NINE STARS AND TEN AUTHORS

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 123, 19 February 1944, Page 5

NINE STARS AND TEN AUTHORS

Duvivier Directed “Tales Of Manhattan

(By

T.L.)

"Tales of Manhattan” (King’s) must be" put down as one of the smartest investments made by Twentieth -CenturyFox. It contains nine top-flight stars ami 44 Featured Players (those are the people on the rung below) ; the script was tne result of the labours of 10 authors; tHe director was Jules Duvivjer, the man who has never made anything better than his memorable "L’u Carnet du Bal. It the big stars had been engaged for the whole film the cost woii.’d have been astronomical. But they weren’t. They were engaged by the episode, and ‘"Laics of Manhattan” cost less than 1,000,000 dollars, which is small money, Hollywood speakTbe story is about the coat of a fulldress suit—the trousers are lost somewhere early in the shuffle—and about the mon wbo wear it and the women who go through its pockets. It is first owned by Charles Boyer, who puts it on to go courting Rita Hayworth and runs afoul of Thomas Mitchell, her husband. Then, one way or another, it goes from Boyer to Henry Fonda to Charles Laughton to Edward G. Robinson, to I’aul Robeson, to a scarecrow who is not listed in the Charles Laughton, as a poor Pih' l ' B } conducting his own symphony in the. cai - negie Hall, gets the coat from a secondhand dealer —or rather his wife (Lisa Lanchester) does. She picks it up a miuutes before the concert and it s a mortification for all (and I should, hope a Jessop) when the coat doesn t nt. Laughton, an agile conductor, rips it up the seams during the opening bars Phis causes unseemly laughter among (New York’s best people till the resident conductor whips off his own dress coat, all the men in the audience follow suit, ana Laughton, who has been sobbing brokenly, now.smiles cherubically and the. whole unfortunate episode ends in a tnumpn for all concerned. .... • i„ Edward G. Robinsons little episode has suspense. He is a down-and-out who is persuaded to gc to the college reunion for the sake of “the love we all bear out Alma Mater.” He acquires the coat, dresses up. and goes to the spree, where he is accused of snatching a classmates 'wallet in direct violation of the pld.school spirit. The last episode has singing by Paul Robeson and the Hall Johnson Choir.

“ABOVE SUSPICION”

IL’s lough luck on an attractive bride to have a lingering'honeymoon-night embrace interrupted by a knock at the no and to have lier brand new husband called away and enlisted willy-nilly nuo secret service. But it's really not so bad when the lovely bride is asked to lend ■> hand, too, and to join in the tun and games generally. Bui little did the newlj - weds think what they were letting themselves in for when they agreed to career across France and southern Germany to keep a tryst. with an unknown man and to bring back to Whitehall a secret formula that was destined to counteract Germany’s magnetic mine. But both husband and wife were true blue and even tliougu their mission was fraught with tragedy, they never faltered and Whitehall got Gs secret formula. Such, briefly, was the gist of Above Suspicion,” the film version of Helen MacInnes’s best seller that definitely succeed-

ed in keeping the Majestic’s crowded house perfectly quiet from start to finish last nightr excepting, of course, in the sceens where humour triumphed and the people were able to let up and relax tor a few minutes. Eveu if the iilm dian t sport a really brilliant east, it would still be an exceptional one—but with Joan Crawford; Fred Mac Murray aud Conrad Veidt to see it through, it leaps right up into the very front, ranks. Joan, still with a flair for somewhat unusual raiment, is thrilled at the thought ot beiug a spy, and starts off in high spirits; but when the game gets grimmer she settles down to real, houest-to-goodness work, and proves a powerful ally to hubby, Fred. Their chase, following- tho most mysterious of clues, takes them from Paris to Salzburg, and then to the Tyrol, their main difficulty being to dodge the Gestapo. To tell more would be to spoil the thrill of seeing the. show. On the way out of the theatre I heard a young miss say to her companion, "I would have died if they bad been caught”—and that just seemed to sum up the grip this film had upon the audience.

