CINEMASCOPE TWO
20th
Century Fox
A Detailed Survey of 140 Wide-Screen Movies
from
20th Century Fox Studios
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Published by:
John Howard Reid at
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Copyright (c) 2011 by John Howard Reid
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Original text copyright 2011 by John Howard Reid. All
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Other Books in This Series:
“CinemaScope One: Stupendous in “Scope”
“CinemaScope 3: Hollywood Takes the Plunge”
FRONT COVER: RITA HAYWORTH
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First published: March 2005
Second edition: December 2009
Third edition: August 2010
Fourth edition: April 2011
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Table of Contents
ABOMINABLE SNOWMAN OF THE HIMALAYAS 1957
APHRODITE, GODDESS OF LOVE (see GODDESS OF LOVE)
BEST THINGS IN LIFE ARE FREE 1956
BEYOND THE RIVER (see BOTTOM OF THE BOTTLE)
BRAVE AND THE BEAUTIFUL (see MAGNIFICENT MATADOR)
DEMETRIUS AND THE GLADIATORS 1954
HOW TO BE VERY VERY POPULAR 1955
HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE 1953
JAMES BROTHERS (see TRUE STORY OF JESSE JAMES)
KING OF THE KHYBER RIFLES 1953
LITTLE SHEPHERD OF KINGDOM COME 1960
MAM’ZELLE PIGALLE (see THAT NAUGHTY GIRL)
ON THE THRESHOLD OF SPACE 1956
SECRET INTERLUDE (see VIEW FROM POMPEY’S HEAD)
SECRET OF THE PURPLE REEF 1960
SHADOW OF FEAR (see MURDER, INC.)
SUCH MEN ARE DANGEROUS (see RACERS)
THOSE MAGNIFICENT MEN IN THEIR FLYING MACHINES 1965
TRUE STORY OF JESSE JAMES 1957
VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA 1961
WOMAN OF SUMMER (see STRIPPER)
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The CinemaScope Revolution
By 1946, MGM’s golden age was over. Leo the Lion was no longer the industry leader. The new boxoffice champion for 1946 with record profits of $22.6 million was 20th Century-Fox. Production boss Darryl F. Zanuck continued to out-fox his competitors throughout the rest of the decade. Due to the postwar attendance slump induced by television, however, profits actually began to rapidly decline, reaching a low of $4.3 million in 1951. Although Fox had bettered all other studios in the fight against TV, it was obvious that the one-eyed monster was gaining. All Hollywood was in panic. What to do? Bigger films, better films had been tried, and with success, but the overall attendance graph was still sliding inexorably downwards.
One man saved the day. His name was Professor Henri Chretien. For years he’d been hawking a widescreen system around the major studios. None were interested because widescreen had been tried before and failed way back in 1930. There were two problems: (a) its cost; and (b) public indifference. The advantage of Chretien’s system, however, is that it minimized cost by using standard 35mm film. No money was required to purchase new cameras and even more importantly new projectors. All that was needed was a simple prismatic lens to compress the image while it was being photographed and to uncompress it when projected. As for the public’s conception of widescreen, surely now was the time to highlight the difference between the extremely limited dimensions of the boob-tube and the vast panoramas now open at the local cinema.
In 1952 a couple of straws in the wind indicated that public attitudes were indeed changing. The first was This Is Cinerama, a sensational success which offered little more than widescreen novelty. The second of course was the 3-D Bwana Devil which despite extremely hostile reviews returned a dividend of over fifteen hundred per cent to its lucky investors. Oddly enough though it was not the astute Zanuck but his arch executive rival at 20th Century-Fox, Spyros Skouras, “a complete ignoramus about all things technical”, who signed the studio up for CinemaScope.
It all came about through Earl Sponable, the head of Fox’s research and engineering division which was based in New York. Since 1948, Sponable had been experimenting with widescreen effects. He set out to achieve a ratio of 1.85 to 1 with minimal costs. He had achieved only minimal success in 1951 when he heard about Chretien’s anamorphic lens. He was sufficiently impressed by Chretien’s demonstration to purchase an option. At this crucial moment in the studio’s history, Sponable’s immediate boss Skouras was in Greece, whilst Zanuck was similarly uncontactable in Paris. So it was left to Raymond Klune, who was looking after the Hollywood end whilst Zanuck was away, to authorize Sponable to pay Chretien $2 million for his invention. (Chretien, a professor at France’s Optical Institute, had developed his lens way back in the 1920s). Joined by experts from Bausch & Lomb, Sponable and his technicians began to refine the lenses and prepare a demonstration reel. Although there were mixed reactions to this test reel ranging from the wildly enthusiastic to the indifferent, Klune sent Zanuck an urgent message to come home. When Zanuck saw the tests, he was bowled over. CinemaScope was the right answer to all the motion picture industry’s problems. Not just Fox’s doldrums either. Zanuck saw Fox as the leader of the industry being now in a lifesaving position to license the CinemaScope revival to other studios. Fox was now in the royalties business. With one hand, Fox offered its rivals financial salvation and a share of the CinemaScope revolution. With the other hand, Fox collected a fee for the use of its process, the proper dues of all servitors to their lord. Fox was king of the Hollywood manor.
Only one of the other major Hollywood studios, Paramount, did not see things Zanuck’s way.
FOX’S FIRST 101 CINEMASCOPE FEATURES
(in approximate order of production)
1-10: The Robe, How To Marry a Millionaire, Beneath the 12-Mile Reef, King of the Khyber Rifles, Hell and High Water, New Faces, Night People, Prince Valiant, River of No Return, Royal Tour.
11-20: Three Coins in the Fountain, Demetrius and the Gladiators, Garden of Evil, Broken Lance, The Egyptian, Woman’s World, The Adventures of Hajji Baba, Black Widow, Carmen Jones, Desiree.
21-30: There’s No Business Like Show Business, Long John Silver, Prince of Players, The Racers, White Feather, Untamed, A Man Called Peter, Daddy Long Legs, Violent Saturday, Soldier of Fortune.
31-40: The Seven Year Itch, That Lady, House of Bamboo, How To Be Very Very Popular, The Virgin Queen, Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing, The Dark Avenger, The Left Hand of God, Seven Cities of Gold, The Tall Men.
41-50: The Deep Blue Sea, The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing, The View from Pompey’s Head, Good Morning Miss Dove, The Rains of Ranchipur, The Lieutenant Wore Skirts, The Man Who Never Was, The Bottom of the Bottle, Carousel, On the Threshold of Space.
51-60: The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit, Hilda Crane, The Revolt of Mamie Stover, 23 Paces to Baker Street, D-Day the Sixth of June, The King and I, Oasis, Smiley, Bigger Than Life, The Proud Ones.
61-70: Bus Stop, The Last Wagon, The Best Things in Life Are Free, Between Heaven and Hell, Love Me Tender, Teenage Rebel, Anastasia, The Girl Can’t Help It, Oh Men Oh Women, Heaven Knows Mr Allison.
71-80: Three Brave Men, The True Story of Jesse James, The River’s Edge, The Way to the Gold, Desk Set, Boy on a Dolphin, China Gate, The Wayward Bus, Island in the Sun, An Affair To Remember.
81-90: A Hatful of Rain, Bernadine, The Sun Also Rises, Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter, Forty Guns, The Deerslayer, The Three Faces of Eve, No Down Payment, Kiss Them For Me, April Love.
91-100: Sea Wife, Peyton Place, The Enemy Below, Stopover Tokyo, A Farewell To Arms, The Gift of Love, Sing Boy Sing, Cattle Empire, Count Five and Die, The Young Lions.
101: The Long Hot Summer.
