The Film Daily (1948)

uesday, July 27, 1948 DAILY REVIEUIS> "Sorry, Wrong Number" with Barbara Stanwyck, Burt Lancaster 'amount-Wallis 89 Mins. If RAMATIC FARE HAS FINE PERJi'R... /CES, SKILLFUL DIRECTION AND lODUCTION DETAILS. IT STRIKES A AFFERENT NOTE. WILL DOUBTLESS 4vTCH ON FOR TOP GROSSES. ]|The Hal Wallis production of Lucille I tcher's noteworthy radio play is top cali" .^' and considerably enhances the work in p pictorial medium. Sets and technical j.Iidling complement the story's backjiund. The vivid dramatic quality of the jiy is thoroughly retained, its potentialities I achieving sock box office proportions j readily apparent. Utilizing fully the injition of Alexander G. Bell, the film unIs a telephonic treat with a steadily .unting tension that erupts into a note ' horror quite beyond control. Anatole yak's direction gets the full essence of 'p scenario's various segments. This is one of Barbara Stanwyck's better 'formances in comparison with her recent learances. She gives her role a nervous yv:itement and tenseness that admirably ;isters. Lancaster acquits himself with ong conviction. They are a good combition in this show which resolves flashback *per flashback into a plot that the audience l|!iSt keep on the alert to follow. It coniiiides on sharp note of horrible death. '|A pseudo invalid with a neurotic cardiac iidition, Miss Stanwyck keeps to her bed. ihen Lancaster, her husband, fails to come rttae one night she tries to get him on the Ift)ne at his office. By a quirk in the teleonic setup she overhears two men plotig a murder. She becomes emotionally iset and tries to get the operator intered in what she knows. 't Frantically phoning, Miss Stanwyck loes one person after another. The char•ers, as the script develops, fit into the sic death threat. The framework becomes re and more perilous for Miss Stanwyck vi traces her life with Lancaster from the lie she stole him from Ann Richards, mar'46 him, had her father, a drugstore mag■uce set him up in his business and then ajuineered his domestic life to a point 1; ere in order to get out on his own he ipi orted to stealing valuable chemicals, sellilk them to a fence and then splitting three sys. The locations of the story range from nois towns to deserted Staten Island iches and luxurious apartments in the T'ton Place area. Meanwhile the Bell Sys I n ties in the scattered developments. It [when Harold Vermilyea calls Miss Stan I j ck that she sees the light of things to ne. And these things are going to hap « to her. Lancaster has arranged for her ith. Approaching the denouement, Lan ter calls her from New Haven. The ice are closing in. He pleads with Miss nwyck, who is aware at the moment that intruder has entered her apartment, to ' out on the balcony and scream. It is late, however. The next voice that ;wers when the phone rings again says, )rry, Wrong Number." Fhis one builds to some gripping moments t will doubtless catch the imagination I morbid fancy of the audience. ;AST: Barbara Stanwyck, Burt Lancaster, Ann hards, Wendell Corey, Harold Vermilyea, Ed THE U. K. FILM BANK: TWO VIEWS 'THE New York Times over the week-end published the following solicited ' statements on the British plan to pour $20,000,000 of public money into independent production: SPYROS P. SKOURAS: "Since the British Government has instituted the 45 per cent quota, it is not surprising that it has found it necessary to adopt a financing plan. The quota goal is too high for the British industry to meet, so they need government financing, but, in my opinion, even so, they won't succeed. "The new plan is contrary to the principles and concepts at the heart of Englishspeaking nations. Whenever a nation has attempted to subsidize any creative enterprise, the enterprise has become a government football or a governmental mouthpiece. "Before the first World War, the Italian people were considered among the best film makers of the world. But under Mussolini, Italian films reached the lowest artistic depths, because they were propaganda. Now, freed from the Fascist hold, the Italian industry is regaining its old position, and during the last year, the best foreign pictures have come out of Italy. " NICHOLAS M. SCHENCK: "If the British Government wishes to finance its own nationals, it must be purely a matter for the British public, and not our place to enter an objection. However, we do feel strongly about the recent quota restrictions, whereby a British exhibitor shall be required to give 45 per cent of his playing time to Britishmade productions. "Films, like books, are the international currency of ideas, and the British public will be deprived of seeing many fine American and other nations' films, which they would want to see. Quota laws are unfair to the theater patrons, and the theater, as well as to the producer, who strives to make films with a universal appeal. Let us hope the best pictures will get a market in Britain, as they do in the United States." What Next in Britain? ... a second look at the Wilson plan (Continued from Page 5) committee called for the establishment of a Government-owned theater circuit. Certainly, to recall that fact is pertinent at this time, is it not? IT SEEMS PERTINENT, too, to introduce at this point— and finally— the assurance by Wilson, given in reply to a question by Churchill, that the Government will not try to exercise political control "as of course is done in Soviet Russia" over the character of movies. Said Wilson: "There is no question whatsoever of the Film Finance Corporation attemptmg to mterfere in the choice of subjects for films, and the matter of financial provision will be related purely to the entertainment value of the films to be shown." You may have noted that the Soviets have a peculiar idea as to what constitutes entertainment value. ■ . 