“THE FOREMAN WENT TO FRANCE”

The foreman who weut to France was a different proposition to Mr. Pied (Woolley) Piper. The latter was trying to get himself and five children out of the iuvaded country. The former was there on a big job, that of getting vital machinery out of the country before the Nazis seized it. “The Foreman Went to France” (Paramount) is a sturdy British film made witli more than ayerage good sense and sensibility. It is based, too ou a true Incident —the adventures of Melbourne Johns, a North ot England foreman of an arms factory, who did go to France in June, 1940, in the days just after the German break-through. His rescue of the machinery from a, French provincial town, his encounter with a couple of Britisli Tommies cut off from their unit, his odyssey to tlie coast in tbeir arms lorry aud his experiences on thn bombed and crowded roads are recounted with wbat has tlie ring of truth. Clifford Evans plays the foreman and Constance Cummings is the unexpected secretary who is >so fortunately ou band to interpert, to soothe, to cheer and to bind up wounds. Unusually enough low comedian Tommy Trinder plays a straight part—well, as straight as it is fair to expect of any comedian. His companion is a clever Scottish boy, Gordon Jackson, whom I cannot recall having seen ou the ■screen before. Other characters come and go, but these four, with their lorry, sustain with considerable skill the continuity of the picture. “The Foreman Went to France” is a typical piece of British understatement, a matter-of-fact account of grave things seen and done, that is always admirable and often extremely movThe Paramount fills the first half of its programme with "The Hit Parade t of 1943.” This is a bright show with three bands, including the up-and-coming Count Basie’s John Carroll, Susan Hayward, a lot of new songs and quite a sputa of vaudeville acts.

“COASTAL COMMAND”

(Second week).—ln common with other producers of documentary films Crown Film Unit has learned to find beauty and quality in things normally dull—chimneys and aeroplanes' and whirring steel. No Crown film is without its touch of quality. There is always some scene that captures the imagination, through sheer felicity of design or movement. Its latest film, “Coastal Command” (Opera House) is rich in these moments. Some are seascapes, some landscapes. The story is simple, dispassionate. and minute. It brings an hour of glory to a little-noticed service—the Coastal "Command which patrols the coasts of Great Britain. Its scene shifts from a remote flying-boat station to Iceland, out to sea. and home again. We go out on patrol with Sunderlands and Catalmas. watch a bombing attack by Beauforts and Hudsons, and see the Beanfighters streaking off to tackle a flight of Junkers. The whole piece is full of action and in sheer pictorial quality many of its scenes surpass much of the stuff that is being put out 'by the commercial studios.

“THE PIED PIPER”

“CORVETTE K-225”

This is the story of a ship. In size she would be dwarfed by even a cruiser, but in courage and honour she is as big as the British Navy. The duty of the corvette in a convoy is typified in this celluloid tribute at tlic St. James to these little fthips of the navy. K. 225, commanded bi’ Randolph Scott, takes a trip' across the Atlantic. She leaves Canada with the flavour of the christening wine still on her 'bow and a broo dof merchant tships in her care. How she battles against the sea, the enemy lu the air and uuder water, is the story, ami the portrayal of the reaction of tho British sailor in tlie face of death is the moral. The names of the players in the film arc seldom heard except for Randolph Scott's, but if there is room in the big movie heaven for another star, then this one should twiukle with the name ot Ella Raines. Her part Iu Ihe story is comparatively small part, but her treatment is superb. Then there are the men who are the crew. One of them has au affinity for pets, and another is noted for singing stoically "Bless 'Um AU” while applying a tourniquet to his wounded arm. The shots of the bat lie actions are realistie t specially the spectacle of a taukcr ablaze. Navy vustomg such as serving the rum and a burial at sea are pictured. Iu all, the film shows why the corvette was introduced to combat the subniariue menace, and how she has succeeded.

“THE POWER OF THE PRESS”

If you were old enough to be interested, yon may recall the chuckle of amusement that ran through New Zealand in tho (lays of the last war when a small newspaper printed an editorial that.began, “This paper has repeatedly warned Air. Lloyd George . . . .” The opening of “The Power of the Press” (State) reminded me of the story: here we have a small-town publisher writing an editorial in which lie accuses the "New York Gazette” of printiug seditious propaganda. Aud does the powerful New York daily drop, it iu the wastepaper basket with a smile? Not on your life, it doesn’t! Next, thing, all sorts of fun has started. The editor is so impressed with the sentiments that he determines to clean up his daily; But before he can do so he is murdered. (Imagine this sort of thing happening iu New Zealand 1) But he lives long enough to will his share’ in the “Gazette” to the small-town publishername: Ulysses Bradford. So the little mail comes to the big city and thinks, bless Ills innocent heart, that, nurtured by the honest sentiments of the "Gazette,” New York will- shortly be a nest of singing birds. But lie reckons without the managing-director, who likes New York (and his part of it in particular) the way it is. He likes the occasional “removal” ot opponents, the riot which his editorial policy incites, the labour hold-ups that his columns inspire. But in the finish right and the small-town man triumph and the "Gazette” seems set for a worthy career—and probably a big drop iu circulation! Guv Kibbee is the publisher from the wayliacks. Lee Tracy has an important part. lie's a competent actor. Otto Kruger lends his suave debonair presence to tiie show. Gloria Dickson is the inevitable blonde who is always around in a newspaper film.

