Canadian Film Weekly (Jan 18, 1956)

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January 18, 1956 January 18, 1956 HYE BOSSIN, Editor Assistant Editor Ben Halter Office Manager Esther Silver CANADIAN FILM WEEKLY 175 Bloor St. East, Toronto 5, Canada Authorized as Second Class Mail, Post Office Department, Ottawoe . Published by Film Publications of Canada, Limited 175 Bloor St. East, Toronto 5, Ontario, Canada — Phone WAlInut 4-3707 Price $3.00 per year. ADVERTISING (Continued from Page 1) in 1954. Spending for imported advertising printed matter, producion of advertising films, theatre screening, commercial artists and photographers, independent radio and TV programming are estimated at $14,482,476 or 3 per cent of the total compared with $1,648,954 or 1.6 per cent of the total in 1944. National weekend, weekly, biweekly and tri-weekly newspapers received $5,329,000 in 1944. Last year the bureau separated the “Weekend papers from the otk@rs° and found the weekend publications received $10,529,000 and the others $16,915,000 for a totaf of $27,444,000. Advertising revenue from magadines of general circulation W23,513,098,000, up from $4,863, ~ 000<fA 1944. Trade, technical and scientific publications drew $15,220,000 compared with $5,703,000, agricultural publications $5,454,000 compared with $1,876,000 and controlled distribution weeklies $917,000 compared with $346,000. What was the rate of dollar progress of the film industry in the-Ssame decade? Very modest, compared with the above. In 1944 gross boxoffice receipts were between $53 and $54 million and in 1954 they were between $105 and $106 million. WB's ‘The Burning Hills’ Sarita Montiel will star opposite Tab Hunter in Warners’ The Burning Hills. Richard Whorf is producing. Building Under Way On Five Theatres Construction is being completed on the 800-seat Sahara in Edmonton and the house may be opened by the time this appears in print. Information regarding the owners is still lacking at this point. Also under way are Robert Gallichan's Vimy in Chibougamau, Quebec and RCAF station theatres at Senneterre and St. Sylvestre, Quebec. The shell has been erected and R. C. Steel and H. Howard have called for tenders to complete their house in Nechako Centre, Kitimat, BC. CANADIAN FILM WEEKLY THE SECOND GREATEST SEX with Jeanne Crain, George Noder, Kitty Kallen, Bert Lohr. (CinemoScope-Technicolor) Empire-Universal 87 Minutes THINLY SCRIPTED MUSICAL COMEDY BASED ON LYSISTRATA LEGEND. LIGHT, GAY ENTERTAINMENT FOR YOUNG AUDIENCES. Closely related to the Lysistrata legend, as well as Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, this Albert J. Cohen production has a lot of bounce and pep to recommend it. Its screenplay by Charles Hoffman is whimsical, and its Technicolor-CinemaScope photography, credited to Wilfred M. Cline, is a decided asset. Director George Marshall has kept the pace going and comes up with some bright sequences; i.e. a bar-room scene sparked by Bert Lahr’s rendition of the title song. Dancer Tommy Rall is another stand-out, and Kitty Kallen, in a remarkably small part, manages to shine through brightly. Jeanne Crain, George Nader, Mamie Van Doren, Keith Andes and Jimmy Boyd are other cast members who acquit themselves creditably. Pony Sherrell and Phil Moody are responsible for six songs: Lysistrata, Send Us a Miracle, Travelin’ Man, My Love Is Yours, What Good Is a Woman Without a Man and There's Gonna Be a Wedding. Jay Livingston and Ray Evans are credited with the title song, while Joan Whitney and Alex Kramer donated How Lonely Can I Get. CAST: Jeanne Crain, George Nader, Kitty Kallen, Bert Lahr, Momie Van Doren, Keith Andes, Kathleen Case. CREDITS: Producer, Albert J. Cohen; Director, George Marshall; Screenplay, Charles Hoffman; Photography, Wilfred M. Cline, DIRECTION: Peppy. PHOTOGRAPHY: Very Good. (From The Film Daily, NY) Megowan Cast In ‘Werewolf’ Don Megowan will play the top male role in Columbia’s The Werewolf, which Sam Katzman will produce. THE INDIAN FIGHTER with Kirk Douglas, Elsa Martinelli, Wolter Abel, Diana Douglas, Walter Matthau. UA (CinemaScope-Technicolor) 88 Mins. TOP GRADE WESTERN OFFERING SUSTAINED INTEREST AND MAXIMUM ACTION, EXCELLENT CHOICE FOR MOST AUDIENCES. A first-class Western, this Kirk Douglas starrer should climb high on the ladder of boxoffice success. Aided and abetted by the magnificent use of CinemaScope and Technicolor, credited to Wilfrid M. Cline, the picture has a lot more than pictorial grandeur to offer. A fine production job has been achieved by William Schorr, and Andre de Toth’s direction is calculated to arouse respect. The