Evening star., 1948-09-09

Leo McCarey who has established
himself as one of the master movie
makers by the simple trick of going
ell out for the human touch does it
again in Good Sam The picture
with Gary Cooper and Ann Sheri-
dan, which opened at Keith's yes
Ter is pure McCarey. 1t is not in a
class with Going My Way" which
was classy enough to win an Acad-
emy Award, but it is quite q, happy
achievement as movie comedies
have been going lately.
McCarey who produced, directed
and helped to write Good Sam" is
working with an idea that is as ami
able as it is simple in his latest
screenplay.
He starts with one of the most
recognizable heroes. This is man
of good will, hearty practitioner
of the golden rule, who makes the
basic mistake of doing so much
good for others that he never real
lzes what trimming they are giving
him. In the effort to make every
one else happy, he makes his beautl-
full wife wretched, always in funny
way naturally since this Is comedy.
The character is obviously q ns-
tural for Cooper, perhaps his best
since Mr.. Deeds. but both the star
snd his public would have a better
tune il Good Sam" had been edited
n bit ruthlessly. The picture Is
much 100 long on quantity to achieve
its maximum of quality
*
Good Sam follows the McCarey
formula of starting in q. church, but
this time Protestant one, at
guess, Episcopal. Good Sam Clay
ion, his wife and two children are
sitting there listening to a sound
sermon on the worlds need for more
good, generous people. Sam. who
already is too generous, is carried
away by it. So is his wife, Miss
Sheridan, but she is carried in the
opposite direction, as what wife
would not be it she were married
to Sam.
McCarey has imagined q vast
number of plausible things that can
happen to men as good as Sam.
These have been photographed and
set to some truly bright dialogue
with the happy thought OF making
him an amusing spectacle.
He is laughable when he gives his
car to the next door neighbors only
10 be reminded by his wife that the
borrower is virtually blind and a
rampant menace on the highway.
He is funny when he puts his de-
partment store job in jeopardy by
trying to remember how many teeth
the customers babies have, and by
undertaking to look up strange ad-
dresses for cracked old ladies. He
is amusing and a little sad when
no loans the hard-earned family
home fund to kid who wants to
hlly q service station. He cuts the
same kind of dramatic figure when
he takes a lovelorn blond from the
store into his home and finds she
likes it well enough just to go on
living there
As the wife of this public bene-
factor, Miss Sheridan gets meaty
comedy role, that of spouse who
manages to be loving but who cam
not resist the escape of acid COM
ment on Sans defects. She has
been given majority Of the COM
edy's laugh lines and the way she
handles them indicates Warmers
was wasting a pretty girl when they
kept her playing danes who ran
around with John Garfield and
Enrol Flynn.
IT is the custom in McCarey's
pictures that the lesser characters
shall be more than sketched in. The
custom is followed in Good Sam"
which turns up with many salty
sort.
keith's should be a pleasant place
for the next week, maybe two or
1hreel