Motion Picture Daily (Jan-Mar 1959)

22 Motion Picture Daily Wednesday, January 14 Roach Forms (Continued from page 1) will be supplied by DCA, which, retaining that name, will function as a production unit, financing pictures and acquiring product from independent producers. Roach will produce from 12 to 15 films annually in Hollywood, he said. Others will be made abroad with from six to eight expected this year as part of the previously announced deal Roach has with Bob Bradford of HyFord Productions. This arrangement involves some $10,000,000 and calls for 20 pictures to be made abroad over a period of years. Deals with other producers abroad are being discussed. Now Negotiating for Two At the present time, Schwartz said, DCA is negotiating for two films, one European and one American, which would be distributed through the new company. DCA now has some $1,125,000 tied up in distribution advances, and as these funds are realized, they will be reinvested in new productions. First of the new films, Schwartz said, will probably be "Finian's Rainbow," an animated cartoon in which the company now has a large investment. A sound track has been completed but production was suspended after that. Expectations are to resume this summer. Management of the Hal Roach Distribution Corp. will consist of Roach, as chairman of the board; Schwartz, president; Sachson, vice-president and RKO Rochester Theatre To Mark 30th Year Special to THE DAILY ROCHESTER, N. Y., Jan. 13.-The RKO-Palace here will celebrate its 30th anniversary on Jan. 21. The house was opened on Christmas in 1928, but the birthday celebration was delayed three weeks to coincide with the opening of "Auntie Mame." District Manager Jay Golden and Manager Frank Lindcamp are planning a big celebration. One of the events on the program will be the reopening of the $125,000 organ that Tom Crierson used to play and old son" slides will be flashed on the general sales manager; Mitchell Klupt, vice-president and treasurer; Herbert R. Gelbspan, vice-president; and Herbert Schrank, secretary. All personnel of the DCA home office and its 12 exchange offices will be transferred to the Hal Roach Distribution Corp. Sachson said that as soon as the new flow of product from the Hal Roach Studios and other independent producers becomes available the company will increase its national sales force, establishing additional branches at strategic points and putting on more field men. The new company will release its first picture in late March or early April. This will be "The Scavengers," a John Cromwell production starring Carol Ohmart and Vince Edwards. Hal Roach Studios is wholly owned by the Scranton Corp., as is MBS. THE NINTH AMUAL COMMUNION BREAKFAST for Catholic people of the Motion Picture Industry in the New York area will be held Sunday, January 25. Mass at nine o'clock at St. Patrick's Cathedral, with breakfast immediately following in the Grand Ballroom of the Hotel WaldorfAstoria. For information and tickets, communicate with the member of the Sponsoring Committee in Your Office, or Miss Marguerite Bourdette, Room 1107, 1501 Broadway. Tel.: BRyant 9-8700. (Tickets $3.75 each) REVIEW: Stranger in My Arms Universal — CinemaScope The prolific Robert Wilder has authored several works which found their wav to the screen and for the most part with sign success. "Stranger in Mv Arms" is no exception. Based on the 1 novel, "And Ride a Tiger," the film offers an engrossing study of t possessive mother who must have her dead soldier son a hero, at ever cost, and the manner in which she very nearly wrecks ■ lives in seeking that end. The motion picture constructed from the Wilder original shoi found particularly appealing to women, although not exclusively s may verv well be sold with the feminine appeal predominantly in Two really strong cast names are available for marquee purposes of June Allyson and Jeff Chandler, while the support includes Sandra Dee, fast establishing a fine reputation for herself; Chad burn, Mary Astor and Conrad Nagel. Peter Berneis has constructed a good, closely-knit script fro Wilder novel, and Helmut Kautner has directed with effective sim Ross Hunter was the producer. It is a well turned production, in (Ji Scope. Chandler, test pilot with something weighing heavily on his rr asked bv his superior officer to attend the ceremonial opening of pita! to the memory of Peter Graves, who died on a life raft on th sea during the Korean conflict. Chandler was with him when hj Miss Allvson, widow of the dead man, also asks him to attend, provide the family with information about the son and husband. 1 his initial ref usal, Chandler attends and finds a situation where the \ '. family dominates the town, where the mother, Miss Astor, has de\ a fixation that her son was a great hero; where the young widov, Allvson, is completely subject to the will of the mother; the father, opposes her, but too weakly; the daughter, Miss Dee, understai situation and rebels against it, and the grandfather, Coburn, political power, aids and abets his daughter-in-law's intent to the Medal of Honor for her son. Chandler, attracted to Miss Allyson, tries to steer her from th of the mother and his motives are misunderstood. But finally, bitterness and torment, Miss Allyson realizes the love she thoug Astor bore her was really hate for having taken her son, and CI driven to desperate measures, reveals that the son was no hero coward who took his own life. Miss Allvson is free of bondage, ai Astor comes to face reality with her husband and daughter. The story, in the hands of a competent cast and with able di plays most effectively and holds the attention well. Indeed, it lo a highly salable item of motion picture merchandise. Running time, 88 minutes. General classification. Release, in Fc| Charles S. AaI To Reintroduce Bill On Merger Notices From THE DAILY Bureau, WASHINGTON, Jan. 13-House Judiciary Committee Chairman Celler (D., N. Y. ) said he would reintroduce tomorrow his bill to require large firms to give the government advance notice of merger plans. Sees Need for Measure The Judiciary Committee approved this bill in the last Congress, but it got hung up in the House Rules Committee. Celler said he felt enactment of this legislation was needed to increase effective enforcement of the anti-trust laws. *-i COMET (pure jet ! ) ffiflht: M0NAI (de Luxe and First Cl| frequency: NIGHT (leaves New York destination: L ON D C Houck Buys Theatre NEW ORLEANS, Jan. 13.-Joy N. Houck has purchased the Joy Theatre here from Mrs. VV. Sendy. reservations through your Trove BRITISH OVERSEAS AIRWAYS CO Flights from New York, Boston Detroit, San Francisco, Montreal, in Atlanta, Dallas. Los Angeles, IV ailelphia. Pittsburgh. WashingtonWinnipeg. Toronto.