Motion Picture Daily (Apr-Jun 1951)

Motion Picture daily Tuesday, May 15, 1951 N. Y. Grosses (Continued from page 1) Reviews Taxes *4 ment with Danger", coupled with Louis Jordan's band on stage, is bringing the Paramount $57,000 for a first week, a substantial figure but well below recent standards. The Roxy, with "I'd Climb the Highest Mountain" and the New York Philharmonic providing the stage fare, also estimates a first week's gross of $57,000, which is only fair. At the Capitol, a first week's gross from "Ma and Pa Kettle Back on the Farm" and Frankie Carle's band heading a stage show looks like it will be lucky to top $20,000. "I Was a Communist for the F.B.I." is off to around $30,000 for a second and final week at the Strand, "Along the Great Divide" will move in tomorrow. Other openers are: "The Long Dark Hall," with a mild $14,000 expected at the Rivoli; "The Fighting Coast Guard" at the Mayfair, where a fair gross of $13,000 is estimated, and "The House on Telegraph Hill" at the Holiday, where an okay $12,000 is estimated for the first stanza. "Born Yesterday" is showing staying power at the Victoria, with the gross for the 21st week expected to reach $15,000, only a bit below ^ last week's total. "Apache Drums" is holding up fairly well for a second week at Loew's State, with $17,000 due. "Valentino" is beginning to slip a bit in a fourth week at the Astor, but an estimated $16,000 is still highly satisfactory. The city's two roadshow films, "Tales of Hoffman," at the Bijou, and "Cyrano de Bergerac," at the Golden, are holding steady. "Tales" is still near-capacity with about $14,500 due for a sixth week and "Cyrano" again is drawing a comfortable $6,500 for its sixth moveover week. "Kon-Tiki" is also pulling a healthy gross at the off-Broadway Sutton, where a sixth week looks like $11,000. At the Trans Lux 52nd St., "Teresa" is holding up with around $6,000 due for a sixth week. "Try and Get Me" is moving out of the Globe after five days of a second week ; the gross for the final period is expected to be under $7,000. "Belle Le Grand" will open there tomorrow. Fort Worth (Warner Brothers) FRONTIER forces of good and evil are mixed up in another Technicolor Western in "Fort Worth." The production values are pretty good and there is greater development in the plot than the average film in its class. However, all of the villainy and intrigue are in the time-tested, conventional pattern. It should do well in those situations that take to Westerns. The picture adds to the Western format elements of melodrama as well as a romantic triangle. Involved in the triangle are Randolph Scott, a rugged newspaper gent who has abandoned his guns in favor of the printed word in combatting injustice; David Brian, a smooth Texan aiming for political power, and Phyllis Thaxter, a pretty lass of wavering emotions. When there is no rivalry for Miss Thaxter's hand there usually is plenty of action supplied by Ray Teal and his gang of outlaws. It seems that Teal not only has an aversion to law and order, but also is opposed to the extension of a railroad line to Fort Worth. When things get too hot, Scott decides to temporarily abandon his faith in the power of the printed word and swings into gun-toting action. The screenplay, concocted by John Twist, leaves some doubt as to whether the suave Brian is on the side of good or evil until the closing scenes when he reveals his sinister hand. The finale produces a bang-up battle between Scott and Teal, and in conventional style, justice triumphs. In the course of battle, Brian is killed, paving the romantic way for Scott and Miss Thaxter. Anthony Veiller produced and Edwin L. Marin directed. Running time, 80 minutes. General audience classification. Release date, July 14. M. H. 6( Expect $45,000 for 'Broke' Los Angeles, May 14. — M-G-M's "Go for Broke," in its first American opening, garnered approximately $28,000 in the first four days at the State and Egyptian theatres here, it was said. It is estimated it will do about $45,000 on the week which is the highest gross of any M-G-M film to play both theatres. Sochin Will Assist (Continued from page 1) spent 13 years in film distribution, starting with United Artists as a salesman in West Virginia in 1938. Other posts he held include salesman and sales manager for 20th CenturyFox in Cincinnati, branch manager for the same company in Indianapolis and general manager of the Theatre Owners Corp. of Cincinnati, a booking and buying service. He was Universal branch manager in Cincinnati prior to his being named sales head of U-I special films division. , They Were Not Divided {Two Cities — United Artists) A TRIBUTE to the cooperation of British and American Armed Forces during the invasion of Europe and a poignant story of war's disruption of a family are the themes of this film which has all the virtues and some of the drawbacks of a typical English production. Produced and directed by Terence Young, the picture spans the period of the dark days after Dunkirk until just before the conquest" of Berlin and it traces the lives of Edward LInderdown, an Englishman, and Ralph Clanton, an American, from the time they join the "spit-and-polish" Welsh Guards until a German shell snuffs out their existence. Between drills and battles Underdown, accompanied by Clanton, manages to snatch brief leaves to visit his wife, Helen Cherry and his two