1 1 ..i Who was it who said, "The road to Hell is paved with good intentions? 'Land of Liberty' Print Given National Archives A print of "Land of Liberty," a 14-reel history of the United States produced for the motion picture industry by Cecil B. DeMille, has been presented to the National Archives in Washington. The film, made with excerpts from 100 productions, was the motion picture industry's contribution to the San Francisco and New York World Fairs, and later was widely shown to various organizations. TV Station in Wometco Bldg. Miami, Fla. — Video headquarters of WTVJ will be in the Wometco Theater Bldg., on N. W. Third St. Construction contract was awarded to Frank J. Rooney. Begley, Leif Erickson, William Conrad, John Bromfield, Jimmy Hunt, Dorothy Neumann, Paul Fierro. CREDITS; A Hal Wallis Production; Produced by Hal Wallis, Anatole Litvak; Director, Anatole Litvak; Screenplay, Lucille Fletcher; Based on the radio play by Lucille Fletcher; Photography, Sol Polito; Art, Hans Dreier, Earl Hedrick; Special effects, Gordon Jennings; Process photography, Farciot Edouart; Sets, Sam Comer, Bertram Granger; Editor, Warren Low; Sound, Gene Merritt, Walter Oberst; Music score, Frgnz Waxman. DIRECTION: Good. PHOTOGRAPHY; Fine, Digest-de Rochemont Will Make M-G-M Shorts Series A series of factual shorts sponsored by the RD-DR Corp., will be produced in collaboration with the Reader's Digest Association by M-G-M under the direction of Louis de Rochemont for release by the film company, according to terms of agreement announced at weekend. Fix will be based on articles appearing in the publication with the documentary format of "Boomerang" the basic pattern of treatment. Stories will be filmed wherever possible on actual locales. M-G-M will have exclusive rights to the series' title "A Drama of Real Life," during the term of de Rochemont's employment pact with the company. RD-DR Corp. is located at 35 W. 45 St. UN Pic in Coast Bow Hollywood — "Mother, Child, Community," five reel documentary produced by the United Nations in India as a recruiting film for welfare workers, will have its American preem here at the Esquire Theater next month. Under an agreement between the UN and the theater management, rental will be contributed to the UN Appeal for Children, TOA Readying Plans for Nat'l Tax Survey (Continued from Page 1) clared that it behooved exhibitors to band together in advance to meet the threat. TOA policy will be to meet specific legislative theater efforts on a local level, eschewing intervention of a national organization in local problems. Sullivan said that TOA leaders were still studying the ASCAP decision and that the organization's stand on the matter might well be on the agenda of the forthcoming board of directors meeting to be held in conjunction with the Chicago convention in September. An analysis of the ASCAP decision is being made by Herman Levy, TOA general counsel. 19 Films On Program Of Protestant Commission West Coast Bureau of THE FILM DAILY Hollywood — Protestant Film Commission now has a goal of 19 films of varying length in its plan to become increasingly active in production, according to Paul F. Heard, executive secretary and executive producer. With two films already in release, PFC on Aug. 2 will put a 45-minute racial and religious prejudice subject before the cameras at the Nassour Studio. B'nai B'rith and other Jewish organizations cooperated in preparing the script. A longer picture on the American way of life, with some emphasis on the relationship between capital and labor, is expected to be made in the Fall, but a contemplated biography of Martin Luther has not been started because of script difficulties. Other PFC films planned include seven 20-minute subjects on mental health; five designed to promote good citizenship and three pictures adapted from episodes in the Bible. Latter are to be made in England in association with J. Arthur Rank. A camera crew will leave soon for Japan to make a documentary showing how Christianity can help the Japanese to understand democracy. "Beyond Our Own," initial film made by PFC has so far returned a 25 per cent profit on an investment of about $100,000. A second subject, "My Name Is Han" also returned a profit. Thorpe's Pix Date-Day At Music Hall, Capitol Two top-budget M-G-M productions, both of which were directed by Richard Thorpe, open here Thursday. They are "Date With Judy," which has its premiere at the Music Hall July 29, and "On An Island With You" opens at the Capitol the same day. Since making these, Thorpe has completed "Sun In The Morning," Robert Sisk Production for M-G-M.