The Film Daily (1948)

1! Tuesday, March' 23. 1948 REVIEWS of new fiLms "Crime and Punishment" m with Hampe Faustman, Gunn Wallgren AUm Rights Int'l 107 Mini. MGRIM, DRAMATIC STORY SHOULD :li!lND£->pD ACCEPTANCE BY DEVOTEES !ati,F fC; jgn FARE. ; ,[|| Sw.-oVn — the Terrafilm Studios in Stock .pajjPlm — cones up with this latest version of lostoievsky's novel. It is a good treatment, 0.(l||a,yed in a constant key of morbidity, sorMs,Lw, criminal pursuit. The atmosphere has UtjJ properly depressing atmosphere through jco][{ijt. For audiences patronizing the foreign imfo6uct, it is a compelling dramatic offer kg. Tfiey know what to expect. In this . induction they'll get it. jjj Main role of Raskolnikov is played by m^iampe Faustman, who also directed. Gunn ,it|Ji/allgren, as Sonia, the prostitute who brinjjs jjjfqut his regeneration, is very effective. jl obody laughs spontaneously during the proceedings, What passes for ihe light touch j jas too much in the nature of serious undertime to be accepted as lightness. Sets and jHjhotography capably capture the sordid F,o|pject of the plot and the meanness of • i trroundings. Supporting characterizations ' ,,l well. M A student, Raskolnikov, murders a pawnr»|ipker because he does not see her fitting to the pattern of life. If he had his way ; would also do away with drunkards and her social derelicts. His sister is prepar\rg to marry an elderly man to save the >rr:ily from poverty. Sonia is driven to the ireets by her stepmother. Her father dies, alcoholic. Meanwhile the police — ipsumikin — are closing in. A chance meeti-H$$8 with Sonia, who is deeply religious and ven to quoting Scripture, brings Raskoljkov to confessing his crime to her. Subsequently he turns himself in and is prepared | face a Siberian exile. Sonia goes with h „ There are subtitles in English, CAST: Hampe Faustman, Gunn Wallgren, riurd Wallen, Elsie Albiin, Georg Funquist, fkla Sjoblom, Toivo Pawlo, Elsa Wiaborfl, Hugo orne, Lissqulla Jobs, Harriet Philipson. , m,' CREDITS: A Terrafilm Production; Script, BerJl Walmberg, Sven Stolpe; Photography, Goran JVindberg; Sets, Garald Garmland, Sigvard rnadotte; Producer, Lorens Marmstedt; Direcr, Hampe Faustman. DIRECTION, Good. PHOTOGRAPHY, Very Good. tolarchrome Used for iuasie Color Newsreel Sydney (By Air Mail) — Color ays Bm now being used by Cinesound pr it* Australian newsreel is Sola »"|]|hrome, which photographs only one *ffwo negatives, panchromatic and orfiochromatic. Orange and blue coirs are added after the reel has been fE.ade, with the finished film giving te additional effect of yellows and Teens. "Eternal Melodies" with Gino Cervi, Conchita Montenegro Grandi Films 95 Mins. FAIRLY GOOD ITALIAN PRODUCTION HAS F!NE MUSIC CONTENT TO ITS CREDIT. Lengthy, badly photographed but effectively performed, this cinematic biography of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart has its best recommendation in the recording of the music of the 18th Century composer. So, it can be said that the show, for lovers of Mozart's music, is all on the soundtrack. The picture, made in Italy by E.N.I.G, appears to be aged, was directed by Carmine Gallone. Scenario initially shows Mozart playing at the court of Maria Theresa, in Austria. He is a child prodigy, is well liked for his early display of genius and flare for composition. Growing to manhood he becomes enamoured of a neighbor's daughter. She aspires to be a singer. He assists her in her career and they develop an affair which does not culminate in marriage. Cervi, who plays Mozart, marries Miss Montenegro's sister, raises a family. He devotes himself to his music and there is struggle for acceptance. He is assisted by royalty. Musical figures such as Ludwig van Beethoven appear on the scene. There is another meeting with Miss Montenegro years later when she is established. Much good music is played at frequent intervals and the story closes with Mozart's death after he had composed a requiem mass for •an unidentified stranger who commissioned and paid for its execution. The production should overcome its shortcomings with its fine musical content. CAST: Gino Cervi, Conchita Montenegro, Luisella Beghi, Maria Jacobini, Margherita Bagni, Paolo Stoppa, Lauro Gazzolo, Luigi Pavese, Carlo Barbetti. CREDITS: An E.N.I.C. production; Producer, G. Amato; Director, Carmine Gallone; Original story, Ernest Marischka; Adaptation,' Guido Cantini, Carmine Galloce; Musical arrangements. Maestro Cicognini; Photography, Brizzi; Orchestra conducted by Maestro Ricci; Production