Canadian Film Weekly (Sep 29, 1943)

Page 10 Film Daily Poll Headed by Curtiz Directorial excellence of three Warner Bros. productions, “Yankee Doodle Dandy,” saga of the late, great George H. Cohan, ‘“Casablanca,"’ which reached theatres so opportunely, and ‘Mission to Moscow,” the season's most controversial motion picture, has won for Michael Curtiz the accolade of No. 1 director of the 1942-43 year, writes Chester Bahn in Film Daily. Scoring a total of 1,859 points, the Hungarian-born director nosed out Mervyn LeRoy to top the ten best directors in the poll of American newspaper, magazine, wire service and radio film reviewers, editors and columnists conducted annually by the Film Daily. A mere 26 points separated Curtiz and LeRoy, whose direction of the extremely successful “Random Harvest” for MetroGoldwyn-Mayer was rewarded with an aggregate of 1,833 points, thus placing him in the No. 2 spot in the poll. Howard Hawks, responsible for “Sergeant York’”’ and “Air Force,” both Warner Bros. productions, captured the third niche, while Clarence Brown, who _ directed Metro’s adaptation of William Saroyan’s very human “Human Comedy,"’ placed fourth. Irving Pichel’s trio for 20th Century-Fox, “The Pied Piper,” “Life Begins at 8:30" and “The Moon Is Down,” attracted wide critical support and gave him fifth place. John Farrow emerged as No. 6. Like Pichel, Farrow, a Canadian Royal Navy officer on leave, was represented during the year by three pictures, ‘‘Wake Island,” “Commandos Strike at Dawn” and “China,” all made under the Paramount banner. Seventh niche is filled by Noel Coward. The distinguished British producer-actor-director’s ‘In Which We Serve,” for which he also supplied the screenplay and score, Was eligible as a United Artists release in the United States. An equally distinguished | countryman of Coward, Alfred | Hitchcock, is in eighth place, his critical support earned by a single picture, Universal's “Shadow of a Doubt.” Sam Wood, who took ninth, place, received critical recognition for “Pride of the Yankees,” produced by Samuel Goldwyn and’ rejeased by RKO Radio. Tenth place was captured by) Maj. George Stevens, who, during | the screen year, contributed “The. Talk of the Town” and “The More | the Merrier” to the Columbia pro| gram, — Canadian FILM WEEKLY 4 ERSS By TAP KEYES After appearing in 18 Blondie films Penny Singleton is ready for other roles. The reason is that Arthur Lake, who co-starred with her, is now in the American navy. ... The four Henry Aldrich films waiting for release may be the last if the studio can’t find someone to replace Jimmy Lydon, who has outgrown the part. ... The hardest working girl in Hollywood is Bette Davis. She is slated to appear in three of the next four pictures at her studio. ... And here’s a new one. Dinah Shore gave her boy friend, George Montgomery, a ring. ... Jerry Colonna got $400 for appearing in “Stage Door Canteen” and gave it to the Hollywood Canteen. ... A real star in the making is Loulse Allbritton, whose first big role was in “¥ired Wife.” She wears clothes beautifully, is stunning, sings and acts well. . .. Ingrid Bergman cut her hair into a boyish style in “For Whom the Bell Tolls.” Maybe it will start a style Hke the pompadour for ladies after the last war. a * Cary Grant, one of the screen’s more romantic heroes, is pitching romance with a new girl friend. Cary is pitching and tossing as the skipper of a submarine, the ‘“Copperfin,” ‘Destination Tokyo,’ and true to the tradition of the sea his craft is his sweetheart. Oh, he’s got a wife and family ashore—in the picture—but they come second. It’s all very serious business with Grant, what with the picture being made under the strict supervision of the Navy, and all that. “We spend most of our time in this show 150 feet or more under water,” Grant said, “and there are no women. Take 75 men out in a 300-foot craft for two months with no women, and you bet it’s serious.” The “Copperfin” engages enemy craft in the Pacific in manoeuvres based on recent Naval history not yet made public —and aside from no girls, this is entirely serious. So much so that the set has closed against visitors. 2 & ¥ Charles Ruggles will play the Otis Skinner role in “Our Hearts Were Young and Gay.” ... Marlene Dietrich will appear as George Sand in the screen life of the famous writer who used a masculine name and dressed like a male. ... That Sunny Tufts man, who made such a hit in “So Proudly We Hail,” will be costarred with Bing Crosby and Betty Hutton in a musical. ... Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn, who played together in “Keeper of the Flame,” will be seen again in “Without Love” ... Joan Leslie sold $6,000,000 worth of Victory Bonds on her last tour. Recently her mother bought her a coat for $75. Joan returned it, got one at half the price and bought a Victory Bond with the difference. ... When Frank Capra, who directed some of our finest films, asked for a raise when he worked for Hal Roach years ago, they Iet him go. The raise was for $5 and Roach would be immensely rich today if he had granted It. Theatre Times We recommend that managers everywhere read this complaint, written by “Irish” to the Montreal Standard: “Sir,—Can nothing be done to make the managers of the local shows advertise their full programs and times of their showing outside the theatre where the intending patrons can see it? I can think of nothing more annoying than wandering into a show in the middle of the feature, and the ticket dispensers’ answers to the above query can be put alongside the street car conductors pronunciation of the next street. I think the public is entitled to the above consideration because they are overcharged in comparison with what can be seen in Toronto or New York for 70c.” This convenience should be provided in whatever situations require it. It is important to war workers who must know exactly what time they will be out. September 29, 1948 CHARLES FRANCIS COE Vice-president and general counsel of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America, who made his first Canadian address before a representative group of Toronto citizens. His visit was under the auspices of the Ad and Sales Club. Bank Altered for Theatre Use A. Rappaport of Toronto last week purchased the former Royal Bank building, Brighton, Ontario, and applied to the Controller of Construction for permission to alter the premises into a theatre. The alterations will cost $10,000, with an extra cost for equipment. Kaplan é& Sprachman, Toronto architects, have been hired for the job. 20th Century-Fox Ups Advertising Budget 20th Century-Fox’s advertising budget for 1943-44 features and shorts will be at least twice as much as that expended for previous seasons including 1942-43, according to Hal Horne, the company’s director of advertising and publicity. Not only will national and regional trade papers come in for their share of the increased budget approved by President Spyros Skouras and Vice-president Tom Connors, who are in accord with Horne’s plans to give 1943-44 features and shorts the best campaigns in the history of 20th Century-Fox. Institutional advertising will be keyed to reach 60,000,000 readers of almost 500 key city newspapers with a total of approximately 1,250 dailies to be used in the United States and Canada. The 1943-44 advertising campaign will include radio on a greater scale than heretofore, as well as national magazines and fan periodicals.