Boxoffice (Apr-Jun 1963)

I Opinions on Current Productions Feature reviews Symbol © denotes color; © CinemoScope; ® VistoVision; ® Technirama; © Other anamorphic processes. For story synopsis on each picture, see reverse side. Bye Bye Birdie Ratio: Musical 2.35-1 © © Come Fly With Me Ratio: ComedyRomance 2.35-1 ® © Columbia (719) 111 Minutes Rel. June ’63 I ati Columbia has a bell-ringer in this zestful musical ' °y adapted from the Broadway hit of two seasons ago. While ar' dealing with teenagers, its appeal solidly extends to the older folks as well; in fact, some adults with teen children may even get a bigger kick from the antics of the kids in the picture. The story centers around the commotion caused by a noted rock ’n’ roller who, for a publicity stunt, is sent to a small Ohio town to plant a kiss on the village queen before he is inducted into the army. The fast, colorful production numbers along with the gay story make this ideal summer fare with a big boxoffice punch. The peppy Ann-Margret was wisely cast as the young Ohio belle, while Dick Van Dyke, now popular on TV, reenacts his original Broadway role with the same competence. Janet Leigh as his girl friend and Jesse Pearson as Conrad Birdie are good, while Maureen Stapleton as Van Dyke’s mother is responsible for many laughs. However, Paul Lynde, from the Broadway version, as Ann-Margret’s father, almost steals the show as he did on stage. Bobby Rydell makes a good juvenile suitor of Ann-Margret. Ed Sullivan plays himself. Fred Kohlmar produced and George Sidney directed. .ern . ator. por MGM (322) 107 Minutes Rel. April ’63 Laugh-filled comedy with an added mixture of romance and foreign intrigue brings this Anatole de Grunwald airborne charmer into the ranks of boxoffice moneymakers. Three lovely airline stewardesses, played by Pamela Tiffin, Dolores Hart and Lois Nettleton, carry on a jet-paced romance with Hugh O’Brian, Karl Malden and Karl Boehm on a flight to Paris and Vienna. If Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer will continue this Hemy Levindirected and William Roberts screenplay and film more trips with the same winning combo, this can make the Andy Hardy series take a back seat. The young crowd will pass the word, and the family will join them to see this MetroColor-Panavision group travel, have fun and make love. Frankie Avalon sings the Jimmy Van HeusenSammy Kahn title song. All kinds of exploitation values in the credits and the picture itself. Good dialog will make the audiences laugh as much as the situations, which take place in the plane, on the Champs Elysee, Paris, in Vienna, and in outdoor water-skiing sequences in Austria. Janet Leigh, Dick Van Dyke, Ann-Margret, Maureen Stapleton, Bobby Rydell, Jesse Pearson, Paul Lynde. The Man From the Diners' Club S Farce'Comedy Columbia (718) 96 Minutes Rel. April ’63 If there’s any doubt that Danny Kaye is one of today’s top comedians, it is dispelled by his superb pantomime and double-takes and his inventive comedy antics in this Dena-Ampersand production made by Bill Bloom. Directed at a break-neck pace by Frank Tashlin, the screenplay is completely wacky and replete with slapstick and sight gags, many of them satirizing automation, including one uproarious sequence in which an electronically operated filing machine goes berserk and strews countless thousands of cards about. Kaye’s marquee draw, plus the tremendous tieup possibilities with the Diners’ Club, should make this a boxoffice winner. At one point Kaye accidentally starts to pay for a meal with cash but, remembering his Diners’ Club card, brings it out and then tears up his dollar bills. Telly Savalas (just nominated for an Academy Award) and Cara Williams (star of TV’s Pete and Gladys) contribute to the merriment with their hilarious portrayals of a mobster and his slow-thinking girl friend. The film’s romantic element is neatly taken care of by the lovely Martha Hyer, an ideal team-mate for Kaye in his nervous love-making. It all winds up with a frantic chase. Danny Kaye, Cara Williams, Telly Savalas, Martha Hyer, Everett Sloane, Jay Novello, Kay Stevens. Critics Choice Ratio: Comedy 2.35-1 © © Warner Bros. (259) 100 Minutes Rel. April ’63 Two of the screen’s top comics, Bob Hope and Lucille Ball, both looking amazingly youthful in Technicolor