Motion Picture Daily (Jan-Mar 1950)

Wednesday, February 15, 1950 Motion Picture Daily 7 Nominees (Continued from page 1) in "All the King's Men" ; Kirk Douglas in "Champion" ; Gregory Peck in "12 O'Clock High" ; Richard Todd in "The Hasty Heart" ; and John Wayne in "Sands of Iwo Jima." Best supporting actor: John Ireland in "fizfy the King's Men" ; Dean Jagger ip==2 O'Clock High" ; Arthur Kennedy in "Champion" ; Ralph Richardson in "The Heiress" ; and James Whitmore in "Battleground." Best actress: Jeanne Craine in "Pinky" ; Olivia de Havilland in "The Heiress" ; Susan Hayward in "My Foolish Heart" ; Deborah Kerr in "Edward, My Son" ; and Loretta Young in "Come to The Stable." Best supporting actress: Ethel Barrymore in "Pinky" ; Celeste Holm in "Come to the Stable" ; Elsa Lanchester in "Come to the Stable" ; Mercedes McCambridge in "All the King's Men" ; and Ethel Waters in "Pinky." Best director: Robert Rossen, "All the King's Men" ; William A. Wellman, "Battleground" ; Carol Reed, "Fallen Idol" ; William Wyler, "The Heiress" ; and Joseph L. Mankiewicz, "A Letter to Three Wives." Review Nominate 2 Features, 4 Shorts For Documentary Awards Hollywood, Feb. 14. — Two features and four short subjects have been nominated for the special documentary Academy Award and will be screened for the Academy membership on Feb. 26, when final balloting will take place, it is announced by William Cameron Menzies, chairman of the special committee on documentaries. The features are "Daybreak in Udi," produced for the British Information Services by Crown Film ; and "Kenji Comes Home," produced by Paul F. Heard and presented by the Protestant Film Commission. Short subjects are "The Rising Tide," Canadian Film Board ; "1848," an A. and F. film ; "A Chance to Live," March of Time, and "So Much for so Little," Warner cartoon made for the U. S. Public Health Service. '12 High' at the Woods _ Chicago, Feb. 14.— The Illinois National Guard has taken over the Woods Theatre here for the Feb. 28 premiere of Darryl F. Zanuck's "Twelve O'Clock High." The entire theatre has been sold at $2.00 a seat, with the proceeds going to a memorial honoring the late General Henry "Hap" Arnold, commander of the Air Forces during the last war. "The Astonished Heart" (Gainsborough-Universal-International) THIS is one for the intelligentsia, the chi-chi and the particular. Screenplay by Noel Coward from a Noel Coward original, music by Noel Coward and male lead by Noel Coward establish the pattern. He is a noted London psychiatrist, by profession so steeped in digging into the mental reflexes and emotional attitudes of others that he has forgotten about his own. Thus, he takes his long-standing marriage to Celia Johnson as a matter-of-fact arrangement punctuated by no visible emotions whereas she, understanding wife, finds the situation agreeable if never exciting. Arriving on the scene after an absence of quite a span of years is Margaret Leighton, school chum with something of a past. She is attracted to Coward by his introspection and indifference, sets out to add him to her collection of romantic scalps and succeeds. Miss Johnson takes it all with British stoicism and gallantry and professes to understand Coward's emotional conflict to that degree which finds her suggesting her husband and his mistress leave the country together for three months. The idea there is that Coward might work the urging, flame or passion out of his system and, hopefully from Miss Johnson's viewpoint, return to her bed and board. This would be quite a daring piece of business on the part of any wife, and Miss Johnson fails to escape its consequences. Coward, it is indicated, tries to come out of his submergence, becomes so violently jealous of Miss Leighton that she tires of him more rapidly than perhaps might have been the case under more pleasant circumstances. At any rate, she breaks off the relationship and Coward, unable to apply the psychiatry of which he is an expert to his own dilemma, takes the suicide road. He jumps from the roof of his apartment building and shortly thereafter dies with the name of his wife, not his paramour, on his lips. "The Astonished Heart" draws its title from a Biblical reference and was one of Coward's famed "Tonight at 8 :30" sketches. The film is essentially a dialogue piece in swank London surroundings and is almost entirely devoid of action. But the dialogue, while it runs on endlessly, is smart and very adult in keeping with the Coward standard of play-writing. The best performances come from Miss Johnson — ("Brief Encounter" and "The Happy Breed") — and Miss Leighton. Both do very well in widely divergent roles. Coward is a monument of British reserve and, while he may have been moved internally, the external man rarely