Motion Picture Herald (Oct-Dec 1956)

ON THE MARCH (.Continued from page 28) “Struggle in the North.” Two Sport Specials will be released, each in two reels: "Football Highlights” and “Basketball Highlights.” “A short subject should never be regarded as just a filler,” Mr. Bamberger declared. Shorts, he said, should get ample mention in all advertising and be afforded a fitting lobby display. Noting that RKO’s featurette on civil defense, “Alert Today — Alive Tomorrow” is getting almost a feature buildup in certain areas, Mr. Bamberger referred to the accolades accorded RKO from Civil Defense officials around the country, who, he said, had done much to promote the featurette and had cited its strong educational value to the population in this hydrogen age. Prophesying a favorable boxoffice reception for the Walt Disney shorts, Mr. Bamberger said that Disney’s TV activity has contributed to the popularizing of his work and this factor can’t help reflecting favorably on theatre attendance. 20th CENTURY-FOX Another note of optimism for the company’s product was struck by a spokesman for the 20th Century-Fox short subject sales department. “Shorts make for fine entertainment and a well-rounded program,” he said. “We have seen an upward trend in booking requests since Summer. There is definitely a demand and we are meeting it.” Ascribing some of the favorable upward booking trends to a demand from drive-ins, the 20th-Fox representative added: “With a 15 per cent higher production budget for shorts this year, our company is concentrating on ultra-modern, super-practical sales methods, and with goodly results. We know that exhibitors definitely need shorts. “They are as essential as cartoons are to a newspaper. There is much interest among our exhibitors in our travelogues, for instance. This, we feel, is probably due to our fine recent feature films such as Three Coins in the Fountain,’ which incited much interest in the Italian scene. Shorts spice up a program, and 20th-Fox is out to provide maximum satisfaction in this department.” Under the supervision of Alex Harrison, 20th-Fox general sales manager, the company’s short subjects division is expected, he added, to flourish in 1956-57 as never before. During this coming season, the company plans release of some three dozen shorts of the Movietone and Terrytoon varieties. PICKETT'S CHARGE, a panorama of battle in an unusual short subject: MGM's "The Battle of Gettysburg". ALERT TODAY— ALIVE TOMORROW: that's the title of this RKO subject. Of the 36 in work, 12 will be in flat or standard dimension and 24 in CinemaScope. All will be in color. The 12 Movietone subjects will be in CinemaScope. Three new characters will debut in the Terrytoon series: John Doormat, Gaston Le Crayon and Clint Clobber. Not only THE MUSICAL SHORT: typical is the series from Universal. Here is Kay Brown, singer are fresh cartoon “stars” being created; Terrytoons is giving its well-known favorites a change of face. Under creative supervisor Gene Deitch, Mighty Mouse, Dinky Duck and Heckle and Jeckle are being restyled. Top merchandising policies will be followed in selling this array of short subjects from 20th-Fox. Movietone producer Edmund Reek announces that some 12 CinemaScope shorts, either already filmed or in production for 1957 release, include such items as “Port of Sports” (sports activities at Acapulco) ; “Bluefin Fury” (tunafishing off Sicily); “Ceylon”; a subject on the new Cuba; the Royal Canadian Mounted Police; “Divided by the Sea,” a survey of Venetian pageantry; the building of Korea’s armed might, produced by General Van Fleet; “Steeplechasing”; a frolic at a famed Italian amusement park; antics of a German death-defying stunt champion: skiing in the Italian Alps; and “Transcontinental — U.S.A.” — chasing the sun aboard a crack train from New York to the West Coast, scored by the 50 voices of the Baltimore and Ohio choral group. The first nine Terrytoons set for release in 1957 are: a John Doormat; “Gag Buster”; “A Bum Steer” and “The Bone Ranger,” (Continued on page 32) 30 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, OCTOBER 27, 1956