NOTE: Although it was indeed a 20th Century-Fox CinemaScope release, Oklahoma! (1955) has been excluded from the above list, because it was initially released by Magna for roadshow engagements in Todd-AO.
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Victor McLaglen (Tom Muldoon), Gavin Muir (Evans), George Macready (Langley), Fay Spain (Sue Ellen), Carl Thayler (Jed), John Morley (F. Winters), Carlyle Mitchell (Chief Becker), George Cisar (Hansen), and James Logan, Pat Lawless, Jason Johnson, Fintan Meyler, Joe Hamilton, Nolan Leary, Gene Walker, Calvin Booth, Cliff Lyons.
Director: ANDREW V. McLAGLEN. Original screenplay: Ray Wander. Photographed in RegalScope by Joseph LaShelle. Film editor: Betty Steinberg. Art director: Rudi Feld. Set decorators: Walter M. Scott, Bert Granger. Music composed by Paul Glass, conducted by Ingolf Dahl. Costumes: Jerry Bos. Make-up: Louis Hippe. Hairdresser: Hollis G. Barnes. Property master: Frank Sullivan. Set continuity: Catarina Lawrence. Music editor: Lee Osborne. Technical advisor: Bert Brown. Assistant director: Howard Joslin. Sound recording: James Brock. Westrex Sound System. Producer: Ray Wander. A RegalScope Picture in association with the Griffin Company.
Copyright 1957 by Regal Films, Inc. Released through 20th Century-Fox Film Corp. U.S. release: July 1957. U.K. release: November 1957. Australian release: No official release date. Sydney opening at the Regent on the lower half a double bill. 7,192 feet. 80 minutes
SYNOPSIS: See below.
VIEWER’S GUIDE: Not suitable for children.
NOTE: Andrew V. (for Victor) McLaglen is the son of actor Victor McLaglen.
Despite its novel plot (part of which remains unexplained at the film’s close, viz., the purpose of kidnapping the preacher woman), this is a sluggishly-paced 2nd feature with an extremely pedestrian music score.
OTHER VIEWS: One of the pre-McClintock “B” films, director Andrew V. McLaglen made when he was just the long-running director of Gunsmoke on TV. Most of the Regal B&W ‘scope features are routine or worse but this one has an odd plot (about a conspiracy to steal Lincoln’s body) and a no-dialogue silhouette finale which are out of the rut. Otherwise the love scenes are sexless, the plot without tension and they drive through that same bit of studio foliage three times.
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the Abominable Snowman of the Himalayas
Forrest Tucker (Tom Friend), Peter Cushing (Dr John Rollason), Maureen Connell (Helen Rollason), Richard Wattis (Peter Fox), Robert Brown (Ed Shelley), Michael Brill (Andrew McNee), Arnold Marle (lhama), Anthony Chin (major domo), Wolfe Morris (Kusang).
Directed by VAL GUEST, from a screenplay by Nigel Kneale based on his TV play, “The Creature”. Photographed in black-and-white ‘Scope by Arthur Grant. Supervising art director: Bernard Robinson. Art director: Ted Marshall. Music composed by Humphrey Searle and directed by John Hollingsworth. Wardrobe: Molly Arbuthnot. Dress designer: Beatrice Dawson. Make-up: Phil Leakey. Set continuity: Doreen Soan. Assistant director: Robert Lynn. Production supervisor: Hal Mason. Production manager: Don Weeks. Camera operator: Len Harris. Film editor: Bill Lenny. Sound recording: Jock May. Producer: Aubrey Baring. Executive producer: Michael Carreras.
A Hammer Production, distributed in the U.K. by Warner Bros., in Australia and the U.S.A. by 20th Century-Fox. U.K. release date: August, 1957. Australian release date: January 17th, 1958. U.S. release date: October, 1957. U.K. length: 8,110 feet (equals 89 minutes). Australian and U.S. length: 85 minutes.
U.K. and Australian release title: The ABOMINABLE SNOWMAN.
SYNOPSIS: An American adventurer (Forrest Tucker) and a British scientist (Peter Cushing) lead an expedition into the Himalayas in search of the legendary, huge, half-human beasts called Yetis, who leave their footprints but are seldom seen. They are warned by a mystical priest that it is death to look upon the Yetis.
NOTES: ’Scope process not credited in the U.K. and Australia. Credited as RegalScope in the U.S.A.
VIEWER’S GUIDE: Not suitable for children.
We’ve seen this one many times before, but the acting is capable and the direction efficient (though somewhat below Mr. Guest’s usual standard). Photography, music and art direction lend the picture some measure of atmosphere, but most of the tension seemingly inherent in Nigel Kneale’s TV script is not carried forward to the film.
OTHER VIEW: I don’t know that this story of the Yeti is all that familiar and I found Guest’s direction to be well up to his usual fairly imaginative level. The trouble with the film is that the photography of the studio material doesn’t match the 2nd unit stuff; and secondly but more importantly that Kneale’s script is too wordy and has some characters that are none too believable. The rather ordinary cast doesn’t help much, but striking art direction plus atmospheric music, photography and sound effects do build up considerable tension. Rating: 70%.
—John Howard Reid writing as George Addison.
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John Derek (Hajji Baba), Elaine Stewart (Fawzia), Thomas Gomez (Osman Aga), Amanda Blake (Banah), Paul Picerni (Nur-El-Din), Rosemarie Bowe (Ayesha), Donald Randolph (caliph), Melinda Markey (Touareg), Peter Mamakos (executioner), Kurt Katch (Caoush), Leo Mostovoy (barber), Joann Arnold (Susu) Veronika Pataky (Kulub), Linda Danson (Fabria), Robert Bice (Musa), Carl Milletaire (captain), Laurette Luez (Meriam), Eugenia Paul (Shireen), Barbara James (Zeenad), Percy Helton (Baba).
Director: DON WEIS. Screenplay: Richard Collins. Suggested by the 1842 novel of the same name by James Morier. Photographed in CinemaScope and DeLuxe Color by Harold Lipstein. Film editor: William Austin. Title song by Dimitri Tiomkin (music) and Ned Washington (lyrics), sung by Nat King Cole. Music composed and directed by Dimitri Tiomkin. Production design: Gene Allen. Art director: David Milton. Set decorator: Joseph Kish. Costumes: Renie. Make-up: Edward Polo. Hair styles: Mary Smith. Color consultant: George Hoyningen-Huene. Production manager: Allen E. Wood. Unit manager: Rex Bailey. Music editor: Robert Tracy. Sound editors: Del Harris, Bruce Schoengarth. Title song orchestra conducted by Nelson Riddle. Assistant director: Edward Money, Jr. Sound recording: Ralph Butler. Producer: Walter Wanger.
Copyright 7 October 1954 by 20th Century-Fox Film Corp. An Allied Artists Picture, released by 20th Century-Fox. New York opening at the Globe: 8 October 1954. U.S. release: October 1954. U.K. release: February 1955. Australian release: 23 December 1954. Sydney opening at the Esquire. Running times: 93 minutes (US & Aust), 86 minutes (UK).
SYNOPSIS: Although a humble barber by birth and trade, young Hajji Baba aspires to marry the Princess Fawzia.
NOTES: The 17th CinemaScope picture.
Despite its enormous popularity, the title song was not nominated for a prestigious Hollywood award. Instead Tiomkin and Washington were put in the ballot for “The High and the Mighty”, losing to “Three Coins in the Fountain”.
VIEWER’S GUIDE: Definitely unsuitable for children.
