New York. This wrecked Abe Lincoln in Illinois’s certainty of a place in the Times Ten Best. While agreeing that the film was the best Lincoln picture the screen has ever had, Crowther felt it did not elevate screen biography to new heights, although it was certainly fine and interesting. These comments fall a long way short of Nugent’s endorsement which declared: Although the Pulitzer committee may smile skeptically, we have no hesitation in calling the film the play’s superior, in calling Raymond Massey’s screen Lincoln better than his play’s Lincoln, in finding it not only a more complete record of the man and his times, but a far more dramatic and a far more significant biography than the Pulitzer committee saw.

      Other critics across the nation were equally enthusiastic: With 221 votes, the film placed 6th in The Film Daily poll.

      COMMENT: Sad that Massey missed out on a Best Actor Award. His Lincoln (repeated from the Broadway stage) is easily the most moving portrait of his entire screen career. It’s true, as a few over-finicky critics have complained, his acting tends to be stagey and that the director occasionally seems to be forcing him to pose in carefully-wrought tableaux, but Massey brilliantly, forcefully overcomes all obstacles to make his Lincoln totally sincere, totally convincing (he may be too old for the early scenes, but no matter) and overwhelmingly sympathetic.

      If you’re in a fault-finding mood and you want to pick at a mannered performance, go no further than Ruth Gordon. Odd, quixotic, stagey she certainly is, but she’s always an interesting player — and I like her!

      More conventional but equally fascinating portrayals are etched by Gene Lockhart (an ever-reliable actor) and Roger Imhoff (a player who is not usually cast in such prominent roles — more’s the pity). Also to be warmly commended are Aldrich Bowker, Mary Howard, Harlan Briggs and the unlisted actor who plays John Brown*. All told, it’s a grand cast, with many capable faces filling in the background.

      Abe Lincoln has been most lavishly produced. It’s anything but a photographed stage play. Grover Jones opened out the action of the play so that it’s truly a colorful movie and then Sherwood came back and filled in the dialogue. A perfect combination of writing talent which has resulted in a screenplay that is both full of incident and excitement, yet has dialogue effectively fired with humor, drama, even poetry and romance.

      The make-up and costumes look incredibly realistic, while the sets and their appointments have a sparse, unHollywood lack of glamour and ornamentation which seems totally authentic. Not that the film looks bare — it is often crowded with people and is always appealingly and most attractively lit by James Wong Howe.

      Cromwell’s direction is most assured. It also has been criticized for being too stagey and too static, but a recent viewing of the film makes nonsense of these claims. True, Cromwell does effectively employ stage compositions — even tableaux — at times. But not only are these moving and dramatic in themselves (who could forget the picture s final scenes, or indeed the final shot of all as the train pulls out, carrying Lincoln to Washington? This is real emotion), but they are skillfully contrasted with scenes of vigorous action in which both camera and players move with a speed that is only possible in the cinema.

      Roy Webb has provided a rousingly familiar, nonetheless stirring music score. Other technical credits are as proficient as unbounded Hollywood largesse can make them.

      Abe Lincoln in Illinois is not the dry bones of history, but a living, moving portrait that is as vital and relevantly dramatic in 1988 as it was 50 years ago. Sherwood has not penned a museum piece, but a convincing, fascinating, well-rounded and, above all, deeply sympathetic picture that will live for all time.

      Despite its great entertainment qualities and the plaudits of most critics, the film was not overly popular on first release. RKO’s initial domestic loss was nearly $750,000 and it seemed the film would in no way duplicate the success of the play which opened on Broadway on 15 October 1938 for a highly profitable run of no less than 472 performances. Oddly enough, the picture proved more popular overseas, playing with great success in England and Australia. It has been aired at least 30 times on Sydney television, making it one of the most frequently-seen RKO releases of the 1940’s.

      *Cromwell himself.

      --

      Adam’s Rib

      Spencer Tracy (Adam Bonner), Katharine Hepburn (Amanda Bonner), Judy Holliday (Doris Attinger), Tom Ewell (Warren Attinger), David Wayne (Kip Lurie), Jean Hagen (Beryl Caighn), Hope Emerson (Olympia La Pere), Eve March (Grace), Clarence Kolb (Judge Reiser), Emerson Treacy (Jules Frikke), Polly Moran (Mrs McGrath), Will Wright (Judge Marcasson), Elizabeth Flournoy (Dr Margaret Brodeigh), Janna da Loos (Mary, the maid), James Nolan (Dave), David Clarice (Roy), Marvin Kaplan (court stenographer), Gracille LaVinder (police matron), William Self (Benjamin Klausner), Paula Raymond (Emerald), Ray Walker (photographer), Tommy Noonan (reporter), De Forrest Lawrence, John Fell (Adam’s assistants), Sid Dubin (Amanda’s assistant), Joe Bernard (Bonner), Madge Blake (Mrs Bonner), Majorie Wood (Mrs Marcasson), Lester Luther (Judge Poynter), Anna Q. Nilsson (Mrs Poynter), Roger David (Hurlock), Louis Mason (elderly lift driver), Rex Evans (fat man), Charles Bastin (young district attorney), John Maxwell Sholes (court clerk), E. Bradley Coleman (subway rider), Glenn Gallagher, Gil Patric, Harry Cody (criminal attorneys), George Magrill, Bert Davidson (subway guards).

