Canadian Film Weekly (Apr 9, 1947)

A aS April 9, 1947 Marc Boosts French Pix Poll Reflections Mare Thibeault, screen columnist for Le Canada, thinks French films should be included in our annual polls. Though they serve a limited market, says Marc, some are as good as anything Hollywood or the British have to offer. Newspaper use of the results was the broadest ever, with dozens of dailies and weeklies printing them. They were broadcast by a number of news programs. All but one credited the Canadian Film Weekly as the source of the ratings. That one used a photo layout and a two column story but referred to us as “a Canadian film magazine.” That practise is not fair, for if a story not purchased is used by a rich newspaper to perform part of the all-important function of filling space with interesting material, ordinary appreciation should dictate acknowledgment of the source. The same is true of stories prepared by publicity men. That particular paper pencils out references to the film or theatre involved, while making very good use of the story. It is not the only newspaper which does that. Since editors and publishers are aware of the purpose of such stories, the least they can do if they use them is not to render them altogether useless from the standpoint of the person responsible. * * * Observanda The Halifax Herald took an editorial whack at Bea Lillie for a “questionable” quip about the Queen on a radio show .. . That was quite a contest Wiin Barron staged for “My Favorite Brunette.” Got plenty of space through the local winner having a trip to Hollywood paid for by Mr. and Mrs. Bob Hope... Observation: A third class person is one who seeks the approval of second class people ... Percy Heiber, one of The Square’s most pepular figure men, thas left J. John Shulman to open his own office in 21 Dundas Square. He’s a chartered accountant... Advice from an old business man: “Always do your buying before you’ve eaten. After lunch your more amiable and easily sold”. . . . Tom Daley, Sam Fingold, Ralph Dale and Paul Maynard did Manhattan over a recent weekend... Nat Taylor’s postcards about the warmth and beauty of Cuba arrived here ‘with Winter’s final furious stand . . . John Grierson’s series, “The Movies and Modern Culture,” will appear in the Nation shortly. ; * * * Take a Bow, Bro. The following item appeared in the internationally-syndicated column of Leonard Lyons, whose Gotham outlet is the New York Post: p } ; “Art Arthur, the Canadian-born screenwriter, enlisted the day after he was naturalized, applied for overseas duty, but was marked for discharge when his hip was broken during training. He then had the choice of returning to his family and job in Hollywood, or going to Europe with Capt.. David Miller, the director, and write an Army film about Europe’s postwar needs. Arthur and Miller spent six months on this assignment. The film, ‘Seeds of Destiny,’ just won the Academy Award.” Art used to pound much of the same beat I do now—the one ~ adorned by Daley, Nairn, and Jacks Clarke and Arthur, who were there in his not-so-distant day. His current screen credit is on “The Fabulous Dorseys” and his next will probably be on the Donlevy-Cummings starrer, “Heaven Only Knows.” As some of you know, he’s my younger brother. The alliterative appellation of the artful Arthur was acquired in the course of columning locally and on Broadway. “Seeds of Destiny’ has caused much controversy, with the trade papers asking that it be released publicly and the USA War Department holding back. It was entered for the Academy Award on the last day after the War Department listened to reason, But about Arthur’s broken hip. The boys were hopping tank traps and Arthur didn’t make it. “From now on,” he wrote at the time, “I am going to tell the general to keep his trap shut.” Canadian FILM WEEKLY Steve Broidy Speaks Up New Day Coming? The star system got a good going-over from Steve Broidy, Monogram president, at lunch last week. Steve, willing to take a chance on a radical prediction, took on some of us who didn’t agree. Ed Morey, Mono vice-prexy and just as popular as Steve around here, went along part way and Oscar Hanson, the company’s Canadian chief, stayed out of reach of the verbal jabs and hooks. Steve claims that the star system, a subject of argument for many years, has been weakened more of late than at any time in its history by the increasing number of Independent producers. Formerly with leading studios, such film makers can’t afford glittering marquee monickers and concentrate on producing pictures that are aimed right at the hearts of the patrons. The success of Columbia’s “The Jolson Story’ and Monogram’s “It Happened On Fifth Avenue,’ both peopled with minor stars, is pointed to by Broidy as proof that stars aren’t essential. Certain major studios with long lists of stars are not attracting the same financial returns as in other years because the quality of their product is poorer. Steve admits that a star can give the boxoffice a head start but it is really the picture that counts. A film with a couple of stars will start well but fade if the film isn’t appealing. A starless film that has appeal may open modestly but will build after a few days if word-of-mouth publicity favors it and the management takes advantage of such public approval with proper exploitation. = : Clare Appel, myself and others wouldn’t go along with Broidy when he called the success of films without big stars part of a growing trend that would eventually do away with the star system. We feel that the star system is here to-stay. Ed Morey took the position that stars were of great importance but that there are other vital factors and the absence of names did not condemn a film automatically to less important playing time. He did not seem to hold.with Steve that an, ominous trend away from the star system was here. Both he and Steve felt that the time was coming when the exhibitor would return to exploitation as an everyday part of his work. When he did he would find that such exploitation wiped out much of the advantage star-bearing features seem to enjoy. The star system, opined Broidy, gets much of the credit for big boxoffice business that really was due to this particular period, a boom one. Of the past few years of this money-lush era, the end of which is being freely predicted, Steve Broidy said: “You had to be a genius to be a failure.” ; But, on thinking over the debate, I might sum up my own reaction with this question and answer: “What, after all, is MGM and who is Louis B. Mayer? Just Monogram and Steve Broidy without stars.” * 4 Jolson’s Own Little Joke While the Rawleys, the DeRocheres and the Bishops were getting ready for some late coffee the other evening after the theatre, Ernie of the Rawleys, manager of the Royal Alexandra recalled some of the offstage antics of the effervescent Jolson, whose shadow image now enchants from the Tivoli screen. On one occasion during an engagement of Jolson at the Royal the star took over the boxoffice and sold the public tickets. “What,” he asked the customers sneeringly, “do you want to waste your money on Jolson for?” RR SL Aa If you want the finest of free fun, listen to Ernie Rawley recall the high spots of the many great shows he has seen. He ero gives a fair imitation of his favorite stars in his favorite Ss. . Why is it, incidentally, that when movie men reminisce about the theatre, they forget about the screen’s highlights and delight in their recollections of stage stars? ne % Page 3