Independent Exhibitors Film Bulletin (1947)

STUDI -US PARAMOUNT This studio is quite excited about having nabbed Jean Arthur, the elusive actress, for a role in "Foreign Affairs" which will be a Brackett-Wilder venture. Miss Arthur, who has not made a picture in two years, established herself as a star at Paramount, but has not made a picture on this lot since 1937. Regardless of the fact that Miss Arthur has never been ranked as one of the top money makers of the business, she has always been in demand by all the major studios. Warners recently tried to get her for "Voice of the Trutle," without success. So, Paramount feels it has plucked a plum. Sterling Hayden, spotted here some time ago as one of Paramount's "boys to watch," has been signed to a new term contract as a result of preview audience enthusiasm for him in "Blaze of Noon." He goes into a starring role in "The Sainted Sisters" With Betty Hutton. Claude Binyon, a producer-writer at the studio since 1931, asked for and received his release from his contract. He has one more film to do, "Restless Angel," with Paulette Goddard starred. No reason was given for the termination of this long and successful alliance. Hal Wallis will start "For Her to See" in the Denham studios in England on May 12. This project, which has been in the planning stage for months, is now all set to go with Ray Milland and English actress Ann Todd co-starred. Wallis, Joseph Hazen and their staff leave for England early next month to get the picture rolling. Lone new starter on the Paramount lot is "The Big Clock" starring Ray Milland, Charles Laughton and Maureen O'SuUivan. John Farrow is directing and it was his effort that is bringing Miss O'Sullivan (his wife) back to the screen after years of retirement. Milland will leave for England as soon as this film is completed for the Wallis picture. PRC As mentioned earlier in this column (see Eagle-Lion) Ben Stoloff has taken over as supervisor of all the top-bracket PRC product from here on in. All pictures running from $300,000 up will have the Stoloff guidance. Four of these higher budget films have already been completed and Stoloff made no immediate announcement for future plans for his unit. Stoloff will have no participation in the PRC regular budget product, which, it is assumed, will continue to be produced as it has been up to now. With "Silent Voice" and "Gangway for Murder" wound up, the studio has no production starting for the next week or so. REPUBUC Big news from this outfit is the deal H. J. Yates closed with Charles K. Feldman. Involved are several valuable story and personnel properties. Lewis Milestone, who recently completed "Arch of Triumph" for Enterprise, will produce and direct John Steinbeck's "The Red Pony," in Technicolor, starting May 15. This may be followed by a Technicolor production of Ben Hecht's "The Shadow" and there is a possibility of the long-run Broadway hit, "The Glass Menagerie" (1945 Pulitzer Prize play), being produced by the Republic-Feldman alliance. RKO-RADIO Six months ago there were fifteen producers under contract to this studio. Today there are 28. This is indicative of what can be called "The Schary Plan." It means, of course, that company plans expansion in quality and quantity with Mr. Schary keeping a sharp personal eye on the former. Richard Goldstone, of MGM, is the most recent producer to be added to the list which now includes Dudley Nichols, Edward Dmytryk, Adrian Scott, Irving Asher, Phil Ryan, J. Robert Bren, John Larkin and John Paxton (former studio writers), Stephen Ames, Jack Gross and Sid Rogell. Dmytryk's pact making him a producer-director goes into effect immediately and his first assignment under the new deal will be "The White Tower" which he will make in the Swiss Alps. He 20 recently returned from England whre he made "So Well Remembered" for RKO. He leaves again next month to begin his new assignment. Dudley Nichol's next chore will be "Mourning Becomes Electra," the Eugene O'Neil play. Rosalind Russell will star with Michael Redgrave set to do the lead (as reported here weeks ago) and Raymond Massey and Katina Paxinou in important character spots. Picture is scheduled to start next week. Gary Grant has been set in "Weep No More" as his next RKO stint. The studio is trying to get Alfred Hitchcock to direct. This one will not go for some time since Grant is now at work in (Joldwyn's "The Bishop's Wife" and has "Mr. Blanding Builds A Dreom House" to do for RKO before he can go on to "Weep." An important deal of Schary derivation is the package deal just set between the studio and Hal Wallis. The studio took over film rights to "The White Swamp" and also contracted for the services of Lizabeth Scott and Burt Lancaster as co-stars, as well as director Byron Haskin and cameraman Leo Tovar. This is the entire unit of the "I Walk Alone" filming which Wallis recently completed. "The Amazing Mr. Hammer" (Pat O'Brien-Anne Jeffreys) which was filmed under the working title of "Riff-Raff." Henry Fonda has two films ready to go. "The Long Night" is the Hakim-Litvak film completed some time back and now "The Fugitive," a Merian C. Cooper production is also ready. Cooper is working with President Rathvon to try to avoid conflicting openings on these two Fonda films. George Stevens has postponed his initial chore for Liberty Films to work with RKO producer Harriet Parsons on "I Remember Mama." Irene Dunne and Barbara Bel Geddes will be co-starred in this film, which is based on one of the biggest Broadway hits in recent years. Oscar Homolka has been signed to re-create his stage role for the picture. Stevens was to have started "War Knight," Ethel Hill's Sketch of her long-shot horse which won the Santa Anita handicap last year. Miss Hill is an MGM writer, but the film rights to this story were sold to Liberty Films. This one will come next on the Steven's schedule. "Crossfire," which went into production last week here, is perhaps the most courageous attempt yet to fight racial hatred by means of commercial entertainment. It is a story of a detective who ferrets out the killer of a Jewish man and finds him to be an ex-service man working in an organization of ex-service men whose purpose is fomenting of racial discord. Adrian Scott is producing and Edward Dmytryk directs. Robert Young plays the detective and Robert Mitchum and Robert Ryan portray two of the suspects. Samuel Goldwyn's company went back to work last week with the start of "The Bishop's Wife." Goldwyn has assembled a strong cast for this comedy in the persons of Gary Grant, David Niven and Loretta Young. William Seiter directs. SELZNICK S. R. O. With the new SRO set-up functioning at full force and lining up playing spots for "Duel In The Sun," the Selznick organization is also thinking in terms of future releases for the commitments they make now. Eleven pictures are planned to follow "The Paradine Case" and "Portrait of Jennie" as quickly as they can be turned out. "So In Love," with Shirley Temple as the star, is already set. "Rupert of Hentzau" will star Joseph Gotten. Others to come include: "Tender Is The Night," "Tess of the D'Ubervilles," "Dark Medallion," "The Scarlet Woman," "Little Women" (which was dropped from the schedule last Fall), "Trent's Last Case," "Sarah Bernhardt" (for which Selznick would like to get Greta Garbo), "Conspiracy," "Intimate Notes," and "Benedict Arnold." No word is given as to how long a period this production schedule covers, but it is certain that unless the Selznick tempo is speeded up considerably, these pictures, if they are all made, will take at least three years. The "Portrait For Jenny" company, having wound up its exterior scenes in New York, heads for Cape Cod for more shooting and then, in all probability, will return to Hollywood to wind up on a sound stage at the studio. Selznick, now in New York, will decide on the wind-up of the film this week. FILM BULLETIN