The Film Daily (1943)

1W DAILY Friday, May 14, 1943 • • R6VICIUS Of SHORT SUBJECTS • • "Show Business at War" (March of Time) 20th-Fox 18 mins. Tops The film industry stands to profit heavily from the glowing tribute accorded the show business by the newest March of Time release. Since emphasis falls on the work done by the film world in behalf of the war effort, the picture should boost skyhigh the prestige of the industry. The picture, because of its very nature, becomes a must for every theater program. It generates tremendous good-will for the business. The picture represents a change of pace for the March of Time, being popular entertainment of a high order. In its parading of an imposing list of stellar personalities of stage, screen and radio the footage automatically becomes the most attractive March of Time subject ever to be offered to picture fans, who will revel in the sight of their screen favorites doing their bit for their country. Here are some of the industry's biggest names shown engaged in a variety of activities advancing the nation's war effort. Among the industry war groups whose work is touched upon is the WAC. The personalities who crowd the film are caught in characteristic and informal poses. The film is a superb editing job. This is a short that offers the exhibitor a chance to do himself and the industry a world of good. "Merchant Seamen" (This Is America) RKO 17 Mins. Fine Again the merchant seaman who is doing so much to bring about a victory over the Axis is the subject of a film tribute. Although the material is not exceptionally new, it has been handled in an interesting manner. Besides, we cannot tell too often of the job which the merchant marine is doing in this war. The footage shows the merchant seaman in training and in action. The scenes have been wisely chosen under the supervision of Fredrick Ullman, Jr. The picture has good direction by Larry O'Reilly. This is an exciting subject deserving of a booking. "Shipyard Symphony" (TerryToon) 20th-Fox 7 mins. Musically Okay Th scene is a shipyard where all the workers are animals. An Ameri can eagle conducts them in a sym ■ phony composed of the sounds made by the animals in the course of their work. The cartoon, which is in Technicolor, is entertaining primarily because of its musical content. "Jittering Jitterbugs" Sack Amusement Enterprises 11 mins. Hot Stuff Although this musical short was produced for colored audiences, it could well stand exhibition gener i»-.-% ally, for the film has much entertainment of wide appeal. The pace is hot and furious in a potpourri of music, dancing and comedy. The colored cast goes mad to the accompaniment of Les Norman's band. Among the leading performers are Arthur White's Lindy Hoppers and Hamtree Harrington, who shoulders the comedy burden. Those who like colored entertainment should find tiie jive short worth their attention. Available is a special advance trailer. "He Dood It Again" (TerryToon) 20th-Fox 7 mins. Okay for the Kids Super Mouse does his stuff again in the manner of Superman. His opponent is a vicious cat terrorizing the mouse population. The rodents are on the verge of being destroyed by the villain when Super Mouse steps in and routs the enemy. The Technicolor cartoon is strictly kid stuff. "Little Clayton Farmfront Wonder" Universal 9 mins. Interesting Most interesting subject in this entertaining short has to do with the manufacture of dry ice in the oven climate of California's Salton Sea. The rest of the footage is devoted to a four-year-old who operates a farm tractor, a device that repairs old light bulbs, the growing of prickly pears and fish that are caught with clover. "Who's Superstitious?" (Passing Parade) M-G-M 10 mins. Okay John Nesbitt undertakes to explain certain superstitions to which mankind clings. Especially interesting is the story of how one of them led Mathew Maury to the development of the science of oceanography. The short has been well produced and entertainingly told, with nice touches of humor here and there. "U" Names Gomersall as Assistant to Scully (Continued from Page 1) Films Cincinnati exchange in 1919, after being mustered out of the armed forces. He made rapid progress with the company, and during the 10 years he remained with the company, he was manager of the Buffalo, Minneapolis and Indianapolis exchanges, and finally, assistant to the general sales manager of the company. In 1930, he joined Universal, as district manager out of the Chicago branch. In 1941, he was appointed to the post of Western division manager, which position he held until his present promotion. O'Keefe entered the industry 