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    These Great Movies Won No Hollywood Awards: A Film-Lover's Guide to the Best of the Rest
    These Great Movies Won No Hollywood Awards: A Film-Lover's Guide to the Best of the Rest
    These Great Movies Won No Hollywood Awards: A Film-Lover's Guide to the Best of the Rest
    Ebook478 pages5 hours

    These Great Movies Won No Hollywood Awards: A Film-Lover's Guide to the Best of the Rest

    By John Howard Reid

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    An interesting and unusual title for a book, "These Great Movies Won No Hollywood Awards" is nonetheless a great new entry in the John Howard Reid series. 142 movies are covered in this volume, with the special added attraction of two articles about director Henry Hathaway and his movies. John was the first critic to make people aware of Hathaway's importance. At first, only the French critics agreed with John, but eventually reviewers worldwide came to the party. Hathaway is now recognized as one of the great masters of the cinema. As for the films reviewed in this volume, they include Affair in Trinidad, Beau James, Betty in Blunderland, Bitter Rice, The Blue Veil, The Bohemian Girl, The Browning Version, Carrie, Dancing Lady, Destry, Detective Story, Footlight Parade, Mr Denning Drives North, My Wild Irish Rose, On Moonlight Bay, Pandora and the Flying Dutchman, Phone Call from a Stranger, The Prisoner of Zenda, Queen Christina, She Done Him Wrong, De Mille's first version of The Ten Commandments, Wee Willie Winkie, Woman of Affairs, A Yank at Oxford, You Can't Cheat an Honest Man and scores of others. Why are these films so important? "Affair in Trinidad" was Rita Hayworth's big comeback film after a four-year absence from the screen. Although it was a huge boxoffice success, the movie was panned by the critics. As Hayworth, who produced the movie herself, said later, "It wasn't really a movie. It was a culmination of compromises made by everyone from the gateman at Columbia right up to Harry Cohn himself." At least Rita had a typical role and didn't disappoint her fans. Bob Hope, however, lost a great deal of his own money on his production, "Beau James", in which he cast himself in a straight part, rather than a comedy role. In Reid's opinion, Hope's effort was "one of his best performances ever!" But most picture-goers avoided the movie. Fortunately, few people would disagree with Reid's next inclusion, "Betty in Blunderland" which is widely regarded as the best Betty Boop of all time! Next up is "Bitter Rice", a sensational international success which made Silvana Mangano and Vittorio Gassman household words. M-G-M even offered both stars Hollywood contracts. Gassman accepted and was soon cast opposite Elizabeth Taylor. Another super-popular movie, "The Blue Veil", earned a Golden Globe award for Jane Wyman. Less fortunate and far less publicized was Thelma Todd, whose last role in "The Bohemian Girl" was heavily butchered by the studio. She was reduced to 9th billing in the hope that no-one would notice her. True, she has a song, but it's dubbed! In all, a fascinating book! Either overlooked or outvoted, here is a survey of famous movies that failed to shine in the bright lights of Hollywood awards: Despite their enormous appeal to general moviegoers, both Errol Flynn's "Four's a Crowd" and "Footsteps in the Dark" failed to ignite a single spark among award committees. Admittedly, these are not Flynn's most well-remembered roles, which makes it harder to understand why director William Wyler's acclaimed "Detective Story" (it figured on the Ten Best lists of every critic in the country) also won no Hollywood awards at all. Nor did "Footlight Parade", although James Cagney's bravura performance was one of the factors that made this Busby Berkeley musical even more popular when first released (number 8 at U.S. ticket windows) than it is today. Critical acclaim and contemporary popularity also failed to help Fritz Lang's "Metropolis". Or "On Moonlight Bay" (such a huge success for Doris Day, it inspired a sequel), "Poor Little Rich Girl" (boxoffice giant Shirley Temple joined by Alice Faye and Jack Haley), "Queen Christina" (the legendary Garbo's best film), "Rhythm on the Range" (only western outing for Bing Crosby in his salad days), "Rhythm on the River" (Crosby again), "She Done Him Wrong" (Mae West's smash hit with both hat-tossing critics and adoring public), "Storm Warning" (Doris Day in her first dramatic role)

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherJohn Howard Reid
    Release dateApr 14, 2011
    ISBN9781458070258
    These Great Movies Won No Hollywood Awards: A Film-Lover's Guide to the Best of the Rest
    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

      These Great Movies Won No Hollywood Awards - John Howard Reid

      THESE GREAT MOVIES WON NO HOLLYWOOD AWARDS

      A Film-Lover’s Guide To The Best Of The Rest

      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 12

      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 Great 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 Movies 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