CinemaScope was still young and still going strong when independent producer Walter Wanger decided to cash in on the widescreen boom. Alas, it’s a most disappointing offering, lethargically directed and very woodenly acted — especially by young John Derek. Despite its alleged basis in an 1842 novel, the script is actually a juvenile hotch-potch of old Tony Curtis/Rock Hudson/Jeff Chandler pictures. Even more importantly, it’s rather short on action, long on talk; while the art direction shows definite signs of considerable skimping.
However, the pleasing title tune is catchily rendered by the smooth Nat King Cole.
The whole film condenses down very agreeably to a three-minute trailer. What a shame the movie itself is not a twentieth as colorful, exciting, fast-paced or fascinating!
OTHER VIEWS: Although most critics gave the movie the thumbs down (yes, there were actually some who praised it, including the Monthly Film Bulletin of all journals), and most contemporary patrons thought it at best mediocre, it has improved a bit with time. In fact, compared with the rubbish currently offered on TV, it’s rather good fun. It seems the astute Wanger had the good sense to make the movie in two versions: CinemaScope and standard screen (so that theatres unequipped for Scope would not miss out). The latter of course is the version shown on TV. And very nice it looks indeed. The color, divorced from grainy CinemaScope, is appealingly sharp. The framing and compositions are more attractive too, being noticeably tighter than the rather loose widescreen line-ups. Admittedly Weis was never much of a director, the acting is poor and the script juvenile stuff but Thomas Gomez flings off his dialogue with very agreeable gusto, Elaine Stewart makes a very decorative heroine and Mr Derek looks suitably dashing. There are bevies of scantily-clad cuties scampering around and whenever things get even the slightest bit dull, Mr Nat King Cole, accompanied by Nelson Riddle’s worthy orchestra, is whizzed on to liven things up — even under dialogue.
— John Howard Reid writing as George Addison.
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Cary Grant (Nickie Ferrante), Deborah Kerr (Terry McKay), Richard Denning (Ken), Neva Patterson (Lois), Cathleen Nesbitt (grandmother), Robert Q. Lewis (announcer), Charles Watts (Hathaway), Fortunio Bonanova (Courbet), Matt Moore (priest), Walter Woolf King (doctor), Jack Raine (English TV commentator), Roger Til (French commentator), Dino Bolognese (Italian commentator), Jack Lomas (painter), Dorothy Adams (mother), Brian Corcoran (small boy), Patricia Powell (blonde), Tommy Nolan (redhead), Minta Durfee (ship passenger), Alena Murray (airline stewardess), Robert Lynn (doctor), Louis Mercier (Marius), Geraldine Wall (Miss Webb), Sarah Selby (Miss Lane), Nora Marlowe (Gladys), Alberto Morin (bartender), Genevieve Aumont (Gabrielle), Paul Bradley (bit), Jesslyn Fax (landlady), Don Pietro (page boy), Tony De Mario (waiter), Michka Egan (ship waiter), Bert Stevens (maitre d’), Priscilla Garcia (French girl), Marc Snow (ship’s photographer), Anthony Mazzola (page boy), Helen Mayon (nurse), Theresa Emerson, Richard Allen, Tina Thompson, Scotty Morrow, Kathleen Charney, Terry Ross-Kelman, Norman Champion III (orphans), Mary Carroll, Suzanne Ellers, Juney Ellis (teachers).
Director: LEO McCAREY. Script: Delmer Daves and Leo McCarey, from an original story by Leo McCarey and Mildred Cram. Photography: Milton Krasner. CinemaScope. Color: DeLuxe. Editor: James B. Clark. Art directors: Lyle R. Wheeler, Jack Martin Smith. Music: Hugo Friedhofer. Music director: Lionel Newman. Title number sung by Vic Damone. Color consultant: Leonard Doss. Make-up: Ben Nye. Special photographic effects: L.B. Abbott. Executive wardrobe director: Charles Le Maire. Music orchestrations: Edward B. Powell and Peter King. Assistant director: Gilbert Mandelik. CinemaScope lenses by Bausch & Lomb. Set decorators: Walter M. Scott, Paul S. Fox. Songs: “An Affair To Remember”, “The Tiny Scout” , “Tomorrow Land”, “You Make It Easy To Be True”, by Harry Warren (music) , Harold Adamson and Leo McCarey (lyrics). French lyrics for title song by Tanis Chandler. An additional song, “Continue”, was composed by Warren, Adamson and McCarey, but not used. Miss Kerr’s singing dubbed by Marni Nixon. Vocal supervision: Ken Darby. Hair styles: Helen Turpin. Sound recording: Charles Peck, Harry M. Leonard. Westrex Sound System. Producer: Jerry Wald.
Copyright 1957 by 20th Century-Fox Film Corp. New York opening at the Roxy: 19 July 1957. U.S. release: July 1957. U.K. release: 22 September 1957. Australian release: 17 October 1957. Sydney opening at the Regent. 10,312 feet. 115 minutes.
SYNOPSIS: A shipboard romance seems doomed when the girl is crippled in a street accident.
NOTES: Fox’s 80th CinemaScope feature was nominated for the following prestigious Hollywood awards: Photography (won by Jack Hildyard for The Bridge on the River Kwai); Music Scoring, Hugo Friedhofer (won by Malcolm Arnold for The Bridge on the River Kwai); Song, “An Affair To Remember” (won by “All the Way” from The Joker Is Wild); Costumes, Charles Le Maire (won by Orry-Kelly for Les Girls).
Best Film of 1957 — Photoplay Gold Medal Award.
Deborah Kerr, Best Actress of 1957 — Photoplay Gold Medal Award.
Fox’s top-grossing domestic release of 1956-57.
A re-make of McCarey’s own 1939 RKO picture Love Affair which starred Charles Boyer and Irene Dunne in a screenplay by Delmer Daves and Donald Ogden Stewart from the story by Mildred Cram and Leo McCarey. The Oscar-nominated McCarey produced as well as directed.
VIEWER’S GUIDE: Okay for all.
This re-make of Love Affair is strictly a distaff offering. Femmes will enjoy weeping into their lace-edged handkerchiefs at love’s labours lost and found — all against nice plush backgrounds and a heavy syrupy score. Cary Grant seems a trifle bored with the proceedings — and who will blame him? but Deborah Kerr seems right at home, jerking tears with a winsome smile. The color photography is as lush as the sets, and the direction is as dull as the script.
OTHER VIEWS: Does not open too badly with some pleasant though mediocre shipboard banter between Kerr and Cary; but wait till you strike an extremely long and screamingly dull visit to Cary’s aged grandmother, hammily acted by Cathleen Nesbitt! If you can sit through that scene and through two songs murdered by a typically freakish Hollywood group of school-children, the rest of the film is not too bad: some very attractive color sets, some very pleasant color photography, an engaging theme tune, directorial craftsmanship that would measure up to a fourth-rate Frank Borzage.
— John Howard Reid writing as George Addison.
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Charlton Heston (Michelangelo), Rex Harrison (Pope Julius II), Diane Cilento (Contessina de Medici), Harry Andrews (Bramante), Alberto Lupo (Duke of Urbino), Adolfo Celi (Giovanni de Medici), Vanantino Venantini (Paris de Grassis), John Stacy (Sangallo), Fausto Tozzi (foreman), Maxine Audley (woman), Tomas Milian (Raphael), Richard Pearson (cardinal).
