Motion Picture Daily (Apr-Jun 1950)

6 Motion Picture Daily Monday, April 24, 19: Found: Contentment And Late Clearance Minneapolis. April 23. — Minnesota Entertainment Enterprises will continue a policy of showing pictures in a clearance slot well behind the majority of runs in Twin Cities theatres this year, it was reported by Bill Sears, general manager. He said the policy worked out satisfactorily last year. It was pointed out by a distributor spokesman that the four MEE stands are drive-ins owned by exhibitors operating year-around theatres "and they would naturally protect their regular theatres against too much competition" by the outdoor stands. Reviews "Mystery at the Burlesque" {Daniel M. Angel Productions Monogram) Hollywood, April 23 VAUDEVILLE and melodrama in a pleasant mixture cause this Britishmade picture, with its all-British cast of names unfamiliar to American audiences, to overcome its marquee handicap by its high entertainment quotient. The burlesque theatre in which the action takes place, with the actual members of the burlesque troupe putting on their performance in the course of the story, is London's Windmill Theatre and the word "burlesque" applies in the decorous British sense — no "bumps," no "grinds," no blue gags or blackouts. Five production numbers are performed on stage and are executed ably. A dead body is found in the front row of the theatre after an audience has left. Police are summoned, and they send the troupe through their numbers as one means of determining which of the players or stage employes were in a position to fire the shot which killed the man at the time and from the angle it is known to have been fired. No great suspense is generated, and the solution of the case contains no surprise, but the incidental entertainment stands on its own. Produced by Daniel M. Angel and directed by Val Guest, from his own screenplay, the cast includes Garry Marsh, Jon Pertwee, Jack Livesey, Elliot Makehem, Jimmy Edwards, Diana Decker, Donald Clive and the Windmill Theatre company and staff. Running time, 58 minutes. General audience classification. Release date, April 16. "Captive Girl" (Columbia) PRODUCED by Sam Katzman and directed by William Berke, this is another in the "Jungle Jim" series from Columbia. Based on the newspaper cartoon feature, "Jungle Jim," Carroll Young's screenplay sends hero Johnny Weissmuller in search of a beautiful young girl who was orphaned as a child by the murdering of her parents at the hands of a savage witch doctor. She is eventually found and the savage and his men are killed. Meanwhile, Buster Crabbe enters the scene as the villain in search of lost treasures and provids additional obstacles for Weissmuller. Except for some good animal shots, which have little to do with the development of the story, and some underwater photography, the picture emerges as a routine adventure film. It was photographed in sepia. Completing the cast are Anita Lhoest, Rick Vallin, John Dehner, Rusty Wescoatt and Nelson Leigh. Running time, 73 minutes. General audience classification. April release. TV Installation for 2nd Fabian Theatre An order for RCA instantaneous theatre television equipment has been placed for the Fabian Palace Theatre, Albany. N. Y., according to S. H. Fabian, president of the circuit. The installation will be the same new RCA model to be installed in the Fabian Fox Theatre, Brooklyn. Fabian said : "It envisions the possibility eventually of nation-wide systerms of theatre television which will bring outstanding events and special entertainment programs to thousands of theatres simultaneously across the country. We have the possibilities in theatre television of creating television programs so outstanding that nothing in the homes can match them. If we do not achieve the potentials offered in this new medium, we will have only ourselves to blame," he concluded. 20th, WB Extensions (Continued from page 1) Arthur Theatre, Washington, which is to be dissolved by the company in accordance with agreements made with the government in the industry anti-trust suit, is already set to be disposed of by May 6 in a deal with the co-owners. Warner is relinquishing its interests in the house. Meanwhile, the government has agreed to an extension of 60 days, from the deadline of April 20, for 20th Century-Fox to split with its partners in the operation of the Theatre Holding and West Coast Wilmington companies, Los Angeles (four houses), and the Muscatine Theatre, Muscatine, Iowa. MEMBER FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE CORPORATION Arbitration (Continued from page 1) until after he reports to the forthcoming meeting, in May, of the TOA executive committee. Hence, formal approval of arbitration conferences by TOA leaders will have to wait until the committee meets. Thereafter arrangements will be made with the distributors for a date to begin the conferences. The TOA executive committee meetinghas been tentatively set for May 1516 in New York. Meanwhile, speculation is running high among the more influential representatives of exhibition and distribution as to whether it would be possible to include in any future system of arbitration the requirement that arbitrators be individuals with industry backgrounds. At present S. H. Fabian, head of Fabian Theatres, is serving as arbitrator of a case in Bridgeport, the first voluntary arbitration to be engaged in this year between exhibitor and distributors. "How many men of Fabian's ability and background would be available for the arbitrator's post?" one spokesman for theatre interests asked when queried as to whether he thought an industrywide arbitration system could provide for top arbitrators from within the industry. A distribution chief who saw merit in the appointment of arbitrators from within the industry added that he believed it might not be possible to find them available always. He wondered whether "someone from the courts who is familiar with the industry" might not serve as an arbitrator. SMPTE Meet (Continued from page 1) Television Engineers, opening tomorrow at the Hotel Drake here, and continuing through Friday. Film projection, theatre sound, color film processing, high-speed photography, 16mm. equipment and three sessions on television, with considerable emphasis on color TV, will be the subjects of 10 technical sessions. Spyros P. Skouras, 20th CenturyFox president, will address a luncheon tomorrow. Deny Durwoocl Motion in Suit Kansas City, April 23. — DurworJ Theatres which, on March 17 filed a; anti-trust action agains' 20th-Fo>: Loew's, Columbia, UnrvU^ Warne and RKO Radio, has -wen denied motion for a preliminary injunctio: by U. S. District Court. Plaintiff's complaint charged tha the defendants had entered into a con spiracy to restrain trade and com merce in the distribution and exhibi tion of motion pictures in the cities o St. Joseph, Mo., and Leavenworth Kans. Holding that competitive biddin; was outlawed by the Supreme Court' decision in the industry anti-trust suit plaintiff complained that defendant; pursuit of bidding practice in thoS cities had deprived Durwood Theatre of first-run films, to which the circui maintains its theatres are entitled. The complaint asked for injunctiv, relief, unspecified damages, attorney, fees and costs. Tax Action (Continued from page 1) slightly an earlier action cutting e$ cises in the photographic field. It tei tatively voted to cut from 25 per ceii1 to 10 per cent the manufacturers' e> cise on cameras and other photo graphic apparatus and from 15 pt cent to 10 per cent the tax on fill raw stock and other sensitized filt-( and plates. Earlier in the week, had tentatively voted to cut the 25 pi cent tax to \2J/2 per cent and the 1 per cent tax to 7y2 per cent. All d< cisions are still tentative and there a good chance that efforts may t made later to get a further reductic in the photographic taxes and possibl complete elimination of the raw stoc levy. In voting so far, the Committee hi been doing very well in holding dow the revenue loss in the bill, improvin, the chances that the measure will s| be vetoed or that, if the measui meets a Presidential veto, it will | overridden. GREATEST STORY OF ALL MAGNIFICENT! A POWERFUL AND REVERENT PICTURE ! M. C. Torres presents THE SINNER OF MAGDALA IThe Story of Christ and Mary Magdalenal with Medea de Novara and cast of thousands Two Tears in the Making POWERFUL! The Story of a Devotion Ur paralleled in the History e Human Experience. HISPANO CONTINENTAL FILMS, INC. 25 West 45th Street, New York 19, N. Y. LUxemburg 2-1700