Showmen's Trade Review (Oct-Dec 1949)

Record Details:

Something wrong or inaccurate about this page? Let us Know!

Thanks for helping us continually improve the quality of the Lantern search engine for all of our users! We have millions of scanned pages, so user reports are incredibly helpful for us to identify places where we can improve and update the metadata.

Please describe the issue below, and click "Submit" to send your comments to our team! If you'd prefer, you can also send us an email to mhdl@commarts.wisc.edu with your comments.




We use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) during our scanning and processing workflow to make the content of each page searchable. You can view the automatically generated text below as well as copy and paste individual pieces of text to quote in your own work.

Text recognition is never 100% accurate. Many parts of the scanned page may not be reflected in the OCR text output, including: images, page layout, certain fonts or handwriting.

28 SHOWMEN'S TRADE REVIEW, December 3, 1949 Hollywood JVewsreei West Coast Oifices — 6777 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood 28. Colli — Ann Lewis, Manager PRODUCTION PARADE By Ann Lewis illlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllH^ A follow-up to Republic's successful "VVakiof t'ne Red Witch" is being prepared by Writer John K. Butler. Associate Producer Edmund Grainger plans to put the picture in work ear'.)' next year as one of the studio's major productions. Although no cast has been set, a camera crew will go to Java for authentic background shots as soon as the screenplay is ready. * * * Filmakers' initial RKO production will be "Nice Girl," which deals with the psychological efifect on a small-town girl after she has become the victim of a sex crime. The screenplay by Collier Young and Malvin Wald, who arc co-partners with Ida Lupino in the company, is based on material obtained from police files. Miss Lupino will direct. Over at Columbia Celeste Holm is being tested for the leading role in "Born Yesterday," the studio's million-dollar property. The story was originally purchased for Rita Hayvvorth, who cannot make it for obvious reasons. ^ H= Producers Pine and Thomas are having two screenplays readied for shooting in the near future, "The Barbarians" and "High Venture," both to be filmed in Technicolor. Will Price and Winston Miller are working on the former and Lewis R. Foster is writing the latter, all for Paramount release. * * ^: Producers Jack Skirball and Bruce Manning have signed Robert Young to co-star with Bette Davis in their RKO picture "The Story of a Divorce." The script is being written by Manning with Curtis Bernhardt set to direct and filming due to get underway the first week in January. Universal-International has concluded a deal with Rose Tourney officials whereby the final reel of the Technicolor picture "Rose Queen" will have the actual scenes of the New Year's Day Tournament of Roses parade in Pasadena. Actual production, however, will not be started by Producer Ralph Dietrich until early next year. Charles Korvin replaces John Ireland as Evelyn Keyes' husband in the presently shooting Columbia film "The Killer That Stalked New York." Reason for the switch was that the part called for a Continental type leading man. Korvin joins a cast which includes William Bishop and Lola Albright. Robert Cohn produces. Earl McEvoy directing on location in New York. :!= * * William Demarest's option was exercised by Paramount for two more years. This means that Demare.st's contract extends his services to the studio for a total of eight years, having first been pacted in 1944. * * t. With the final screenplay completed. Producer Walter Mirisch has set "Hiawatha," Monogram's next Cinecolor production, for an early January start. Mirisch leaves to scout locations in Minnesota, where he plans to film all exteriors. ;i t Robert Thomsen, former writer-director of Broadway stage productions, has been signed by Dore Schary to produce "Troubled Spring" for MGM. This is the first assignment for Thomsen, who joined the studio last year as assistant to Producer Edwin H. Knopf. * * * One of the first Gene Autry starrers for Columbia for 1950-51 will be "Indian Territory" from an original by Norman Hall. But before that one starts Autry is scheduled to make "Beyond the Purple Hills" set for December. One of the top starring roles in "I'll Get You For This," the Joe Kaufman Productions film, goes to George Raft. Screenplay is being readied by William Bowers based on the James Hadley Chase original story. The Archers Plan To Produce in Canada Plans for the inauguration of _film production at Toronto by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, who produce pictures in England as The Archers, were announced this week by F. J. Lyle, Ontario government spokesman. Lyle revealed that two British studio officials, Stephen Gray and Desmond Dew, had been in Toronto for a month to make a survey of facilities and arrangements, and that Powell and Pressburger were scheduled to leave London for Canada shortly after the middle of December. Purpose of the move is to beat British taxes.— TOR. 'Here Lies Love' In Three Parts United Artists' "Here Lies Love," now in production, has split into three separate units for several days of shooting. The main company remains at Motion Picture Center, with Robert Young and Betsey Drake working under Director James V. Kern. A second unit, under Assistant Director Maurie Suess, is shooting on location at Malibu Beach, with a group of supporting players. The third unit, supervised by Film Editor Walter Thompson, is filming auto chase sequences at 'Palos Verdes. Harry M. Popkin is the producer. Hayward Incorporates Associated Film Artists Star-Producer Louis Hayward announced last week that he had incorporated himself under the name of Associated Film Artists which' will handle his production and commercial ac-' tivities. He will use his corporation to co-' finance two foreign productions in which he will' be co-producer as well as star. Hayward isl currently co-starring with Patricia Medina ins Columbia's "Fortunes of Captain Blood." i Eleanor Parker Recovers, \ Resumes Role in Film > Following confinement in bed with a severe cold and bronchitis, Eleanor Parker has returned to Warner Bros, to finish her role in Milton ' Sperling's "The Rock Bottom," after which she will take a long rest at home with her daughter; Susan. The star is expecting her second child in April. ! 'Dragger Captain' To be Cooper Vehicle "Dragger Captain," based on a series of articles in The New Yorker by Joseph Mitchell about a New England fishing boat skipper, i^" being prepared as a Gary Cooper vehicle at Warner Bros. Melvyn Levy is writing th^ screenplay, and Anthony Veiller will produce, t Springsteen Assigned Film \ Republic at the weekend announced that R. G Springsteen would direct its "Port of Missing Men," John K. Butler's original screenpla^' which goes into production on Dec. 12. Sidney Picker will be associate producer. f Comedy and Action Make Money, Says Gottlieb "I've made 25 pictures and all of them made money. They made money because millions of people liked them. If you can keep an audience on the edge of their seats or roll 'em in the aisles, patrons will line up in the street to buy tickets." Alex Gottlieb, producer who joined RKO Radio after a number of highly successful years with Warner Bros, and who is known as the "Little Dynamo" around the RKO Radio lot, is a firm believer in comedy and action for top box-office results. Asked to outline his ideas on high-yielding product, the producer said: "From the studio's standpoint, the budget should be kept well under the potentialities of the picture. From the exhibitor's standpoint, that budget should go into production values and entertainment. There is no excuse for a dull picture." Gottlieb, who believes stars should be used in the type of picture their fans expect to see them in, will soon begin shooting "Macao," coast of China melodrama. "This script is tailored for Robert Mitchum and Jane Russell," he said. "It has new plot twists, the modern elements of the chase, humor, sex, and it's loaded with action. 'Macao' will do business. People will like it." At present Gottlieb wants four new faces for his forthcoming Technicolor musical, "Two Tickets to Broadway." To the exhibitor he says: "Send me a photograph and a short biography of any girl you think we can use. She should be able to sing or dance, or have some acting ability. Maybe we can find the shapeliest usherette in America. I'll be waiting to hear from you at the RKO Studios, 780 N. Gower St,. Hollywood, Calif. I mean it." Alex Gottlieb