Odds Against Tomorrow (United Artists) (1959)

Robert Wise Says Editing Best Road Te Directing Asked for advice, as he often is, as to the best way for a novice to become a movie director, Robert Wise says that his personal suggestion is, first, to get some kind of a job within a movie studio and, secondly, to try to spend as much time as possible around the cutting and editing departments, “More directors have won their apprenticeship through experience here than anywhere els,” said Wise. “Of course it isn’t true that a good film cutter or editor will automatically make a good director, but a surprisingly large number of directors have once been experienced editors.” In Wise’s case, he was given his first directional chance by an RKO producer, Val Lewton, because the latter regarded him as the best editor he had ever seen. This initial movie, “Curse Of The Cat People,” laid the foundation for one of Hollywood’s most successful directorial careers, climaxed at the moment by an Academy award nomination for “I Want to Live.” Wise produced and directed “Odds Against Tomorrow” a United Artists release, opening at the ............ Theatre with a starring cast that includes Harry Belafonte, Robert Ryan, Shelley Winters, Gloria Grahame and Ed Begley. Old and Large The Gold Medal Studios in the Bronx, where “Odds Against Tomorrow’ was filmed by Harbel Productions for United Artists release, is both the largest and oldest movie-making plant available for feature production in the East. Opened in 1913, it was launched with a D. W. Griffith 4-reel “spectacle” titled “Judith of Bethulia.” Griffith, by the way was one of the founders of United Artists which is celebrating its 40th Anniversary this year. Most recent occupants of Gold Medal Studios included Harry Belafonte, Robert Ryan and Shelley Winters, stars of “Odds Against Tomorrow.” Favorite Author Robert Ryan admitted to all listeners on the set of “Odds Against Tomorrow” that his favorite writer is named Jessica Ryan. Besides bringing up their three children, Mrs. Robert (Jessica) Ryan has published four novels, and is at work on a fifth. Ryan is starred with Harry Belafonte and Shelley Winters in “Odds Against Tomorrow, a United Artists release opening On) eee att Game. s.:..ot Theatre, Still OAT-136 Mat 1C Ed Begley plays an embittered ex-cop who plans the-once-ina-lifetime bank stickup. ‘* Odds Against Tomorrow,” a United Artists release, will open ........ AeGtEN ee oS eee Theatre. PAGE 14. Still OAT-9 Mat 2C Shelley Winters is the understanding girl friend of Robert Ryan, a man driven to crime through desperation in “Odds Against Tomorrow.” The United Artists release which also stars Harry Belafonte, Gloria Grahame and Ed Begley, will open. ................ at the. 2.2.22 Theatre. (Shelley Winters’ Biography) Winter’s Impressive Career Shelley Winters was born in St. Louis, Missouri, but her family moved to Brooklyn when she was just a child. She attended Thomas Jefferson High School and decided at a very early age that she wanted to be an actress, She was active in high school theatricals, and upon graduation went to work as a fashion model while making the rounds of the Broadway casting offices. Shelley Winters’ latest movie picture is “Odds Against Tomorrow,” a United Artists’ release in which she co-stars with Harry Belafonte and Robert Ryan. It will open .....00.00..... ate the. cus a asonee: Theatre. As the producer and director of “Odds Against Tomorrow” Robert Wise and Shelley have a reunion. He directed her in “Executive Su'te.” Shelley got her first professional acting job in Max Reinhardt’s production of the operetta “Rosalinda” and followed this with replacing Celeste Holm in the New York production of “Oklahoma” in the role of Ado Annie. Other theater productions include the role of Blanche Du Bois in “A Streetcar Named Desire,” “Of Mice and Men,” “Born Yesterday” and “Wedding Breakfast.” During her sojourn in Hollywood she appeared in Charles Laughton’s Shakespeare Company and played such roles as Ariel in “The Tempest.” Cordelia in “King Lear,” Viola in “Twelfth Night” and Katharine in “The Taming of the Shrew.” Shelley was active each summer in summer stock and studied in New York with Stella Adler, Irwin Piscator and others. “A Double Life” started her movie career off with a bang, and Shelley appeared in many films during the run of a 7-year contract with Universal-International. She received her second Academy Award nomination for her role as the unfortunate factory girl in George Stevens’ production “A Place in the Sun” with Montgomery Clift and Elizabeth Taylor. (Ed Begley Biography) Radio Launched Begley In that space in the biography where most actors list their feats in high school and college plays, their attendance at the Academy of Dramatic Art, their study with this or that noted dramatic coach, Ed Begley lists the following: “Boxer, salesman, sailor, printer, steel shover, railroad man, chef in a hospital, driver of a team of horses and pickand-shovel operator.” Begley stars with Harry Belafonte, Robert Ryan, Shelley Winters and Gloria Grahame in “Odds Against Tomorrow,” opening |... ate thet ewes. o.scocs Theatre through United Artists release. Ed Begley was thirty-one years old, and working in a steel mill, when he decided to become an actor. He asked his boss for an afternoon off so he could try out for a local radio station’s stock company (this was in Hartford, where Ed was born). He was allowed to try out, and eventually a small part came through. He took another afternoon off to play it and received a fee of $2.50. He wasn’t quite sure how much money he had expected for his acting stint, but he did know that the mill paid better. A few months later, however, he managed to get a full-time job with the radio station, functioning as announcer, actor, writer, producer and disk jockey. Ten years of this, and he worked up his nerve to give the big time a whirl. He headed for New York, and inside a short time became one of radio’s busiest actors. By his own estimate, he has appeared in better than twelve thousand radio dramas. Branching out to the legitimate stage, he played the role