Motion Picture Herald (May-Jun 1946)

IllllllUlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllipih^ COMPLETED COLl/MBIA Gallant Journey INDEPENDENT Curley (Roach) PRC Prairie Badmen (formerly "Dangerous Men) Melody Roundup REPUBLIC Mysterious Mr. Valentine UNITED ARTISTS Miss Television (Comet) Abie's Irish Rose (Crosby) STARTED INDEPENDENT Here Comes Trouble (Roach) PRC Untitled Buster Crabbe UNITED ARTISTS Comedy of Murders (Chaplin) UNIVERSAL Magnificent Doll (Skirball Maning) Swell Guy (Hellinger) Ramrod (Enterprise) SHOOTING COLUMBIA It's Great to Be Young Down to Earth Thrill of Brazil MGM Secret Heart Sea of Grass Lady in the Lake High Barbaree Beginning or the End Uncle Andy Hardy Mighty McGurk Sacred and Profane (formerly "A , W o m a n of My Own") MONOGRAM Gentleman Joe Palooka High School Hero PARAMOUNT Where There's Life I Cover Big Town (Pine Thomas) RKO RADIO Katie for Congress Deadlier than the Male Nocturne Honeymoon Best Years of Our Lives ( Goldwyn ) Secret Life of Walter Mitty (Goldwyn) It's a Wonderful Life (Liberty) REPUBLIC Last Frontier Uprising That Brennan Girl Angel and the Outlaw SCREEN GUILD PRODUCTIONS Man from Utah (Golden Gate) 20TH CENTURYFOX 13 Rue Madeleine Carnival in Costa Rica My Darling Clementine Razor's Edge UNITED ARTISTS The Chase (Nero) Dishonored Lady (Stromberg) Bel Ami (Loew-Le win) Short, Happy Life of Francis Macomber (Award) No Trespassing (Lesser) UNITED WORLD Bella Donna (International) UNIVERSAL Smash-Up Wild Beauty Pirates of Monterey The Killers (Hellinger) WARNERS Cry Wolf Deception Life with Father Stallion Road Cloak and Dagger SCOTCH FALSE REPORT MPA CAN BAN CYCLE OF FILMS by WILLIAM R. WEAVER Hollywood Editor Once a top producer read Harriet Beecher Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin" and realized the picture versions he'd seen had been derived from the stage version, which hadn't been very good in the first place, wherefore this noted piece of American literature actually was virgin timber. So he instructed his publicity man to circulate the news that he was going to produce "Uncle Tom's Cabin" directly from the book. It took about 48 hours for the publicity man to get the news out but it took only 24 for the telegrams to start arriving, the letters tp begin flowing in, after which came the delegations. He was advised forcibly that nobody wished to have "Uncle Tom's Cabin" produced upon the screen. It was pointed out to him that the representation of the period and conditions dealt with by Miss Stowe could not possibly result in bettering the lot of any minority and probably would worsen it. The telegrams, letters and delegations were augmented by telephone calls from industry associates, and so he took a long vacation in order that time and forgetfulness could operate, which they did. Report Spreads Confusion The incident is related in an endeavour to come to the root of the confusion spread last week by radio commentators and newspaper columnists who took as whole cloth an uninformed headline in a local Hollywood publication and broadcast the misinformation that "the Johnston office" or "the Breen office" has banned "cycle" pictures. Exhibitors whose customers, victimized by this misreporting, may see fit to confront them with questions, are correct in inform ing them that "cycle" was a headline writer's bad choice of word and there was and could be no banning. The simple and routine thing which happened was a passing of the information, from the staff members of the Production Code Administration to the individual producers whom they meet and deal with regularly that the stream of story material tendered for PCA opinion had displayed a monotony of subject matter which, by precedent, boded an ultimate monotony of pictures on the screen and a tapering off of public interest in screen entertainment. It was pointed out, too, but quite incidentally insofar as officialdom is concerned, that the subject matter coming up lately in monotonous similarity is of the kind that was used in the four or five pictures which ran , into censorship in some parts of the country. Cannot Prevent Purchase Exhibitors answering customers made inquisitive by irresponsible reportings of the variety circulated last week are on firm ground in telling them that neither the "Johnston office" nor any other agency within the industry is empowered to prevent any produce!" from buying any story property which he believes can be made into a motion picture. Although some, even most, producers do ask advice of PCA staff men prior to purchase of a property, no producer is bound to abide by the advice he receives. When, having acquired a property, the producer reduces it to script form, the PCA staff afiain advises, officially this time, and again the producer accepts the advice of doesn't. Only when the final print of the film is presented to the PCA for issuance of its certificate of approval does the "Johnston office" have official authority to enforce its standards. This conveyance of basic information to exhibitors for transmission to customers is undertaken here for the singular reason that it is ancient custom for newspaper columnists and radio reporters operating from Hollywood to regard the PCA as a sort of dictatorship throttling on the screen the freedom of speech they enjoy in print and on the air. Because the PCA purpose and function does not include publicity for itself, a vast ignorance of its nature and work prevails among Hollywood's otherwise well informed journalists. Perhaps the most practicable preventive against recurrence or repetition of the present wave of loose reporting on the matters concerned here would be the extension of PCA Administrator Joseph I. Breen's recent "refresher course" of lectures, to include the press. Bernhard Plans Six Features A schedule of six productions for distribution through Warner Bros, in 1946-47 has been announced by Joseph Bernhard, president, and Milton Sperling, vice-president, of United States Pictures. In addition to "Cloak and Dagger," starring Gary Cooper, now nearing completion, the list includes: "Pursued," original by Niven Busch, starring Teresa Wright, to be made in Technicolor, starting about July 15; "So Goes the Nation," original by Clarence Green and Russel Rouse; "Distant Drums," from the Broadway play by Dan Totherch, who is doing the screenplay; "Golden City," original by Ted Allan on modern life in America, and "Gentle Sin." Concord Signs with Planet Concord Productions, a 16mm producing company in Hollywood, has signed a contract to produce 12 features annually for release through Planet Pictures. MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JUNE 15, 1946 43