Independent Exhibitors Film Bulletin (1952)

Heard in Hdllywddd Samuel Goldwyn has boldly told the movie industry that his next picture, known only as "Production 89," may be made available to Phonevision, or one of the other pay-as-you-go TV mediums, if they are ready . . . Selznick Releasing Organization is about to be revived for re-issue of some of the old D. O. S. hits . . . Burt Lancaster moved around behind the camera to direct final scenes of "His Majesty O'Keefe," when director Byron Haskin had to fly back from the "Fifi" location to prep his next assignment . . . Vera Ralston will be backed by the strongest cast in Republic history for her upcoming "The Golden Tide" . . . RKO s short subjects department just completed six two-reelers in 12 days — a record for any studio . . . Danny Thomas looks so good in "The Jazz Singer" that Jack Warner decided to rush him into "The Singing Fool," another Al Jolson hit . . . 20th has activated Christine Weston's old novel, "Dark Wood," and assigned it to producer Otto Preminger and director Henry Hathaway for a December start . . . Columbia made the winning bid to distribute Wisberg-Pollexfen's recently canned "The Velvet Cage" . . . Merion Cooper is rushing plans to produce a drawing room comedy in Cinerama to confound the critics who say the process won't work on indoor plots . . . Arnold Grant says positively there'll be no RKO pix released to television. Smart, those Texas exhibs. They're screening filmed prayers to bring rain to their parched, drought-stricken state. And the audiences are beating a path to their doors like the Moslems to Mecca . . . Pathe is doing some of the bankrolling as well as the tinting on Albert Zugsmlth's new Pathecolor comedy, "Female of the Species" . . . Edward G. Robinson will star in "Harness Bull," which producers Jules Levy and Arthur Gardner will make, starting November 28 . . . The Paramount co-production deal with Ponti-De Laurentis is for 10 pictures annually, for a two-year period — all of them to be filmed in Italy . . . Alan Ladd remains on in Europe after he completes "The Red Beret," to start a second Warwick Production for Columbia release. It's titled 'The White South," and it rolls in Munich, around February I . . . Paramount is really concentrating on building of new talent. Production chief Don Hartman considers it's a "must" . . . Fox picked up Michael Rennie's contract for another term . . . Abbott and Costello dropped that $5,000,000 suit against U-l over the release of their old pix to Realart. And about time, too . . . Barbara Stanwyck reports to U-l for the starring role in "Stopover," a Ross Hunter production . . . Jose Ferrer goes into partnership with Collier Young and Ida Lupino to produce his Broadway hit, "The Shrike," for RKO release . . . Lex Barker optioned the Johnston McCulley novel, "Sword of the Viking" for inde production. What odds that Jack Broder bankrolls it for a Realart release? . . . George Marshall checks off the Paramount lot with the completion of "Houdini" to prep his inde production of "Texas to Tombstone," in which Bill Holden will star. By JAY ALLEN RKO releases nine features between now and March I — three in Technicolor and one in Trucolor . . . Latest gross on "The Greatest Show On Earth" is now $9,000,000. They're predicting $15,000,000 . . . Edward Small is going allout on participation deals with producers, directors, actors and writers to fulfill his 12picture slale for the next year . . . Gary Cooper will star in Milton Sperling's "Blowing Wild," a Mexican oil story which rolls in February . . . It took them better than four years to get around to it, but RKO finally previewed Jane Russell's "Montana Belle" for the Hollywood press . . . Kathryn Grayson's last on her MGM pact will be "Kiss Me Kate" . . . Warners ordered 400 Technicolor prints of "The Iron Mistress" for blanket booking between Thanksgiving and Christmas . . . The House Un-Ameri ! can Activities Committee cancelled its return engagement to Hollywood next month . . . Dick Powell has been set to meg a second feature at RKO, following "Split Second" . . . U-l dropped ' Scott Brady when he balked at playing the second lead to Rock Hudson in "The Golden Blade" . . . H arry Cohn's $201,400 yearly salary' hasn't been cut, despite the impression left by the SEC report from Washington . . . Producer Jules Schermer ankled 20th-Fox upon completion of his two-year pact . . . Walt Disney says his "Peter Pan," which is now on the last lap of production after three years of work, will costl $4,000,000. THE SPOTLIGHT John Wayne is commanding even more attention than usual in Hollywood these days. With his partnership production company operating at full tilt, his bow-out from Republic Pictures to devote himself to a second production outfit, and half a dozen producers angling for his services to star in important upcoming films, Wayne is one of the busiest men in Movietown. In the four months since Wayne formed Wayne-Fellows productions, in partnership with Robert Fellows, he has taken on considerable new stature in the industry as a man who can produce motion picture hits as well as star in them. "Big Jim McLain," the first of the Robert-Fellows productions is a hot boxoffice bet. And "Plunder in the Sun," which has just gone before the cameras in Mexico, with Glenn Ford starred, appears to have equal potentialities as a real money-maker. Future plans call for two pictures per year from Wayne-Fellows, one in which the actol will star, and the other he will produce anoj direct. In addition, he is now making plans to sej up a completely independent company lJ produce "The Alamo," the picture whicll was the basis of his rift with Republic. Thil has been a pet property of the actor's fol over ten years, and will probably be hil next chore. It has been juggled back and] forth on the Republic slate for at least tw.j years, with the result that Wayne finallj withdrew the commitment and decided t<" make it on his own. He will assume thj triple-threat responsibilities of producer, dil rector and star of the picture. It is not yd known whether he will release "The Alamol through Warner Brothers, as he has all el the Wayne-Fellows Productions, or distritl ute through one of the other major releasinl companies now angling for the property. In addition to Wayne's personal production, he retains two outside acting commil ments per year — one with Warner Brother! and the other with RKO. There is also a unwritten agreement with John Ford, whJ gave him his start in pictures way back i|| 1929, that he star in any Ford productio picture for which his services are desire* Wayne began his movie career as a pro man for the now-defunct Fox Film Corpora tion. Through the intervention of For' Raoul Walsh gave him his first acting jc in " The Big Trail." Although he attractc nationwide attention in the picture, his c.j reer did not actually begin to prosper Utii ten years later when again Ford came his rescue by persuading producer Walt Wanger to star him in "Stagecoach." The rest is history. In 1950 he became tH number one boxoffice star on all of the ml jor movie polls and continues to rank rinl at the lop. On the record, he should hal comparable success as a producer. P«g« 10 FILM BULLETIN Novembor 17, 1952