Hollywood Studio Magazine (August 1972)

INSIDE TRACK...MOVIE &TV STUDIOS By Bea Colgan PARAMOUNT NEWS - Albert Ruddy, producer of “The Godfather,” and Gerry Lewis, international ad/pub coordinator for the Marlon Brando starrer, have just returned from meetings with exhibs in Europe where the picture is scheduled to open soon. London premiere will be held August 24; Rome, Sept. 21; Amsterdam, Sept. 28; Munich, August; Stockholm and Madrid, mid-Sept.; and Paris, mid-Oct. Prior to the European trek, Ruddy was in Japan for openings there last month. Ryan O’Neal and Peter Bogdanovich team up again, this time for Paramount. Bogdanovich recently directed Ryan in the successful “What’s Up Doc?” with Barbra Streisand for Warner Brothers. New vehicle is “Addie Pray,” based on the award-winning novel by Joe David Brown. “Addie Pray” is the story of an 11-year-old orphan in a Southern town who becomes the confederate of a con man named Long Boy Pray who might be her father. He teachers her the con game routine and she becomes his partner. We can’t quite visualize Ryan as a con man but let’s see what he does with the role. Perhaps the days of typecasting are about over. Luke Rhinehart’s novel, “The Dice Man,” will be brought to the screen by Paramount with a screenplay by Peter Allan Fields. “The Dice Man” deals with a psychiatrist who decides to run his life by rolls of the dice, a risky biz at best. His decision leads him down numerous twisting paths, including murder. John Schlesinger will direct and Si Litvinoff produce. Another new novel will be brought to the screen by Paramount: “Ruby Red,” by William Price Fox, in association with Rastar Productions. Jack Brodsky will produce and Arthur Penn direct. “Ruby Red” teils of a small town girl from the South who dreams about making it big on the country-Western music scene. The adventures of Ruby on her way to Nashville and what happens when she arrives, make a funny, bawdy, warm-hearted story. James Lineberger is writing the screenplay. Yet another novel will be brought to fruition on the screen by Paramount; this one the highly successful “Inside the Third Reich” by Albert Speer. A detailed account of' Hitler’s Germany, book is hailed as “the most significant, personal German account to come out of the war” by the New York Times. Speer is well qualified to write on the subject having been Hitler’s Minister of Armaments and War Production. Andrew Birkin is writing the screenplay and David Putman will produce. AIPIECES — Samuel Z. Arkoff has become the President of AIP. James H. Nicholson recently resigned as President to go into independent production. Arkoff, co-founder of AIP in 195 4, will also continue as Chairman of the Board. He has been a producer or executive producer of most of AIP’s films since formation of the Company. William Marshall, who plays the title role in “Blacula,” recently returned from Washington, D.C. where he discussed the film and other matters with Ambassador to the U.S. from Guinea, Mori Keita. Marshall also met with Congressmen John Conyers and Ronald Dellums, Senator Edward Brooke and with Rudolph Aggrey, State Department aide for African Affairs, on the Washington premiere of “Blacula.” In the film, Marshall is bitten by Count Dracula and becomes the first Black vampire. This could open the door to a series of sequels. Marshall, meanwhile, is keeping busy with other things. He will teach a course in Black Arts at Whittier College, beginning in Sept., and is readying a half-hour special entitled “In Search of the Abolitionist Slave” for KNBC. He will function as both writer and star. Luchi DeJesus is composing the musical score for “Slaughter,” the action drama starring Jim Brown, Stella Stevens, Rip Torn, Don Gordon, Marlene Clark and Cameron Mitchell. We’ll get a chance to ogle those cindery celluloid scenes between Brown and Stella we’ve been hearing about when the film opens this month in a special mini-multiple engagement. “Slaughter” deals with a former Green Beret tracking down the Mafia chieftain who killed his parents. Playmate One Year Later - Blonde, blue-eyed Janice Pennington was a May, 1971, Playmate in Playboy Magazine. This year, she is making her feature film debut in “Blacula,” wearing a shroud, appropriate teeth, and playing - a vampire. “The Wild Pack” is the new title for “The üandpit Geperals.” Producer Hall Bartlett and AIP execs believe the new title will assure maximum audience response to the unusual film, basing their beliefs on extensive test screenings and surveys. “The Wild Pack” is based on a collection of stories by Nobel Prize nominee Jorge Amado about the adventures of pillaging gangs and stars Kent Lane, Tisha Sterling, John Rubinstein, Alejandro Rey, Butch Patrick and Mark DeVries. Robert Quarry is in conflict with himself but it isn’t bothering him a bit. In fact, he’s cheering himself on. “The Deathmaster,” in which he plays the title role, and “Dr. Phibes Rises Again” in which he co-stars with Vincent Price, are playing back to back around the country. Quarry knows that any true horror film buff will go to see them both so he isn’t picking a favorite. Continuing the pattern which has established it as one of the most solvent of motion picture Companies, AIP has acquired “Chamber of Tortures” for release in the U.S. and Canada. Starring Joseph Cotten and Elke Sommer, film will open in October. It was produced by Alfred Leone, directed by Mario Bava and adapted for the screen by William A. Bairn from an original story by Vincent Fotre. SCREEN GEMS - The partially completed move to the Burbank Studios hasn’t cramped SG’s style nor output as they look forward to a busy season. Producer Joel Rogosin announced nine additional writer assignments for “Ghost Story,” Exec Producer William Castle’s hour-long spook series for NBC. Set to script segments are William Best, Peter Bellwood, Harlin Ellison, Gustave Field, Dorothy Fontana, Tony Lawrence, Paule Mason, Henry Slesar and Jack Sowards. Sebastian Cabot stars as host-narrator and Castle lured Carolyn Jones out of a two-year retirement from TV to guest in a segment entitled “The Summer House.” 35