Motion Picture Herald (Nov-Dec 1946)

iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiim Good Picture Benefits the Entire Industry, Riskin Believes Hollywood Bureau When a producer — any producer — makes a good picture, it should be a matter for rejoicing among his fellow producers, according to Robert Riskin, who is currently filming "Magic Town,"' which he hopes will turn out to be very good indeed. "Going to the movies is a habit," Riskin points out, "which can be established and maintained only by producing good pictures. When a man has seen a good picture last week, and another good one last night, he'll go to the movies again next week. If he's seen three poor pictures in a row, he won't. "I can see no reason for envy or jealousy among Hollywood's picture-makers. If another producer makes a good picture, it can't possibly do me any harm, and may do me a lot of good. That's why I'm always delighted to hear that Goldwyn, Capra, or anyone else in Hollywood has made a good picture. Likes to Go to Pictures Then, with a boyish grin, he adds: "Besides, I like to go to the movies myself. And I like to see good pictures." Mr. Riskin, from long experience, knows what makes a good picture. He has been actively associated with the industry since he was 17, and became an independent producer after serving a long apprenticeship in the writer ranks. His screen adaptation of "It Happened One Night," it will be recalled, won him an Academy Award in 1934. "Magic Town," his present venture for RKO Radio, is a timely story about a middle-sized American town which pollsters of public opinion discover to be a perfect barometer of national thinking. When the fact becomes known, however, local pride and nationwide publicity cause an artificial boom which, in turn, renders the town useless as a testing-place. James Stewart stars in the role of a poll-expert posing as an insurance salesman, and Jane Wyman is the local girl with whom he falls in love. Others in the cast, which is being directed by William A. Wellman, include Wallis Ford, Ned Sparks and Jimmy Crane. The assertion that local product . is slipping behind foreign product in quality is dismissed by Mr. Riskin as "an old charge, and one without foundation. A great many of those making pictures today — producers, directors, writers, stars — are returned war veterans. They're not living in a dreamworld, believe me. They've seen enough of human suffering to maintain a true-to-life attitude in their work. Hollywood product has nothing to fear from foreign competition." Ventures a Prediction As for the possible effect of new selling methods on the independent producer, Mr. Riskin confesses that he knows no more about it than anyone else. "There's only one prediction I'd venture to make," he says. "I think there will be fewer — and better — pictures made in Hollywood. There isn't enough talent around, in the first place, to make four or five hundred good films a year. "In my opinion, it's the B product that will go by the board. The superior picture, made with care and craftsmanship, will continue to justify at the box office its high budget, a budget that may range from $500,000 to $5,000,000. And there will always be room for the low-budget picture — the picture made at a cost of $50,000 or $100,000. The picture whose budget is modest need make only a modest showing at the box office in order to return a profit to its producers. But the in-between picture, whose cost is from $100,000 to $400,000— the picture that must get better-than-average grosses in order to show a profit, and which is not sufficiently high in quality to stand alone as A product — that type of picture, I believe, will in time vanish entirely from the Hollywood scene." The trend of the future, Mr. Riskin feels, will be toward quality rather than quantity. "And you can't make quality pictures on an assembly-line basis," he observes. Because he intends that his own productions shall be as fine as he can make them, Mr. Riskin plans to produce no more than two a year. "It takes time as well as talent to make a good picture. You can't do it in less than six months." Mr. Riskin's next enterprise, tentatively titled "The Girl from Bogardus," is a comedy with a Cinderella theme, and is scheduled to start shooting in April of next year. $208,000 Earned by Cohn During Year Ended June Harry Cohn, president of Columbia Pictures Corporation, earned $208,000 during the fiscal year ending June 30, according to a report filed by the company with the Securities Exchange Commission in Philadelphia. Included in the amount was $26,000 due Mr. Cohn for services in the fiscal year ending June 30, 1943, figures representing gross pay from which income tax had not yet been deducted. Other large salaries listed are $139,083 for Alexander Hall, director, and $117,000 for Jack Cohn, executive vice-president of Columbia. The latter figure includes $13,000 for services rendered in 1943. Schwartz Seeks Stories Arthur Schwartz is in New York from Hollywood to line up stories for his own producing unit and is considering a dramatic vehicle as his first. He also has in project another stage play and intends dividing his future time between film production on the Coast and play production in New York. His last film was "Night and Day" for Warners. Hoffberg Acquires Westerns Hoffberg Productions has acquired the eastern territory reissue rights to the original Range Buster series which includes : "The Range Busters," ' Trailing Double Trouble," "West of Pinto Basin," "Trail of the Silver Spurs," "The Kid's Last Ride," "Tumble Down Ranch in Arizona," "Wranglers Roost" and "Fugitive Valley." COMPLETED COLUMBIA Blondie's Holiday Stranger from Ponca City RKO RADIO Dick Tracy vs. the Claw 20TH CENTURY-FOX Jewels of Brandenburg (Wurtzel) STARTED COLUMBIA Three Were Thoroughbreds (Cavalier) PARAMOUNT Saigon 20TH CENTURY-FOX Moss Rose Captain from Castile Big Heart UNITED ARTISTS Christmas Eve (Bogeaus) WARNERS The Unfaithful SHOOTING COLUMBIA The Swordsman King of the Wild Horses Lady from Shanghai ENTERPRISE Other Love MGM Rich, Full Life Love Story Birds and the Bees Undercover Maisie Green Dolphin Street To Kiss and to Keep Romance of Rosy Ridge Cynthia's Secret MONOGRAM Fall Guy Drifting Through The Guilty (Wrather) PARAMOUNT Blaze of Noon Variety Girl PRC Red Stallion RKO RADIO Seven Keys to Baldpate Out of the Past (formerly "Build My Gallows High") Long Night ( HakimLi tvak) Magic Town (Riskin) Tarzan and the Huntress (Lesser) REPUBLIC Wyoming Gallant Man Nelson Eddy Production SCREEN GUILD Bells of San Fernando 20TH CENTURYFOX Forever Amber Mother Wore Tights UNITED ARTISTS Vendetta (California) Personal Column (Stromberg) UNIVERSAL-INTERN'L Time Out of Mind Buck Privates Come Home Egg and I WARNERS Dark Passage My Wild Irish Rose Woman in White Deep Valley Night unto Night. iiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiliiiiin MOTION PICTURE HERALD, DECEMBER 7, 1946 35