CIRCUS WORLD

Rita Hayworth and John Wayne

CIRCUS WORLD (1964). Director: Henry Hathaway. 

Matt Masters (John Wayne) decides to pack up his tents and take his circus on a European tour. His associate and buddy Cap (Lloyd Nolan) suspects that Matt's real reason for going is to find Lily (Rita Hayworth), who ran off fourteen years ago and hasn't been seen since. Lily left behind a daughter, Toni (Claudia Cardinale), who was taken in by Matt, who has become her surrogate father. Matt is a bit disturbed by Toni's feelings for Steve (John Smith), who hopes to become Matt's partner and Toni's husband. But just as the troupe arrives in Paris, there's a disaster when their ship capsizes. 

Wayne with John Smith

Circus World may not be a great movie, but it's quite colorful and entertaining. Hayworth and Wayne, two very different kinds of actors, actually play quite well together, with Hayworth being handled the more difficult role and running with it. Cardinale of the whiskey voice also acquits herself nicely, although one could argue that she's more decorative than anything else. John Smith makes a decidedly positive impression as Steve, but he did much more work on television shows such as Laramie. Lloyd Nolan arguably comes off the best in his peppery and engaging performance as Cap. Richard Conte is also good in an underwritten role as Hayworth's former brother-in-law, a clown. Miles Malleson and Katherine Kath are also notable in smaller roles.

Claudia Cardinale with Wayne

Despite some terrific circus and animal acts involving horses, highwire acts, lions and tigers, the most outstanding sequence is when the boat capsizes at the dock in France. This scene is remarkably well-handled and wakes up anyone who might have been sleeping beforehand. An elaborate sequence when a tent catches fire is also notable, if not quite as impressive. Dimtri Tiomkin's theme song is pretty awful. Other major circus movies include Trapeze, Jumbo, The Big Circus, Carnival Story, and The Greatest Show on Earth, not to mention numerous films of varying genres that use the circus as a backdrop. 

Verdict: Even when Hayworth is down and out and deglamorized she is still beautiful. ***. 

SOMEWHERE IN THE NIGHT

SOMEWHERE IN THE NIGHT (1946). Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz. Screenplay by Howard Dimsdale and Mankiewicz. 

 "Time doesn't change. it goes on and on but it doesn't change. I know because I've watched it. Nights. Days. Nights. Always the same. Nights are always gray. Days can have different colors, but the nights are dark and empty. Only people change. They grow old and ugly -- and pitiful. I've made believe so much for so long. That I was alive. That I had friends. That I wasn't dead. I wanted so much to make believe that somebody loved me." 

An amnesiac WW 2 veteran named George Taylor (John Hodiak) learns that someone named "Larry Cravat" has put $5000 for him in a bank account but can't remember why or even who the man is. So he begins a search for the elusive Cravat, encountering a pretty singer named Christy (Nancy Guild) who takes a shine to him and vice versa. During his search Taylor encounters assorted thugs, a villain named Anzelmo (Fritz Kortner) and a hard-boiled dame named Phyllis (Margo Woode). After she kisses an unresponsive Taylor, Phyllis says "I've had more fun drinking a bromo seltzer." (Sheldon Leonard has a notable turn as Phyllis' husband.) Lloyd Nolan is a police officer who's also looking for Cravat -- and George Taylor. 

John Hodiak

This interesting mystery has an intriguing plot and good dialogue, and is well-acted by Hodiak and everyone else. Woode is snappy as Phyllis, and Guild very appealing as Christy. (Guild gets to lip sync to a very nice torch song entitled "I'm in the Middle of Nowhere.") The cast stand-out, however, is Josephine Hutchinson as desperately lonely Elizabeth, who is very affecting in her brief scene wherein she speaks the dialogue quoted above. Somewhere in the Night is a snappy, absorbing picture, even if its wind-up is a little predictable and disappointing, but it has well-realized characters and memorable performances. Mankiewicz's direction is only routine for this type of material, however. This was Guild's first film; she also appeared in Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man. She makes a much better impression in this film. 

Verdict: Suspenseful and different. ***.

