Motion Picture Herald (Apr-Jun 1952)

PARAMOUNT IN TOP PROGRAM Balahan Hails Production Schedule as Pledge of Faith in Film Future HOLLYWOOD: Highlighting Paramount’s week-long sales and merchandising conference here for production and distribution executives was the announcement at midweek of a program of forthcoming product to be released between July, 1952, and December, 1953. The line-up of pictures, more than twothirds of which will be in color by Technicolor, was revealed by Y. Frank Freeman, vice-president and studio head, and Don Hartman, in charge of production before the first sales meeting held at the studio in three years. The program includes pictures which are completed, in production, in editing stages or sufficiently advanced to go before the cameras. Sees Retail in Industry Barney Balahan, Paramount Pictures president, hailed the program as an indication of the company’s “supreme faith in the future of the motion picture business” and said it is "unprecedented not only in investment but without precedent in scope. Product-wise, it places Paramount in the most solid position in its history.” Presiding at the intensive sessions, A. W. Schwalberg, president of Paramount Distributing Corporation, said the program would be “a big-league factor in a great upsurge in movie-going” and he promised that the company’s “all-out” merchandising and promotion “will be pitched on the same top level as its product.” The company’s release schedule now starts with Cecil B. DeMille’s The Greatest Show On Earth. It will go into general release in July. Other films which are completed and set for release during the last half of 1952 are : The Savage, Technicolor, starring Charlton Heston, Susan Morrow, Peter Hanson, and Joan Taylor, directed by George Marshall and produced by Mel Epstein. “Encore” Succeeds “Quartet” Encore, with an all-star cast and successor to Quartet and TriO'. Carrie, starring Laurence Olivier and Jennifer Jones and directed and produced by William Wyler. Son of Paleface, Technicolor, starring Bob Hope, Jane Russell and Roy Rogers, directed by Frank Tashlin and produced by Robert Welch. Just for You, Technicolor, starring Bing Crosby, Jane Wyman and Ethel Barrymore, directed by Elliott Nugent and produced by Pat Duggan. Somebody Loves Me, Technicolor, starring Betty Hutton and Ralph Meeker, a William Perlberg-George Seaton production directed by Irving Brecher. Hurricane Smith, Technicolor, starring Yvonne De Carlo, John Ireland, James Craig, Forrest Tucker, Lyle Bettger and Richard Arlen, produced by Nat Holt and directed by Jerry Hopper. The Blazing Forest, Technicolor, produced by William Pine and William Thomas, starring John Payne, William Demarest, Agnes Moorehead, Richard Arlen and Susan Morrow, directed by Edward Ludwig. The Turning Point, starring William Holden, Edmond O’Brien and Alexis Smith, directed by William Dieterle and produced by Irving Asher. Caribbean Gold, Technicolor, starring John Payne, Arlene Dahl and Sir Cedric Hardwicke with Francis L. Sullivan, produced by William Pine and William Thomas and directed by Edward Ludwig. Two for Martin-Lewis The Stooge and Jumping Jacks, two Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis comedies completed by Hal Wallis, both directed by Norman Taurog. One of these will be scheduled for release this year and the other in 1953. As the 1952 Christmas-New Year holiday attraction, Paramount plans to release Road to Bali, starring Bing Crosby, Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour, in Technicolor. Among those planned for release in 1953 are : Thunder In The East (completed), starring Alan Ladd, Deborah Kerr, Charles Boyer and Corinne Calvet, directed by Charles Vidor and produced by Everett Riskin. And the following, all currently in the editing stage ; Come Back, Little Sheba, Hal Wallis production, starring Burt Lancaster and Shirley Booth, co-starring Terry Moore with Richard Jaeckel. Stalag 17, starring William Holden, Don Taylor and Otto Preminger. Billy Wilder produced and directed. Shane, Technicolor, produced by George Stevens with Alan Ladd, Jean Arthur, Van Heflin and Brandon de Wilde. Military Policemen, with Bob Hope, Mickey Rooney and Marilyn Maxwell, directed by George Marshall and produced by Harry Tugend. Pal to Produce One War of the Worlds, Technicolor, produced by George Pal. Botany Bay, Technicolor, starring Alan Ladd, James Mason, directed by John Farrow and produced by Joseph Sistrom. Tropic Zone, Technicolor, starring Ronald Reagan, Rhonda Fleming and Estelita, produced by William Pine and William Thomas, and directed by Lewis R. Foster. Also aimed for 1953 release are the following productions which are set to start between now and October 1, 1952: Pleasure Island, Technicolor, with a top cast including Don Taylor, Leo Genn, three British actresses brought here for the film — Dorothy Bromiley, Audrey Dalton and Joan Elan, and Elsa Lanchester. F. Hugh Herbert will direct, with Paul Jones as the producer. The Stars Are Singing, Technicolor, starring Anna Maria Alberghetti, Rosemary Clooney, Lauritz Melchior and Tom Morton. Norman Taurog directing and Irving Asher producing. Roman Holiday, William Wyler production with Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn. Pony Express, Technicolor, starring Nat Holt, Charlton Heston, Rhonda Fleming and Jan Sterling. The Rebel, Technicolor, Pine-Thomas, starring John Payne, Arlene Dahl, Jan Sterling and Lyle Bettger. Edward Ludwig will direct. Houdini, by George Pal. Sapphire Sal, Technicolor, an all-star comedy, teaming producer Robert Welch and director Frank Tashlin. Jamaica Run, Technicolor, Pine-Thomas, starring Ray Milland and Wendell Corey. Lewis R. Foster will direct. Little Boy Lost, starring Bing Crosby and Claude Dauphin. The producer will be William Perlberg and the director, George Seaton. Topsy and Eva, Technicolor, to star Betty Hutton and Ginger Rogers. Harry Tugend will produce. Girls Are Here to Stay, Technicolor, starring Bob Hope. The director will be Claude Binyon and the producer of the picture will be Paul Jones. Ginger Rogers Signs for Three Paramount Films Ginger Rogers has signed a three-picture contract with Paramount Pictures, it was announced this week in Hollywood. Her first picture under the deal will be “Topsy and Eva,” a musical biography of the Duncan Sisters, in which she will co-star with Betty Hutton and which will be produced by Harry T-ugend. Her second is scheduled to be “Rosalind,” described as a “tune-filled extravaganza” with a Broadway background, to be produced by Pat Duggan and directed by Julius Epstein. Tentatively set as Miss Rogers’ third picture is “The New Haven Story,” to be produced by Robert Emmett Dolan. Universal Has New Type Television Promotion Universal-International has developed a new type of television program and is servicing it to some 52 TV stations coastto-coast. Titled “Movie Star Album,” the first in the series as a biographical history of Universal star Joyce Holden. In addition to 21 8x10 mat stills, it includes a script and an open-end interview with Miss Holden on a transcription. While the stills of Miss Holden from her early childhood and her career through the present day are televised, the local TV announcers will be able to interview her through their script and her answers on the transcription. The initial program is tied in with “Bronco Buster” in which Miss Holden is co-starred with John Lund and Scott Brady. Allied Gulf's Board Discusses Sales Tax Allied Gulf State members will again attempt to have abolished the Louisiana two per cent theatre sales tax, the board, meeting in New Orleans April 29, decided. Don George, Shreveport exhibitor, heads the tax committee. Also discussed was organization of a New Orleans Variety Club. Buchman Contempt Trial Set for May 26 Sidney Buchman, producer, will be tried for contempt of Congress. He was cited for refusing to answer a subpoena for appearance and testimony before the House Committee on Un-American Activities. 38 MOTION PICTURE HERALD. MAY 10, 1952