      British Movie Entertainments on VHS and DVD

      Silent Films & Early Talkies on DVD

      Musicals on DVD

      --

      Table of Contents

      A

      Affair in Trinidad (1952)

      Ambassador Bill (1931)

      B

      Bad Lands (1939)

      Beau James (1957)

      Betty in Blunderland (1934)

      Bitter Rice (1948)

      Blue Veil (1951)

      Bohemian Girl (1936)

      Border Romance (1930)

      Boy, a Girl and a Bike (1949)

      Broadway Melody of 1940 (1940)

      Browning Version (1951)

      Buck Privates Come Home (1947)

      Bullet for a Badman (1964)

      Busses Roar (1942)

      C

      California (1947)

      Call of the Canyon (1942)

      Canary Row (1950)

      Carbine Williams (1952)

      the Card (1952)

      Career (1939)

      Carefree (1938)

      Carrie (1952)

      Cat and the Canary (1927)

      Cattle Town (1952)

      Channel Crossing (1934)

      Charley’s (Big-Hearted) Aunt (1940)

      Cinderella Meets Fella (1938)

      Close to My Heart (1951)

      Colorado Pioneers (1945)

      D

      Dancing Lady (1933)

      Daredevils of the Red Circle (1939)

      Destry (1954)

      Detective Story (1951)

      Diplomaniacs (1933)

      Doctor at Sea (1955)

      Donald Gets Drafted (1942)

      Doctor Cyclops (1940)

      Downhill (1927)

      Dreamboat (1952)

      F

      Falcon Out West (1944)

      Fallen Angel (1945)

      Fanny Hawthorne (see Hindle Wakes)

      Fighting Devil Dogs (1938)

      Fighting Lawman (1953)

      Fighting O’Flynn (1948)

      Finders Keepers (1951)

      Fire Over England (1937)

      Five Came Back (1939)

      Flamingo Road (1949)

      Footlight Parade (1933)

      Footsteps in the Dark (1941)

      Four’s a Crowd (1938)

      G

      Gildersleeve’s Ghost (1944)

      Girl Was Young (see Young and Innocent)

      Glass Menagerie (1950)

      Grande Illusion (1937)

      Great Man Votes (1939)

      Gunga Din (1939)

      Great Gildersleeve (1942)

      Great Stagecoach Robbery (1945)

      H

      Has Anybody Seen My Gal? (1952)

      Hindle Wakes (1927)

      Holiday for Sinners (1952)

      Hotel Sahara (1951)

      Hour of 13 (1952)

      I

      Iceland (1942)

      In Name Only (1939)

      International Squadron (1941)

      Invitation (1952)

      I Want You (1951)

      J

      Just Across the Street (1952)

      Just This Once (1952)

      L

      Light Touch (1951)

      Long Dark Hall (1951)

      M

      Magic Box (1952)

      Magic Face (1951)

      Mauvaise Graine (1933)

      Metropolis (1927)

      Miracle from Mars (see Red Planet Mars)

      Mr Denning Drives North (1951)

      Mr Peek-a-Boo (1951)

      Monkey Business (1931)

      Mystery Junction (1951)

      My Wild Irish Rose (1947)

      N

      Nitwits (1935)

      Noose Hangs High (1948)

      Nothing But the Truth (1929)

      Nothing But the Truth (1941)

      No Time for Tears (see Purple Heart Diary)

      O

      O’Flynn (see Fighting O’Flynn)

      On Moonlight Bay (1951)

      Outcast of the Islands (1952)

      P

      Pandora and the Flying Dutchman (1951)

      Passe Muraille (see Mr Peek-a-Boo)

      Phone Call from a Stranger (1952)

      Piccadilly (1929)

      Poor Little Rich Girl (1936)

      Pride of St Louis (1952)

      Prisoner of Zenda (1952)

      Purple Heart Diary (1951)

      the Promoter (see the Card)

      Q

      Queen Christina (1933)

      R

      Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1938)

      Red Ball Express (1952)

      Red Planet Mars (1952)

      Rhythm on the Range (1936)

      Rhythm on the River (1940)

      Riso Amaro (see Bitter Rice)

      Rookies Come Home (see Buck Privates Come Home)

      S

      Sangaree (1953)

      Second Face (1950)

      She Done Him Wrong (1933)

      Smiling Lieutenant (1931)

      Song of the Islands (1942)

      Storm Warning (1951)

      Sunny Side of the Street (1951)

      Sunnyside Up (1929)

      Sunset Pass (1946)

      T

      Ten Commandments (1923)

      Ten Tall Men (1951)

      Tiger by the Tail (1970)

