Motion Picture Daily (Apr-June 1956)

lesday, June 26, 1956 Motion Picture Daily 5 7eck. Huston ( Continued from page 1 ) rport and later led a torchlight jtorcade to a hotel. The festival remes tomorrow morning when they M be officially welcomed at the City ill and given keys to the city by iayor Frank J. Lawler. The re-dedition of the local square as "The srman Melville Square" will occupy DSt of the morning's program. Guests at the Wednesday premiere, eluding members of the press from I parts of the nation, will receive haler's scrip from the era of "Moby ick." The money is an exact facLnile of the original and has been lissued with U. S. Treasury permison for spending in New Bedford, le scrip is being issued and reG;emed by members of the New Bedjrd Merchants "Moby Dick" Assn. J $2 denominations. Three Starting Times The triple premiere scheduled Wed;sday includes an 8:15 P.M. start J the State Theatre followed by 8:45 5 M. and 9:15 P.M. showings at the jinpire and New Bedford Theatres, ,spectively. \ Melville's classic was filmed in a Mp Technicolor process designed to •capture the atmosphere of the 19th jjntury whaling story. Peck plays ' te leading role of Captain Ahab and co-starred with Richard Basehart, |eo Genn and Orson Welles. REVIEW: Rebel In Town Schenck-Koch-U A | arm New Firm ( Continued from page 1 ) alarged scale. In addition, an adisory council on distribution and exloitation has been established to etermine each film's commercial posbilities prior to investment in dubedng in order to insure that adequate market acceptance exists for the Engish language version. Decries Poor Editing . Singling out obstacles hampering [ re success of foreign films as the " inguage barrier and poor editing, CaQlion said "those potentially profitble pictures are dismissed as 'art ouse subjects.' Another obstacle to ,uccess has been just bad dubbing. ^Ve made an extensive survey of thetres playing 'Ulysses' and 'Helen of ,rroy.' Approximately seventy per cent if the exhibitors didn't know that hese films had been dubbed. On the ^asis of these findings, we intend to |:eep quiet about pictures we are dubbing until they are completed in English." As a reverse to adapting foreign )roductions for American viewing, the irm is also offering its services to donestic feature and TV film producers vho want their films prepared for foreign release. Canadian Imports Up OTTAWA, June 25.— Canadian film mports increased to $3,033,000 in he first quarter of 1956 in contrast :o $2,959,000 in the corresponding quarter of 1955, Canadian Governnent reports. Hollywood, June 25 To amplify a popular show business axiom, it would make good box office sense to say "there's nothing wrong with the picture business that a film like 'Rebel In Town' won't cure." Aubrev Schenck and Howard Koch have reached a new plateau in their prolific picture making association with the presentation of Danny Arnolds completely absorbing story and screenplay. Its unusual story aspect is endowed with classic dramatic values, action and excellent performances, under the expert direction of Alfred Werker. John Payne and Ruth Roman, teamed as husband and wife in this post-Civil War drama, ring the register with their sensitive projection of emotional conflict; while Ben Cooper, a definite teen-age attraction, has a career piece in this one as the rebel with a conscience. Others who must likewise be credited with outstanding portrayals are J. Carrol Naish as the father of Cooper, John Smith, Ben Johnson and Cain Mason, all former Confederate cavalrymen, whose Alabama farm is destroyed' by Union troops. The father and his sons find themselves in Arizona territory and targets of the law after robbing a bank in desperation. The film gets off to an electrifying start when Payne's young son, Bobbv Clark, indoctrinated with 'hatred for the rebels, discharges a couple of tov cap pistols which he just receives as a birthday present, in an attempt to frighten Cooper, Johnson and Smith while they are watering their horses. Smith, high strung and nervous, whips out his gun, turns and kills the boy, in what could be construed as an "accident Miss Roman, who sees the incident, and is shocked by her son s death, tries to prevent Payne from joining the sheriff's posse in tracking down the rebels for fear of further killings. Pavne is determined to find the murderer. He discovers Cooper slumped over his horse with a knife in his back which was thrown by Smith, who