Motion Picture Daily (Jan-Mar 1951)

Tuesday, March 13, 1951 Motion Picture Daily 3 Review "Soldiers Three" (Metro-Goldwyn-M oyer ) T NSPIRED by the stories of Rudyard Kipling, M-G-M's "Soldiers Three" 1 has its setting in India and revolves around the rousing adventures of three soldiers in the King's army. The obstreperous trio that has a kinship with trouble and mischief consists of Stewart Granger, Cyril Cusack and Robert Newton. The story is told in retrospect in a tongue-in-cheek manner by Walter Pidgeon, a retired general who lived through the stormy mischief of the three soldiers. The cast is rounded out by David Niven, a captain, and Greta Gynt, a voluptuous blonde who shares a brief romantic interlude with Granger. The picture has been well made production-wise, and has humor, interest and action. However, there are times when the plot seems uncertain in its direction and is heavy with dialogue. For the most part the story delineates the misadventures of the three soldiers and shows how their unorthodox behavior has repercussions on both Pidgeon and Niven. Incident follows incident, until finally the wily Pidgeon hits upon a strategem to break up the three. He promotes Granger to a sergeant, and since privates traditionally do not like sergeants, dissension is aroused among the three friends. Comic enmity bounces back and forth in abundance. A crisis is reached when some SO men are dispatched to take a fortress, a seeming death-trap mission. The two privates are in the group but Granger is left behind. Once within the walls of the fortress, the group gets hopelessly trapped by the Indians. In the meantime, Granger has deserted and goes off to join his buddies. His desertion becomes mighty helpful to the trapped men as he proves instrumental in their liberation. Since hero Granger has to be punished for his desertion, he is happily demoted back to a private and all ends joyously. Pandro S. Berman produced and Tay Garnett directed, from a screenplay by a trio of writers consisting of Marguerite Roberts, Tom Reed and Malcolm Stuart Boylan. Running time, 83 minutes. General audience classification. Release date, April 20. Mandel Herbstman (Additional revieivs on page 6) National Pre-Selling M-G-M's radio series, "The Story of Doctor Kildare," now circulating to radio stations through M-G-M Records, has been singled out for commendation by the National Society for Crippled Children and Adults. The 29-year-old nationwide organization, with 2,000 affiliates in the 48 states, services more than 20,000 children suffering from cerebral palsy. The film and radio series has also been praised by the American Red Cross for its effect in deepening the understanding of services provided by the sale of Easter Seals, with due appreciation to Lew Ayers and Lionel Barrymore for their imaginative interpretation of the needs of crippled children. • Paramount's "The Redhead and the Cowboy" will be given novel publicity as a result of a tieup with Copley Fabrics, Inc., which will create a montage of scenes from the picture, including shots of Glenn Ford, Edmond O'Brien and Rhonda Fleming, printed directly on a French crepe Copley fabric which can be fashioned into dresses, scarve , blouses, etc. These photoprints will also be available to manufacturers for use on satins, fluorescent and sharkskins, and should be a c le for exploitation tieups at the point of sale. Theatre staff employes can be attired in the new material to show goods in advance of playdates. • Six television trailers, running from 20 seconds to one-minute, have been prepared by Columbia for the Technicolor production of "Valentino." Trailers feature the stars, Anthony Dexter, who is said to be like the original "Rudy," and Eleanor Parker, as one of many women in his life. Dramatic highlights are accented and the selling approach is intended to bring out the romantic and nostalgic quality of the film. Trailers are now available in both 16mm. and 35mm. • An important tribute to the 20th Century-Fox "Bird of Paradise" promotion campaign has come from the Retail Division of the Bureau of Advertising, which has named the plan "an outstanding example of motion picture merchandising at the local level." A special bulletin heralding the campaign is being sent by the Bureau to hundreds of member newspapers, urging their complete support. Specifically, advertising managers of daily newspapers throughout the country are urged to set nip special sections in which various tie-ins can be assembled for the greatest cooperative advertising benefit zvith local theatres. • Almost 1,000,000 persons in every part of the country have already asked to see Robert Stillman's "Queen for a Day" as a result of the elaborate preselling campaign which has been waged since Feb. 12, when Mutual Broadcasting launched its three-week, day-today program urging listening audiences to send signed postcards, requesting tickets for the premiere of the picture in their city. The network's 500 stations concluded their search for the "Queen City" on March 2 and announcement of the winning situation will follow, with a personal appearance of the entire "Queen for a Day" radio troupe on the local MBS station. A six-fold tieup between 20th Century-Fox's "Follow the Sun' and FootJoy golf shoes will saturate 10,000,000 members of the golfing world zvith special material on the Ben Hogan film, Seventy-five thousand postcards will be sent to members of golf clubs, with follow-up letters going to 2,200 golf "pros," and 8,000 Foot-Joy catalogues and more than 10,000 posters going to sporting goods dealers and department stores. Country clubs, public golf courses and professionals