20th Century-Fox Dynamo (April 18, 1953)

Earl Sponable,our tech- nical head (right), and Sol Halprin, the studio’s Cam- era Department head (left), answer questions of three- time Academy award-winn- ing cameraman Leon Sham- roy anent the CinemaScope lens. Shamroy is currently lensing the first Cinema- Scope super-special, "The Robe.” T YRONE 1‘ower will play the title role in “King Of The Khyber llifles,” a 1954 Cinemascope picturization (in color) of Talbot Mundy’s novel. . .Production has been scheduled to start this summer when Power ends his tour in “John Brown’s Body”. . .Frank P. Rosenberg will pro- duce “King Of The Khyber Rifles” for which Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts have written the screenplay. .Debra Paget was the hit of the contingent of stars from the studio who appeared last week-end at a showing of “Titanic” for the benefit of the Naval Relief Fund at Norfolk, Va. Ferri Tales A T the end of this year’s 13th week we had departmentally devel- oped $755,205 in rentals from U.S. drive-ins. Not only does that represent a substantial increase over the same period of 1952, but it will interest Dynamo readers to know that in 1949 we did not reach a $600,000 total until the 30th week of the year. Which shows conclu- sively the terrifically increasing part drive-ins play in our annual film rental structure. J ACKSONVILLE, in the little more than one year our Florida distributing point, has distinguished itself many times. But, in no one week did Tom Tidwell’s office write more significant headlines than in the final seven-day of the first quarter. In that week it delivered in excess of $80,000. The Jacksonville total for that week was the third highest, being topped only by that reported by Abe Dickstein’s New York and Sam Diamond’s Philadelphia. Y OU will recall that several editions back in this column, we advised you to keep an eye on Bella Darvi, a new player the studio imported from France. This week comes word that she will make a co-starring debut opposite Richard Widmark in "Hell And High Water,” a c* nema Scope special, in Technicolor, that Ray Klune is scheduled to produce. Incidentally, it will be Ray’s first effort as a producer. Good luck and more power to you, Ray! T HE combination that in “Call Me Madam” turned outwhat everybody is agreed is the best musical ever filmed—producer Sol Siegel and direc- tor Walter Lang—will start actual “shooting” on Irving Berlin’s “There’s No Business Like Show Business” on June 22. . .Incidentally, this was the last screenplay the late Lamar Trotti wrote for this company. . . You will recall that Lamar Trotti also furnished the screenplay for Irving Berlin’s "Alexan- der’s Ragtime Band”. . .Phoebe and Henry Ephron collaborated with Trotti on writing “ There’s No Business Like Show Busi- ness.” T HERE was unusual elation in the field and among exhibitors when Production Chief Darryl F. Zanuck an- nounced "The Queen Of Sheba” would be a 1954 CinemaScope special in color. . . This project has been in preparation for more than four years. . . The search for an actress to play the title role is now on. . . Czenzi Ormonde has written the screen- play that Sam Engel will produce. . .Casey Robinson, who wrote the screenplay for "The Snows Of Kilimanjaro,” also is adapting "The Egyptian” to the Cinema- Scopic screen. . ."The Egyptian,” as Dynamo has already informed you, will be Mr. Zanuck’s personal production for 1954. . . Casting department is working overtime these days, what with the studio facing an extremely busy schedule, on CinemaScopes starting in June. E VIDENCE of Jean Peters’ popularity with exhibitors, who reflect pub- lic reaction, was furnished at the recent CinemaScope demonstrations with the exception of Marilyn Monroe, more showmen asked to meet Miss Peters than any other star on our lot. . . “ ‘Call Me Madam’ has started new and richer box office careers not-only for Ethel Merman, but also for George Sanders, Donald O’Connor and Vera-Ellen, ” opined circuit magnate Louis Schine during a CinemaScope demonstration chat with director Henry King . . . And “Hank” wholeheartedly agreed. . .King was the first director to make use of Ethel Merman’s screen services, in "Alexander’s Ragtime Band.” N UNN ALLY Johnson has very ambitious CinemaScope plans. . .He has written the screenplays for and will produce two for next year. . . His first will be "The Wandering Jew”. . .His second, “The Cannibals”. . . Incidentally,, producer Julian Blaustein will do “The Racer” in Italy. L EONARD Goldstein, our busiest producer, is stacking up some sort of a record for our lot. He has a couple of releases in the cutting rooms. But, also, he cwrently has three 35mm releases before the cameras: “Vicki” with Jeanne Crain, Jean Peters, Elliott Reid, Casey Adams and Richard Boone; "The Kid From Left Field” with Dan Dailey, Anne Bancroft, Billy Chapin and others, and “Be Prepared” with Clifton Webb. T HERE never has been such a race as currently prevails for instal- lation of Cinema-Scope equipment. Al Lichtman has been burning the midnight oil for the past three weeks classify- ing the hundreds of applications from exhibitors who want to be first to locally present Cinema- Scope attractions. And, applications from inde- pendent theatre operators are as numerous as those filed in behalf of circuits. In a single day last week a total of 167applications was received at the Home Office from unaffiliated theatre opera- tors. J OE Lee, our Detroit branch manager, is also quite a publicist. We doubt if any branch man- ager knows so many of his motion picture editors as intimately as does Joe. He knows all his key editors well enough to call them by their first names. This is one reason why this company’s attractions have been enjoying such wide publicity in the Michigan territory. Joe particularly likes advance stories on future releases. . .for, as he puts it, "they are the most effective salesmen we have, for they create an advance appetite for the pictures both on the part of exhibitors and public.” How right Joe is! W E cannot recall a time, in the some 27 years of our association with this company, when there has been so much serious sickness within oir ranks. In March we had no less than eight more important job- holders stricken with various maladies while at their desks or on the road. 82 employees in the field and Home Office were confined to their homes, because of illness, for a combined total of 307 days diring the month of March alone. H E can not be identified for obvious reasons, but in our presence at Chazen’s restaurant in Hollywood during the recent CinemaScope demonstrations, an Academy Award-winning producer associated with a competing studio, bet another production topper, $5000 to $3000 that “when all the shouting is over, CinemaScope will be the process all studios will find most practical to use, and not because of any choice on their part, but because of public demand.” Debra Paget Joseph J. Lee Rage 25