Produced and directed by Sir Carol Reed. 2nd unit director: Robert D. Webb. Assistant director: Gus Agosti. Screenplay by Philip Dunne, based on the 1961 novel by Irving Stone. Photographed in Todd-AO and De Luxe color by Leon Shamroy. 2nd unit photography: Piero Portalupi. Production designer: John de Cuir. Art director: Jack Martin Smith. Set decorations: Dario Simoni. Costumes: Vittorio Nino Novarese. Hairstyles: Grazia De Rossi. Make-up: Amato Garbini. Film editor: Samuel E. Beetley. Music composed and directed by Alex North. Music orchestrations: Alexander Courage. Choral music: Franco Potenza. Special photographic effects: L. B. Abbott and Emil Kosa Jr. Sound recording: Carlton W. Faulkner and Douglas O. Williams. Wardrobe: House of the Arts (Florence), R. Peruzzi. Property master: Sam Gordon. Westrex Sound System. 70mm prints in Todd-AO, 35mm prints in CinemaScope.
Copyright 7 October 1965 by International Classics (a wholly-owned subsidiary of 20th Century-Fox). Released through 20th Century-Fox Film Corp. New York opening at Loew’s State: 7 October 1965. U.S. release: 7 October 1965. U.K. release: 4 June 1966. London opening at the Astoria, Charing Cross Road: 27 October 1965. Sydney opening at the Paris: 12,568 feet. 140 minutes.
SYNOPSIS: Witty, urbane, querulous, pragmatic yet charismatic soldier-pope commissions quarrelsome, rebellious sculptor to paint a ceiling in his Vatican chapel.
NOTES: Nominated for five prestigious Hollywood awards: Color Cinematography (only Shamroy was cited) (lost to Dr Zhivago); Color Art Direction (lost to Dr Zhivago); Sound Recording (lost to The Sound of Music); Original Music Score (lost to Dr Zhivago); Color Costume Design (lost to Dr Zhivago).
Negative cost: $12 million. Initial domestic rentals gross: approx. $4 million.
Second to The Eleanor Roosevelt Story on the National Board of Review’s list of the Ten Best in English for 1965.
Filmed from 1 June 1964 to mid-September 1964 in Rome and at locations including Canale de Monterano (for battle sequences) and Todi (for St Peter’s Square).
VIEWERS’ GUIDE: Not suitable for historians.
What would have been a good film, has been unmercifully padded out to 139 minutes. The fault probably lies not with screenwriter Philip Dunne (who has shown a big improvement of late, cf. Blindfold, which he wrote and directed), but with Irving Stone’s original novel. This is evidently aimed at the lowest level of literacy. It depicts Michelangelo as a stubborn, yet dithering iconoclast, who has no interest in his times or the people in it. Therefore, the script displays a corresponding lack of interest. Michelangelo wasn’t interested in girls, either. But this would never do for the Italian film industry. And so we are shown Diane Cilento pursuing the hero and his rejecting her for scene after scene after scene of excruciating boredom. Miss Cilento flounders hopelessly in her tawdry lines and ALL her part should be eliminated. This done, the film would receive at least 75%: for Rex Harrison gives a very good performance and Piero Portalupi’s beautiful second unit photography is up to his usual high standard. As it stands, however, producer/director, Sir Carol Reed (The Third Man, Odd Man Out, A Kid for Two Farthings, Outcast of the Islands) should be ashamed.
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Willard Parker (Lieutenant Vern Taylor), Merry Anders (Mona Whitney), Robert Dix (Sergeant Bob Castle), John Holland (Arthur Murcott), Russ Bender (Sergeant Lou Kurnitz), Douglass Dumbrille (Millard Nolan), George Eldredge (Howie Franklin), Ivan Bonar (Oliver Dunning), La Rue Farlow, Stacey Winters, Ray Dannis, Jack Younger, Glen Marshall, Lee Patterson.
Director: MAURY DEXTER. Original screenplay: Harry Spalding (under the pseudonym “Henry Cross”). Photographed by John M. Nikolaus, Jr. Music composed and conducted by Albert Glasser. Supervising film editor: Jodie Copelan. Assistant director: Willard Kirkham. Set decorations: Harry Reif. Make-up: Bob Mark. Wardrobe: Ray Summers. Script supervisor: Betty Crosby. Property master: Mike Gordon. Sound facilities: Continental Sound Corp. Sound recording: William C. Bernds and Harry M. Leonard. Sound editor: Jack Cornall. Production supervisor: Harold E. Knox. An Associated Producers Production for 20th Century-Fox. Filmed in black-and-white CinemaScope (lenses by Bausch and Lomb). Aerial photography: Jack Woolf. Producer: Maury Dexter.
Copyright 17 June 1962 by Associated Producers, Inc. Released through 20th Century-Fox Film Corp. No recorded New York opening. U.S. release: July 1962. U.K. release: 22 July 1962. Australian release: November 1962. Sydney opening as a support at the Regent. 6,306 feet. 70 minutes.
SYNOPSIS: A valuable painting is stolen in a daring coup which involves the thief’s getaway at night in a helicopter. Lieutenant Tyler, who investigates, obtains the assistance of Sergeant Castle of the department’s Air Patrol. The thief sends an inch-wide strip of the painting to its owner, and demands a large sum for its return. The owner pays the money, which is delivered, as demanded, by his secretary, Mona Whitney. The secret rendezvous turns out to be the deserted Hollywood Bowl.
VIEWERS’ GUIDE: Okay for all.
This supporting feature has a few imaginative touches, but they are used to such saturation as to outstay their appeal. The aerial shots by Jack Woolf are very nice, but we see too many of them. The climax is good, but the shots are often held too long. The players are not very interesting, and the script is tedious and overlooks some points that might have been developed to advantage, e.g. the killer obviously had a female accomplice who phoned the fake telegram through, but of her (if it is her) we catch only a glimpse.
OTHER VIEWS: One of the best of the superior second-features which Associated Producers turned out to run with Fox’s big pictures. This one shows Dexter responding more successfully to the off-beat touches — the helicopter of the opening or the final chase from the Hollywood Bowl along the empty storm-water channel, the quite literate account of Merry Anders’ serious approach to art, making her take a business course to stay fed, or Dumbrille as “an actor who was once one of the best-known movie villains”. Unfortunately, the straightforward police routine is handled less well, but the images and score carry even that.
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Bill Williams (Al Graham), Nora Hayden (Tina Boyd), Lyn Thomas (Janet Mason) Leslie Bradley (Gerard Mason), Nick Dennis (Pete Harris), Raymond Hatton (prospector), Fred Sherman (Radabaugh), Court Sheppard (MacKillop), Gregg Martell (McCormick), Jess Kirkpatrick (Bamey), Jorie Wyler (Claudette), Tommy Cook (Hubie), Ralph Sanford (Anderson), and Al Baffert.
I have made four attempts to sit through this film — without success. The dreary, dreary direction of his own deadly dull script must make even Edward Bernds’ closest relatives blanche. The cast is tedious, the photography (William Whitley) flat, the sets (John Mansbridge) unattractive, and the music (Alex Alexander) strident. Film editor: Richard C. Meyer. Assistant director: Lee Lukather. Set decorator: Harry Reif. Dialogue director: Henry Stegihl. Costumes: Neva Rames. Make-up: Robert Littlefield. Hair styles: Maudlee McDougall. Sound recording: Frank Goodwin. Sound facilities by Glen Glenn Sound Company. Producer: Bernard Glasser. An Associated Producers Production for 20th Century-Fox. Photographed in RegalScope (black-and-white). Location scenes filmed in Alaska.
Copyright 1959 by Associated Producers, Inc. U.S. release: February 1959. U.K. release: 15 March 1959. Australian release: 9 April 1959. 6,436 feet. 72 minutes.
SYNOPSIS: Al Graham is operator and co-owner of an Alaskan trucking firm which transports goods from the small town of Tanana Crossing to the large city of Fairbanks. Because of high operating costs and hazardous roads which are often blocked by landslides, the business is in the red and silent-partner Gerard Mason journeys up from Seattle to discuss matters with Al. Trouble begins when Gerard’s wife, Janet, arrives on the scene.
