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    CinemaScope Two: 20th Century Fox: A Detailed Survey of 140 Wide-Screen Movies from 20th Century Fox Studios
    CinemaScope Two: 20th Century Fox: A Detailed Survey of 140 Wide-Screen Movies from 20th Century Fox Studios
    CinemaScope Two: 20th Century Fox: A Detailed Survey of 140 Wide-Screen Movies from 20th Century Fox Studios
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    CinemaScope Two: 20th Century Fox: A Detailed Survey of 140 Wide-Screen Movies from 20th Century Fox Studios

    By John Howard Reid

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    This account is the second of three books covering the CinemaScope revolution which rescued the film industry from the dramatic slump in cinema attendance in the early 1950s due to the impact of television. It carries the title "20th Century-Fox" in recognition of the fact that this studio not only introduced CinemaScope but provided the answer to the problems of the industry, and thus took over from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer as Hollywood’s leading film studio. All the films selected for this book, made by or released through Fox, are given the characteristic John Howard Reid treatment, namely complete information on cast, crew and production notes, plus up-to-date reviews and critical assessments. Informative, comprehensive and entertaining, with over 80 illustrations (most of them full page or half-page), this selection is sure to awake fond memories. Many of these titles of course are now available in their original CinemaScope format on DVD. This book contains a wealth of information about the great CinemaScope movies from the Fox Studios and also some of the lesser productions in "Regalscope" that Fox released in the 1950s and 1960s. There is also a listing of British films released in 'Scope. On the opening page, author John Howard Reid gives a background to the CinemaScope revolution. At the back of the book is a complete listing in alphabetical order with release dates. The front cover, as pictured, features a radiant photo of Rita Hayworth. In all, 141 movies are detailed and reviewed in John Howard Reid's inimitable style, with complete cast and crew personnel, production and release dates in the USA, England and Australia, alternate titles, dubbing, footage and running times. Each film also has a Synopsis, a viewer's guide, and brief opinions from other critics. This is a great book for the Fox CinemaScope aficionado who will no doubt drool over the array of films presented in such depth, including An Affair To Remember, The Agony and the Ecstacy, Anastasia, Bachelor Flat, Beneath the 12-Mile Reef, The Blue Max, Can-Can, Carmen Jones, Carousel, The Comancheros, Daddy Long Legs, Demetrius and the Gladiators, Desk Set, Doctor Dolittle, The Egyptian, Fantastic Voyage, The Fly, Garden of Evil, The Girl Can’t Help It, Good Morning Miss Dove, Hell and High Water, House of Bamboo, How To Marry a Millionaire, The King and I, King of the Khyber Rifles, The Last Wagon, A Man Called Peter, Night People, On the Threshold of Space, The Racers, The Rains of Ranchipur, The Robe, State Fair, The Story on Page One, The Stripper, The Sun Also Rises, That Lady, The Third Voice, Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines, The True Story of Jesse James, The View from Pompey's Head, The Virgin Queen, Von Ryan’s Express, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Warlock, Way to the Gold, The Wayward Bus, What a Way To Go! And over 90 more!

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherJohn Howard Reid
    Release dateMar 27, 2011
    ISBN9781458128126
    CinemaScope Two: 20th Century Fox: A Detailed Survey of 140 Wide-Screen Movies from 20th Century Fox Studios
    Author

    John Howard Reid

    Author of over 100 full-length books, of which around 60 are currently in print, John Howard Reid is the award-winning, bestselling author of the Merryll Manning series of mystery novels, anthologies of original poetry and short stories, translations from Spanish and Ancient Greek, and especially books of film criticism and movie history. Currently chief judge for three of America's leading literary contests, Reid has also written the textbook, "Write Ways To Win Writing Contests".

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      Book preview

      CinemaScope Two - John Howard Reid

      CINEMASCOPE TWO

      20th Century Fox

      A Detailed Survey of 140 Wide-Screen Movies

      from 20th Century Fox Studios

      ****

      Published by:

      John Howard Reid at Smashwords

      Copyright (c) 2011 by John Howard Reid

      ****

      All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

      Smashwords Edition Licence Notes

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy.

      ****

      Original text copyright 2011 by John Howard Reid. All rights reserved.

      Enquiries: johnreid@mail.qango.com

      ****

      Other Books in This Series:

      CinemaScope One: Stupendous in Scope"

      CinemaScope 3: Hollywood Takes the Plunge

      FRONT COVER: RITA HAYWORTH

      --

      First published: March 2005

      Second edition: December 2009

      Third edition: August 2010

      Fourth edition: April 2011

      --

      Table of Contents

      ABDUCTORS 1957

      ABOMINABLE SNOWMAN OF THE HIMALAYAS 1957

      ADVENTURES OF HAJJI BABA 1954

      AFFAIR TO REMEMBER 1957

      AGONY AND THE ECSTASY 1965

      AIR PATROL 1962

      ALASKA PASSAGE 1959

      ALLIGATOR PEOPLE 1959

      ALL HANDS ON DECK 1961

      AMBUSH AT CIMARRON PASS 1958

      ANASTASIA 1956

      APACHE WARRIOR 1957

      APHRODITE, GODDESS OF LOVE (see GODDESS OF LOVE)

      APRIL LOVE 1957

      BACHELOR FLAT 1961

      BADLANDS OF MONTANA 1957

      BATTLE AT BLOODY BEACH 1961

      BELOVED INFIDEL 1959

      BENEATH THE 12-MILE REEF 1953

      BERNADINE 1957

      BEST OF EVERYTHING 1959

      BEST THINGS IN LIFE ARE FREE 1956

      BETWEEN HEAVEN AND HELL 1956

      BEYOND THE RIVER (see BOTTOM OF THE BOTTLE)

