Motion Picture Daily (Apr-Jun 1950)

isday, May 17, 1950 Motion Picture Daily 3 Allied Promotes dtv' With Video Board Meeting n it meets in Memphis next v and Tuesday, Allied States' of directors will be urged by tntatives of New Jersey .Allied pt a "make-the-most-of-it" at^vard television, Jersey Allied Wilbur Snaper said yester w r New Jersey organization, said, has come to the concluat there is no point in attemptderide television competition, is here to stay and therefore est procedure would be to seek television work for the theatre than view it solely as a de-e competitive medium, Snaper td. Xew Jersey spokesman also esent to the Memphis meeting -ge that certain distributors sen circumventing provisions of ideral decree handed down in ustry anti-trust suit, according ber. , Lippert Invited to is N.J. Allied Meeting nld Lasser, New York Federal y, and Robert Lippert, presi!>f Lippert Productions, have vited by New Jersey Allied to the organization's 31st annual tion at the Hotel Traymore, c City, June 15-17. ; TV Trailers Continued from page 1) >xs 'The Big Lift.' These have been prepared in a packjmprised of three 20-second , and one 60-second trailer, nave been produced expressly vision. providing four television trailmake possible a succession of :>n film announcements in suffiiriety to utilize them on several gments, before and concurrent the showing of the picture," ed Robbins. xed to the end of each televiailer, we will supply a 'tailTarrying the name of the theld play dates. ; our purpose to make television available on most, if not all, tures, in the very near future,'' s concluded. Applauds' NSS Plan litre Owners of America's excommittee at the final day's \ of its two-day meeting at the Astor here, yesterday "apK" National Screen's new televijiiler package plan, but indicated le service charge might be too ]>r most exhibitors. TOA, Sulfaid, "will keep pressing" for fTV trailer coverage. Reviews Judge's Life Story |PHis, May 16.— Judge Camille juvenile court judge, of Memoday signed a contract which joject her life story into a mo;icture. She will soon resign |P years' services which brought fart national recognition. contract was signed with Babb, president of Hallmark ;tions. Babb is here with Cleo >n, who will write the story. "Mystery Street' (Metro-Go Idzvyn May er ) THE documentary type picture about crime detection is not new, but it is not often that there emerges in this category a film as thoroughly captivating and absorbing as this one. Produced by Frank E. Taylor at what was probably middling cost. "Mystery Street" was filmed with the cooperation of Harvard College, which itself is given a major role in the picture. This is the story of the murder of a nightclub hostess whose skeleton was found half-buried in the drifting sands of a New England beach several months after the crime. The police are baffled by the absence of any other clues, and . deliver the bones to Harvard's Department of Legal Medicine where (Dr.) Bruce Bennett explains to investigator Ricardo Montalban how scientific operations carried on by the department find "causes." It is the combination of Harvard's scientific probing and Montalban's police astuteness and determination that brings the murderer's doom. The paying customers will be wholly fascinated by what transpires. At about the three-quarter point in the film it becomes clear just who the murderer is, although it was evident almost at the outset that the bleached blonde of the Grass Skirt Cafe met her death at the hands of her married lover. Played with appropriate anxiety by Jan Sterling, the girl had arranged by telephone to meet him at an isolated beach setting to confer on the problem of her pregnancy. There he shot her, removed her clothes and hid the body in a shallow grave in the sand. Marshall Thompson, picked up drunk in the cafe by the blonde and taken for a ride in his own car to near the site of the murder, becomes the chief suspect and is about to be convicted when the film's pulsating climax produces the real killer. All of the players turn in well tempered performances, particularly Elsa Lanchester as a dipsomaniac rooming-house keeper, and Sally Forrest as Thompson's courageous young wife. Direction by John Sturges, from a screenplay by Sydney Boehm and Richard Brooks is spendidly fluid and properly pace-setting. Running time, 93 minutes. Adult audience classification. July release. Charles L. Franke 'Fortunes of Captain Blood' (Columbia) AROUSING action drama of piracy and conflict on the high seas has been turned out by Columbia in "Fortunes of Captain Blood." It was made in standard fashion with the familiar ingredients and is especially .exciting entertainment for the youngsters. Louis Hayward has the lead in the story based, on the novel by Rafael Sabatini. Playing Captain Blood, commander of the pirate ship The Avenger, he duels, dashes and makes love with graceful sweep. George Macready plays the Marquis who has been commissioned by Charles II of Spain to capture Captain Blood ; Patricia Medina portrays the beauteous niece of Macready who falls in love with Hayward. Actually Hayward is an Irish aristocrat and a lover of freedom who in his own way is dedicated to fight oppression. One day while