      Time, the Place and the Girl (1946)

      Tomorrow Is Another Day (1951)

      Tonight and Every Night (1945)

      Tony Draws a Horse (1951)

      Too Young To Kiss (1951)

      Torpedo of Doom (see Fighting Devil Dogs)

      Tugboat Annie (1933)

      W

      Wagon Wheels Westward (1945)

      Wee Willie Winkie (1937)

      When Boys Come Home (see Downhill)

      Wherever She Goes (1951)

      Woman of Affairs (1928)

      Words and Music (1948)

      Wyoming Roundup (1952)

      Y

      Yank at Oxford (1938)

      You Can’t Cheat an Honest Man (1939)

      You Can’t Get Away with Murder (1939)

      You Can’t Have Everything (1937)

      Young and Innocent (1938)

      You’re Never Too Young (1955)

      More Great Movies That Won No Hollywood Awards

      SPECIAL ADDED ATTTRACTION:

      Henry Hathaway

      Affair in Trinidad

      Rita Hayworth (Chris Emery), Glenn Ford (Steve Emery), Alexander Scourby (Max Fabian), Valerie Bettis (Veronica), Torin Thatcher (Inspector Smythe), Howard Wendell (Anderson), Karel Stepanek (Walters), George Voskovec (Dr Franz Huebling), Steven Geray (Wittol), Walter Kohler (Peter Bronec), Juanita Moore (Dominique), Gregg Martell (Olaf), Mort Mills (Martin), Robert Boon (pilot), Ralph Moody (coroner), Ross Elliott (Neal Emery), Franz Roehn (refugee), Don Kohler (Peters, the reporter), Kathleen O’Malley (stewardess), Fred Baker (airport clerk), Don Blackman (Bobby), Ivan Browning, Roy E. Glenn Sr., Joel Fluellen (fishermen), John Sherman (Englishman), Leonidas Ossetynski (passenger), Calvin Emery (newspaper reporter), John Parlow, Albert Szabo (butlers).

      Director: VINCENT SHERMAN. Screenplay: Oscar Saul, James Gunn based on a story by Virginia Van Upp and Berne Giler. Film editor: Viola Lawrence. Cinematographer: Joseph Walker. Music score: George Duning. Music director: Morris Stoloff. Art director: Walter Holscher. Set decorator: William Kiernan. Costumes: Jean Louis. Make-up: Clay Campbell. Hair styles: Helen Hunt. Songs: I’ve Been Kissed Before (Hayworth dubbed by Jo Ann Greer) and Trinidad Lady (Hayworth dubbed by Jo Ann Greer), — both by Lester Lee and Bob Russell. Vocal arrangements: Saul Chaplin. Dances created and directed by Valerie Bettis. Assistant directors: Sam Nelson (1st), Earl Bellamy (2nd). Executive consultant for the Beckworth Corporation: Jackson Leighter. Sound engineer: Lodge Cunningham. Western Electric Sound System. Associate producer: Virginia Van Upp. Producer: Vincent Sherman. Executive producer: Rita Hayworth.

      Copyright 23 July 1952 by Beckworth Corp. Released by Columbia Pictures Corp. New York opening at the Victoria: 30 July 1952. U.S. release: September 1952. U.K. release: 6 October 1952. Australian release: 26 December 1952. Sydney opening at the State. 100 minutes. Cut to 8,822 feet (98 minutes) in the U.K.

      SYNOPSIS: After a promisingly intriguing start, this turns out to be a routine spy yarn.

      NOTES: Miss Hayworth states that the screenplay was mostly the work of Virginia Van Upp. Other writers who contributed revisions included Andrew Solt, Dalton Trumbo, Michael Wilson, Lewis Meltzer, Marion Parsonnet, Helen Deutsch, Lesser Samuels and Jo Eisinger. Heavily publicized as Hayworth’s comeback film — her previous fiction feature was The Loves of Carmen back in 1948, although she did play herself in the obscure, rarely-shown documentary Champagne Safari in 1951 — Affair in Trinidad emerged as one of America’s top-grossing pictures of 1952. The movie was almost equally successful in Australia, where it rated as the 17th most successful release of 1953. In fact, in Australia’s urban regions where Glenn Ford rated number one and Hayworth was extensively promoted in city newspapers, Affair in Trinidad was the big cinema event of the year. In Sydney, it opened as the Christmas attraction at G.U.’s palatial showcase, the State. I remember the theatre besieged by huge mobs of people during the Trinidad season — admittedly not quite as overwhelming as the colossal throngs which clamored for tickets for Fabiola, another Columbia release at the State earlier in ‘52 — but amazingly enthusiastic crowds nonetheless.

