Motion Picture Daily (Apr-Jun 1952)

Monday, May 12, 1952 Motion Picture Daily 5 Hail MGM's (Continued from page 1) Review $15,000,000 which they thought good enough to applaud. It was not a polite applause developing out of any considerations extended the host by the guests. These theatremen, who don't always believe what they see — or are told — let go at the conclusion of such pictures as "Pat and Mike" and "The Merry Widow" and broke into "Lovely to Look At" to acclaim an exciting and magnificently executed dance by Marge and Gower Champion. This attraction created a stir and brought forth a wide assortment of unsolicited comment, which appeared to get under way with such minor-scale adjectives as "knockout" and "terrific" and kept on going thereafter. Came From All Over U. S. Assembling from all over the United States by Thursday morning, the group did its traveling from the Ambassador Hotel to the Metro studios in Culver City by special buses. Two pictures were shown on each of the three days of this "Seeing Is Believing" event, one each morning, followed by lunch and another each afternoon. "Pat and Mike," co-starring Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn, and "The Merry Widow," co-starring Lana Turner and Fernando Lamas, comprised the opening day's schedule. The following morning "Lovely to Look at," based on the famed "Roberta" of another day, but this one star-studded with Kathryn Grayson, Howard Keel, Red Skelton and the Champions, and "Ivanhoe," with Robert Taylor, Elizabeth Taylor, Joan Fontaine, George Sanders and Emlyn Williams, were shown. New Lanza Film The last combination, screened Saturday, unfolded Mario Lanza's new one, "Because You're Mine" in the morning and "Scaramouche," with Stewart Granger, Eleanor Parker and Janet Leigh, in the afternoon. That evening a dinner party, in Metro's accustomed manner, and with all available starring talent on deck, closed the three-day meeting. Howard Dietz, S. F. Seadler and Dan Terrell, triumvirate representing Metro's advertising, publicity and exploitation forces here, spoke at various discussion periods which interspersed the various showings. They outlined briefly the extent to which the films shown here will be advertised in national magazines aggregat ing so many millions in circulation that Seadler said "You'll have to count it ; I can't." Advertising Under Way Newspaper advertising already is under way on "The Merry Widow,' a June release, in 55 cities. Dietz ex plained the policy was not immutable and that the cities to be covered finally may go beyond the now estab lished 55. He declared it as a policy that M-G-M will work closely with exhibitors in developing joint adver tising programs so long as they "are properly legitimate in the light of the value of the product." M-G-M has not yet found the proper proportion of advertising in relation to dollar return, he acknowledged in emphasizing the wide flexibility which is to prevail hereafter. "If we mean what we are doing and stop moaning, we can get the business we ought to have," he said. 'Scaramouche (Metro-Goldwyn-M oyer) D AFAEL SABATINI'S rousing romantic drama of the early days that led up to the French Revolution is again brought to the screen on an immense production scale. Those with long cinema memories will recall the silent film which Metro Pictures released in 1924 with Ramon Novarro and Alice Terry. Into the new "Scaramouche" M-G-M has carefully poured all the popular ingredients that assure success at the box-offi.ce. It unfolds a drama of derring-do and dangerous romance, of swordsmanship, foolhardiness and comedy. Color by Technicolor adds the final touch of splendor to the costume drama. Among those included in the large cast are Stewart Granger, Eleanor Parker, Janet Leigh, Mel Ferrer, Henry Wilcoxen and Nina Foch. The story is largely one of deadly rivalry between Granger and Ferrer, the former a likeable, devil-may-care rogue and the latter a stern Marquis and expert sw-ordsman sworn to track down the perpetrators of such slogans as "liberty, equality and fraternit}r." When Ferrer runs a sword through Granger's comrade, an author of a political diatrihe, Granger swears vengeance. A series of wild and dashing chases and pursuits follow as Ferrer tries to snare the elusive Granger. In the meantime Granger patiently and laboriously studies the fine points of swordsmanship against the day he will be prepared to face Ferrer in a duel. The elaborate screenplay by Ronald Millar and George Froeschel moves about with dizzying energy. Both Ferrer and Granger fall in love with Miss Leigh, but Granger steps out of the romantic picture when he learns that she is actually his sister. Another romantic cross current involves the love of Miss Parker, an actress in a traveling troupe, for Granger. It is while escaping the men of Ferrer that Granger assumes the role of the clown, Scaramouche, and thus some pleasant pantomime is added to the story. After a series of clashes and adventures Granger finally faces his nemesis at swrord's point. He outsmarts Ferrer but spares his life. In an ironic ending Granger learns that Ferrer is his brother. He also learns that Miss Leigh is not his sister and thus the path is cleared to marry her. The picture, under George Sidney's knowing direction, creates a beguiling mood. The general theatre-going public will love it, for it has bounce and spirit from beginning to the end of its nearly two hours of running time. Carey Wilson produced. Worthy of note is that Lewis Stone, who appeared in the production 28 years ago, also appears in the new film. Running time, 118 minutes. General audience classification. Release date iune 20. Mandel Herbstman He also announced National Screen Service is preparing copy for special trailers combining brief