The Film Daily (1948)

riday, September 24, 1948 iwi DAILY iolor Tele Could Be Marketed Shortly '■ Washington Bureau of THE FILM DAILY Washington — A new all-electxonic olor video system could be marketed idtb''~^xa short time, George E. !lee_ /of Color Television, Inc., San ^rancisco, told the FCC yesterday, srith comparatively little to be added ^o the present equipment for black .nd white TV. The rub is that a 121/2 aegacycle band is needed, whereas urrent bands are only six megacy■les wide. Zenith Radio, however, las reported that it is working on ■:. color system to operate on six negacycles. I Sleeper's testimony came as the ^''CC concluded four days of hearngs on the question of opening up I'he ultra-high frequency range to ;nake possible many more television tations. The hearings concluded witJi no lear indication of how soon it will net but with all the signs pointing oward much earlier utilization of :he UHF spectrum than was thought )Ossible two years ago. A majority »f witnesses advised that the Commission waste no time in opening ;he higher bands. ' Engineers Kenneth A. Norton of ;he National Bureau of Standards ind T. A. M. Craven, former FCC -ihief engineer, later a Commission nember and now vice-president of Oowles Broadcasting Co., offered possible plans to blanket the na;ion with TV networking. Craven called for the use of air)orne transmitters to secure rural coverage, although he said that airSorne transmission could be dispensed with in some cases — for instance by use of Mt. Washington, Mt. Mitchell, and other mountain leaks. "Television may become an impor:ant factor in community life," Uraven stated. "It is entirely possible hat television can be of such imiiortance to a community that it vould attract a greater proportion of inancial support than would a less :ostly rural broadcasting station." Norton called for assignment of ;he present 12 low-band channels for itratovision service to cover the lation with three black and white )rogram services. "The high-band channels," he said, "could then be ised for a color television service presumably capable of competing successfully in urban areas with this arger range monochrome stratonsion system." UJCDDinG B(LLS Bommarito-Hunt Detroit — Sidney Hunt, manager of ;he Harper Theater, was married to jouise Bommarito, Wisper & Wetsnan Circuit relief cashier. ALONG Friday's Fade-out • • • IT'S THE ARMY, not the American Red Cross, which has offered Arthur Mayer an assignment. . . . But Arthur is doubtful he'll accept. . . . Chore would require at least a year, and he feels that's too long to be away from his business interests. ... • Carmen Miranda, here from the Coast for the Air Force Association convention and Madison Squcrre Garden show tomorrow night, goes to Rio in January to make a series of video pix in Spanish, Portuguese and English. . . . Producer-husband Dave Sebastian is here with Carmen. . . . • Air Force Association convention sees 20th-Fox's "Jungle Patrol" at a special showing tonight in the Astor's ballroom. . . . AFA show tomorrow night promises to be a honey, what with Bob Hope taking on Jack Dempsey, and p.a.'s by James Stewart, Joe E. Brown, Clark Gable, Paul Lukas, Adolphe Menjou, George Montgomery, Bill Robinson, Dinah Shore, Marlene Dietrich, Jane Froman, Gypsy Markoff, Jinx Falkenburg and the Rockettes. T T T • • • ARTHUR M. LOEW, president of Loew's Int., hit the tennis doubles jackpot when he and his partner, A. C. GanzemuUer, won the doubles championship in the annual Great Neck Country Club tournament. . . . The Great Neck championship is tantamount to winning the Long Island amateur tennis doubles crown. . . . Loew had stiff competition, too, winning the finals in four sets against runners-up Mills Baker, former American intercollegiate champion, and Pierre Horang. former member of the French Davis Cup team. ▼ T T • • • METRO'S PLANNING a press preview of "The Secret Land" for New York, Boston and New London pressmen Monday aboard the USS Dogfish, new type sub, while it cruises under water off the New London sub base. . . . And a similar Coast press preview likely will be aboard a Mars flying boat high over the Pacific. ... • Add Signs o' the Times: University