Evening star., 1952-04-30


as judge. This. however. would be
a betrayal of the titans of the
profession. heroes who never
flinched in their duty to get the
story written.
The truth to be set in type about
"Deadlirie U. S. A." is that while
it is fattering to Journalism. the
treatment seems mite too meio-
dramatic. It could be, of course,
that this is only because a man
never worked on a paper edited by
Humphrey Bogart. And owned in
part by Ethel Barrymore.
Perhaps with these two and
others of Goth Century-FoX' S
glowing cast. this is the way a
newspaper would go down fight
ing. In death it would accomplish
the clean up of State that had
gone to the dogs (racketeer breed
This is an agreeable thought and
it was agreeable of goth Century
Fox to have had it.
Qulbbllng about its treatment
in the film written and directed
by Richard Brooks is no doubt
disagreeable, perhaps downright
churliSh.
THE Day." which Bogart
loved more than he lover his wife
kim Hunter), is a good news
paper. 1t is concerned with the
social and political health of the
community. It leaves to its rivals
the publication of photos of at
tractive nudes found floating in
adjacent rivers.
On the day he is most violent
against seeing people pushed
around, Editor Bogart gets the
news that The Day is being sold.
It is being gobbled up by COM
petitor publisher, sensation
monger who intends to suspend
The Day.
Bogart and his staff come up
with one idea to save the paper, or
at least to make its final hours
the most glorious of all. This is
an all out drive against Gangster
Rienzi who owns virtually every
thing in the State except the
souls of Bogart and company.
This provides Brooks story with
q double suspense. whether the
paper can get the gangster and, at
the same time, get a new lease on
life.
Editor Bogart is in the best ira
dition of Hollywood news geniuses.
His loyalty to The Day is matched
by that of his staff to the editors
lashing. driving, inspired leader
ship.
They are off here on the biggest
story in the papers history and
even the elderly female librarian
hops into it up to her dignif1ed
neck. The story involves tracing
to the gangster the murder of the
girl whose body was found in the
river. If they can pin this crime
on him, it should bring his whole
criminal empire tumbling down
around his ears.
While it is dealing with the
seemingly chaotic methods of a.
news staff on a king-size story,
"Deadline U. S. A." also goes into
the personalities of such profess
sionals. 1t shows them to be a.
ferociously dedicated lot. No dam
ger is too great, no hardship too
inSufferable. no personal problem
too vital to be set aside. What
they are up to is not merely their
professional duty, it is also their
greatest sport.
In its zeal to praise his dying
newspaper, Brooks film suggests
that it completely by-pasSes the
police department. When it wants
a witness. it sends a reporter for
him, sometimes accompanied by
a photographer, The intimatlon
of this is that the police depart
ment is in the pocket of the gang
Ster enemy. In intimating it,
"Deadline U. S. A." raises ques-
ton it does not answer.
X y x X
Most of the film is shot against
the actual background of news
paper plant. There is nothing like
this as a setting to suggest fren-
zied action and in this, "Deadline
U. S. A." abounds. In its few
pauses for breath it drops in on
Miss Barrymore who opposes her
feather Drained daughters desire
to sell The Day. or Miss Hunter
who still loves Bogart despite
their divorce.
These quiet asides are infre-I
Quent. More typical of the dizzy
pace of the film is the sequence
LII WHICH SIlINGlIIlS EdllSoGSl GOp-
Piles into the running presses of
The Day, a spectacular way to
die.
X
The performances in "DeadlineI
U. S. A." are invariably adequate
by Hollywood newspaper stand
ards. Bogart is at his toughest
and busiest as the editorial zealot,
Miss Barrymore her smoothest as
his older ally AS the divorced
wife who hates a newspaper as a
rival. Miss Hunter is charming.
The huge staff of The Day is dot
ted with the names of actors who
have been listlessly interviewed
by dozens of newspapermen.
They make the latter look more
exciting than perhaps they de-
serve.