The Exhibitor (Jun-Nov 1944)

THE EXHIBITOR 23 PRODUCTION Hollywood — Ladislas Fedor, Hungarian playwright, recently arrived to start work on the screen play of his play, “This Crazy, Lovely World,” which will be produced by Erich Pommer for Producers Corporation of America for UA release. . . . Walter Huston returns to Warners for a top com¬ edy role in “Pillar To Post,” which has Ida Lupino in the chief feminine comedy spot. William Prince has the male lead. . . . Eddie Ryan, youngest brother in 'The Sullivans” and currently in “Take It Or Leave It,” has been re-optioned by 20th Century-Fox, which also lifted its options on director Otto Brower, Mary Meade, Bill Marshall, Reginald Gardiner, and gave cameraman Arthur Miller a new contract. . . . Joan Harrison has been signed to a term producing deal by Universal. . . . Eddie Cline will direct one more picture for Universal before leaving for New York to handle the Olsen and Johnson stage show, “Jerks Berserk.” Associate producer Frank Gross has handed him “Swingeroo Sweethearts,” which he will do after finishing his current assignment, “Night Life.” . . . Gloria Jean and Kirby Grant have been set by associate producer Gene Lewis as the leads in U's “Mike Goes To a Party.” . . . After a three years’ absence from the screen, Conrad Nagel has arrived for Monogram’s “They Shall Have Faith.” . . . Hardie Albright, honorably discharged from the Army after 18 months, has joined the cast of Monogram’s “Army Wives.” . . . Cecil B. De Mille has re¬ sumed work on his next Paramount Tech¬ nicolor production, “Rurales.” Signed as associate director, Arthur Rosson will leave for Mexico City within a fortnight with key members of the DeMille organ¬ ization, to arrange for a trip into central Mexico. . . . Frank Forest, former Metro¬ politan opera singer, has been signed by Pine and Thomas. Paramount producers, to fill a role in “Homesick Angel,” Johnny Weissmuller starrer. Top radio announcers Don Wilson, Nor¬ man Nesbitt, and Ken Niles have been engaged by Paramount to introduce the various specialties and song numbers in “Out Of This World.” . . . Alan Hale has been assigned by Warners to a role in “God Is My Co-Pilot.” . . . James S. Burkett, producer, Charlie Chan series for Mono¬ gram, has signed George Callahan to write the screen version of the first of the new series, and Benson Fong has been signed to play Chan’s son in the forthcoming series. . . . Warners acquired the rights to “Voice Of the Turtle,” and Jack War¬ ner announced that the biggest stars on the Warner lot would be assigned to the film cast. . . . The first James A. FitzPatrick feature to be produced for Re¬ public will be “Song Of Mexico,” and will be filmed in Mexico City. . . . “Alter Ego,” originally written and produced as a radio play by Arch Oboler, will be produced as an MGM feature, with Oboler signed to write the script and direct. . . . Columbia has given Larry Park? and Jane Frazee the romantic leads in “Hello Mom.” Jane Wyman has had her contract re¬ newed at Warners. ... At Republic, pro¬ ducer-director, Joseph Kane has started “Flame Of the Barbary Coast,” starring John Wayne and Ann Dvorak, with Joseph Schildkraut, Helen Vinson, and William Frawley in the cast, and the new Vera Hruba Ralston starrer, “Lake Placid Ser¬ enade,” has entered production. . . . Pedro Armendariz, Mexican film star, has been signed to a long term contract by Mary Pickford, Hunt Stromberg, and Dudley Murphy for a series of pictures to be made Tire Cut Hurts WASHINGTON— Colonel J. Mon¬ roe Johnson, ODT head, last week stated that a serious curtailment of essential transportation is in prospect for the near future, the supply of heavy and medium duty truck tires available for rationing during the next three months being inadequate to meet even the basic minimum requirements of essential rubber-borne transport serv¬ ices. The industry is thus faced with a grave problem in connection with film deliveries. in Hollywood for UA release. . . . Mary Rowland has been signed by Columbia for a role in support of Ann Miller in “Eve Knew Her Apples.” Cheryl Walker has been signed for an important role in International’s forthcom¬ ing Technicolor production, “It’s a Pleas¬ ure,” starring Sonja Henie. . . . Jack L. Warner, executive producer for Warners, announced that the completed casting of “Hollywood Canteen” showed 62 star names set for the picture. . . . Raymond Massey returns to the Warner studio this month for a role in “God Is My Co-Pilot.” . . . Richard Martin’s RKO contract has been exercised, and he will appear in “Nevada,” first of a new series of western pictures based on Zane Grey novels. . . . Pat Phelan, from the Long Beach, Cal., Community