The Film Daily (1941)

V"»«UK Wednesday, July 30, 1941 Benefits of Decree Up to Individual (Continued from Page 1) shackled by necessity of turning out a specific number of pictures to meet release dates, Sears said, but instead they will be able to give each story the full treatment it deserves without budget restrictions. Each picture will be sold for its full worth, he said. "For our part," Sears declared, "we intend to exert our greatest efforts and invest the largest sums to date in turning out good pictures. Further than that, our advertising and publicity departments, headed by Charles Einfeld, Mort Blumenstock and Bob Taplinger, are going to help the exhibitor as never before by their elaborate plans to create public interest in, and a demand for, our pictures. If that doesn't help exhibitors to greater prosperity than ever, nothing will." Other speakers introduced by Sears included Jesse Lasky and Howard Levinson of the home office legal department. Preview Plus Departing Feature Stirs Squawks (Continued from Page 1) Wednesday, together with the main feature of the current week, at the 9 o'clock show on Tuesday night. This differs slightly from the twofor-one policy that caused independent operators so much concern in the past and was discontinued by agreement at the insistence of the now locally inoperative Allied Theater Owners of New York, Inc., in that a complete double bill is not presented. _ . . From reliable sources it is indicated that the members of the local branch of the MPTO of New York will meet to take action on the new policy which is advertised as "a new idea." CNFE Opens N. Y. Exchange Consolidated National Film Exchanges, distributors of all-colored cast pictures, have opened a New York exchange at 729 Seventh Ave. to service the Eastern territory, according to Ted Toddy, president. George Spirocostas is the local booker. Plans are under way for production in the East, Toddy said. Ascap-NBC Pact Near Signing Ascap and NBC are in agreement on fundamentals, and a pact covering the use of the Society's music on the radio network is expected to be signed this week. Legal angles, including provisions covering relations in states with anti-Ascap laws, are said to be holding up the pact. Conference of attorneys representing both sides will be held today. :< REVIEWS Of THE ItEUI FILITIS :< "Hold That Ghost" with Abbott and Costello Universal 86 Mins. SURE-FIRE RIOTOUS COMEDY IS CINCH TO PLEASE AND SHOULD RING THE BOX-OFFICE BELL. Following the formula of the former A & C hits, with the sure-fire locale of a haunted tavern, and a rapid succession of those old-new burlesque routines, "Hold That Ghost" is a cinch to please all those theater patrons who have become rabid A & C fans in the past few months. Lou Costello has never been funnier. At times his comedy is so fast that lines of dialogue are ignored and the audience roars at the pantomime he uses with his lines. A plausible story, with Richard Carlson, Joan Davis and Evelyn Ankers to give it the "straight" touch, and probably more mechanical contrivances than have been used in a half-dozen chillers, is a perfect vehicle for the boys. Ted Lewis and his band and The Andrews Sisters, who do a couple of routines at the beginning and the end of the film, should add considerably to the box-office draw of this. Producers Burt Kelly and Glenn Tryon, with Megger Arthur Lubin at the throttle, have plenty of production here. Robert Lees and Fred Rinaldo's original and screenplay is topnotch material for the funny men. A couple of service station attendants (Abbott and Costello) are trapped in a speeding automobile when the police chase a gangster. He is killed, and according to the terms of his will, the person or persons with him when he dies inherits his estate. So the boys find themselves sole owners of a broken down tavern in a lonely part of the state. Richard Carlson, Joan Davis and Evelyn Ankers, are riding in the bus to the tavern when the driver dumps them all at the tavern door and runs off with their luggage. The haunted house routine starts from there, and, while a group of gangsters, searching for the former owner's hidden wealth, play ghosts to Abbott and Costello's scared victims, everything happens. However in the end everybody is happy. The boys own a night club with Ted Lewis and The Andrews Sisters working for them. "Hold That Ghost," because it has everything that the former team's pictures has, should ring the bell as lucratively as did the others in the series. CAST: Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Richard Carlson, Joan Davis, Mischa Auer, Evelyn Ankers, Marc Lawrence, Shemp Howard, Russell Hicks, William Davidson. CREDITS: Associate Producers: Burt Kelly and Glenn Tryon; Director, Arthur Lubin; Authors and Screenplay, Robert Lees and Fred Rinaldo and John Grant; Photography, Elwood Bredell and Joseph Valentine; Art Director, Jack Otterson; Musical Director, H. J. Salter; Musical Numbers, Nick Castle; Film Editor, Philip Cahn. DIRECTION, Excellent. PHOTOGRAPHY, Good. Schlatter Under Knife San Francisco — Charlie Schlaifer, veteran United Artists Theater press agent, is recovering from an operation at the University of California hospital. "Father Steps Out" with Frank Albertson, Jed Prouty and Lorna Gray (HOLLYWOOD PREVIEW) Monogram 