THE MAGNIFICENT FRAUD

Akim Tamiroff and Mary Boland

THE MAGNIFICENT FRAUD (1939). Director: Robert Florey.

Sam Barr (Lloyd Nolan) is friend and aide to Alvarado (Akim Tamiroff of After the Fox), the president of San Cristobal. When Alvarado is killed by a bomb, Sam importunes actor Jules LaCroix (Akim Tamiroff again) to pose as the president until some papers are signed and a certain loan secured -- only Sam has his own plans for the money. But there are complications in the form of Duval (Ernest Cossart) of the French Surete, who wants LaCroix for murder, and two females who are recent arrivals in San Cristobal: Geraldine (Mary Boland of Nothing But Trouble) is a former opera singer who knew Alvarado -- whom she knew as "El Toro" -- quite well in her youth, and is determined to see again. Then there's her younger friend, Claire (Patricia Morison), whom Sam begins to fall for, even though he knows he really isn't right for her. The biggest complication is that LaCroix is beginning to enjoy his performance -- the best of his life -- a little too much and delays and delays in signing those papers ...

Patricia Morison and Lloyd Nolan

The sad fact about The Magnificent Fraud -- at least for me -- is that even with an interesting plot, a good director, and several of my favorite actors -- Tamiroff, Boland, George Zucco as a doctor -- in the cast, the movie is an effort to sit through. Time and again I thought of stopping and putting it in my next Films I Just Couldn't Finish post, but I somehow managed to make it through. True, it's not the fastest moving of movies, but it's not that slow. Perhaps it's that movies like this which are basically serious in tone yet have a kind of comical premise either work for you or they don't, and this one just didn't. It doesn't help that Lloyd Nolan is simply too homely to make a convincing lover boy. Tamiroff is wonderful, but Boland isn't given that much opportunity to be fun, although she and Tamiroff have a splendid dramatic moment together at the very end of the film. Morison doesn't make much of an impression in this flick; she was more scintillating in later films.  Remade as a comedy entitled Moon Over Parador. The prolific Robert Florey also directed Johnny Weissmuller's last appearance as the Ape Man, Tarzan and the Mermaids.

Verdict: Not one of the classic films of 1939. **. 

LADY IN THE LAKE

Audry Totter and Robert Montgomery's reflection

LADY IN THE LAKE (1946). Director: Robert Montgomery.

Philip Marlowe (Robert Montgomery) submits a short mystery story based on truth to a pulp magazine and is invited in to meet the editor, a woman named Adrienne (Audrey Totter). She is more interested in hiring Marlowe to look for her boss, Derace Kingsby's (Leon Ames), wife, who has supposedly run off with a man named Chris (Dick Simmons of Man with the Steel Whip). This leads into a series of murders and a kind of strange affair between Marlowe and Adrienne, whom the private eye doesn't quite trust. Then he starts tripping over bodies ...

Man in the mirror: Marlowe gets first aid

Lady in the Lake is one of six films directed by star Montgomery, who decided to shoot this as an ill-advised stunt. Except for three brief sequences in which he addresses the camera to move the plot along, Marlowe/Montgomery is only seen in mirrors. While the plot and acting is interesting enough to keep the viewer entertained for most of the film's length, the gimmick gets a little tiresome and one longs for a more traditional approach. Another problem is that Montgomery is miscast as Marlowe (the detective's first name is misspelled as "Phillip"); he's as gruff and obnoxious as the script requires but he doesn't make a convincing Marlowe.

Audrey Totter and Leon Ames

On the other hand, Audrey Totter steals the picture as Adrienne, giving a fascinating and multi-leveled performance, a snarling bitch one minute, a cloying child the next, belting out orders and disdain in equal measure with one hand, and purring kittenishly with the other. She lacks the raw sex appeal of, say, Veronica Lake, but she's extremely effective nevertheless. Leon Ames, Tom Tully [A Kiss for Corliss] as a police captain, and especially Lloyd Nolan [Sergeant Ryker] as a vicious cop are all terrific. Jayne Meadows also has some fine moments, although she isn't always completely convincing in her portrayal. Dick Simmons makes a positive impression as the oddly likable gigolo, Chris.

