Showmen's Trade Review (Oct-Dec 1943)

42 SHOWMEN'S TRADE REVIEW October 2, 1943 Current and Coming MGM Shorts Reveal Variety of Themes MGM's current short subject releases include three Pete Smith Specialties : "Football Thrills of 1942," latest in the series of annual resumes of the highlights of the grid season; "Scrap Happy," which stresses the importance of the current salvage campaign ; and "Fixin' Tricks," a humorous treatment of present-day household problems. Also currently being shown are "Over the Andes," a FitzPatrick Traveltalk in Technicolor, the pictorial record of an air journey from Valparaiso to Rio de Janeiro ; "Little Miss Pinkerton," an Our Gang comedy, and "War Dogs," a Technicolor cartoon. Coming MGM shorts due for early release include "To My Unborn Child," one of the Passing Parade series, which was inspired by the widely reprinted letter written by a dying Yugoslav "guerrilla fighter ; "This Is Tomorrow," a visual interpretation of the city of the post-war world ; "The Kid in Upper Four," suggested by the much-discussed New Haven Railroad advertisement ; "Shoe Shine Boy," a Two-Reel Special with Walter Catlett and Sam Levene ; "Brothers in Blood, "a history of blood transfusions from their crude beginnings to presentday perfection, produced by Carey Wilson ; John Nesbitt's "Storm," a Passing Parade showing the efifect of weather on our daily lives ; and "The Stork's Holiday," a Technicolor cartoon. Meanwhile, in announcing the production of a Two-Reel Special, "Dark Shadows," it was said that modern psychiatry in crime detection will play an important role. Credited as the trail-blazer for this scientific trend is the Los Angeles Police Department. An actual case history involving a murderer suffering from schizophrenia is to be presented in the film written by Edward Bock and Richard Landau. Subject will be produced by Endre Bohem. Staub Short Will Display Film Equipment of Old Days Motion picture equipment dating back as far as 1915 will be shown and their historical significance in the development of the industry explained in a short to be produced by Ralph Staub at Columbia as one of his Screen Snapshots series. It will be titled "Hollywood Museum." Featured in the short will be the original Mitchell camera. Numbered A-1 by the Mitchell Camera Company when it was made in 1915, the camera has been in the possession of Staub for the last seventeen years. Dick Purcell in Serial Lead Dick Purcell will play the title role in "Captain America," the next Republic serial on its 1943-44 program. The fifteen-episode chapterplay is to be produced by Associate Producer William J. O'Sullivan, and is adapted from the famous comic-book cartoon character. Campaign to Reduce Accidents In connection with the showing of Pete Smjth's_ MGM_ Specialty, "Seventh Column," which is showing simultaneously at the State and Orpheum theatres in Boston, the Massachusetts Safety Council is this week conducting a campaign to reduce accidents on the home front. Display on Donald Duck Your house artist or a local commercial artist can create a display on your current Donald Duck cartoon just effective as that reproduced above, which was used for recent showing of RKO Radio's Walt Disney cartoon, "Bellboy Donald" at the Rivoli Theatre in New York City. Display was arranged by Manager Montague Salmon. Duck and hand figures were cutouts. Two Dallas Theatres Cooperate In Selling 'Circus' Cartoon Show A "Five-Ring Circus Cartoon Show" staged jointly by Manager Joe Jackson and his assistant, Kate Smith, at the Varsity and Knox theatres in Dallas a few weeks ago, resulted in the "best Saturday at the Knox in several years, and ■ the second best Saturday at the Varsity this year," according to Manager Jackson. Reports Jackson : "Our aim in having this big cartoon show was to try and get some of the kids back into the theatre. We felt that the best way would be through a giant cartoon show. Our exploitation was simple, but well mapped out. We went to work with but one aim : to let every kid know about the show. I do believe that we informed them all. The advertising consisted of a trailer on the screen, house-to-house distribution of heralds, lobby setpieces, billing on the marquees, special banners, newspaper ads and stories." War Production Board Hails Aid Of Short in Salvage Drive Pete Smith's MGM Specialty, "Scrap Happy," has been endorsed by the War Production Board, as a potent force in the WPB's current salvage campaign. In a letter to the company praising the subject, Paul C. Cabot, of the Salvage Division of WPB, says : " 'Scrap Happy' is not only a fin'e piece of entertainment but splendid propaganda for our national iron and steel scrap salvage campaign. "We need all such propaganda we can get because the need for iron and steel scrap still is very urgent and the Government intends to make the collection of it a continuing responsibility. "The War Production Board is notifying all local salvage committees that the film will be shown soon, and instructing them to cooperate with the theatres showing it, thus giving added impetus to the scrap drive. . . ." Production Activity On The Short Subject Front Stiii Mother in 'Our Gang' Catherine Lewis, for three years the mother of Froggie in MGM's Our Gang comedies, this week repeated the chore in "Radio Bugs." An interesting angle on the picture is the fact that "Cathy" Lewis is widely known through radio circles, having star parts in many dramatic shows, and in serials, such as "Raffles". Our Gang comedies are directed by Herbert Glazer. Secret Weapon Disclosure First disclosure of an American secret weapon, which the British admit aided them greatly, is made in Paramount's "Popular Science" release, produced with Government approval. Actually it isn't a weapon at all ; it's a new kind of high-powered gasoline made from natural gas. The natural gas is, after much treatment, condensed into a fluid state. Cartune Sequences for Feature The Walt Lantz Cartunes organization has done three sequences for the Olsen and Johnson comedy "Crazy House," which will be a combination of motion picture photography and animated cartoons. An extra shift of animators had to be assigned to the work in order to complete it in time for release. Schlesinger Cartoons Praised Current New Republic magazine lauds Warner Bros, cartoons in article titled "Short and Happy." Weekly devotes pages to analyzing and praising cartoon comedies produced by Leon Schlesinger. To Rest Another Month Gordon Hollingshead, Warner Bros, short subject producer, who is now resting comfortably at his Balboa home following a recent heart attack, will remain there for at least another month before resuming his duties at the studio. . Ties Up With War Loan Robert Beckett, manager of the Texas Grand, El Paso, tied in Warners' "This Is Your Enemy" with the Third War Loan trailer. Stunt drew much comment and promoted the sales of bonds and stamps at each and every performance. Lantz to Washington for Talks Walt Lantz, Universal cartoon producer, who has been in New York several days conferring with home office officials, left Thursday for Washington where he will discuss with naval officers a program of training films on which he will embark shortly after his return to Hollywood. Talked About Short Subject When Manager L. E. Newton of the Wayside Theatre, Houston, Texas, played "Swing Time Blues," he advertised it in the lobby and on the marquee. Result : Business improved considerably, and people did all their talking about the short subject. Doubt whom you will, but never yourself!