Motion Picture Daily (Apr-Jun 1950)

aday, June 5, 1950 Motion Picture daily 13 Guard Morality In Films, Pope Urges Rome, June 4.— His Holiless, Pope Pius XII has urged n a telegram sent to the neeting here of the Office Z-atholique Internationale du Cinema (International CathDlic Film Office) of France :hat vigilance be maintained n behalf of moral standards F -potion pictures. j| ie urged also the production of pictures that would averthrow the ravages of .mmoral films. usiness in Europe ery Good': Pincus •usiness everywhere on the Conti|t is "very good" at present, Arthur :cus, Loew's International assistant L-ctor of advertising-publicity, ob•ed here at the weekend. Pincus, irned from a 12-week trip abroad, I there were amazing economic |nges since his last trip two years n Italy, he said, American pictures ie virtually no foreign competition, icugh a lot of native production is zing underway there. Industry pos,lities in Germany are "great," [cus asserted, citing the enormous jstrial populations concentrated in ge cities. ''incus praised the results of the owmanship" tour in Europe of arles Einfeld, 20th Century-Fox ertising-publicity vice-president, de-ing that he "woke the industry up showmanship and did a lot of Id." In his trip. Pincus visited all of jsw*s European offices, with empha1 on Germany where the company ned new branches on Jan. 1. Review "Daybreak in Udi" (Crozm Film-David Brill) A SHARP documentary camera has been turned on the little African village of Udi in the province of Onitsha, Nigeria, to provide an interesting glimpse of life there. This Crown Film Unit production has the distinction of having won an Academy Award this year in the category of "distinguished achievements in documentary production." In some respects the content is similar to many other documentaries on African life, but what sets the film apart is its naturalness and simplicity, and freedom from deliberately contrived exploitation angles. The picture's appeal would lie largely with specialized audiences. The slight narrative thread that runs through the documentary concerns the efforts to build a maternity ward in the community against the attempts of superstition and ignorance "to block the project. Throughout the picture the customs and ceremonials of the primitive people, the Abaja Ibos, are revealed in graphic documentation. E. R. Chadwick plays a British district officer who tries to inculcate the natives with the ideas of progress and self-reliance. The developments at times appears sketchy. John Taylor and Max Anderson were in charge of production. Terry Bishop directed. William Alwyn composed the music which was based on authentic Ibo themes. Running time, 45 minutes. General audience classification. June release. Mandel Herbstman NCA Will Conduct A Series of Regionals In Summer and Fall cDonald Denies {Continued from page 1) mmission that it had asked Zenith iletter to explain some of its actions .connection with Phonevision. |7he FCC said Zenith had been ad tising that "Phonevision will soon ihere," and also made public a letter Kng the tests were originally au| rized on the specific condition that j company would "avoid any action 't might create the impression" that 'onevision eventually will be per !ted on a regular basis, or that the , C has approved subscription TV in nciple. McDonald said the FCCs concern r claims regarding Phonevision ibably arose from an advertisement sich a Hempstead, N. Y., Zenith .ler ran last Feb. 23. The FCC, however, cited letters that Donald had written to all members the Radio Manufacturers Associah and to Admiral Corp. and to letone, and in which, the FCC said, Donald encouraged the manufactur h to install Phonevision unscramblers their sets by offering them a "congent credit on future royalties." exico Plans TV Quota Mexico City, June 4. — Import quo; for television apparatus are being •ranged by the Ministry of National >nomy, as necessary because of bans many imports and restrictions on ylny others to conserve dollars. 20th, Hurok to Film Concerts (Continued from page 1) tribute the novel screen features. Associated with the film executive in the production of the screen concerts will be Sol Hurok, impresario, who is responsible for having secured many of the artists. The films, described as "a distinguished innovation in the progress of screen entertainment," will star such international personalities of the music world as Arthur Rubenstein, Rise Stevens, Jascha Heifetz, Gregor Piatigorsky, Marian Anderson, Patrice Munsel, Jan Peerce and Dimitri Mitropoulos, as well as many other artists who heretofore have been available only to limited audiences who went to concert halls to hear them. The screen concerts will unify individual productions in which several of the artists will be starred. They will be produced in Hollywood by Rudolph Polk and Bernard Luber of World Artists, Inc., Skouras said. Polk, president of World Artists, a musician himself who has been prominent in concert circles for years, was formerly musical director of Enterprise Productions on the