The Film Daily (1942)

DAILY Wednesday, June 3, 19 Brennan, Schwartz RKO Zone Managers (Continued from Page 1) son named James M. Brennan to head the Eastern Zone and Sol A. Schwartz the Western Zone. Brennan heretofore has been a division manager, in charge of the Washington, Trenton and New Brunswick territory, while Schwartz steps up from the post of division supervisor. RKO's metropolitan theaters are not affected by the new zone setup. Theaters under Brennan's supervision are Keith's, Lowell ; the Albee, Providence ; the Palace, Century, Regent, Temple and Capitol, Rochester, — Jay Golden, City Manager ; Keith's, Eckel, Paramount, and Empire, Syracuse, Harry Unterfort, City Manager; the State, Rivoli and Albany, New Brunswick ; the Lincoln, Capitol, Trent, State, Broad, Palace and Brunswick, Trenton; and Keith's, Washington, D. C. Schwartz's Western Zone includes the Tom Gorman Division, — the Pallace, Chicago ; the Virginia and Orpheum, Champaign ; Orpheum, Kansas City ; Orpheum, Des Moines ; and Orpheum, St. Paul; the Nat Holt Division,— the Hillstreet and Pantages, Los Angeles; the Golden Gate, San Francisco; and the Orpheum, Denver ; the Clem Pope Division,— the Palace and Allen, Cleveland ; the Harry McDonald Division, — Keith's Memorial and Boston Theater, Boston. Also the 105th Street, Cleveland; the Palace and Grand, Columbus and the Uptown, Detroit. Schwartz will be home office contact for the Mort Singer Theaters, namely, the Orpheum and Liberty, New Orleans; the Brandeis, Omaha; the Iowa, Cedar Rapids; the Orpheum, Davenport ; Orpheum, Dubuque ; the Capitol, Strand and Family, Marshalltown ; the Orpheum, Sioux City ; Orpheum, Waterloo ; and the Orpheum, Minneapolis. Conservation Program Of Studio PR Committee (Continued from Page 1) tion of all 16x20 still prints, careful pruning of mailing lists for stills and written material, less frequent mailings and eliminations of certain service. However, it was pointed out no service or activity has been eliminated or trimmed in such a way to seriously affect efficiency of national planting, and the press will continue to receive publicity pictures and copy in volume sufficiently to meet all legitimate needs. WEDDING BELLS Rhoda Rogers, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Budd Rogers, of New York City, was married to Ensign William B. Schulman, USNR, son of Mr. and Mrs. A. W. Schulman of Dayton, 0., Saturday. Fort Atkinson, Wis. — Corp. Robert W. Baier, manager of the Uptown here until his entry into the Army a year ago, has been married to Wilma Janet Kiester. Baier is now an instructor at Camp Wallace, Tex. Greenfield, Mass. — Helen A. Navicky, assistant manager of the Strand Theater, was married to Warrant Officer Alfred P. Lucas, at Holy Trinity Church. The couple will live at West Point, N. Y., where the bridegroom is stationed. reviews of new funis i "The Gay Sisters" with Barbara Stanwyck, George Brent, Gerafdine Fitzgerald Warner 108 Mins. SPLENDIDLY PRODUCED DRAMA SHOULD MAKE ITS MARK PRIMARILY WITH WOMEN AUDIENCES. It isn't often that an audience has the opportunity of watching two hellions at work in one picture. Whether such a situation provides a double treat or a double threat where entertainment is concerned is strictly a matter of individual taste. That poses a difficult problem in trying to gauge "The Gay Sisters'" allurement at the box office with any degree of accuracy. On the basis of a rough guess, those who make up the bulk of film attendance are likely to be disappointed; the others, the more ripened, are likely to find the film generally acceptable. This much is indisputable: this is diversion that will appeal chiefly to the ladies. The production savors too much of the stage, especially in its heavy reliance on dialogue, to meet the unqualified pleasure of the ardent film fan with any more than mild interest. The ingredients that make entertainment for Tom, Dick and Mary are not too strongly in evidence. Paradoxically, the maturer, the more sophisticated will be prone to find that very factor one of the film's most attractive assets. "The Gay Sisters" is a turbulent dramatic document that occasionally stabs the emotions sharply. It has a fair quota of touching and sentimental moments when moist eyes will be in order for the lady customers. The two unpleasant ladies are played by Barbara Stanwyck and Geraldine Fitzgerald. They are two of the three gay sisters of the title who find themselves victims of a litigation over the palatial home left by their father. Miss Stanwyck is motivated by hate and spite for George Brent with whom she entered into a marriage of convenience in order to acquire a large inheritance when the sisters' finances were at a low ebb. It seems Brent wants the ancestral mansion for a building project. A child complicates the situation. That they are the parents of the youngster is kept from the audience pretty well until far into the picture. That helps to create mystery. Miss Stanwyck softens up at the end, giving in to Brent and returning to him as his dutiful wife. Miss Fitzgerald is motivated by sex. Although married, she makes a deliberate play for the third sister's (Nancy Coleman's) finance (Gig Young), almost wrecking the girl's happiness. Henry Blanke guided the production, which is richly lavish and atmospherically impressive, for which thanks to Art Director Robert Haas. There is capable direction by Irving Rapper, who worked from a screenplay by Lenore Coffee based on the Stephen Longstreet novel. Max Steiner's score and Sol Polito's camera work