director, Nino Ottavi; Editor, Nicola Lazzari: Sett, Fiorlne. Movies Rate Only Third In Minneapolis Survey Minneapolis — Going to the movies rated a poor third place in an allstate poll of adult population in Minnesota conducted by the MinneapolisStar and Tribune recently with radio listening and reading, in that order, topping movies as favorite leisuretime hobbies. Going to the movies received 25 per cent to cop third place while radio listening received 48 per cent and reading 45 per cent. Watching sports, with 23 per cent, was fourth. (Totals more than 100 per cent, for number of interests were named.) Chertok to Make Alaskan Series for U. S. Air Force Weinberg Sells Station WARK J 1 Radio station WARK, an ABC af i pate, Hagerstown, Md., has been ■M 'M to R. J. Funkhouser, newspaper ff )ublisher and industrialist of ta |harlestown, W. Va., for $132,000 pe^lbject to FCC approval. One of b principal owners of WARK who ligotiated the sale is Dan Weinberg, jijjf «sident of Bedford Theaters, Inc., Virginia theater circuit, . Jack Chertok's Apex Films will produce a series of training films, ranging from two-reels to feature length, for the U. S. Air Force. A crew has gone to Alaska and includes Maj. Charles Green, George Seitz, Jr., Edward Bock, Val Scott. Chertok's Ambassador Prods, has acquired film rights to Scott Odell's novel, "Hills of the Hawk." Apex also plans a commercial fea ture for the du Pont company to cost $250,000. Titled "This Work Goes On," it is primarily intended for company employes but plans also call for other wide non-theatrical distribution. Chicago Bureau Surveying Video Chicago — City News Bureau is surveying television, radio, newsreels and FM to determine .whether services will be sold to these outlets for videp' use. Arthur Kozelka, assistant city editor of the Bureau, is in harge of the survey. Tribune is the only Bureau member now operating video outlet. EMTA Sets Annual Convention Kansas City — Directors of Kansas Missouri Theaters Association set Oct. 4-5 as the dates of the an-< nual convention. Russians to Build Video Sets Moscow (By Cable) — Mass production of television receivers will be started in Russia this year, Tass, Soviet news agency, reported. Indies Getting Break From Rental Studios West Coast Bureau of THE FILM DAILY Hollywood — Reversing the wartime trend under which rental studios sought as much as 30 per cent of an indie's profit as a bonus for renting stage space, rental plants are swinging to the opposite extreme, according to James Nasser, who, with his three brothers, bought the General Service Studio about a year ago. Now, according to Nasser, rental studio operators offer prospective tenants such inducements as promises of deferred charges and financial guarantees. As a result, plants such as General, Motion Picture Center and Edward Nassour Studios often find themselves partners in the returns from independent productions. Nasser currently is financially interested in three features made recently at General Service: "Texas, Heaven and Brooklyn"; "The Argyle Secrets," for Film Classics release, and "Let's Live Again." As part of his campaign to "put producers back in business," Nasser will continue to invest in productions when he has confidence in their drawing power. He recently formed his own production company and will put "An Innocent Affair," starring Fred MacMurray and Madeleine Carroll, into ! production next month at General Service. FACT! Eighty-three key cities and their trading areas are responsible for the overwhelming percentage of the motion picture industry's total t) domestic revenue. FACT! Mot LSft Blackout lor Toronto— Blackout of theater mar quees end window displays may be eased for the Summer, starting in May, it is Intimated by the Ontario Hydro Commission. Full restriction* will be enforced in the Fall and may continue for two more years. The magazines represented by the ASSOCIATION OF SCREEN MAGAZINE PUBLISHERS have two-thirds of their national Facts taken from the readership of 21,600,000 concentrated results of a two-year in these 83 key areas, survey, now being presented No other national magazine to motion picture industry can match ^ concentration. leaders in New York and Hollywood. If you have not yet seen this presentation, arrangements to do so may be made by contacting the ASSOCIATION OF SCREEN MAGAZINE PUBLISHERS. INC. 37 WEST 57TH STREET NEW YORK CITY DELL PUBLICATIONS • FAWCETT PUBLICATIONS • HILLMAN PUBLICATIONS HUNTER SCREEN UNIT • IDEAL PUBLICATIONS • MACFADDEN PUBLICATIONS