Motion Picture Herald (Oct-Dec 1952)

FOX WILL OFFER 24 IVEXT YEAR Schedule Set for January to September with IS in Color by Technicolor A slate of 24 strong, diversified features to be released in the period running from January to September 1953, was announced this week in New York by A1 Lichtman, director of distribution for 20th CenturyFox. The announcement, made at the special two-day home office meeting of the company’s division sales managers in New York, shows that 13 of the pictures — more than half the total — will be filmed in color by Technicolor. “Rachel" in January Ranging from swashbuckling adventure to comedy and Technicolor musicals, the release lineup will be topped by Darryl F. Zanuck’s personal production of “The Robe,” Biblical drama to begin shooting in January and reach the screens of the country in September. For January, the attractions are Daphne du Maurier’s "My Cousin Rachel,” starring Olivia de Flavilland and Richard Burton, produced by Nunnally Johnson and directed by Henry Koster ; “Ruby Gentry,” a Bernhard-Vidor production starring Jennifer Jones, Charlton Heston, and Karl Malden, produced by Joseph Bernhard and King Vidor and directed by King Vidor ; and “The I Don’t Care Girl,” story of Eva Tanguay, in color by Technicolor, and starring Mitzi Gaynor, David Wayne, and Oscar Levant, produced by George Jessel and directed by Lloyd Bacon. February releases are “Taxi,” starring Dan Dailey and Constance Smith, produced by Samuel G. Engel and directed by Gregory Ratoff ; “Niagara,” color by Technicolor starring Marilyn Monroe, Joseph Gotten, and Jean Peters, produced by Charles Brackett and directed by Henry Hathaway ; and “The Earmer Takes A Wife,” color by Technicolor, starring Betty Grable, Dale Robertson, Thelma Ritter and John Carroll, produced by Frank P. Rosenberg, and directed by Henry Levin. Two Set for March March releases are “Treasure of the Golden Condor,” color by Technicolor, starring Cornel Wilde and Constance Smith, produced by Jules Buck and directed by Delmer Daves; and “The Silver Whip,” starring Rory Calhoun and Dale Robertson, produced by Robert Bassler and directed by Harmon Jones. April releases are “Tonight We Sing,” the Sol Hurok Technicolor musical biography, starring David Wayne, Ezio Pinza, Roberta Peters, Tamara Toumanova, Anne Bancroft, Isaac Stern, Byron Palmer, and the voice of Jan Peerce; “The President’s Lady,” starring Susan Hayward and Charlton Heston, produced by Sol C. Siegel and directed by Henry Levin ; “Destination Gobi,” color by Technicolor, starring Richard Widmark, Don Taylor, and Murvyn Vye, produced by Stanley Rubin and directed by Robert Wise; and “The Desert Rats,” starring Richard Burton, Robert Newton, and James Mason, produced by Robert L. Jacks and directed by Samuel Fuller. May releases are “The Girl Next Door,” color by Technicolor, starring June Haver, Dan Dailey, and Dennis Day, produced by Robert Bassler and directed by Richard Sale ; “Man on a Tightrope,” starring Fredric March, Terry Moore, and Gloria Grahame, produced by Robert L. Jacks and directed by Elia Kazan. “Call Me Madam” for June June releases are “Call Me Madam,” color by Technicolor, starring Ethel Merman, Donald O’Connor, George Sanders and Vera-Ellen, produced by Sol C. Siegel and directed by Walter Lang; “Down Among the Sheltering Palms,” color by Technicolor, starring William Lundigan, Jane Greer, Mitzi Gaynor, David Wayne Gloria De Haven, produced by Fred Kohlmar and directed by Edmund Goulding; and “Nearer My God to Thee,” starring Clifton Webb, Barbara Stanwyck, Thelma Ritter, and Richard Basehart, produced by Charles Brackett and directed by Jean Negulesco. July releases are “White Witch Doctor,” color by Technicolor, starring Susan Hayward and Robert Mitchum. produced by Otto Lang and directed by Henry Hathaway; “Powder River,” color by Technicolor, starring Rory Calhoun, Corinne Calvet, and Cameron Mitchell, produced by Andre Hakim and directed by Louis King; and C. S. Forester’s “Sailor of the King,” starring Jeffrey Hunter, Cameron Mitchell, and Michael Rennie. August releases are “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes,” color by Technicolor, starring Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell, produced by Sol C. Siegel and directed by Howard Hawks ; “Pickup On South Street,” starring Richard Widmark, Jean Peters, and Thelma Ritter, produced by Jules Schermer and directed by Samuel Fuller ; and “Baptism of Fire,” starring Victor Mature, produced by William Bloom and directed by Robert D. Webb. September will be marked by the first engagements of “The Robe,” which will be offered on a pre-release basis. Plan Canadian Drive-in TORONTO: Windsor Drive-In Theatres, Ltd., plans to build and operate a drive-in, with a capacity of 750 cars, on Highway No. 5 near here. Status Quo On Buffhes* Circuit Stock There were no indications in New York this week that Howard Hughes would move immediately to take his 929,020 shares of RKO Theatres stock out of trust, pursuant to last week’s stipulation with the Department of Justice. A representative of the Irving Trust Company, trustee for Mr. Hughes’ RKO Theatres stock, said at midweek that he had received no communications from Mr. Hughes as to his intentions. The Department last week agreed that Mr. Hughes could take the stock out of trust, where it has been held since January, 1951, with two provisions. The first requires Mr. Hughes to put the theatres stock back in trust if he retakes the stock of RKO Radio Pictures or if the new purchasers of the company’s control do not pay for the stock. Under this provision, if Mr. Hughes re-takes the pictures stock, he must put that stock or the theatres stock back into trust. The second provision stipulates that if Mr. Hughes becomes a creditor to the purchasers or if he becomes a guarantor of any part of the $8,000,000 loan, which he agreed to make upon the sale of the picture company stock to the Ralph Stolkin group, then he must put the theatres stock back into trust. According to a report, still unconfirmed, the above provision allows Mr. Hughes to make a loan to RKO Pictures and still take the theatres stock out of trust if the loan is repaid within a certain period of time, said to be within one or two years. Another indication that Mr. Hughes will not move immediately to re-take control of the theatres stock is the fact that neither Ben-Fleming Sessel nor William J. Wardall, two members of the RKO Theatres board representing the Irving Trust Company, have indicated they were about to resign. Barring any such resignations, the board probably will not meet before its regularly scheduled session in December. Disclose Plans for New Micro-Wave Relay Route A micro-wave radio relay route between Kansas City and St. Louis will be set up by the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, it announced in New York last week. It has applied for such a relay to the Federal Communications Commission. The linkage between the two cities would connect Kansas City with Omaha and a new radio relay route stretching down to Texas, and also with coaxial cables East and South, and with a planned relay system to Chicago. The relays will supply television channels. The A. T. & T. also disclosed its intention of connecting Holyoke and Springfield, Mass., and New Britain, Conn., to the national television network. 28 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, NOVEMBER 15, 1952