Motion Picture Herald (Jul-Sep 1953)

Illllillllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll by WILLIAM R. WEAVER Hollywood, Editor LAST WEEK the Nord Extended Area 3-D Process, subject of a press conference a fortnight earlier, was demonstrated at the Pickwood theatre, a neighborhood house chosen as typical (average) in most respects and admirably equipped for demonstration purposes. The first demonstration was given for the press Tuesday, and was to be followed by showings for the various studios and the major independent producers. By weekend the technological staffs of Universal-International and of Paramount had witnessed demonstrations, and others were to do so later. No comment from studio technologists was forthcoming immediately, of course, and the demonstrations were to continue this week. Demonstration for Press Given in Two Parts The demonstration for the press was given in two parts, one of which came off better than the other. The first consisted of a screening of some sequences from “I, the Jury,” the second of two speciments of 3-D footage that had been photographed, as well as projected, by the Nord process. The “I, the Jury” sequences had been photographed for the usual two-projector type of 3-D, and the two prints (right eye and left eye) had been photo-printed on a single strip of film for the Nord system use. This was pretty trying stuff in the opening scenes, but got better as Dr. Roy Clapp, inventor of the process, effected adjustments. The footage shot with the Nord camera was flawless (but the Nord concern is not interested in marketing its camera process, as yet, said Nathan Supak, chief executive). As has been stated previously, the Nord system consists of a beam-splitting device, placed in front of the projector lens, which throws upon the screen, from a single film strip, on which the two eye-viewers have been photo-printed, the same double-image (save that it’s in 1 :80:1 aspect ratio) as do the usual two projectors. Polaroid viewers are required. One of Three Single-Strip Methods Under Test The Nord process is one of three singlestrip methods of 3-D known to be in existence, at various points of development, around here. One of the others is a relatively little known process developed by Milton L. Gunzburg, president of Natural Vision Corporation, and the other is a system developed by Friend Baker, a veteran Hollywood technologist, who has demonstrated it to limited groups on certain occasions. None of the three appears to be on the point of widespread adoption, although that situation can change in a split flash if the technological revolution continues at the rate it’s been moving since last Thanksgiving ’eve when “Bwana Devil” premiered at the local Paramounts, to start an international turmoil. Until such a thing happens, however, all of the single-strip 3-D systems have to be regarded as test tube jobs. FOUR OF the seven pictures started during the week are in color by Technicolor, one is in CinemaScope, another in 3-D, and all are being photographed in such wise as to be amenable to wide-screen projection (the CinemaScope picture, naturally, for the widest, 2.55 :1.) (It would be pretty nice for everybody concerned, it may be conjectured here without much likelihood of dispute, if the producing companies were to agree on one or another of the aspect ratios between 1.33:1 and the anamorphic extreme, and stick with it long enough to find out what the public reaction, over a period and an expanse, is to be.) The CinemaScope undertaking, 20th-Fox of course, is “Night People,” and it is being shot in Germany, with Nunnally Johnson as producer-director. The cast includes Gregory Peck, Broderick Crawford, Walter Abel, Buddy Ebsen, Rita Gam, Casey Adams, Peter Van Eyck and others. Like all CinemaScope productions so far, it’s in Technicolor. Technicolor is in use also by the Universal-International junket shooting “The Far Country” in Canada. This is a production by Aaron Rosenberg, directed by Anthony Mann, which has James Stewart, Ruth Roman, Corinne Calvet, Walter Brennan (where's he been?), J. C. Flippen, Henry Morgan, Steve Brody — a whopping cast. Leonard Goldstein is filming his Panoramic Production (the corporate name of the setup under which he produces non-CinemaScope pictures for 20th-Fox release) entitled “Three Young Texans,” which Henry Levin is directing. Principals, so far as named up to writing time, were Jeff Hunter, Keefe Brasselle and Mitzi Gaynor. Another Panoramic Production for 20thFox release, “Man in the Attic,” is being produced for Goldstein by Robert Jacks, and directed by Hugo Fregonese. Jack Palance and Constance Smith head the cast. Sam Katzman’s Eskay Pictures, releasing through Columbia, is producing “The Battle of Rogue River” in Technicolor. George Montgomery, Richard Denning and Martha Hyer are top pricipals. Allied Artists launched “House in the THIS WEEK IN PRODUCTION: STARTED (7) ALLIED ARTISTS House in the Sea (3-D, W.S.) Riot in Cell Block I I COLUMBIA Battle of Rogue River (Esskay Pic. Co., Technicolor) independent Man in the Attic (Panoramic Prod., 20th-Fox release) COMPLETED (4) MGM Gypsy Colt (Ansco Color) The Flame and the Flesh (Technicolor, Wide Screen, Europe) RKO RADIO The French Line SHOOTING (19) ALLIED ARTISTS Dragonfly Squadron (3-D) COLUMBIA The Caine Mutiny (Kramer Co., Technicolor) INDEPENDENT Americano (Moulin Prod., U.A. release, Brazil) MGM Miss Baker's Dozen (Ansco Color) Rose Marie (Eastman Color, CinemaScope) Knights of the Round Table (Technicolor, CinemaScope, London) PARAMOUNT Casanova's Big Night (Technicolor, Wide Screen) Knock on Wood (Technicolor, Wide Screen) REPUBLIC Jubilee Trail (Trucolor) Three Young Texans (Panoramic Prod., 20th-Fox release, Technicolor) 20TH CENTURY-FOX Night People ( CinemaScope, Technicolor, Munich) UNIV.-INT’L The Far Country (Technicolor, W.S., Canada ) (Edmund Grainger Prod., Technicolor) 20TH CENTURY-FOX Hell and High Water ( CinemaScope, Technicolor) Hell's Half Acre (Honolulu) RKO RADIO Rangers of the North (3-D, Technicolor) 20TH CENTURY-FOX We Believe in Love (Technicolor, CinemaScope, Rome) River of No Return (CinemaScope, Technicolor, Canada) King of the Khyber Rifles (CinemaScope, Technicolor) Prince Valiant (Technicolor, CinemaScope) UNIV.-INT'L Yankee Pasha (Technicolor) Saskatchewan (Technicolor, Canada ) WARNER BROS. Dial M for Murder (3-D, WarnerColor, All-Media ) Rear Guard (3-D, WarnerColor, All-Media) Sea,” a William F. Broidy production in 3-D and for aspect ratios up to the company’s favored 1.85:1, with leave to expand from there if preferred, directed by Jerry Juran. Joan Bennett returns from the stage to the screen in this film, with Richard Conte, Wanda Hendrix, Iris Adrian, Reed Hadley and Mary Beth Hughes. Walter Wanger put “Cell Block 11” into production for Allied Artists with Don Siegel directing Neville Brand, Emile Meyer, Robert Osterloh, Bill Phipps and Leo Gordon. 26 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, AUGUST 29, 1953