The Film Daily (1941)

jiday, November 7, 1941 II anadian Industry leels on Pegging (Continued from Page 1) jul pending wages for remainder the war. A committee was appointed to deal ith developments, following receipt further information on objection/ points. The chairman of the imittee is J. J. Fitzgibbons, presint of Famous Players, with memis comprising Nat Taylor, Louis jsenfeld, J. P. O'Loghlin, Ben ;':dsaler, Harry Alexander and F. Tolchard, secretary. O'Loghlin and Rosenfeld represent e distributors and Geldsaler the rcuits. Taylor, general manager of 20th entury Theaters, was re-elected esident of the Motion Picture SecDn for a third term. hoenixville Clearance 'ut Asked by Pizor-Coane (Continued from Page 1) •Iphia tribunal, charging that the -st-run Philadelphia clearance over it Colonial is unreasonable. The Colonial now follows Phila;lphia first-runs by 28 days and a complainants ask that the clearice be cut to 21 days. The five msenting companies are named in .•• complaint. ontinue Linden Arbitration ase Hearing in Washington chington Bureau of THE FILM DAILY Washington — Hearing on the arbiation complaint of the Linden the:er, Baltimore, over clearance ranted the Met continued yesterday ith owners of the Linden trying to :ove that it is not in competition ith the Met and the Met trying to rove that the area is highly com;titive and that the Linden entered le area with full knowledge of the tuaticn. James V. Hayes and Robert . Sher are counsel for the Linden. Meantime, Francis W. Hill, Jr., inner president of the Washington ar Association, has been named artrator in the case of the Charles heater at La Plata, Md., over clear'nce granted the Sidney Lust-owned Marlboro theater at Marlboro. 'olfe Kaufman A.M.'s Coast Rep. est Coast Bureau of THE FILM DAILY Hollywood — Wolfe Kaufman is reining as Hollywood representative .: Newsweek to become movie critic : AM, new Chicago daily. Three Metro Shorts Directors Advanced West Coast Bur., THE FILM DAILY Hollywood — Metro is advancing three shorts directors to the feature classification. They are Frederick Wilcox, Frederick Zinneman and Jules Dassin. Latter's first feature assignment is "Out of the Past," formerly known as "Salute to Courage." htrfifcujb of new mms "Four Jacks and a Jill" with Ray Bolger, Anne Shirley, Desi Arnaz RKO 68 Mirts. FANCIFUL MUSICAL ABOUT A BAND, A GIRL, AND A PHONY KING IS AVERAGE ENTERTAINMENT. There is a curious quality about this musical. It has a number of factors which would have sent it over the top as a film but it just never materializes. Film has good title, tuneful score and a cast whose potentialities are never fully utilized. Tough too, because this is John Twist's initial effort as a producer. Twist, who has been one of the crack scripters on the RKO lot, also did the screenplay. But his imaginative little tale hardly makes the grade under Jack Hively's standard direction. The great dancing star, Ray Bolger, has the romantic lead and is quite satisfying as Nifty, the piano player, in love with Anne Shirley. Bolger opens the film with song and dance number, "I'm in a Good Shape for the Slvape I'm In." Lot of footage goes by before he does another number, his popular prize fighter routine. As for Miss Shirley, while she is attractive and cute, she is not strong enough to stand up as a singing lead. On the other hand, June Havoc, an excellent comedienne, who was taken from the Broadway show, "Pal Joey," clicks with her rendition of "I Haven't a Thing to Wear." Aside from number, she gets little to do which is regrettable. Jack Durant, also from the same show, does exceedingly well in too brief a role as the gangster. Desi Arnaz is the slick and phony king. Noted for his singing he only gets a chance to render a few bars at the close of the film. Yarn is about the Four Jacks who get a job in a night club because Nina (Anne Shirley) tells the owner she sang before a foreign king. The phony king finds it convenient to drop in at the club to escape the gangster who is after him because he is playing around with the gangster's girl. Complications crop up and are just about settled when the real king enters the night club and is immediately attracted by Nina s beauty. That's about all there is to it. Supporting cast is good. Eddie Foy, Jr., Jack Briggs and William Blees deserve mention as the other members of the band. Mort Greene and Harry Revel have knocked off a couple of catchy numbers. Big one will probably be "Boogie Woogie Conga," then there is "Karenina," "Wherever You Are," "You Go Your Way" and "She's the Detour on the Bumpy Road to Love." CAST: Ray Bolger, Anne Shirley, Desi Arnaz, Jack Durant, June Havoc, Jack Briggs, Eddie Foy, Jr., William Blees, Henry Daniell. CREDITS: Producer, John Twist; Director, Jack Hively; Original, John Twist; Additional Material by Monte Brice; Cameraman, Russell Metty; Film Editor, George Hively. DIRECTION, Standard. PHOTOGRAPHY, Good. Leah Klar Leaves RKO Leah Klar, for many years secretary to Roxy but more recently in RKO Radio's foreign department, has