Motion Picture Daily (Jul-Sep 1960)

Fn iy, August 19, 1960 Motion Picture Daily Scelton Studio ( Continued from page 1 ) lding of sound stages and devel;nt of additional physical facili ! brel 'Hop 'm ie three-acre plant in the heart of IHcf/wood contains three sound is which provide 25,700 square of stage space. Sound Stage One ;ing converted into an audience ta)' seating 300 people, in addition nil: fee ■i to Dusing an orchestra and producliitio crews, according to Skelton. -Gaff-Tabakin ! ( Continued from page 1 ) ]jwi[be E. Jonny Graff, while Berne Taikin will be in charge of the Wi:ern operation. Both executives t? ar<| vice-presidents of NT A. Both fit Grit and Tabakin will report directly liitotnger, who will continue to superis vis! all NTA sales activities. it)'«ie organizational change was prnpted by the recent move of 'Nl.'s sales headquarters to New j Vol City. Both divisions will handle 1 1 allfhases of programming sales. The urchige will not affect NTA regional s isali offices or personnel, li, jVe will continue to maintain our A'idiiiS in major television centers," i Ur.:r said. The Mississippi River will la'befie dividing line for the territories : hailled by the divisions, n ie new sales structure will be put 1 i-inft operation with concurrent sales »co entions today and tomorrow in hoi New York City and Beverly Hills ntioiiiiscussions of plans for the new < se|ig season. :hunty9 Starting Set o] i OLLYWOOD, Aug. 18. After I rnd; than two years of preparation, " M(-M studio head Sol C. Siegel, ifjRucer Aaron Rosenberg and directfeparol Reed have set Nov. 1 as the mal starting date for "Mutiny on th Bounty." With Marlon Brando heing a large international cast, the Ar< la Pictures production will go beSHthe cameras in Tahiti. Almost the , em e film will be made on that island ' aft in other South Sea locales. iss Prowse for "Athens9 OLLYWOOD, Aug. 18. Juliet bse has been assigned a co-starrole with Katrina Paxinou in the ;rt Lippert-20th Century-Fox "It ipened in Athens," it was anficed today by Robert Goldstein, jutive producer at 20th-Fox. |.mes S. Elliott, director, and AnMarton, who will produce, leave [week for Athens and Rome to set location filming for the picture. ^Clumbia Buys 'Warm9 OLLYWOOD, 18.— Samuel «~ ' ^Ug L ilriskin, Columbia's vice-president in iharge of West Coast activities, ar mnced the studio has purchased sc an rights to "The Warm Penin H," play by Joe Masteroff. The >erty has been assigned to Rob er 3ohn Productions for filming next y< as one of the company's most in Drtant undertakings. REVIEW: As the Sea Rages Szokoll — Columbia The use of international casts has assumed increasing importance on the global film level. In the case of this Carl Szokoll production, the presence of American and European players, against the symbolic background of Grecian Isles— vividly caught in black-and-white— brings a rousing romantic story to cinematic terms with poignancy, perception and pathos. Given the proper exploitation approach— and there's a host of past like attractions spelling out ideas galore— the Columbia release may well emerge as one of the brightest vehicles of the late summer-early fall season. First and foremost, the cast headed by Maria Schell, Cliff Robertson and Cameron Mitchell, goes a long, long way to convey a feeling of urgency, amid bitter isolation, in the Jeffrey Dell-Jo Eisinger screenplay, based on the original German of Walter Ulbrich, from the novel, "Raubfischer in Hellas," by Werner Helvig. Horscht Haechler's direction, starting slowly, builds vividly to the bittersweet ending, encompassing the full gamut of emotions. Robertson, at loose ends, arrives in a small Greek seaport determined to spend his life peacefully fishing. He wants no more of commercial shipping and would like to dawdle along under cloudless skies, encountering no permanent entanglements. A girl (Miss Schell) arrives with a fishing crew headed by one-eyed brute (Mitchell), only to scuffle with women in the market-place. Good-naturedly, the now sodden Robertson plunges into the feminine fray, only to lose his wallet. To give chase, he must ship on a fishing trawler as engineer. His quest for the elusive fishergirl takes him to lonely, barren wastes of a brooding island dominated by Mitchell. In the process Robertson learns that Mitchell harbors a deadly grudge against commercial trawlers because of their alleged invasion of his personal fishing grounds. To get even, Mitchell thinks little of tossing dynamite sticks at incoming