Evening star., 1955-06-27


are, to say the least, extraordin
accept at face value the evidenc,
presented in "a Prize of Gold,
at the Trans-Lux.
"A Prize of Gold" can be rec
commended to you only If 20,
are a sucker for stories tina
wouldn't have happened if thos'
involved had displayed the com
mon sense of a backward cocker
spaniel. 1t presents Richard Wild
mark as an Air Force security
sergeant in Berlin. who becomes
so enamored of Mai zetterlinl
that he thinks to solve all o.
her problems by heisting somt
gold bullion in his care.
This enterprise does not mari
him as the brightest sergeant
the Air Force ever had. espe-
cially since he has managed
heretofore to get along without
stealing gold, at least while
people were looking. But if he
hadn't INDUCED in this tempo
rary lapse, Director Mark Rob-
son would have been stuck over
there in Berlin with his cameras
all those actors, and no plot.
X X \
It all starts when Sergt. Wild
mark parks his jeep and young
boy makes off with it. ct really
starts with the dredging of the
gold from the bottom of canal,
or it started when somebody, for
reasons of his own, threw the
gold in the canal, but we can't
go back to Genesis.) Pursuit
of boy and jeep leads Widmsrk
to some bombed-out ruins where
an elderly professor and Miss
Zetterling are looking after the
education of flock Of dis
placed orphans.
Well, it's fate. that's what it
Is. In no time at all, Widmark
is painting after Miss zetterlipe
in one of those three wheel
scooters with a glass "oof. She
is running only because there is
a complication in tn" paunchy
form of her blubberv daytime
boss, who supports the school
ard is looked to for the cash to
get all those beloved kinder to
Brazil.
Widmark is on hand one day
when Mr.. Blubber brings Mai
home and attempts to lay his
greasy paws upon her. which
Is too much for any innocent
bystander to allow. Widmark
belts Mai's friend right in the
blubber and friend goes away,
taking with him all hope of
getting the young to Brazil.
There is only one thing for a
red-blooded American boy to
do. as all students of life as
seen in the movies know. Wild
mark resolves to hijack the yel-
low stuff.
~ II N "
If you can work up any in
terest in the affairs of heroes
who are not quite bright, you
will find that Director Robson
has managed to get some sus-
pense and excitement into the
latter passages of his film. 1t was
shot in color on the spot. too, and
Berlin and London do give an
added flip.
Miss Zetterling does not oc-
cupy much of the footage-or
maybe it just seems that way
because she is a girl who always
ought to be on view more than
she is-but she is highly effec-
tive. Widmark gives his role a
good fight, too. The two also
get some able assistance from a
large cast, most notably from
George Cole. as the British SER
geant who helps lead Widmark
astray; Nigel Patrick. as a Brit
ish pilot of carefree mien and
loose morals, and Donald Wolff
and Joseph Tomelty, as a couple
of other conspirators. It's too
bad they couldn't have been
given somewhat more credible
employment.
n
MAN OF MELODY - The
Lotus, the towns oldest cabaret
restaurant. recently got into the
name act business with recording
stars and has come up now with
a real winner in Alan Dean. Mr..
Dean. an import from Great
Britain who played his first