NOTES: First production from Robert L. Lippert’s Associated Producers, Inc. See introductory notes on RegalScope.
VIEWER’S GUIDE: Unsuitable for children.
COMMENT: Miss Hayden and Miss Thomas are attractive lasses, but anyone who can stand a jot of Bill Williams and Nick Dennis without frequent trips to the bar is superhuman. There is some mild (if unexpected and completely phony in terms of script development) excitement at the climax, but overall it is a sluggish, boring story, tediously told, with all the zip and pace of an octogenarian tortoise.
OTHER VIEWS: Merely average film in both plot and acting, with the limited budget unable to take advantage of a background which includes trucking operations on the road to Alaska.
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Beverly Garland (Jane Marvin), Bruce Bennett (Dr Erik Lorimer), Lon Chaney (Mannon), George Macready (Dr Mark Sinclair), Frieda Inescort (Mrs Henry Hawthorne), Richard Crane (Paul Webster), Douglas Kennedy (Dr Wayne McGregor), Vince Townsend Jr (Toby), Ruby Goodwin (Lou Ann), Boyd Stockman (Paul’s double), John Merrick (nurse no. 1), Lee Warren (nurse no. 2), Bill Bradley (patient no. 6), Dudley Dickerson (porter), Hal K. Dawson (conductor).
Director: ROY DEL RUTH. Screenplay: Orville H. Hampton, based on a story by Orville H. Hampton and Charles O’Neal. Photography: Karl Struss. Film editor: Harry Gerstad. Art directors: Lyle R. Wheeler and John Mansbridge. Music: Irving Gertz. Sound recording: W. Donald Flick. Sound effects: Arthur J. Cornell. Special effects: Fred Etcheverry. Camera operator: Brydon Baker. Photographed in black-and-white CinemaScope. Producer: Jack Leewood.
Copyright 1959 by Associated Producers, Inc. Released through 20th Century-Fox. No recorded New York opening. U.S. release: July 1959. U.K. release: October 1959. Banned in Australia. 6,656 feet. 74 minutes.
SYNOPSIS: Working on the basis that certain reptiles can regrow parts of their bodies which have been amputated, Louisiana doctor Mark Sinclair extracts a secretion from alligators to stimulate the recovery of hopelessly maimed war victims. This is so successful in the case of a terribly mutilated aviator, Paul Webster, that his renewed confidence leads him to marry a gay and attractive nurse, Joyce. There is, however, a drawback. With the passing of time Sinclair’s patients grow less and less like human beings and more and more like alligators.
VIEWERS’ GUIDE: Adults.
A good programme horror film... Hampton’s script provides plausible explanations for the implausible and injects warmth and humor at points making the horror more horrible. Equipped with well motivated lines, Miss Garland turns in a fine performance. While Frieda Inescort overacts her well-written mother-role, the rest of the principal supporting cast does well. Photography, sound effects and editing are decided plusses and the art direction is masterful, particularly when the budget is taken into consideration.
— Variety.
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Pat Boone (Lieutenant Donald), Buddy Hackett (Garfield), Dennis O’Keefe (Captain O’Gara), Barbara Eden (Sally Hobson), Warren Berlinger (Ensign Rush), Gale Gordon (Admiral Bintle), David Brandon (Lieutenant Kutley), Joe E. Ross (Bos’n), Bartlett Robinson (Lieutenant Commander Anthony), Paul von Schrieber (Mulvaney), Ann B. Davis (Nobby) Jody McCrea (Lieutenant J. C. Schuyler), Chet Stratton (Theatre Manager), Pat McCaffrie (Gruber).
Directed by NORMAN TAUROG from a screenplay by Jay Sommers, based on the 1957 novel, “Warm Bodies”, by Donald R. Morris. Photographed in CinemaScope and DeLuxe color by Leo Tover. Art directors: Jack Martin Smith and Walter M. Simonds. Set decorations: Walter M. Scott and Lou Hafley. Film editor: Fredrick Y. Smith. Wardrobe direction: Charles Le Maire. Assistant to the producer: Jack Mintz. Assistant director: Stanley Hough. Music composed by Cyril J. Mockridge and conducted by Pete King. Songs, “All Hands On Deck”, “I’ve Got It Made”, “Somewhere There’s Home”, “You Mean Everything To Me”, by Ray Evans and Jay Livingston, sung by Pat Boone. Orchestrations: Arthur Morton, Edward B. Powell, Vic Schoen and Herbert Spencer. Choreography: Hal Belfer. Make-up: Ben Nye. Hair styles: Helen Turpin. CinemaScope lenses by Bausch & Lomb. DeLuxe color consultant: Leonard Doss. Sound recording: E. Clayton Ward and Frank W. Moran. Westrex sound recording system. Producer: Oscar Brodney. Technical advisors: Commander Daniel E. Bergin and Commander Francis T. Kleber. Made with the co-operation of the United States Navy. Special thanks to the officers and men of “St. Clair County”.
Copyright 24 March 1961 by 20th Century-Fox Film Corp. New York opening at the Paramount: 31 March 1961. U.S. release: April 1961. U.K. release: 7 May 1961. Australian release: 11 May 1961. 8,830 feet. 98 minutes.
SYNOPSIS: See review.
VIEWER’S GUIDE: Okay for all.
All Hands On Deck concerns the misadventures of an L.S.T.-class craft, commanded by a choleric, kindly eccentric (energetically played by Dennis O’Keefe — this was his last Hollywood film), and manned by such improbables as a multi-millionaire Chickasaw Indian (amusingly portrayed by that adroit comedian, Buddy Hackett). Pat Boone fits easily into the role of the executive lieutenant. Boone has a pleasantly light touch on this type of entertainment and manages to interpolate four agreeable, if not outstanding, songs. The love story between Boone and Barbara Eden’s delightfully natural, comedy heroine provides some laugh-provoking interludes free of the usual screen sentimentalities. The support cast is first-rate, with every member perfectly chosen from Warren Berlinger’s green ensign to Pat McCaffrie’s lively ship’s cook.
Veteran director Norman Taurog takes the action at a brisk pace towards the irresistible lunacy of its admiral’s inspection. Other production credits are top-drawer, with sparkling color cinematography by Leo Tover, attractive sets and smooth music scoring.
In its irreverence towards the U.S. Navy, this frank and funny farce reminds us of some recent British films satirizing the R.N., but this Hollywood production has it all over its British counterparts in one largish item: The makers of All Hands On Deck had obviously unlimited use of a genuine Navy dock-yard and ships!
OTHER VIEWS: Predictable farce, over-boisterously played and none too subtly directed. Buddy Hackett’s comedy style seems to be closely modeled on Lou Costello’s.
— John Howard Reid writing as Charles Freeman.
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Scott Brady (Sergeant Matt Blake), Margia Dean (Teresa), Clint Eastwood (Keith Williams), Irving Bacon (Judge Stanfield), Frank Gerstle (Sam Prescott), Dirk London (Johnny Willows), Baynes Barron (Corbin), Ken Mayer (Corporal Schwitzer), Keith Richards (Private Lasky), William Vaughan (Henry), John Damler (Private Zach), John Merrick (Private Nathan), Desmond Slattery (Cobb).