motordriven craft. The girl and the newcomer soon fall in love, but their romance is cluttered by Mitchell's possessive treatment of Miss Schell. The latter finally resolves to break away from his domination and head for the open seas with Robertson. Before this can happen, Robertson engages in a fatal knife battle with Mitchell in a deserted church yard. The victor Robertson is about to leave with Miss Schell when he learns of the plight of Fritz Tillman's commercial trawler (on which he had shipped out to the island initially). In the act of attempting to save Tillman, Robertson goes to his watery death. At the fadeout, Miss Schell participates in a grim death dance with fellow island women; she realizes now that she never will leave this atmosphere, never find the long-sought-for peace with the man of her heart. Photographic effects, by Kurt Hasse, are superb. Dubbing into English is adequate enough. Running time, 75 minutes. Release, in September. A.M.W. Ornstein, Widem Talks Set for Drive-in Meet Special to THE DAILY HARTFORD, Aug. 18. Sperie Perakos, general manager of Perakos Theatre Associates and president of the Connecticut Drive-in Theatres Association, has added William Ornstein, industry publicist-writer, and Allen M. Widem, amusements editor of the Hartford Times, to the speakers program for the Connecticut drive-in meeting at Sanford Barn, Hamden, on Aug. 23. Charles Kurtzman, of Loew's Theatres, Inc., New York, will discuss the campaign for the Will Rogers Hospital. Through the courtesy of Columbia 'The Bellboy' Opens In 29 Detroit Houses Special to THE DAILY DETROIT, Aug. 18.-Paramount's release of Jerry Lewis' "The Bellboy" has opened here simultaneously at a downtown first-run theatre, 14 neighborhood houses and 14 drive-in operations in the area, a massive saturation such as has been recorded only once before in the history of the industry here. That was the Michigan premiere of "Duel in the Sun" on Aug. 17, 1950. Pictures, "Song Without End," the story of Franz Liszt, will be screened, following the meeting, in the Stanley Warner screening room, New Haven. More Product ( Continued from page 1 ) tors, and for other new sources of product. The TOA Bulletin points to a Sindlinger & Co. report that June attendance dropped 21 per cent below June, 1959, and that the cumulative attendance for the first six months of 1960 was five per cent below the 1959 first half. "A review of releases in the April through June period, which shows a scarcity in numbers as well as a paucity of big pictures, makes the fall-off understandable," the Bulletin asserts. "However, the summer releases—27 pictures in July and 19 in August— gave theatres a real shot in the arm," it adds. Looks to Next Year On the production situation, TOA says major companies started only 87 pictures from the first of the year through mid-August, which it says is 27 fewer than for the same period last year, and is equivalent to a 20 per cent decrease. Projecting this production record into 1961 releases, it says the situation could mean a total of only 184 releases next year. The bulletin says the major companies have scheduled "starting dates for only nine more pictures" at this juncture. "The need for exhibitor effort to get more pictures made was never more apparent," the Bulletin concludes. Gould MPA Ad-Pub Coordinating Head Joseph Gould, Paramount Pictures advertising manager, has been appointed chairman of the advertising coordinating group of the Motion Picture Association of America's advertising and publicity directors committee. Announcement of the appointment was made by Martin S. Davis, chairman of the advertising and publicity directors committee, who had previously held the post now succeeded to by Gould. This is the first appointment made by Davis since being elected chairman of the committee earlier this month. Buy Theatre Interest DETROIT, Aug. 18.-Edward Shuman of Chicago and William Flemion of this city have purchased the onethird interest of Al Dezel in the Studio Theatre here. Shuman operates art houses throughout the country and was also a partner with Flemion in the former World Theatre. Dezel is a former distributor. His wife operates the Coronet Theatre. 'Ben-Hur' Repeats Just as it did at the recent Cannes Film Festival, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's "Ben-Hur" will open this year's Venice Film Festival. The Academy Award-winning production will be shown "out of competition" on Aug. 24. The film was exhibited in similar category at Cannes.