Evening Star Newspaper, January 9, 1942, Page 18

[3 _16 AMUSEMENTS. Comes Intact toScreen Marquand’s Popular Novel Given Good Translation by Cast Starring Robert Young and Hedy Lamarr By JAY CARMODY. H. M:Pulham, esq., Was & fellow the public loved to read about. There STAR, WASHINGTON, he was, handSome, cultuved, lavishly endowed with material wealth, with all the elements of most men’s fondest dreams. And what did he get out of them, what kind of life did he make for himself? A life of remark- able dullness, a painful life lived within the timid cods of a Boston Brahman; an existence as smail and paltry and unexciting as that of o any other spiritually impoverished: man. He was a chap to contemplate | .with a comfortable sense of superi- ority and a touch of pity, a fellow with all the things that money couid buy and all of them found hollow. In short, he was a dramatically dull gentleman who ran from excite- ment with mel- ancholy con- | stancy and a tragic success. “Pulham, Esq.,” now comes to the movies in Jay Carmeds. precisely the same guise and the pic- | ture version, which opened at Loew's Capitol yesterday, deserves the same degree of popularitv. It is a very artfully contrived character study. in which Robert Young, in the title roie, and Hedv Lamarr as Marvin Myles. are vital assets to the intelli-* gent. direction which King Vidor has used in translating J. P. Marquand’s novel. To Vidor must go the major credit for keeping intact the rich and varied flavor of the book. Like Mar- quand. he has told the story of a man letting the facts of his life apeak for themselves. Sometimes they speak ironically, sometimes satirically or sadly. In whatever mood, they speak eloquently and it is to the advantage of the film that Vidor has so neatly avoided trite- ness that this picture has several touches that are downright brilliant. | His resourcefulness as a director ehows itself in an altogether fine opening sequence. Befare one ever sees the middle-aged Pulham — whose early life is to be told in flash- backs—he is identified as a man hopelessly trapped in a routine. A clock strikes eight, a pair of well- shod feet run down a stairs, a glass of fruit juice, a 2-minute egg and toast and coffee appear on a table. A pattern of life is pictured and when Pulham steps within it, you know he will be a somberly clad Bos- tonian. conservatively garbed, wear- ing rubbers and carrying an um- brella over his arm. The accent of the story is laid upon Pulham’s unhappy, unforget- table love affair. He is rather pa- thetically the one type of man in the world who could resist the | charms of - Marvin Myles (Miss Lamaar), who would fear her modernity, her unconventionality more than he could love her warmth, &pirit and beauty. Yet while the picture makes the most of this romantic element. it dm< not ignore the colrelan\p items | Miss Rollo_ | Marquand’s ironic views on the pom- | passages in “H. M. Pulham. Esq.” “H. M. PULHAM, ESQ. Maser nd Hedy Lai Elizabeth novel of John Bara Haden Pposity of exclusive prep school head- | masters, on college football and the | | strange loyalities it creates, and above all has sardonic comment on the lyrical enthusiasms of the adver- tising business all make humorous They are all cleverly contrived affairs as is also an extraordinary | eloquent wedding scene in which the camera is focused mainly upon the ! bobbing Adam's apple of the pre- | siding minister. In this altogether excellent, though somewhat slow, account of a man fatally trapped in family trldmons.