GHOSTS IN THE LIBYAN DESERT “Immortal Sergeant” Inspires A Corporal

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 13, 11 October 1943, Page 3

GHOSTS IN THE LIBYAN DESERT “Immortal Sergeant” Inspires A Corporal

(By

T.L.)

There’s a dance time that’s popular around the town just now, one Hue of which runs, “Why can’t we do this more often?” After looking at the film version of John Brophy’s “Immortal Sergeant,” which opened at the King’s on Friday night, threatregoers will be asking the same question—and putting the emphasis on the “we.” Just when the British film industry begins to glow with hope and initiative (as witness Noel Coward .5 “In Which We Serve;’), Hollywood puts it to shame by jumping in smartly ana producing an essentially British picture which should be made on English sou with English players. ' After the Eighth Army s “Desert Victory,” “Immortal Sergeant” suffers by comparison. We’ve, seen the , British lighting man in action —and this is not quite he. Hollywood has made a good job of suggesting the - way in which Thomas Mitchell, if he were the ghost of a sergeant, might inspire Henry Fonda, if he were a corporal, to follow his precepts, save the remnants of mJ patrol, and even win a medal and a girl in a service uniform. But still —John Brophy’s book should have been filmed in Britain. • After war pictures which have, had us in the air, on the sea, and. under it, ‘‘lmmortal Sergeant” stays on the ground.the whole time. And a specially sandy piece of ground it is—the Libyan Desert, where certain adventures befall a Lost Patrol composed of a sergeant, a corporal, and four British Tommies. Mitchell has the title role, his immortality being proved by his continued influence, when death over bis second in command, Corporal Fonda. The perils of the desert, which include Marshal Rommel and his far-from-merry men, are the more solid aspects, of the picture, and succeed in keeping, it on a high plane of interest. There is also a romance, -by flashbacks, between Fonda and Maureen O'Hara. But the latter doesn’t show up in Libya at till, x and therefore isn’t much of a hindrance. There is a certain honest-to-goodness plainness about Henry Fonda, on the screen which must put heart into the meek among men. A simple honesty pre vails in his parts and he may soon be recognized as the cinema standard-bearer for the Average Man, Jn this new picture, under a hell of fire, he develops from a quiet-manered Tommy, dragged by war from his mild successes as an .author, into a leathery and efficient soldier. As for Thomas Mitchell, in his early days a critic* wrote: “Mr. Mitchell . merits oO lashes with a shillelagh for his performance.” Today this same actor is probably the greatest character man on the screen. And it’s Irish he is in “Immortal Sergeant,” with a brogue to gladden the heart of Mr. De Valera himself.

“THE AMAZING MRS. HOLLIDAY”

(Second week)- —That youthful widow, Mrs. Holliday, is’ not nearly so amazing as the amazing Deanna Durbin, who has grown up in the world’s most vicious hothouse and yet is still a charming, young thing with a voice of pure delight and an acting ability that no amount of Hollywood “grooming*’ has been able to ruin. “The Amazing Mrs.. Holliday (St. James) is the happiest in every way the films now. showing in Wellington. As well as Miss Durbin (as a young matron in- private life she is probably entitled to the iiiore formal mode of address) there are Jots and lots of children in the picture. They are little refugees whom the star, as a missionary’s daughter, has brought out of war-torn China; a sort ol female Pied Piper, Though she has the title role Miss Durbin Js not actually married in the Him. She just pretends to be for expediency’s sake; From this you can see that there are wheels within wheels. On the inner circle is the commodore, supposedly drowned at sea, whose widow the young teacher pretends to be. But. or course he is not dead at all, but is a nice old man who chuckles kindly and is willing, to welcome the amazing Mrs. Holliday into his household as a grand-daugh-ter-in-law. The voice that has brought millions of pounds to the box-office is as capable’as over of dragging in the patrons.

“MISS V FROM MOSCOW”

It’s a wonder to me that tbs Germans haven’t been licked long ago. With lierro Aumont plotting against them in brittanv, Paul Muni and Hugh IVilllams outwitting them in Norway, Joan Crawtord (fabulous clothes and all) working tooth and nail against’them in Paris, and a lew more films like ’’ln Which We Serve and "At Dawn We Die,” victory should be as good as ours. , However the war is still with us—and so are the countless pictures showing exactly how our spies outwit the wily. Gestapo every time. The latest is “Miss V from Moscow” (De Luxe). With a deli touch of collaborationist propaganda, the heroine is cast as a Russian spy who is sent to Paris to impersonate a German spy who, we hope, the Russians have tossed from the topmost wall of the Kremlin. Lola Lane is the girl and she has to match her wits against Noel Madison (son of tho late Maurice Moseovitch), who is a Gestapo agent and not convinced that this pleasant girl is all that she says. Things are getting a little sticky for her and just as someone in the audience is preparing to shout “Where are the marines'!” the inevitable American comes to her help. To make sure that all the Allies get a turn in this remarkably cosmopolitan production, ho is cast as a young mau who is employed by tho British. They join forces and fool the whole Gestapo, thanks to a secret shortwave radio station operated in a Parisian cafo by a group of French loyalists.