throughout the country will also promote the picture. • Twentieth Century-Fox's "Follozv the Sun" will be promoted in a Coastto-Coast tieup zvith Catalina, Inc., which has created a special "Follozv the Sun" swim suit for men, women and children, displaying them in approximately 10,000 stores, zvith fullpage ads breaking simultaneously in national magazines. The company is also distributing a promotional manual to encourage local campaigns between dealers and theatre managers, to put on bathing siut contests zvith cooperative advertising. The current issue of Reader's Digest will bring the story of "Follozv the Sun" to 25,000,000 readers throughout the world. Walter Brooks New Lens for TV Boston, March 12. — A claim that "jellied" plastic has been used successfully in a plastic lens which produces 15 by 20 foot television pictures in theatres, was made recently by Polaroid Corp. officials. The lens is the largest ever manufactured commerically, officials said, and it has been installed in a chain of theatres. Officials said it is being used in the RCA theatre television projection system. Harriett Expanding Barnett International Forwarders, New York, which expedites film., industry shipments abroad, has opened an office at N. Y. International Airport. Ascap Sets Annual Meet for March 27 Ascap's annual meeting, which will feature reports by Otto Harbach, president, and other officers, has been set for March 27 at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel here. It will be followed on the evening of the same day by the society's annual banquet at the WaldorfAstoria. Ballotting is already under way for a new board of directors, and the results of the election are expected to be announced on March 22. The new board will consist of 12 writer representatives and 12 publisher representatives. In three to five days following ASCAP's annual meeting, officers will be elected for the coming year from among the new board membership. Borack Heads New Film Buying Group Cincinnati, March 12. — William Borack, formerly Cooperative Theatre Service branch manager, has formed Tri-State Theatre Service, in partnership with Rube Shor, operator of the local Twin Drive-in and other theatres in the territory. Headquarters have been established in the Film Building here. Play TV Duals, Shorts Boston, March 12. — The Yankee Network of New England which operates television station WNAC-TV in Boston, has instituted a new policy on Saturday afternoons, playing double feature films beginning at 1 :30 P.M. and ending at five, augmented by short subjects. This will continue until the baseball season starts and in the event that baseball games are not televised on Sautrday afternoons the double feature film policy will be reinstated. NY Grosses (Continued from page 1) Show, staged by Leon Leonidoff, is on stage. Another opener which looks big is "14 Hours" ot the Astor, where a hefty $25,000' is expected for the first week. "Molly" at the Paramount is having a mild first week, with a gross of about $50,000 due. Nellie Lutcher tops the Paramount stage bill. "Storm Warning," aided by Josephine Baker on stage is expected to gross over $50,000 for a second week at the Strand, provided Miss Baker recovers from the illness which kept her from the stage on Sunday. The film and stage show is being held for an additional week because of the excellent box-office showing. "Three Guys Named Mike" is moving out of the Capitol after a twoweek stand, with about $36,000 expected for the final week. With $44,000 for the first week, the run is satisfactory. "Inside Straight" will open on Thursday. Also finishing up is "U.S.S. Teakettle (renamed "You're in the Navy Now"), at the Roxy, with about $46,000 estimated for a final five days. Better business was reported for last weekend than for the previous weekend, with $39,000 grossed as compared to $37,000. The Roxy's Easter offering, "Bird of Paradise," will open tomorrow, along with a special stage show headed by Tony Martin. Among the longer runs, "Born Yesterday" still leads with a splendidly consistent $21,000 reported for its 12th week. "Tomahawk" is holding up nicely at Loew's State, with about $14,000 due for a fourth week. The State also reports better business last Saturday than on the same day a week ago. "The 13th Letter" is rather slow with $10,000 estimated for a third week at the Rivoli. "No Orchids for Miss Blandish" is sitll okay at the Globe, with about $12,000 in sight for a third week. "Target Unknown" had a satisfactory 10-day run at the Criterion with a total gross of ab(out $22,000 ; regardless, it is making way for "The Groom Wore Spurs" today. The Mayfair is concluding three weeks with a pair of reissues, "Dodge City" and "Virginia City," with a good $12,000 estimated for the final period. "Gambling House" will open there on Saturday. "Cyrano de Bergerac" still maintains a satisfactory pace in its two-a-day run at the Bijou, with about $8,000 due for the 18th week. "Trio" is beginning to sag a bit at the Sutton, with about $4,500 expected for the 23rd week. 'Brass' Will View U-I's 'Air Cadet* San Antonio, March 12. — Universal-International's "Air Cadet" will have its world premiere at the Majestic Theatre here Wednesday evening before an invited audience headed by 15 top Air Force Generals, and civic leaders, including the Governor of Texas and Mayor of San Antonio. Richard Long, on furlough from the U. S. Army, and Peggie Castle, both of whom are featured in the film, will represent Hollywood. The premiere will launch a series of key Texas openings, including the Majestic in Dallas, Thursday; Loew's State, Houston, Friday ; and the Worth, Ft. Worth, Saturday.