Motion Picture Daily (Apr-Jun 1953)

2 Motion Picture Daily Thursday, June 18, 1953 Personal Mention Review Hollywood, June 17 Affair with A Stranger {RKO Radio Pictures) THE marquee meaning of the names of Jean Simmons and Victor Mature juxtaposed to a provocative title is, in any given situation and time, the correct and complete measure of the commercial value of this attraction. Miss Simmons' portrayal of "Young Bess" in the contemporary production of that name, which has been widely praised, doubtless will enhance the draw of her billing in this picture. Somewhat similarly, the drumfire of Mature publicity incidental to his performance in the forthcoming "The Robe" undoubtedly will operate beneficially with respect to the pull of his name in connection with this offering. Unhappily, from, the strictly commercial point of view, the provocative title is unwarranted by the property it purports to describe, but that's been forgiven many an exploitation-minded showman before now. The nature and quality of the picture itself justifies fairly well the billing indicated, if nouns and verbs are stuck to resolutely, with all adjectives barred, in the ad copy. The picture in which Robert Sparks, the producer, has utilized the services of the above-mentioned players and such others as Monica Lewis, Jane Darwell and Wally Vernon, is a small and simple story about a playwright and his wife. In it an actress on the make for him plants a phony story with a gossip-columnist to the effect that he and his wife are on the point of divorcing, but when he and his wife read the item, he in Philadelphia and she in New York, they promptly board trains, meet half-way, and that's that, But Richard Flournoy, whose story it is, saw fit to fill in the background story of their lives in the longest succession of flashbacks since the "All About Eve" script that the Flournoy screenplay faintly resembles, and not even the skilled direction of the astute Roy Rowland could unsnarl that tangle of unsequential sequences satisfactorily. Although the picture includes a wide range of incidents, death among them, it is essentially a comedy-drama, neither comic enough nor dramatic enough to stay long in customer memory, but professional enough for practical purposes. Running time, 86 minutes. General audience classification. Release date, June 20. William R. Weaver MORT BLUMENSTOCK, Warner Bros. vice-president in charge of advertising and publicity, became a grandfather for the first time yesterday when a daughter was born to Major and Mrs. Marvin Daniel Perskie. Mother is the former Ha idee (Bebe) Blumenstock. Baby will be named Lisa Daniele. e James C. White, president and general manager of the Tennessee Eastman Co. division of Eastman Kodak, has been awarded an honorary doctor of Laws degree by Brown University. » Eric Johnston, president of the Motion Picture Association of America, will deliver the commencement address today at the Hahnemann Medical College and Hospital in Philadelphia. • Edward L. Hyman, vice-president of American Broadcasting-Paramount Theatres, and Max Fellerman, ABPT executive, were in Philadelphia Tuesday and yesterday from New York. • E. W. Aaron, 20th Century-Fox assistant general sales manager, and Martin Moskowitz, New York State division manager, will be in Albany today and tomorrow from New York. Jack Kirsch, president of Allied Theatres of Illinois, is recuperating from surgery performed Monday at Michael Reese Hospital. • Herbert J. Yates, Republic president, and William Martin Saal, his assistant, arrived in New York yesterday from Hollywood. • Bob BostwiCk, district manager for National Theatres in Memphis and Dallas, was a visitor recently in Atlanta. • Norman Elson, president of Guild Enterprises, and Mrs. Elson, will arrive in New York today from Europe aboard the ■S'.-S". Liberie. • Don Hassler, office manager of Hassler Pictures of Georgia, will leave Atlanta on Monday for St. Louis. • Nat Levy, RKO Radio Eastern and Southern division manager, is in Philadelphia today from New York. • Ted Loeft, advertising-publicity chief of Aspen Pictures, has arrived in New York from Hollywood. • Fred McLendon and A. L. Morgan of McLendon Theatres in Alabama were in Atlanta this week. • Harold Wirthwein, Allied Artists Western division sales manager, is in Salt Lake City from Hollywood. • David Prince, RKO Radio district manager, was in Jacksonville this week from Atlanta. Films of Coronation Good Chicago Draw Chicago, June 17. — Outstanding business here this week is being done by the Coronation films. At the Telenews the first week, which ends tomorrow, is expected to top $18,000, a phenomenal figure for the 600-seat house, particularly at the regular 98-cent top. On the nearby north side, H. & E. Balaban are moving it over from the Esquire, where it has had a great week on the same bill with "Split Second," to the Surf to bolster the run of "Times Gone By," which will be entering its third week