SMALL TOWN GIRL

Farley Granger and Jane Powell

SMALL TOWN GIRL (1953). Director: Leslie (Laszlo) Kardos.

Rich and patronizing playboy Richard Livingstone III (Farley Granger) speeds through the small town of Duck Creek, sasses Judge Kimbell (Robert Keith), and winds up thrown in jail for thirty days. Richard importunes the judge's daughter, Cindy (Jane Powell), to let him out one night for his "mother's" birthday. Richard has a jealous if unfaithful fiancee in Broadway star Lisa Bellmount (Ann Miller), but during a night in New York he and Cindy start to fall in love. How will the judge react when he is apprised of this situation?

Jane Powell

Small Town Girl is the perfect example of a well-turned out MGM musical. The players are fine and enthusiastic (Granger is much better than you might imagine); the TechniColor is vivid and beautiful; there are a couple of more than pleasant tunes ("Small Towns;" "The Fellow I Follow"); some excellent production numbers; and an essentially amiable if lightweight veneer that puts over the slight but entertaining storyline. Jane Powell [Seven Brides for Seven Brothers] again proves an adept leading lady with a lovely voice and good delivery. And besides Granger, Powell has a host of excellent supporting players and character actors to back her up.

Bobby Van 

First among these is Bobby Van [Lost Horizon], who plays Ludwig Schlemmer, the boy next door who has Broadway aspirations. Van is by no means handsome in Hollywood terms, but he is so irrepressible and talented that it doesn't matter; he has a kind of Al Jolson delight in performing. The most famous highlight of Small Town Girl is when Van literally hops his way across town in sheer spirited excitement, a well-choreographed (Busby Berkeley) sequence that was filmed with only a few cuts. When Ludwig meets Ann Miller and tells her his name, she says "Well, keep it quiet and no one will notice." Ludwig's father is played by "Cuddles" Sakall, whose character in this seems more grumpy and unpleasant than lovable.

Miller struts her stuff

Then there's Ann Miller [Carolina Blues]. There may well have been better female dancers in Hollywood musicals, but in this Miller stars in a zesty production number, "Feel That Beat," wherein the members of the band are hidden behind walls and under the floor, with only their arms and instruments protruding. As for the rest of the players, Robert Keith is fine as the judge, as is an uncredited Chill Wills as the friendly sheriff, Happy. Fay Wray is the judge's wife; Billie Burke is her dithery self as Richard's society mother; William Campbell is a reporter; Marie Blake is a shop customer; and Beverly Wills, the daughter of Joan Davis, plays Ludwig's sister, Deidre. Nat King Cole also sings a number, "Burn Low." Photographed by Joseph Ruttenberg.

Verdict: Delightful MGM musical. ***.   

TARZAN'S NEW YORK ADVENTURE

The amazing Cheetah

TARZAN'S NEW YORK ADVENTURE (1942). Director: Richard Thorpe.

Hunter Buck Rand (Charles Bickford of Anna Christie) and his associates Jimmie (Paul Kelly of Zeigfeld Girl) and Manchester (Chill Wills) are in the Congo trying to capture lions for a circus. Naturally Tarzan (Johnny Weissmuller) objects to this, but Boy (Johnny Sheffield) is fascinated by their plane. Buck is fascinated himself when he observes how Boy can make a pack of elephants do whatever he wishes. After it appears that Tarzan and Jane (Maureen O'Sullivan) have been killed in a fire, Buck takes Boy back to New York with him. But when Tarzan finds out his son is gone ... Tarzan's New York Adventure is a very entertaining Tarzan film even though it goes far, far afield from Edgar Rice Burroughs' original conception. In this film Tarzan is so stupid that he takes a shower before taking off his one good suit (which dries off in miraculous time). In the novels, Tarzan had his savage side when it was called for, but he wasn't a monosyllabic and unsophisticated dummy. The stupidest moment in this movie occurs when Tarzan gives out with his famous yell and Jane says" Good heavens -- what's that?" even though she's heard it hundreds of times. Burroughs gave Tarzan and Jane a biological son who was named Jack, and later became known as "Korak" -- the boy in this movie is an orphan. Despite all this, the movie is a lot of fun. Cheetah has so much to do in the movie that it could almost be re-titled Cheetah's New York Adventure; you certainly hear her cackle that fabricated hyena laugh often enough. The chimp's special moments include her encounter with a water cooler, and her putting a trio of elephants through their paces as if she were an orchestra leader. The pachyderms are also amazing as Boy has them put on a show for the trio from New York. The actors in this are all good, with an uncredited Mantan Moreland having a couple of good moments reacting to Cheetah on the other end of the telephone. Virginia Grey is also fine as a nightclub singer who helps Tarzan and his mate find Boy. Cy Kendall, fatter than ever, plays the head of the circus. Sidney Wagner's photography, especially those striking shots of New York, is outstanding. This was O'Sullivan's last appearance as Jane, but Weissmuller and Sheffield had a few more pictures to go. Followed by Tarzan Triumphs.

Verdict: Highly improbable but also highly enjoyable Tarzan movie. ***.