was afraid Cooper would tell on him while he went back to town to see if the boy was still alive. Pavne returns with Cooper to his house and brings a doctor in time to save his life from the knife wound. Miss Roman does not disclose the fact that she recognizes Cooper as one of the group she saw and causes Payne to believe Cooper has been the victim of some rebel bandit. When Cooper is completely healed and ready to leave the Pavne household little Mimi Gibson, who gave Bobby Clark the birthday present recognizes him. Pavne is about to kill Cooper when Cooper pulls a gun and forces Pavne to come with him to the sheriffs office where he is willing to stand' trial. An angrv mob prepares to lynch Cooper just as Naish and his other sons appear. Naish and two of his sons are willing to have a trial, but Smith tries to escape. In an attempt to use his knife on Pavne in a barn fight, Smith feels the blade first and dies. Les Baxter's musical score and Gordon Avil's camerawork contribute much toward the powerful effect of the drama. Running time 78 minutes. General classification. For release in July. 5 SAMUEL D. BERN'S Mary Pickford Heads First Five Entries For Hall of Fame Mary Pickford, D. W. Griffith, Cecil B. DeMille, Douglas Fairbanks and Charles Chaplin, in the order named, have been selected by over 500 motion picture editors and critics as the first five entries in the new Motion Picture Hall of Fame. Besults of the national balloting were made known Saturday by Jesse Lasky, pioneer film producer, as he presided at the Cavalcade of Film Classics at Westhampton, L. I. The Hall of Fame committee was recently formed in Hollywood to establish a long-awaited institute commemorating the historical development of the motion picture industry. A museum combined with a hall of fame to be built on the Coast is the aim of the committee. The three-day festival last week at Westhampton was scheduled to raise funds for the constuction of such a museum. Voting for the initial five members of the Hall of Fame was limited to the period from 1910 to 1920. Remodel Fla. House For "First Run" JACKSONVILLE, Fla., June 25The Imperial theatre at 26 East Forsyth Street here has been closed temporarily for alterations, which will include a wider screen and other improvements, it is announced by Lamar Sarra, vice-president and general counsel of Florida State Theatres, Inc. Sarra said he hoped the Imperial can be converted to a "first run" theatre by the move. The Imperial is next to the Palace theatre, which also had been operated by the Florida chain. The Palace is presently being torn down to make way for a parking lot. King Starts Talent Search in 25 Cities Director Henry King is currently on a tour of some 25 cities in the East, Midwest and South in search *>f new talent for upcoming 20th CenturyFox productions. King, who is making the jaunt in his own plane, will cover the strawhat circuits, local little theatre groups and resort areas in an extended search for potential new stars and featured performers. "Despite the new faces discovered and developed by Hollywood during the past two years, there remains a severe shortage of players for both starring and supporting roles," he related before departing on his aerial junket. "It has become increasingly difficult to cast a major motion picture in Hollywood and the solution to our problem is to comb the country for new and promising players," he added. SPG, M-G-M Case to NYS Mediation Board Representatives of the Screen Publicists Guild ( District 65 ) and MetroGoldwvn-Mayer will appear before the New York State Mediation Board here today in an attempt to settle difference's concerning the negotation of a labor contract for advertising-publicity and exploitation personnel at the home office here. The entire membership of the SPG will meet tomorrow evening at District 65 headquarters here to hear a report on the M-G-M situation, to be told of the happenings at the mediation hearing, and to vote on a self-assessment proposal in event of a strike at M-G-M. Bring Back 'Picnic9 HARTFORD, June 25-The popularity of Columbia's "Picnic" has caused the Capitol Theatre at Middletown, Conn., to reschedule the film again. Mike Adorno, assistant general manager of M & D Theatres, reports using this advertising copy for the re\ival run of "Picnic": "More people have asked us to bring back 'Picnic' than any other film in our history!" 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