One has to pay careful attention while watching this picture, because at the end you still may not be certain who did what to whom and why. Raymond Chandler's source novel undoubtedly spelled it out in more detail. In any case, the movie is suspenseful, and there's at least one creepy scene when Marlowe searches inside a bathroom.

Verdict: Watch for Totter if nothing else. **3/4. 

MARTIN KANE, PRIVATE EYE

Mark Stevens

MARTIN KANE, PRIVATE EYE (aka Martin Kane/1949 - 1954.)

Martin Kane, Private Eye started out as a popular radio series, then spread out to television even as the radio show continued. The NBC half-hour telecast was sponsored by the U.S. Tobacco Company, and many of the ads were sort of incorporated into the story, with characters going into a tobacco shop to buy the sponsor's cigarettes, chewing tobacco, and the like. (This is "product placement" par excellance!) The show was originally introduced with loud organ music like a radio show, and the old style announcer practically shouts out the name of the series in figuratively italicized letters. Martin Kane was played by William Gargan, Lloyd Nolan (of Michael Shayne fame), Lee Tracy, and Mark Stevens. I believe the show was aired live, but despite its low budget it's well-produced, with more movement and action than you may associate with live TV.

Here are some episodes, listed by actor. I give the season and episode number when available.

William Gargan: Pleasant and amiable Gargan [Night Editor] made a very likable Martin Kane. He says good-night to the audience at the end of each episode.

  (S2, E 20) "The District Attorney Killer." A convicted killer (Frank DeKova) clears an innocent man from the witness stand, but then pulls out a gun and kills the district attorney who prosecuted him. Then he says the gun was given to him by his own attorney! Who's telling the truth? And is the "innocent" man guilty after all? Suspenseful story with some good twists and a comparatively complex plot. A.

"Hotel Con Game." A man named Smith comes to Kane to tell him that his entire life savings has been stolen, presumably by the land lady of the hotel where he lives, who is also a fortune teller who importuned him to change banks. Then a murder results. B+.

"Doctored Will." An elderly man is shot to death and his heirs all become suspects, but has someone fiddled with the will? C

"Murder on the Ice." An obnoxious if talented rookie hockey player takes a drink of brandy before a game and drops dead on the ice. Kane is convinced from a smell of almonds that the man was poisoned, but the chemical report on the bottle may contain some surprises. Roland Winters plays one of the suspects. C-.

"Reclusive Sisters" stars an excellent Una O'Connor and Nydia Westman in a darkly comic tale of three weird sisters who live alone in an old mansion and take steps when an elderly lawyer comes to tell them that they're losing the house and must move to a home. B+.

Lloyd Nolan

Lloyd Nolan could be tough when required but generally gives it the light touch after appearing in several Michael Shayne movies such as Dressed to Kill.

  (S3, E 27.) "Black Pearls." Kane is accused of murder when the grumpy man who hired him and who has a fabulous collection of black pearls, is murdered on his yacht and the pearls are found in the detective's pocket. B.

"A Jockey Is Murdered." There are a number of suspects when a jockey (Walter Burke) who throws a race is stabbed to death right in front of a betting window. B.

"Nightclub Murder." Nightclub singer Johnny Silver (Mark Dawson) is shot dead in front of an audience after just a few bars of his hit song, and Kane uncovers the fact that several people in his life had major motives for killing him. B+.

"Rest Home Murder." In one of the worst episodes of the series, Judith Evelyn plays the shady owner of a rest home who tries to find out the whereabouts of a $100,000 check from a "patient," a former client of Kane's who calls him for help. D+.

Lee Tracy [Dinner at Eight] offers one of the most interesting and flavorful interpretations of Martin Kane, adding great charm to his portrayal.

 (S4, E25.) "The Comic Strip Killer." The clever plot has a comic strip artist and writer foolishly telling everyone that he'll reveal the identity of the person who murdered a philandering woman's wealthy husband in the comic strip itself. B+.

Mark Stevens [Time Table] is more of a traditional hard-boiled private eye than the others, and the handsomest of the actors who played the role.