      Director: GEORGE CUKOR. Original screenplay: Rudi Gordon and Garson Kanin. Photography: George Folsey. Film editor: George Boemler. Music: Miklos Rosza. Song Farewell Amanda (Wayne) by Cole Porter. Art directors: Cedric Gibbons, William Ferrari. Set decoration: Edwin B. Willis. Associate set decorator: Henry W. Grace. Special effects: A. Arnold Gillespie. Miss Hepburn’s costumes: Walter Plunkett. Hair styles: Sydney Guilaroff. Make-up: Jack Dawn. Sound recording: Douglas Shearer. David Wayne’s piano solos played by Cole Porter himself. Producer: Lawrence Weingarten.

      Copyright 1 November 1949 by Loew’s Inc. An MGM picture. New York opening at the Capitol: 25 December 1949. U.S. release: 18 November 1949. U.K. release: 17 April 1950. Australian release: 29 June 1950. 9,104 feet. 101 minutes.

      SYNOPSIS: A husband and wife are both attorneys. So, you guessed it!, one is signed for the defense and the other for the other party. And so, you guessed it!, the courtroom squabbles spill over into their domestic life.

      NOTES: Sixth teaming of Tracy and Hepburn. Since Woman of the Year (an original script by Ring Lardner, Jr and Michael Kanin — Carson’s brother), they had starred in Keeper of the Flame (directed by Cukor from I.A.R. Wylie’s novel), Without Love (Harold S. Bucquet directing Philip Barry’s play), The Sea of Grass (Elia Kazan directed from Conrad Richter’s novel), and State of the Union (Frank Capra from the stage play by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse). Future films were Pat and Mike (another original screenplay by the husband and wife team, Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin), Desk Set (1957) and Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner? (1967).

      The Kanins were nominated for the annual award given by The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for Best Story & Screenplay, losing to Sunset Boulevard.

      COMMENT: An intellectually exciting and stimulating re-working of several basic myths, splendidly acted. The script is so strong and the performers so capable, the director is often content to take an inconspicuous back seat by shooting in some of the longest, static takes on record — though he can be stylish when the occasion demands it.

      This philosophic pill is admirably sugar-coated with lashings of wit and humor and fascinating verbal by-play. The screen personalities of Tracy and Hepburn are set against one another with a clash that sends some delightful sparks flying and the support cast peoples the background with a wonderful parade of characters.

      Foremost in the supporting pack is David Wayne, playing a delightfully obnoxious Amanda-admirer, forever smirking, smiling and singing up the action.

      Judy Holliday* (movie stardom was just around the corner) is also not to be missed, while Tom Ewell and Jean Hagen complete the amusingly nutty triangle.

      The Kanins start their satiric thrust at the sexes with a marvelous opening in which Holliday brilliantly parodies one of the dime romance’s most staple situations: jealous wife shoots husband in femme fatale’s apartment.

      Tracy and Hepburn are then introduced as husband-and-wife lawyers who are engaged by opposite sides at the subsequent trial.

      Upon this promising premise the comedy builds to a splendid climax.

      Mind you, it would not be half as funny without the skilled matching and point-scoring that only Hepburn and Tracy at their most charismatically abrasive could achieve.

      Yes, despite all Hepburn’s strident femininity and Tracy’s latent, sneaky masculinity, the Bonners are likeable, attractive, sympathetic — and wholly believable.

      These realities are also assisted by some remarkably attuned production credits.

      The photography, for instance, is not only unobtrusively slick, but it can allow itself to become amusingly amateurish in the home movie episode (filmed incidentally at the Kanins’ own country house in Connecticut).

      Cole Porter’s song, catchy and glib, is mockingly utilized by Miklos Rosza, here showing an unexpected flair for comic effects. Sets and costumes are both attractive and appropriate. (MGM’s extra-special care even extended to the trailer, which — hilariously narrated by Pete Smith — is itself a little comedy gem.)

      To sum up: — absolutely first-class! Witty, scintillating sophisticated entertainment.

      * Judy left her long-running Broadway hit Born Yesterday only after much persuasion by director George Cukor, according to an MGM press release.

