Independent Exhibitors Film Bulletin (1952)

behind the £ceneJ cj[ Jitm Production STUDIO SIZ6-UPS Xxcltah* BULLETIN Jeature By JAY ALLEN ALLIED ARTISTS Switch In Company Name Has Not Hypoed AA Product While Monogram has put its entire slate of films under the Allied Artists banner, there has been little evidence thus far that the change is resulting in a higher quality of pictures. Merely putting the AA label on a Bowery Roys film doesn't make it an "A" picture. A quickie by any other name still grosses the same. Currently, the studio is shut down, with only a skeleton staff operating. The shuttering has been announced as an expansion program move in preparation for the speed-up in production due to get under way February 1. The building program will include a 2100 square-foot, sound-proof planing mill, to be constructed at a cost of $25,000; additional star dressing rooms; new facilities for the make-up departments, and, possibly, new offices lor a larger writer staff. This can be accepted as evidence that AA has definite plans for a step-up in its production program for 1953. The company executives say that many of the properties are being revised to enhance their production values, even though it will undoubtedly entail an increase in budgets. The good reaction to such pictures as "Flat Top", "Battle Zone," "Hiawatha" and "Torpedo Alley", they say, prompted the revision. Among the properties undergoing revision are: "The Annapolis Story," "Wichita," "Pocahantas," "The Black Knight," "Hajji Baba," and "Fighter Command". Hayes Goetz, incidentally has just been given "Pocahantas" as his first assignment for AA under the long-term producer contract he signed with the company, following his recent exit from MGM. It will be filmed in color. "The Annapolis Story" and "Wichita", for which top stars are being sought, have been given Technicolor commitments. There arc indications also, that AA may invade the field of musical production during 1953 — a radical department for the company. Executive producer Lindslcy Parsons has been conferring with Joanne Gilbert and Tom Douglas, producer of the Windmill Reveue, currently playing a Las Vegas nightclub, with an eye toward basing a movie on the revue. Page 8 FILM BULLETIN December 29, 1952 HARRY COHN Cites Big Ten COLUMBIA Prospects For 1953 Best Since War Years for Columbia Columbia faces the new year with the brightest prospects, production-wise, since the lush war boom. And from the standpoint of quality of production, it appears to be shaping up as one of the greatest in company history Harry Cohn, Columbia president, has singled out 10 productions from the 60-odd planned for the year, which he contends will be among the most important ever turned out by the studio. In this select group, he lists "Salome," "Miss Sadie Thompson" and "The Gay Girls," all starring Rita Hayworth; "From Here to Eternity," which is currently being cast from the ranks of Hollywood top name talent; "The Life of Casanova," "The River of the Sun," "Let's Do It Again" (Jane Wyman-Ray Milland), "The Red Beret" (Alan Ladd), and an until led Judy llolliday comedy. it is the general concensus in Hollywood, that Columbia's '53 program, to be produced under 1hc executive supervision of Jerry Wald, will see a decrease in secondary features, and a marked increase in the ex ploitable type of "A" films with which Wald's name has long been associated. Toward this end, Cohn has added four producers to the roster — Robert Arthur, William Fadiman, Lewis J. Rackmil and Wald's old side-kick at Warner Brothers, Ranald MacDougall. In addition, Maxwell Shane has been signed to a writer-director pact. Winding up the old year, Columbia has two features in production: Sam Katzman's "Conquest of Cochise" (John HodiakRobert Stack-Joy Page) and "49 Men" (John Ireland-Richard Denning-Suzanne Dalbert), the latter an Esskay (also Katzman) production. William Castle is directing "Cochise" and Fred F. Sears megs "Men". It is not alone in the production of theatre films that Columbia will shine during the new year. A vastly expanded program of television production is also shaping up, which is expected to utilize one-third of the studio's present stage space. LIPPERT PRODUCTIONS Two Foreign Productions Added To Release Schedule Lippert continues to move along, producing a picture occasionally, picking up independent productions here and there. The company has acquired releasing rights to a couple foreign films within the past fortnight. "Bachelor In Paris" (Dennis KingAnne Vernon-Mischa Auer), produced in France and England by Adelphi Films of London, has been set for a March release. The other acquisition, "Park Plaza 605" (Tom Conway), is yet to be filmed, with a tentative starting date of January 3. B & A Productions, Ltd., of London, will produce, with Bernard Knowles directing. Another pair of productions are currently in work for Lippert release. "Cario" (George Raft-Maria Canale) went before the cameras in Italy on December 2, with Ray Enright directing for producer Bcrnie Luber. "Spaceways" (Howard Duff-Eva Bartok) has been filming in England since November 27, with Terence Fisher directing and Michael Cabreras producing. (Continued on Page 9)