"The Milk Bottle Burglar." Trying to catch whoever is stealing his milk bottles, an elderly major comes afoul of a hit man who is after the thief for other reasons. Robert H. Harris is terrific as the mob boss who ordered the hit. C+

"The Shoeshine Murder." When a shoeshine boy witnesses a murder he goes on the run, then winds up out on a window ledge where Kane and others try to talk to him, and the murderer tries to get him to throw himself down to the street several stories below.  B-.

Verdict: Hard to judge this based on only a handful of episodes (some are on youtube; others on DVD) but it might be safe to say this is a real mixed bag with some hidden gems. **1/2. 

HANNAH AND HER SISTERS

Farrow, Hershey, and Weist

HANNAH AND HER SISTERS (1986). Written and directed by Woody Allen.

"I particularly love the mother, just a boozy old flirt with a filthy mouth." --Hannah's mother basically talking about herself.

Hannah (Mia Farrow) has a happy life with her husband, Elliot (Michael Caine). but she's unaware that he has fallen in love with her free-spirited sister, Lee (Barbara Hershey of Black Swan). As Lee and Elliot begin a guilt-wracked affair, Hannah's other sister, Holly (Dianne Wiest), a struggling actress, starts a catering business with her friend, April (Carrie Fisher), and the two both fall for married architect, David (Sam Waterston). Hannah's ex-husband, Mickey (Woody Allen) is drawn to Holly years after they had a disastrous first date. Like most of Allen'\s films, Hannah and Her Sisters is quite entertaining, with some fine acting from virtually the entire cast, but Allen himself -- who comes off like a stand-up comic sprouting lines, many of which are admittedly amusing -- doesn't really fit that neatly into the picture. I\m not sufficiently interested in exploring Allen's psyche to delve into any so-called deep meanings in his movies, but Hannah is engaging enough but no real masterpiece, despite its popularity. The business with Mickey thinking he may have a brain tumor is tasteless. As usual, many of the characters, admirably cultured, do what's expedient, not necessarily what's right. Max von Sydow shows up briefly as an older man that Lee discards once things heat up with Elliot, and Maureen O'Sullivan [Tarzan Escapes], Mia Farrow's mother in real life, plays Hannah's mother, with Lloyd Nolan [Portrait in Black] as her husband. Julie Kavner, who has a small role as a co-worker of Mickey's, does the same tiresome shtick she's been doing since she played Rhoda's sister on TV.

Verdict: Interesting and fun, but also kind of minor all told. **1/2.

THE GIRL HUNTERS

Mickey Spillane and Scott Peters

THE GIRL HUNTERS (1963). Director: Roy Rowland.

"Tough guys I got all the time. Old tough guys I don't need." -- bar owner.

Mike Hammer (Mickey Spillane) has given up his practice and gone on a months-long bender after his secretary, Velda, supposedly ran off with another man and may be either missing or dead. His once-friendly antagonist, Captain Pat Chambers (Scott Peters), was also in love with Velda and is furious with Mike for putting her in danger. Sobered up, Hammer helps investigate the murder of a government agent, all the while hoping to find Velda, with the help of G-Man Rickerby (Lloyd Nolan) and a beautiful widow, Laura (Shirley Eaton), whose husband's murder may also have something to do with the case; a communist plot. Then there's the "red" hit man known only as the "Dragon" (Larry Taylor). Frankly, it's hard to follow the convoluted Girl Hunters at times, although the movie has a fast enough pace and is entertaining and well-acted. Spillane may not have been impressive playing himself in Ring of Fear, but in this he's actually quite good as his creation Mike Hammer. Spillane may not have been an Olivier or had great range, but he could have been developed as a tough guy hero or gangster in future films, but he was probably making enough money as a novelist. Scott Peters scores as Pat; he mostly had television credits. Nolan [Portrait in Black] is excellent, as is Charles Farrell as Grissi, who also assists Mike in the adventure. [This is not the Charles Farrell who appeared on My Little Margie.] Shirley Eaton, who had previously appeared in some of the British "Carry On" movies, appeared the following year in Goldfinger and became especially famous. Although Eaton gives a fine and sharp performance in Girl Hunters, she retired to raise a family after appearing in a few more mostly mediocre movies. Girl Hunters is quite gruesome and hard-edged (if not graphic) at times with a particularly nasty coda, but its central mystery is never quite resolved. Kenneth Talbot offers some superior black and white Panavision cinematography, and the film is well-directed and well-produced.

