Motion Picture Daily (Jan-Mar 1942)

Wednesday, February 25, 1942 Motion Picture Daily 5 'V at $7,200 In Slow Week, Los Angeles Los Angeles, Feb. 24. — Grosses generally were slow here. "Mister V" scored $7,200 at the 4 Star. "Son of Fury" and "A Gentleman at Heart" took $13,500 at the Chinese and $19,500 at Loew's State. Estimated receipts for the week ending Feb. 19 : "Son of Fury" (ZOth-Fox) "A Gentleman at Heart" (ZOth-Fox) CHINESE— U.500! uvc-44c-55c-75c) 7 days. Gross: $13,500. (Average, $12,000) "Dumbo" (RKO) CARTHAY CIRCLE— (1,518) (33c -44c -55c75c) 6 days, 9th week. Gross: $2,300. (Average, $17,000) "Mister V (U. A.) 4 STAR— (900) (44c-55c) 7 days. Gross: $7,200. (Average, $3,250) "Hellzapoppin" (Univ.) HAWAII— (1,100) (33c-44c-55c-75c) 7 days. Gross: $9,500. • It Started With Eve" (Univ.) "Treat 'Em Rough" (Univ.) HI LLSTREET— (2,700) (33c-44c-55c-75c) 7 days, 2nd week. Gross: $7,500. (Average, $6,500) "Son of Fury" (20th-Fox) "A Gentleman at Heart" (ZOth-Fox) LOEW'S STATE— (2,500) (33c-44c-55c75c) 7 days. Gross: $19,500. (Average, $14,000) "It Started With Eve" (Univ.) "Treat 'Em Rough" (Univ.) PANTAGES — (3,000) (33c-44c-55c-75c) 7 days, 2nd week. Gross: $7,200. (Average, $7,000) "Sullivan's Travels" (Para.) "Mr. Bug Goes to Town" (Para.) PARAMOUNT— (3,595) (33c-44c-55c-75c) 7 days. Gross: $12,000. (Average, $18,000) "New Wine" (U. A.) "Wild Bill Hickok Rides" (W. B.) WARNER BROS. (HOLLYWOOD) — (3,000) (33c-44c-55c-75c) 7 days. Gross: $11,100. (Average, $14,000) "New Wine" (U. A.) "Wild Bill Hickok Rides" (W. B.) WARNER BROS. (DOWNTOWN) (3,400) (33c -44c -55c -75c) 7 days. Gross: $12,500. (Average, $12,000) "The Wolf Man" (Univ.) "The Mad Doctor" (Univ.) VOGUE— (900) (33c-44c-55c) 7 days, 4th week. Gross: $2,500. Legion Approves 10 Of 14 New Pictures Of 14 new pictures reviewed and classified for the current week by the National Legion of Decency, 10 were approved, six for general patronage and four for adults ; two were classed as objectionable in part and two were condemned. The new films and their classification follow. Class A-l, Unobjectionable for General Patronage — "Below the Border," "Lone Rider in Cheyenne," "Mister V," "Nazi Agent," "South of Santa Fe," 'This Time for Keeps." Class A-2, Unobjectionable for Adults — "Captains of the Clouds," "Girls Town," "Shut My Big Mouth." "Too Many Women." Class B, Objectionable in Part — "Lady in Distress," "Night Before the Divorce." Class C, Condemned — "Fighting the White Slave Traffic," "Nine Bachelors" (French). Injured by Picket San Francisco, Feb. 24. — Manager Fred Wade of the Tower Theatre, Nasser Brothers house here, suffered a brain concussion when he was struck by a picket during a three-hour unauthorized janitors' strike yesterday, prior to the reopening of the remodeled theatre. The strike was called off pending settlement talks over the hiring of one or two janitors. Reviews The Adventures of Martin Eden {Columbia) Hollyzvood, Feb. 24 'T* HIS Samuel Bronston production of a Jack London novel succeeds in transferring to the screen the spell and power of the sea-story writer's works. It is a film in which violent action and contrasting interludes conspire to set up a tension which persists without flagging from opening to close. Glenn Ford as the title character turns in a convincing performance, with Ian MacDonald, as his lifelong adversary and frequent opponent in battle, supplying a strong counter-balance. Claire Trevor and Evelyn Keyes give realism to the two feminine leads, while Stuart Erwin and Frank Conroy command secondary leads. Others in the cast are Dixie Moore, Rafaela Ottiano, Pierre Watkin, Regina Wallace and Robert J. McDonald. Production by B. P. Schulberg is in the Jack London tradition and direction by Sidney Salkow emphasizes force without over stress, power without excessive display of brutality. The story deals with Ford's determination to prove that a shipmate imprisoned on a charge of mutiny has been unjustly convicted. He is met by discouragement on every hand, finally by temptation to abandon his mission, but pushes through to success. Running time, 88 minutes. "G."