Evening star., 1952-06-27

1t SHOWS and SHOWS and snow
of the characters is buried to tt
supposed to fill the Capitol's custol
Baxter and the other outcasts but
they look so much more comfort
able than the humans outside IN
F street that these emotions are
virtually impossible. What one
feels instead is envy and regret
for the happy blizzards of ones
childhood.
Naturally, in making the film,
10th Century-Fox had no long
range Washington weather fore
cast to guide it. You just have to
take a chance on our weather and
the winning chance has never
turned up yet.
For those who find it possible to
forget outside conditions once they
have taken refuge in an air-cooled
theater, THE Outcasts of Poker
Flat" is likely to prove a reason
dN4y SO1CC1tJ4dy.
Harte was writer who recog-
nized a rugged story at any dis
tance and this is something of al
classic in his repertory. 1t is a
psychologist thriller that was
written long before the type be-
came the cinema fashion and It'll
is lot more dramatic than many
of it's indirect descendants
BY way of supplementing it.
the Capitol has had the cool and
happy inspiration to import Rudy
Vallee and Dorothy Sarnoff as
this weeks stage headliners. Vallee
long ago became master Of all the
tricks of ingratiating himself with
audiences and Miss Sarnof is al
beautiful and gifted creature of the
type seldom met on vaudeville
stages.
Poker Flats outcasts were an
interesting lot. Each is enough of a
specialized sinner that any reform
administration, even in Poker
Flat. would be glad to exile him
or her.
Miss Baxter, the prettiest one,
had the bad judgment to become
the passionate playmate. and play
thing, of Cameron Mitchell. a.
murderous bandit. Dale Robert
son is John Oakhurst, a genius
with cards. Miriam Hopkins is a.
disillusioned middle-aged type
whose offense is that she runs the
woman's department of Poker
Flats toughest saloon. casino.
For good measure. when these
four are ordered to leave, Poker
Flat throws in old Jake, a vener-
able barfly who rolls drunks and
otherwise makes a civic nuisance
of himself.
The action of the film is con-
fined to the mountain cabin in
which the blizzard traps the out
cast five, along with a couple Of
nice frontier kids who are rushing
to find a marrying parson. AS
action goes, this is pretty fren-
zied, all of it calculated to show
the different responses of humans
to dire tribulation.
Apart from Mitchell, a sadistic
killer who savors this situation as
rich one, the others behave
rather well. Miss Baxter, a frey
girl, greets prospective death with
remorse and a willingness to make
a deal with the gambler. Miss
Hopkins takes her plight with a
kind of stoical decency, and the
girl who is going to have baby
out of wedlock is pretty spunky
about the prospect Of freezing to
death.
The suspense of the picture lies
in the question: Can some one in
the better grade outcasts group
kill Cameron before he kills them?
Joseph H. Newman has found
the right melodramatic touch in
the direction of a number of ex-
citing incidents in the outcasts'
relations. He also has helped the
quality of his picture by getting
solid performances out of each of
his players.
AS the tough girl with the stock
ing full of gold, Miss Baxter is
a dramatic outcast. So is Dale
Robertson as the cool gambler,
an aristocratic sinner who takes
a naughty view of his companions
until their desperate need arouseS
his sympathy. Mitchell as the
psycopathic bandit killer and Miss
Hopkins carry their responsibility
to the picture adeptly.
It is the blizzard. however. that
is really magnificent.
y X 4 X
Vallee, whose time has been
everybody's time for a mere mil
lion bucks or so, is one of the most
polished entertainers anywhere.
He is an obviously welcome sight,
and sound, to Capitol audiences as
this weeks stage show star. AS
for the sound, that involves a re-
call of some of the all-time Vallee
hit tunes and a pleasantly humor-
Gus autobiography.
Miss Sarnoff. as the shows