Hide Article Text (OCR)
, THE THINGTHE screen, which usually lards its horror yarns with such a liberal amount of hokum that they become merely silly, unleashes a Grade-A-thriLicr in The Thing, which opened at the Met theatre Friday, The Thing ranks with Dracula, Frankenstein and the other spooky films in the astute way in which it builds tension, and the matter-of-fact open-scenes soon become ladenmgand there are some graphic melodramatic moments- which will keep the pulses racing.Like most British pictures .of its type, this one is honest in its characterizations, and there is noxttempt to slickGiCiwith tension. Howard Hawks, who produced it, has astutely had it played in straight fashion, explaining the monster with fine scientific detachment. He has also been smart in giving the principle roles to a group of screen unknowns, The absence of familiar laces makes it that much more ?eal*Most of the picture was made last winter in Montana, just across the Canadian border. A group of American airmen and scientists are aroused from their winter lethargy by strange Arctic doings. Attracted to the scene of a flying saucer, a strange figure is found buried in the ice. More of the plot T don’t need to tell you, but the eerie doings and the scenes in which the monster gets loose are guaranteed to put a kink Kenneth To bey into-the straighiest hair.The grim winter background el the story serves to emphasize the stark character of the plot nnd the number of scenes which have the authentic away-from*the-studio touch also highlight the eerie nature of ihe whole film.By playing down, instead of building up, the hocus-pocus details, Mr. Hawks, the producer, has acted wisely. Christian Nyby has directed with a clever touch and the playing is all on a very good level.In the case of Margaret Sheridan, who plays the girl and Kenneth Tobey, who has the role of a young *ir force pilot, Hollywood has two new players who ought to become increasingly popular. Robert Corn-thwaite, as a scientist, Douglas Spencer as a newspaperman and ••all others concerned, are well cast.You are advised to keep the youngsters home. The Met was full of jittery children Friday afternoon and my hunch is that, there'll be plenty of homes plagued with nightmares. This one is strictly for ■dulls who want* to be scared.Using a factual background of the British capital, Pool of London, which opened at the Odeon theatre Friday, is a sometimes engrossing and almost always interesting study of merchant seamen and their relationships, as their ship puts into port for a week-end. It becomes too diffuse as it tries to deal with its myriad characters and it suffers from frequent inaudibility* This is due to the fact that in trying to capture speed and the natural inflections of speech that the sound track is often quicker than the ear* For all these faults, it is a superior, drama in many respectsip the story or to resent the men ind women as roducts of a slu-!io makeup .detriment. The y .re understancl-.ble and vivid coplc on their )wn right, posses-cd of more than : h e r e g u 1 a-lion a m o u n t of Bonnr Colleano weaknesses, but teeming with life. Bonar Colleano, as the young sailor who becomes a foolish accomplice in a smuggling case and robbery, gives a forthright performance. This is also the case with Earl Cameron, who plays his Negro friend, and the rest of the cast. ^The action moves through the London dock district, with actual scenes in Southwark cathedral and other spots* The character touches are apt, but the attempt to include too many people thins the-action out and dilutes the melodramatic* of the robbery and the chase. Colleano, a fixture in many a British picture, is just the right actor for the role of the sailor and the racial tolerance theme, which involves a lonely Negro (Earl Cameron) is nicely handled. The bearded James Robertson Justice gives an excellent account, of himself as the Scottish skipper who holes himself up for the week-end with three bottles of liquor and a single copy of the Oxford Book of English verse.Susan Shaw gives a sympathetic touch to the girl who befriends the Negro, Moira Lister gives a revealing portrait of a cheap tart and all others concerned give the movie valid! tv.GlL*!M01RA1B)CCCIC(CJDEIAIt*FtiitTrs
Newspaper Details
Winnipeg Free Press
Winnipeg, Manitoba, CA
Sat, Jun 30, 1951
Page 5
Full Page
Clipped by
Rotten T.
USA 20 Sep 2021
Other Publications Near Winnipeg, Manitoba
Winnipeg Courrier du Nord Ouest
Winnipeg Tribune
Winnipeg Free Press Sunday
Winnipeg Manitoban
Winnipeg Free Press
