Motion Picture Herald (Mar-Apr 1945)

nk's "Henry7 BE on the saga of J. Arthur Rank and 4| jfTechnicolor exploration of Shakespeare, :} try V," came via cable from London this I When told that the processing of prints " P|ie American release of "Henry" had come :i:.tk against the Technicolor bottleneck and paw stock shortage, Mr. Rank replied that ~~4 :&in, too, had her own stock and processing 3icJa'' s, particularly when it came to Technit ~ : (evertheless, he arranged for six prints of 'fc-tr-ry" to be made in England and snipped to . erica. Precise details of the New York , h'"' of the picture will be made known -i5|.x Mr. Rank arrives in the U. S. sometime (aid-May. Recording to Peter Burnup, London cor•ondent for Motion Picture Herald, Mr. 5 ik has declared he will "hire his own thea*f somewhere on Broadway, and there run picture himself for as long as it lasts." "\ aarently, it will be "J. Arthur Rank pre \reen Champion -tKING it clear that his approach was ecoDic rather than aesthetic, G. J. Fredericks aid toss opera from the Cincinnati Zoo and stitute motion pictures. He is secretary of Cincinnati Zoological Society and, in that jacity, told a meeting of his board recently t Summer opera in the Zoo auditorium had paid its way. Said Mr. Fredericks: The $365 weekly rental has not covered cost of maintaining facilities. Motion pices should be shown at the Zoo auditorium m May 15 to September 15." Cincinnati motion picture showmen were be;en Scylla and Charybdis. They had redded the Summer opera as competition. 'eery "Tribute : iE LOW. boiling point of the Texas Senate iterated a full head of steam in that body last :ek when the names of James Caesar Pe: Ho, president of the American Federation of usicians, and John L. Lewis, head of the Tited Mine Workers Union, echoed through t chamber. After hearing Major Allan Shiv^5, a member who had served in this war, deire that Mr. Petrillo was exacting tribute om the families of service men with his music x on records and that Mr. Lewis planned to ) the same thing on coal, the Senate adopted -lanimously a resolution of condemnation. "Be it resolved," the resolution said, "that ich acts of Petrillo and the proposals of Lewis i condemned and that the Congress of the s'nited States and the Executive Department , ereby be urged to take such steps as will bring n end to attempts of such self-made tyrants to ^r.pose super-government on, and exact tribute ' rom the free people of this country." Mean,/hile, the House of Representatives passed to !,.nal reading a bill outlawing the closed shop in Cexas. w At Tampa, Fla., proceedings in the state courts against 14 Florida manufacturers to enforce the amendment prohibiting the closed shop were held up Monday by a Federal court injunction. Filed by the American Federation of Labor, the injunction restrains enforcement pending a test on the validity of the amendment. Eyes South Post-War Merger A POST-WAR consolidation of all Americanowned international communications services under a Government-supervised private ownership was advocated Tuesday in Washington by James Forrestal, Secretary of the Navy, before a Senate Interstate Commerce sub-committee. There are 13 companies operating international communication services from this country in the foreign field. Mr. Forrestal told the committee he had come "very reluctantly" to the conclusion that a monopoly controlling radio, cables, telephone and other American communication facilities abroad was vital to post-war economy and military security. He recommended that the consolidation should be "mandator)-" and embrace all facilities abroad under a new. privately-owned corporation. The Government, he added, should not be permitted to own any part of it but would confine its function to guidance in the interest of national defense. The Senate committee opened hearings Tuesday on the proposed merger. Opposition to the merger was voiced Tuesday by Senator Burton K. Wheeler on the ground that it offered *'a serious threat to freedom of the press." Wednesday, Paul Porter, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, told the committee the proposed merger was "unworkable." FDR for Red Cross PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT'S special appeal on behalf of the 1945 Red Cross War Fund, broadcast nationally Tuesday night, was piped into thousands of theatres throughout the country, according to the industry Red Cross drive headquarters. In New York, at least 80 per cent of film houses carried the President's plea, urging Americans to oversubscribe the $200,000,000 goal for the 1945 campaign. The industry headquarters announced at mid-week that theatres in New York and other key cities would extend Red Cross collections through Sunday, March 25. Military Secret PRINTS OF a three-reel Army-inspired government picture in