63 Mins. FAIR PICTURE; WILL PROVE SATISFACTORY ENTERTAINMENT FOR LOWER HALF OF TWIN BILLINGS. "Father Steps Out" but at a pace that barely manages to sustain interest, despite the neat framework of the story. Underpaced, the picture still contains a chuckle or two that will cause it to pass muster in rhe lower brackets. Faced with too much doctoring, a henpecking sister, numerous newspaper reporters who are digging for the facts of his stock manipulation that give him control of a competitive railroad, Father (Jed Prouty) leaves in his private railroad car for a vacation. One of the reporters (Frank Albertson) goes along under the guise of a doctor. During the trip, Father is lost from the train. Taking up with two hobos Father soon finds renewed interest in life, food, and a new vigor. Meanwhile his vanquished competitors manipulate the stocks so that Prouty is about to be sold out by the bank. Reporter Albertson steps in in time to find Father and return him to save all, and earn the final fadeout with Father's daughter, Helen (Lorna Gray). Produced by Lindsley Parsons, with William T. Lackey acting as associate producer, production values were of fine caliber for the low budget field, with main slack due to either Joseph West's original screenplay or Jean Yarbrough's direction. Neither, however, can be held faulty to the extent of the displeasure of audiences but, perhaps, with the failure to take full advantage of a possible real "pleaser" in its intended class. Fine bits were portrayed by Gene O'Donnell, John Dilson, Frank Faylen, Tristram Coffin, Charles Hall, John Maxwell, with Kathryn Sheldon performing ably as the henpecking sister. Mack Stengler's photography showed to fine advantage. CAST: Frank Albertson, Jed Prouty, Lorna Gray, Frank Faylen, John Dilson, Kathryn Sheldon, Charles Hall, John Maxwell, Mary Field, Tristram Coffin, Paul Maxey, Gene O'Donnell. CREDITS: Producer, Lindsley Parsons; Associate Producer, William T. Lackey; Director, Jean Yarbrough; Screenplay, Joseph West; Photography, Mack Stengler; Art Director, Charles Clague; Musical Director, Edward Kay; Film Editor, Jack Ogilvie. DIRECTION, Fair. PHOTOGRAPHY, Good. Raines In Stage Venture Leo the Lion rears some mighty cubs. Halsey Raines of the M-G-M publicity department will produce Irving Kaye Davis' latest comedydrama "Cap and Gown" in association with the firm of Harry Blaney and Robert Marko. Play is tentatively set to open week of Sept. 22. Charley Murray Dead West Coast Bureau of THE FILM DAILY Hollywood — Charley Murray, 69, screen comedian, died yesterday of pneumonia. "Wide Open Town" with William Boyd, Russell Hayden, Andy Clyde, Evelyn Brent Paramount-Sherman 77'/2 Mins. GOOD CLEAN ACTION ENTERTAINMENT WITH LOTS OF COMEDY RATES SPOT ON ANY BILL. it HaV. In "Wide Open Town," Producer nsmm Sherman sticks pretty close to the solid Western formula of good clean action entertainment. There is no love interest, the villains all pay the price for their wrongdoings and right prevails in the end. Mr. Sherman's record for making the best westerns that can be made at any price doesn't suffer with this one. It was photographed at the base of Mount Whitney in a setting of rare scenic beauty. That photographic splendor and the musical accompaniment has made these Boyd pictures stand out in their class. The trio of adventurers, Boyd, Hayden and Clyde continue to be the same surefire personalities they have played in the entire series and they are well supported in this by Evelyn Brent, who doesn't show a single reason why she has been kept from the screen for so long. A newcomer, Bernice Kay, displays real promise with her role of the publisher's daughter. On the trail of some cattle thieves, Boyd, Hayden and Clyde come into the town of Gunsight just in time to rescue Morris Ankrum from a beating at the hands of Victor Jory and his hoodlums. Because the town is lawless, run by saloon-keeper Evelyn Brent, Boyd accepts the job of temporary sheriff to clean it up. With the help of some of the town's better citizens he traps or kills the badmen one after one until in the last reel he wipes them all out in a "clean-up" gun fight. Miss Brent reforms and saves little Miss Kay from the vengeance of Jory — but she too goes to jail, with the promise of help from the town's best citizens. There is plenty of action in this and lots of comedy. As usual with a Sherman Western it can play on any bill. CAST: William Boyd, Russell Hayden, Andy Clyde, Evelyn Brent, Victor Jory, Morris Ankrum, Kenneth Harlan, Bernice Kay, Roy Bancroft, Glenn Strange, Ed Cassidy, Jack Rockwell. CREDITS: Producer, Harry Sherman; Associate Producer, Lewis J. Rachmil; Photography, Russell Harlan; Art Director, Ralph Berger; Musical Direction, Irving Talbot and John Leipold; Film Editor, Sherman A. Rose. DIRECTION, Excellent. PHOTOGRAPHY, Excellent. See Gas Rationing Due In East After Sept. 1 (Continued from Page 1) filling stations from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m., with the probability that distributors would be placed on a monthly allotment plan. Eddie Leonard Dies in Hotel Eddie Leonard, 70, black face comic and minstrel star, was found dead yesterday in the Hotel Imperial. Barroom Nights in Fadeout Rep.'s "Ten Nights in a Barroom" is now "Citadel of Crime."