Motion Picture Herald (Oct-Dec 1956)

Sam Yablonsky Esquires— In Sacramento Small Town Actress Becomes 'St Joan' Harry Dierman, manager of the RKO Orpheum theatre in Marshalltown, Iowa, was honored by his fellow-townsmen when a local girl, 17-year-old Jean Seberg, was chosen for the role of “St. Joan” by Otto Preminger, in an international contest in which there were 18,000 contenders. The hometown theatre was one of 1,100 who were cooperating in the search for a newcomer to play the title role in the new production for United Artists release. Jean is the daughter of a Marshalltown druggist, and was the winner among 3,000 finalists who have auditioned in the difficult role for Mr. Preminger. Above, at left, you see Jean Seberg and Harry Dierman as they pose in the theatre lobby with an improvised poster to announce the great news. At right, above, the community “Y” building, which is coeducational, with banners flying and a wall plaque to designate the historic role — great) for any actress. Below, at left, preparations on Main Street for the parade which followed, to celebrate the homecoming of Marshalltown’s most famous citizen. And, at right below, Jean and her parents at the Des Moines airport, as she flies in for the gala occasion, to receive her citation from the Governor of Iowa and the Mayors of Des Moines and Marshalltown. Nothing quite as satisfying to this Round Table has happened as a result of any talent hunt in years, and we ocmpliment United Artists, Mr. Preminger and all concerned, for turning in such a good return at the local level. The blanket radio and television coverage reached an estimated audience of 11,000,000 in surrounding states, including Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota, Nebraska and Wisconsin. Local and state-side newspaper men were at the airport to greet the young actress, and to escort her home, with pictures and stories for their papers. The entire student body of Marshalltown schools took part in the giant street parade, with the bands from Drake University and nearby schools to set the pace. Jean Seberg will join Richard Widmark, Richard Burton and others to start “St. Joan” rehearsals in London on December 11th. Filming of the George Bernard Shaw classic will begin in the Shepperton Studios in the British capital om January 2nd. The youthful star is five feet, four inches tall and weighs 108 pounds. Her dramatic experience began in Marshalltown High School, and sponsored by local enthusiasts for her ability, she appeared in five stock productions in Plymouth, Mass., and Cape May, N. J., as well as winning honors in state-wide talent contests. Keen contender in the Quigley Awards competition for the fourth quarter is Sam Yablonsky, manager of the Esquire theatre in Sacramento, California. And we have four separate entries to his credit, for the judging which will come early in January. Sam is an all-around showman, and he displays his talent with a variety of films, for this house in the Blumenfeld circuit, which is partly artfilm in policy, or at least, off-beat. Sam has lots of snapshots to illustrate his work — and sends his negatives, which he should not! Early entries range from “Beast of Hollow Mountain” to “Solid Gold Cadillac” — and each handled competently, from 24sheets to TV tieups. It’s unusual for this desk to observe such a variation in scheme, from picture to picture — and that’s why policy puzzles us. We would like to know more about the fixed audience for this particular playhouse. A majority of the promotions are “for free” — at no cost to the theatre, with local sponsorship. Similarly, “Ambassador’s Daughter” and “Attack!” were coupled in another entry — there couldn’t be two pictures much different in production value. He had a special sneak preview of “A King and Four Queens” attended by Clark Gable, Kay Spreckles and quite a few U.A. studio executives — which gives us a cue, and he comments on a variation in our ancient Quigley Publications formula —“What Can I Get Out of the Picture?” — which is perhaps a too-literal translation. “You Can’t Run Away From It” was included in the same package, for our utter confusion, in the matter of programming. And then, he adds a postscript — and says, he had his usherettes in pajamas carrying Samsonite luggage, as street ballyhoo. Maybe if we concentrate we can guess the name of the film, and it will come to us, suddenly, while lying awake at about 3 A.M. — so we’ll put through a long distance call to Sacramento to tell him what we figured out. Bill Butler, whom we’ve known from way back, somewhere along the Monongahela, writes from Washington, N. C., where he is now manager of Turnage and Reita theatres. He located an important local person who had a part in “Toward the Unknown” — and this made it much less known, publicity-wise, as a promotion idea. Local-boy-makes-good had a front page story in the newspapers, plus a twopage cooperative advertisiment, sponsored by friendly neighbors. Bill has always been noted for the quality of his friendly persuasion. 44 MOTION PICTURE HERALD. DECEMBER 8, 1956