Motion Picture Herald (Mar-Apr 1947)

Yates Attacks Reissue Sweep As Bad Policy Attacking what he called "the indiscriminate release of reissues by all companies," Herbert J. Yates, president of Republic pictures, last week told a regional sales meeting at the Blackstone Hotel in Chicago that the industry had gone "reissue beserk." At the same time he announced that his company would continue making "B" pictures, although the exact number has not yet been set. Lashing out against the reissue policy, Mr. Yates said that, if it is continued, the industry will soon find itself losing the public esteem it now enjoys. "The constant playing of reissues is an admission on the part of the industry to the public that it cannot produce quality pictures today as it did in former years," he declared. And he warned that an excessive amount of reissues would serve to bring down rentals on highcost product now being made. The third and final Republic regional sales meeting opened at the coast last Monday with James R. Grainger, executive vicepresident and sales manager, presiding and Mr. Yates emphasizing the company's policy to increase the number of high-budget productions. Previously he had said that Republic would make more features in 194748 than this year and that a definite product announcement would be made in May. Also attending the studio meeting were Allen Wilson, vice-president; Earl R. Collins, western district manager; and branch managers Ralph Carmichael, Los Angeles; S. C. Martenstein, San Francisco ; Gene Gerbase, Denver; Thomas McMahon, Salt Lake City; Paul McElhinney, Seattle, and George Mitchell, Portland. Legion of Decency Reviews Seven New Productions The National Legion of Decency reviewed seven new productions this week, approving all but one. In Class A-I, unobjectionable for general patronage, were : 'A Boy, a Girl and a Dog," "For the Love of Rusty" and "St. Francis of Assisi." In Class A-II, unobjectionable for adults, were: "Copacabana," "The Two Mrs. Carrolls" and "A Likely Story." In Class B, objectionable in part, was "Monsieur Verdoux," because it "reflects erroneous moral philosophy and moral skepticism." Stern Sees Business Off 1 8-20 Per Cent Business in theatres has declined 18 to 20 per cent since the beginning of the year, Emil Stern, general manager of the Essaness circuit, Chicago, said there last week, after a business trip to Los Angeles. The decline is in grosses, he said; and the grosses have sagged despite increased admission prices. Box Office Champions for The Month of March THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES (RKO Radio -Goldwyn) Produced by Samuel Goldwyn. Directed by William Wyler. Screenplay by Robert E. Sherwood from the novel, "Glory for Me", by MacKinlay Kantor. Music direction, Emil Newman. Photography, Gregg Toland. Cast: Fredric March, Myrna Loy, Teresa Wright, Dana Andrews, Virginia Mayo, Hoagy Carmichael, Harold Russell, Cathy O'Donnell. Release date, November 20, 1946. [Champion for the second month] CALIFORNIA ( Paramount) Produced by Seton I. Miller. Directed by John Farrow. Screenplay by Frank Butler and Theodore Strauss. Based on a story by Boris Ingster. Photography, Ray Rennahan. Technicolor director, Natalie Kalmus. Music score by Victor Young. Cast: Ray Milland, Barbara Stanwyck, Barry Fitzgerald, George Coulouris, Albert Dekker, Anthony Quinn. Release date, February 21, 1947. HUMORESQUE (Warner Brothers) Produced by Jerry Wald. Directed by Jean Negulesco. Screenplay by Clifford Odets and Zachary Gold. Based on a story by Fannie Hurst. Music conducted by Franz Waxman. Photography, Ernest Haller. Music director, Leo F. Forbstein. Cast: Joan Crawford, John Garfield, Oscar Levant, J. Carrol Naish, Joan Chandler, Tom D'Andrea. Release date, January 25, 1947. THE JOLSON STORY ( Columbia ) Produced by Sidney Skolsky. Directed by Alfred E. Green. Associate producer, Gordon Griffith. Screenplay by Stephen Longstreet; adaptation by Harry Chandler and Andrew Solt. Musical director, M. W. Stoloff. Director of photography, Joseph Walker. Technicolor director, Natalie Kalmus. Cast: Larry Parks, Evelyn Keyes, William Demarest, Bill Goodwin, Ludwig Donath. Release date, January, 1947. [Champion for the third month] NORA PRENTISS (Warner Brothers) Produced by William Jacobs. Directed by Vincent Sherman. Screenplay by N. Richard Nash. From a story by Paul Webster and Jack Sobell. Music by Franz Waxman. Photographed by James Wong Howe. Music director, Leo F. Forbstein. Cast: Ann Sheridan, Kent Smith, Bruce Bennett, Robert Alda, Rosemary DeCamp, John Ridgely. Release date, February 22, 1947. SINBAD THE SAILOR (RKO Radio) Produced by Stephen Ames. Directed by Richard Wallace. Screenplay by John Twist. Photographed by George Barnes. Original story by John Twist and George Worthing Yates. Technicolor director, Natalie Kalmus. Musical director, C. Bakaleinikoff. Cast: Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Maureen O'Hara, Walter Slezak, Anthony Quinn, George Tobias. Release date, January 13, 1947. Monogram Will Reissue Feature, "Dillinger" Monogram will reissue "Dillinger" following engagements in May at the Oriental and Biograph theatres, Chicago, Morey Goldstein, general sales manager, announced in New York last weekend. Mr. Goldstein presided at the eastern sales staff meeting in the Hotel Warwick there. The meeting had as principal topics the sales policies on Allied Artists' "It Happened on Fifth Avenue," "Black Gold," "Tragic Symphony" and "The Gangster." Plan N. J. Allied Convention Allied of New Jersey is currently working on plans for a June convention of national Allied units in those states bordering on the Atlantic Seaboard. The convention is tentatively planned for the Ambassador Hotel, Atlantic City. Famous Players Has Record Net Famous Players Canadian Corporation made a record "profit in 1946 of $2,834,956, almost twice what it made in 1945, according to the annual financial statement released at the weekend. The 1946 profit was equal to $1.63 on each of the 1,737,072 common shares, and it compared with a net profit of $1,594,973 for 1945, which equalled 91 cents per share. The operating profit for 1946 was $5,599,284. compared with a total of S5,123,790 in 1945. An indebtedness of $5,500,000 has been paid off by the sale of 750,000 common shares. J. J. Fitzgibbons, president of the company, has announced that construction of 10 new theatres has begun. MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 19, 1947 23