resigned. "A Date With the Falcon" with George Sanders, Wendy Barrie, Allen Jenkins RKO 63 Mins. ANOTHER INTERESTING CRIME ADVENTURE OF THE FALCON; FILM IS BALANCED NICELY WITH COMDEY TO MAKE AN ADEQUATE PROGRAM PICTURE. Combining comedy and melodrama, George Sanders' latest adventure as the Falcon is up to par for a general program feature. What the film could use is some punchy situations. Entire proceedings directed by Irving Reis are on the leisurely side. This time the Falcon hopes to get away with his fiancee on a honeymoon. On the eve of his departure, a detective friend acquaints him with a situation involving a formula for making synthetic diamonds and the attempts of a gang to get the formula. Aware of the interest of the Falcon, the gang decides to remove him from the scene. Meanwhile, his girl friend becomes more upset over the Falcon's digressions. The fact that one of the gang is an attractive brunette does not help matters. The gang catches up with the Falcon but he gets away by persuading the girl mobster that she is getting double-crossed. That accomplished, the rest is easy. Sanders carries his character well but at times is a bit too ingratiating. Credit for the comedy should go to James Gleason, the detective friend, always excellent, and Allen Jenkins, the Falcon's assistant. Wendy Barrie is appropriately beautiful and upset about her husband-to-be. Mona Maris and Victor Killian are good in minor roles. For a detective yarn, the script fails to generate enough suspense and build-up situations. It appears the writers can't make up their mind the type of personality to endow their character. Film needs pace and a more logical plot development. CAST: George Sanders, Wendy Barrie, Allen Jenkins, James Gleason, Mona Maris, Victor Killian, Frank Moran, Russ Clark, Eddie Dunn, Ed Gargan, Alec Craig, Frank Martinelli. CREDITS: Producer, Howard Benedict; Director, Irving Reis; Screenplay, Lynn Root and Frank Fenton; Cameraman, Robert DeGrasse; Film Editor, Harry Marker. DIRECTION, Standard. PHOTOGRAPHY, Good. "Village" Appeal Wednesday Hearing will be conducted Wednesday by the Board of Regents on the appeal for a review of the state censor's refusal to license "The Forgotten Village," the John SteinbeckHerbert Kline documentary film of Mexican life. The American Civil Liberties Union will file a brief with the Board of Regents at that time. Blake Starts Quiz Short "Kitchen Quiz," second of a series of one-reel quiz shorts being produced by B. K. Blake for Columbia release, went into production yesterday at the West Coast Service Studios. Ed East and Polly, will be featured, with Charles Harten doing the camera work. Extended Runs Hold Subsequent Menace Milwaukee — A shortage of subsequent-run product appears imminent here as a result of long hold-overs of flickers by Fox first-run houses. Fox, which has not as yet renewed its Paramount contract, has been playing pictures for an extended time in its Palace, Wisconsin and Strand Theaters. "Honky Tonk" and "The Feminine Touch," for instance, are in their third week at the Palace. "A Yank in the R.A.F." played the Wisconsin for two weeks and then the Strand for an additional two weeks, while "You'll Never Get Rich" ran one week at the Palace and two at the Strand. Up until the reopening of the Riverside two weeks back, the Warner was the only first-run clearing pictures with consistent regularity after a one-week showing. Second Jackson-Murphy Columbus House Robbed Columbus, O. — The second stickup in 10 days in the Jackson-Murphy theater chain netted two bandits $400 here. Oct. 24 a pair of holdup men took $32 from the cashier of the Alhambra as she left the box office of the north side theater, then today two bold thieves tied up three employes of the Uptown in the heart of the business section and made off with $400 in bills. Gaining entrance to the theater before business hours by telling the assistant manager, Dave Hollenbach, they had lost a purse in the show the previous night, the gunmen then tied up Hollenbach, the theater's auditor, Kenneth Goodwin, and an office worker, Cathryn Young, with shoestrings they brought with them and made the three theater employes lie on the floor while they took the cash from a deposit sack. The Uptown is one of a chain operated by Virgil Jackson and John Mur phy. " Powell in Auto Crash Detroit — Charles H. Powell, state salesman for National Screen Service, is in Hurley Hospital, Flint, with serious injuries received in an automobile accident near there. Two Top Grid Games To Be ]%BC Telecasts Two of the nation's top football teams, college and pro, will be telecast by NBC's Station WNBT next week. The Washington Redskins, leading the Eastern division of the National Professional Football League, tangle with the Dodgers at Ebbets Field on Sunday beginning at 2 p.m. The Wolverines of the University of Michigan will clash with Lou Little's Columbia Lions on Nov. 15, at 2 p.m., under the electric scrutiny of NBC's television cameras. Jack Fraser will be the football commentator for both contests.