Motion Picture Daily (Oct-Dec 1960)

8 Motion Picture Daily Thursday, October 27, if PEOPLE Jerry Lipow, former salesman for United Artists, has been named Cleveland branch manager for Valiant Films. □ Donn Iogha, formerly manager of the Plaza Theatre, Stamford, Conn., has been appointed manager of the Norwalk Theatre, Norwalk, and the Fine Arts in Westport, Conn., units of the Nutmeg Theatre Circuit. □ Arthur F. McGinness, vice-president of the Chemical Bank New York Trust Co., in charge of that institution's office at 46th Street and Madison Ave., has been promoted to the position of regional vice-president of the bank. As successor to the late Walter M. Hawkins, he will be in charge of the bank offices on Manhattan's West Side, with headquarters at 54th Street and Broadway. □ Bart Miller, formerly manager of the Art Theatre, Dayton, O., has been named manager of the Art Theatre, Akron, by Louis Sher, owner. □ Alexander Ksiazek, new owner and manager of the Smithfield Theatre, Smithfield, O., has reopened the house, which was dark for three years. Coast TV Show Probe Suspends; Will Resume From THE DAILY Bureau HOLLYWOOD, Oct. 26. James Cunningham, Federal Communications Commission Chief Hearing Examiner, indicated investigation into television film programming procedures would be continued here following the probers' heavy work schedule in Washington. Hearings were brought to an abrupt close yesterday after 12days of interrogation of important figures in the television film field. Cunningham overruled yesterday a motion to quash subpoenas against Dick Fishell, Mary Rothschild and Betty Langley, who are engaged in businesses promoting plugs for brand name products on television. He indicated further that FCC would file suit to obtain information from the plug promoters, as well as prepare legal steps to have Taft Schreiber, executive of music corporation's revue productions, compelled to answer questions which he refused by walking off stand last Friday. REVIEW: The Sundowners Zinnemann — Warner Bros. FACTS OF LIFE Made clear A fully-illustrated manual explaining the Facts of Life In frank, non-technical detail, will be mailed free in plain wrapping upon receipt of request. JOY THROUGH HOPE Boom 1206. 729 Seventh Ave., N.T.C. Usually tackling serious and weighty themes (like "From Here to Eternity" and "The Nun's Story") Fred Zinnemann has taken time out for a lark with "The Sundowners." The new picture of the eminent producer-director is a comedy-drama-with the emphasis on the first-about the adventures of the family of a wandering sheep drover in Australia in the 1920s. It stars Deborah Kerr, Robert Mitchum, and Peter Ustinov, all marquee names to aid the exhibitor in promoting this pleasant family entertainment. As in all Zinnemann pictures, the sense of time and place is strong in "The Sundowners." He took his cast to Australia for exterior-filming, and the evocation of the untamed atmosphere of the "outback" country is vivid and pungent in his hands. The audience is also thoroughly instructed in the techniques of sheep driving and shearing, two occupations of the hero in the course of the story. The semi-documentary elementa Zinnemann trademark-is not neglected here. And Technicolor photography helps. What is missing is a theme of some substance which movie-goers have come to expect from the celebrated Zinnemann. About the onlv important issue in "The Sundowners" is whether or not Miss Kerr, as the wife of Mitchum, will be able to persuade him to settle down on a farm and give up the dubious joys of wandering about the country as a sheep herder. She and their 14-year-old son want a normal existence, a sense of security. In the end it is Mitchum who wins this conflict; the family stays on the road. There are compensations in this picture for the lack of a vital and unifying theme. These come in the form of roustabout comedv-a song fest and fight in a pub; a sheep shearers' brawl on the highway'; a shearing contest between Mitchum and an old man, which the latter unexpectedly wins. There is also a sub-plot involving the romance between Ustinov, as an educated Englishman turned Australian sheepman, and Glynis Johns as a man-crazy hotel owner looking for a husband. " f i Other EPisoDES-in the extremely episodic script Isobel Lennard hns written from a novel by