Showmen's Trade Review (Apr-Jun 1944)

'\!une 3, 1944 SHOWMEN'STRADEREVIEW 35 Product for Current and Near Future Release Puts Emphasis on Light Entertainment Survey Of Pictures Completed and In Work Shows 20 Per Cent are Musicals The war as a direct subject has definitely taken back seat in product coming up in the near uture and the lighter side is due to predominate jo such an extent that it is proper to say the icreen has now become almost entirely escapist. jSuch is the only possible conclusion to be drawn |rom a survey on new features undertaken by STR for the Anniversary Issue. I That the companies should cut down on the jiumber of war films is hardly a surprise, conjidering the reaction of exhibitors the country bver against the hard-bitten type of war drama Ivith its lack of appeal to women, but what does j.ome as something of a shock is the relegation |)f this class of production to a place of complete insignificance. j To get a general idea of what the exhibitor s going to be offered in the way of entertainment ■nerchandise in the next 6 to 8 months, an arbirary selection has been made of what might be ailed leading product from eleven studios. These ire not all "A"s from a first-run standpoint, >ut represent the outstanding pictures of each ompany. Taking it on this basis, approximately 50 films will be available. Of this number only :ight can be designated as out-and-out war ])ictures. : This turning away from grimness and realism Jluring a period of world strife is not an unusual )henomenon. As a nation becomes more and inore deeply involved in blood-letting and sacrijice, the tendency of the public is to seek enterlainment of a lighter nature to forget its sorrows. 'Psychologists call this a healthy reaction, and ;;hat, brothers, is why your patrons are supporting escapist fare. Exhibitors early took note of their patrons' [ejection of the grim war story and producers ■lodded in assent soon after. The season of 944-45, as a result, will offer the gayest bunch if film stories the screen has ever known, with nusicals and straight comedies getting first call. All the major companies have musicals in ivork, with a good portion of these to be done in Technicolor. The latter corporation, by the way, las a shooting schedule that is filled to the bursting point and only lack of equipment pre■ents a much larger ratio of pictures photographed by this process. Similarly, the majors ':re all involved with straight comedies, and lesides this, are going in strong for stories of he romantic type, some of which are in comic :'ein and some serious. The dramatic and mysery-horror groups are holding their own, but ihe war enters only as background material, so ;hat these are really as escapist as the musicals .nd comedies. Breaking down the product into the various ypes, it is possible to get an idea of what is oming. Thus, the survey shows that of the ' SO-odd pictures to be released, 20 per cent will le musicals, 20 per cent straight comedies, 14 >er cent romances, 17 per cent dramatic, 14 |)er cent mysteries and horrors, and the other ■lasses strung out in the low figures. These estimates are, of course, subject to ■ealignment as time goes on through later relassification and possible changes in production md releasing plans. However, as they stand hey serve to give the exhibitor an insight as o the kind of merchandise to be offered, and the ■"atios are likely to remain very much as stated ibove. Here then, omitting most of the "B"s and all 'he straight westerns, is a comprehensive listing of leading product to be released, for the most part, during the next six months : MUSICAL Columbia "Tonight and Every Night" (Technicolor). Rita Hayworth, Janet Blair. "Battleship Blues." Kay Kyser, Ann Miller, Victor Moore, Georgia Carroll, Jeff Donnell and Kay Kyser's Band. "Kansas City Kitty." Music publishing comedy with Joan Davis, Jane Frazee, Bob Crosby. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer "Bathing Beauty." (Technicolor.) Red Skelton, Esther Williams, Basil Rathbone, Harry James and Xavier Cugat bands. "Ziegfeld Follies." (Technicolor.) Film version of famous New York show with Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly. Paramount "Bring on the Girls." (Technicolor.) Veronica Lake, Sonny Tufts, Eddie Bracken, Marjorie Reynolds, Golden Gate Quartette, Spike Jones and City Slickers. "National Barn Dance." Jean Heather, Charles Quigley, Robert Benchley, and the National Barn Dance troupe. "The Road to Utopia." Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, Dorothy Lamour in an Alaska gold rush setting. PRC Pictures "Dixie Jamboree." Frances Langford, Guy Kibbee. Formerly named "Dixie Showboat." "Minstrel Man." Benny Fields, Gladys Cteorge, Alan Dinehart, Roscoe Karns. With music by Harry Revel. RKO Radio "Cocktails for Two." (Tentative title.) Anne Shirley, Dennis Day, Leon Errol. "Step Lively." Frank Sinatra, George Murphy, Adolphe Menjou, Gloria De Haven, Walter Slezak, Eugene Pallette. Republic "Atlantic City." Constance Moore, Brad Taylor, Charles Grapewin, Jerry Colonna, Paul Whiteman, Belle IBaker, Louis Armstrong, Gus Van, Al Shean, Joe Frisco, Buck and Bubbles. "Brazil." Virginia Bruce, Tito Guizar, Edward Everett Horton, Veloz and Yolanda. Music by Ary Barroso. "Lake Placid Serenade." Outdoor ice spectacle. "Sing Neighbor Sing." Brad Taylor, Ruth Terry, Roy Acuff and Smoky Mountain Boys, Lulubelle and Scotty, "Pappy" Cheshire. "Three Little Sisters." Mary Lee, Ruth Terry, Cheryl Walker, Jackie Moran, Frank Jenks, William Terry. Three Roy Rogers musical-westerns, "San Fernando Valley," "Song of Nevada," "The Yellow Rose of Texas." 20th Century-Fox "Greenwich Village." (Technicolor.) Don Ameche, Carmen Miranda, William Bendix^ Picturing the Product Coming Your Way Wilson 20th Century-Fox And Now Tomorrow Paramount None But the Lonely Heart RKO Radio Dragon Seed Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer The Mask of Dimitrios Warner Bros. Song of Nevada Republic