children. Clanton falls in love with Stella Andrew, a neighbor of the Underdowns, and on his final leave marries her. Played with British understatement and quiet appreciation of adult love, the personal story is a moving counterpoint to the overall account of preparing for and accomplishing the liberation of Europe, a task for which the Americans are given due credit. A few good-natured gibes at the Yanks — a youthful general, the easy-going discipline of the U. S. troops, etc. — add rather than detract from the picture's basic plea that through interna' tional cooperation anything, even peace, may be achieved. Audiences with a taste for slam-bang action will find many of the war scenes satisfying, but the narrative itself is more slowly paced. LInderdown does well as the mature family man turned soldier and Clan ton's Americanism is barely obtrusive among his British comrades. Michael Brennan provides a bit of humor as the Irish volunteer and the rest of the cast lives up to the English reputation for character bits. Running time, 91 minutes. General audience classification. Vaughan O'Brien (Continued from page 1) said, about exempting from the two taxes voted today those items actually figuring as a business cost — such as film and apparatus used in Hollywood, studios — but the committee finally decided against such an exemption at this time. The committee last year included this provision in its tax bill, but it was knocked out in the Senate. Another committee action boosted from 10 per cent to 15 per cent the tax on television sets, radios, phonographs, records and musical instruments. The administration had proposed an increase to 25 per cent, which was bitterly fought by the television industry. The five per cent increase would net $55,000,000 more a year for the treasury. Still other actions of some interest to the industry were these : A decision to apply the 10 per cent appliance tax to home motion picture projectors ; An increase in the tax on sporting oods ; and A decision to leave unchanged the present gasoline tax and to make only slight increases in the taxes on autos and auto parts. Some drive-in operators had feared that the steep increases proposed for these items by the Administration might injure their business. Vt. Ticket Tax Defeated Montpelier, Vt., May 14. — Vermont's House of Representatives defeated a bill which would have levied a 10 per cent tax on admissions, to raise an estimated $580,000 in additional revenue during the coming biennium. Hold Tax Too Costly Plymouth, O., May 14. — The Town Council here has repealed the local three per cent admission tax in effect for several years on the grounds that the returns did not warrant the expense involved. Kirsch Cites Rodgers (Continued from page 1) Smuggler's Gold (Columbia) A SATISFACTORY little action picture about the illicit transit of gold bullion has been worked out by producer Milton Feldman and director William Berke. With a California seacoast town as the background, the plot is kept within the confines of simplicity. There are no names in the cast that will help sell this film and exhibitors will have to be content with exploitation ideas they can get from the press book and those they can think up themselves. The action is kept going at a good pace and though there is never any doubt which way the story will go, the suspense is still held at a satisfactory level. In the lead is Cameron Mitchell, who as a deep sea diver afraid of going into the water after an accident, becomes involved in a gold smuggling plot. Chief smuggler is the uncle of his fiancee, who has the attributes of a nice, easy-going old sea dog but is in reality a vicious killer. When Mitchell finds out what is actually going on, he plays dumb for a while playing for time until the Coast Guard has time to get to the scene in the ocean where some of the smuggled gold has been cached. The final scene finds bullets flying all over the place and the villains getting their just deserts. There are some satisfactory action and suspense sequences and a couple of fist fights have an unusually realistic quality about them. The photography, too, is very good. The story is never difficult to follow. Mitchell plays his part nicely, as do Amanda Blake as the girl and Carl Benton Reid as the villainous sea captain. The screenplay was written by Daniel Ullman from a story by Al Martin. Running time, 64 minutes. General audience classification. For May release. tives attending a sales meeting here last week that "where M-G-M branch, district and sales managers know relief is necessary to keep theatres open, every effort should be made to do so and never let it be said that M-G-M contributed to the closing of any theatre." In a letter to Rodgers, Kirsch wrote, "Of course, Bill, this statement coming from you is no surprise to me, because I have always admired your ability as a practical business man and as such you are always one of the first to face realities." "It's a certainty", Kirsch added, "that exhibitors are in serious difficulty today and other distributors could help give them a much needed shot in the arm if they all followed your wise approach to help stem the growing trend of theatre closings." Herman UA Press Head Toronto, May 14. — Irving Herman of this city has been appointed United Artists Canadian publicity director by C. S. Chaplin, district manager in the Dominion.