Boxoffice barometer (1954)

Allied Artists (Cont'd) Forty-Niners," "Massacre at Deer Creek," "Vigilante Terror," "Quantrill's Raiders" and "Tonopah." WOLF PACK (Melodrama). Stars: not set. Producer: William F. Broidy. Director: not set. Original Screenplay: Harry Essex. © To be filmed entirely on big-city locations, this is based on police-file escapades of young hoodlum gangs throughout southern California. THE WORLD FOR RANSOM (Drama). Stars: Dan Duryea, Marion Carr, Reginald Denny. Producer: Bernard Tabakin. Director: Robert Aldrich. Original Screenplay: Lindsay Hardy. • This drama of an international spy ring has a Singapore locale. YUKON VENGEANCE (Outdoor Drama). Stars: Kirby Grant, Mary Ellen Kay, Monte Hale. Producer: William F. Broidy. Director: William Beaudine. Original: James Oliver Curwood. Screenplay: Bill Raynor. • Kirby Grant, a corporal in the Canadian Mounties, sets out to investigate a series of lumber camp payroll robberies. After a series of fights and narrow escapes, he uncovers Monte Hale, manager of a mine, as the master-mind of the holdups, and kills him in hand-to-hand combat. Columbia (July through December 1953) THE BIG HEAT (Drama). Stars: Glenn Ford, Gloria Grahame, Jocelyn Brando, Alexander Scourby. Producer: Robert Arthur. Director: Fritz Lang. Original: William P. McGivern. Screenplay: Sydney Boehm. • Homicide detective Glenn Ford, investigating the suicide of a corrupt officer, ignores threats to lay off, and his wife is killed in an explosion meant for him. Resigning from the force, he continues the probing on his own and goes after Alexander Scourby, head of the underworld syndicate. Oct. 1953. CHINA VENTURE (War Drama). Stars: Edmond O'Brien, Barry Sullivan, Jocelyn Brando. Producer: Anson Bond. Director: Don Siegel. Original: Anson Bond. Screenplay: George Worthing Yates, Richard Collins. • World War II adventures of Navy Commanders Barry Sullivan and Edmond O'Brien, and navy nurse Jocelyn Brando, as they make their way through the jungles of southern China to rescue a Japanese admiral from Chinese guerrillas. Their aim is to keep him alive because of valuable information needed by America. Sept. 1953. COMBAT SQUAD (Drama). Stars: John Ireland, Lon McCallister, Hal March. Producer: Jerry Thomas. Director: Cy Roth. Original Screenplay: Wyott Ordung. • Replacement soldier Lon McCallister resents being kept out of Korean combat by sergeant John Ireland, who thinks he is too green. Lon's opportunity to prove himself a soldier in the sergeant's eyes comes in a close battle with snipers. Oct. 1953. CONQUEST OF COCHISE (Action Drama). Stars: Johh Hodiak, Robert Stack, Joy Page. Producer: Sam Katzman. Director: William Castle. Original: DeVallon Scott. Screenplay: Arthur Lewis, DeVallon Scott. • Apache Chief Cochise, John Hodiak, makes peace with the white men, but when a renegade Mexican shoots his wife with an American rifle, a new war threat arises. Cochise gives cavalry major Robert Stack four days to turn over the killer. In Technicolor. Sept. 1953. CRUISIN' DOWN THE RIVER (Musical). Stars: Dick Haymes, Audrey Totter, Billy Daniels. Producer: Jonie Taps. Director: Richard Quine. Original Screenplay: Blake Edwards, Richard Quine. • Entertainer inherits broken-down showboat from grandfather who won it along with a sweetheart from the original owner. Boat is turned into a nightclub, and romance with original owner's granddaughter dissolves feud. In Technicolor. Aug. 1953. THE 5,000 FINGERS OF DR. T. (Fantasy). Stars: Peter Lind Hayes, Mary Healy, Hans Conried, Tommy Rettig. Producer: Stanley Kramer. Director: Roy Rowland. Original: Dr. Seuss. Screenplay: Dr. Seuss, Allan Scott. • Nine-year-old Tommy Rettig, chided for not practicing his piano lessons, dreams he wrecks plot of cruel maestro Hans Conried to imprison 500 boys and make them practice 24 hourse daily. Tommy wakes to find his plumber friend romancing his pretty, young mother. In Technicolor. Aug. 1953. FLAME OF CALCUTTA (Costume Drama). Stars: Denise Darcel, Patric Knowles, Paul Covanagh, George Keymas. Producer: Sam Katzman. Director: Seymour Friedman. Original: Sol Shor. Screenplay: Robert E. Kent. • Denise Darcel, a beautiful French girl disguised as "The Flame," becomes masked leader of revolutionaries to overthrow Indian prince and avenge her father's murder. British captain, Patric Knowles, defends her when she is blamed for attack on British outpost, and marries her. In Technicolor. July 1953. FROM HERE TO ETERNITY (Drama). Stars: Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, Deborah Kerr, Frank Sinatra, Donna