Motion Picture Herald (Jan-Feb 1948)

THE HOLLYWOOB SCENE Eight Films Completed; 18 Are Now in Work Hollywood Bureau Hollywood production, after sagging to a total of 22 features in shooting stage at the year-end, dipped to 18 in the first week of 1948. The figure derives from the completion of eight features and the beginning of camera work on but four others. Republic led the production parade, starting two pictures. Joseph Kane is producing and directing an untitled feature starring Bill Elliott, with Joseph Schildkraut, Adrian Booth, Bruce Cabot and Andy Devine in support. Melville Tucker is producing "The Timber Trail," with Monty Hale, Lynne Roberts, Foy Willing and the Riders of the Purple Sage. Phil Ford is directing. Columbia launched "Let's Fall in Love," with Dorothy Lamour, Jeffrey Lynn, Janice Carter and others. Irving Starr is producing, Douglas Sirk directing. Eagle Lion started ''The Spiritualist," with Lynn Bari, Turhan Bey, Cathy O'Donnell and Richard Carlson, which Ben Stoloff is producing and Bernard Vorhaus directing. "Miracle " to UA, Bogeaus Says United Artists will not only receive his "A Miracle Can Happen," but will give it special handling, producer Benedict Bogeaus said on a New York home office visit last week. The statement settled rumors to the contrary, he remarked, and added that his releasing contract runs through 1948, that he will make several pictures this year, and ''most likely" deliver them to United Artists. Commenting that he was not ready to divulge what his next stories would be, he said, however, that one of them, for which he is negotiating now, is a "best seller," and that all would be produced with effort at 'top quality." Production costs "must come down," Mr. Bogeaus said. They will come down, not so much in purchasable material as in types of stories producers will select. Mr. Bogeaus called upon producers to cooperate in the maintenance of quality by such action, and by shorter shooting schedules. He sees no possibility of a reduction in craft union wages, but regards reduction of top star and director talent salaries as a "matter of time." "They will realize," he said, "that to keep the picture business going, all must contribute." Seeking lower production costs, Mr. Bogeaus studied the possibility of producing in Italy or England, he admitted ; but he decided to remain in Hollywood and make pictures under "the new order," which he outlined. "We need more ingenuity and less extravagance in producing — fewer spectacles merely because we think they mean better pictures," he said. Pointing out that his overhead costs are two and one-half times greater than when he started, Mr. Bogeaus noted that there are many fewer independent producers in Hollywood than a year ago, and predicted that financing of the remainder will depend upon their past records of performance and financial stability. 20th-Fox Has 22 Set for Release With its 1948 release schedule stepped up to 48 pictures, Twentieth Century-Fox last Friday listed 22 pictures for the new year as either ready for release, being edited, or in production, according to Andrew W. Smith, Jr., general sales manager, in New York. At the same time he announced that the company will have eight top budget pictures in release during the next two months. The eight pictures being released are : "Gentlemen's Agreement," "Captain from Castile," "Forever Amber," "Daisy Kenyon," "An Ideal Husband," "Call Northside 777," "You Were Meant for Me" and "The Tender Years." All of these have been completed. The remaining 14 pictures, which have been completed or are currently in production, are: "Sitting Pretty," "Summer Lightning," "Fury at Furnace Creek," "Escape," "Green Grass of Wyoming," "Deep Water," "The Snake Pit," "Give My Regards to Broadway," "That Lady in Ermine," "The Walls of Jericho," "The Iron Curtain," "Street With No Name," "The Chair for Martin Rome" and "Apartment for Peggy." Scully, Bergman to Coast For Product Conferences William A. Scully, Universal-International vice-president and general sales manager, and Maurice A. Bergman, eastern advertising and publicity director, left New York last Friday for Hollywood for studio conferences to set distribution policies on forthcoming product. Pictures to be discussed include "A Double Life," "Naked City," "All My Sons," "Another Part of the Forest," "Up in Central Park," "Casbah," "Are You With It?," "Letter from an Unknown Woman" and "Black Bart." Following the studio meetings, Mr. Scully and Mr. Bergman will launch a series of sales conferences with the distribution force. Del Ruth Signs Flaherty Pat Flaherty, former big league baseball pitcher, has been signed by Roy Del Ruth Productions to act as technical director on "The Babe Ruth Story," Mr. Del Ruth's next independent produc'tion for Allied Artists release. McCrea Buys "Tall Man" Joel McCrea has purchased the Graham Baker-Teddi Sherman story idea, "Tall Man from Texas," and plans to use it as the basis for a deal under which he will star in the picture for a major studio. Carmichael, Cole Signed Hoagy Carmichael and the King Cole Trio have been signed by producer George Pal to do musical numbers in his forthcoming initial feature for United Artists release, "The Adventures of Tom Thumb." STARTED COLUMBIA Let's Fall in Love EAGLE LION The Spiritualist REPUBLIC The Timber Trail BiH Elliott (Untitled) COMPLETED COLUMBIA Gallant Blade EAGLE LION The Cobra Strikes Assigned to Danger Rampage (Crestview) PARAMOUNT Sealed Verdict REPUBLIC Recoil RKO RADIO The Window 20TH CENTURYFOX That Lady in Ermine SHOOTING COLUMBIA Loves of Carmen MGM A Date With Judy Easter Parade PARAMOUNT A Foreign Affair REPUBLIC Moonrise (FeldmanGrant) RKO RADIO Mr. Joseph Young of Africa (Arko) 20TH CENTURYFOX The Street With No Name The Iron Curtain Walls of Jericho Apartment for Peggy The Chair for Martin Rome UNIVERSALINTERNATIONAL Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid Man Eater of Kamaon (Monty Shaff) WARNERS Key Largo iniinmifiiiHifin iiiiifiinntiitmiit [iiinii(tiiiiiitTi(ttiiiflif*Mii<iii<)ifiM<i>^UiiitiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiftiriiii iiiiiiiiiipiiiliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiin^ i ihi h«mi i J«u itm imt n mi 1 1 ntn ■■■■iiiiiiiiiiimiiiiHiiiitnMtuiiini{niiiiiniiiiniiiiii|iiiiiiHniiiHiMitiiHiiH ulHf ■■■■■■ ■•miiimiiiiiiimB \ 27