Lola Lano is the busiest young woman in Paris. She wheedles information out of a German officer who is in love with her, and yet still has time t.o send her messages and fall in lore with the American. When the German finds that she has been pulling bis leg be behaves like a thorough cad—just as we all knew that he would In the finish. But this Anglo-American-Russo-Franco-Gerinan story is pretty exciting in places. The “kids” are back with us again in the first half of the programme. "Kid Dynamite” has Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Bobby Jordan and Gabriel Dell in the cast and is full of free fights, jitterbuggiug and true love which refuses to course smoothly.

“THE DESPERADOES”

(Second week). —Full-flavoured, old fashioned adventure of the type which first attracted a lot of men to the cinema (and has eventually turned them into confirmed filmgoers) is the stuff of which “The Desperadoes” (State) is made. Its principals are hunted men and painted hussies, killers and gamblers and heroes and cowards, the good, the bad. the desperate and the reckless. The bail men include a gunman who stops off in a little town to do some safe-breaking; and a dynamite-thrower—just tliu man to have about in a brawl. The good men include a sheriff who was once a bad lad himself, and hasn't forgotten the fact; a banker who robs his own safe once 100 often; and a judge who regards a Tope as the highest form of justice. This is a story of women, too: the Countess, buxom, blonde owner of Red Valley’s ornate gambling joint, who is never quite sure on which sido of the fence she’ll avoid the bullets; Sundown, who was out to get a maneven if she had to shoot one: and Ai’ison, who knew who she wanted and what she wanted, but wasn’t dear of the way (o go about it.

“The Desperadoes” is In colour as full and round and rich as the story itself. Charles Vidor has certainly caught the strangely beautiful tones of the American countryside.

“WMO DONE IT?”

Never before in the world's history have there been eo many media requiring the turning out of such a vast number of bright, clever or amusing remarks. Funny papers (some of them not. so very), endless radio programmes and a spate of screen comedies are nil demanding that, the man who can think up wisecracks must work right round the clock. Critics have waxed more critical lately of the humour of Abbott, and Costello. They say that they are not so funny as they used to be —but. I hen, of course, they never were. This week they are back iu “Who Done It,?” (Paramount), and they make a tolerably good job of sonic slim material. They are a couple of soda-jerkers who get tangled up iu a murder committed iu a broadcasting studio. They pose as detectives and for a time deceive everyoue but the eight-year-olds In the audience. There is a great deal of chasing about and some hair-raising antics on the top of a skyscraper. In the finish—and no one is more surprised than they—they run the murderer to earth. Those filmgoers who can’t get enough of undiluted A. and C. are happy to find that much of the song-and-dance routine of their former comedies has been- omitted. To make certain that the world is not entirely “a comedy to those that think, a tragedy to those who feel. 1 ’ the theatre is offering something very different on the first half of the bill—that good old evergreen “Wells Fargo,” which stars Joel McCrea, Frances Uee and Lloyd Nolan. It is a sort of old-fashioned roast beef to pffoet Abbott and Costello goulash.

“THE FIRST OF THE FEW”

(Second week).—Not long before war broke out an Englishman dreamed of a plane which should be all in one Piece, like a bird. He was .Mitchell, designer of the Spitfire, and now his great aehieyement has come to the screen as Lin- first of the Few” (Plaza), a film which is not onlv noteworthy as a story, but tor the fact that it is the final film made by Leslie Howard before his death. The picture is played on a quiet, almost ghostly key—-Mitchell s struggles to get financial backing, ills reverses and successes, his visit to Germany and realization of Germany's growing air-might, his decision to build a fighter plane for Britain that would stand up to any challenge, and. at the same time, his discovery of his own mortal illness. The whole crux of the story is in the last 30 minutes. Mitchell has been given eight months to live. Can he deliver this plane, this bpitfire, before the deadline t From the beginning you feel that Leslie Howard is not really of this world at all. His death, without fuss, without drama, without any Great Last Words, makes little difference to’ the fine story Which is as it should be. David has an important part. too. and plays it well.