of Joe Keller in Arthur Miller’s prize-winning drama, “All My Sons,” and at one stroke came into his own as a Broadway star, Other stage appearances included roles in “All Summer Long,” “Land of Fame” and “Get Away, Old Man,” and most recently, “Inherit the Wind.” He has also appeared in such pictures as “Boomerang” and “Sorry, Wrong Number,” and has starred on every top dramatic show on the television wheel. It was for the Kraft Theatre that he first created the poignant role of Bill Briggs in “Patterns.” (For Music Page) Albums of Lewis’ Score United Artists Records has released two albums of John Lewis’ music for the film “Odds Against Tomorrow,” the Harbel production starring Harry Belafonte, Robert Ryan, Shelley Winters and Gloria Grahame. One is an LP of the soundtrack score recorded by a 27 piece orchestra plus Lewis’ own world-famous Modern Jazz Quartet. This instrumental selection is available in monaural and stereo, The second album features the Modern Jazz Quartet in an adaptation of the Lewis score for “Odds Against Tomorrow.” The nation’s top poll-winning combo, the Modern Jazz Quartet consists of Lewis on the piano, Milt Jackson on vibes, Percy Heath on string bass and Connie Kay on drums. This album is also available in monaural and stereo. The music for “Odds Against Tomorrow” is Lewis’ second assignment for the screen. He previously composed the widely acclaimed “No Sun In Venice” score. (Robert Ryan Feature) Robert Ryan Had Tough Time Making Up His Mind Robert Ryan is no gambler, but he knows what it means to make it “the hard way.” . And by “the hard way” is meant Ryan’s long and ultimately successful struggle to win theatrical and motion picture stardom. But the actor’s fight for artistic expression was not always against the usual forces. A lot of it was within himself. It took a decade of varied pursuits before Ryan made up his mind to follow a theatrical career—one that eventually won recognition for him in Hollywood as well as on Broadway. He admits frankly that he was lucky, but those who know the actor will tell you that when the breaks came Ryan was fully equipped to make the most of them. On Broadway he played top supporting roles to Luise Rainer (“A Kiss For Cinderella”) and Tallulah Bankhead (“Clash By Night”), won critical praise on both counts. He was brought to Hollywood to make a picture that was shelved before he ever finished reading the script. But it also brought him a long-term contract with RKO, and after his motion picture debut (“Bombardier”), came back to win an Academy Award nomination in 1947 as best supporting actor for his memorable role in “Crossfire.” Ryan’s ability to deliver a driving, dramatically-sound performance, plus a rugged handsomeness, has made him one of the most “in-demand” stars in the industry. His latest assignment is that of a bitter, sullen Southerner who joins forces with Harry Belafonte and Ed Begley to rob a smalltown bank, in Harbel Productions’ “Odds Against Tomorrow.” The film, a United Artists release, opens .........0....0.0.... at the eee ea Theatre. Today, Ryan looks back on his past and agrees that it’s been an uphill climb, but not unlike that waged by any other aspiring performer. (Gloria Grahame Biography) Gloria Grahame Back After Two-Year Absence Gloria Grahame, nominated for one Academy Award for her work in only her second movie, and winner of an “Oscar” a few years later, is a California girl who broke into the entertainment field in the Midwest, won her acting spurs on Broadway, then moved back to her home state, to pursue a film career. Her current co-starring role in “Odds Against Tomorrow,” a Harbel production made entirely in the East for United Artists and opening Ce ee at the .................... Theatre is her first part in more than two years. She had retired from acting for that length of time, turning down a large number of attractive offers, to devote herself to a newborn child, Marianna, and an older boy, David, who was then eight. Gloria was born in Pasadena, California. Her mother, the former Jean MacDougall, had played on the British stage and had worked with the Stratford-on-Avon Shakespearean troupe. On a visit to Chicago, after graduation from McKinley High School on the Coast, Gloria auditioned for a stage part in “Good Night Ladies.” She got the job and then with a greater degree of self-confidence, made her first try at the Broadway stage. She won an understudy part in Thornton Wilder’s “The Skin of Our Teeth,” then successively piayed in “Stardust,” “The World’s Full of Girls” and George Abbott’s “A Highland Fling,” for which she developed a highly authentic Scottish accent. Then the movies beckoned. “Blonde Fever,” under an M-G-M contract, was her first motion p.cture. Loaned out to RKO to play in “Crossfire,” she surprised everyone by winning an Academy nomination. Although she missed capturing an award at this time, she made up for it five years later when she won an Oscar for best supporting performance of the year in “The Bad and the Beautiful,” and was almost simultaneously recognized as having reached full-fledged stardom. “We Strive to Please — Crooks!” The vice-president of the State Bank of Albany, Hudson Branch, was explaining to Director Robert Wise, Harry Belafonte, Robert Ryan and Ed Begley, who were in Hudson, N. Y., for the “on location” episodes in “Odds Against Tomorrow,” the fine points of bank robbing. “And why are you so nice to tell us all this?” asked Wise. “Well,” drawled the Veep, “how would it look for a fine bank like ours to get held up in some old fashioned way?” The next night the bank figured in what is perhaps the most authentic bank job ever filmed, “Thanks for doing it our way,” congratulated the banker with a keen sense of fun. “We strive to please, even movie bank robbers.” United Artists is releasing “Odds Against Tomorrow,” a Harbel Production’s film. Still OAT-67 Mat 2D Robert Ryan, Harry Belafonte and Ed Begley have a heated discussion on some fine points in a planned bank robbery. “Odds Against Tomorrow,” which also stars Shelley Winters and Gloria Grahame, will open .................... Alatnetes.; terse... Theatre.