‘ Director Vidor enjoys some sterling | acting co-operation. Young never | has given a better performance than as the stuffy, inhibited Pulham whose self-analysis not only dis- closes his weaknesses but also his inability to do anything about them. Miss Lamarr, to whom most assign- | ments come roughly under the head- | | ing of another “sitting,” gets her biggest part in the role of Marvin Myles. She may miss some of its| more subtle aspects, but she makes | t clear that Pulham’s suffering in the loss of her love is no more than | just fate for a fellow so wretchedly | cautious. Fine, too, are Ruth Hussey | f as the patrician wife of Pulham, Charles Coburn as his !udd_\’vduddyf old father, and Bonita Granville as his stuffy young sister. On the whole. the pathetically | distinguished Pulham’s story has| received a distinguishing retelling. * ok ox % Sprightly is the word for the stage show which Gene Ford has as- sembled around Larry Adler, the harmonica genius. as a supplement for the screcn attraction. In ad-|" dition to the brilliance of the show's star. there is that of Dancer Eunice | Healey. and the comedy of the| Calgari brothers. Tschaikowski's | “Concerto” has been made the foundation of. a brilliant closing number which is danced by Miss Healey and the Rhythm Rockets, played by Barrus Williams and Toby Tvler at the pianos. and backed effectively by Sam Jack Kaufman and (h! nrche<tra Film Budgets Are Saved 1 As Business Bounces | and his cast of R. A. F. members, | the audience is permitted to view THAT MAN, AVD A FRIEND—Monty Woolley and Ann Sheridan war chummy n a wheel chair in a scene from “The Man Who Came to Dinnsr,” the screen version of the hit play continuing Jor a second urek at the zarle ‘Target For Tonight’ Finds Deepest Dramain the R. A. F. British Documentary Film Vastly Excels Fictional Accounts in Suspense of Story of One Night's Bombing That the sinple, quietly voiced truth about the R. A. F. is more dramatic than tle wildest screen fiction was demonstrated at the Met- ropolitan last nizht when “Target for Tonight” was shown to a dis- | tinguished premizre audience. Easily the most engrossing, suspenseful and inspiring acount of life in the R. A. F., “Target for Tonight” is also nothing more thin a straight-forward, hctull story of one night's work by one airplane and its crew of & six men. In the nour of its telling, | 4otermination of the weather down the audience lives more adventure- | 4o the smallest detail and the mili- ously and excitiigly than in any|igyy ggnificance of each, all these film it is likely tc see this season or | yre’ carefully detailed parts of the any other. Deliberately, in the fin- | | story. In their quiet way, they rep- est tradition <f reporting. the |yeseny excellently that basic in- director of “Ta:get for Tonight” gregient of any movie, action. Each step in the process has its own have avoided 'ne dramatic. In | gagination regardless of how far doing so, they nave achieved its effect almost unielievably. i Hero of this forceful narrative is a Wellington jombing plane, “F for Freddie,” a olane which takes AMUSEME! TS. its personality f-om the six oddly assorted men why compose its crew. “F for Freddie,’ which is accom- panied by such incidental planes | as “C for Chaclie” and “R for Robert,” to menion but two. is an airplane lo remsmber the rest of | one’s life. IL is the one that in “Target for Tonight” tells the world precisely how th: R. A. F. operates, eloquently depics the caliber and character of the men who compose | it. Not just one man, a Titan, but all men, from tie grease monkeys through the groind crew, the bom- | bardier, the nsvigator. the radio | operator. the gmner in the nose of the ship. the captain-pilot and his assistant, 2nd the dozens of ! others “who formulate and help | carry out the enormously intricate | operation that s a veid on Ger- | many. Through the «wyes of the camera, LOYDER THAN NAGARA \{;‘sn\?