Canadian Film Weekly (Oct 20, 1954)

Page 10 CANADIAN FILM WEEKLY October 20, 1954 CECIL BLACK LEFT Empire-Universal for something he wasn’t ready to talk about at the time . . . Comic Lou Jacobi, now knockin’ °em out in the London company of Pal Joey, has a part in London Films’ A Kid for Two Farthings. This is a selling title? It stars Celia Johnson .. . Ken Johnson, just back from Over ’Ome, wrote this about the British in his Telegram column: “They’re shocked to learn that Canada has no feature movie industry” . . . Olsen & Johnson of CNE and Hellzapoppin’ fame have a new show in, work. Title suggestion free: Crackpotpourri... Gad, sir, ’m up to my aspect ratio in Johnsons, aren’t 1? . . . Whatever became of Claire Bloom? You remember her—she’s the one who isn’t Audrey Hepburn . . . Film biz is sure fancy-shmancy around here. Newest exhibitor, who reopened the Guild Theatre on Gerrard, is June de Demko— a baroness yet . . . What do you think was turned in to Marc Hirsch of the Eglinton by a sweeper and is still unclaimed? A gold denture with teeth in it . . . /t’s another girl at the Jack Rohers and a first one at the house of 20th Theatres’ Bill Rossen. IFD’s Harry Imperial and his good lady also just contributed to the population . . . The Crew Cuts, top singing four from Toronto, now being biogged by Jean Callwood for Maclean’s, play the Casino at the New Year. First trip home since hitting the big money. A TRAVELLING TEXAN asked the man next to him on the train where he was from. “Kentucky,” he was told. “Kentucky?” said the Texan. “Never heard of it. Is it in the United States?” The Kentuckian was furious. “You mean to tell me you never heard of Kentucky?” he hollered, ““Kentucky—where the finest Look at your oS a aie ; SCREEN . Dy ee _everybody else does! PERKINS ELECTRIC COMPANY LIMITED MONTREAL @ TORONTO @ VANCOUVER MONCTON @ BUFFALO horses are bred, where Fort Knox is. Why, we have enough gold bricks in Kentucky to build a fence around Texas!” “That so?” said the Texan. “Tell you what, pardner. You go right ahead and build that fence—and if we like it we'll buy it.” THEN THERE’S THE STORY about the quiet little guy who wandered up against a bar and found himself hemmed in by rich braggarts. One man told about his private golf course and another about his own hotel. That’s the way the conversation was going—and it was suddenly interrupted when one of the talkers pointed to the floor in excitement. There lay a diamond as big as a pigeon’s egg! A half-dozen hands reached for it but a foot got there first and covered it. It belonged to the quiet little guy. “Pardon me, gentlemen,” he said. “I must have dropped a button off my trousers.” WHAT ABOUT THE MAN who was offered an elephant from India for $2,000? “Me with an elephant! What would I do with an elephant? I live in a flat and work in an office. Of all things, an elephant he wants to sell me!” And so on and on. “Tell you what,” said the salesman. “I think I can get you five of those elephants for $8,000.” “Now you're talking,” was the answer. “Why didn’t you say so in the first place?” A WHILE AGO the revival of plays of the gaslight era was quite the thing in theatrical circles. Heard about one from Tom Daley that ought to get another chance. Tom was singing a song that caught my ear and he told me that it was from an old-timer mellerdrama called The Volunteer Fireman. Here is the lyric: It’s the man with the ladder And the man with the hose; He fights a foe who mercy never shows. A fireman bold and brave He battles lives to save; What moment he may die he never knows. Each soldier and sailor Is a hero, we know, And to the front he goes. There’s another one in blue, He’s our nation’s hero too; The man with the ladder and the hose. ll bet a revival of this old-timer would make a mighty funny stage romp. FOX HAS AUSSIE-MADE FEATURE Australian-made feature, Long John Silver, produced by Treasure Island Pictures Pty. Ltd., in CinemaScope and normal ratio, will be distributed in the Eastern Hemisphere by 20th Century-Fox. Fox invested part of the cost, which may exceed $1,000,000, with most of the shooting done at Pagewood studios and on location near Sydney. Major shareholder is Joseph Kaufman, a former Monogram producer, who was New York director for Cinerama when it opened. Director of Long John Silver, Byron Haskin, is also an American, while the star, Robert Newton, is from Britain. Twentieth Century-Fox has backed three Australian productions in recent years. MOVIE HABITS OF THE FRENCH Of the potential moviegoing population of France, 64 per cent attend an average of 29 times a year and 36 per cent don’t go at all. Lack of time, interest in current movies and money—in, that order—are the reasons for staying away. Twenty-three per cent considered prices too high. Three-quarters favor an intermission and most are more impressed with high standards of sound and projection than comfort and decor. The French moviegoers don’t have the habit of moviegoing and are selective, preterring detective films, then light romance, musicals and histories. Color does not mean very much to the French one way or another, and they rank their films as the best produced with those of Italy running second, The poll was taken by the Centre Nationale de la Cinematographe, which limited it to those over 15 years old and communities of more than 2,000. The USA Embassy in Paris reported it and it was prepared for distribution by Nathan D. Golden, motion picture head for the Department of Commerce.