here, and to make room for a new show previously booked into the Esquire. The Telenews is running the Universal version of the Coronation, the Esquire the Warner film. Promotion 'Platters' 'Plug' Wide-Screens "The advent of the era of widescreens and stereophonic sound has enabled Columbia Pictures to make use of the reverse side of its radio transcriptions," the company stated here yesterday. Previously, the reverse side of the recording disc was left blank when Columbia prepared them for distribution to theatres requesting them. Now, the reverse side is used to play up the wide screen-stereophonic sound angle for theatres playing a feature in that way, while the other side can be used by theatres playing a picture on standard screen with conventional sound. First Columbia films to get the double-transcription treatment are the 3-D "Fort Ti" and "The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T." Court Rules Against Theatre Segregation Harrisb-urg, Pa., June 17. — An opinion upholding the constitutionality of Pennsylvania's non segregation laws by Federal District Court Judge George Welsh was handed down last week in a case involving the Oxford Theatre, Oxford, Pa. Three Negro students of Lincoln University near Oxford brought the suit as a constitutional test after they were evicted from the theatre on Jan. 11, 1950, and later arrested for sitting in a section of the theatre designated for whites. The court assessed damages of $500 against Joseph Crowl, owner and manager of the Oxford, and damages of $50 each against the two arresting officers. Judge Welsh also issued two injunctions, one restraining the defendants from interfering with the rights of persons because of color or race, the other prohibiting the policemen from enforcing an order of segregation of Negroes. Rites Tomorrow for Richard Brady, 82 Funeral services will be held here tomorrow at the Richard B. Cooke Funeral Parlor on W. 72nd St. for Richard Brady, 82, industry pioneer who joined Eastman Kodak in 1906. Services will be at 2 :00 P. M. Brady died at his Central Park West home Tuesday evening. He retired several years ago. Brady was in charge of Eastman's East Coast motion picture division from 1912 until his retirement. Born in Scotland, he spent his early life in Maine. He was a portrait photographer in Providence, R. I., when in 1906, he joined Eastman. The sole survivor is his widow, Leona. See 200 Altec Units In New Eng. by Sept. Boston, June 17.— The New England office of Altec, managed by "Red" Pierce, has 81 3-D installation orders, plus 14 for stereophonic sound. With nearly 100 3-D systems already installed, Pierce expects that by Sept. 1 there will be 200 Altec installations in the New England territory. He is optimistic about the easing up of the parts field and says that magazines, interlocks and some arc lamps are in more plentiful production than a month ago. Stockholder Sues To End Disney Pact Hollywood, June 17. — Clement J. Melancon, minority stockholder in Walt Disney Productions, has filed a Superior Court suit here asking the' court to invalidate the employment contract given Walt Disney last month and demanding an accounting from Walt and Roy Disney, covering a wide range of corporation actions over a long period. Melancon, described as owning 500 shares in the corporation, sets forth that although the seven-year contract given Walt Disney on March 11, 1940, for $2,000 per week, expired in 1947, he was paid continually without a contract and that on April 6 of this year he was given a new contract at $3,000 per week, and also accorded options and other benefits. Melancon says the acts complained of were "unreasonable, excessive and out of proportion." New Detroit Screen Named 'Futuramic' Detroit, June 17. — "Futuramic" is the name chosen by the Michigan Theatre for its huge all-purpose screen now under construction and which will be unveiled before the end of June. Harold H. Brown, president of United Detroit Theatres, pointed out that the construction of the new screen is part of a two million dollar equipment expansion program recently announced by Leonard H. Goldenson, president of American Broadcasting-Paramount Theatres, Inc. Developed by Richard Walker, engineer working under the direction of Edward L. Hyman, vice-president of AB-PT, the screen is 57 by 30 feet. RKO Theatres to Honor Schultz A luncheon in honor of Edward Schultz, chief electrician for RKO Theatres, will be held here tomorrow at Trader Horn's. The luncheon, sponsored by Charles F. Horstman, head of RKO Theatres' maintenance department, will commemorate Schultz's 50th anniversary with the circuit and its predecessors. Attending will be Sol A. Schwartz, president, William W. Howard, vicepresident, and other RKO Theatres officials and colleagues. MOTION PICTURE DAILY, Martin Quigley, Editor-in-Chief and Publisher; Sherwin Kane, Editor; Terry Ramsaye, Consulting Editor. 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