Verdict: Despite many imperfections, this is pretty good film noir. ***.

PORTRAIT IN BLACK

PORTRAIT IN BLACK (1960). Director: Michael Gordon. Produced by Ross Hunter.

Sheila Cabot (Lana Turner) is a beautiful woman married to a sick and seemingly hateful old man named Matthew (Lloyd Nolan). One day Sheila's lover, David (Anthony Quinn), who happens to be her husband's doctor, tells her how easy it would be to get rid of him. When Matthew conveniently kicks off, Sheila and David think they are above suspicion. But then a certain insinuating letter arrives ... Portrait in Black is an exhilarating suspense film whose chief strength is a superb performance from Quinn and an excellent score by Frank Skinner [Back Street] that helps keep viewers on the edge of their seats as all the various twists and turns of the plot -- and there are many -- skillfully unfold in a screenplay by Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts (based on their stage play). Michael Gordon's direction at least keeps things moving at a brisk pace, and there is some fine photography of San Francisco settings by Russell Metty [Miracle in the Rain]. While Turner and Quinn [Wild is the Wind] may not seem to have that much chemistry, Quinn's passion simply enfolds Turner and helps empower her more than competent performance. As for the rest of the cast: Lloyd Nolan; Sandra Dee as Turner's step-daughter; John Saxon as Dee's boyfriend; Richard Basehart as a scheming associate; Dennis Kohler as young Peter, Dee's step-brother; Virginia Grey as a secretary; and Ray Walston as a chauffeur who may know too much are all quite good, and for extra added measure we get Anna May Wong, of all people, playing the maid. Paul Birch shows up very briefly as a detective. This picture, now forgotten by most, was quite famous in its day, and is certainly worth a look. Producer Ross Hunter insures that the film has that certain Hunter gloss. The ad campaign for the pic seems to summon up images of Lana Turner, her daughter, and Johnny Stompanato which was turned into Where Love Has Gone with Susan Hayward in the Turner part.

Verdict: Very entertaining melodrama that isn't boring for an instant. ***.

BAD BOY

Audie Murphy

BAD BOY (1949). Director: Kurt Neumann.

Danny Lester (Audie Murphy) is an incorrigible, nasty young man who beats, shoots and robs and is nearly sentenced to a reformatory or prison. However Marshall Brown (Lloyd Nolan) is convinced, without any real basis, that Danny's anti-social tendencies stem from something that happened in his youth. [Danny acts like a sociopathic creep, so it's a question if what happened in his youth even matters, but in movies like Bad Boy there has to be some dubious psychological explanation.] Brown importunes Judge Prentiss (Selena Royle) to take Danny under his wing and bring him to the Variety Clubs Boys Ranch in Texas, where he steals, acts all bitter, and has the boys so mad at him that they all give him the silent treatment. Can this boy be saved...? In his first starring role Murphy, the most decorated soldier in WW2, proves not to be a "great" actor, but is more than competent, displaying charisma and surliness in equal measure; he would develop in time. Jimmy Lydon of the Henry Aldrich series plays another student, Ted, and is excellent, as is James Gleason [The Girl Rush] as Brown's more cynical associate, "Chief." Jane Wyatt [The Man Who Cheated Himself] is Brown's wife; Martha Vickers is Danny's half sister; and Rhys Williams [The Corn is Green] is his step-father. There are some fairly interesting developments in this but the movie never really amounts to much. Murphy would go on to better things. Murphy single-handedly held off a squadron of German soldiers while standing atop a tank that could have exploded at any second -- it's safe to say Hollywood couldn't have scared him that much!

Verdict: Half-baked melodrama. **1/2.

AN AMERICAN DREAM aka SEE YOU IN HELL DARLING

AN AMERICAN DREAM (aka See You In Hell Darling/1966). Director: Robert Gist.