of Pennsylvania and Station WCAU-TV will co-op in offering video courses. ... • Ernie Emerling's current Loew's Theaters' Movie News Letter, on its way to newspaper film critics, leads off with a quiz which will enable the lads and lassies — if so inclined — to determine their "M.Q." . . . Meaning Movie Quotient. . . . Ought to be the cause of some fun. . . . And it easily stands adaptation for newspaper use. . . . No entry fee, no prizes, nothing commercial except a few plugs for pictures. T T T • • • COLUMBIA H.O. is all smiles these days. . . . "The Loves Of Carmen," after opening to the best Columbia business in more than two years at the RKO Albee, Cincinnati, held over for a second week, the seventh film in 10 years to get a second at the house. . . . Then the Lafayette, Buffalo, reported the Hayworth starrer as the second best Columbia opener in its history, with only "The Jolson Story" topping it for the first day. . . . And as if that isn't enough, the fast-breaking territorial release of "Walk A Crooked Mile" in the Frisco area got away to a fast start, with the first 13 situations doing record business. T T ▼ • • • MOST ANY DAY NOW Phil M expects to read a Moscow UP, AP or INS dispatch quoting some obscure Russian magazine deploring HoUyvrood's tendency to cannibalism and solemnly citing the fact that the cast of Howard Hawks' "Red River" was butchered at the finish of the picture and the flesh distributed among New York's famished newspapermen. . . . Wanna bet that Tass didn't flash that steer. . . . (And no pun intended.) T ▼ T • • • WHO'S CIRCULATING those dodgers headed, "Why Is There No Variety Club In New York?" ... Its premise: Give New York a chance to have a Variety Club and it won't be urgent or necessary to pass the hat in the key cities for the Will Rogers Memorial Hospital. Censorship Shackles U. S. Screen— Saville Censorship from Governmental bodies and busybodies prevents the screen from tackling social problems, declared Victor Saville, veteran director-producer, shortly before sailing yesterday aboard the Queen Elizabeth. He will be in England for the next three months working on "Conspirator" for Metro at its studio in Elstree. While the primary purpose of motion pictures, Saville explained, was to entertain, there's no reason why intelligent discussion of many problems of the day, particularly those of a non-political nature could not be entertainingly presented to the film-going public. However, there's always some pressure group that says: no you mustn't. Because of the millstone of censorship, French and Italian moviemakers often make us look silly, he said. European films often tackle a problem that would be absolutely forbidden, both here and in England too, he added. Yet, despite such drawbacks, the motion picture is a fascinating medium, he said. He was looking forward to his new assignment. So far, only Elizabeth Taylor has been cast for the spy-drama. Another Metro player will soon be announced. Rest of the cast will be picked from U. K. talent. "Conspirator" is skedded to start rolling Nov. 1, and should be finished within 45 shooting days, Saville said. Golden Sets "Russia" Ahead IVcst Coast Bureau of THE FILM DAILY Hollywood — Aiming at getting "As We See Russia" before the cameras as soon as possible in view of its topicality, Executive Producer Edward A. Golden is reshuffling his shooting slate to peg this one as next on the Golden Productions for UA release program. This move sets "Barnstorming" and other projected films over to next year. "Cxirley" Hearing Tuesday Memphis — Chancellor Lawi-ence Creson on Sept. 28 will conduct a hearing of the suit brought by United Artists and Hal Roach which seeks to have the court review the Memphis Board of Censors' ban on "Curley." Olympic Athletes at Preview of Ranh Film "The Olympic Games of 1948," J. Arthur Rank production released by Eagle Lion, was screened last night for 70 Olympic Games athletes from the Metropolitan area and their coaches, in a special showing at the Gotham Theater, where the Technicolor film opens its regular run today. Screening was part of New York's welcome home to the athletes in Columbus Circle which followed a New York A. C. dinner.