The Film Daily (1947)

(■Wednesday, April 16, 1947 nf'l Optima Plans tforld-Wide Disirib. :: Beginning with offices in New Drk, Brazil, the Middle East and v Zealand, International Optima, ed by Joseph Auerbach, plans ->blish a world-wide organiza I ^f the foreign distribution of ' Veepee Maurice Livingston told MBB Film Daily yesterday that with ecent purchase of the assets of :; ternational Film Classics, Interna lal Optima was loaded with pro ict, citing such wares as: Hal Roach atures and shorts, "Passport to eceaven," 35 Hopalong Cassidy west " us and W. R. Frank's productions. ' Livingston emphasized the fact .at International Film Classics is much in business; they were :-mply going to hammer away at a 3 ttcn of new product and preferred i make this deal with International j si puma. .. International Optima also bought '.: om Loet Bamstyn foreign mm ghts to "New Wine," "Swiss Family | ^ ooinson," "Beyond Tomorrow,"' oay for Three" and "They Meet • gain." « The company will not only handle .reign re-issues, Livingston pointed /MK, Due new product as well. He reU-:aied that Frexy Aueroach is financ) .g a million dollar vehicle on tne life '"Dvorak, the composer. The him U ill be made in Czecnoslovakia with 7 1 American cast as well as a "top pi mencan director and a top Amer' an wricer," Livingston said, ae aes the Dvorak film which should > reaay by Winter, AuerDach was so interested m two more "iankee__ngo pix being made in Italy, ac iruing to Livingston. Botn AuerDacn and Livingston m ■nd to ny to Europe soon for a iree-weeK. tour. Forgotten Casualty" lays on Pixad Screen ■ "The Forgotten Casualty," 1 tcouras produced film which is jearneading the $2,500,001) fund rive of tne N. Y. TJ.-Beilevue Reaoilitation Fund, last night started two-week outdoor run on the Pixad ■reen in Times Square. War Vet1 an Ralph Padavano, one-armed atchmaker who stars in the film, ailed the switch which started the Im in ceremonies participated in by ijregory Peck, Lucienne Boyer, Mrs. i kraes Doolittle and others. J __} en a d-> irthaa Do 9 Lj re etinai Apr. 16 Paul Slaane Charles Chaplin Jean Stevens Fifi Dorsay ALONG kTHE RIALTO Mid-tceeh Report • • • THERE ARE THOSE New Jersey legislators who privately incline to the opinion that the municipal improvement measure passed by the Legislature, which permits certain Coastal cities to impose an admissions tax, will be held unconstitutional A court test would take about a year But collection of a ticket and other so-called "luxury" taxes for about that period might go a long way towards solving Atlantic City's pressing financial problem, it is said And there you may have the possible explanation for the passage of the bill. ▼ ▼ ▼ • • • DON'T BE SURPRISED if the British trade mission which leaves for Moscow on Friday to discuss a trade agreement with the Soviets has films somewhere on the agenda. ... • Universal is reported paying upwards of $150,000 against 10 per cent of the gross for the pic rights to Frederic Wakeman's "The Saxon Charm" Rinehart plans September publicaton of Wakeman's first novel since "The Hucksters. ... • "Grapes of Wrath" is being released in Norway without the distributor's desired foreword explaining that the social conditions depicted no longer prevail Norwegian exhibs., 'tis said, objected to the screen foreword as "political commentary" And who do you suppose thought up that one? ... • Warren Slee won the M-G-M Chicago office stork derby, nosing out George Rose who is sti'.l at the post Daughter, Angela, was born to Mrs. Slee on Easter Sunday while Warren was awaiting the arrival in Chicago of the then Londonbound Ben Goetzes. ... • Didja know that Madeleine Carroll is embarking upon the semi-documentary field in France via her own producing company? ... • The AAAA will enter the political arena on Monday with a mass rally at the 46th St. Theater The parent body of all talent groups is prepared to battle the proposed abolition of industry-wide bargaining and the closed shop T T T • • • JAMES E. STROOCK. president of Brooks Costume Co., arrives in Hollywood Saturday from New York to mix pleasure with business He'll visit daughters Geraldine Brooks at Warners and Gloria Stroock at Paramount, line up costume contracts for more pix to be shot in the East, seek scripts for Broadway production and discuss a releasing deal for that musical pic which Marion Gering is now shooting in Cuba. ... • As Your Favorite Industry Newspaper forecast some days back, that Warners-Universal spat is wholly a thing of the past Universal pix are being booked all along the WB circuit. ... • Columbia yesterday released photostats of a note written by the late Langley Collyer last November accepting an invitation to see "The Jolson Story," then playing at the Music Hall Langley failed to keep the appointment, apologized, made several other dates, none of which he kept T T T • • • RKO's PUBLICITY BOYS are going to present Rutgers Neilson and his missus with a sterling silver bowl on the occasion of their 25th wedding anniversary tomorrow Unnerstan' that the Neilsons are goin' to celebrate the big day with dinner at Sardi's and then attend the show, "Sweethearts." ... • Arthur M. Loew was at the gala opening of M-G-M's new Metro Theater in Antwerp, Belgium, last week House was rebuilt from the Scala, buzz bomb target. ... • Henry A. Wallace's New Republic may aspire to rate as a film trade sheet April 14 issue contains a strictly trade story on William Goldman's Philly litigation, written by Don W. Craig Yep, something new's been added to Henry's New Republic You figure it out. ... • Siritzky Int'l figures that 320,000 New Yorkers saw "The Well Digger's Daughter" in its 30-week run at the Avenue Playhouse. ... • "Life With Father" is turning to the movies for promotional help Triangle Films has produced a cartoon in color which started a 13-week Pixad Signs run last night. . . .