Motion Picture Daily (Jan-Mar 1951)

Tuesday, March 13, 1951 Motion Picture Daily 3> Review it Soldiers Three (M etro-G oldwyn-M oyer) INSPIRED by the stories of Rudyard Kipling, M-G-M's "Soldiers Three" 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 50 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 reviews on page 6) NY Grosses {Continued from page 1) National Pre-Selling \/I -G-M's radio series, "The Story 1V1 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. • 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 "am. 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 nezvspapcrs throughout the country are , urged to set up special sections in which various tie-ins can be assembled for the greatest cooperative adz'ertising benefit zmth 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. Walter Brooks Crime Hearings (Continued from page 1) ing here. The others, Century circuit's Marine in Brooklyn and Queens in Queens Village, used shorter portions at two intervals in each house. S. Netzler, manager of Fabian's Fox, said the quality of the telecast was "very good" and was comparable to newsreels. He and his aides kept constant check on audience reaction, which was good enough to continue the telecast for the longer span. He considered the appearance of Adonis at the time of the conclusion of the regular feature a "lucky break," as Adonis and his history are part of Brooklyn's lore. At the Marine the first excerpt, beginning at 2 :10 P.M., ran for 17 minutes and the second, at 3 :45, ran for five minutes. The Queens showed the hearing at 2:25 P.M. for eight minutes and at 4 :20 for 10 minutes. At both theatres the audience was receptive, it was said. Century will decide today on further telecasts of the hearings, while Fabian's Fox will continue on a spot basis, looking for colorful 'figures with the attention-holding ability of Adonis. The hearings, conducted by U. S. Senator Estes Kefauver, are being carried, in whole or part, by five of the seven television stations in this area. WPIX is handling the pickup of the proceedings and in turn "feeds" the program to the other outlets. N. Y. Exhibitors (Continued from page 1) is expected other aspects of the committee's work will also be taken up. The idea of holding an industry exposition was first proposed by Schwartz last November at a meeting of the COMPO executive board. At that time the board expressed interest in the project and authorized Schwartz to make a further study of it. 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. Action by SCTOA On COMPO Delayed Hollywood, March 12. — The Southern California Theatre Owners of America today deferred action on approving the new set-up for the Council of Motion Picture Organizations at a meeting attended by Gael Sullivan, TOA executive director, and Herman Levy, TOA general counsel. The outstanding development of today's session was the decision to appoint a committee which, after studying problems in the Los Angeles area, will go to Washington for conferences with Department of Justice officials, continuing on to New York for talks with industry executives. The meeting with Department of Justice officials, arranged by Sullivan, will take place before April 3, when the TOA board meets. Sullivan in his address emphasized the need for unity in local units and restated his belief that more films in color are needed to improve the boxoffice take. Levy, who also addressed the meeting, spoke of the advantages to be gained by reducing exhibitordistributor disputes to a minimum. Show, staged by Leon Leonidoff, is on stage. Another opener which looks big is "14 Hours" it 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 about $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. Defers Decision on 'Miracle' to May 9 Albany, N. Y., March 12. — The Appellate Division's decision on "The Miracle," banned as "sacrilegious" by the Board of Regents, was deferred today until May 9 after the judges saw a screening of the film and listened to opposing arguments by counsels, representing the Regents and Joseph Burstyn, Inc., distributor of the controversial film. The court also received amici curae briefs filed by the State Catholic Welfare Committee, in support of the Regents, and the New York City Civil Liberties Committee and National Council on Freedom from Censorship, opposing the ban.