Boxoffice (Oct-Dec 1963)

Opinions on Current Productions Feature reviews Symbol © denotes color; © CinemoScope; ® VlstoVision; ® Techniroma; © other anamorphic processes. For story synopsis on each picture, see reverse side. T li q D rrr, p Ratio: Drama 1 11C 2.35-1 ® © MGM (412) 156 Minutes Rel. Dec. ’63 Based on Irving Wallace’s best-selling novel dealing with Nobel Prize winners, this Pandro S. Berman production has strong star quality, headed by Paul Newman and Edward G. Robinson, a fascinating and suspenseful story told against strikingly photographed Stockholm \ backgrounds and a plenitude of pulchritude and romantic interest. It’s fine entertainment and one of the best films of 1963. As directed by Mark Robson, from Ernest Lehman’s screenplay, the picture is also rich in comedy moments, especially during the well-publicized scene in a nudist camp, which has no offensive touches. This is an adult film which can be enjoyed by young and old alike. Interest never once falters and the nail-biting climax is followed by the impressive Nobel Prize award ceremony for the fadeout. Newman gives another outstanding portrayal, almost equal to his memorable “Hud” cnaracterization, and Robinson is excellent, as always, as a German-born scientist who is victim of a kidnapping plot. Elke Sommer, the striking German beauty, who also scores in “The Victors,” will have patrons talking about her. Panavision and Technicolor enhance the magnificent backgrounds. Paul Newman, Edward G. Robinson, Elke Sommer, Diane Baker, Leo G. Carroll, Micheline Presle. Move Over, Darling 20th-Fox (324) 103 Minutes Rel. Dec. ’63 Doris Day, long on the Top Ten player list in Boxoffice Barometer, and James Garner, rapidly climbing to popularity through “The Great Escape” and “The Thrill of It All,” the latter a co-starring role with Miss Day which became one of the smash hits of 1963, now j appear in another madcap comedy which is certain to 'r„dr' repeat in audience appeal and the resultant sensational grosses generally. Produced by Aaron Rosenberg and Martin Melcher with a hilarious screenplay by Hal Kanter and Jack Sher, based on the 1940 Cary GrantIrene Dunne hit, “My Favorite Wife,” this new version is a constant delight, directed at a fast and furious pace by Michael Gordon and acted to the farcical hilt by the stars and the outstanding supporting players. The story of a missing, legally dead wife who returns after five years to find her husband just married to another may have its improbabilities, but the laughter is almost continuous, the few spicy bedroom sequences never offend and there’s even a mad car-wash scene which is unadulterated slapstick. The ruggedly handsome Garner has never been funnier and Miss Day, as the long-lost wife, and Polly Bergen, as the sexy, hot-tempered new bride, are perfectly contrasted types. Doris Day, James Garner, Polly Bergen, Chuck Connors, Thelma Ritter, Fred Clark, Edgar Buchanan. Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed? 2*35 -i ®me% Paramount (6310) 103 Minutes Rel. Dec. ’63 Dean Martin, always an expert farceur, gets in many sly digs at television in this entertaining comedy romp produced by Jack Rose in which Carol Burnett, acclaimed as the biggest comedy discovery of the past decade, makes her film debut. These two names, plus the added glamor of Jill St. John, Elizabeth Montgomery and the Japanese Yoko Tani, should insure strong grosses generally. Rose, who also did the screenplay for this “adult bedtime story,” deals with a group from a popular TV medical series, the producer-director, cameraman, etc., and their neglected wives, the latter all seeking advice from “Dr.” Martin, the idolized star. Martin, who is engaged to Elizabeth Montgomery, manages to fend off Jill St. John, Macha Meril, Dianne Foster and Yoko Tani and her massages, in amusing sequences, while hus I) bands Louis Nye, Elliott Reid, Martin Balsam and Jack Soo unsuspectingly play poker. Miss Burnett, who enters the film late and then clowns and muggs in uninhibited fashion, captures the comedy honors by keeping patrons howling. The action and dialog are spicy. Daniel Mann has directed at a fast pace. Panavision and Technicolor are definite assets. Dean Martin, Elizabeth Montgomery, Carol Burnett, Martin Balsam, Jill St. John, Richard Conte. The Glass Cage Futuramic-States