gives way to his internal parallel. Thus, he may be regarded as giving a fine performance or a dull one, dependent upon viewpoint. This reviewer bends toward the latter. Graham Payn and Joyce Carey, the remaining members of a small cast, are good. "The Astonished Heart" is designed best for runs branching off the main stream of exhibition. In that area, it should score, even heavily. It is a Sidney Box production, directed by Terence Fisher and Anthony Darnborough. Running time, 92 minutes. Adult audience classification. February release. Red Kann Skouras Calls Theatre Meet {Continued from page 1) ada, including national and regional leaders of Theatre Owners of America, Allied States, Pacific Coast Conference of Independent Theatre Owners, and to trade press representatives. The company's aim is to have as its guests representatives of every exchange area in the U. S. and Canada at what it regards as the first meeting of its kind ever held in this industry. At a press conference here yesterday, Skouras indicated the nature of the meeting in making it clear that continuing attendance problems and new forms of theatre competition, including television and a noticable decline in juvenile attendance, call for joint action by distributors and exhibitors. Both share the responsibility and both can contribute to the remedy, Skouras said, adding that exhibitors need help, not criticism, in confronting today's problems. The company's plan for encouraging and revitalizing showmanship to be presented to the meeting has been formed with the problems and conclusions in mind which were uncovered at the recent 20th Century-Fox merchandising meetings at the home office for theatre advertising-publicity heads. The meeting itself is regarded by the company as an extension of the program set forth in Skouras's "Clear Statement of Policy" issued by the company last May, defining the basis of its customer relations. The agenda will include discussions on showmanship, merits of saturation booking and institutional merchandis ing for the benefit of the individual exhibitor, as well as the industry as a whole. Methods for attracting "new-found" audiences will be presented. Included will be special at tention for winning and holding chil dren's patronage. Skouras will preside at the meeting assisted by vice-presidents Al Licht man, Andy W. Smith, Jr., and Charles Einfeld. Important industry personal ities, as well as company officials, wil address the sessions. Skouras empha sized that it will not be a "sales meet ing." A feature of the meeting will be open forums at which ideas for im proving box-office results will be in vited. Mexican Import Law (Continued from page 1) films, another authorizes the government to set up a screen quota for Mexican films. The Department also said that in Germany, a syndicate of six Bavarian banks have established a film financing company, intended as a nucleus to be expanded later. According to German press reports, Commerce added, the company will eventually obtain 35,000,000 marks from the blocked accounts of U. S. and U.K. producers. Fourth Postponement In Technicolor Case Hollywood, Feb. 14.— Trial of the government's antitrust suit against Technicolor, thrice postponed on assurances by counsel that an agreement on a consent decree was imminent, was put over again this morning to Thursday by Federal Judge William C. Mathes following his questioning of attorneys as to whether a disagreement was on language or substance. The jurist said, "It is rather a sad commentary on the legal profession if you can't break your decree down into the English language." See Increase in UK Quota Defaults London, Feb. 14. — An increase in exhibitor defaults under Britain's 40 per cent film quota is expected to be shown for the year ended Sept. 30, 1949, when the default figures are presented to the Films Council on Friday. In the previous year there were 1,608 defaults in 4,706 licensed theatres. The expected increase in defaults last year over the previous year is despite elaborate relief granted to some theatres and the exemption scheme applicable to others. Labor in Anglo Pact (Continued from page 1) Picture Producers, and James A. Mulvey, president of Samuel Goldwyn Productions, all of whom probably will sit in on the forthcoming London trade negotiations. Substantiating the broad accord on the "need" for cooperation was a decision to hold a second meeting in Hollywood at which labor's position will be more closely appraised and specific methods of cooperation taken up. Union representatives apparently were satisfied with the results of the Monday meeting. New Yorkers are talking about (that's all right, Walter, glad to do it for you) me... in An Eagle Lion Films Release Juced by Benedict Bogeaus