Evening star., 1944-03-03


turn into and none that we ever
heard of has the saving grace of
Miss Dunno and Tracy when it has
gone out of control.
It may be, of course, that M-G-M
was thinking in terms of more
whimsy instead of fantasy in making
"A Guy Named joe" In such a
case it is much more plausible to
find Tracy walking around as a sar-
castle ghost in disreputable old
leather flight jacket. One feels
better, too, about the sight of Lionel
Barrymore as a venerable divinity
of dead airmen, sort of heavenly
headman whose chest is Uttered
with enough campaign ribbons to
supply whole airforce.
Whatever was the specific intent
in "A Guy Named joe" it is a pic
ture full Of engaging people who live
not merely life but also death in a
merry fashion. Against a back
ground of wartime aviation, they
laugh and joke and sing and make
love with a gay and captivating
tenderness. And when they are not
thus engaged they are fighting furi-
GUS battles with the Germans and
the Japs from which they may
emerge heroic and dead yet still as
lively in the script as if nothing had
happened. This may sound confus-
ll-g, and there is no denying that 1t
is from time to time, but it contrives
to be entertaining and even arrest
ingly novel in its overall effect.
While Miss Dunne's role is nothing
negligible, you may be sure, that of
Tracy is the most captivating and
highly charged with comedy in "A
Guy Named joe"
He is an earthly sort of chap, a
veteran BIS pilot whose bellicosity
would do credit to a youngster who
just received his wings. Next to dis
obeying orders to inf1ict his personal
kind of anger on the enemy, his
favorite pastime is courting Miss
Dunno, who also belongs to the fly
ing set as member of the Ferry
Command.
The script fingers rather fondly
over this phase and finds much of
tenderness and comedy in it, but
the novelty of the story occurs later.
By that time, Pete (Which is Joe's
name has gone to an airman's
Valhalla where it turns out that
an assignment is waiting for him
to return to earth and teach
young chap much like himself to
become a good pilot and whatever
romantic appeal is supposed to 20
with that excellence.
Any other actor with the earthly
touch of Tracy might have trouble
bringing off such a ghost role. but
Tracy himself keeps you from
thinking of such things by having
such an obviously fine time in the
part. His disdain for the young
pilots is an amusing thing to be-
hold, his indignation when his
special young man becomes adroit
at courting his old girl is even
funnier.
Some passages highly charged
with comedy have been worked out
around the point of the ghostly
pilots jealousy, the funniest that
IN which he sits behind a door
IN his flancee's cabin and hears
his ward go through the routine
he, himself, once had used SO
successfully.
MISS Dunno who has grown glib
In romantic comedy offers a skilled
performance to balance that of
Tracy. 1t takes quite an artful-
ness to create the impression that
the young man is merely a materi-
allzatlon of her memory of her
first love, but she manages it very
nicely. There is only one song for
her to sing in the course of this
strange courtship. It is that old
one, I'll Get By" but after
Miss Dunno has sung it with such
charming sentiment, it is revived
hauntlngly by inserting a few bars
on the sound track at any point
IN the picture where it seems the
properly sentimental thing.
X X X X
The introduction of the ethereal
element into the aviation theme
has tendency to reduce the pace
to which you have become accus-
toned in connection with the latter
but Victor Fleming has directed
his picture with a hope to con-
cealing the fact that it dawdles at
times. 1t does not work out that
way, but Van johnson, Ward Bond
James Gleason and other capable
Metro players keep you from mind
ing the occasional torpor.
Moreover, Metros heaven, pre-
sided over by Mr.. Barrymore, also
helps to divert you. It is such an
unpretentious place, architecturally,
just a big stretch of cloud dust
which makes properly soft landing
field for heroic riIots