      Jean Louis was nominated for an AMPAS Award for Best Costume Design in black-and-white, losing to Helen Rose’s costumes for The Bad and the Beautiful.

      Negative cost: $1.2 million.

      COMMENT: Engagingly acted, smoothly directed, atmospherically photographed and opulently produced, Affair in Trinidad has only one major drawback. A script that starts on a high plane of interest — promising plot, intriguing characters, snappy dialogue — but proceeds relentlessly and steadily, even if gradually, down-hill.

      OTHER VIEWS: Although the 80-minute TV version leaves a few holes in the script and omits a couple of minor characters (I didn’t notice any refugees), it is a considerable improvement on the original which will please just about everybody except Mr Ford’s most rabid fans. Mr Ford makes a late entrance and disappears from the film altogether during most of the climax, but his absence is not missed all that much. He is less indulgently photographed than Miss Hayworth and his mannerisms seem even more theatrical than usual.

      Miss Hayworth is very kindly treated by Joseph Walker’s soft-focus lighting and is stunningly gowned. She has the lion’s share of the action and acquits herself so effectively in the dramatic sections that the climactic sequences will have most viewers on the edges of their seats. Sherman’s direction shows his customary skill in the handling of action and his usual efficiency in dialogue scenes. Walker’s atmospheric photography is a big help in creating suspense.

      Alexander Scourby comes over as delightfully sinister as Max Fabian. Surprising to see dance choreographer Valerie Bettis as one of his confederates (she has the inside gag line, Maybe I ought to learn to dance! which was no doubt penned on the set) and essaying a scene in which she is slightly whiffed most effectively too! Torin Thatcher plays a police inspector with his usual air of forthright efficiency, whilst Howard Wendell does rather better as the American consul here than he does as the police commissioner in The Big Heat. Steven Geray tries a part right off his usual track and is most effective as a corrupt night club proprietor. The other roles are comparatively small, but are well cast and played.

      Production values leave nothing to be desired — with the exception of the songs which are pedestrian and the dances which contrive to be both distasteful and unexciting.

      — John Howard Reid writing as George Addison.

      Action is Sherman’s strong point and there is sufficient in this thriller to maintain strong audience interest. With the exception of Glenn Ford [who has a thankless role and is presumably along purely to make it another Hayworth-Ford box-office combination. The others: The Lady in Question (1940), Gilda (1946), The Loves of Carmen (1948) — Hayworth’s last film before Affair in Trinidad — and The Money Trap (1966)], acting is particularly impressive.

      — John Howard Reid writing as Xavier Xerxes.

      Miss Hayworth so aptly put it some years later:

      It wasn’t really a movie. It was a culmination of compromises made by everyone from the gateman at Columbia right up to Harry Cohn himself.

      Affair in Trinidad was Rita’s first feature film released in four years, and the public was therefore anticipating her return with great pleasure. But just four days prior to beginning principal photography, Rita announced her dissatisfaction with the script. Well aware that the public wanted Hayworth back on the screen, Harry Cohn put writers James Gunn and Oscar Saul to work revising the script and sweet-talked Rita into beginning on schedule.

      When the caustic trade-paper reviews appeared after the first sneak preview, nobody at Columbia suspected that Affair in Trinidad would outgross Gilda by more than a million dollars! Resigned to the fact that Hayworth apparently could do no wrong, Cohn reissued Gilda.

      Here are excerpts from two typical reviews of one of 1952’s top-grossing films:

      Cue magazine:

      "Before carrot-topped Rita Hayworth became royalty, she played (in Gilda) a tough, sexy songbird stranded in South America and sought after by every man within a thousand miles. Tempus fugits, and an actress becomes a princess and vice-versa and lo, and behold! — Rita is back again in Hollywood. And know what she’s playing? A tough, sexy songbird stranded in South America and sought after etc., etc.

      "For students of cinematic curiosa, it is worth knowing that it was Glenn Ford who slapped her then and slaps her now, who saved her from an international cartel then and from a Russian espionage ring now. If this scratchy sound track seems to be repeating itself, it’s no accident. The plot is hemstitched a little differently, but not enough to disturb the fact that if you think you’ve seen and heard all this before, it’s simply because you have... All this is unwittingly comic rather than melodramatic, since Rita is supported (if that’s the word), in addition to Mr Ford, by a large cast that includes sneering villain Alexander Scourby, dancer Valerie Bettis (who never gets a chance to dance, with Rita in the picture), and Torin Thatcher."

