Motion Picture Daily (Jan-Mar 1948)

4 Motion Picture Daily Monday, February 2, 194c Argentine Foreign Film Ban Is Official Buenos Aires, Feb. 1. — The Argentine Government has taken definite action to bar all foreign films from exhibition in the country. United States pictures will suffer most in the move. No explanation of the action has been forthcoming from the Argentine Bureau of Public Shows, which suspended approval of all foreign product, and from the Subsecretariat of Information, under which the bureau operates. The belief is that the move was taken in retaliation against an assertedly exorbitant levy placed on Argentine films by Spain. Hope was expressed in film circles that some way might be found to enable U. S. and other foreign films to continue to be shown in Argentina. Block GB-Odeon (Continued from page 1) theatres in "circuits of over 200," seeks powers to refuse a theatre the special license unless it is proved that control and booking policy have been unchanged since Jan. 1, 1948. With government backing, the amendment is sure to be carried. Meanwhile, Oliver Lyttleton introduced an amendment to the bill suggesting a quota of 35 per cent. Bill will come up for committee consideration on Tuesday. NTS Meeting (Continued from page 1) der the direction of W. E. Green, president, will be : "General Sales Plans and Policies for 1948." Items on the agenda, exclusive of discussing a new NTS line, will include ways and means of improving service to exhibitors, plans for the wider distribution and sale of popcorn and associated products, a drive-in theatre equipment program, visits to International Projector's plant in Bloomfield, N. J., and General Precision laboratories at Pleasantville. The meeting will conclude Thursday evening with a buffet supper and cocktail party at Renato's Restaurant in Greenwich Village. Those attending will include National's branch managers, as follows : R. P. Rosser, Jr., J. H. Kelley, F. J. Masek, A. C. Schuyler, C. Williamson, B. N. Peterson, A. de Stefano, A. J. Larsen, A. T. Cramer N. F. Williams, W. C. Earle, W. J. Hutchins, N. C. Haefele, H. J. McKinney, V. G. Sandford, A. G., Smith, R. W. Pries, J. C. Brown, W. G. Boling, R. L. Bostick, T. W. Xeely, J. I. Watkins, J. J. Morgan, J. B. Stone, Lloyd C. Ownbey, H. H. Randall, C. L. Chiniquy. .Also: Harry D. Epting, manager of National's air conditioning department; J. Goshorn, theatre seating department; and personnel of General Precision, including J W. Scrvies, W. J. Turnbull. A. J. Lindsley, J. E. Currie, Arthur F. Baldwin, A. W. Meyer and C. F. Alexander. Un-American Trials (Continued from page 1) though the motion did not ask that the trials be transferred to any specific place, the desirability of California was implied. In an 89-page memo, attorneys for the 10 declared that a fair trial could not be held in Washington because of the "fever heat" with which Communist activity is regarded here. The Government must answer the motion by Feb. 10, and argument on it will be heard Feb. 13. The first trial, that of John Howard Lawson, is slated for Feb. 24. Aid Films (Continued from page 1) the guarantee. Exactly how this might work out for the film industry would depend of course on the administrator, but industry officials here were obviously cheered by the committee recommendation. The recommendation came in the report of a joint House-Senate group, headed by Rep. Karl Mundt and Senator H. Alexander Smith. They were appointed last June to observe the government's information program abroad. Report Praises Industry The report, full of praise for the film industry and repeatedly stressing the need of some solution to the frozen funds and blocked currency problem, makes several recommendations On a motion picture program. It repeats the demand heard so frequently here lately for quality export, with a special slap at "some" independents, and urges an increased supply of documentary and non-commercial feature films be shipped abroad. To supplement showings by the U. S. Information Service, it suggests, efforts should be made to arrange commercial distribution of documentaries overseas by block booking them with American commercial features. Laud MPEA Aid "Motion pictures are tremendously popular in every country of Europe," the report states, "and have been until recently almost the only means of bringing the American scene to the mass of Europeans. Without in any way wishing to condemn the many excellent American pictures shown, an erroneous impression of America has at times been given by certain of the commercial films. Two things are necessary. First, better quality pictures, depicting the highest standards of American life, must be sent abroad. Cooperation from the Motion Picture Export Association, so decidedly helpful in the past, should continue to make improvement feasible. The committee feels that the assistance of the MPEA deserves special commendation and believes that if certain of the independent companies who have been laggard will join in the effort, the problem can readily be solved. Second, the supply abroad of documentary and non-commercial feature films, in fields insufficiently covered commercially, should be increased." Ask Bolstered Program Other recommendations on the film program were : Ample personnel and facilities for a film program in each USIS center, with one or more mobile film units apiece; all films shown by the USIS should be dubbed or at least captioned in the language of the country ; 16 mm. newsreels should be provided by airmail to each USIS office ; technical and other specialized documentaries in the Soviet satellite nations to fill the Jiuge demand which the Soviet union cannot meet. The block booking of documentaries by Hollywood along with commercial