“HARRIGAN’S KID”

For a' long time ’Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer pinned its faith aud box-office receipts to a handful of old stalwarts—Joan Crawford, Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson ICddv, .Spencer Tracy, Mickey Rooney, William Powell, Greta Garbo (reported to be making a film in England), Myrna Loy, and Judy Garland. But the public was beginning to tire of the same old faces, and a new policy developed. The most star-conscious studio in Hollywood had one of its biggest successes with a, picture containing no stars ("Assignment in Brittany”) ; this most conservative studio made a film with an all-negro cast (“Cabin in the Sky,” not yet seen here), and found that it had an A grade hit on its hands; new stars begin to come forth— Von Heflin, little Margaret 0 Brien, and now Bobby Readick who has top place in “Harrigan’s Kid” (De Luxe). Bobby Readick is a New York stage star whom the talent scouts and a longterm contract have lured to California. His first picture is a racing story—and, what is more, It docs not contain one beautiful blonde to cheer the boys as they come thundering down the straight. Instead, tlie cast is purely male, despite the manpower shortage—William Gargan, J. Carroll Naish. Frank Craven and Russell Hicks. “Harrigan's Kid" is an exciting iilm of the rough-nnd-tumblc kind. It exposes a lot. of rackets, and the public can discover, from the film that there s more to the racing business than merely putting your shirt on a horse. “Girls Incorporated is the. title of the second film. Billed as a "girly-whirly musical extravaganza.” it. lias funny little Leon Errol. Harriet Hilliard, Grace -MacDonald, Glen Gray and bls Casa Loma Orchestra, and a lot. of swing tunes, Including two I’ve lately heard over the air from .San Francisco—" Chant of the Jungle” and “Take It and Git."

“SONG OF THE ISLANDS”

■With a tropical background made even more appealing by the music of Harry Owens and his Boyal Hawaiians, Betty Grable sings aud dances in the entertaining teclinicolour production at the State, I’etone. Victor 'Mature plays the masculine lead with easy charm.

“Fell Tn” (Tudor).—Another hilarious Hal Roach army comedy, featuring William Tracy. A jungle thriller, ‘Jacare, is also on the programme. “Dr. Gillespie's New Assistant” (Tivoli). —A hospital drama with Lionel Barrymore dominating every scene. An engaging newcomer. Van Johnson, has a leading part. “Moonlight In Havana,” starring Allan Jones and Jane Frazee, is tlie supporting feature.

SUBURBAN THEATRES

Capitol (Miramar).—“Meet John Doe” and “Cowboy iu .Manhattan.” Ascot (Newtown); —“Maisie Gets Her Man” and "In the Navy.” King George (Lower Hutt). —“Thunder Birds.” ' De I.UXO (Lower Hutt).—“Aerial Gunner” and “Here We Go Again.” Prince Edward (Woburn). —“Commandos Strike At Dawn” and t'Cbatterbox.” Klnemn. (Kilbirnie). —“Saboteur” and “Behind the Eight Ball.” Begal (Karori).— “Unpublished Story” and “Who Done It.” Vogue (Brooklyn).—“Talk of the Town” and “About Face.” Empire (Island Bay).—“lce Capades” and "Pierre of the Plains." Rivoli (Newtown). —“Flight for Freedom” and "St. Louis Blues.” Seaside (Lyall Bay).—“Road To Morocco” and “Torpedo Boat.”

(Fourth week). —There is one form of prejudice against films made from novels that the producers can’t do anything about. 'That is the tendency of the reader to have formed his own imaginary picture of the characters: Montey Woolley s conception of the old Englishman in Nevile Shute’* charming book was not the character I had in mind. In the book he is “a tall and rather emaciated man of about 70, a little unsteady on his feet.” It was certainly not the acid, fretful Mr. Woolley, dressed in loud speckled tweeds. For all that, “The Pied Piper” (Plaza) is a good Aim, as thousands of Wellington people will willingly testify. He plays the part with authority. Wit rather than warmth is his forte, and he never leads the film into the boring realms of sloppy sentiment. The atmosphere of the film —it concerns an Englishman caught in the invasion of France who starts for home with two children and picks up more on the way—is cordial. Everyone can understand “The Pied Piper” and a few discerning souls 'can even anticipate tae course of the plot. As each fresh child is added to the troop the audience almost whoops with delight. Young Roddy McDowall is in the cast—and that means something, too.