Canadian Film Weekly (Jan 17, 1968)

PICTURES HOLLYWOOD ACKIE GLEASON is the first star signed by Producer-direc tor Otto Preminger for his next film, Skidoo, for Paramount. The comedy will be produced on locations in San Francisco, Monterey, Alcatraz and the high seas %* * Shooting starts next week on The Boston Strangler, a 20th Fox release starring Tony Curtis, Henry Fonda and George Kennedy. Five weeks of filming has been scheduled on location in Boston where actual locales from Gerold Frank’s best-seller will be used % x % MGM launching 1968 in a big way with three pictures shooting in as many countries. In Rome, The Shoes of the Fisherman with Anthony Quinn, Laurence Olivier, David Janssen, Oskar Werner and Vittorio de Sica; in the Austrian Alps, Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood in the spy story, Where Eagles Dare; in London, Hot Millions, starring Peter Ustinov and Maggie Smith, with ex CBC director Eric Till in charge * »* %* Universal has signed Andrew V. McLaglen to direct an adventure drama called The Hellfighters, starring John Wayne Ww Ww Ww Clint Eastwood, now a _boxoffice name following the Italian made westerns, A Fistful of Dollars and For A Few Dollars More, has been signed to co-star with Lee Marvin in Paramount’s version of the Hit Broadway musical, Paint Your Wagon * * + The Wild Bunch, Warner Bros-Seven Arts’ multi-million-dollar western, will star William Holden, according to Sam Pekinpah who will direct from his own screenplay. Shooting will start in March in Mexico * % % MGM’s new version of Gone With the Wind has been selected as the film to open the 21st Cannes Film Festival, May 10 % * % Filming has been completed on the new Disney comedy romance, Year of the Horse, dtie for release at the end of the year * ow % The Confessions of Nat Turner, a Book-of-the-Month Club selection, will be produced by David Wolper and directed by Norman Jewison, with filming to start early in 1969 * *% % Winning, an upcoming Universal production starring Paul Newman, will be the first feature film gaining official cooperation from the Indianapolis 500 auto race * * * Robert L. Lippert will produce The Jolly Girls for 20th-Fox release *% % %* United Artists’ The Wicked Dreams of Paula Schultz, now in release, marks the 420th feature picture directed by George Marshall. Marshall directed his first film, a three-reeler, in 1913. Page 4 PANORAMA (Continued from Page 3) Hollywood director is a force but seldom to the point where he can diverge from the accepted concept, and that in itself is an artistic challenge which must be met with know-how and a realistic willingness to compromise. Nobody can totally ignore Hollywood’s commercial orientation and success. We’re an industry. Now, in Europe it’s different. There, the directors invariably have complete control, often with their own money involved, often having written or at least collaborated on the screenplay and in many cases writing it as they shoot from day to day. Now what materializes can be a very personal film, a very personal expression, truly an ‘art film’. But in most cases they’re courting financial disaster. Frankly, I’d love to make films with this kind of freedom. But I'll tell you something; trying it within the Hollywood ‘industry’ framework would keep everybody perpetually bankrupt” * %* * In a session lasting more than two hours, there was a generous illumination of Kramer’s point of view as a film-maker, particularly the thematic aspect which some members of the audience seemed to feel was invariably pat, predictable and soap opera-ish. Kramer defended his position effectively in several instances but perhaps the most timely example was concerned with his latest film for Columbia Pictures, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, in which a rich young white girl and a prominent Negro doctor confront their respective parents with the fact that they intend to get married. “You question my purpose in making the character played by Sidney Poitier into a kind of impeccable black knight instead of a run-of-the-mill, average Negro citizen,’ he said. “Well, consider the point of the film—the prejudice and ignorance involved with miscegenation. My theory in establishing Poitier’s character as an internationally recognized medical man, estimably cultured, financially secure, a widower whose Negro wife and child had died eight years before in a car accident, was simply to underscore the fact that if the girl’s parents had any objection at all, it would have to be the matter of race and color. There could be no other valid argument” * * And Kramer didn’t get one from the Convocation floor, either. of your theatre Be wise . . . regular fitness check-ups by our specialist will keep your projection equipment healthy. Fast first-aid service too . . . anytime! Canada’s Theatre Supply House General Sound AND THEATRE EQUIPMENT LIMITED Branches across Canada CANADIAN FILM-1V BI-WEEKLY AUTOMATION (Continued from Page 2) tre operations, said he has been enthusiastic about automation since seeing in-depth displays this fall during the NATO convention in Miami. How does all this grab IATSE, : the projectionists’ union? No official comment but informed sources say with most Cana dian houses being handled by one projectionist, as things stand, a status quo seemed obvious since somebody would be required to push the right buttons at the right time, anyway. “Also,” said one executive, “automation, being as mechanically sophisticated as it is, this might tend to upgrade the projectionist trade, making operators feel more like technicians than mere film-threaders and focussers. In turn, this may encourage younger men coming out of technical schools to take up projection as a career. As things have stood, it hasn’t had much appeal for young people.” PARA’ PRODUCT (Continued from Page 2) ducing and directing the roadshow attraction. Endure and Conquer, with Sidney Furie directing and Brad Dexter producing. Five Card Stud, starring Dean Martin, Robert Mitchum and Inger Stevens, with Hal Wallis producing and Henry Hathaway directing. The Molly Maguires, starring Richard Harris with Martin Ritt producing and directing. A Most Private Intrigue, starring Paul Newman, a Salem Production to be produced and directed by Stuart Rosenberg. Paint Your Wagon, starring Lee Marvin and Clint Eastwood with Alan Jay Lerner producing and Joshua Logan directing the roadshow attraction which is based on Lerner and Loewe’s smash Broadway musical. The Riot, starring Jim Brown, to be produced by William Castle and directed by Buzz Kulik. Running Scared, to be directed by Jack Smight and produced by Ingo Preminger. The Swap, starring Steve McQueen, to be produced by Hillard Elkins with Robert E. Relyea as executive producer of the Solar Production. For the fall of 1968, the schedule of studio production includes: The Man Who Had Power Over Women, to be produced by Judd Bernard and directed by Silvio Narizzano. On A Clear Day You Can See Forever, starring Barbra Steisand and Richard Harris, to be pro duced by Howard W. Koch and directed by Vincente Minnelli. January 17, 1968