features is emphasized in a separate report by Sen. Lodge. "The result would be that our educational films would get into the larger theatres before the mass audiences where they would have their most effective force," Lodge states. Reviews "The Sign of the Ram" (Columbia) '* ' I ''HOSE born under Aries, the Sign of the Ram," according to thai A astrologers, "are endowed with strong will-power, determination anc obstinacy of purpose ; they will stop at nothing to accomplish their desires ■and sometimes meet a violent death." In transforming this thesis to the screen, producer Irving Cummings, Jr assembled a substantial cast of competent players, displayed a liberal hand in selecting sets and settings, and helped to prove that an able per^rmei who has suffered a physical handicap is not less able a performer u tl 1 ise quence. The last reference is to Susan Peters who, as a result of at . -ghh serious accident three years ago has been confined to a wheelchair ever since and for whom this picture marks a screen comeback. That Miss Peters' return is a screen event of proportions will very likely be demonstrated at the box-office, but her fans may find sorely disappointin the casting of her in an unsympathetic role — that of a wheelchair-ridde: young matron who practices unpardonable deceit and treachery to accomplish the selfish purpose of keeping her husband and step-children veritable slave: to her benevolent tyranny. And discriminating audiences might well deplon the gushing sentimentality that pervades the script which, from time to time requires Miss Peters to recite unimaginative and dolefully drivelous verse The film's final scene, like two others wherein the imminence of tragedy i sensed, is charged with dramatic impact. In it, Miss Peters, exposed as havin planned the near-tragic consequences aimed at preventing two of her step children from marrying, wheels her chair from her Cornwall manor to the nearby cliffs and casts herself over the edge to her death on the rocky coasi below. Co-starring with Miss Peters are Alexander Knox, Phyllis Thaxter and Peggy Ann Garner, all of whom perform adequately notwithstanding th limitations imposed by the sedentary, heavily conversational screenplay whicr confines the "action" largely to the spacious, beautifully-appointed rooms of the English manor house. Commensurate performances are contributed by good supporting cast which includes Ron Randell, Dame May Whitty, Allen Roberts, Ross Ford and Diana Douglas. This film is due to be most cordially received by women patrons, for it attention is focussed mainly on its distaff characters, their emotional conflicts their psychological burdens. John Sturges quite apparently directed with thai end in view, and with leisurely pace and a respect for detail. The screenplay is 'by Charles Bennett, based upon a novel by Margaret Ferguson. Running time, 84 minutes. Adult audience classification. Release date hoi set. Charles L. Franki "A Miracle Can Happen" (Bogeaus-United Artists) MORE stars were assembled for Benedict Bogeaus' free-wheeling comedy than most exhibitors' marquees can accommodate. Involved are such' saleable names as Paulette Goddard, Burgess Meredith, James Stewart, Henry Fonda, Dorothy Lamour, Victor Moore, Harry James, Fred MacMurray, and others. The story is held together by the adventures of Meredith, a timid want-ac clerk, who becomes emboldened by the proddings of his wife, Miss Goddard to pose as an inquiring reporter. Armed with the question : "What greal influence has a little child had on your life?" Meredith goes off to "interro gate the world." In the course of his exploits, all types of entertainment tun: up, including slapstick, mock tragedy, satire, musical numbers, vocals, skits tired gags and just about everything on the roster of entertainment. Struc turally, the plot has a tendency to prolong many sequences, and thus mucl of the over-all effects are diluted. One of the most memorable chapters results when Meredith pops his ques tion to Stewart and Fonda, a pair of night-spot musicians. Out comes ii retrospect their rocking tale of how a baby ("baby" Dorothy Ford) alterec their lives. The sketch is a gem, with story material provided by John O'Hara With an incensed bookmaker barking at his heels, Meredith goes off t< discover how a glamorous film star, Miss Lamour, was affected by a child There emerges the yarn of how an aging actor of the silent days, Moore became her manager. The sketch provides Miss Lamour an opportunity tc do a sarong-girl burlesque. Next comes the mournful tale of how MacMurray and William Demarest as a couple of itinerant gamblers, became the victims of the superior mind o a 12-year-old "brat," David Whorf, who held them captive in his little cave Meredith also shared the production reins with Bogeaus, while the direc torial chores were handled by King Vidor and Leslie Fenton. The screenplay of Laurence Stallings and Lou Breslow, from an Arch Obler original, end with the big-fisted bookmaker catching up with Meredith. But what do ; few scars matter, when he really lands the job as the roving reporter? Anc1 what is more, his wife informs him they are going to have a baby. A mirach does happen ! Running time, 107 minutes. General audience classification. Set for February release. Mandel Herbstma> Oxford Gets Film Rights Oxford Films 4ias acquired American distribution rights to the new Swedish film "Blood and Fire," produced by Europa Film of Stockholm. The film has been cited with six awards by the Swedish Producers Association. Prudential in Darien Berk and Krumgold, theatre realt specialists of New York, have sol< the Darien Theatre, Darien, Conn., t< Prudential Playhouses Operating Co The house was owned by a compar; headed by Senator Edward H. Dela field.