MOVIE REVIEW
Slattery s Hurricane (1949)
Review 1 -- No Title; 'Slattery's Hurricane' at Roxy Barely Touches the Secrets of Meteorological Fury
Considering the title of the Roxy's new film, "Slattery's Hurricane," it is quite proper that howling wind and driving rain should figure importantly in the drama. In fact, we wish that Twentieth Century-Fox had given even more footage to the raging elements and to the fascinating business of plotting the course of hurricanes by flying planes into the "eye" of the disturbance, where an awesome, dead calm prevails. For there is fresh excitement in the sequences showing how daring Navy pilots, operating out of an east Florida coast base, gather data which en-ables meterologists to determine when and where these big blows will strike inland.
That is a lot more than can be said for the routine recollections which pass through Will Slattery's mind and take up most of the camera's attention. Trying to right a wrong done to a friend by taking his place on a dangerous weather mission, and with the wind tossing his plane about as one of its twin engines goes dead, Slattery's mind backtracks over the years. The picture he gets of himself is far from consoling. He has been pretty much of a heel, and the wonder is that the scenarists had the temerity to make a hero out of him in the end.
A wartime Navy fighter pilot, who single handedly sunk a Jap cruiser, Slattery becomes an aerial chauffeur to a candy manufacturer. Although his several bosses have all the characteristics of gangsters, he chooses to give them the benefit of doubt because the money comes easily. When he finally discovers that he is mixed up with dope smugglers, he tries to cash in on the racket. He also has put an admiring female in the hospital in a state of nervous collapse with his indifference. And, having discovered that his wartime buddy is married to an ex-flame, Slattery does his best to wreck that marriage.
His redemption up in the wild and not-so-blue yonder is a palpable hoax. However, Richard Widmark plays this conventional rogue with more intensity and professional acumen than the role deserves. But it is a good thing that Mr. Widmark was so willing and earnest because had his acting been less worthy "Slattery's Hurricane" would have tumbled like a stack of cards in the wind. Andre de Toth's direction is good in that it keeps the story moving and, curiously enough, the constant switching via flashbacks from the plane to detailed visualizations of Slattery's recollections is not as disturbing as might be expected.
Linda Darnell is pleasing, but doesn't have much of an opportunity to really act, in the role of the wife who is sorely tempted by her old boy friend. Veronica Lake is pleasing, too, as the other girl. John Russell, Gary Merrill and several others in lesser roles are quite good also. But since those who planned this film either didn't have the imagination or the desire to concentrate on the business of exploring hurricanes the end result of "Slattery's Hurricane" is just a very ordinary movie. There still must be a rousing dramatic experience lurking in man's latest campaign to fathom the secrets of nature's fury.
Sid Caesar and Evelyn Knight are featured in the Roxy's stage show which also includes a new ice revue.
SLATTERY'S HURRICANE, screen play by Herman Wouk and Richard Murphy based on the book by Mr. Wouk; directed by Andre de Toth; produced by William Perlberg for Twentieth Century-Fox. At the Roxy.
Slattery . . . . . Richard Widmark
Aggie . . . . . Linda Darnell
Dolores . . . . . Veronica Lake
Hobson . . . . . John Russell
Commander Kramer . . . . . Gary Merrill
Milne . . . . . Walter Kingsford
Admiral Ollenby . . . . . Raymond Greenleaf
Frank . . . . . Stanley Waxman
Gregory . . . . . Joseph De Santis
Dr. Ross . . . . . Morris Ankrum
G-Girl . . . . . Amelita Ward
M. C. . . . . . Kenny Williams
Nurse Bailey . . . . . Ruth Clifford
Nurse Collins . . . . . Maudic Prickett
Dispatcher . . . . . William Hawes
Walter . . . . . Norman Leavitt
Navigator . . . . . Lee MacGregor
Taxi Driver . . . . . Dick Wessel
Maitre D . . . . . John Davidson
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