THE MOVIEGOER

"Santa Fe Trail" would probably pull a flat E out of History 5, but better men than Errol Flynn have hit the bottom in that course. Luckily, the film is no term paper on Bloody Kansas, but an interesting and frequently exciting study of a Man with an Idea, John Brown. Raymond Massey, lately of Illinois, resurrects the fire-eating disciple of Jehovah and the Boston Abolitionists with superb artistry. And, as is usual with any experienced actor, Mr. Massey pilfers the picture from such amiable hams as Errol Flynn and Ronald Regan. Of course, John Brown is the villain of the piece and yet Abolition is a Good Thing. The gyrations that the script goes through to prove that it does not advocate slavery are acrobatic to say the least. Everything turns out all right in the end, though, with everybody getting married except Brown. He gets hung,--but after all, his soul goes etc., etc.

"Blondie Plays Cupid," aside from being the worst title of all time, is the name of a highly improbable but rather amusing episode in that seemingly never-ending treadmill, the Blondie series. For those who can stomach Fenny Singleton, it's first-rate. For others, it's at least sit-throughable.