Playhouse cast, has been signed by Paramount, and will make his screen debut in “Miss Susie Slagle’s” . . . John Hodiak has been signed by Metro for the male lead opposite Greer Garson in “Valley Of Decision.” . . . “The Clock,” Judy Garland, Robert Walker starrer. and “Autumn Fever” with Mary Astor, Philip Dorn, and Gloria Grahame. have gone be¬ fore the cameras at MGM. . . . James Craig has been cast in MGM’s “Gentle Annie.” Charles Cooper has been signed to a long term contract by Hal B. Wallis at Paramount. He was formerly a' Santa Monica life guard. . . . Phillip Terry, Aud¬ rey Long, Robert Benchley, and Eve Arden have been signed for “Pan-Americana,” musical, which John H. Auer will produce and direct for RKO. . . . Carole Mathews, former radio announcer and actress, has been signed to a long term contract by Columbia. . . . “Dr. Red Adams,” latest of MGM's ‘Dr. Gillespie’ series, is now under way. . . . Jimmy Wakely, radio singer, actor, and producer, has been signed as the star of the new Monogram Lone Star western series to be produced by Philip N. Krasne. “A Victory Reel In Every Show.” Loew's Shifts Men New York — The following managerial transfers were last week announced by Joseph R. Vogel, Loew’s: Jack Foxe, temporary manager, Loew’s, Richmond, Va., moves to Loew’s Columbia, Washing¬ ton, and is being succeeded by Brock Whitlock, manager, Loew’s, Reading, Pa. Lawrence R. Levy fills the Reading vacancy. PRC Holds Meetings New York — Leo J. McCarthy, general sales manager, PRC Pictures, Inc., left for Boston last week to conduct a regional sales meeting. He was accompanied by Sidney Kulick, eastern division sales manager. TELEVISION O. B. Hanson heads the committee plan¬ ning the first annual conference of TBA to be held on Dec. 7-8. Jack R. Poppele, secretary and chief engineer, Bamberger Broadcasting Service, and Will Baltin, TBA secretary and treasurer, are assisting. RKO-Radio sponsored a recent unsched¬ uled and unannounced television contest over WABD, the DuMont Station in New York, recently that drew the biggest audi¬ ence response on record, according to Thomas H. Hutchinson, RKO Tele produc¬ tion manager. The contest, titled “Cinema Clues,” offered RKO theatre tickets to viewers who could identify screen stars shown in scenes from previous hits. Charles H. Kleinman, executive direc¬ tor, American Television Society’s Pro¬ gram Laboratory, announced that a series of non-commercial video shows would be presented over television stations in the New York area. “In order to help con¬ tinue the excellent work already done in television programming along public serv¬ ice lines, and to avoid competition with agencies developing commercial presenta¬ tion techniques, ATS will produce shows for selected charitable, civic, and social service activities,” Kleinman said. Assist¬ ing in the development of the ATS pro¬ gram laboratory are Ted Huston, director of production; John Flory, director of scripts, and Jean Rosenthal, director of station and agency relations. The Labora¬ tory affords ATS member^ opportunities to develop in their particular branches of programming. A television tryout for CBS radio pro¬ grams has been planned as an experiment by WCBW, New York, in an attempt to solve the question as to how well the pat¬ tern of radio programs may be adapted to television, particularly for a daytime schedule. O. B. Hanson, NBC vice-president-chief engineer, announced last week that the 50week course in television instituted for engineers of NBC’s eastern staff last Jan¬ uary is being duplicated for engineers of the central division, Chicago, where the course will be taught by Clarence Radius. The WPB recently eased its ban on re¬ stricted materials, and the television in¬ dustry received instructions to go-ahead in the building of models for post-war goods embodying new materials and war¬ time improvements. Permission to build experimental models, if neither labor nor machinery is diverted from war work, now applies to television equipment, radios, passenger cars, refrigerators, vacuum cleaners, civilian airplanes, and numerous other products. W. L. Lawrence, RCA, in a recent ad¬ dress before the Camden, N. J., Lions Club said, “Apart from its technical novelty, and its function as a means of keeping people better informed, television has pro¬ found post-war possibilities as an aid in maintaining and increasing the productiv¬ ity of our economic system.” CLEARING HOUSE EXPERIENCED PROJECTIONIST wants a position in New York. Has 11 years of experience, with license to work in city. Can furnish A-l references. Please state salary. Address Box WS, The Exhibitor, 1225 Vine Street, Philadelphia, Pa. August 9, 1944