Directed by JODIE COPELAN from a screenplay by Richard G. Taylor and John K Butler, based on a story by Robert A. Reeds and Robert W. Woods. Photographed in black-and-white RegalScope by John M. Nickolaus, Jr. Art director: John Mansbridge. Supervising film editor: Carl L. Pierson. Music: Paul Sawtell and Bert Shefter. Assistant producer: Jack Eringer. Assistant directors: Jack McEdward and Leonard J. Shapiro. Script supervisor: Joan Eremin. Properties: William F. Sittel, Jr. Wardrobe: Clark Ross. Make-up: John Chambers. Hair styles: Fritzy LaBar. Music editor: Harry Eisen. Sound recording: Harold Hanks and Harry M. Leonard. Producer: Herbert E. Mendelson.
A Regal Films Production released by 20th Century-Fox. U.S. release: March, 1958. U.K. release: 13 April 1958. Australian release: 14th August, 1958. 73 minutes.
SYNOPSIS: A Union patrol joins forces with a group of ex-Confederate soldiers to ward off an Apache attack.
VIEWER’S GUIDE: Unsuitable for children.
A typical RegalScope production: (1) It marks the directorial debut of a film editor,* which as usual turns out to be an inauspicious, unpromising and entirely disappointing debut. The direction, whilst not exactly inept, is as dull as all get-out and extracts every last grain of tedium out of the lethargically-staged proceedings. (2) The players are all afflicted with the B-grade shuffle in spades, moving at a tiresomely slow gait and speaking with plenty of pauses between words, and so spinning a 50-minute script out to 73 minutes without the producer having to go to the expense of employing an additional writer. This film has a distinct advantage over its stablemates in that the lead actress is supposed to be a Mexican and this gives her an excuse to hesitate twice as long between every word as the rest of the cast.† (3) The script has a surfeit of feeble dialogue. ‡ There is not much action and what there is happens to be pretty tame. (4) The photography is flat and almost completely featureless. Grey tones are prominent and there is very little contrast. There is no such thing as a deep, rich black in a RegalScope film. (5) Production values are noticeably skimpy. The cast is fairly small, the sets are drab, the locations unattractive, the music score strictly routine and other production credits are totally undistinguished. One odd thing is that Regal films seldom, if ever, use any stock footage. So far as I know, all RegalScope films were photographed in black-and-white.
OTHER VIEWS: Average low-budget oater... As Jodie Copelan’s first directorial effort, the film moves rather well within the limitations of its low budget... Screenplay is spotty in its excitement... Scott Brady is sincere in his approach, quite believable in his performance... Shifting from outdoor settings to indoor replicas is all too obvious. So is the outdoor smog.
— Variety.
This is a generally entertaining western, despite the fact that neither direction, photography nor acting display any distinctive virtues. Numerous westerns have been saved by the first sinister appearance of the Indians from behind the rocks. Here, happily, the Indians arrive early and remain throughout.
— M.F.B.
*About half the Regal films are directed by former editors. The other half use such old Monogram-type hands as Edward Bernds, Paul Landres, Sam Newfield and Jean Yarbrough. As a general rule the films directed by the old hacks are more exciting than those directed by the editors.
†Ambush at Cimarron Pass has some curiosity value by virtue of the casting of Clint Eastwood. Although he has a fair-sized part — he is the third male lead having about a quarter the footage of Frank Gerstle — his fans are going to be very disappointed. His screen personality here is completely colorless and he gives not an inkling of his future fame as The Man With No Name . The rest of the cast is just as nondescript with Irving Bacon overdoing the role of a cowardly judge.
‡Samples: “Matt, do you like Teresa?” — “A man’s got to take a lot of things he don’t bargain for. That’s what makes him a man.”
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Ingrid Bergman (Anastasia), Yul Brynner (Prince Bounine), Helen Hayes (dowager empress), Akim Tamiroff (Chernov), Martita Hunt (Baroness von Livenbaum), Felix Aylmer (Russian chamberlain), Sacha Pitoeff (Petrovin), Ivan Desny (Prince Paul), Natalie Schafer (Lissenskaia), Gregoire Gromoff (Stepan), Karel Stepanek (Vlados), Ina de la Haye (Marusia), Katherine Kath (Maxime), Hy Hazell (blond lady), Olga Valery (Countess Baranova), Tamara Shayne (Xenia), Peter Sallis (Grischa), Olaf Pooley (Zhadanov), Andre Mikhelson (older man), Eric Pohlmann (Von Drivnitz), Alexis Bobrinskoy (Bechmetieff), Edward Forsyth (footman), Stanley Zevick (Empress’ cossack), Tutte Lemkow and Anatole Smirnoff (Kasbek dancers), Alan Cuthbertson (blond man), Henry Vidon (Prince Bolkonoski), Polycarpe Pavloff (Schischkin), Paula Catton (Jean), Marguerite Brennan (Marguerite), Baron de Mirback (Count Bechmetieff), and Vera Gretch, the Tivoli Gardens Boys’ Band.
Directed by ANATOLE LITVAK from a screenplay by Arthur Laurents, based on the television play by Marcelle Maurette as adapted for the stage by Guy Bolton. Photographed in DeLuxe Color and CinemaScope by Jack Hildyard. Art directors: Andrei Andrejew and Bill Andrews. Film editor: Bert Bates. Music composed and directed by Alfred Newman, orchestrated by Edward B. Powell. Russian music arranged by Michel Michelet. Assistant director: Gerry O’Hara. Dialogue assistant: Paul Dickson. Dance music by Arensky, Tchaikovsky, Johann Strauss and others arranged by Urban Thielmann. Costumes designed by Rene Hubert. Set decorator: Andrew Low. Hair styles: Johnnie Johnson. Make-up: Dave Aylott. CinemaScope lenses by Bausch & Lomb. Mr. Litvak’s assistant: Michel Romanov. Technical advisor: Baroness Budberg. Miss Bergman’s evening gowns at Copenhagen, her black afternoon dress and her navy blue velvet suit executed by Balenciaga and Karinska of Paris; her honey-colored travelling suit and all casual wear executed by Kriesener of Switzerland, all other costumes executed by the House of Worth, London. Title song by Alfred Newman (music) and Paul Francis Webster (Iyrics) — only the music is heard in the film. Sound recording: Gerry Turner and Harry M. Leonard. Westrex Sound System. Producer: Buddy Adler.
Copyright 1956 by 20th Century-Fox Film Corp. Location scenes filmed in London, Paris and Copenhagen. New York opening at the Roxy: 13 December 1956. U.S. release: December 1956. U.K. release: 15 April 1957. Australian release: 7 March 1957. Sydney opening at the Century. 9,457 feet. 105 minutes.
SYNOPSIS: We now know that Anna Anderson was not Crown Princess Anastasia. Czar Nicholas and his entire family were murdered in 1918. Their common grave was discovered in 1993 and all remains positively identified by early 1994. The question now is was Anna Anderson just plain mad, was she honestly deluded by those who abetted her, or was she simply a ruthless adventuress staking a claim to the Czar’s fortune? The film of course shies away from these questions.
NOTES: Prestigious Hollywood award, Best Actress, Ingrid Bergman (defeating Carroll Baker in Baby Doll, Katharine Hepburn in The Rainmaker, Nancy Kelly in The Bad Seed, Deborah Kerr in The King and I).
Also nominated for Best Music Scoring of a Drama or Comedy, Alfred Newman (won by Victor Young for Around the World in 80 Days).
Best Actor, Yul Brynner (also cited for The King and I and The Ten Commandments) — National Board of Review.
Number eight on the National Board of Review’s list of the Ten Best American Films of 1956.
Ingrid Bergman in Anastasia, Best Feminine Performance of 1956 — New York Film Critics.
Number five in the Film Daily’s 1956 “Ten Best” ballot, selected by approximately five hundred American film critics.