Coast. Also highlighted in many of the films will be ballet sequences to be presented by Hurok, who will shortly leave for Europe to search for additional ballet artists. Skouras said that Irving Reis, who directed such pictures as "All My Sons," "Dancing in the Dark" and "The Bachelor and the Bobby Soxer," has been chosen to direct the high fidelity sound-film programs. Having maintained for many years that the taste of the American public is sufficiently mature to welcome such screen projects, Skouras said he is certain that the motion picture concerts will be appreciated by the moviegoing public as a part of regular theatre programs. He revealed that tests made in several cities on the West Coast with four of the films already produced, indicated such an "enthusiastic acceptance on the part of the public that the production and release of a substantial number of these screen concert programs will proceed without delay. "The response we have received," he added, "confirms our conviction that such motion picture entertainment would not only be enjoyed by the public but also would broaden the vistas of the nation's screens by appealing to many persons who are not now regularly patronizing movies." Formal contract for the series was concluded last week between Polk and Peter Levathes, short subjects sales manager of the film company, who said, "specific distribution plans involving these films will be announced during the summer." Minneapolis, June 4. — Moving to bolster "grass roots" interests in exhibitor organization activities, North Central Allied's board of directors will meet in Minneapolis late in June to formulate plans for a series of regional meetings to be held in the late summer and early fall in key points in Minnesota and the Dakotas. Plans for the board meeting were disclosed by NCA executive counsel Stan Kane. It is likely the meetings will be held in Duluth, Minn., Fargo and New Rockford, N. D., Sioux Falls, S. D., and a Southern Minnesota point, with NCA president Ben Berger, Kane and a number of board members making the tour as speakers and observers. Arbitration, compulsory percentages and forced buying will likely head the agenda of the regional meetings, with showmanship also pegged for important discussions at all sessions. Frank and Woempner To Reduce Circuit Minneapolis, June 4. — With negotiations in the final stages for the sale of at least one other of the circuit's 14 theatres in Minnesota, Frank and Woempner have announced the sale of the lease on the Randolph, St. Paul suburban, to Williams and Parsons. Edward H. Williams, former manager of the Lake, Minneapolis, will manage the Randolph. During the last two years there have been numerous reports of the sale of the entire F. and W. circuit, or trimming the chain piecemeal, but the Randolph deal is the first to be consummated. The new owners assume an eight-year lease. May Strike at Azteca Studio on Lay-Off s Mexico City, June 4. — Studio workers of the Azteca studio here are threatening strike action against layoffs scheduled for June 15. The reduction in technical forces will be necessary because of the recent merger between Azteca and the newer Churubusco studio, Azteca claims. Major reductions will be among electricians, carpenters, laboratory workers and make-up people, all organized in the major cinema union, STIC. The union demands that continuance of the workers' jobs be assured, either at Azteca or in other studios, even though the merger will mean a drop in jobs. Paramount Heads to Coast in Six Groups Twenty-six Paramount home office executives and aides will begin leaving here today for the company's national sales convention in Los Angeles and for the special division managers' meeting that will precede the convention. The division managers will meet on June 8-10; the convention will take place on June 12-14. Heading the list of executives who will leave today are : Max E. Youngstein, Fred Leroy and Oscar Morgan, to be followed tomorrow by Hugh Owen, Phil Isaacs and Russell Holman. On Wednesday, those leaving will include A. W. Schwalberg, Ted O'Shea, A. M. Kane, Joseph Walsh, Monroe Goodman and Marty Friedman, to be followed on Thursday by Louis Phillips, Arthur Dunne, Carl Clausen and Sid Mesibov. En route Friday will be Barney Balaban, Adolph Zukor, Paul A. Raibourn, Jerry Pickman, Sid Blumenstock and Mort Nathanson. George Weltner will leave Sunday. O'Hara Is Elected RKO Board Member Francis J. O'Hara, member of the Washington law firm of Summers and O'Hara, was elected a director of Radio-Keith-Orpheum at a board meeting on Friday, it was announced by RKO president Ned E. Depinet. O'Hara fills the vacancy created by the resignation of Thomas A. Slack. The new board member at one time served as general counsel for Defense Plants Corp., a subsidiary of the Reconstruction Finance Corp. Amer. Broadcasting Quits National Group American Broadcasting" has resigned from the National Association of Broadcasters, the second network to take such action. Columbia Broadcasting System resigned from the trade association May 17.