Ton Cleary-are a well-staged forest fire in which Mitchum saves most of the sheep he is driving; the birth of a baby under hazardous conditions to a voung wife friendly to the Mitchum family; and a horse race which the beloved animal of the hero wins only to be disqualified for "interference." Naturally some of these incidents are more amusing and exciting than others. An explanation of the title is in order. "Sundowners" is Australian slang for itinerants, people "whose home is where the sun sets." In other words, the homeless. The acting is good, if not inspired. Miss Kerr has submitted to complete de-glamorization for the role of a sheepman's wife; she performs with a minimum of makeup and a conscious effort to be "plebian." Mitchum is weather-beaten and unshaven throughout, both of which qualities fit the role aptly. Michael Anderson, Jr. has a good deal of boyish charm as their son. while Ustinov is as droll in his special wav as Miss Johns is in hers. Others in the cast include Dina Merrill as an ex-debutante trying to make a go of it as the wife of a sheep rancher played by Ewen Solon; and Chips Rafferty and John Mellion as other sheepmen. Technical credits are all high, from the photography bv Jack Hildvard to the musical score of Dimitri Tiomkin. Running time, 133 minutes. Release, in November. Richard Gertner N.T. Files for Drive-in 'Pepe' in Parade WASHINGTON, Oct. 26.-National Theatres has proposed to acquire the Centennial Drive-in Theatre, Littleton, Colo., a suburb south of Denver. The operation has a capacity of 950 cars. A hearing before Judge Palmieri in New York City is expected to be held late in November or early in December. Columbia's "Pepe" will star in Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade this year. A flower-decked float representing the picture, surrounded by 100 marchers in Mexican native costumes with burros, will participate in the festivities on Nov. 24. For the first time in the 34-year history of the gala parade, the procedings will be on color tv over the NBC network. 1 I , I i Legion Rates* 'Blues'; 'Suzy Wong' Class B R Out of six films reviewed by National Legion of Decency this \ two were placed in Class B, mol objectionable in part for all. The\ "G.I. Blues" and "The World of ! Wong," both Paramount releases In Class A, Section 1 (general tronage) is Paramount's "Cin Fella." Placed in Class A, Sectic (adults and adolescents) are An I can International's "Journey to Lost City," United Artists' " Magnificent Seven," and 20th-I "The Secret of the Purple Reef.' The Legion objection to " Blues": "Made with a special ap for youth, this film is highly object! able in its theme and treatment, theme tends to condone and glamorize immoral behavior; its tr ment resorts to suggestive dialojl costuming, dancing, and situatio| tions." Objection to "Suzy Wong": atmosphere of a brothel which rounds the development of the th of this film is morally unaccept; for a mass medium of entertainme Darin Voted Personal] Of Year By Variety From THE DAILY Bureau WASHINGTON, Oct. 26. Bol Darin has been selected by the V ety Clubs of America as the Pers; alky of the Year and will be hono' at a dinner at the Statler Hotel h Nov. 19, Hirsh de la Viez, chairn1 of the Award Committee, announc; The award is presented annual!) the outstanding personality in world of show business, as voted members of the Variety Clubs. Prf ous recipients included Al Jolson, thur Godfrey, Perry Como "and Ed Fisher. 'Cosmopolitan' Nov. Issue on 'Show Biz' Hollywood's male stars have o earned, outlasted and out-starred y! trday's box office queens, Cosmop tan magazine's November "Sh Biz" issue now on the stands poi out. Eighty per cent of the moneymakers are males, all the top stars are men, the magazine poi out. The issue features an article "New Faces— TV and Movies"; oth by Kim Novak, Tuesday Weld, Ki Carlisle and many others. Aid 'Night of Stars9 Barney Balaban, Spyros Skou and Joseph R. Vogel, presidents Paramount, 20th-Fox and M-G-M, spectively, have accepted positions honorary chairmen of the advisi council for the forthcoming 27th s nual "Night of Stars," United Jew Appeal benefit show, which tal place at Madison Square Garden Nov. 21. Proceeds from the huge fair will go towards the furtherance the UJA's program of refugee rel and Israel resettlement.