The Exhibitor (Jun-Nov 1944)

16 THE EXHIBITOR PRODUCTION Hollywood — Universal has added Bill Goodwin, radio announcer, to the cast of “Fairy Tale Murder,” Gloria Jean starrer. . David Bruce and Albert Dekker have been added to the cast of Universal s “Salome, Where She Danced.” . . . Shoot¬ ing is now under way on “Frisco Sal at Universal. Susanna Foster and Turhan Bey are co-starred. . . . Fay Bainter has been signed by Paramount for a role in the Technicolor production, “The Virginian.’ Alexander “Wilson” Knox will star in Columbia’s “And Now Goodbye. . . . Jim Thorpe, Indian athlete, has been given a role in Columbia’s “Counterattack.” . . . John Alvin has been added to the cast of Warners’ “San Antonio.” . . . Richard Gaines has been signed by Warners for an important role in “Nobody Lives For¬ ever,” the John Garfield starrer. . . . Para¬ mount has started construction of fronts for two New York blocks for “The Lost Weekend,” which will co-star Ray Milland and Jane Wyman. . . . Byron Nelson and Harold “Jug” McSpadden, golf stars, will make a series of three shorts on the sub¬ ject for Columbia. James Lydon has been given the top role in PRC’s “Strange Illusion,” his third straight picture for that company. . . . Samuel Goldwyn has purchased the screen rights to “Earth and High Heaven,” novel by Gwethalyn Graham, for $100,000. . . . Leon Fromkess, production head, PRC, an¬ nounced last week the purchase of the motion picture rights to Russell Birdwell s best seller, “I Ring Doorbells,” and sched¬ uled it as one of the biggest to be turned out by PRC. Martin Mooney has been assigned as associate producer, and Ray Schrock, another former newspaper man, has been signed to do the screen play. Production budget calls for $100,000, with a leading star to be obtained to enact the Birdwell role. Karl Tunberg, Paramount writer-pro¬ ducer, is now in Mexico to gather local color for “Masquerade In Mexico,” costarring Dorothy Lamour and Arturo de Cordova. . . . Joseph Cotten will be one of the six top ranking stars who will star in “So Little Time,” for United Art¬ ists release. Production of J. P. Marquand s best selling novel will begin in December. Casting of Monogram’s “John Dillinger” is now under way, with Eduardo Ciannelli, Marc Lawrence, and Elisha Cook Jr., already signed for important roles.’ . . . Humphrey Bogart and Bette Davis will co-star in Warners’ “Ethan Frome.” . . . George Brent will play the male lead opposite Joan Fontaine in Hal B. Wallis’ “The Affairs Of Susan,” which will be the producer’s second picture for Paramount. . . . “The Invisible Army, a story of the Filipino underground, has been purchased by RKO, and will star John Wayne. Robert Fellows will produce. Twentieth Century-Fox announces that Lynn Bari will have a leading role in “Bon Voyage.” Also in the cast are Jeanne Crain and Joan Blondell. . . . Next Laurel and Hardy film for 20th Century-Fox will be “The Bullfighters.” Kreisler Meets Pyle New York— Bernard B. Kreisler, vice¬ president-general manager, Lester Cowan Productions, conferred last week with Ernie Pyle, famous war correspondent and Pulitzer Prize winner, who has just re¬ turned from the European front for a much needed rest. "Locally Needed" Out NEW YORK — It was announced last week that the War Manpower Com¬ mission has withdrawn the designation “locally needed” which had previously been given to motion picture distribu¬ tion in the Philadelphia and Pitts¬ burgh territories. EDUCATIONAL GROUP FORMS NEW BODY New York — Educational Film Producers Association, a new production group in the educational film field, made its bow last week with the filing of incorporation papers at Albany. Purposes of the Association as announced are: “To advance the study, understand¬ ing, and appreciation of educational, in¬ structional, and informative motion pic¬ tures: to foster, encourage, and promote the production and distribution of such motion pictures, and to provide a clearing house for information pertaining to edu¬ cational films.” Officers are: president, Fletcher Smith, Fletcher Smith Studios; vice-president, Max Lasky, Films of Industry; secretary, John Flory, Grant, Flory and Williams, producers; treasurer, Elda Hartley, Hart¬ ley Productions, and chairman, execu¬ tive committee, Emerson Yorke, Emerson Yorke Studio. In addition to the foregoing