and acting as perfect foils for each other, as they did in three previous films, have another bright, witty and sophisticated vehicle in this picturization of Ira Levin’s Broadway stage hit. This may not be ideal family fare, but it’s escapist entertainment of the glamor variety dealing with drama critics, Broadway opening nights, luncheons at Sardi’s and striking costumes for the ladies designed by Edith Head, all encased in a bright Panavision-Technicolor production by Frank Rosenberg. Hope and Miss Ball each have their separate innings for laughs, with Bob also showing up well in a few semi-serious moments, while Jessie Royce Landis, in one of her inimitable acidulous mother-in-law portrayals, and Rip Torn, as a beatnik-type stage director, also stand out. Marilyn Maxwell, as a shallow stage star, and Marie Windsor add to the pulchritude; Jim Backus contributes additional laughs in a psychiatrist role; and 12-year-old Ricky Kelman is natural as a precocious, yet likable, youngster. The main titles and the music by George Duning are sprightly. Directed by Don Weis. Dolores Hart, Hugh O’Brian, Karl Boehm, Pamela Tiffin, Karl Malden, Lois Nettleton, Dawn Addams. The Ugly American Ratio: Drama 1.85-1 © Universal (6308) 120 Minutes Rel. April ’63 i 200, | Chr Marlon Brando’s impersonation of a frustrated American ambassador to one of the Far East countries in “The Ugly American” is not always dignified but carries the elements of truth highlighted in the Lederer -Burdick book. However, in filming the story, Universal introduced characters and situations to update the cold-war situations in the area that occasionally explode into shooting frays. Brando’s sister, Jocelyn, appears with ntaci him for the first time and Eiji Okada, internationally St recognized since his role in the French-Japanese production, “Hiroshima, Mon Amour,” is also costarred with Sandra Church. Scenes in the senatorial chambers are impressive and the Eastman Color enhances the scenes shot in Thailand. George Englund both produced and directed from a screenplay by Stewart Stern, which has a trick ending that will alert Americans to the reasons behind American lives recently lost in Southeast Asia. The picture has boxoffice appeal for the masses because of its action and for intellectuals because of its topical significance. Marlon Brando, Eiji Okada, Sandra Church, Pat Hingle, Jocelyn Brando, Arthur Hill, Yee Yak Yip. Miracle of the White Stallions £££ Document^ Drama Buena Vista (141) 117 Minutes Rel. April ’63 Walt Disney’s use of animals in pictures is always along sensitive, sympathetic lines and he has made a beautiful picture starring the Lipizzan horses of Austria. The training and breeding of these dancing stallions of the famous Spanish Riding School of Vienna was started 400 years ago by the Emperor. The story is based on a true incident during World War II when General Patton was induced by Colonel Podhajsky, director of the school, (played by Robert Taylor) to bring the brood mares from Czechoslovakia and unite them with the stallions Podhajsky had taken out of danger. The film is in Technicolor, which enhances the overseas landscapes, the famous school itself where the horses perform in its magnificent setting, and the uniforms of the riders. A. J. Carothers wrote the screenplay and Arthur Hiller directed. “Operation Cowboy” is a thrilling sequence, and supporting roles by Eddie Albert, Curt Jurgens, Lilli Palmer and rp James Franciscus are at times heroic. This is another _ Disney family film and its appeal is as much for adults >rvic as for children. Bob Hope, Lucille Ball, Marilyn Maxwell, Rip Torn, Jessie Royce Landis, Jim Backus, Ricky Kelman. Robert Taylor, Lilli Palmer, Curt Jurgens, Eddie Albert, James Franciscus, John Larch, Brigitte Horney. The reviews on these pages may be filed for future reference in any of the following ways: (1) in any standard three-ring loose-leaf binder; (2) Individually, by company, In any standard 3x5 card index file; or (3) in the BOXOFFICE PICTURE GUIDE three-ring, pocket-size binder. The latter, including a year's supply of booking and daily business record sheets, may be obtained from Associated Publications, 825 Van Brunt Blvd., Kansas City 24, Mo., for $1.00, pos t«n* paid. 2720 BOXOFFICE BookinGuide :: April 8, 1963 2719