Second to An Affair to Remember as Fox’s top-grossing domestic release of 1956-57.
Second to The King and I as Fox’s top-grossing Australian release of 1957.
A New York Times “Ten Best of 1956” from Bosley Crowther.
There is a German version of the Anastasia story, Anastasia — Die Letzte Zarentochter (1956), stiffly directed by Falk Harnack from a dreary screenplay by Herbert Reinecker, allegedly based on authentic documents. The film resembles nothing more than a series of amateurishly acted theatrical tableaux. Lilli Palmer’s presence and performance in the title role is the film’s only saving grace, but even this asset is missing from the English version in which Miss Palmer does not dub her own role. U.K. release title: Is Anna Anderson Anastasia? U.S. release title: The Story of Anastasia.
Fox’s 67th CinemaScope feature — and the first to win Hollywood’s premier Best Actress Award.
VIEWER’S GUIDE: Suitable for all.
To bring out a film of this taste, complexity and distinction through the Fox of How To Be Very, Very Popular and Three Coins in the Fountain is a remarkable achievement, and one that must be seen in the continuing cycle of Litvak’s period romances particularly Mayerling and All This and Heaven Too. This film has a more remote, theatrical quality than those because Litvak was totally disinterested in the question whether Anastasia Anderson was the true daughter of the Czar. Rather, he saw the film as a chance to reopen the Hollywood career of Ingrid Bergman, whom he had wanted to play the lead in The Snake Pit. (“The most sane woman to play a mad woman!” he had once commented.) The result is a little too close to the artificiality of its stage presentation with the action held in the new CinemaScope framing, but the Mayerling-reminiscent band concerts and ball scenes where the camera again soars away from the waltzing couple do have a life and movement uncommon in films of this period. Cameraman Jack Hildyard had just worked with Litvak on The Deep Blue Sea and Pabst’s old designer Andreiev had worked with Litvak in pre-war days. Together they achieve the film’s Paris-made elegance. Of course, the heart of the production is in the performances, with excellent bits from Tamiroff and Martita Hunt, and Brynner consolidating his star status. However it is the playing of Bergman and Helen Hayes which turns the film into a really outstanding piece of work. They make the scene in which the old woman makes the girl swear that if she is an imposter she must never tell her the truth, quite unforgettable. Bergman manages the confidence trick that she was to repeat a decade and a half later in Cactus Flower, appearing drab throughout the first half of the film, only to reveal that her beauty had survived her Italian years in the climactic scenes. To sum up: few films have dated less or are more stylish and moving.
— B.P.
OTHER VIEWS: The dowdy chick has become a peacock in many a film but seldom so arrestingly as in Anastasia. Ingrid Bergman makes the change with such absolute conviction this film enshrines what is surely her most mature and exciting performance.
— E.V.D.
Anastasia is in many ways Litvak’s greatest success. Yet the subject did not really interest him. To Litvak it seemed neither likely nor important that Anastasia Anderson might be the Crown Princess. The whole appeal of the production to him was the opportunity it offered to display the beauty and talent of Ingrid Bergman who had been long absent from American films. Back in Mayerling’s world of Grand Duchesses and court intrigue again, here are the brass bands and the balls where the camera soars away from the dancers, but Litvak responded to this material in a far more formal, artificial style (which, ironically enough, proved the most acceptable way to present it to a wide public). The European production credits are impeccable. To see the ideas that art director Andreiev had applied to the thirties’ films of Pabst, worked out in CinemaScope and color is quite fascinating.
— R.A.
The negative cost of Anastasia was over $3,500,000, which at the time made it the biggest production Fox had ever made in Europe. $400,000 of this amount was paid to Messrs. Maurette and Bolton, who allegedly gave a small share to Anna Anderson (they had previously paid her $12,000 for the stage rights to her story). Of course, both the stage and film version have been highly romanticized. For instance, Anna was never seen by the Czar’s mother who died before a meeting could be arranged!
— C.F.
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Keith Larsen (Apache Kid), Jim Davis (Ben), Rodolfo Acosta (Mahteen), John Miljan (Nantan), Eugenia Paul (Liwana), Eddie Little, Michael Carr (Apaches), George Keymas (Chato), Lane Bradford (Sergeant Gaunt), Damian O’Flynn (major), Dehl Berti (Chikisin), Nick Thompson (horse trader), Ray Kellogg, Allan Nixon, Karl Davis (bounty men), David Carlisle (cavalry leader), and Fred Krone, Vance Howard, Mark Sheeler, Walter Kray, Boyd Stockman, Paul Stader, Joe Yrigoyen, Cliff Lyons.
Director: ELMO WILLIAMS. Screenplay: Carroll Young, Kurt Neumann, Eric Norden. Based on a story by Carroll Young and Kurt Neumann. Photographed in RegalScope by John M. Nikolaus, Jr. Film editor: Jodie Copelan. Art director: John Ewing. Music: Paul Dunlap. Orchestrations: Edward B. Powell. Wardrobe: Ollie Hughes, Robert Olivas. Hairdresser: Nadine Banks. Set decorations: Walter M. Scott, Chester Bayhi. Make-up: Bob Gray. Properties: Max Goldman. Production manager: H.E. Mendelson. Sound recording: Alfred Bruzlin. Producer: Plato Skouras.
Regal Films, released by 20th Century-Fox, August 1957 (U.S.A.), October 1957 (U.K.), 12th December 1957 (Australia). 6,595 feet. 73 minutes.
SYNOPSIS: After helping the U.S. army round up his Indian “brothers” after the defeat of Geronimo, the Apache Kid turns renegade when an actual brother is murdered.
VIEWER’S GUIDE: Unsuitable for children.
Dreary, slow-moving western, its banal, cliché-ridden script directed with disappointing spiritlessness by Elmo Williams. Maybe if this thing had been directed by some hack like Edward L. Cahn it would have received a slightly higher rating — though even by Mr. Cahn’s humble standards it is way below average — but we expect much more from a talent of Mr Williams’ calibre. What little action there is in the film is tame in the extreme. For the rest of the time we are forced to listen to one of the least interesting casts on record talking their fool heads off. Miss Paul is a charmless heroine and Mr Miljan a particularly corny Indian, while the one capable player in the cast, Mr Acosta, has but a miniscule role.
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Belinda Lee (Iride), Jacques Sernas (Luciano).
For notes and a discussion of this film see Goddess of Love in this book.
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Pat Boone (Nick Conover), Shirley Jones (Liz Templeton), Dolores Michaels (Fran) Arthur O’Connell (Jed), Matt Crowley (Dan Templeton), Jeanette Nolan (Henrietta), Brad Jackson (Al Turner).
Director: HENRY LEVIN. Screenplay: Winston Miller. Based on the story “The Phantom Filly” by George Agnew Chamberlain. Photographed in CinemaScope and DeLuxe Color by Wilfrid M. Cline. Film editor: William B. Murphy. Art directors: Lyle R. Wheeler, Herman A. Blumenthal. Set decorations: Walter M. Scott, Eli Benechev. Wardrobe director: Charles Le Maire. Costumes: Renie. Songs: “April Love”, “Clover in the Meadow”, “Do It Yourself”, “Give Me a Gentle Girl”, “Bentonville Fair” by Paul Francis Webster (Iyrics) and Sammy Fain (music). Music adapted by Alfred Newman and Cyril J. Mockridge, orchestrated by Pete King, Skip Martin and Edward B. Powell, conducted by Lionel Newman. Color consultant: Leonard Doss. Hair styles: Helen Turpin. Make-up: Ben Nye. Special photographic effects: L. B. Abbott. Assistant director: Stanley Hough. CinemaScope lenses by Bausch & Lomb. Sound: Eugene Grossman, Frank Moran. Westrex Sound System. Locations photographed in Lexington, Kentucky. Producer: David Weisbart. Produced and released by 20th Century-Fox.