      Howard McClay in the Los Angeles Daily News:

      "Rita Hayworth and Glenn Ford are pitted against a villainous ring of international spies in Affair in Trinidad and not the least among their adversaries is a tricky, cloak-and-dagger script which, despite occasional flairs of completely literate dialogue, becomes so knotty it would take an Eagle Scout to unravel it."

      — Gene Ringgold: The Films of Rita Hayworth.

      --

      Ambassador Bill

      Will Rogers (Bill Harper), Greta Nissen (Countess Ilka), Marguerite Churchill (Queen Vania), Ray Milland (Lothar), Tad Alexander (King Paul), Gustav von Seyffertitz (De Polikoff), Ferdinand Munier (Senator Pilsbury), Edwin Maxwell (First Secretary), Lon Poff (chauffeur), Arnold Korff (palace protocol), Frank Atkinson (embassy valet), Tom Ricketts (Ambassador Littleton), Ben Turpin (butcher), Ernest Wood (Northfield Slater), Herbert Bunston (British ambassador), Theodore Lodi (French ambassador), Michael Mark (anarchist sniper), Paul Panzer (revolutionary), Toshia Mori (dinner guest), Russ Powell (revolutionary celebrant), Eric Mayne (dignitary).

      Director: SAM TAYLOR. Screenplay: Guy Bolton. Story: Vincent Sheean. Film editor: Harold Schuster. Photography: John Mescall. Art director: Duncan Cramer. Costumes designed by Guy S. Duty. Music: Arthur Kay. Stills: Alexander Kahle. Assistant director: Walter Mayo. Sound recording: Alfred Bruzlin. Producer: Winfield Sheehan.

      Copyright 13 October 1931 by Fox Film Corporation. New York opening at the Roxy: 13 November 1931. 6,300 feet. 68 minutes.

      SYNOPSIS: Good old Will – I mean Bill – brings the blessings of democracy to strife-torn Sylvania.

      COMMENT: This interesting and quite charming movie actually improves immensely on a second viewing. First time around, the story seems not only overly cliched and sentimental but only sporadically amusing. I also found Ray Milland’s rather odd portrait of the ex-king somewhat distracting, and I didn’t warm at all to Tad Alexander’s eager-beaver child monarch. Even worse, I thought Sam Taylor’s direction routine at best. True it is that Milland didn’t improve much on second sight. He’s miscast, but does his best and isn’t actually on hand a great deal anyway. (Uneasy lies the actor that wears a crown). But everyone and everything else gallops away to glory. I enjoyed both Rogers’ homespun philosophy and his rope tricks, and I loved Greta Nissen’s engaging femme fatale. Edwin Maxwell has a delightful role. Ferdinand Munier and Tom Ricketts also presented some joyous bundles of fun. Sam Taylor’s direction, whilst unobtrusive (except for a couple of royally splashy dolly shots) rates as a most skilful achievement, making a brilliantly effective use of sound effects and setting off the film’s rich production values (particularly in sets, costumes and cinematography) to great advantage. Guy Bolton’s sly screenplay, despite its obvious bias, comes over as both chucklesome (if not downright hilarious) and fascinating.

      --

      Bad Lands

      Robert Barrat (Sheriff Bill Cummings), Noah Beery jr (Chick Lyman), Guinn Big Boy Williams (Billy Sweet), Andy Clyde (Henry Cluff), Paul Hurst (Dogface), Robert Coote (Eaton), Addison Richards (Raeburn), Douglas Walton (Mulford), Francis Ford (Charlie Garth), Francis McDonald (Lopez), Carlyle Moore jr (cavalry lieutenant), Billy Wilkerson (Indian).

      Director: LEW LANDERS. Story and screenplay: Clarence Upson Young. Photography: Frank Redman. Film editor: George Hively. Art directors: Van Nest Polglase and Feild Gray. Music: Roy Webb. Music director: Constantin Bakaleinikoff. Assistant director: Sam Ruman. Sound recording: Earl A. Wolcott. RCA Sound System. Production supervisor: Lee Marcus. Producer: Robert Sisk.

      Copyright 11 August 1939 by RKO-Radio Pictures, Inc. New York opening at the Rialto: 8 August 1939. U.S. release: 11 August 1939. Australian release: November 1939. 70 minutes.

      SYNOPSIS: A posse is trapped in the mountains by Apache Indians.

      COMMENT: The dramatic idea of isolating a varied assortment of characters in a perilous, life-or-death situation is not exactly new, but it is given a vigorous work-out here in this highly-charged western, enacted by a fine cast of veteran players led by Robert Barrat. The direction by Lew Landers is surprisingly taut. Frank Redman’s grippingly atmospheric photography also helps keep the audience’s eyes and ears firmly on the screen.

