Harrison's Reports (1951)

40 HARRISON’S REPORTS March 10, 1951 several reasons for this gratifying demonstration of organization interest and loyalty, but one calls for special attention. In their desire to be of the utmost service to the independent exhibitors the Allied leaders about eight years ago devised the Caravan information service which has been of inestimable assistance to those exhibitors who have used it carefully and knowingly in their buying. But while Caravan covers the most important feature of theatre operation — film prices — it cannot cover all the other problems that have arisen or been injected into the business in recent years. “And so the Allied high command devised as a supplement to Caravan the so-called Film Clinics which enabled exhibitors of the several classes — big city, small town, drive-in, etc. — to foregather for the interchange of views and information and for discussion of their common problems. The first experiment with the clinics at the Pittsburgh Convention was so successful, and the interest displayed in the sessions was so great that it was suggested from the floor that the regular convention sessions be curtailed so as to allow more time for the clinics. This was not possible because the program for each scheduled session had been carefully arranged; but it was decided then and there that the clinics would be a feature of future conventions. The idea was adopted by the Allied units and the clinics have been a feature of all regional conventions since then. To the clinics must go a large share of the credit for the large attendance and enthusiasm shown at the Allied meetings held since the Pittsburgh Convention. “A forerunner of the clinics was the informal meeting in Chicago on July 26 and 27, called by Col. Cole, Chairman of the Caravan Committee, to consider the problem of mounting film rentals in the face of boxoffice declines. This meeting issued a manifesto in the form of a resolution which attracted considerable notice and served to focus attention on that critical problem. “The time devoted by the General Counsel to the tax campaign caused the regular business of national headquarters to accumulate to such an extent that he had to do double duty during the second half of the year in order to catch up on it whilst keeping abreast of current business. The problems submitted to and the correspondence conducted by national headquarters now covers the widest possible range, touching on all industry development. To attempt to enumerate them now would extend the report to unbearable lengths. Wherever possible this office has sought to avert threatened danger to the exhibitors rather than to cope with the difficulties after they arise. Two examples may be cited: (1) With Phonevision and Skiatron reaching the experimental stage we felt it proper to point out to the appropriate Government officials that if these media should obtain the vast audience they hope for, admission taxes would dwindle and the revenue would be impaired and to suggest that plans be made to collect comparable amounts from either Phonevision or Skiatron or their subscribers. (2) With rumblings of possible action by the Civil Defense Administration closing the theatres during time of threatened air attacks, Allied gathered data from various sources regarding the construction and fire-resisting qualities of theatres, including data from England relative to their experiences during the last war, for submission to the Administrator along with an argument against any such threatened action. “Despite low grosses and the bleak outlook which prevailed during the year the units with few exceptions met their quota payments in full. This performance is all the more remarkable considering that during the year the members, responding to a call by the Board of Directors, voluntarily subscribed $20,000.00 to a special fund for defraying the fees and expenses of the attorneys who successfully defended the infringement suits brought by members of ASCAP against Benjamin Berger and other exhibitors in Minnesota. The spirited defense of those actions, it will be remembered, culminated in decisions which held ASCAP to be an unlawful combination in violation of the Sherman Act and relieved the exhibitors of the obligation to pay that organization for the privilege of reproducing in their theatres the copyrighted music which the motion picture producers had recorded on their films. (Continued next wee\) “Only the Valiant” with Gregory Peck (Warner Bros., April 21; time, 105 min.) Just a fair Cavalry-versus-Indians picture, suitable for those who like strong melodramas. There are some situations that thrill the spectator and hold him in tense suspense, but there are whole stretches where the action is slow. Besides, the motivations are weak in spots. For instance, the heroine could have found out from her father whether the hero was guilty of deliberately sending his rival on a dangerous mission to be killed. This is a weakness that cannot be overlooked. But if it had been corrected by the scenarist, perhaps there would have been no story left. As it is, it lacks a gripping dramatic quality, and the romance is weak. Gregory Peck is good as the captain, as is Ward Bond, as the hard-driking sergeant: — Arriving at Ft. Invincible, a New Mexico frontier outpost, Peck and a detachment of cavalrymen find the fort burning and the garrison exterminated after an attack by Apache Indians. In a melee with the remaining Indians, Peck captures their chief and takes him to Ft. Winston. There, Peck is welcomed by Barbara Payton, daughter of the commander (Herbert Heyes), with whom he was in love. Lest the Apaches attack the undermanned fort to rescue their chief, Peck decides to take him to Ft. Grant, a stronger garrison, and assigns himself to lead the dangerous mission. But Heyes, needing Peck at the fort, orders him to send Gig Young, a rival for Barbara’s love, in his place. Barbara becomes embittered in the thought that Peck had deliberately sent Young so that he might be killed. Later, when Young loses his life as the Apaches rescue their chief, Barbara’s bitterness against Peck increases, as does the hatred of the troopers, who detested Peck because he was a strict disciplinarian. To save the Fort, Peck obtains permission to fight a delaying action at a narrow pass until reinforcements arrive, and to help him the task he chooses men from among those who hated him most. The men believe that they had been chosen because Peck wanted to see them die, but he had selected them bcause they were the ones least needed at the fort. The defense of the pass is marked by bloody Indian attacks, and by constant bickering among the men, but Peck’s daring and brilliant leadership hold back the Indians until the arrival of reinforcements, who mow down the enemy with a new Gatling machine gun, while Peck kills their chief in a hand-to-hand battle. Returning to the Fort, Peck is embraced by Barbara, who by this time had learned that he had not been responsible for Young’s death. Meanwhile the troopers’ hatred for Peck is erased by their admiration for him as a soldier. It was produced by William Cagney and directed by Gordon Douglas from a screen play by Edmund H. North and Harry Brown, based on the novel by Chas. Marquis Warren. It is an adult picture, but children, too, should enjoy it. “House on Telegraph Hill” with Valentina Cortesa, Richard Basehart and William Lundigan (20 th Century-Fox, no rel. date set ; time, 93 min.) Hampered by a weak and illogical screen play, this suspense melodrama misses fire, although it does generate an undercurrent of excitement throughout. The plot revolves around Valentina Cortesa, a displaced person in a Nazi concentration camp, who uses a dead friend’s identification papers to reach the United States. The friend had a 10-yearold boy (Gordon Gebert) living with an aunt in San Francisco, and the lad had been separated from his mother since infancy. Arriving in the United States, Valentina is met by Richard Basehart, her “son's” guardian, and learns that the aunt had died and that the lad had inherited her rich estate. Basehart woos and marries Valentina before taking her to San Francisco to meet her “son." In the events that follow, Valentina discovers that the aunt had been murdered, and she finds reason to believe that Basehart, with the connivance of Fay Baker, her “son's" attractive governess, planned to kill not only her but also the boy to gain control of the estate. The rest of the plot has to do with his scheming and with the terror Valentina experiences as she tries to save herself and the boy. In the end, Basehart dies from a poisoned drink intended for Valentina. The picture will leave most picture-goers puzzled in that it comes to a conclusion with a number of loose ends, and is illogical in that, after Basehart’s death, Fay is arrested on some obscure charge while Valentina, who had entered the country illegally and who had no right to the custody of the boy, is not even questioned by the police and is left free to marry William Lundigan, a sympathetic friend who knew of her duplicity. Some of the scenes hold one taut, but with a more convincing script this could have been a real spine-tingler. It was produced by Robert Bassler and directed by Robert Wise from a screen play by Frank Partos and Elick Moll, based on a novel by Dana Lyon. Adult fare, *7^ is THE HOUSE ON TELEGRAPH HILL.