The Exhibitor (1950)

EXHIBITOR 13 Jack Warner Reveals WB Production Plans Los Angeles — Warner sales executives met Iasi, week under the chairmanship of Ben Kalmenson, vice-president in charge of distribution, and heard Jack L. War¬ ner, president, outline the year’s program. Also on hand were President Harry M. Warner, Major Albert Warner, and exec¬ utives from the home office and eight sales districts. Said Jack Warner, in part: “As we look ahead, I say we never had a better focus on the elements that make for top boxoffice returns. Right now we are distributing ‘The Flame And The Arrow,’ Norma -FR production, in which Burt Lancaster and Virginia Mayo star, in Technicolor; ‘The Great Jewel Rob¬ ber,’ starring David Brian, and ‘50 Years Before Your Eyes,’ the story of the last half century. James Cagney will be seen in Cagney Productions’ ‘Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye,’ with Barbara Payton and Helena Carter. Ruth Roman, Patricia Neal, Eleanor Parker, and Frank Lovejoy star in ‘Three Secrets,’ U. S. Pictures pro¬ duction, which we will release in the near future. “In just a few weeks the Radio City Music Hall, New York City, will have the world premiere of Tennessee Williams’ ‘The Glass Menagerie,’ starring Jane Wy¬ man, Kirk Douglas, Gertrude Lawrence, and Arthur Kennedy. Another Tennessee Williams story, ‘Street Car Named De¬ sire,’ will bring Vivien Leigh back to Hollywood to play one of the leads and Marlon Brando in another top role. Both Charles K. Feldman Group Productions. Doris Day, Gordon MacRae, Eve Arden, Gene Nelson, Patrice Wymore, Billy de Wolfe, Virginia Gibson, and S. Z. Sakall are in ‘Tea For Two,’ in Technicolor. “Some of the other Warner pictures are ‘Pretty Baby,’ a human interest story starring Dennis Morgan, Betsy Drake, Ed¬ mund Gwenn, and Zachary Scott; ‘Rocky Mountain,’ an outdoor romantic story star¬ ring Errol Flynn, with Patrice Wymore, and introducing Scott Forbes; ‘The Break¬ ing Point,’ based on a story by Ernest Hemingway, and starring John Garfield, Patricia Neal, Juano Hernandez, Phyllis Thaxter, and Wally Ford; ‘The Big StickUp,’ with Steve Cochran, Edmon Ryan, Virginia Grey, and Gaby Andre; James Cagney in his first song and dance role since ‘Yankee Doodle Dandy,’ ‘The West Point Story,’ costarring Virginia Mayo, Gordon MacRae, Doris Day, and Gene Nelson. “Also, ‘Dallas,’ in Technicolor, starring Gary Cooper, Ruth Roman, Steve Coch¬ ran, and Raymond Massey, with Barbara Payton; ‘Breakthrough,’ with David Brian, John Agar, and Frank Lovejoy; ‘Captain Horatio Hornblower,’ from the novel by C. S. Forester, a Technicolor production, starring Gregory Peck and Virginia Mayo; ‘Storm Warning,’ starring Ginger Rogers, Doris Day, Ronald Reagan, and Steve Cochran; ‘Sugarfoot,’ in Technicolor, star¬ ring Randolph Scott, with Adele Jergens, Raymond Massey, and S. Z. Sakall; ‘Goodbye My Fancy,’ starring Joan Craw¬ ford and Frank Lovejoy; ‘Strangers On A Train,’ in the Alfred Hitchcock style; ‘Lightning Strikes Twice,’ starring Ruth Roman, Richard Todd, Mercedes McCambridge, and Zachary Scott. “Also, ‘The Enforcer,’ a U. S. Pictures production, starring Humphrey Bogart; ‘Painting The Clouds With Sunshine,’ a Technicolor musical; ‘Haircut,’ famous Ring Lardner story, to star Jane Wyman; ‘Working Our Way Through College,’ in Technicolor; ‘Operation Pacific,’ starring John Wayne; ‘The Big Trees,’ in Techni¬ color; ‘Raton Pass,’ starring Dennis Mor¬ gan, Patricia Neal, Steve Cochran, and Scott Forbes; ‘The Story Of Folsom.’ “Also, ‘Jim Thorpe, All American,’ star¬ ring Burt Lancaster as Jim Thorpe and Charles Bickford as Glenn ‘Pop’ Warner; ‘The Travelers,’ starring Kirk Douglas and Ruth Roman; ‘The Story Of The Immortal Will Rogers,’ in Technicolor, and ‘Only The Valiant,’ a Cagney Production, star¬ ring Gregory Peck. “The schedule of Warner pictures cur¬ rently in preparation is the most exten¬ sive in the history of the company. It in¬ cludes ‘The Annapolis Story,’ ‘Broadway Revisited,’ Joan Crawford in a musical drama; ‘The Candy Kid,’ in Technicolor, starring Randolph Scott; ‘Come Fill The Cup,’ a new novel by Harlan Ware; ‘The Fighting Marine,’ based on the exploits of Peter Ortiz; ‘The Four Chaplains,’ based on Dr. Daniel Poling’s ‘Your Daddy Did Not Die’; ‘Mara Maru,’ a story of the South Seas by Philip Yordan, Sydney Harmon, and Hollister Noble; ‘Just Off Broadway,’ a Technicolor musical, star¬ ring June Haver and Gene Nelson; ‘Rear Guard,’ James Warner Bellah novel, star¬ ring Gary Cooper; ‘Room For One More,’ based on a new novel by Anna Perrott Rose, and ‘Serenade,’ the James M. Cain novel, with Dennis Morgan and Ruth Roman. “And, for the benefit of a few irre¬ sponsible gossips, I want to say that the only screens which will carry Warner productions will be the screens of motion picture theatres of the world over.” A joint statement from Harry M. War¬ ner and Major Albert Warner on the future of Warner Brothers in the industry highlighted the final sessions of the com¬ pany’s sales executive meeting at the Hotel Ambassador. They said in part: “So many people today are obsessed with worries and fears. We at Warners have no obsession except that of making and marketing the best pictures we know how. We have no obsession that tele¬ vision or any other medium is going to swerve us off the path of continuing to make the finest pictures possible at a profit to the corporation and to the people who have a right to expect to make profit in the exhibiting of our product.” Following the Warners’ joint statement, the session was closed by Ben Kalmen¬ son, who told the assembled sales execu¬ tives in part: “To the history of pioneering ventures in production and company operation that have earned us the trade description as ‘the company with guts’, we are right now adding our most important chapter. We are formulating a producing and merchan¬ dising policy that more than ever guaran¬ tees profit, not only to the company but to the people with whom we do business. And what makes this possible is our recognition that in production and in sales, the further we move from accepted formulas, the closer we are to success. “What this business needs is a final and drastic departure from the past and shedding of old and frayed conceptions of theatre operations.” Col. Decla res On Pref. New York — Columbia Pictures Corpora¬ tion announced last week that the board of directors had declared a quarterly divi¬ dend of $1.06% per share on the $4.25 cumulative preferred stock of the com¬ pany, payable on Aug. 15, 1950, to stock¬ holders of record on Aug. 1, 1950. ANSWER TO YOUR TECHNICAL PROBLEMS The Altec Service Man and the organization behind him l6l Sixth Avenue, New York 13, N. Y. protecting the theatre— first place in entertainment July 19, 1950