      --

      Beau James

      Bob Hope (Jimmy Walker), Vera Miles (Betty Compton), Paul Douglas (Chris Nolan), Alexis Smith (Allie Walker), Darren McGavin (Charley Hand), Joe Mantell (Bernie Williams), Horace McMahon (prosecutor), Richard Shannon (Dick Jackson), Willis Bouchey (Arthur Julian), Sid Melton (Sid Nash), George Jessel (himself), Walter Catlett (Al Smith), Charles Meredith (Walker’s old professor), Sammy Cahn, Jimmy Durante, Jack Benny (themselves), James Flavin (fire commissioner), Joe McTurk (night club proprietor).

      Narrated by Walter Winchell.

      Director: MELVILLE SHAVELSON. Screenplay: Jack Rose, Melville Shavelson. Based on the 1949 biography by Gene Fowler. Photographed in Technicolor and VistaVision by John B. Warren. Film editor: Floyd Knudtson. Art directors: Hal Pereira, John Goodman. Set decorators: Sam Comer, Frank McKelvy. Costumes: Edith Head. 2nd unit photography: Wallace Kelley. Process photography: Farciot Edouart. Special photographic effects: John P. Fulton. Make-up: Wally Westmore. Hair styles: Nellie Manley. Technicolor color consultant: Richard Mueller. Music arranged and conducted by Joseph J. Lilley. Songs and musical numbers staged by Jack Baker. Songs: Manhattan (Miles dubbed by Imogene Lynn), music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Lorenz Hart; Will You Love Me in December? (Hope and company) by James J. Walker and Ernest R. Ball; Someone To Watch Over Me (Miles dubbed by Imogene Lynn) by George Gershwin (music) and Ira Gershwin (lyrics); The Sidewalks of New York (Hope, Durante, Benny and company) by James Blake and Charles Lawlor, with special Yiddish lyrics for the film by Sammy Cahn; His Honor the Mayor of New York by Sammy Cahn (lyrics) and Joseph J. Lilley (music); When We’re Alone by Will Jason and Val Burton. Assistant director: Michael D. Moore. Production associate: Hal C. Kern. Sound recording: Charles Grenzbach, Hugo Grenzbach. Westrex Sound System. Producer: Jack Rose. Executive producer: Bob Hope. A Hope Enterprises Production, released through Paramount Pictures.

      Copyright 1956 by Hope Enterprises, Inc. New York opening at the Astor: 26 June 1957. U.S. release: July 1957. U.K. release: 11 August 1957. Australian release: 17 October 1957. Sydney opening at the Prince Edward: 25 October 1957 (ran 11 days). 9,609 feet. 106 minutes.

      SYNOPSIS: Handsome, debonair James John Walker (1881-1946) served as the 100th mayor of New York City from 1926-1932 when he was forced to resign over allegations of corruption.

      NOTES: In British prints, the off-camera commentary was spoken by Alastair Cooke.

      VIEWER’S GUIDE: The film raises important questions of morality, both public and private. Essential viewing for all.

      COMMENT: A more or less straight role which fits Bob Hope like a glove. The real-life Walker had plenty of quips and show business in his blood (he wrote the song Will You Love Me in December?). Hope not only exploits these traits to the full (there are two musical highlights, one with Hope joining an exuberant Jimmy Durante in The Sidewalks of New York) but presents Walker as a likeable and fully rounded personality, constantly battling Tammany and the Catholic Church, whose only mistake is trusting his own judgment as to the honesty and integrity of the key officials he appoints. This is undoubtedly one of Hope’s best performances ever, but it proved not overly popular with his fans. More disappointingly, the comedian’s fellow actors failed to appreciate how brilliantly he’d handled a very complex and difficult role. Even the wisecracks are delivered in true Jimmy Walker style.

      Hope is assisted by a fine gallery of support players led by the perfectly cast Paul Douglas as a politically wise ward-heeler, the vulnerable Vera Miles and the opportunistic Alexis Smith. Walter Catlett has a stand-out cameo as Al Smith.

      Shavelson and Rose have penned a script that is sharp, witty, pointed yet poignant; Rose has produced on an expensive budget, with wonderful photography, sets and costumes; Shavelson has directed with force and flair.

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      Betty in Blunderland

      Mae Questel (voice of Beety Boop).

      Director: DAVE FLEISCHER. Animators: Roland Crandall, Thomas Johnson. Producer: Max Fleischer.

      Copyright 14 April 1934 by Paramount Productions, Inc. A Betty Boop cartoon (in black-and-white). 1 reel.