      BIG COUNTRY, BIG MAN (1965)

      BIG SHOW 1957

      BLACK WIDOW 1954

      BLUEFIN FURY 1956

      BLUE MAX 1966

      BOBBIKINS 1959

      BOTTOM OF THE BOTTLE 1956

      BRAVE AND THE BEAUTIFUL (see MAGNIFICENT MATADOR)

      CAN-CAN 1960

      CARMEN JONES 1954

      CAROUSEL 1956

      CATTLE EMPIRE 1958

      CERTAIN SMILE 1958

      CHILDREN OF THE SUN 1955

      CIRCLE OF DECEPTION 1961

      COMANCHEROS 1961

      COMMANDOS 1968

      COMPANEROS 1972

      COPPER SKY 1957

      DADDY LONG LEGS 1955

      D-DAY THE SIXTH OF JUNE 1956

      DEERSLAYER 1957

      DE LUXE TOUR 1959

      DEMETRIUS AND THE GLADIATORS 1954

      DESK SET 1957

      DOCTOR DOLITTLE 1967

      DOUBLE TROUBLE 1960

      EGYPTIAN 1954

      EL GRECO 1966

      FANTASTIC VOYAGE 1966

      FATHOM 1967

      FIERCEST HEART 1961

      FLY 1958

      FRECKLES 1960

      GARDEN OF EVIL 1954

      GIRL CAN’T HELP IT 1957

      GODDESS OF LOVE 1960

      GOD IS MY PARTNER 1957

      GODS OF THE ROAD 1955

      GOOD MORNING, MISS DOVE 1955

      HATFUL OF RAIN 1957

      HELL AND HIGH WATER 1954

      HILLS OF ASSISI 1961

      HOLIDAY FOR LOVERS 1959

      HOUSE OF BAMBOO 1955

      HOW TO BE VERY VERY POPULAR 1955

      HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE 1953

      HUNTERS 1958

      IT HAPPENED IN ATHENS 1962

      JAMES BROTHERS (see TRUE STORY OF JESSE JAMES)

      JUGGLER OF OUR LADY 1957

      KING AND I 1956

      KING OF THE KHYBER RIFLES 1953

      KRONOS 1957

      LADY OF THE GOLDEN DOOR 1956

      LAST WAGON 1956

      LEGIONS OF THE NILE 1960

      LITTLE SAVAGE 1959

      LITTLE SHEPHERD OF KINGDOM COME 1960

      LONG ROPE 1961

      LOSER TAKES ALL 1956

      LURE OF THE SWAMP 1957

      MAGNIFICENT MATADOR 1955

      MAM’ZELLE PIGALLE (see THAT NAUGHTY GIRL)

      MAN CALLED PETER 1954

      MARRIAGE-GO-ROUND 1960

      MURDER INC. 1960

      NIGHT PEOPLE 1954

      OH MEN OH WOMEN 1957

      ONE FOOT IN HELL 1960

      ON THE THRESHOLD OF SPACE 1956

      PLEASURE SEEKERS 1964

      PRIVATE’S AFFAIR 1959

      RACERS 1955

      RAINS OF RANCHIPUR 1955

      RIGHT APPROACH 1961

      ROBE 1953

      ROOKIE 1960

      ROOTS OF HEAVEN 1958

      SANCTUARY 1961

      SECOND TIME AROUND 1961

      SECRET INTERLUDE (see VIEW FROM POMPEY’S HEAD)

      SECRET OF THE PURPLE REEF 1960

      SEVEN CITIES OF GOLD 1955

      SEVEN WOMEN FROM HELL 1961

      SHADOW OF FEAR (see MURDER, INC.)

      SHE DEVIL 1957

      SING, BOY, SING 1958

      SNIPER’S RIDGE 1961

      SORCERER’S APPRENTICE 1955

      STAGECOACH 1966

      STAGECOACH TO FURY 1956

      STAMPEDE CITY 1954

      STATE FAIR 1962

      STORY ON PAGE ONE 1959

      STRIPPER 1963

      SUCH MEN ARE DANGEROUS (see RACERS)

      SUN ALSO RISES 1957

      SWINGIN’ ALONG 1961

      TEARS OF THE MOON 1955

      TEENAGE REBEL 1956

      THAT LADY 1955

      THAT NAUGHTY GIRL 1956

      THIRD VOICE 1960

      THOSE MAGNIFICENT MEN IN THEIR FLYING MACHINES 1965

      THREE BRAVE MEN 1957

      TRUE STORY OF JESSE JAMES 1957

      UP FROM THE BEACH 1965

      VALLEY OF THE REDWOODS 1960

      VIEW FROM POMPEY’S HEAD 1954

      VIRGIN QUEEN 1955

      VISIT 1964

      VOLCANIC VIOLENCE 1955

      VON RYAN’S EXPRESS 1965

      VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA 1961

      WAKE ME WHEN IT’S OVER 1960

      WARLOCK 1959

      WAY TO THE GOLD 1957

      WAYWARD BUS 1957

      WAY... WAY OUT 1966

      WHAT A WAY TO GO! 1964

      WINTER JAMBOREE 1955

      WIZARD OF BAGHDAD 1960

      WOLF DOG 1958

      WOMANHUNT 1962

      WOMAN OF SUMMER (see STRIPPER)

      --

      The CinemaScope Revolution

      Fighting Fox

      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.

      --

      the Abductors

      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.

      --

      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.

      --

      the Adventures of Hajji Baba

      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.

      --

      an Affair to Remember

      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.

      --

      the Agony and the Ecstasy

      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.

      --

      Air Patrol

      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.

      --

      Alaska Passage

      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

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