Reed. Producer: Buddy Adler. Director: Fred Zinnemann. Original: James Jones. Screenplay: Daniel Taradash. • Sadistic commanding officer in pre-Pearl Harbor days bullies soldier Montgomery Clift, a former boxer, because of his refusal to join the company's boxing team. Clift maintains his dignity through all types of punishment, only to die in the Pearl Harbor attack. Sept. 1953. GUN FURY (Super-Western). Stars: Rock Hudson, Donna Reed, Roberta Haynes, Philip Carey. Producer: Lewis J. Rachmil. Director: Raoul Walsh. Original: K R G. Granger. Screenplay: Irving Wallace, Roy Huggins. • Rock Hudson goes to Mexico to avenge the abduction of his fiancee, Donna Reed, by desperado Philip Carey. Carey's sweetheart, Roberta Haynes, and an Indian join him, each having a motive for revenge, and together they free the girl. In 3-D and Technicolor. Nov. 1953. KILLER APE (Melodrama). Stars: Johnny Weissmuller, Carol Thurston, Tamba, Max Palmer. Producer: Sam Katzman. Director: Spencer G. Bennet. Original: Carroll Young. Screenplay: Carroll Young, Arthur Hoerl. • (Jungle Jim series.) Jungle Jim tries to stop the sale of wild animals by Wasuli tribesmen to white hunters for experimental purposes. At the same time he warns them of a huge killer-ape terrorizing the vicinity, but his warning goes unheeded. When the animal kills a man, Jungle Jim is blamed. Dec. 1953. LAST OF THE PONY RIDERS (Western). Stars: Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette, Kathleen Case, Dick Jones. Producer: Armand Schaefer (Gene Autry Productions). Director: George Archainbaud. Original Screenplay: Ruth Woodman. • Gene Autry and his sidekick, Smiley Burnette, save the Pony Express from being discredited by scheming townsmen who are out to get a government mail contract at any cost. The two sagebrush heroes smash the crooks and start their own stage line. Nov. 1953. THE LAST POSSE (Western). Stars: Broderick Crawford, John Derek, Charles Bickford, Wanda Hendrix. Producer: Harry Joe Brown. Director: Alfred Werker. Original: Seymour and Connie Lee Bennett. Screenplay: Seymour and Connie Lee Bennett, Kenneth Garnet. • Three impoverished ranchers, forced to sell their cattle to a wealthy rancher, become fugitives from justice when they hold up the cattleman and escape with $100,000. Broderick Crawford, as a drunken, once-famous sheriff, leads a posse and dies defending justice. July 1953. LET'S DO IT AGAIN (Comedy With Music). Stars: Jane Wyman, Roy Milland, Aldo Ray. Producer: Oscar Saul. Director: Alexander Hall. Original: Arthur Richman. Screenplay: Mary Loos, Richard Sale. • Ray Milland steps out with a dancer and his wife, Jane Wyman, retaliates by stepping out herself, and divorce results. They go their separate ways but, still in love with each other, the two are reconciled before the decree becomes final. In Technicolor. July 1953. MISSION OVER KOREA (War Drama). Stars: John Hodiak, John Derek, Audrey Totter, Maureen O'Sullivan. Producer: Robert Cohn. Director: Fred F. Sears. Original: Richard Tregaskis. Screenplay: Jesse L. Lasky jr., Eugene Ling, Martin Goldsmith. • Veteran flier is sent back to Korea after a oneday leave with his family in Japan. He is fatally wounded while rescuing his rash, inexperienced pilot, who flies him back to base hospital. Aug. 1953. THE NEBRASKAN (Western). Stars: Phil Carey, Roberta Haynes, Wallace Ford. Producer: Wallace MacDonald. Director: Fred F. Sears. Original: David Lang. Screenplay: David Lang, Martin Berkeley. • Phil Carey, an army scout, is involved when his Indian aide is accused by Sioux tribesmen of killing their chieftain. The Sioux threaten war, and Carey tries to bring peace between Indians and whites, but blood flows until the accused redskin is found to be innocent. In 3-D, 2-D and Technicolor. Dec. 1953. PARIS MODEL (Comedy). Stars: Marilyn Maxwell, Paulette Goddard, Eva Gabor, Barbara Lawrence. Producer: Albert Zugsmith (American Pictures). Director: Alfred E. Green. Original Screenplay: Robert Smith. • A representative of a New York manufacturer steals the design of a daring and exclusive Parisian evening gown. Three girls who buy copies of the dress become involved in various romantic adventures after the purchaser of the original uses it in an effort to ensnare an Oriental potentate. Nov. 1953. PRISONERS OF THE CASBAH (Costume Drama). Stars: Cesar Romero, Gloria Grahame, Turhan Bey. Producer: Sam Katzman. Director: Richard Bare. Original: William Raynor. Screenplay: DeVallon Scott. • Plotting against the ruler of 18th century Algiers, Cesar Romero kidnaps the ruler's daughter, Gloria Grahame, and