Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1955-08-01
THE PASSING SHOW
Here's Another Movie
From Way Out Yonder
BY HARRY MacARTHUR

BY HARRY
Producer Buddy Adler seem
Of claims on the Far East as
Monument Valley. Not so long {
color, CinemaScope Clark Gabl'
Hong Kong. His latest from W
CinemaScope House of BAN
boo." arrived over the week enc
ut the Columbia Theater, bear
ing q Tokyo dateline.
MFR. Adler, 1t must be ad'
mitted. Is clearly well aware Of
the added fillip of interest
genuine foreign locale can give
. movie. He also is aware that
the Burton Holmes approach to
far-away places with strangi
sounding names is not quit
enough these days. He is mo-
above livening things up in tn.
travelogue with a generous Ia
ding Of Mike Hammer.
In his latest goth Century-Fo,
aim, he has a sturdy cast headee
by Robert Ryan and Rober'
Stack to give and absorb punish
Hnent. Director Sam Fuller ha!
guided them with a fair amount
of suspense through the rugged
action or Harry Kleiner's scren.
play, too. Miss Shirley Yama.
guchi has not been neglected
either, and is handled more thar
somewhat roughly on occasion.
u &x 4
The soldier of fortune, ar
American-type gangster operat.
ing in the Far East, is the villiar
rather than the hero of Producer
Adler's camera tour of Tokyo
There is more zest than acting
in Ryan's portrait of him, but
there's no point in fighting the
Hollywood system. which obvi-
ously can stretch far enough tc
include Hollywood films with
made-in-Japan labels. Ryan il
effective. anyhow. as this under
world mastermind.
Stack plays his opponent, a
sergeant in Army intelligence
who masquerades as a deserter
with q criminal record to become
q member of Ryan's small, illegal
army. He plays the sergeant
well, too, and manages to give
this enterprise a ring Of au-
thenticity now and then. Miss
Yamaguchi becomes involved as
the bride of an EXCL who fell
in with the Ryan mob. She does
not have much to do. but she
does it enchantingly. If there
are any more at home like
Shirley. they did not get in front
of Mr.. Adler's cameras while he
was making THE House OF
Mamboo."
while there is undeniable
pleasure to be derived from sit
ting in an air-cooled theater
and looking at Shirley Yama-
guchi and Tokyo, an objection
must be raised for the record.
Once you look past the scenery
in 1.-The House of Bamboo" you
find that its foundation is shaky,
It is a routine movie plot, en-
feebled with age. and Mr.. Kleiner
has not decorated his restating
of it with any great imagination.
It is a tribute to Director
Fuller's skill, or to that Of the
unidentified Aim editor. that it
generates the suspense 1t does.
This is not q serious complaint.
Just don't expect too much more
than q visit to Tokyo with Shir-
ley Yamaguchi, plus some rough
stuff now and then. You also will
get a climactic gun battle in an
amusement park during which
Ryan fires approximately 40
rounds from an automatic with
out reloading. before being done
in by Hero Stack.
You can't hardly get them no
more, even in TV westerns.
+ 4 4
FUN ON THE TERRACE
Your pursuit of diversion does
not have to take you all the way
to Tokyo (even via cameral in
the search for a lively and DIFF
ferent background. Right here
at home there is the background
for dining and dancing provided
at the Shoreham Terrace. The
outdoor setting is unbeatable and
you1l travel far without finding
better after-dark entertainment.
II this sounds like an old re-
frain, it is occasioned by the
fact that Bernard Bralove. the
Shoreham Hotel executive re-
sponsible in this department, has
just concocted a couple of new
shows.
1t would hardly do, either. to
give these the label of floor
shows. Mr.. Bralove Is a sort of
Mike Todd in his thinking when
he sets himself to the task Of
putting together an entertain
ment. He may not have all of
Yugoslavia. as Todd seems to
have for his war and Peace"
Aim, but he does have the whole
Shoreham Terrace and he does
not hold with combining the
dancers and musicians.
II \ \
The two new shows, both per-
formed every night, are as en-
PERTAINING as anything you've
seen yet on the Terrace and this
is no faint praise. One, Moods
From the Masters" employs a
large movie screen over the
bandstand in addition to a con-
siderable assemblage Of talented
young people. Color reproduce
tions Of famous paintings are
flashed on the screen, then fol-
lowed by a number in appro-
pirate mood. The baIlerfnas