comment based on what the visiting showmen saw in completed form and_ on the various Metro stages with clips from the six completed attractions around which this interesting three-day meeting was built. Made available for use at local levels was a brochure including suggested speeches easily adaptable for newspapers and radio. Sharpened Enthusiasm But what M-G-M expected its customer-guests to take back was a sharpened enthusiasm, based on the conviction that insofar as this one company, at least, is concerned, there looms in the immediate months ahead a battery of shows against which competitors for the public's time, if not for its money, will find hard going. On the basis of a widespread check-up among the theatremen who were here, the conclusion is safe to draw that this objective will be attained. All of the visiting exhibitors did not evaluate all the pictures they saw by the same yardstick. Some liked one better than another, as Dietz was canny enough to observe they would. But they did see a combined, overall package of entertainment which was never less than very good, and often ranged beyond the excellent into the rare category of the superior. Realistic Outlook Is Urged by Schary Hollywood, May 11. — Disappointment at the box-office "depresses the people of this industry and makes us see only darkness ahead; a box-office hit makes us believe all the bad things are behind us and happy days are here again," Dore Schary, M-G-M produc tion vice-president, reminded the 100 exhibitors who attended the studio's "Seeing-Is-Believing" conference. "We tend sometimes to ride on an emotional merry-go-round," he continued, "but if we are realistic, and if we look at the history of this business, we will see it is not necessary to live on this juvenile carousel. Again and again it has been proved that a good picture, well sold and well exhibited, will do good business, and that a great picture, well sold and well exhibited, will do great business." TV Not So Strong He said he did not believe "the population of America is going to become rooted to the television screen, any more than it ever became rooted to the motion picture screen. I don't believe television has strong enough attraction to divorce completely the American public from all its other enjoyments. A couple of years ago we came to that conclusion about TV, and have stuck to that conclusion. We decided to stop worrying about TV, on the theory that if we made our pictures good enough and big enough, TV would start to worry about us. I am confident that as our new product rolls out into your theatres we are going to prove our point." Schary said that the 83 films the studio will produce by the end of 1953 will represent a committment of some $120,000,000. Reagan to Conduct Cincinnati Meeting Cincinnati, May 11. — M-G-M's second regional sales meeting will get under way here tomorrow when Charles M. Reagan, general sales manager, opens a three-day gathering of branch managers under John J. Maloney's division, at the Netherlands Plaza Hotel. There will be 26 men from the branches in addition to eight home office executives, including Edward M. Saunders, assistant general sales manager ; Jay Eisenberg, William B. Zoellner, H. M. Richey, M. L. Simons, Dan S. Terrell and Charles Deesen, home office assistant to Maloney. Came From Coast With the exception of Deesen, the home office group came here from Hollywood after attending the threeday "Seeing-Is-Believing" screenings and forum of more than 100 exhibitors. Prior to the Hollywood screenings the home office group started the first of five sales meetings in San Francisco where the sales and executive personnel of Western branches under sales manager George A. Hickey were in attendance. Here for the Central sales sessions are : From Pittsburgh, John J. Maloney, Ralph Pielow, Max Shabason, Irv Jacobs, Edward J. Moriarty, and Robert N. Clark ; from Cleveland, Jack Sogg, Dorsey H. Brown, Jerry Lipow, J. Phil Harrington, and E. C. Pearson ; from Detroit, J. Frank Downey, Lou Marks, Charles Dietz, Jack Rider, and G. W. Sampson ; from Indianapolis, Foster B. Gauker, Dewey Taute, and Carl Klaiber ; from Cincinnati, Edwin M. Booth, Harry A. Sheeran, Carl Gentzel, Clifford Smiley, Arthur Adams, Thomas Farrell and J. E. Watson. Army in Tribute to Hollywood for Talent Hollywood, May 11. — Another tribute has been paid to Hollywood for its contributions to the entertainment of the Armed Forces throughout the world, by Col. Joseph F. Goetz, chief of the Armed Forces Professional Entertainment Branch. Col. Goetz is now in California from Washington to confer with William Goetz, in charge of production, and other Universal-International studio executives on plans for the Alaskan military premieres of "The World in His Arms," starting June 19, in Anchorage. "Entertainment has become a vital necessity in keeping up the morale of our Armed Forces," Goetz declared. "And Hollywood has responded generously and unselfishly in supplying this need." Reception for Le Chanois Ten national preview organizations and the Motion Picture Association of America will be hosts at a reception in honor of Jean Paul Le Chanois, French writer and director of "Passion for Life," tomorrow afternoon at the Harvard Club here. $35,660 1st Quarter Net Income for GPE Consolidated net income of General Precision Equipment Corp. and subsidiary companies for the three months ended March 31, 1952 totaled $35,660, the company reports. This is equal to six cents per common share and compares with consolidated net income of $167,882, or 28 cents per common share, for the first quarter of 1951. Meanwhile, directors of the corporation have declared a regular dividend of 25 cents per share on the common stock, payable on June 15 to stockholders of record on June 2.