CINEMA
Molti Sogni." (Continentale.) —“ The Inspector General." (Warner.) — "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon." (London Pavilion.) ANNA MAGNANI is always in a starving condition, but in Molti Sogni she is fighting for her right to eat in a much more presentable costume than usual. Except when she is in the direst distress, her hair is caged in a hat and veil, and she wears a coat and skirt and carries an over-the-shoulder bag. It makes a pleasant change, and so, incidentally, does the film, for although it deals, as do all Italian productions these days, with a worker's inability to get work and his inevitable switch to crime—this time it is a car which is stolen- Molti Sogni has a lighter side to it which is very refreshing. The script is by Signor Piero Tellini, the author of Four Steps in the Clouds and To Live in Peace, and really one need say no more. It is admirable. The motor-trip taken by the thief, Massimo Girotti, his accomplice, Checco Rissore, and Anna Magnani and her son— the former with a view to selling the by then radiantly hot car to a spiv and the latter under the impression that her husband has been given a plain delivery job—is gay, tragic, humorous and, scenically, beautiful. Signor Mario Camerini has directed the film with what can best be described as a sympathetic detachment, stating his case without bitterness and with a fine regard for the gregarious- ness of Italian existence. How, when every Italian eye is so avid for his neighbour's business, a would-be malefactor ever achieves his crime, I cannot imagine. * * * * Gogol's The Inspector General has been turned into a circus with Mr. Danny Kaye as the chief clown. Mr. Kaye is uniquely versatile. He is capable of every kind of contortion, both facial and visual ; but the very fact that he has employed, from the start of his career, all the grimaces and sounds that exist in the human repertoire (and even some which do not) means that he has been left with no reserves. Familiarity, in his case, cannot breed contempt, for he will never be less than an artist ; but it can, and in this instance does, breed a certain apathy. Where once we were delightedly hypnotised by the German accent, the molto allegro songs and the bird cries, now we watch benevolent but, alas, strangely bored. It is all very clever, but not, it seems, nearly as amusing as it was. I could weep. * * * She Wore a Yellow Ribbon is directed by Mr. John Ford, which means wide horizons, high skies and plenty of sweeping movement. It is a good picture of its kind, its kind being a rousing game of Red Indians, and Mr. Ford is wise in supposing that nobody, not even atomic research scientists, has outgrown it. The U.S. cavalry led by Mr. John Wayne rides out from the fort with standard flying ; our feathered friends ping arrows from behind rocks and make smoke signals and whoops ; there is a river to cross, a burning to avenge, a girl to complicate matters. Mr. Victor McLaglen provides the comedy, Miss Joanne Dru the love interest and Messrs. John Agar and Harry Carey, Jnr., the courage, horsemanship and obedience expected of young lieutenants. Boys of all ages will enjoy this picture, and even girls will scarce forbear to cheer.
VIRGINIA GRAHAM. VIRGINIA GRAHAM.
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