      COMMENT: Sad to say, as Betty got older, she grew a bit wiser, but neither funnier nor more quirky. A critic recently commented that from a child’s point of view, the earlier Fleischer cartoons are very creepy because everything in them is animated. In this one, for instance, a grandfather clock suddenly comes to life and a pair of socks are magically transformed into a couple of snarling dogs! In fact, this delightfully sly take-off on Alice in Wonderland not only crams just about all the well-loved characters into a fast-paced seven minutes, but brims full of marvelous effects, not the least of which is the full-frame animation in which dozens of figures cavort around in a single set-up.

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      Bitter Rice

      Silvana Mangano (Silvana Melita), Doris Dowling (Francesca), Vittorio Gassman (Walter), Raf Vallone (Marco), Checco Rissone (Aristide), Nico Pepe (Beppe), Andriana Sivieri (Celeste), Lia Corelli (Amelia), Maria Grazia Francia (Gabriella), Anna Maestri (Irene), Dedi Ristori (Anna).

      Director: GIUSEPPE de SANTIS. Screenplay: Giuseppe de Santis, Ivo Perilli, Corrado Alvaro, Carlo Musso, Carlo Lizzani, Gianni Puccini. Based on a story by Giuseppe de Santis and Carlo Lizzani. Cinematographer: Otello Martelli. Music composed by Goffredo Petrassi conducted by Fernando Previtali. Film editor: Gabriele Barriale. English adaptation and titles: Clare Catalano. Producer: Dino De Laurentiis.

      Not copyright 1948 by Lux Films. New York opening in a sub-titled version at the World: 18 September 1950. U.S. release through Lux Films (sub-titled version) on 21 September 1950 and through Italian Films Export (dubbed version) in 1952. London opening of the sub-titled version at the Rialto, around March 1950. U.K. release of this version through Gelardi, Rashbrooke. Australian release in an English-dubbed version by RKO Radio Pictures: 7 March 1952. Sydney opening at the Esquire. Running times: 112 minutes (Australia), 103 minutes (London), 107 minutes (New York), 93 minutes (U.S. dubbed version).

      Original Italian title: RISO AMARO.

      SYNOPSIS: See below.

      NOTES: Giuseppe de Santis and Carlo Lizzani were nominated for the 1950 Academy Award for Best Motion Picture Story, losing to Panic in the Streets.

      COMMENT: Riso Amaro has for its background the rice-fields in the valley of the northern Po — fields to which Italian girls go every year to work under appalling conditions. It is a startling background — panoramic, seething with life and incident. De Santis seizes all the possibilities, and often realizes them brilliantly, though the political trimmings are halfhearted. Fortunately, Silvana is played by a magnificent creature, Silvana Mangano, whose first important film part this is. The frequent knee-angle shots of her emphasise her remarkable animal quality and physique; as an actress she is fairly competent, and more than this in the boogie-woogie sequences, which have the passion of authenticity.

      — Gavin Lambert.

      OTHER VIEWS: Italian films of the forties and early fifties always pose a bit of an aural dilemma for me. I mean the dubbing. On the whole, I have a preference for the English-dubbed version because in most cases the British or American stars post-sync their own voices, whereas in the Rome version, none of the players — aside from the really big stars like Anna Magnani, Gino Cervi and Amedeo Nazzari — are allowed anywhere near a microphone. It’s strange to hear Vittorio Gassman’s distinctively throaty voice replaced by a bland radio actor’s; and equally disconcerting to find Silvana’s peasant girl speaking beautifully cultured studioese.

      Of course, Bitter Rice was such a sensational success, it launched not only Mangano, but Gassman and Vallone as well on to the international scene. Gassman was offered a Hollywood contract and before long was co-starring opposite the likes of Elizabeth Taylor. Mangano continued her career after marrying this film’s producer in 1949. Incidentally, Bitter Rice was not her first film. She’d previously made L’elisir d’amore for director Mario Costa in 1947. And she was eighteen, not seventeen, when she starred in Riso Amaro.

      Alas, the film did nothing for the waning career of that ultra-classy siren of The Blue Dahlia, Doris Dowling. Forced to play second fiddle to Mangano, she’s not only dowdily dressed but robbed of her voice.

      I thought the attempt to marry documentary neo-realism with a melodramatic plot worked rather well. The realistic backgrounds made the story seem far more credible, whilst at the same time the more sensational aspects of the story lend an added power and poignancy to the plight of the rice workers. The four leading characters are skillfully delineated. The writers give them enough quirks to make their behavior and reactions individualistic without descending into caricature.

      Director De Santis and photographer Martelli’s probing camera explore the teeming settings to the full, assisted by a no-holds-barred budget and an appropriately atmospheric music score.