slipping into a harbor for supplies, a handful of The Avenger's men are set upon and captured. Hayward's campaign to free the men spreads over a large portion of the story. As part of the strategy for this objective, Hayward slips into town disguised as a fruit peddler. With the aid of Miss Medina and Dona Drake, an inn keeper's daughter, he succeeds in his objective. A vivid, bang-up battle at sea winds up the drama. Harry Joe Brown produced and Gordon Douglas directed, from a screenplay by Michael Hogan, Robert Libbott and Frank Burt. Running time, 91 minutes. General audience classification. For June release. Mandel Hekbstman "Square Dance Katy" (Monogram) Hollywood, May 16 SHOWMEN in areas where the square dance craze is still keeping the patrons out of theatres may find this treatment on the subject of service in bringing them in. In situations where the fever has run its course the picture has less in the way of timely appeal in its favor. In either case, it is a modest little offering, on points, with Vera Vague's the marquee name with which to supplement the title. It is essentially a comedy, played along conventional lines, backgrounding a variety of musical numbers which include no startling innovations. The script, by Warren Wilson, presents Virginia Welles and Phil Brito as sweethearts and Warren Douglas as a talent scout to whose attention Miss Welles, a singer, seeks to bring Brito, also a singer, and his band. Douglas thinks more of her talent than Brito's, however, and stars her in a television show. She finally gets Brito arid his "combo" booked into a Greenwich Village night club operated by Miss Vague, but he does not do well there, and winds up playing, very successfully, for square-dancing teen-agers at a seaside dance place. She persuades him to make another try at the big time, and this time he becomes a hit. Production is by Lindsley Parsons, with Wesley Barry as associate. Jean Yarbrough directed. Running time, 76 minutes. General audience classification. Refuse Briefs on '10' Washington, May 16. — The U. S. Supreme Court has refused permission to three Southern California groups to file briefs as "friends of the court" in the conviction of John Howard Lawson and Dalton Trumbo. West Heads Exchange Cincinnati, May 16. — George B. West, local Monogram franchise partner, will manage the exchange here, succeeding Milton H. Gurian, who resigned to manage the local Lippert branch. Gurian succeeds William Onie. Short Subject "Where's the Fire?" (March of Time — 20th Century-Fox) March of Time takes up the timely and fascinating subject of fire-fighting in this interesting two-reeler. The camera first takes the audience on an exciting journey, watching a professional fire brigade from the time the alarm sounds until it is on the scene fighting a blaze. From that point on, the concentration is on volunteer brigades in small towns. Picked for special attention is the town of White Horse, N. J. The camera shows who makes up the brigade, how the training is carried out, and how a fire is fought. Running time, 19 minutes. Coast Labor Council Letter Gets to D.C. Washington, May 16. — The Hollywood AFL Film Council's letter sent on May 7 and asking the State Department to appoint a representative to observe the negotiations in London on the Anglo-American film remittance agreement now under way there, has finally been received. The State Department probably will reply that while it is interested in the negotiations they are between the British government and the American industry, and the Department cannot intervene unless invited to do so. Business Slow (Continued from page 1) "Adam and Evalyn" is fair enough at the Park Avenue, where the initial week's take is estimated at $8,000. "Colt .45" with Denise Darcel and Carl Ravazza's orchestra on stage, probably will provide the Strand with about $27,000 in a moderate second week. "No Man of Her Own," with Jerry Colonna and Buddy Rich's orchestra on stage, gave the Paramount about $49,000 in a fair second and final week. Opening today at the Paramount is "In a Lonely Place." "No Sad Songs for Me," with a stage presentation at the Music Hall, should wind up its third and final week with an adequate gross estimated at $100,000. It will be followed tomorrow by "Father of the Bride." "Wabash Avenue," with a stage show at the Roxy, is likely to reach about $48,000 in a modest third and final week. It will be replaced by "Ticket to Tomahawk" tomorrow. Holding up well, "City Lights" promises to do about $14,000 in its sixth week at the Globe. "D.O.A." is performing well enough at the Criterion, where an estimated $12,500 is looked for in the third week. "Third Man" continues as a good money-maker at the Victoria where the 15th week's take is ^figured at $15,000. "Johnny Holiday" opened at the Mayfair yesterday following "House by the River," which drew about $8,500 in its second and final. "Jackie Robinson Story" bowed in at the Astor yesterday ; its predecessor, "Golden Twenties," grossed about $5,000 in a slow sixth and final week. Another new one this week will be "The Capture" at the Rivoli on Friday. The Rivoli's current tenant, "The Big Lift," has about $10,500 in view for its third and final week, which is mild business.