* Roscoe Williams "The Man Who Returned to Life" {Columbia) Hollyzvood, Feb. 24 ' I v 1 1 K story of Columbia's "The Man Who Returned to Life" deals *• with community prejudice in a small Maryland town, the effort of a Southern girl to force a Northerner to marry her, her death and his being blamed for it, his escape and the sentence to death of her brother for his "murder." John Howard, as the Northerner who extricates himself from his tangle by fleeing and then has his past catch up with him; Lucile Fairbanks, the California girl whom he marries ; Ruth Ford, Marcella Martin, Roger Clark, Elisabeth Risdon and Paul Guilfoyle head the cast. Gordon Rigby, who adapted the story by Samuel W. Taylor, made a tightly knit, excitingly told screenplay of the material, and director Lew Landers made effective use of the flashback method in unfolding the drama, utilizing every moment of screen time to good advantage. Wallace MacDonald produced. Standout of the cast is Miss Martin, a comparative newcomer who show's much promise. Exhibitors south of the Mason-Dixon line would do well to examine the film before screening in view of possible "touchy" topics, such as North-South relationship and lynching. Running time, 60 minutes. "G."* Vance King "Professor Creeps" {Consolidated National Film Exchanges) Hollywood, Feb. 24 17* MPLOYING an all-Negro cast headed by a duo whom they could ^ but do not bill as the "sepia Abbott & Costello," producer Jed Buell and director William Beaudine supply here a comedy which had a houseful of customers in Los Angeles' "Harlem" screaming without letup throughout its running time. F. E. Miller and Mantan Moreland are the comedians whose portrayals of would-be detectives borrow nothing from the Abbott-Costello style, but produced an equivalent effect upon this preview audience. Distributed by Consolidated National Film Exchanges, with the South's 400 Negro-patronage theatres as its special market, the film is a natural for that field and, additionally, a picture to command attention of exhibitors elsewhere as a novelty attraction for a time when laughs are at a premium. Relying upon situation and surprise for most of its laughs, but containing many a dialogue laugh as well, the film presents Miller and Moreland as flat-broke detectives for a section of Amos-Andy type office humor, then takes them via a dream into a house of mystery where events fantastic and funny occur in occult and entertaining profusion. Others in the cast are Arthur Ray, Florence O'Brien, Maceo B. Sheffield, Margaret Whitten, Shelton Brooks, Jesse Vryer and Billy Mitchell. Running time, 63 minutes. "G."* Roscoe Williams "G" denotes general classification. Films in Work Drop Sharply; 31 on Stages Hollywood, Feb. 24. — Production ebbed to its lowest point in recent months this week when the number of pictures in work dropped to 31, as 15 finished and eight started. Forty are being prepared and 63 are in the cutting rooms. Universal is the busiest lot, with six in work. The tally by studio : Columbia Finished: "Just Another Dame," "Highly Irregular." In Work : "Meet the Stewarts," "Three's a Crowd." Started: "Sweetheart of the Fleet." Goldwyn (RKO) In Work: "The Pride of the Yankees." M-G-M Finished: "Sunday Punch." In Work: Untitled Dr. Kildare, "Her Cardboard Lover." Monogram Finished : "Arizona Roundup," "Klondike Fury," "Man with Two Lives." In Work : "Ghost Town Law." Producers Releasing Finished: "Gun Shy," "The Panther's Claw" (formerly "Shake Hands with Murder"). Paramount Finished: "The Black Curtain." In Work : "The Forest Rangers," "My Heart Belongs to Daddy," "Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch." Started: "Henry Aldrich, Editor," "Across the Border," "The Glass Key." RKO Finished: "Mexican Spitfire and the Ghost." In Work : "Journey into Fear." Republic Finished: "Jesse James, Jr.," "Shepherd of the Ozarks," "Affairs of Jimmy Valentine." In Work : "Girl from Alaska," "Sunset on the Trail" (formerly "Pal O' Mine"). Small (U. A.) In Work : "Friendly Enemies." Started: "Annie Rooney." 20th Century-Fox Finished: "My Gal Sal." In Work : "Ten Gentlemen from West Point." Universal In Work : "Eagle Squadron," "The Spoilers," "Lady in a Jam," "Saboteur," "Broadway." Started: "Escape from Hong Kong." Warners Finished: "Escape from Crime." In Work : "Desperate Journey," "The Shadow of Their Wings," "The Gay Sisters," "Yankee Doodle Dandy." New Orleans Gross Shows Sharp Upturn New Orleans, Feb. 24. — Theatres here report a sharp increase in business since Dec. 15, with attendance figures showing a steady climb since the sharp slump that followed the outbreak of war. Many of the city's larger theatres have piled up record grosses.