Motion Picture Daily (Jul-Sep 1951)

6 Motion Picture Daily Tuesday, July 3, 1951 Short Subject "They Fly with the Fleet' (This Is America— RKO Pathe) The nation's rearmament program again has the Navy's pilot training school going full force at Pensacola, and the current "This Is America" short shows in vivid detail the rigorous paces through which potential Navy and Marine pilots are put. The camera centers on four recruits and follows their paths as they progress through foot drill, sports, their first solo flight and on until the Navy wings of gold are pinned on them by Vice Admiral John Dale Price, chief of Naval Air training. The shots of planes on land and sea, plus the closeups of actual naval practices, make for an engrossing film. Running time, 22 minutes. Reviews ft Schine Orders TV (Continued from page 1) cables will probably run around $25,000 per each theatre. RCA guaranteed no delivery or installation dates, but it is hoped they will be completed by or before Jan. 1, 1952. Schine officials are said to have tentative plans for the installation of theatre television in 10 other New York, Ohio ond Kentucky houses, but no orders have yet been placed. Ohio Theatres Join Theatre TV Parade Cleveland, July 2.— Jack Piatt, RCA local sales manager, reports several RCA theatre TV installation contracts have been signed by exhibitors in this territory. Among them are said to be the Robins Theatre, Warren; Palace, Youngstown and Hippodrome, Cleveland. The success of the LaMotta-Murphy fight at the RKO Palace here last Wednesday clearly demonstrated the box-office power of special sports events telecasts, it was said. Iron Man (Universal-International) VERY OBVIOUSLY, what many customers want are hard-hitting romantic dramas with fresh plot twists. Producer Aaron Rosenberg's unpretentiously made "Iron Man" meets this prescription and when UniversalInternational "sneak" previewed it at the neighborhood Loew's Orpheum Theatre here an overflow house reacted with immense approval. Jeff Chandler plays the lead as a Pennsylvania coal miner with dreams of marrying his pretty girl friend, Evelyn Keyes, and opening a radio shop. His brother, Stephen McNally, a smooth, glib promoter, has other ideas. When he beholds Chandler batter down the mine bully, he decides to persuade him into becoming a prizefighter. Also urging the reluctant Chandler to get into the ring and grab some quick money is Miss Keyes. Chandler yields to the persuasion, but the only trouble is that he suffers from some psychic disturbance, so that when he enters the squared circle he becomes a killer bent on destroying opponents by means fair or foul. He has his ups and downs, is even implicated innocently in a frameup, but eventually goes on to become the champion. There also are some differences_ with his manager-brother and his wife, causing him to part company with them. Worst of all the fight crowd hates Chandler for his dirty ring tactics. The screenplay, by George Zuckerman and Borden Chase, has some blistering toe-to-toe fight sequences. There also is in the script the "other woman," Joyce Holdeh, who takes up some of Chandler's time as he tries to forget. The story builds up to a victory-in-defeat climax. In a savage brawl Chandler loses his title, but so magnificent a performance of pugilistic sportsmanship does he turn in that the throng roars in approval. And so does Miss Keyes and McNally. Joseph Pevney directed. Running time, 82 minutes. General audience classification. For August release. M H Enlarge NPA (Continued from page 1) .9* COMPO Seminar (Continued from page 1) mendations that they assign representatives to prepare themselves for discussion of the topics when the seminar is held and to correlate any additional subjects they may wish to have discussed. Although COMPO has not yet dis closed the proposed agenda for the seminar, it is reported that among the discussion topics will be increased production and release schedules, in creased use of color ; film cycles ; bet ter spacing of films on the same or similar themes; cooperative trailers; "saturation" premieres ; production themes, star values and personal appearances. MPIC Names Lou Greenspan Executive Sec'y of Seminar Group Hollywood, July 2.— The Motion Picture Industry Council has appointed Lou Greenspan, public relations counselor, executive secretary of the roundtable committee of the forthcoming Council of Motion Picture Organizations' seminar. The committee comprises Y. Frank Freeman, Marvin Faris, Steve Broidy, Jesse Lasky, Ronald Reagan, Mark Robson, Edmund Hartman, William Ferrer, John Ehrner, Jack Gertsman, B. B. Kahane, and Allen Rivkin. Mask of the Avenger (Columbia) „ AS AN adventure melodrama in Technicolor, "Mask of the Avenger abounds in standard thrills and excitements. The script has the timehonored action formula down pat. The story is set in Northern Italy during the war with Austria over 100 years ago. It portrays John Derek as a dashing masked rider who unsheathes the honored sword of Monte Cnsto to battle against his country's enemies. Others in the cast are Jody Lawrance, a beautiful maiden and a passionate fighter for justice, and Anthony Quinn, the town's military governor who secretly has been selling out his country to the enemy. The ingredients in Jesse Lasky, Jr.'s screenplay have been blended for mass appeal. Returning home from the front Derek discovers that Quinn has been