25 years ago, as a salesman for a Seattle motion picture equipment firm. In 1920 he took his first job as a film salesman, working for FBO in Denver. He spent two years on the job and two for M-G-M's Denver exchange, and then became branch manager for RKO-Pathe for a period of seven years. He came to Universal in 1931 as manager of the Portland branch, later was given the Los Angeles branch and in 1939, was made district manager. Ascap Qualifies to Do Business in North Dakota State officials of North Dakota have notified Ascap that the Society's compliance with Chapter 115 of the 1939 Session Laws has been accepted, and that the documents submitted by the Society have been accepted and filed as provided for by said statute. As a result of this action, the Society is now doing business in the State of North Dakota. Licenses in this sjtate are handled through the Minnesota office of the Society which is iffhder the direction or E. W ~ Sol Lesser to Make Pic Of Second Wing Canteen (Continued from Page 1) taken immediately, it was announced yesterday. Project was agreed upon by Antoinette Perry, chairman of the Wing's Board of Directors; Sidney Fleischer, attorney for the Wing; and Sol Lesser, who produced the recently completed "Stage Door Canteen," and who has an exclusive contract with the Wing for the Canteen pix. A proposal was also considered from the Hollywood Canteen that the latter join in the venture by providing the background of the film colony's canteen for the forthcoming picture. Other canteens under consideration are those now operating in Washington, Boston, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Cleveland and Newark. Lesser returns to Hollywood immediately to start preliminary work for the new film. No Footage Yet Received On Tunis-Bizerte Capture Washington — Nothing has yet been received for the newsreels on the capture of Tunis and Bizerte, an official of the Army's Bureau of Public Relations told The Film Daily yesterday. "Nothing has come in from the Tunisian front since the Army started moving North," he said, remarking that he was still hopeful that some footage would arrive in time for the Monday newsreel make-up. "We're going to work on the double-quick to get the reels anything that comes in," he said. A sequence on the funeral of General Andrews in Reykjavik, Iceland, was in the laboratory last night, and will be available for Monday's newsreel make-up. "Aqua Thrills" Columbia 9 mins. Okay An excellent review of water sports with emphasis on the thrills provided by them. Various trT \ of water craft are shown in acv^yi in shot after shot throbbing with excitement. The photography enhances the film's value as entertainment immensely. Bill Stern proves a stirring commentator. Call this red meat for sports lovers. "Barnyard Blackout" (TerryToon) 20th-Fox 7 mins. Okay A rooster gets a lesson on airraid procedure from Gandy the Goose and a cat. He is taught in amusing fashion what can happen when blackout rules are violated. Gandy is good for plenty of laughs. The cartoon is in Technicolor. Call it a better than fair booking. "Gay Rio" (Magic Carpet of Movietone) 20th-Fox 9 mins. Excellent Lowell Thomas has built a stirring short around the sights and thrills of Rio de Janeiro. Technicolor brings out all the beauty and fascination of the city. The short covers a lot of ground in its limited footage. It contains some exciting shots of the Brazilian capital. A lot of footage is alloted to the famous carnival. These scenes are breath-taking. They are an amazing display of color certain to impress the beholder enormously. RKO "Gem-Jams" So-So 18 mins. Here's the one about the jealous wife again. Repetition has not conspired to make the favorite theme of the Leon Errol comedies any funnier. The customers will find little laugh material in the short, which is purely for the immature minds. This time Errol, a jewelry salesman, falls under suspicion when he calls on a woman customer at his boss' orders. The comedian has a deuce of a time establishing his innocence. At the end it turns out that his wife and the customer are pals. Lambert Hillyer directed and Bert Gilroy produced. "Wild Horses" (Pete Smith Specialty) M-G-M 8 Mins. Fine Pete Smith applies his wit to the subject of wild horses in this short, an extremely entertaining item. The footage deals with horse flesh that turned wild after its abandonment by miners of the gold rush days. The animals are given personalities for humorous purposes. Pete gets them into a lot of situations parallel to those in which humans get involved. For excitement there are a number of well-photographed horse fights.