Songs: “April Love” (Boone; reprised Boone and Jones); “Clover in the Meadow” (Boone); “Do It Yourself” (Boone, Jones, Michaels, Jackson); “Give Me a Gentle Girl” (Jones); “Bentonville Fair” (Boone and chorus); “When the Saints Go Marching In” (orchestral).
Copyright 1957 by 20th Century-Fox Film Corp. New York opening at neighborhood theatres: 27 November 1957. U.S. release: November 1957. U.K. release: 13 April 1958. Australian release: 26 December 1957. Sydney opening at the Regent. 8,936 feet. 99 minutes.
SYNOPSIS: Car thief reforms on Kentucky horse farm.
NOTES: A remake of Home In Indiana (1944).
Third to Anastasia and Love Me Tender as Fox’s top domestic boxoffice attraction of 1957.
Fox’s 90th CinemaScope release.
VIEWER’S GUIDE: Unsuitable for teenagers.
Pleasant if undistinguished musical remake of Home In Indiana (also screenplayed by Winston Miller), blandly directed and attractively photographed. Aside from April Love itself, the songs are unremarkable. The players are likeable, the plot predictable and production credits smooth.
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Terry-Thomas (Professor Bruce Patterson), Tuesday Weld (Libby Bushmill), Richard Beymer (Mike Polaski), Celeste Holm (Helen Bushmill), Francesca Bellini (Gladys), Howard McNear (Dr Bowman), Ann Del Guercio (Liz), Roxanne Arlen (Mrs Roberts), Alice Reinheart (Mrs Bowman), Stephen Bekassy (Paul), Margo Moore (Moll), George Bruggeman (Paul Revere).
Director: FRANK TASHLIN. Screenplay: Frank Tashlin, Budd Grossman. Based on the stage play “Libby” by Budd Grossman. Photographed in CinemaScope and DeLuxe Color by Daniel L. Fapp. Film editor: Hugh S. Fowler. Art directors: Jack Martin Smith, Leland Fuller. Set decorations: Walter M. Scott, Paul S. Fox. Costumes: Don Feld. Make-up: Ben Nye. Hair Styles: Helen Turpin. Music: Johnny Williams. Orchestrations: Robert Franklyn. Special photographic effects: L. B. Abbott. Assistant director: Ad Schaumer. Sound: E. Clayton Ward, Warren B. Delaplain. Producer: Jack Cummings. A Jack Cummings Production for 20th Century-Fox. Unit manager: Charles Levin. Script supervisor: Doris Drought. Dialogue coach: Carl Shain.
Copyright 22 December 1961 by Jack Cummings Productions. Released through 20th Century-Fox Film Corp. New York opening at the Forum: 12 January 1962. U.S. release: January 1962. U.K. release: December 1961. Australian release: December 1961. Sydney opening at the Regent. 8,205 feet, 91 minutes.
SYNOPSIS: A professor moves into the apartment of his fiancée, while she is on a trip to Paris. Unfortunately, she has neglected to tell her teenage daughter...
VIEWER’S GUIDE: Not suitable for children.
There are some dull passages (particularly some scenes between Miss Weld and Mr Beymer) and some of the jokes misfire but, all told, this is a very amusing farce, full of tangential sight gags and delightful incongruities. Grossman’s original frame-work was obviously cliched and trivial, but Tashlin has fleshed it out superlatively with a grab-bag of various types of humor. Terry-Thomas is in top form and, aside from Miss Weld and Mr Beymer who make a rather lackluster pair of juveniles, the support cast play with just the right blend of lunacy and straight-face. Photography and other credits are first-rate, though the film editing could be sharper and some trimming is needed.
OTHER VIEWS: This one is so much better than the Tashlin films that surround it that one can only regret that he did stay in this ‘scope Fox environment where he had already done the way out Girl Can’t Help It and Oh For a Man. Far more acceptable than Jerry Lewis as a lead man, Thomas was an “in” figure at this stage. Here he is an English (what else?) Archeology professor who Beymer describes as “... not edgy, You’re over the edge.” His trouble is that he is pursued by all the glamorous females who inhabit the Californian beach front, as well as by his fiancée’s daughter who employs dialogue lifted from “a first run late movie.”
The direction is at its most outrageous with inventive touches like the panties and bra which materialize in the “thinks” balloon or the fades through gaudy colors or the candles emerging ready lit out of Gladys’ hamper along with the shaker that pours the olive before the cocktail. A sub plot with a dog burying a relic drifts between Bringing Up Baby and Holly Golightly’s “cat” and there are the occasionally over broad gags that Tashlin and Wilder have in common as where Thomas clutches the dishpan lids and says he has no milk. Here this try-everything-and-get-the-laughs-where-they-come style works well with a script unconcerned about credibility and the crew’s sense of color given full scope. This one also has the familiar Tashlin contemporary detail with the jokes about brain drain Englishmen in California, academic rivalries and the whole aspirin age bit.
— B.P.
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Rex Reason (Steve Brewster), Margia Dean (Emily), Beverly Garland (Susan Hammer), Keith Larsen (Rick Valentine), Emile Meyer (Hammer), Jack Kruschen (sergeant), Russ Bender (George), Robert Cunningham (Paul), Ralph Peters (Sammy), Lee Tung Foo (Ling), Stanley Farrar (Rayburn), Rankin Mansfield (Travis), William Phipps (Walt), John Pickard (Vince), Paul Newlan (marshal), John Lomma (bank teller), Elena DaVinci (1st girl), George Taylor (bank teller), William Forester (bank manager), Larry Blake (1st outlaw), Ralph Sanford (Marshal Sloan), William Tanner (2nd outlaw), Roydon Clark (posseman), Helen Jay (2nd girl),
Writer/producer/director: DANIEL B. ULLMAN. Photographed in RegalScope by Frederick Gately. Film editor: Neil Brunenkant. Vocal sung by Bob Grabeau. Script supervisor: Eleanor Donohue. Dialogue coach: Franklin Mansfield. Music editor: Harry Eiser. Music: Irving Gertz. Song, “The Man with the Gallant Gun”, by Irving Gertz (music), Hal Levy (lyrics). Sound editor: Del Hollis. A RegalScope Production for 20th Century-Fox.
Copyright 1957 by Regal Films, Inc. U.S. release: May 1957. Never theatrically released in the U.K. Australian release: 10 October 1957. 75 minutes.
SYNOPSIS: A candidate for mayor (Rex Reason) is run out of town when he is tricked into a gun fight in which he kills his opponent. He takes up with a gang of outlaws and takes part in robberies, during the course of which he is wounded and captured.
VIEWER’S GUIDE: Unsuitable for children.
Ullman has fashioned this moderately interesting yarn in a workmanlike manner making effective use of the wide RegalScope screen. The characters are well-drawn and very competently played.
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Audie Murphy (Craig Benson), Gary Crosby (Marty Sackler), Dolores Michaels (Ruth Benson), Alejandro Rey (Julio Fontana), Marjorie Stapp (Caroline Pelham), Barry Atwater (Jeff Pelham), E.J. Andre (Dr Van Bart), Dale Ishimoto (Blanco), Miriam Colon (Nahni), Pilar Seurat (Camota), Lillian Bronson (Delia Ellis), William Mims (M’Keever), Ivan Dixon (Tiger Blair), Kevin Brodie (Timmy Thompson), Sara Anderson (Mrs Thompson), Lloyd Kino (Japanese lieutenant).