When TV host Stephen Rojack (Stuart Whitman) pays a call on estranged wife, Deborah (Eleanor Parker), the vicious, drunken woman winds up falling off her balcony to her death. Rojack, grilled by police, does the sensible thing after his wife has just died and shacks up with old gal pal, Cherry (Janet Leigh). Rojack's father-in-law (Lloyd Nolan) contemplates pushing Stephen off of a balcony, and detectives Barry Sullivan and J. D. Cannon act like they'd like to tear his throat out. And we mustn't forget the whole host of mafia boys headed by Eddie Ganucci (Joe De Santis) and Johnny Dell (Warren Stevens) who have their own beef with Rojack. Whitman isn't bad, Parker [Lizzie] is vivid, Leigh plays it all in the key of bitter, Nolan is, frankly, terrible, Cannon over-acts in stock TV fashion, and Sullivan [Suspense] isn't much better. There are some interesting elements to An American Dream -- which is very loosely based on a novel by Norman Mailer -- but the movie is pretty much a melodramatic and at times even laughable mess. Acrophobes in the audience may have a few tense moments. Richard Derr has a bit as a producer while Murray Hamilton has a little more to do as an associate of Stephen's. Harold Gould and George Takei also have bits as lawyers. Whitman and Leigh appeared together in the monster bunny movie Night of the Lepus, which was actually a lot more entertaining than this.

Verdict: Everyone seems to be yelling -- or simmering -- to little effect. **.

SERGEANT RYKER

Lee Marvin lashes out as Sergeant Ryker

SERGEANT RYKER (1968). Director: Buzz Kulik.

The theatrical release Sergeant Ryker was actually the first two episodes of [Kraft] Suspense Theatre from 1963 -- "The Case Against Paul Ryker" -- joined together and released as a movie five years later by Universal; it was not remade. Sergeant Ryker (Lee Marvin) has been convicted of treason because no one will believe his story of carrying out a secret mission for a military official who is now dead and can't back up what Ryker says. The prosecutor, Captain David Young (Bradford Dillman), wonders if Ryker had a fair trial, and also begins to question his guilt after he meets Ryker's wife, Ann (Vera Miles), who thoroughly supports him even if she's no longer in love with him. Young makes such a pest of himself trying to dig up evidence that will confirm Ryker's story that an outraged General Bailey (Lloyd Nolan) orders his court-martial, but not before Young, the man who convicted Stryker, defends him in his new trial. Complicating matters is the fact that Young and Ann Stryker are falling in love ... Sergeant Ryker is suspenseful, has some intriguing twists and turns, and is well-acted, with Miles and Nolan making the best impression. Dillman is vivid and striking, even if he does overact in some scenes, and Marvin, while not perfect casting, has some very strong moments as well. Murray Hamilton of Jaws gives a typically slimy and obvious performance as another captain and an associate of Young's.

Verdict: Fairly strong television drama turned into a pretty good movie. ***.

INTERNES CAN'T TAKE MONEY

INTERNES CAN'T TAKE MONEY (1937). Director: Alfred Santell.

This is the movie that introduced the character of Dr. Kildare (Joel McCrae), who not only starred in a series of films, but his own TV show [starring Richard Chamberlain in the role]. Kildare is concerned over, and attracted to, a pretty patient named Janet (Barbara Stanwyck) who desperately needs money to pay a popcorn-loving heel, Innes (Stanley Ridges), who says he knows where her little girl is. Kildare does an emergency bar room operation on a shady character named Hanlon (Lloyd Nolan), who helps him get the necessary info from Innes. In the meantime, there are a number of misunderstandings between Kildare and Janet, not to mention Kildare and Hanlon, who tries to pay him cash even as Kildare protests that "internes can't take money". [Yet Kildare doesn't report Hanlon's injury to the police!] Irving Bacon is Jeff, a bar owner; Lee Bowman an interne who is unfairly fired for "experimenting" on a patient; and Pierre Watkin is the chief doctor. Well-acted and quite entertaining.

Verdict: Fine introduction for a very long-lived character. ***.

ICE STATION ZEBRA

ICE STATION ZEBRA (1968). Director: John Sturges.