      --

      Adventures of Ichabod & Mr Toad

      The Wind in the Willows:

      The voices of: Eric Blore (J. Thaddeus Toad), Pat O’Malley (Cyril Proudbottom), Colin Campbell (Mole), Claude Mister (Water Rat), Campbell Grant (Angus MacBadger), John Ployardt (prosecutor), Ollie Wallace (Winky).

      Narrated by Basil Rathbone.

      Songs: Ichabod and Mr Toad (the Rhythmaires with Bing Crosby) by Charles Wolcott (music) and Ray Gilbert (lyrics); Merrily On Our Way (Blore and O’Malley) by Frank Churchill (music) and Larry Morey (lyrics).

      The Legend of Sleepy Hollow:

      Narrated by Bing Crosby.

      Songs: Ichabod (Crosby and the Rhythmaires), Katrina (Crosby and the Rhythmaires), The Headless Horseman (Crosby and the Rhythmaires), — all by Don Raye and Gene de Paul.

      Directors: JACK KINNEY (Toad of Toad Hall), CLYDE GERONIMI (Sleepy Hollow), JAMES ALGAR (voices and narration). Screenplay: Erdman Penner, Winston Hibler, Joe Rinaldi, Ted Sears, Homer Brightman and Harry Reeves. Based on the 1908 novel The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame, and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, a short story in The Sketch-Book (1820) by Washington Irving*. Color by Technicolor. Film editor: John O. Young. Production supervisor: Ben Sharpsteen. Color and styling: Claude Coats, Mary Blair, Don da Gradi and John Hench. Layout: Charles Philippi, Tom Codrick, Thor Putnam, Al Zinnen, Hugh Hennesy and Lance Nolley. Backgrounds: Ray Huffine, Merle Cox, Art Riley, Brice Mack and Dick Anthony. Directing animators: Frank Thomas, Ollie Johns ton, Wolfgang Reitherman, Milt Kahl, John Lounsbery, Ward Kimball. Character animators: Fred Moore, John Sibley, Marc Davis, Hal Ambro, Harvey Toombs, Hal King, Hugh Fraser, Don Lusk and Ken O’Brien. Effects animators: George Rowley and Jack Boyd. Special processes: Ub Iwerks. Musical director: Oliver Wallace. Vocal arrangements: Ken Darby. Orchestration: Joseph Dubin. Music editor: Al Teeter. Sound director: C.O. Slyfield. Sound recording: Robert O. Cook. RCA Sound System. Producer: Walt Disney.

      Copyright 1 June 1949 by Walt Disney Productions. Distributed by RKO Radio Pictures, Inc. New York opening at the Mayfair: 8 October 1949. U.S. release: June 1949. U.K. release: 26 June 1950. Australian release: 25 August 1950. Australian length: 6,265 feet. 69½ minutes. U.K. length: 6,135 feet. 68 minutes.

      SYNOPSIS: Two stories: (1) Toad’s uncontrollable manias lead to his arrest for car-stealing but he is exonerated through the efforts of his friends, Mole, Water Rat and MacBadger; (2) a mercenary but superstitious schoolmaster is driven to flee by a headless horseman. Place: Tarry Town, New York. Time: 1790.

      Alternative title: ICHABOD AND MR. TOAD.

      COMMENT: Despite the title order, The Wind in the Willows is the first item on the program. Grahame’s novel consists of 12 chapters. Some are separate stories, some — particularly the six dealing with Toad — are inter-related and/or sequential. The Toad chapters are The Open Road (Toad develops a mania for motor cars after one upsets his cart), Mr Toad (he steals a car), The Adventures of Toad (escapes from prison), The Further Adventures of Toad (is helped by a bargewoman), His Tears Like Summer Tempests Came (is re-united with Rat and Mole), The Return of Ulysses (who help him evict the weasels from Toad Hall). All except Further Adventures were utilized in the film. In fact, not only is the story followed with reasonable fidelity, but the Disney artists have obviously made extensive use of the original illustrations by E.H. Shepherd for their models — and even occasionally for camera angles (the pursuing train).

      The picturization is also excellently served by the behind-screen actors. Blore is exactly right for the manic Toad and is splendidly partnered by Pat O’Malley who turns Cyril Proudbottom into an amusingly cheeky George Formby. Their Merrily On Our Way number is a fast-paced visual and vocal delight. John Ployardt is hilariously overbearing as the prosecutor, while Basil Rathbone is nothing short of inspired — ringing his commentary with just the right balance between affably patronizing and mock solemnity.

