Boxoffice (Oct-Dec 1963)

FEATURE REVIEWS Story Synopsis; Exploitips; Adlines for Newspaper and Programs THE STORY: “Fun in Acapulco” (Para) Elvis Presley arrives in Acapulco as a sailor on a motor yacht. Hearing Elvis sing, Larry Domasin, a shoeshine boy, volunteers to become his manager and get him placed at a smart resort hotel. In addition to singing, Elvis has to work as lifeguard at the hotel, where he be -incomes romantically involved with Ursula Andress, the hotel’s social director, and Elsa Cardenas, a lady bullfighter. The regular lifeguard, Alejandro Rey, who likes Ursula, realizes that Elvis is afraid to dive because of a trapeze accident in his past. Rey, who does a spectacular dive from the rocks each night to thrill the hotel guests, pretends an injury, so Elvis is obliged to take his place. Elvis forces himself to make the dive and thus overcomes his fear of heights. He decides to take Larry and Ursula along when he rejoins his circus act in Florida. EXPLOITIPS: In addition to the tieups with music shops for displays of Elvis Presley’s numerous record albums, several of which have sold over a million copies, make a tieup with local travel agencies for posters and pictures of trips to Mexico, especially Acapulco. Play up sexy Ursula Andress, wTho costarred in “Dr. No.” CATCHLINES: Elvis is a Stranded Beachcomber on the World’s Most Fabulous Beach in Romantic Acapulco . . . Hear Elvis Sing “Fun in Acapulco,” “Bossa Nova Baby” and Nine Other Terrific Tunes . . . Come With Elvis to Fabulous Acapulco. THE STORY: “Soldier in the Rain” (AA) In a southern Army camp, Steve McQueen, supply sergeant, is exultant that he has only one more week to / fox serve and is planning what he and Jackie Gleason, his (asco master sergeant, will do in business outside. Gleason, ■c who has his own air conditioner and a soft-drink machine which disgorges bottles free, is satisfied with Army life and afraid to venture into the outside world. But McQueen tries to beguile Gleason with his plans and introduces him to a southern gal, Tuesday Weld, who caddies for his golf game. McQueen gets into a fight with his MP enemy, Ed Nelson, and when Gleason comes to the rescue, the latter collapses and is taken to the hospital. McQueen goes to visit him and the two talk about Gleason’s dream of retiring to a Pacific island to relax and dream. But Gleason dies the next day and McQueen re-enlists and drinks a silent toast to his former buddy. EXPLOITIPS: Mention that Jackie Gleason, TV comic, is back in the comedy groove, in contrast to his two recent dramatic films, “The Hustler” and “Requiem for a Heavyweight.” Steve McQueen scored in the current “The Great Escape” and young Tony Bill is Sinatra’s protege who was featured in “Come Blow Your Horn.” CATCHLINES: Two Guys Who Could Fight Their Way Out of a Paper Bag Separately — Together They Could Lick the World. THE STORY: “Journey Into Nowhere” (Planet) Tony Wright, in debt to a gambling syndicate, runs off to his home town, hoping to evade the vengeful gangsters. Goon Helmud Schmid catches up with him, giving him 48 hours. Stealing Schmid’s car, Wright nearly kills Sonja Ziemann, who, it turns out, is an artist nearly blind. Wright comes up with a wild scheme of defrauding an insurance company with double idemnity. Romance, however, changes this thinking and both Wright and Sonja want now only to keep each other alive. Schmid is instrumental in killing Sonja, thus providing the necessary insurance money to be provided the syndicate. Wright holds Sonja’s body in his arms, his fondest dreams shattered. EXPLOITIPS: Get insurance executives in your town to comment on insurance fraud for publication. Banner a sleek sportscar for downtown and shopping centers. Line up beauty salon co-op ads, using Sonja Ziemann’s striking likeness. CATCHLINES: Shatters Dramatic Scene! ... An Explosive, EmotionPaced Story of a Guy and a Gal — and a Mad Scramble! ... He Was “Hooked” by the Syndicate — Pay Up or Get Killed! THE STORY: “The Wastrel” (Medallion) Van Heflin, a rich American living in the West Indies, drinks heavily and has a quarrel with his wife, Ellie Lambetti. With his ten-year-old son, Michael Stellman, Heflin boards a speedboat, which blows up while they are racing. Thrown into the water, Heflin and Stellman find a table-top and hang onto it. During six hours in the water, Heflin reviews his life from the time he was a soldier and met and married Ellie, then when he became jealous of Franco Fabrizi, an Italian admirer, and later made violent love to his wife and she became pregnant. Heflin almost dies in the water but, at last, he and his , ■ young son are cast ashore by the tide, more dead than (ww> alive. EXPLOITIPS: Van Heflin, currently starring on the Broadway stage in “A Case of Libel,” starred in several important pictures made in Europe, “Tempest,” “Five Branded Women” and “Under Ten Flags,” all distributed by Paramount. Michael Cacoyannis is known for his direction of “Electra” and Franco Fabrizi has been featured in “Run With the Devil” and other Italian imports. CATCHLINES: Twelve Years in the Life of One Man — Crowded in the Space of Five Hours . . . Suspended Between Love and Hatred, Land and Sea, Insanity and Wisdom, Life and Death . . . Van Heflin, Star of “A Case of Libel” on Broadway, in a Dramatic Story of Life and Death. THE STORY: “Twice a Man” (Film-Makers’ Co-op) The Greek legend of Hippolytus, Phaedra and Aesculapius, the physician, is adapted to contemporary circumstances against New York background, flashing images triggering thoughts and tempos for the viewer. Prominently captured in footage are the Staten Island ferry, St. George, Staten Island; seagulls, lower Manhattan and educational-cultural buildings across Manhattan. Paul Klib, the youth; Albert Torgersen, the older man; Olympia Dukakis, the young, dark woman; and Violet Roditi, the older woman, move purposefully amid the spectacular structures that mark the metropolis of today, probing for reason, questing truth of this thing called life. EXPLOITIPS: Get drama columnists and the like to comment on the American “New Wave,” stressing the fact that no dialog is employed. Teaser advertising, run-of-paper, lends itself most successfully in this type of sales campaign. .. <e Un xua D CATCHLINES: Experimental American Movie-Making! . . . “New Wave,” American-Style! ... A Legend, a Time and a Place! Greek Story Against Modern New York Setting. THE STORY: “The Ship of Condemned Women” (Globe) One hundred women sentenced for theft, prostitution and murder are deported from their native land to the colonies. Ship’s captain Luigi Tosi, hard and ruthless, is ready to repress any rebellion by force and cruelty. Young lawyer Ettore Manni, who had unsuccessfully defended May Britt, is aboard as a stowaway, hoping to find eventual emotional happiness with her. May’s cousin, Tania Weber, shares a cabin with her aging husband, has May and Manni publicly flogged, the deed inciting the angered women to mutiny in a mad orgy of sensuality and ferocity. Tania and Tosi are killed, and only Manni and Britt emerge unhurt from a subsequent storm that sweeps the ship into an abyss. EXPLOITIPS: Get colonial era ship’s models for lobby display. Ask columnists to write of past sea-epic stories. Remind these same writers that veteran character actor Eduardo Ciannelli is prominently cast. (es ".. CATCHLINES: V ' ' The Fury of 100 Love-Starved Women! . . . Caged for the Sins of Their Past — Their Break for Freedom Climaxed by an Orgy of Wanton Lust and Revenge! . . . The Screen Explodes Violently With Unleashed Emotions of Suppressed Desires! BOXOFFICE BookinGuide :: Nov. 25, 1963