Commander James Ferreday (Rock Hudson) is called in when there is an accident at a research station in the North Pole. He is to take a nuclear sub with a full crew on a rescue mission, only he is told by Admiral Garvey (Lloyd Nolan) that the men at the station aren't the real reason for the trip -- he is to take aboard an enigmatic gentleman named Jones (Patrick McGoohan) who knows what's really going on but won't say. It all winds up with a confrontation with Americans and Russians over a major prize hidden at the station. One has to wonder if Alistair MacLean, who wrote the novel upon which this was based, was a fan of the old TV show Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, as this plays like an extended episode of that show with one of their typical plot lines. The film looks good and has some exciting scenes -- an escape from a rapidly closing fissure, for instance, as well as a bit when a sabotaged torpedo tube lets in ice-cold sea water -- but it runs much too long and doesn't sustain suspense or tension. Rock Hudson gives what can charitably be described as a low-energy performance, but other cast members, such as McGoohan and Ernest Borgnine [as a Russian!] are better. The movie resists all attempts at pathos even when heroic or sympathetic characters are killed. Alf Kjellin is vivid as Colonel Ostrovsky. [Although Kjellin had a lot of acting credits, he is perhaps better known as a frequent director of such shows as Alfred Hitchcock Presents and The Man from U.N.C.L.E.] Released in Cinerama and Super Panavision.

Verdict: Has possibilities but tries too hard to be a "big" movie when it isn't. **1/2.

THE HOUSE ON 92ND STREET

THE HOUSE ON 92ND STREET (1945 ). Director: Henry Hathaway.

When American William Dietrich (William Eythe) is contacted by German agents who want to train him for espionage in the pre-WW2 period, he notifies the FBI and agrees to become a double agent for them. Gradually he infiltrates a German spy ring that is trying to get atom bomb secrets or the like. Concurrently the US enters the war after the attack on Pearl Harbor. What transpires is presented in documentary fashion -- there are even real shots of actual spies taken during the period -- as this is a fact-based story. FBI agents even play bit parts throughout the movie. Lloyd Nolan plays agent George Briggs, whom Dietrich reports to, and Leo G. Carroll is Colonel Hammersohn, a higher-up in the spy network, which also employs Elsa Gebhardt (Signe Hasso). Years later Carroll gave orders to The Man from U.N.C.L.E. Hasso mostly did television work. Which is appropriate since The House on 92nd Street is like a long television episode. The only lively scene has the Nazi gals slapping around Dietrich when he refuses to talk.

Verdict: Truth isn't always more interesting than fiction. **.

SUSAN SLADE

SUSAN SLADE (1961). Director: Delmer Daves.

This slick soap opera with a nice, if minor, score by the great Max Steiner presents the saga of young Susan Slade (Connie Stevens), a somewhat sheltered gal who has a shipboard romance (with Grant Incredible Shrinking Man Williams), discovers she's pregnant, and then learns that the father has been killed overseas in the war. But weep not for Susan, because waiting in the wings is handsome wannabee writer Hoyt Brecker, played by Troy Donahue. (It's likely that the women who saw this in the theaters in 1961 probably wondered why the hell Susan spends so much time resisting the guy, who's not only a handsome hunk but nice.) Susan's wise, warm, and womanly mother (Dorothy McGuire), decides that they will all pretend that Susan's baby boy is actually her brother, and the whole family takes off for faraway parts to aid in the deception. But Susan finds it difficult not being able to be a mother to her own child, and it all leads to a rather nice wind-up where she makes a brave and inevitable decision.

Stevens gives a nice performance in this, and Dorothy McGuire is excellent; Lloyd Nolan also has a nice turn as Susan's father, and Burt Convy, Natalie Schafer, Brian Aherne, and Kent Smith also add to the film's appeal, as does the striking cinematography of Lucien Ballard.

And then there's Troy Donahue. Well .... let's just say he's a good-lookin' fellow and leave it at that. He doesn't stink up the picture and he allows the character's sensitivity to sort of come through. Not too awful but not great. Ditto for Grant Williams, another pretty boy with a decidedly limited range.

Verdict: Somehow the stupid thing works. ***.