officers, charter members include Julien Bryan, Julien Bryan Pictures; Herbert Kerkow, Kerkow Productions, Inc.; John McCory, Knowledge Builders; Clarence Schmidt, Spot Film Productions, Inc.; Ralph School¬ man, scenarist; C. O. Welch, Welch Pro¬ ductions, and Elizabeth Harding, Educa¬ tional Film Library Association. For Reliable Reports On What New Pictures Are Doing, Consult “The Tip Off’’ Regularly In This Publication. WB Manual Ready NEW YORK — Warner employees now have their own “bill of rights” in the form of a 25 -page personnel manual, compiled by the company’s personnel department, and approved by both the management and the Office Employees Union, covering all questions relating to company policy in its relations with employees, it was said last week. The manual has just been distri¬ buted to home office department heads for their guidance in answering ques¬ tions raised by members of their staffs, or in dealing with situations involving vacations, leaves of absence, merit in¬ creases, sick leave, overtime, promo¬ tions, severance pay, holidays, late¬ ness, absences, marriage leave, priority rights for returning service men and women, and other matters. Purpose of issuing the booklet, ac¬ cording to Ralph W. Budd, director of personnel, is to bring about a stand¬ ardization of personnel procedure and facilitate handling of all matters and requests pertaining to employees. TELEVISION New York — A policy committee, em¬ powered to make recommendations to the board of directors for positions which the American Television Society should take on questions pertaining to television, was created at the recent meeting of the board. Chairman of the committee is past-presi¬ dent Norman D. Waters. Nan D. Halpin, president, ATS, and George T. Schupert, chairman, ATS membership committee, are the other two committee members. One of the first questions to be explored by the committee pertains to the curbing of interference in reception and transmis¬ sion of television signals by diathermy and other electrical heating apparatus, ignition systems, and other devices which have impaired clarity of television and FM signals in the past. Du Mont television station WABD has inaugurated a new studio and expanded facilities. In addition to the original studio on the 42nd floor of 515 Madison Avenue, alongside the transmitter, movie projection room, laboratory, and other quarters, the station now occupies the second floor for its new large studio, two reviewing rooms, a theatre with projected screen images, general offices, dressing rooms, prop room, and other accommodations. A sales de¬ partment for television equipment will be on the third floor. NBC’s frequency modulation station in New York, using newly assigned call let¬ ters, WEAF-FM, began operations last week on a seven-day-a-week basis. Located in the Empire State Building, the station has been operating since 1939 on an experimental basis with call let¬ ters of W2XWG. According to NBC vicepresident C. L. Menser, the station will transmit network programs only from 3.00 P. M. to 11.00 P. M. daily. Television is a medium which bridges the barriers of language and thus should be an important contribution to the grow¬ ing friendship between the countries of North and South America, Dr. E. F. W. Alexanderson, radio pioneer and consult¬ ing engineer of General Electric, told a delegation of Mexican government officials witnessing a special performance of tele¬ vision at WRGB, Schenectady, recently. Writers Honoring Films Hollywood — Hollywood writers, repre¬ senting seven writing guilds in the enter¬ tainment industry, will give special recog¬ nition to several films a year which are outstanding examples of the blending of the best entertainment elements with an im¬ portant idea, it was announced last week by Emmot Lavery, chairman, Hollywood Writers Mobilization. First picture selected for this accolade will be Lester Cowan’s “Tomorrow, the World!” The Season’s Hit: The Service Kit. Einfeld Back At Studio Hollywood — Charles Einfeld, director of advertising and publicity for Warners re¬ turned to the studio last week from a 10-day trip to San Francisco, Portland, and Seattle, where he conferred with exchange heads and circuit operators on campaigns for “Arsenic and Old Lace,” “The Con¬ spirators,” and “The Very Thought of You.” October 4, 1944