Canadian Film Weekly (Jun 6, 1945)

Page 10 Columbia Lot A Busy One Cornell Wilde, Columbia’s new star, will play the male lead in the Technicolor production, ‘The Bandit of Sherwood Forest” opposite Anita Louise. Wilde scored a personal triumph in his first major role as Frederic Chopin in “A Song to Remember” which is still playing to capacity audiences in Canada’s show-houses. “The Bandit of Sherwood Forest is a swashbuckling romance adapted from Paul A. Castleton’s novel “Son of Robin Hood.” “A Thousand And One Nights,” a Technicolor fantasy which also has Cornel Wilde in the male lead, is soon to be released. * * * Fred MacMurray and Leslie Fenton have become movie producers with the forming of Mutual Productions. Their first picture will be “Pardon My Past” with Marguerite Chapman playing the feminine lead opposite MacMurray. The production will be released by Columbia. * * * Leslie Brooks has the top feminine role in ‘I Love a Bandleader,” a Columbia musical which will feature Phil Harris and ‘‘Rochester.” * * * “Rusty,” the story of a boy and his dog, will star 11-year-old Ted Donaldson. Conrad Nagel and Margaret Lindsay will play the adult leads with Gloria Holden in the second feminine lead. The film will be directed and produced by George Sherman under the supervision of Leonard Picker. 20th, MGM, Warners Plan FDR Life Epic There’s a three-way race on in Hollywood to see who is going to make the first picture on the life of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. According to reports, Darryl Zanuck of 20th Century-Fox, who produced the “Wilson” opus, is trying to get the jump on MGM and Warners. Zanuck is planning his picture as a documentary and historical subject with Robert Sherwood writing the script. He hopes to make it international in character by enlisting the cooperation of various foreign governments. "Lend-Lease’ Talent To British Producers First of what is anticipated to to be a series of similar ‘Lend Lease” talent arrangements, a comparatively unknown Hollywood screen player, Kim Hunter, has been chosen for the feminine lead in the next Michael. Powell and Emeric Pressburger film to be made in England, titled “A Matter of Life and Death.” Canadian FILM WEEKLY Foreign Opposition For Hollywood Freedom of the screen, a prime requisite of Hollywood post-war expansion, “is a complex story, involving American foreign policy, international trade rivalries and domestic politics’ which are further complicated by struggles between competing film companies as well as various industry elements,” states John A. Kouwvenhoven in the May issue of Harper’s magazine. This has been known to industry people for a long time, the trade press having given adequate attention to matters in which the industry finds itself involved. The emergence of Rank in England and the governmentsponsored National Film Board in Canada has caused the use of the motion pictures for purposes other than entertainment to win space in non-trade publications in both countries. Realization of the importance of the motion picture to the domestic economy of the USA is now causing that medium to become the subject of public discussion in the USA. The future of the National Film Board, as Canada’s propagandist abroad, is also in question among those: who feel that it has served an excellent purpose to date. National Film Board reels have been made in many languages for theatre and nontheatre distribution. The World in Action series, dealing with matters of international importance during the war, may. eventually suffer from a loss of interest as the world returns to normalcy. It is agreed that, rather than give up its place on the screens of the world, subjects should be provided which are of general interest and can do a peacetime job for us. In a recent report on the attitude of the American State Department which has been making greater use of movies and is becoming interested in helping the development of the American film industry, Variety revealed that the war has brought the American government to consider the motion picture as “perhaps the most powerful of all communications media in domestic affairs’ and “easily the most valuable” in international affairs. The fact is that movies are coming to be regarded more and more as the most powerful of propaganda weapons and it is for this reason that governments all over the world’ are encouraging, and in many cases subsidizing, the development of native film industries, while increasing rather than removing barriers to the importation of Hollywood movies. ! There are 58 countries which are in one way or another restricting the distribution of American films within their borders at the present time. These restrictions vary from film monopolies to restrictions such as import licenses, quotas, and preferential tariffs directed against the USA product, and to making it compulsory for theatres to show domestic made movies wherever possible. In France for example, about $10,000,000 money has been tied up and visas have been refused to Hollywood representatives though they are being granted to British film agents. In addition the entire French film industry has been placed in the hands of ardent nationalists, who together with the local film industry leaders are determined to restrict films and. get rid of Hollywood competition. In Great Britain the native film industry is expanding, while the use of American films is being reduced. And it is common knowledge that J. Arthur Rank, Britain’s most active producerdistributor, is busily working on pictures aimed at American and world markets. Laughton Eats Again Charles Laugton stages his eighth big “eating” scene in motion pictures in ‘‘Captain Kidd,” a United Artists picture. UA Checks Out of Will Hays Office United Artists Corporation has issued the following statement regarding its resignation from the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America: In view of the fact that virtually all of the producers using the facilities of United Artists Corporation, for distribution have joined the Society of Independent Motion Picturé Producers, the owners of United Artists Corpo ration have deemed it to the best | interest of the; company to resign from thé Motion Picture Producers and: Distributors of America, the resignation becoming effective on! or about September 21, 1945. They also have authorized United Artists Productions, the producing affiliate of the corporation, to become a member of the Society of Independent Motion Picture Producers, of American film ~ June 6, 1945 20th-Fox Gross Hits New High (Continued from Page 1) Net profit for the year amounted to $12,480,491 after all charges and taxes were deducted, an increase of about $1.5 millions over the net profit for 1943.: Current assets listed at December 30, 1944, were $89,126,623, while liabilities amounted to $46,809,920. During 1944, the English subsidiary of 20th-Fox invested $1.2 millions in additional stock of the Metropolis & Bradford Trust Company. This gives the subsidiary approximately a half interest in M & B which in turn owns 57 percent of the voting control ‘of Gaumont-British. Spyros P. Skouras was reelected president of 20th CenturyFox Film Corporation at a recent meeting of the board of directors and 15 directors were elected by the stockholders to serve until 1946, at the annual meeting of the corporation in New York. Elected with Skouras to serve as officers for another year, were: William C. Michel executive vicepresident, Darryl F. Zanuck, vice-president in charge of production and Thomas J. Connors, vice-president in charge of sales. Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation has reported a consolidated net profit for the first quarter ended March 31, 1945 of $2,855,485, including, all subsidiaries and after all charges were deducted. Morris Milligan Rites In Bradford, Penn. A number of Toronto friends of the late Morris Milligan were present .at his funeral in the family plot in Bradford, Pennsylvania. Those from the film industry who made the trip to attend the services on Sunday, May 27, were Ron McLelland, Ben Geldsaeler, R. W. Bolstad, Jack Hunter, Ed Wells and Shirley Smith. About 30 were present at the funeral, among them the only living member of the Milligan family, John, a member of the United States Army Air Force. Had his funeral been held in Toronto, hundreds would have attended, for few men enjoyed the regard Morris Miligan did in that city, where he spent so many years. He was 54. Strand Hamilton Accepts Offer Shareholders of Strand Hamilton Theatre Ltd., Hamilton, Ontario, recently accepted an offer from United Amusement Co. of Hamilton (made on behalf of a new company to be incorporated) to purchase its assets and property.