fast-moving Frank Davis, Ben Hecht screenplay was adapted from a Ben Kadish original. The only big name in the cast is Douglas, although Walter Matthau, Diana Douglas and Walter Abel are featured prominently. The picture also serves to introduce the talents of a young Italian actress, Elsa Martinelli. ' CAST: Kirk Douglas, Elsa Martinelli, Walter Abel, Walter Motthau, Diana Douglas, Eduard Franz, Lon Chaney, Alan Hale, Jr. CREDITS: A Bryna Production; Producer, William Schorr; Director, Andre de Toth; Screenplay, Frank David, Ben Hecht; Original, Bea Kadish; Photography, Wilfrid M,. Cline. DIRECTION: Deft. PHOTOGRAPHY: Excellent. (From The Film Daily, NY) Carey, Marshall In ‘Portrait In Smoke’ Phil Carey, Columbia Pictures contract star, and veteran British star Herbert Marshall, back in London after many years in Hollywood, have been signed in London by Maxwell Setton to team with Arlene Dahl in Film Locations’ Portrait in Smoke. Ken Hughes is directing this screen version of the Bill Ballinger novel. : BATTEN FILMS KEEPING BUSY Batten Films, recently revitalized under the direction of Ralph Foster and Julian Roffman, is active in a number of Interesting ways. Its news unit is servicing Walt Disney’s daily TV Children’s Newsreel and among the distinctive activities covered is Pee Wee Hockey. French-language commercials for Tide, commissioned by Benton & Bowles, Inc. of NY are in work. So are two productions, one in English and the other in French, for the Department of National Defence, photographed in color at Valcartier and Niagara after consultation with Captain Randolph Phillips. Completed for the Columbia Broadcasting System Is a 30minute TV show, Asylum, filmed on the farm of The Brethren, Bright, Ontario. The members of the production unit who worked with Brother Jules were Chris Slagter, M. Jackson Samuels, Les Rance and Harry Lake. Lou Jacobs of New York directed the unit. The J. Arthur Rank Screen Advertising Service of Canada is having its Canadian series, Tips, made at Batten Films in Eastman color. These screen ads were formerly made at JARO’s Den ham studio. James W. MacKay recently joined the company as creative director of the animation department. After studying at the Ontario College of Art he freelanced, then joined the National Film Board. In 1949 he organized Graphic Associates, leaving them to set up his own consulting studio several months ago, Page 3 Our Business Es a, “VW/A Ta lor HIS is the time when one usu ally tries to forecast for the new year. While this is scarcely a year in which forecasting is easy, there are indications here and there which may help us, at least partially, to chart the course of our business. It seems reasonable to expect that the shakedown and shakeou’ period through which we have been passing these last two or three years will continue. In the United States they are turning some old or obsolete theatres into parking lots. In congested areas there is a great demand for parking space and it becomes simply a case of putting the land to the best possible use. The Victoria Theatre in Toronto has been sold for such a purpose and will be razed and replaced by a two-storey garage. The prosperity of our business is at times a state of mind. Some people are inclined to call business good or bad more by hearsay than by fact. A couple of bad film engagments will be magnified into an authoritative statement that in one particular week business had been extremely bad. Unchecked, such rumours can be multiplied into mental depressions. Therefore, for the good of our business, the sooner we get rid of borderline and antiquated theatres, the sooner there will be less crying and wailing and general downbeat talk. It is infectious and bad for all concerned. Economists and those who should be able to speak with authority predict that in 1956 Canada will hit a new high of prosperity and they give statistics and facts to back this up. If this happens, some share of such prosperity must accrue to motion picture theatres. Many areas are starting to come out of the “first rash” TV stage and to reclaim lost patronage. Conversely, others have yet to enter that period, which is just around the corner for them. One of the most heartening signs is the apparent trend to increased feature film production in the United States. Many companies are not only planning more production but at this time have more pictures in work. This must result in greater availability of product for many theatres and thus affect the sellers’ market. On the debit side of this increased production is the tendency to make so many features which are (Continued on Page 5)