Evening star., 1954-01-01

i
Bros, touching faith IN the arc
shortly after the invention of
sound. Other studios have out
grown this as they outgrew
chicken pox, but Warmers appar-
emily can see no reason why they
should renounce immaturity
4. merely ID ecauSe others even
younger have done so.
So, incredible as it is, here is
Miss Powell playing an ambitious
young musical comedy aSpirant,
McRae a sailor with $4,000 to
finance a musical, and the other
tiresome pieces Of same old pro-
duction. They are assembled un-
der the direction Of Roy Del
Ruth, a man whose resignation
may be admirable regardless of
what one. thinks of his inven-
tiveneSS.
It was a fatal day. regardless
of who does not know it. when
entertainment seekers were al
lowed to discover musical books
COULD make sense.
From that moment on, the
mere fact of a talent for singing
and dancing no longer excused
performers for acting like inn
beetles. What they do had there
after to bear some resemblance
to sanity and plausibility. A
couple Of writer's who should
learn this quickly are Roland
Kibbee and Devery Freeman.
They wrote the book of Three
Sailors and Girl"
: Moviegoers depressed by the
antics of the performers trapped
: in the plot of the musical are
unlikely to be notably relieved
when these burst into song or a
dance. These latter are the things
Miss Powell, MacRae and Nelson
do best but their material is
paln1ully unI0SQlreQ.
; The score by Producer Sammy
Calm and Sammy Fa1n moves
Miss Powell and MacRae to a
few breezy moments and an oc-
casional soulful one, with songs
titled You're But Oh So Right"
Home is Where the Heart Is,"
Face to Face" and an echo of
Embrace Me-"
The best single bit in Three
Sailors and q Girl" is Nelson's
dancing with Miss Powell as his
partner.
But it does nothing to sug-
gest that there is even a CO.
incidental resemblance between
the f1lm and the way a musical
is put together in New York.
Nor does the acting of Sam Le-
vene in the character, Of q Broad
way t1y-by-night producer. Mr..
Levene, at least, has been in
New York musicals and he at
least should know better than
his conduct indicates in Three
Sailors and a Girl"
\ y \ y
The Motion Picture Herald,
even more than this drama de-
partment, would not want you
to come into 1854 ignorant of
the movies boxoffice champions
for 1858. So it conducted a
survey on the subject-always
one Of the most interesting Of
the years end-and the 22d an
nual one.
The champion, the MPH and
we are happy to report. is GARY
Cooper.
He was so chosen in the an
nual poll by the motion picture
theater owners, than whom no
one has so good q reason to
know who brings in the most
money in the movies. Probably
no election is so powerfully in
f1uenced by money as this one
and, at the same time, more
completely honest. When the
theater owners speak on their
favorite movie star in any year,
money is talking loud and clear.
Martin and Lewis, last years
winner combination, are second
this time. followed in order by
John. Wayne. Alan Ladd, Bing
Crosby, Marilyn Monroe, James
Stewart, Bob Hope, Susan Hay
ward and Randolph Scott.
Cooper's victory, his first in IA
appearances on the top money
makers. is due to the fact that
he had a couple of whopping
films working for him. One Of
these was High Noon" the
other Return to Paradise" BY