Technicolor titled "Two Down, One to Go," have been distributed to film exchanges throughout the country marked "Hold for Release." Under arrangements made by the Office of War Information and the industry's War Activities Committee, they are to be released the moment the War Department announces officially that Nazi Germany has been defeated. Prepared some months ago by the Army and the OWI, the contents of the picture have been kept secret. Some 300 prints are said to be in waiting. CHARLES P. SKOURAS, president of National Theatres Amusement Company, Wednesday named B. V. Sturdivant Latin American manager for the circuit, with headquarters in Mexico City. He was expected to leave Los Angeles for the new post this week. Mr. Sturdivant's present position as northern California division manager and his long experience as a theatre executive makes the appointment significant in the light of current emphasis on the hemispheric and world film market. Mr. Skouras, announcing the appointment, said that National Theatres, an affiliate of Twentieth Century-Fox, was planning "an ambitious program" in Latin America. He emphasized the importance of the prefabricated theatres, to be made of sheet steel, which his company has developed. Mr. Skouras, Mr. Sturdivant and Frank H. Ricketson, Jr., of Intermountain Theatres, during a recent trip to Mexico, conferred with executives of steel mills in Monterey and Mon:lova and discussed their plans for Mexico at great length with Mexican officials. Durable Lady THE MARINES at an island base somewhere in the South Pacific are convinced that Judy Garland is a real trouper, and plenty rugged. Starring in the first motion picture shown on the island after its capture, Miss Garland was singing when a Jap machine gun opened fire. When the Marines had silenced the intruder and turned their attention to the screen they found it had been riddled by the bullets. Miss Garland, despite three bullet holes in her forehead, was still singing. Pulpit to Screen THE TRAIL of fluttering feminine hearts he blazed from the pulpits of the California coast may lead Bronwen Davis Clifford, an evangelist preacher from Philadelphia, to the screen. Tracking reports from women who had seen him at California meetings, MGM gave him a screen test. "The handsomest we have ever seen," and with "the most wonderful speaking voice," the ladies reported. He acceded to the screen test in the hope that "I can help the morale of the people and perhaps spread the message of the Bible." Meek Retirement MOVIEDOM'S "Mr. Meek" is retiring— after 58 years on stage. Donald Meek announced his decision this week. His final film assignments are "Colonel Effingham's Raid," and "State Fair." Mr. Meek began his long career in a Glasgow theatre, at eight. He played a nymph. Subsequently, he played, on tour, the role of Little Lord Fauntleroy. In later years, on Broadway, he developed the milquetoastish characterization which brought him special fame. He has been in pictures 11 years. In his retirement, he said, he plans to raise roses. 'MOTION PiCTURE HERALD, published every Saturday by Qurgley Publishing Company, Rockefeller Center, New York City, 20. Telephone Circle 7-3100; Cable address "Ouigpubco, New :^ork." Martin Quigley, President; Colvin Brown, Vice-President; Red Kann, Vice-President; Theo. J. Sullivan, Secretary; Terry Ramsaye, Editor; James D. Ivers, News Editor; William G. Formby, -ield Editor Ray Gallagher, Advertising Manager; Chicago Bureau, 624 South Michigan Avenue, Chicago, 5; Hollywood Bureau, Postal Union Life Building, Hollywood, 28. William R. :*rVeaver, editor; Toronto Bureau, 242 Millwood Road, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, W. M. Gladish, correspondent; Montreal Bureau, 265 Vitre St., West, Montreal, Canada, Pat Donovan, -correspondent; London Bureau, 4 Golden Square, London W I, Hope Williams Burnup, manager; Peter Burnup, editor; cable Qv-apubco London; Melbourne Bureau, The Regent Theatre, ISI Collins St.', Melbourne, Australia, Cliff Holt,' correspondent; Sydney Bureau, 17 Archbold Rd., Roseville, Sydney, N.S.W., Australia, Lin Endean, correspondent; Mexico City Bureau, Br. Carmona y Valle 6, Mexico City,' Luis Becerra Celis, correspondent; Buenos Aires Bureau, J. E. Uriburi 126, Buenos Aires, Argentina, Natalio Bruski, correspondent; Rio de Janeiro B.reau. R. Sao Jose, 6i C. Postal 834 Rio de Janeiro Brazil, Alfredo C. Machado. correspondent; Montevideo Bureau, P. O. Box 664, Montevideo, Uruguay, Paul Bodo, correspondent; c^ble Argus Montevideo. Member Audit Bureau of Circulations. All contents copyright 1945 by Ouig'ey Publishing Company. Address all correspondence to the New York Office. Other Ciigley Publications: Better Theatres, Motion Picture Daily, International Motion Picture Almanac, and Fame. 40TION PICTURE HERALD, MARCH 24, 1945 9