Boxoffice (Jan-Mar 1962)

By WILLIAM HEBERT Kirk Douglas Schedules Five Films, One Play Kirk Douglas has embarked on a highly ambitious program for 1962-63 through the complex of three producing corporations which he heads, with no less than five motion pictures and one Broadway play on the way. According to Edward Lewis, vicepresident in charge of production for Douglas’ Bryna, Brynaprod and Joel corporations, stage and screen rights to “One Flew Over the Cuckoo Nest,” novel by Kenneth Kesey, have been acquired, with Douglas to star in the play on Broadway late this year. Planning a limited run, Douglas then stars in the film version, marking the first time that a book has been bought to star the same actor on stage and screen. Next vehicle for the star is the role of Cortez in “Montezuma,” which he has had in preparation for two years, for Brynaprod. That one is slated for production in late 1963. Set for an April start this year is “The List of Adrian Messenger,” in which Douglas will not star, largely due to lack of time. Charles Schnee is completing the script. U-I will release. Two others, in which Douglas does not plan to star, will be made under the Joel Productions banner for release during the next year-and-a-half. Meanwhile, scheduled for early summer release by U-I is “Lonely Are the Brave,” starring Douglas, which reportedly has received the most enthusiastic sneak previews of any of his independent ventures to date. Lester Osterman, T. C. Ryan Form Devon Productions An interesting partnership, newly formed, is that of Lester Osterman and Thomas C. Ryan, whose motion picture production company will be called Devon Productions. Osterman is owner of the 46th Street and Eugene O’Neill theatres in New York and has produced such hits as “Say, Darling,” “Mr. Wonderful” and many others including a hoped-for forthcoming one in “Isle of Children.” Ryan, former executive assistant to Otto Preminger additionally functioning as story editor and casting head, was instrumental in the purchases of “Anatomy of a Murder,” “Advise and Consent,” “Exodus” and has many other accomplishments to his credit, including the writing and directing of a documentary, “The Making of a Movie,” which is in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art. The first joint venture in screen production for the partners will be “The Road Past Mandalay, a current best-seller in England which has been likened in some respects to “The Bridge on the River Kwai” for spectacular background — British against Japanese in the Burma-India theatre of war — plus a strong love story. Plans are to film it in India and Burma in color and 70mm, on a $4,000,000 budget. Releasing arrangements are in negotiation. Mirisch Signs George Roy Hill To Direct Toys in the Attic' The Mirisch Co. continues to show more imagination than most. Following acquisition of Lillian Heilman’s “Toys in the Attic,” George Roy Hill has been signed to direct the Walter Mirisch production. Dean Martin, a good choice for the haunted show-off in the play, will star with what the M-Co. describes as “several important leading ladies.” Hill has impressive credits in TV and on Broadway, such as the TV version of “Judgment at Nuremberg” and staging the Pulitzer Prize-winning play, “Look Homeward Angel.” Before directing “Toys” he has commitments to direct “Period of Adjustment” and William Shirer’s “The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich” for MGM. 'Saint Patrick's Battalion' On Carl Krueger's Slate Carl Krueger plans to make a screen version of his best-selling historical novel, “Saint Patrick’s Battalion,” published by E. P. Dutton & Co., Inc. in November 1960 and now in its seventh printing. Although no release is set as yet, four major distribution companies are currently negotiating for the film which will be made under Krueger’s Carlco Productions banner. Krueger has just completed his own screen adaptation of the novel which has a background of the Mexican War in 1848 when the American forces were under Gen Winfield Scott and the Mexican army was under President Santa Anna. “Comanche” and “Sabre Jet” have been Krueger’s most recent productions for United Artists. Elvis Presley Considered For County Fair Film Col. Tom Parker, chiefly notable for converting Elvis Presley from a truck driver to a sensation, has a new one for his boy. He calls it “Right This Way Folks,” and it is being considered by MGM as a starring vehicle for Elvis. It is about backstage life in county fairs. The colonel, having been a barker at the Florida fair and come what may, should find this one right up his alley — pardon, Colonel, midway. To Novelize 'Hitler' Script In English and German Sam Neuman, bilingual writer, has been assigned by Allied Artists to novelize the script of “Hitler” twice — in English and in German — for newspaper serialization in this country and abroad. Neuman wrote the script of the E. Charles Straus Three Crown production, which stars Richard Basehart in the title role, Cordula Trantow as the Fuehrer’s niece and mistress, Geli Raubal, and Maria Emo as Eva Braun. Director was Stuart Heisler . . . Ruth Brooks Flippen has been signed by MGM to write the screenplay of “It’s Only a Paper Moon,” romantic musical comedy to be produced by Joe Pasternak. Anthony Mann Schedules 'Spanish Armada' in '63 Anthony Mann has made final plans to produce “The Spanish Armada” in Spain next year for his own independent company, Mann Productions. The same production and release arrangements for Samuel Bronston’s “El Cid,” which Mann directed, will be used. Eva Marie Saint and Alec Guinness are being considered for the starring roles of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip II of Spain, Mann said. He plans to make individual release deals in each country, similar to the arrangement for “El Cid.” Mann will direct Bronston’s “Fall of the Roman Empire” and is scheduled to produce “Ceremony” in coproduction with Laurence Harvey, who will star in the film. 'Of Human Bondage' Remake Charted by Seven Arts Geared for feature production early in 1963 is “Of Human Bondage,” Somerset Maugham modern classic which Seven Arts Productions will bring to the screen starring Laurence Harvey. Orin Jannings has been set to write the screenplay, said to be “a modern version” of the best seller of a few decades back. The film, to be produced in Great Britain, will be the third motion picture version of the Maugham story. RKO originally released the film in 1934 starring Bette Davis and Leslie Howard, and Warner Bros, made another version in 1946, toplining Eleanor Parker and Paul Henreid. Philip A. Waxman Adding Two Features to Slate Philip A. Waxman, who is preparing “Smile of a Woman” for production as a Columbia release, with Michael Gordon to coproduce and direct, went to New York to confer on two projects. One is “Gemini,” novel by William Kelley, to be directed by Martin Ritt, who also will be associated with Waxman in the production. The other is “The Jimmie Angel Story,” about the noted flier, packaged by Waxman for publication by Random House. Richard Tregaskis, who is writing the book, flew to New York from Hawaii with the manuscript for meetings with Waxman and the publishers. Michael du Pont Planning To Continue Film Career Michael du Pont, 23-year-old scion of the Wilmington chemical family, who recently coproduced “Hands of a Stranger” with Newton Arnold for Allied Artists’ release, said he will concentrate on film production. He has just sold his San Francisco nightclub, the Neve, and closed his Palo Alto spot, the Outside at the Inside. Du Pont plays a featured role in “Hands of a Stranger,” which is a suspense thriller starring Paul Lukather, Joan Harvey, James Stapleton and Irish McCalla. 16 BOXOFFICE :: February 26, 1962