Canadian Film Weekly (Sep 15, 1943)

T'S ALWAYS FAIR WEATHER WHEN GOOD SHOWMEN AND GOOD SHOWS GET TOGETHER! "Spygmpounl [UME EXTRA PLAYING TIME IS THE ORDER OF THE DAY WITH PARAMOUNT ProouctTi VOLYZ (ADVT.) The Lowdown on the Production and Distribution of the Best Shows in Town! NO. 3 Crosby's ‘Dixie’ Right on BO Beam Paramounts ‘Dixie’ On Hit Parade Indicating the popularity of the music from Paramount's Technicolored filmusical, ‘Pixie’ with Bing Crosby, Dorothy Lamour and Marjorie Reynolds, “Sunday, Monday and Always” and “If You Please’ were both on the Hit Parade last week, the former in third position. Decca Records report outstanding sales on these two numbers, sung by Bing Crosby and chorus. Compo, distributors of Decca in Canada, have come out with window streamers to publicize the two hits and ‘Mixie.” EXHIBITORS AWAIT MUSICAL PARADE Paramount will hit the boxoffice bullseye again with the first of their new Technicolored -Musical Parade opuses, “Mardi Gras.” With 20 minutes of thrill-packed action and music, and co-starring Betty Rhodes and Johnnie Johnston, the picture is cast in the gay carnival setting of the Mardi Gras festival in New Orleans. Into if is woven the romantic adventures of Susy Brown, stenographer, and Johnnie Johnston, soda jerk. They realize their dreams on Mardi Gras night, she as a lovely lady-in-waiting to the queen, and Johnnie as a gayly garbed musketeer. In this world of make believe, the girl tries to impress the boy as a society debutante and the boy poses as a manabout-town. They are finally forced to reveal their true identities when they are picked to rule as King and Queen of the Carnival. There are two first-class song hits in “Mardi Gras,” “All the Way,” by Jule Styne and Kim Gammon, and “At the Mardi Gras,” by Lester Lee and Jerry Seelen. Wideawake Exhibitors are going to find there is plenty of room for showmanship in Paramount’s new series. PARAMOUNT MONTH — Superb T’Color Musical Outgrosses / ‘Reap’, ‘Inn’, ‘Morocco’ & ‘Major’ Paramount’s Technicolored musicalulu, “Dixie,” in Halifax last week in a blaze of color. opened up “Convoy Centre” went overboard so heavily for this new Crosby-Lamour song saga that it outstripped the business done by “Reap the Wild Aaa Wind,” “Holiday Inn,” ‘Major and the Minor’ and a host of others setting the pace for the rest of the Dominion. But then how could it fail with Bing —and Dotty—12 smash tunes— and Technicolor, too? In “Dixie,” Paramount has brought to the screen the story of the early life of the minstrel show. Built around the life of Dan Emmett, composer of the ageless “Dixie,” the story weaves a fanciful plot that is most entertaining to young and old alike—plenty of jive for the hep cats, plenty of nostalgic tunes for all others. Among the latest modern tunes heard in “Dixie” are “Sunday, Monday and Always,” “If You Please,” “A Horse That Knows the Way Back Home,” “Laughing Tony,” “She’s From Missouri’ and “Kind’a Pecullar Brown.” Among the battery of powerful old tunes are “Turkey in the Straw,” ‘Dixie,” “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot,” “Last Rose of Summer’ and “Buffalo Gals.” Along with Bing Crosby, Doro (thy Lamour and Marjorie Reyn olds, a newcomer, Billy de Wolfe, makes his appearance. De Wolfe, who really put his feet solidly on the ladder of fame for the first time at Montreal’s Normandie Roof with Don Turner’s Orchestra, drew a rhapsody of raves from the critics for the fine job he does in “Dixie.” Audiences throughout the Dominion are going to demand more of this young man. Others who round out the quartette in “Dixie” are Lynne Overman, Eddie Foy, Jr., and Bing Crosby. On the American side of the 49th parallel, “Dixie” continues to eclipse other business, careening along at its mad pace in the first runs, toppling record after record. As an example, in Chicago, at the Chicago Theatre, at the end of the first five days it seemed headed for an all-time house record, the theatre filling on opening day at Let's Face It In’ “Let’s Face It,” Betty Hutton is teamed with Bob Hope to bring to the screen one of the most hilarious comedies seen in recent years. The picture is chockful of laughs and smart music— sheer escapist material. the earliest hour in its history. As the starting gun in Canada’s Paramount month, “Dixie” is bound to turn out as heavy artillery that will brook no opposition from competitors. Paramount is going into the Fall season with a line-up of product such as it has never had in its history. In “Dixie,” Paramount is giving to the public the type of fare they have been craving for—sheer escapist entertainment. What with the advance buildup over the air and the desire on the part of the public for “Dixie's” toe tapping tunes interpreted in inimitable Crosby style, “Dixie” stands to be as colorful at the boxoffice as on the screen. Bob Hope in Big Paramount Drive “Let’s Face It,” with Bob Hope and Betty Hutton, is one of the three Paramount heavy guns trained on new records for Paramount Month. Along with “Dixie,” CrosbyLamourReynolds Technicolored musicalulu, and “So Proudly We Hail,” Goddard ColbertLake Britton Tufts love story of nurses at war, “Let’s Face It” is ready to bowl over audiences and records from one side of the Dominion to the other. Based.on @ Broadway show, “Let’s Face It” is one of the most hilarious comedies to move across the country this year. When “Let’s Face It” opened at the New York Paramount, there were scenes reminiscent of the opening of “China” with lines forming at 6 a.m. and by 8:30 a.m. the theatre was packed. “Let’s Face It” was the secondhighest third week in New York Paramount’s history. In Atlantic City, too, it was an all-time tops. House records were toppling in Brooklyn and Newark. As an example of what the trade press think of “Let’s Face It,” here’s what the Film Daily has to say: “Exhibitors should clean up with latest Hope pic; plenty of laughs in store for customers. ‘Let’s Face,’ Bob Hope's latest cinematic venture, will roll up handsome grosses for the exhibitor. There is too much entertainment in this picture to arrive at any other conclusion . .. the production has what it takes to make the customers happy and the theatre man richer.” Technicolor Shorts Paramount shorts rival Paramount features. 75 per cent of 1943-44 shorts are in color. The Short Department is crowding the feature studio for top laurels, Paramount shorts will top the industry this year. There’s gold in them thar shorts. Every theatre will benefit by playing them. AUG 30 Tro SEPT. 25