carrying on nefarious activity under the guise of patriotism. Derek soon dons his mask and lifts Monte Cristo's sword in repeated forays against the soldiers of Quinn. Removing Derek from suspicion is the fact that he is a guest in Quinn's house, and only through careful timing and the use of secret passages does he carry on his raids. In time Derek is captured along with Miss Lawrance. He escapes, has some harrowing adventures, but manages in time to rouse the populace to the impending invasion. The finale sees Derek and Quinn facing each other behind rapiers. At one point in the duel Miss Lawrance lifts Derek s fallen sword and holds Quinn at bay long enough for Derek to resume the struggle By the time the curtain falls, the country is safe from the invader and Derek and Miss Lawrance face a bright romantic outlook. Hunt Stromberg produced and Phil Karlson directed. , . T , , Running time, 83 minutes. General audience classification. July release. M. H. Newark, N. J.; Peoria, III; Phoenix, Ariz.; Raleigh, N. C. ; Reno, Nev. ; Rochester, N. Y. ; Rockford, 111.; San Diego, Calif.; San Juan, Puerto Rico ; Shreveport, La. ; Trenton, N. J. ; Tulsa, Okla. ; and Worcester, Mass. Meanwhile, there were these other control developments: NPA Administrator Fleischmann signed an order restricting the $2,000 installation cost exemption to the M-4 order to personal property, excluding fixtures or equipment, but formal announcement was put off until tomorrow ; CMP Plan The Controlled Materials Plan went into effect, with most industry firms getting allotments of steel, aluminum and copper for their third quarter operations ; The Office of Price Stabilization froze manufacturers prices at the June 30 level. This means that manufacturers who had already changed over to a new pricing system in anticipation of the July 2 CPR order 22 taking effect would keep their new prices, but those who had not yet changed would keep the prices on the basis of the old Jan. 25 freeze. CPR 22, including some increases and many rollbacks had to be put off indefinitely because of Congressional action barring any rollbacks during the one-month extension on the Defense Production Act. Warner Theatre Bow (Continued from page 1) "The Dakota Kid" (Republic) . „r . „™ ANEW plot element is added to the otherwise routine Western in the Dakota Kid." It has a pair of youngsters scamper mischievously about the periphery of the story, until, in time, they help bring the villains to justice The" bouncing youngsters are portrayed by Michael Chapm and Eilene Jansen. Dan Morton is seen in the title role, while Mary Lewis, a schoolteacher, rounds out the cast while providing the slight romantic angle. , . . , , , , Morton begins as a sort of good badman who joins a band of outlaws headed by Robert Shayne. Shayne not only is out to unseat the town sheriff , but also to obtain loot in every way he can. For _ strategic reason Morton impersonates the sheriff's nephew, and presently is made a marshal!. In time Morton's attitudes changes for the good, due mostly to his love tor the youngsters and Miss Lewis. By the time the finale rolls, around he is completely on the side of justice. There remains only the job of rounding up the villains a chore he completes' amid a Shower of fists and gunplay. Rudy Ralston was associate producer and Philip Ford directed, from a screenplay by William Lively. , ' ^ , , , . Running time, 60 minutes. General audience classification. Released date, July 1. Zl^l cock will participate in person in the formal ceremonies marking the opening of the theatre and its renaming in honor of the late Sam Warner. After the unveiling of the new theatre upright sign and the dedication of a commemorative plaque presented by Robert K. Christenberry, president of The Broadway Association, the three will go to the NBC Studios where they will take part in a special closedcircuit telecast, exclusive for the Warner Theatre, with Ben Grauer as master of-ceremonies. Danny Thomas and RCA president Frank Folsom will also participate in the telecast, which is to be the first showing on a Broadway theatre screen of RCA's new instantaneous large screen television. 'Voice' Participates The Voice of America is covering the entire evening's events for broadcast around the world. Martin Starr of WINS will broadcast from the theatre. There also will be newsreel and press coverage. A special featurette, "The Voice That Thrilled the World," made up of scenes from talking pictures of the past quarter century, will be shown. Loew's Profit ( Continued from page 1 ) Canadian Imports Rise Ottawa, July 2.— The Canadian government reports imports of films increased to $588,000 in April compared with $406,000 in the same month of last year and reached $1,981,000 in the first four months as against $1,475,000 a year ago for the same period. Likewise, exports of films from Canada rose to $581,000 in April as against $339,000 a year ago in April and totaled $1,764,000 in the first four months compared with $849,000 last year in the same period.. compared with $13,668,780 and for the 12 weeks they were $3,028,507, compared with $3,132,894. Reserve for Federal taxes were $1,745 416 for the 40 weeks, compared with $3,227,293 and for the quarter they were $96,513, against $523,986. The 1951 figures include a tax credit of $758,378 for the 40 weeks and $290,781 for the 12 weeks, due to tax adjustments, for prior years.