Motion Picture Daily (Apr-Jun 1951)

Tuesday, May 15, 1951 Motion Picture Daily 3 National Pre-Selling RELAYED from Senn Lawler, advertising director for Fox Midwest Theatres in Kansas City to Dave Lipton, director of advertising, publicity and exploitation for Universal-International at the studio in California, is a letter from E. D. Dorrel, manager of the Fox Granada Theatre, Emporia, Kansas, which contains his praise for Universale keyed advertising in the Saturday Evening Post and Life, with the names of theatres and playdates on "Up Front." Dorrel says, "these ads really jump out at you" — and he is obviously pleased because they list his theatre. He likes to see the hometown mentioned. Locally, advertising for "Up Front" in the Kansas City Star also carried playdates for theatres over several States. • The June issue of Holiday magazine will carry an article, "McBoing-Boing and Magoo," by Al Hine, which tells the fascinating story of one of the freshest things in cartoons, all about Gerald McBoing-Boing, the young man with a whole series of speech impediments, who in spite of difficulties of articulation which might have been fatal to dramatic success, won an Academy Award in his Columbia pictures release, under his own name. The near-sighted Magoo is a member of his supporting cast, if you have not been lucky enough to see the picture and know about it. • The current issue of Look, now on the stands, has a five-page spread on how "DeMille Films the Greatest Show on Earth." Pictures and story tell how the director, in his 70th year, turns out his 69th epic picture, on the Ringling Br other s-Barmim and Bailey Circus. Informal shots show production in circus winter quarters at Sarasota, Florida, where the show set up its tents to give full-fledged performances for the camera. With this interesting difference, that folks in Sarasota saiv Dorothy Lamour, Betty Mutton, Dorothy Grahame, Charlton Heston and Cornel Wilde, doing their stuff under the big top, as they will on the screen. • The newspaper serial rights to "Kon-Tiki," Thor Hayerdahl's bestselling book which is now an exciting RKO picture, have been purchased by newspapers throughout the United States from the Des Moines Register-Tribune Syndicate. The Scripps-Howard chain of 27 newspapers will start the serialization on May 14 and continue it for 24 consecutive weekdays. RKO will cooperate fully with all newspapers in promoting the serial and picture, with particular accent on local playdates. • Twentieth Century-Fox's "As Young As You Feel" zvill gain free advertising in leading national magazines through a tieup made with the Ampro Tape Recorder Co. Already scheduled are large-scale, full-color ads in Saturday Evening Post, and at the local level, hundreds of dealers are being alerted for cooperative campaigns with theatre managers, who zvill find details in their pressbooks on the picture. Tieup is timed for national release of the picture in June. Walter Brooks Review The Man With My Face (Gardner — United Artists) ED (ARCHIE) GARDNER, of radio's "Duffy's Tavern," has made a picture of vitality and novelty in his first production venture. "The Man With My Face," filmed entirely in Puerto Rico, recounts a cleverly planned plot to rob a man of his identity in order to seize upon his fortune. Barry Nelson plays a dual role as victim and perpetrator of the grand hoax. Portraying an American accountant working in Puerto Rico, he returns home from work one day to find another man, an amazing double, assuming his identity with the apparent connivance of his wife and brother-in-law. There follow fast and desperate rounds of melodramatic events as Nelson tries to expose the fraud and at the same time sidestep the death that is designed for him. With fresh effect, the screenplay by Samuel W. Taylor and T. J. McGowan, presents a savage Doberman as the agent of murder. Some of the picture's best qualities result from the fine outdoor scenery. The ending has unusual visual excitement as the hunted and the hunters converge on a deserted, tunnel-ridden old fortress. Occasionally the picture shows the mark of crude editing and modest budgeting, but that by no means dilutes the overall effect. With the aid of an oldtime girl friend, Carole Matthews, and her brother, Jack Warden, Nelson is finally able to expose the plot. The finale, finds the imposter, mistaken for the victim by the dog, falling from a steep parapet to his doom after a savage struggle. Lynn Ainley plays the conspiring wife of Nelson and Jim Boles turns in a effective vignette as the twisted master of the dog. The story was based on the novel by Taylor and was directed by Edward J. Montaigne. Running time, 86 minutes. Adult audience classification. Release date, june g Mandel Herbstman See pages i and 6 for Additional Reviews <IA' Hits SOPEG (Continued from page 1) "contains an invalid union-security provision" which makes the pact itself invalid. The only solution possible, H-63 contends, is for the NLRB to order immediately a bargaining agent election among Loew's workers. DPOWA, which replaced the former United Office and Professional Workers of America, holds the contracts covering the Screen Office and Professional Employes Guild. The technical flaw cited in the "IA" brief is that Loew's workers were not afforded under the contract "the required 30-day escape period provided for in the (National Labor Relations) Act. This is the time which the law stipulates shall be given a union member not in good standing to become one before action can be taken to deprive him of his job. According to Russell M. Moss, executive vice-president of H-63, the local "feels that the decision in this Loew's case may be a deciding factor in cases affecting 10 other units in the motion picture field and feels sure that the Board will take cognizance of the facts and order quick elections in all units." Only Paramount's attorneys detected the alleged technical flaw when the SOPEG contract was signed with that company, Moss said, explaining that Paramount's is the only contract which could not be challenged on that ground. Meanwhile, the validity of the SOPEG contract at Paramount has been challenged by the NLRB on grounds relating to DPOWA's identity as against that of UOPWA. Other companies where the status of "white collar" representation is now being considered by the NLRB are Columbia, RKO Pictures, RKO Service Corp., 20th Century-Fox and United Artists. Dmytryk to King (Continued from page 1) nesses due to a fear of subsequent loss of employment by those who admit former Communist Party affiliations. AMP A Sets Joint Publicists Meet A joint luncheon-meeting of the Associated Motion Picture Advertisers and Publicity Club of New York will be held tomorrow in the Shelton Hotel. Harry K. McWilliams, AMPA president, will speak on tie-ups and motion picture promotion. Other speakers will include Richard Pitts, editorial director of the Council of Motion Picture Organizations, and William P. Malonev, publicity director of B. B. D. & O. House Group To Coast Washington, May 14. — Present plans of the House Un-American Activities Committee call for hearings on the Hollywood investigation Wednesday and Thursday of this week and possibly Tuesday and Wednesday of next week, Committee officials said. No witness names were revealed. Meanwhile, there was growing dissatisfaction among Committee members that Chairman Wood and his staff are keeping them in the dark about future plans. Most of the members were not even aware that Wood had gone to the Coast ; they rarely know more than a day or two in advance when hearings are to be held, and practically never know the names of upcoming witnesses before the names are given to the press. Brewer to Capitol Hollywood, May 14. — Roy Brewer, chairman of the AFL Film Council, flew today to Washington, where he will testify before the House UnAmerican Activities Committee Wednesday or Thursday, on invitation. He will describe studio Labor's successful fight against Communist attempts to infiltrate Hollywood. Harry Post to London Harry Post, president of Post Pictures Corp., has left here for London. While abroad he will view foreign productions and arrange for overseas distribution of U. S. product. Martin L. McDonald Ottawa, May 14. — Martin Lloyd McDonald, assistant manager of the Elmdale Theatre, died here Saturday following a short illness. SOON EVERYBODY WILL BE WAITING TO # SEE I o Oo0 o,