Rights 84^4 Minutes Rel. Dec. ’63 Through sheer impact of unusual handling of basic story setting, this Paul Lewis production, ably directed by Antonio Santean, from a strikingly effective shooting script by costar John Hoyt and Santean, should garner considerable attention from the more discerning critical fraternity in the larger, more cosmopolitan cities. No small credit, certainly, is due Jean-Philip Carson for his finely wrought photographic effects, conveying emotionalism to the highest pitch. Moreover, Arline Sax, introduced to the screen in a dual role (sisters) , impresses as a gal of whom much should be heard in the immediate months and years ahead. She approaches the admittedly difficult stints with conviction and credibility, aided and abetted by young, ruggedly handsome Robert •',et Kell j an, latter as a police detective who commits the „r W greatest of professional sins — becoming involved with a case. There is firm support for the leading duo in Santean’s directorial touches, compactly lending credence to the story of the girl nightmarishly raped by crazed beatnik artist King Moody. John Hoyt and Elisha Cook, two of the best-known-and-respected character players on the domestic screen scene, bring sharply realistic delineations to this engrossing study. John Hoyt, Elisha Cook, Arline Sax, Robert Kelljan, King Moody. Tiara Tahiti Drama Zenith Int’l 100 Minutes Rel. Nov. ’63 Two top British stars, James Mason, long since a Hollywood name, and John Mills, who has given fine portrayals in many British imports, furnish good marquee draw for this extremely colorful island adventure drama produced in England and Tahiti by Ivan Foxwell for J. Arthur Rank. Superbly filmed in Eastman Color which brings out the lush beauty and the panoramic splendor of tropical Tahiti, with its lagoons, vegetation and scantilyclad maidens — features which can be exploited to attract the male patrons. The stars, plus Claude Dauphin and Herbert Lorn, are favorites with art house regulars. As directed by William T. Kotcheff from the screenplay by Foxwell and Geoffrey Cotterell, the picture starts at a serious pace, at a British garrison in Germany, but the locale soon switches to Tahiti some years later, where a former captain who had been dishonorably discharged, is living a lazy, dissolute existence. The drama starts when the pompous colonel who had caused the captain’s downfall, now a wealthy tycoon, arrives in Tahiti with plans to build a luxury hotel for tourists. Mason, as the wastrel with a young native mistress, and Mills, as the stuffy, well-bred man of wealth, offer well-contrasted portrayals and their scenes together are outstanding. James Mason, John Mills, Herbert Lorn, Claude y|s [\ Dauphin, Rosenda Monteros, Gary Cockrell. j / IiOnniG Ratio: Suspense Drama Futuramic-States Rights 75 Minutes Rel. Dec. ’63 A conventionally concocted yarn of avarice-minded revolutionaries and opportunistic young people in our contemporary society, this Futuramic production, going into domestic distribution via states rights, can be aggressively, imaginatively sold. It contains spirited delineations, particularly by leading men Scott Marlowe, as the fellow who would like to pick up all the marbles and then some, and Frank Silvera, as the diamondsmuggler-revolutionary, who doesn’t mind killing a few people to prove a point. Herbert Skable produced and William Hale directed from an engaging screenplay credited to William Copeland, and all hands are to be congratulated for immediacy of purpose; they have conveyed briskness, perhaps even boldness, in the telling of young Marlowe’s desperate, daring plunge for a huge treasure, only to find that human weaknesses are prevalant in the best of us. Haskel Wexler’s photographic effects are properly moodful, and Bob Cooper has served a finely stirring musical score. Jaf Records, incidentally, is releasing a Johnny Chase version of the main title song, no small matter in selling this to the platterconscious public. Turina Hayes, introduced in a romantic role, is impressive. Scott Marlowe, Frank Silvera, Turina Hayes, Wilton RREIj Graff, Michael Constantine, Joan Anderson. 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 stan dard 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, postage paid. 2786 BOXOFFICE BookinGuide :: Dec. 9, 1963 2785