‘“ g S 10aN BENNETT Slump After War Began Frightened Movie-Makers, but Now They See Happier Box Office Days Ahead By HAROLD HEFFERNAN. HOLLYWOOD. Theater business bounced back so robustly over the holidays, accord- ing to reports just checked in Hollywood. that studios have abandoned an original intention to curtail film budgets sharply. For 10 days after the United States declared war, box office grosses throughout the Nation hit a startling new low—15 per cent of normal business! Attendance has now crept - up around the 100 per cent mark— v, ¢nuer oyt Judy Canova in “Sleepy- good indication that wartime will time Gal” Cook attempts to % be a period when the fans Will De | jo o ity Judy by (1) freezing her thankful for the relief and relaxa- 'y 'geoth in o refrigerator, (2) pump- tion afforded by a few hours’ Visit |0 an anesthetic up a microphone | tolthefrgvieptiouses L co i as she sings into it. (3) wrapping her Five biggest current hits, from a ;, 5 sleeping blanket and roasting paid attendance standpoint. are: her'to geath . ., Joe Santley, now “The Man Who Came to Dinner” directing “Yokel BO\ * meed o oty “Ball of Fire" “Remember the afio; each camera take: “It's as Day.” “Dumbo” and “Keep 'Em good &s gold.” Now he's changed the Flying.” Four are out-and-out|jine to “It'c as 200d as a defense comedies bordering on _the slap- | yong~ Al Jolson’s musical show, stick, a significant tipoff on what “Hold on to Your Hats,” will come the ratio of comedy to drama Will ' 5 the screen but it's questionable be during 1942. whether Jolson will be the star. Eighty-eight war titles, rangmg Universal is striving desperately to alphabetically from “Alaska Alert” | jang the piece for Abbott and Cos- to “Youth on the March” have re- te]jo, ceived “protective” registration at (Released by the North American the Hays office, but you can wager | that only & handful of these sub- | jects will reach the screen—at least until such a time as Hollywood can get a good feel of the public's pulse. x ok ok % Brd Abbott and Lou Costello are better friends off the screen than they appear to be om it. Between | them has raged the longest two- handed marathon poker tourna- Newspaper Alllance, Inc.) Where and When Current Theater Attractions and Time of Showing Stage. National — “Hellzapoppin’,” fiu! musical madhouse: 8:15 pm. ment in amusement history. The bovs began playing poker when | Screen. they first’ joined up in burlesque | Capitol—“H. M. Pulham. Esqg.. the career of a New England family as depicted in J. P. Marquand's beq- &everal years ago—and the stakes were mere buttons. Today, when- ever there's a new camera set up | Sor “Rio Rita,” Bud and Lou hike 9:40 p.m. Stage shows: to the dressing room and resume | 6:20 and 9:05 p.m. the seven-year feud. The ante i¢ now a little higher, as befits their | ape adventure in the U.'s” are frequently exchanged after | g:35 pm, & half hour's pause between scenes. e Dmner ” With Author John Steinbeck's ap- | Botte Pay; proval and in line with an unwritten Hollywhod law for 1942, a happy ending has been written into theJim ;. version of “Tortilla Flat.” Five sugary finales were submitted to the author before he okayed one . John Garfield's description of Holl\- wood: “The place where people | 30 and 9:15 pm. Kelih‘t—“Bnll of Fire,” 5:30, 7:35 and 9:40 p.m. and Merle Oberon: Olivi :20, 5:25, 7:35 and 9:45 pm, yet, to buy things they don’t need, 10, to impress people they don't like” ., Remember Elisha Cook, jr., that crazy young: killer who scared the wits out of 2very one but Humphrey on Germany? 11:10 am,, 1:20, 3:35, Bogart in"“The Maltese Falcon”? | g:45, g and 10:10 pm. “A Date With He goes completely scientific trying | the Falcon”; 12:15 2:30, 4:40, 6:35 = % and 9:10 pm. 4:20, 7 and 9:40 pm. Pix—“A Girl Ilust Live”: | am,, 1:55, 4. 6, 8:05 and 10:15 p.m. §$nuous from 10 a.m. DANCING. seller: 10:30 a.m., 1:15, 4:05. 