Motion Picture Herald (Jan-Feb 1945)

THIS WEEK IN THE NEWS 1 AlVs Welles RKO FINALLY has unburdened its studio vaults of the 375,000 feet of Technicolor footage and 90,000 black-and-white which Orson Welles shot in 1942 during that well-publicized tour of Brazil and Mexico. Afccording to Jackson Leighter, Mr. Welles' producing associate, the screen, stage and radio star recently acquired the footage from RKO and plans to produce, independently, two or possibly three films of the material. It was not disclosed how much the acquistion cost Mr. Welles. First on the production agenda will be "It's All True," in Technicolor, dealing with the history of the Samba and the Rio de Janeiro carnival, which will exploit Mr. Welles in the capacities of actor, writer, director and producer. "My Friend Bonito," in black-and-white, will be the second picture, a story about bull fighting. "Jangados," a story about four Brazilian fishermen who became national heroes, is scheduled for the third production. Mr. Welles left New York last week for Hollywood to begin work on his program. It is understood a releasing deal is being negotiated with RKO. Advertising Record A TOTAL of $25,264,329.92 was spent in advertising the Sixth War Loan, an increase over the $24,981,670 spent for the Fifth War Loan, Thomas H. Lane, director of advertising, press and radio for the Treasury Department, announced last week in Washington. "Despite stringent space and time conditions, advertisers, agencies and media contributed their magnificent driving force to a degree never before surpassed," Mr. Lane declared. "No matter where Americans looked or listened or read, they felt the constant impact of the War Bond story." A breakdown of media, calculated by recognized checking bureaus and media associations using standard advertising rates was as follows: $11,250,000 spent on radio advertising; $7,709,603 via newspapers; $2,885,153, periodicals; $3,419,573, outdoor advertising. Daily newspapers carried $5,051,357 total value of advertising; weekly newspapers, $2,658,246. Frank E. Tripp, chairman of Allied Newspaper Council, estimated Tuesday in Washington that the nation's newspapers contributed $16,000,000 to the Sixth War Loan in news and editorial space in addition to the $7,709,603 in advertising lineage. Film Forum OPEN FORUM discussions of vital problems are to be held in theatres throughout the country on the occasion of the screening of pictures dealing with topics of significance, if a recommendation voiced by Dr. James T. Shotwell, State Department consultant now advising on production of War Activities Committee shorts in Hollywood, is adopted generally. Dr. Shotwell made the recommendation in the course of his participation in the first such open forum, held last week under auspices of the Hollywood Writers Mobilization at the Village theatre in Westwood, Cal., following a special screening of "Tomorrow the World." The writers' choice of "Tomorrow the World" as the first picture to be screened for U. S. demanding clearance regulation by injunction Page 13 INGENIOUS shownnen meet new fuel and lighting emergencies Page 14 ON THE MARCH— Red Kann makes a few Academy award predictions Page 21 "AS you were" appears answer to raw stock problem following Washington meeting; allocations for eleven distributors tabulated; independent status defined Page 24 SERVICE DEPARTMENT Hollywood Scene Page 41 In the Newsreels Page 44 Managers' Round Table Page 5! Picture Grosses Page 65 Shorts at First Runs Page 48 BRITISH producers turning toward Charley Dickens for story material Page 28jl ARTHUR Rank sends emissaries to German^ and to Latin America Page 3Cj PINANSKI accepts post as chairman o% Seventh War Loan drive Page Szj INDUSTRY leaders to tour nation in behalf oij Red Cross campaign Page 44] MORE than $5,000,000 expected in March o| Dimes drive for 1945 Page 44, What the Picture Did for Me Page 4^ IN PRODUCT DIGEST SECTION Showmen's Reviews Page 23091 Advance Synopses Page 23 1 C The Release Chart Page 23 1 purposes of promoting discussions of this type — three or four such events annually are contemplated— stemmed from the fact that it presents the case of a Nazism-indoctrinated youth whose ideological rectification, undertaken by American relatives, is offered as typifying treatment required to be administered to the German people at large after the war. Among those participating in the discussion, in addition to Dr. Shotwell, were Dr. Thomas Mann, novelist; Ruth McKenney Branston, playwright; Dr. Rufus B. von Kleinsmid, president of the University of Southern California; Dr. Franklin Fearing and Dr. Corinne Seeds, of the University of Southern California at Los Angeles; Paul Heinreid and Alexander Knox, actors ; Sgt. Jack Stephenson, soldier ; Harry W. Flannery and Alvin Wilder, radio commentators, and Emmet Lavery, chairman of the Mobilization and president of the Screen Writers Guild. Goldwyn Comfort ANIMATE, as well as inanimate, objects were to appear differently to the New York theatre-goer Friday evening and thereafter, attending, the Astor theatre on Broadway. The theatre was renovated, for the opening that night of Samuel Goldwyn's "The Princess and the Pirate." The customer will be escorted to his seat, and in other theatre ways comforted, by schoolgirls, models, and ballet dancers. They make up the staff, under the direction of manager Maurice Maurer. It is Mr. Goldwyn's idea that pulchritude should not only be on the screen and in his film, but also in the theatr'e. He hired "special beauty experts to make up the girls — and two cosmeticians will be in attendance at all times to repair the damage." So says an RKO Radio Pictures publicity release. At luncheon Thursday, at the Astor Hotel, at which he was host, Mr. Goldwyn inspected *he staff. Trailer Corrected ALTHOUGH heart and soul in the support of a worthy cause, the people of Hickory, N. C, are a bit sensitive about elevation} Gently, but firmly, they cite an inaccuracy in I the "March of Dimes" trailer, "The Miracldi of Hickory," wherein Greer Garson said thalfi infantile paralysis victims were brought "downlj from the hills." They point out that the hillsj are 50 miles from the town, and that while some few cases came from the mountain^ counties, the victims during the epidemic re-j, ferred to came from all over the state; thai rich and poor alike were stricken. Hickory, had only six cases, but answered the emer-|| gency last year by building in a few days an emergency hospital which has cared for ovefi 400 patients from all parts of the state, and a' few from other areas. Much to the amuse-' ment of the Hickory population, the "down from the hills" phrase has been used manyf times in magazine and newspaper articles A print of the trailer was presented to the' Chamber of Commerce for its permanent files' by Earle M. Holden, manager of the Centerf and Park theatres in Hickory, after the worldpremiere of the subject at the Center theatre} recently. \ Film Front TO THE film front, meaning the areas directlyi back of the fighting front where films are ex-|; hibited under all kinds of conditions for enter-i tainment relief of fighting men, had gone 25,785 prints of feature pictures and 261,902 prints of[. shorts as of end of the third week of January.;^ Included in the shipments of the Army Overseas Film Exchange that week were the following: "The Thin Man Goes Home," "Blonde; Fever," "Christmas in Connecticut," "The! Woman in the Window," "Murder, My Sweet,"; "Together Again," "Three's a Family," "Enter? Arsene Lupin," "Grissley's Millions" and "Lakcj Placid Serenade." MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 10. 1945;