Turhan Bey, the man she is to marry. In hand-to-hand combat Bey slays Romero and weds the princess. In Technicolor. Nov. 1953. SKY COMMANDO (Drama). Stars: Dan Duryea, Frances Gifford, Touch Conners, Michael Fox. Producer: Sam Katzman. Director: Fred F. Sears. Original: Samuel Newman, William Sackheim, Arthur Orloff. Screenplay: Samuel Newman. • Jet squadron commander, Dan Duryea, is looked upon as a ruthless disciplinarian by his men. His co-pilot gains new admiration for him when, in combat, he realizes that the commander's strict discipline is what wins battles and saves lives. Sept. 1953. SLAVES OF BABYLON (Biblical Drama). Stars: Richard Conte, Linda Christian, Maurice Schwartz, Terrance Kilburn. Producer: Sam Katzman. Director: William Castle. Original Screenplay: DeVallon Scott. • The tyrant Nebuchadnezzar destroys Jerusalem and enslaves the Israelites in Babylon. The rightful heir to the throne of Persia, a young shepherd, fulfills Daniel's prophecies, leads to victory an army against Babylon and frees the Israelites. In Technicolor. Oct. 1953. THS STRANGER WORE A GUN (Western). Stars: Randolph Scott, Claire Trevor, Joan Weldon, George Macready. Producer: Harry Joe Brown. (A ScottBrown Production). Director: Andre de Toth. Original: John M. Cunningham. Screenplay: Kenneth Garnet. • Adventurer Randolph Scott works Mississippi steamboat runs with woman gambler, Claire Trevor. Arizona stage line owner saves Scott's life planning for him to sabotage gold shipments, but Scott reneges and escapes with gambler. In 3-D, 2-D and Technicolor. Aug. 1953. VALLEY OF HEAD HUNTERS (Drama). Stars: Johnny Weissmuller, Christine Larson, Tamba, Robert C. Foulk. Producer: Sam Katzman. Director: William Berke. Original Screenplay: Samuel Newman. • (Jungle Jim series.) Jim helps a government representative obtain an agreement with natives for rights to rich mineral deposits. Evil white men plant suspicion among the natives but friendly chiefs fight on Jim's side. Aug. 1953. Coming BAD FOR EACH OTHER (Drama). Stars: Charlton Heston, Lizabeth Scott, Dianne Foster. Producer: William Fadiman. Director: Irving Rapper. Original: Horace McCoy. Screenplay: Irving Wallace, Horace McCoy. • Charlton Heston, a young army surgeon, returns to his home, a small mining town. He meets wealthy Lizabeth Scott and she persuades him to become a society doctor in a nearby metropolis. When the mine explodes Heston returns home to help. Disillusioned with his society practice, he decides to work and live with his own people. BAIT (Drama). Stars: Hugo Haas, Cleo Moore, John Agar. Producer-Director: Hugo Haas. Original Screenplay: Hugo Haas. o Hugo Haas, a prospector, enlists the aid of John Agar, a young farmer, in finding a lost gold mine, then conceives a plot to eliminate Agar so Haas will have the entire proceeds for himself. He uses Cleo Moore, a pretty waitress, as the bait in the scheme, but the plan backfires, Haas is eliminated and Agar and Cleo plan to marry. BARDELYS THE MAGNIFICENT (Costume Drama). Stars: not set. Producer: Lewis J. Rachmil. Director: not set. Original: Rafael Sabatini. Screenplay: not set. • A story of adventure and romance in the French court of King Louis XIII. BARON OF BROOKLYN (Crime Drama). Stars: not set. Producer: Sam Katzman. Director: not set. Original Screenplay: Eugene Ling. • A melodrama of the underworld. BAT MASTERSON, BADMAN (Western). Stars: George Montgomery (incomplete). Producer: Sam Katzman. Director: not set. Original Screenplay: Douglas Heyes. • In Technicolor, this is a fictionized biography of the notorious gunslinger of frontier days, Bat Masterson, portrayed by George Montgomery. BATTLE OF ROGUE RIVER (Historical Western). Stars: George Montgomery, Martha Hyer, Richard Denning. Producer: Sam Katzman. Director: William Castle. Original Screenplay: Douglas Heyes. • In Technicolor, this is a story of Indian warfare in Oregon's Rogue River country in the 1850s. THE BLACK KNIGHT (Costume Drama). Stars: Alan Ladd, Patricia Medina, Harry Andrews. Producers: Irving Allen, A. R. Broccoli (Warwick Pictures). Director: Tay Garnett. Original: Sir Walter Scott. Screenplay: Alec Coppell. • Filmed in Technicolor on location in Scotland, this is a story of adventure and romance during the reign of Richard the Lion-Hearted. THE CAINE MUTINY (Drama). Stars: Robert Francis, Van Johnson, Humphrey Bogart. Producer: Stanley Kramer. Director: Edward Dmytryk. Original: Herman Wouk. Screenplay: Stanley Roberts. • Robert Francis, a navy ensign, is assigned to the Caine, a beaten-up tub. When the captain, Hum 76 BAROMETER Section