(2 of 2)
Unfortunately, Fabiola has little thunder of its own. Though Adapters Marc (The Green Pastures) Connelly and Free Pressburger have lopped away half of the picture's original three-hour footage and reworked the rest, the story is overplotted confusing and lacking in dramatic force Only in the grand-scale scenes of the closing minutes, when the gladiators and lion; are turned loose on the martyrs, does this film develop any real excitement. Up to then, it dawdles turgidly over a tame counterfeit of Roman debauchery, an involved political-religious intrigue and a routine love story that pairs a patrician's daughter (Michele Morgan) with a crypto-Christian gladiator (Henri Vidal).
But Fabiola's most nagging fault is its inexpert dubbing. The voices not only fail to jibe with lip movements, but they are so similar at times and so evenly grouped around the microphone that the moviegoer must carefully search the screen to be sure just which character is supposed to be speaking.
Hard, Fast and Beautiful (Filmakers; RKO Radio), a title that conjures up visions of a wanton wench on the marquee, turns out to apply to nothing more alluring than a tennis ball. The heroine (Sally Forrest) is a teen-aged tennis virtuoso whose selfish, frustrated mother (Claire Trevor) exploits the girl's talent to wangle a life of ease, travel and glamour.
While exposing the mother's schemes, the picture also purports to expose the corruption of amateur tennis. Mother Trevor and a smooth promoter (Carleton G. Young) use Sally's growing fame as bait not only for a free tour through the best hotels of two continents, but also for the commercial endorsements that pay for flashy automobiles and mink coats.
The script overplays Sally's rebellion and her mother's comeuppance as much as it exaggerates the spoils of tennis commercialism. Actress Trevor holds out best, but not entirely, against the abrupt, overwrought style that Director Ida Lupino, staging her fourth movie, seems to have carried over intact from her own jittery screen personality.