      — J.H.R.

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      the Blue Veil

      Jane Wyman (Louise Mason), Charles Laughton (Fred K. Begley), Joan Blondell (Annie Rawlins), Richard Carlson (Gerald Kean), Agnes Moorehead (Mrs Palfrey), Don Taylor (Dr Robert Palfrey), Audrey Totter (Helen Williams), Cyril Cusack (Frank Hutchins), Everett Sloane (district attorney), Natalie Wood (Stephanie Rawlins), Vivian Vance (Alicia), Carleton Young (Mr Palfrey), Alan Napier (Professor Carter), Warner Anderson (Bill), Les Tremayne (Joplin), Dan Seymour (Pelt), Dan O’Herlihy (Hugh Williams), Henry Morgan (Charles Hall), Gary Lee Jackson (Robert Palfrey as a boy), Gregory Marshall (Harrison Palfrey), Dee Pollack (Tony), Dr John F. Scott, Rev. F.C.B. Bellis, Rev. Joseph A. Erickson Jr (themselves), Miles Shepherd (guard), Ann Moore (Sarah), Richard Norris (Denis), Jane Liddell (Denis’ wife), Torben Meyer (photographer), Jim Hawkins (Tommy), Sammy Shack (cabbie), Sylvia Simms (Miss Quimby), Joy Hallward (Miss Golub), Lewis Martin (archbishop), Lillian Albertson (Mrs Lipscott).

      Director: CURTIS BERNHARDT. Screenwriter: Norman Corwin based on a story by Francois Campaux. Film editor: George J. Amy. Cinematographer: Franz Planer. Music composed by Franz Waxman and directed by Constantin Bakaleinikoff. Songs: Daddy (Blondell) by Bob Troup; There’ll Be Some Changes Made (Blondell) by Billy Higgins and W. Benton Overstreet. [Waxman adapted his background theme into a song called Devotion with lyrics by Jack Brooks, but only the music was heard in the film]. Art directors: Albert S. D’Agostino, Carroll Clark. Set decorators: Darrell Silvera, Al Orenbach. Gowns designed by Milo Anderson. Miss Wyman’s make-up and hair styles created by Perc Westmore. Still photographs: John Miehle. Technical advisor: Dr John F. Scott. Sound recording: Jean L. Speak, Clem Portman. RCA Sound System. Associate producer: Raymond Hakim. Producers: Jerry Wald, Norman Krasna. A Wald-Krasna Production.

      Copyright 27 October 1951 by Wald-Krasna Productions, Inc. Released by RKO Radio Pictures, Inc. New York opening at Loew’s Criterion: 26 October 1951. U.S. release: October 1951. U.K. release: 26 November 1951. Australian release: 8 February 1952. 10,256 feet. 114 minutes.

      SYNOPSIS: After the death of her own baby, a World War 1 widow devotes her life to looking after other people’s children.

      — Copyright summary.

      NOTES: A re-make of the 1942 French film of the same name, directed by Jean Stelli from an original story and screenplay by Francois Campaux, starring Gaby Morlay.

      Jane Wyman was nominated for an AMPAS award for Best Actress, losing to Vivien Leigh in A Streetcar Named Desire. Joan Blondell, nominated for the AMPAS award for Best Supporting Actress, dipped out to Kim Hunter, also of Streetcar.

      However, Jane Wyman did win the 1951 Golden Globe Award (voted by members of the Foreign Press Association) for Best Actress of the year.

      With a world-wide film rentals gross of $3.55 million, one of RKO Radio’s most popular pictures of the year. In Australia, the movie proved a particularly strong drawcard, coming in at number 20 on the nation’s list of major ticket-sellers for 1952.

      COMMENT: A lengthy portmanteau film, tied together by a nurse who is not only the script’s central character, but its active protagonist who appears in every single scene! Naturally, the film will stand or fall by the casting of this central role — and unfortunately it falls. Jane Wyman is totally inadequate. This is a woman who is supposed to have spunk and personality, but Jane Wyman’s portrayal is consistently dreary, — the mousy, self-effacing stiff-upper-lip of the earlier scenes turning into the garrulous, old, cliché-chattering windbag of the concluding episodes (which are doubly slow-moving as Miss Wyman has chosen to totter through them at half her normal, snail-like pace).

      The only other character that runs through the film is that of the misanthropic toy-shop proprietor, a creation of mind-boggling incredulity. It is never revealed that this character has any hidden wealth or private means, yet his shop is always well-stocked even though he persistently chases his few customers away. It is hard to see how the Jane Wyman character could be attracted by this anarchist, especially in view of the charmless

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