6:50 and | 12:40, 3:30, Columbia—"“The Corsican Broth- Dumas new station in life, and $100 “I. O. | manner: 11:25 a.m., 1:55, 4:30, 7 and | Earle—“The Man Who Came to| Monty Woolley escorting | is to # larkish fete: 1:40, | :05 and 9:50 p.m. Stage shows: Barbara Stanwyck knocks the dignity out of Gary Cooper: 11:15 arg., 1:20, 3:25, Littfe—“Wuthering Heights,” the spend money they haven't earned | passionate romance with lnlllu'enoe am., Metropolitan — “Target for To- night,” the R. A. ™ pays a call Palace—"Babes on Broadway.” | with Mickey Rooney: 11 am., 1:40, 11:50 H i Tran® Lux—News and shorts; con- | every detail of tae continuously ex- | citing process. Tae film begins with the selection of a target, an inno- cent-looking wordland at Friehau- | sen on the Rhire, which is a depot for vast suppliss of German war material. oil. et.. One follows the target through the various steps leading up to pans for its demoli- tion. The numb:r of planes to be mvnfit'flm: sent, the type »f bombs they are to carry, the choice of crews and the assignment of various types of pilots to differ-nt phases of the task, the loadin; of the planes, the | TAST DAY FOR = “A GIRL MUST LIVE s\;m;!;AY EVGS. BEGINNING JA! 19..Amazing Arizona 6. Aisske aid ihe Yuken South America ’_ll;ne Duten East | Amusem 0, $2.20, Inc. Tax 55¢. Inc. Tax. . Droop's) GAYETYs’JEL%‘E“; § PXBURLESQUE CONTNEXTRA AooED ATTRACTION 11345, b CRA “BEST PICTUR! of 1'1’—(..n<s “W H HEGHTS LAURENCE %fix MILI.OB ON 0 & , ng “4 ArieR | WAV RELIEF § ¥ “When 200 Washington show- mn ln“ru an_entertainment to be ghod! flu Variety Ch has never spen- sored anything but the best shows —and n “lceCapades” we know \v'c' are bringing ytu the finest of al . VIICEIT BOUGHERTY . N Ohief Barker ° TICKETS ON SALE *17 & 27 Dance Lessons Greatly Reduced! IIOII MIRTINI ONI‘"fli !'lll ik a.w. lfl ULINE'S ARENA, FR.5800 ®KITT'S, NA. 7332 *ENGEL'S, DI,71429HAMN D. C, FRIDAY, JANUARY 9, 1942 e iy planning stepe | In “Red Harvest” personal, Paulette Goddard, Brian Denlevy | It is not until “F for Preddie” takes off and climbs above the moon- drenched clouds that the adventure | is reduced to human proportions. At that point, Squadron Leader Dickson and his five associates be- come the composite hero of a wildly | thrilling journey. The camera fol- | lows them through the night, across | the Channel, over France, down to | industrial Friehausen. Then, more excitingly than it ever has followed | anything before, it goes with the | plane on its long dive through the searchlights, the bursts of anti- | aircraft shells and the murderous? fingers of fire represented by tracer bullets, down to the target itself. It is almost inconceivable that there could be drama left after so | tempestuous a climax. There is,| however. ‘P for Freddie” still is| hundreds of miles from home, the ack-acks are letting fly at it, the | radio operator is wounded, and con- [ tact is broken with the plane’s base. An engine goes sour, fog closes in, the plane falls far behind schedule, | is apparently lost when all the others have returned as anticipated. The | interval is tense, within the plane | where the crew makes jokes, It is| tense at headquarters where the | waiting staff remains on watch, try- | ing to keep its optimism up. It is| tense, too, for the audience which sits waiting for release from one ol the finest sustained hours of sus- | pense through which it has ever | lived. “F for Freddie” is the airplane you never will forget. And “Target for ! ‘Tonight” is the picture which wlll introduce you to it. J.C. and Alan Ladd have been announced for the star roles in “Red Harvest,” | Pnnmount'l forthcoming film adap- tion of Dashiell Hammett's novel. | ful private detective hired by the industrial overlord of an American | | city to rescue it from vicious forces. | AMUSEMENTS. ’l‘oNlGI’I‘ at 8:15 BILLY HOUSE » EDDIE GARR and 190 Pon Mokers . Hollywoed Beowty Chorms Fovular Matinees Wed. & Eat.’ 81.00, 1.50, $2.00 (Pius Tax) SEATS NOW FOR NEXT WEEK Waihingtons Newsr TRANS ~ I. u X Histeric Address PRESIDENT BEFORE CONGRESS Floing Fariresses KALTENBORN EDIT REFORTS the TIME: N AMUSEMENTS, | starts TODAY Doors Open 10:30 a.m. Feature at 11:00- 1:40-4:25-7:05-%:50 Anp DAVE - SHEI!IIIAN vy WOOLLEY in Warner Bros. The Han Who Game Funnier than the play! . Warner Bros. EARLE :; L Three Swifts-Roy Davis | Lime Trio---Roxyettes U!h Near | Warner Bros LTI METROPOLITAN .. Newest of the “Falcon” Stories George SANDERS James GLEASON in R.K.0.'s “A DATE with The FALCON” with Wendy Barrie-Mona Maris = nom@nfiimvgm-w % matatacton tsriturien Z_MWfEK/ The riotous but tender comedy of aslang- hunting professor baffied by the words, but a sucker for the wiles, of a hot-spot Queen of Jive who used his study s a hide- SINHEL ERLONTR oy GARY COOPER BARBARA- STANWICK Preduced by SAMULL SOLOWTR Dbt b 20 DS P Donlevy will play a tough, resource- | “ AMUSEMENTS. AMUSEMENTS. H. M. PULHRM Esq.” ROBERT YOUNG HEDY LAMARR RUTH HUSSEY Stage LARRY ADLER CALGARY BROS. | NOW .. Doors open 10:45 HIT §| bouGLAS FAIRBANKS, Jr. « Corsican Brothers’ n Warner Feature Is “My Lite Wlth“Carolme L Introducing ANNA LEE _Also “TWO LATINS FROM MANHATTAN,” __With JOAN DAVIS 48th & Mase Ave Woodley 1600, e Nation's Capital Free Parking for 300 Cars_in Rear “THE SHADOW OF THE THIN MAN" With WILLIAM POWE! Evira. ihe March of Fri. Doo w 3 0. 2315, Mat._ 1 Parking Spaee Available to BING OSBY. MARY M. BRIAY CAROLYN _m-: P M. Feature . NE. | ‘LADIES IN RETIREMENT, With IDA LUPINO. LOUIS HAYWARD. ELYN ¥EYS_Also on e Procram, Tms WOMAN IS MINE.” ON STAGE AT. 8300. AN BOB_HOPE. PADL GODDARD IHPNOTHING BUT THE TROTH AlLiEn. REX HARR Nxion MA. BARBARA AR Buy Defense Bonds and Stamps Aiso “PRIVATE mc'_g Penna. m at st St Enone RE GE !RE\T ]LO X ON N Parkine Space Ava LIAM POWELL. MYRNA | DUHBARTOI' TRUTH GODDARD. Also " Selected Srtost Taub: ects FAIRLAWN '*'* ROBFRT STACK GBMBEI.T D ROLL F_MacMURRAY the Sea Enic. __At_6:15, LIDO “ IMPERIAL. " 608 wth St N.W. LITTLE Bet! T and 6 | “WUTHERING HEIGHTS.” pmlcm 1119 H St NE LL 2600 NAVY BLUES.” ANN SHERIDAN. JA WAArINA RAVE. JACK "SALEY ad ihe NAVY BLUES SEXTETTE. Also on “HIT THE ROAD 2 BARTON MocLANEC -_— t. NW_ WHITE ONLY. T1C ENENES P HOTRL WARNER BROS, THEATEBS ontinueus fro "MARRIED BACHELOR v With ROBERT YOUNG and UTH_HUSS “DOCTORS DON T TELL.” With_JOHN BEAL and FLORENCE RICE. —SIDNEY LUST THEATERS— ¥ ‘Tomor —Doubl RICHARD ARLEN and JEAN PARKER in “FLYING BLIND.” GENE AUTRY in T“SIER]';{’A SUE.” HIPPODROME *,;*%;,2 Double Festure RICHARD ARLEN. JEAN PARKER in FLYING BLIND." CLARK GABLE LANA TURNER in “HONKY TONK." EAHE“ Mt. Rainier, Md. WA. 9 Cont. 6-11 Today, Tomor.—Double Feature, GENE AUTRY in “SIERRA SUE.” WILLTAM TRACY. JAMES GLEASON, “TANKS A MILLION.” Tomorrow—Matinee 1 P “Amm E Bitimore Bied. 9336 or Huaiis Today. Tomor.—At & ERROL FLYNN and OLIVIA DE HAVILLAND in “THEY DIED WITH THEIR BOOTS ON.” _Tomorrow—Matinee 1 P.M MILQ Reckville, Md. Rock. 1917 Free Parking. IRENE DUNNE and ROBERT MONTGOMERY in “Unfimshed Business.” Tomor —Doibie ROY _ROGERS ALLEY. ALAN CARUSLE in_* ARCADE ™o, Double Peature—Cont. 7 iL!A B POqulyL -!nd R!D EKIL- ANNE ‘B ANNE SHIRLEY in WEST POTNT 1. 7 fo RY GRANT. - “SUSPICION. Ilcl!lnlll IH'IBIM Beihertar o 5 VI g BARRY Aypckiay in the Thriliing: Britien Ravy Drama— RPEDO RAIDER.” At 6:45, P:12 P.M.—LAUREL and HARDY, “GREAT GUNS.” (Comin day— " VOLGA-VOLGA.” the Bash Bt Him Prom Boviet Rusetat) nnunzm's THEATERS i PURPLE & ._Performanees 620 WSt NE. 300 aters Having F Aml.o 'D HOWARD. n 15, e To LOCKWOO! AVE En“n 615 n Av! SE. DOROTHY LA\(%IER 3o *ihLL o] S P JTHE SOUTH SEA COLONY o= c FRANCHOT TONE. ¢ WOMAN 1S Carioon REDGRAVE. \uR(,mrT ve. NW. 6300, OL BRUCE MINE™ At ney_ Cartoon SAVOY GENE AUTRY HENE B " co. in 10710, NV =1!°R« SUE, Ra Ynnx Ga. Ave. Som NW. SIDNFY ToLER® MIARY mETH HUGHES in/ (z{!\.RLl‘E CHAN ™ Phone Mich “BUY ME THAT TOWN,” LLOYD CONSTARCE MOORE JESSE "EH[A'[ ”lmn & Ires ing Sts. N.E. . 9R61. ble Feature. “A Yank in the R, A. F..” TYRONE POIVER, BETTY GRABLF. “Harvard Here I Come,” MAXI® ROSENBLOOM, ARLENE JUDGE. “Week End in Havana e ALICE_FAYE. JOHN_PAYNE THE YERNON 230! Mt Vern, o NEW. “Huld Back the Dawn 1 CHARLES PALLB'“E GODDARD PALM SONJA HENIE and J I “Sun Valle; Serenade g HT Cont. Daily 1:45 P.M. GEORGE NTCOMERY. o M. HOWARD 7.‘,‘. EM WAKE UP' AMING