Motion Picture Herald (Jul-Aug 1947)

MCM SCHEDULES 22 TITLES TO SPRING To Release Fifteen to Next February; "Hucksters" To Start Season's Films Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer has 15 completed features which it will release from the latter part of July to February 15 and seven additional pictures in work which will be released through the spring months. An additional eight productions are in the final stages of preparation. Eight of the 22 scheduled for release are musicals, seven are based on popular novels, three are from successful stage plays, other than musicals, and four are original stories. Eight of the features are in Technicolor. "Hucksters" in lflOO Spots The company will start off its 1947-48 season by pre-releasing "The Hucksters" this month in approximately 1,000 theatres in the U. S. and abroad. The screen version of the Frederic Wakeman novel, starring Clark Gable and Deborah Kerr, will open at New York's Capitol theatre either July 17 or 24. Thirtytwo of the key Loew houses will open the feature July 16 and 17 with two other Loew theatres to follow a week later. Engagements have been set for Australia and Canada, to play simultaneously with the American premieres, and negotiations are under way for a July premiere in London. Features Listed The features scheduled for release by February 15, in addition to "The Hucksters," are: The Romance of Ros? Ridge, starring Van Johnson ; produced by Jack Cummings, directed by Roy Rowland. Merton of the Movies — Red Skelton ; produced by Albert Lewis, directed by Robert Alton. Song of Love — Katharine Hepburn, Paul Henreid, and Robert Walker; produced and directed by Clarence Brown. The Unfinished Dance — Margaret O'Brien, Cyd Charisse, and Karin Booth; produced by Joe Pasternak, directed by Henry Koster. Green Dolphin Street — Lana Turner, Van Heflin, Donna Reed, and Richard Hart ; produced by Carey Wilson, directed by Victor Saville. Song of the Thin Man — William Powell and Myrna Loy; produced by Nat Perrin, directed by Edward Buzzell. Fiesta — Esther Williams and Ricardo Montalban; produced by Jack Cummings, directed by Richard Thorpe. As You Desire Me — Greer Garson, Robert Mitchum, and Richard Hart ; produced by Arthur Hornblow, Jr., directed by George Cukor. This Time for Keeps — Esther Williams, MGM SETS RECORD FOR PRINT SHIPMENT IN JUNE MGM reported this week that it had shipped more prints to exchanges during the month of June than during any other month since the company was organized. The 1 ,985 prints shipped in 30 days include 410 for "The Hucksters", 395 for "The Romance of Rosy Ridge", 390 for "Song of the Thin Man", 390 for "Merton of the Movies" and 400 for "Song of Love". Jimmy Durante, Lauritz Melchior, Johnnie Johnston, Xavier Cugat and his orchestra; produced by Joe Pasternak, directed by Richard Thorpe. The Birds and the Bees — Jeannette MacDonald, Jose Iturbi, and Jane Powell ; produced by Joe Pasternak, directed by Fred M. Wilcox. Cass Timberlane — Spencer Tracy, Lana Turner, and Zachary Scott; produced by Arthur Hornblow, Jr., directed by George Sidney. Summer Holiday — Mickey Rooney, Gloria De Haven, Walter Houston, Frank Morgan and Butch Jenkins; produced by Arthur Freed, directed by Rouben Mamoulian. Alias a Gentleman — Wallace Beery; produced by Nat Perrin, directed by Harry Beaumont. Good News — June Allyson and Peter Lawford ; produced by Arthur Freed, directed by Charles Walters. Features now shooting which will complete the release schedule through the summer months are: If Winter Comes — Walter Pidgeon and Deborah Kerr; produced by Pandro S. Berman, directed by Victor Saville. The High Wall — Robert Taylor, Audrey Totter and Herbert Marshall ; produced by Robert Lord, directed by Curtis Bernhardt. The Pirate — Judy Garland and Gene Kelly ; produced by Arthur Freed, directed by Vincente Minnelli. Killer McCoy — Mickey Rooney, Brian Donlevy, James Dunn and Ann Blyth; produced by Sam Zimbalist, directed by Roy Rowland. Virtuous — Van Johnson, June Allyson and Butch Jenkins ; produced by William H. Wright, directed by Norman Taurog. The Kissing Bandit — Frank Sinatra and Kathryn Grayson ; produced by Joe Pasternak, directed by Laslo Bendek. On an Island With You — Esther Williams, Ricardo Montalban, Cyd Charisse, Jimmy Durante and Xavier Cugat and his orchestra; produced by Joe Pasternak, directed by Richard Thorpe. Among those productions in the final stages of preparation are: Homecoming — with Clark Gable; produced by Sidney Franklin, directed by Mervyn Le Roy. The Three Musketeers — with Gene Kelly; produced by Pandro S. Berman. Young Bess — with Deborah Kerr. Joan of Lorraine — with Ingrid Bergman; produced by Walter Wanger, directed by Victor Fleming. State of the Union — Spencer Tracy and Claudette Colbert; produced and directed by Frank Capra. B. F.'s Daughter — Katharine Hepburn; produced by Edwin Knopf. Annie Get Your Gun — Judy Garland; Irving Berlin songs, produced by Arthur Freed. Easter Parade— Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra and Red Skelton; Irving Berlin songs, produced by Arthur Freed. Allied 's National Meeting Nov. 10 Allied States Association will hold it 1947 national convention in Milwaukee, November 10-12, Abram Myers, general counsel, announced in Washington Monday. William L. Ainsworth, president of the Independent Theatre Owners of Wisconsin and Upper Michigan, will be in charge of arrangements. As the New Jersey Allied convention ended Thursday in Atlantic City, Benjamin Berger, president of North Central Allied, decided to postpone action on his plan of taking an open-letter, full-page advertisement in the Washington Post calling on President Truman to recommend a Congressional investigation of the film industry as "a monopoly". His original proposal, made from the convention floor, had drawn numerous protests. Also in Atlantic City it was learned that Allied States' plans to participate in production though guarantees of playing time are still, after months of discussion, still in the discussion stage. The trouble stems, it is reported, from Allied's difficulty in obtaining enough playtime contracts to give interested producers assurance of return. Loew International Shifts Berman and Schoham Julian Berman has been appointed MGM manager for Cuba. He succeeds Robert O. Schoham, who has been transferred to Sweden as a special home office representative. Both Mr. Schoham and Mr. Berman have been MGM managers overseas for many years, with Mr. Berman formerly territorial manager in Latin America, and Mr. Schoham formerly manager in Finland. 24 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JULY 5, 1947