Hide Article Text (OCR)
'QuartetAn Eagle-Lion picture, produced by flvdney Box. directed by Ralph Smart. Harold French, Arthur Crabtree and Ken AftfuMtin, screenplay by H. C Sheriff. Now BlarHftr at the Paramount TheaterThis film is mad-* up of arate and unrelated Maugham short stories.is mainly unknown to American audiences, with only Mai Zetterlingbeing known to this reviewer. Sheappears in the first story, titled. •‘The Facts of Life,” which is, as others have pointed out, anecdotal in nature, A boy of 19 leaves England to appear in tennis matches at Monte Carlo and is told by his father not to gamble, to avoid women and not to lend money. Instead. he indulges in all three with startling results. It is an amusinganecdote with as lovely a bit offemininity in it as has been seen on the screen in aeons, meaning Mai Zetterling.The second story is 4 The AlienCorn.” It concerns a young man,Advance Circus Car Halls HereAn 82-foot railroad car, containing press agents, who. in turn, contained some fancy language, has come to a halt on the MKT sidingin Austin,It is the advertising car of Ring-ling Brothers and Bamum Bailey Circus, due in town Oct. 18.The Greatest Show on Earth is 90 per cent new this year, according to Gardner Wilson, advance man for the circus.The big feature for the 1949 edition.” continued Wilson, is Birthdays,* the super-spectacle, in which nearly 2,000 people and animals move in fantasy and splendor to celebrate the natal days of the beloved characters in Mother Goose and Nursery Rhymes, in fairy tales and legend.”He calls Birthdays the “best job that John Ringling North, president and producer; John Murray Anderson, production director; Miles White, costume designer; Henry Sullivan, composer, and over $249,000 could do in the way of apageant-extravaganza.”Among the new acts, imported from Europe, are The Geraldos, The Margas, The Del Morals, Los Onas, aerialists: Alma Piaia, Italy's Venus of the air; Lilian Wittmack, Denmark's famous equestrienne; Claus-sen's Famou* Bears, and many others equally renowned.Units, the man who stands on his forefinger, is back this year, as is Francis Brunn, the juggling ball of fire, and The Alzanas, high wireArusts.The Big Show travels, as always, n four silver enameled trains,four sep-Somersei The castheir to a vast estate, who wants to chuck it all to become a pianist. This one is drama, and pretty heavy drama The fillip at the end is Maughams sly commentary on some of his fellow countrymen.’The Kite is the third. It is.indeed, as Maugham, himself, says, a strange tale. Not strange in the sense of being weird, but decidedly different. It seems that family has a kite-flying phobia and kite-flying breaks up the marriage of the son of the house. A word in praise of the performance of Hermione Bad-del, the mother of the piece, is indicated here Her interpretation ofa too-possessive mother is excellentRounding out the quartet is ‘ The Colonels Lady/ the story of a neglected wife who pens her sorrow m poc’ilt; f« causing acrisis in the household.In addition to the high quality of the stories, themselves, thescreenplays, and the performances are all first class. If any one thing stands out, it is the quality of theperformances. They are, to use an overworked word, terrific.Maugham, himself, is shown in a short introduction, making a few cements on his writingIf you enjoy good—and we meangood—motion pictures, miss this and you will have missed something highly enjoyable.'The Plunderers'A Republic Ptrturr produced and di-by Joseph Kane, screen®!*? byreeled Gerald Playing J oh n14® ..Julie . Whit *Oeraghty and uerald Adams Now at the State i neater........... Rod CameronTlona Massev ............ * Adrian Booth........Forrest TuckerForrest Tucker may not be the world's greatest actor, but he shines like a newly-minted gold coin compared with others in the cast ofthis Western. In fact, Tuckerwould look good up against most known actors here. He turns in a good performance with not much material to w^ork with.As for the picture itself, the story is so familiar that it’s tiresome. There is one innovation: Cooperup in a building while surrounded by Indians (so help me! somebody asks if the US Cavalry will get back in time. Tucker answers, “That happens only in stories.” Then what happens? You guessed it-—the Boys in Blue get back in time to save the besieged fort. Never before has this reviewer heard a character pull that line about it happening only in stories. This may indicate—forlorn hope— that producers of such things are beginning to realize that the appearance of the B in B in the nick of time might be getting a trifle aged.The film is in Trucolor, which, in the opinion of this reviewer, is far from being true color.There are a couple of good story twists, and children of all ages may like it.
Newspaper Details
Austin American
Austin, Texas, US
Wed, Oct 05, 1949
Page 14
Full Page
Clipped by
Rotten T.
USA 19 Jun 2020
Other Publications Near Austin, Texas
Austin Daily Texan
Austin Semi Weekly Statesman
Austin Christmas American Statesman
Austin Daily Statesman
Austin American