      Unfortunately, Rathbone’s services were not retained for Sleepy Hollow. Not only does Bing Crosby bring a perhaps too-light air to the narration but he substitutes for all the conversations as well. None of the characters talk and when Brom Bones is called upon to sing he does so of course (somewhat incongruously) in Crosby’s voice. However, before we get carried away with this line of criticism, we must admit the device is surprisingly faithful to Irving’s original which has no dialogue whatever and has the same over-light, mock-heroic tone. Even the modern-sounding appellation, the Sleepy Hollow Boys, is straight out of Washington Irving.

      All told, Crosby does an appealing job with both commentary and songs. But the episode’s chief joys lie in its witty drawings and spookily atmospheric climax. This climax is a little masterpiece of Gothic cinema. We know what to expect — and Disney does not disappoint us. The scene of Ichabod’s post-midnight ride is so superbly executed and edited, it never fails to impress — no matter how often it’s shown.

      After some years of experimentation with live action and musical potpourris, Ichabod and Mr Toad re-established Disney’s pre-eminence in the cartoon field. True, the stories form quite unidentical halves, but they provide such effective contrasts — and each, in its own way, is so delightful in itself — that the enjoyment of the whole is more than equal to the sum of the parts. What mind so bleak it could not be moved by Toad’s predicament? the shattering of his twirling assurance as Winky’s evidence smiles against him? (a neat touch this, both visually and structurally. Grahame’s original is not nearly as tautly or as soundly plotted) or could not thrill to the fast excitement and frantic chase of his escape? or whose heart is not pounded by the rapid changes of victor in the climatic paper-fight? As for Ichabod, it would be a rare soul indeed who failed to laugh and marvel at — yet curiously sympathize with — the haphazardly fortunate Mr Crane, unwittingly besting Bones at every turn only to be finally outwitted by a terrifying embodiment of his own superstitious fears.

      Yes, in short, a winner!

      * The Sketch-Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. — to give its full title — is an odd collection of essays, travel pieces and stories. All the pieces have great charm and are full of interesting, even provocative, sidelights and ideas. Unfortunately for Irving’s present popularity, they are carefully crafted in a polished, antithetical style that to-day’s readers find somewhat cumbersome and not half as amusing as did the educated public of 185 years ago. The two stories that survive, Rip Van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, are often rewritten for children. Until a generation or so ago, another story The Specter Bridegroom, was a frequent guest in ghost anthologies.

      --

      Africa Screams

      Bud Abbott (Buzz Johnson), Lou Costello (Stanley Livingston), Hillary Brooke (Diana Emerson), Max Baer (Boots), Buddy Baer (Grappler), Shemp Howard (Gunner), Joe Besser (Harry), Clyde Beatty (himself), Frank Buck (himself), Bobby Barber (bit).

      Director: CHARLES BARTON. Original screenplay: Earl Baldwin. Photography: Charles van Enger. Film editor: Frank Gross. Art director: Lewis Creber. Set decorator: Ray Robinson. Music: Walter Schumann. Special effects: Carl Lee. Executive production manager: Joseph C. Gilpin. Assistant director: Joseph Kenny. Wardrobe manager: Albert Deano. Sound recording: Robert Pritchard. RCA Sound System. Associate producer: David S. Garber. Producer: Edward Nassour. Executive in charge: William Nassour. Executive producer: Huntington Hartford.

      Copyright 27 May 1949 by Nasbro Pictures, Inc. A Huntington Hartford production presented by Nassour Studios, Inc. Released through United Artists. New York release at the Criterion: 4 May 1949. U.S. release: 2 May 1949. U.K. release: 17 April 1950. Australian release: 29 September 1949. U.S. length: 7,147 feet. 79½ minutes. Australian length: 7,287 feet. 81 minutes.

      SYNOPSIS: Two bungling book salesmen unwittingly parlay a trip to Africa with a ruthless diamond huntress.

      NOTES: An independent production, filmed at Abbott & Costello’s home studio — Universal.

      COMMENT: One of the rarest of all Abbott & Costello movies — and with good reason: It’s not very funny. True, the team are in good voice and have a couple of able assistants in Joe Besser (as a pamby manservant) and Shemp Howard (a near-sighted gunman). In fact, Besser and Howard are given more amusing material than the stars.

      Lacking their usual writer, John Grant, Abbott and Costello have been fashioned into rather unusual characters. At first glance, Abbott is his normal hectoring, looking-out-solidly-for-number-one self, but then we find him volunteering to don a lion-skin so that his fraidy-cat buddy can impress the blonde vamp — something the old Abbott would never do.

      Costello’s character has undergone an even more startling metamorphosis: No longer a lovable dimwit, he is a lying, cowardly braggart of uncommon stupidity yet self-preserving disloyalty! It’s obvious that writer Earl Baldwin gave no great thought to sympathy

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