deserve commendation. The principals handle their roles satisfactorily. Among the others Donald Crisp, Gene Lockhart, Grant Mitchell, Donald Woods, Helene Thimig, little Larry Simms stand out. CAST: Barbara Stanwyck, George Brent, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Donald Crisp, Gig Young, Nancy Coleman, Gene Lockhart, Larry Simms, Donald Woods, Grant Mitchell, William T. Orr, Anne Revere, Helene Thimig, George Lessey, Charles D. Waldron, "The Postman Didn't Ring" with Richard Travis, Brenda Joyce 20th -Fox 68 Mins. HUMAN LITTLE FILM WITH INTERESTING PLOT IS SOURCE OF PLENTY OF ENTERTAINMENT. Dealing heavily with human interest, "The Postman Didn't Ring" is an exhibit that speaks well for Producer Ralph Dietrich. It has a warm, pleasant quality and a plot structure that holds the interest unflaggingly right up to the finis. A sound piece of showmanship with loads of entertainment values, the production should not go begging for attention. The screenplay of Mortimer Braus, stemming from an original by Leon Ware and himself, is contrived with considerable skill from plot material that reveals much cleverness. The story has to do with the owner of a moribund country store (Richard Travis) who champions the poverty-stricken farmers against the town bank, which is responsible for their condition because it refuses to advance them loans in an attempt to acquire their property by foreclosure. A letter from his grandfather to his late father, delivered to Travis 50 years after it was written, changes the whole situation. The letter contains stock in the town bank, the present worth of which is a quarter of a million. This enables Travis to gain control of the bank and lend financial assistance to the farmers. The deposed heads of the bank try to land him in jail on a phoney charge, but he foils them with the aid of his attorney (Spencer Charters). Neatly worked into the story is a romance between Travis and Miss Joyce, a philatelist drawn to the Travis home in the hope of acquiring the priceless stamp on the letter. The film winds up with the marriage of the pair. Travis and Miss Joyce are extremely sincere in their work. Charters is the standout among the others in a role that is good for many chuckles. Also first-rate are Stanley Andrews, William Bakewell, Emma Dunn, Joseph Cawthorne, Erville Alderson. Harold Schuster's fine direction has helped to make "The Postman Didn't Ring" an attractive little bundle of film entertainment. CAST: Richard Travis, Brenda Joyce, Spencer Charters, Stanley Andrews, William Bakewell, Emma Dunn, Joseph Cawthorne, Oscar O'Shea, Erville Alderson, Jeff Corey, Frank M. Thomas, Will Wright, Betty Jean Hainey, Ethel Griffies, Henry Roquemore, Mary Servoss. » CREDITS: Producer, Ralph Dietrich; Director, Harold Schuster; Original Story, Mortimer Braus, Leon Ware; Screenplay, Mortimer Braus; Cameraman, Joseph MacDonald; Art Directors, Richard Day, Lewis Creber; Film Editor, Nick DeMaggio; Musical Director, Emil Newman. DIRECTION, Good. PHOTOGRAPHY, Good. Frank Reicher, David Clyde, Mary Thomas. CREDITS: Producer, Henry Blanke; Director, Irving Rapper; Screenplay, Lenore Coffee; Based on novel by Stephen Longstreet; Cameraman, Sol Polito; Film Editor, Warren Low; Art Director, Robert Haas; Musical Score, Max Steiner Musical Director, Leo F. Forbstein. DIRECTION, Good. PHOTOGRAPHY, Excellent. J V N Arbitrator Irked by Repetitious Teslimor (Continued from Page 1) day's hearing, asserting that much it could be eliminated. He suggest' that counsels reach some inform agreement so that each would co fine himself to one line of quesj and not duplicate ground cover* others. Pemberton informed " ti counsel that at future sessions 1 would, if necessary, take the nee ed steps to insure more speeci hearings. A member of the American Arb tration Association panels for "., years, Pemberton said he had pr sided at innumerable hearings. E cited one case involving hundreds i'1 employes with witnesses, but in th; case and others, he had been in pressed by the speed with which ev dence had been presented throug the arbitration process. He said 1 had taken pride in the record beir accumulated and that he did not 11 tend that it should be filled wit repetitious testimony. Clearance, Designated Run Case Filed in Wash. A demand for arbitration invol ing designated run and clearance h; been filed in Washington by Hem Hiser, operating the Hiser Theate Bethesda, Md., against the five co: senting companies. Hiser claims that the clearaw granted to the Avalon, Uptown, Ca vert and Apex theaters in Washinjj ton, D. C, and the Silver Theate Silver Springs, Md., is unreasonabl and that the defendant distribute have refused to grant him produ on a requested run. He asks th; the clearance of the theaters name be eliminated and that the run r< quested be allowed. Gunshot Wounds Fatal To Lt. Rons, Sergt. Scully Cincinnati — Lt. Karle H. Rohs, 3 " owner of The Rohs and The Opei House, Cynthiana, Ky., and offic< in charge of theater maintenance Ft. Knox, died from a gunsh' wound. Rohs is survived by h' widow and three children. Springfield, Mass. — Word was r ceived here of the death of Serg William Thomas Scully, for fr years doorman at Loew's Poli Th' ater here at the Gorgas hospital Panama Canal Zone. Official not fication from Maj. Gen. J. A. Ul said death was due to "gunshcj wounds." STORKS! Cincinnati — Saul Greenberg, fil attorney, is the father of an eigl Dound baby girl, born to his wif Dorothea, at the Jewish Hospifc here. IS HI *7 *7 M I Z ' "1 J X S I z 1 S l f I (I m d I ' WN