“PILOT NO. 5”

Just to Show that Fascism is not the monopoly of Messrs. Hitler, Tojo and their erstwhile junior partner, but can rear its ugly head under the guise of democracy Hollywood has once again tuined back the pages of a diary in which the word “finis” is not found in the final page, and has given us “Pilot No. o, which is now at the Majestic. George Collins was unlucky enough to become entangled with the nasty element in his home State. He found he didoit like it, fought it and won The peoples of conquered Europe are not so fortunate. They like their nasty element as little as did George. But George’s tribulations were a Sunday school picnic compared with their unenviable plight. He had a chance in his scrap; they’ve got both hands tied. Anyhow the moral is that the inherent nastiness of Fascism is as consin as it is in. Warsaw and that Where ever .lt is found it is no fun-factory. Tne beating George Collins took from the Governor’s boys is a sample. The story revolves round a lone pilots efforts to sink a Jap aircraft carrier and the reconstruction of hie 31 fe story by bis fellow pilots while they await his return. After dallying with the local Fa^cmts‘ he regrets his error and not content with nutting the local State in order he crashes his plane on to the aircraft carrier s and so strikes a not inconsiderable blow for democracy. „ , , Franehot Tone play® tho hero s role with his usual talent and his " tion of the battered George who has falleii foul of the gang'is a fine piece of work. Marsha Hunt is more than and Infuses into her role much OL the talent she has shown in former films The moral is not new but Hollywood’evidently thinks it bears repetition.

“HIGH SIERRA”

I must admit that I went along tftthe Opera House on Saturday to «ee Hii.ll Sierra” with a certain amount or mis giving. For one thing, the title seemed a trifle obscure, and for another, td e oomblnation of Humphrey Bogart and Ida Lupiso immediately suggested a hero, it such be may be designated, v ho is definitely on the wrong side of the law, alia a heroine who flits from side to side ac cording to the influences being brought to bear upon her. .In other words, I had an idea that 1 was going to see the usual gangster story. But I was greatly mistaken. True, “High Sierra” has all the outward hallmarks of such a story, but after it has got under way for some time the realization comes upon those who Fee it that here is something right out of the usual run of films. Admittedly the hero is a “bad ’un and the heroine’s mode of living would not exactly coincide with the rules laid dowu by the country’s -welfare officers —yet there is a great deal of good in both of them. In fact, the character of- Roy Earle, recently-pardoned bank robber who immediately returns to the crooked path, is so vivid and so full of complexes that one almost instinctively feels that things might be made much happier for all concerned if he could be placed in the care of a psychiatrist who could analyse him and find out just why he has developed the criminal Instinct. There certainly must be some reason for his being so ruthless one moment and so thoughtful the next, tor instance, he shoots a man in cold blood, and an hour or so later uses part of stolen money to pay for an operation to cure a crippled girl whom lie admired because of her cheerfulness in spite of her disability. Then he teams up with Marie, a dime-a-dance girl who. even though she hasn’t the slightest hesitation in throwing in her ]ot with a band of crooks, has a most lovable side to her nature, and certainly gets the sympathy of the audience. • Ida Lupine plays the role of Marie, and even if it is the type of role she seems destined to play these days, she invests it with a sincerity that has characterized all her acting and has placed her so high upon Hollywood’s ladder of fame. Humphrey Bogart gives just as sincere performance as does Ida. Every now and then one feels that the sooner he shuffles off this mortal coil the better for all concerned—and then, the next minute, all such sentiments are reversed when he does something that is really worth while. The climax of the story, filmed high up in the rugged Sierra Nevadas. is thrilling to the “Nth” degree. The ending is the only logical one possible; but even so, the audience sees the last of the hero with a pang of sorrow.

“CITY WITHOUT MEN”

The sufferings of a woman who loves almost too well is the theme.of “City Without Men.” at the Tudor Theatre this week. Linda Darnell aud Edgar Buchanan are the principals, fl’he associate feature is “One Dangerous Night,” with Warren William as a loue wolf on a woman hunt.

TIVOLI

Edward G. Itobinson, Ida Lupine, and John Garfield provide dramatic acting in “The Sea Wolf,” now at the Tivoli Theatre. The associate feature is ‘“North of the Klondike,” with Brod. Crawford and Andy Devine.

SUBURBAN THEATRES

Rivoli (Newtown). — “Priorities on Parade,” and “Upscen Enemy.” Klncma (Kiiblrnie).—“Wake Island” and “Smart Aleeks.” Regal (Karori). —“Arabian Nights and “Ice-Capades.” Ascot (Newtown).—“Confirm or Deny, and “Mail Train.” Empire (Island Bay).—“They AU Kissed the Bride,” and “Birth of the Blues.” Capitol (Miramar).—“You Were Never Lovelier,” and “Shining Victory.” Vogue (Brooklyn).—“Miss Annie Rooney’ and “Three Sons of Guns.” Prince Edward (Woburn). — Hhe Great Lie,” aud “Singnpoie Woman.” He Lure (Lower Hutt).—“Sons of the Sea,” and “Hi’ Ya Chum.” King George (Lower Hutt). —“Son of Fury,” ’Tyrone Power.