Showmen's Trade Review (Oct-Dec 1946)

SHOWMEN'S TRADE REVIEW. December 28, 194< 39 HOLLYWOOD STUDIO NEWS & PROGRAM NOTES Ann Sothern Opposite Knox in 'Indian Summer'; Viveca Lindfors Signs New Warner Star Contract Hellinger Signs Dassin To Direct 'Brute Force' Mark Hellinger's third production for Universal-International release will be "Brute Force," which will have Burt Lancaster as one of its stars. Jules Dassin will direct. Hellinger signed Dassin on a free-lance basis immediately after the director obtained his release from MGM. "Brute Force" will be Dassin's second production for Hellinger. The screenplay will be written by Richard Brooks, who also did the treatment of "Swell Guy" for the producer, from an original story by Robert Patterson, columnist on the San Francisco Examiner. Production is scheduled to start early in February. Vacation for DeWolfe Billy DeWolfe, who plays the comedy lead in Paramount's "Blue Skies," left Hollywood last week for New Orleans for newspaper interviews and radio appearances in connection with the opening of the film there. From New Orleans he went to Miami where "Blue Skies" opened on Christmas Day in four theatres in Miami and Miami Beach. DeWolfe will remain in Miami for a vacation and will return to Hollywood some time in January. Jane Novak Returns Jane Novak, old-time western star, will see her name on the screen for the first time in 15 years when the Hal Wallis Technicolor production, "Desert Fury," is released by Paramount The former leading lady of William S. Hart, Tom Mix and Richard Dix recently came out of retirement to play a role in the film. She will be given main title billing with John Hodiak, Lizabeth Scott and Burt Lancaster. Jane is the sister of Eva Novak, another silent film favorite. Albuquerque Model A 10xl6-foot reproduction of the city of Albuquerque, N. M., in 1875 will be constructed by Clarion Productions for use in filming "Albuquerque," Paramount color release to co-star Randolph Scott, Arleen Whelan and George "Gabby" Hayes. Photographs and material are being gathered to make the reproduction as authentic as possible. Director Ray Enright will map camera angles and scene action from the model before production starts in January. Start Six in January Production pace at the Warner Bros, studio will be stepped up in January with the start of six new pictures in the first 30 days of 1947. Group includes "Voice of the Turtle," "Whiplash," "One Lasf Fling," "The Unsuspected," "The Wallflower," and "Two Guys From Texas." WB Buys 'Silver River' "Silver River," an original story by Stephen Longstreet, has been bought by Warner Bros. Longstreet, who also wrote "Stallion Road," just completed by Warners, will do the screenplay of the new story, a historical western with a Nevada setting. Owen Crump is slated to produce. Adolphe Menjou has been assigned an important role in MGM's Clark Gable starrer, "The Hucksters," which will go into production early in January. Jack Conway will direct for Producer Arthur Hornblow. "Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back" was placed on the schedule of Venture Pictures as the second in its series of Bulldog Drummond features to be produced for Columbia release. First of the series is now in production with Australian star Ron Randell and Anita Louise in the leads. Darryl Hickman, Robert Dover and Thomas Fracier have been added to the cast of "Black Gold," Monogram's Kentucky Derby story now in production with Anthony Qiiinn starred. Phil Karlson directs with Jeffrey Bernerd producing. Mildred and Jimmy Mulcay, known as "Mr. and Mrs. Harmonica," will make their first screen appearance in Paramount's 36-star "Variety Girl." They were signed to do a harmonica comedy skit with Bob Hope in the spectacular musical directed by George Marshall. Ann Sothern has been borrowed from MGM to co-star with Alexander Knox in RKO's "Indian Summer," a sentimental comedy by Boris Ingster, who also will direct. Filming starts early in January, with Michel Kraike producing. In addition to co-starring, Knox also will work with Ingster on the screenplay. Phil Ford has been assigned to direct Republic's "The Finger Woman," modern melodrama scheduled to go before the cameras early next month. Picture will follow "Lightin' Strikes Twice" on the schedule of Associate Producer William J. O'Sullivan. Paul Cavanaugh, Lumsden Hare and Gavin Muir were signed by Director Sam Wood and Producer William Cameron Mensies for top feature roles in "Ivy," which stars Joan 'Fontaine, Patric Knowles, Herbert Marshall and Richard Ney. Jennifer Jones and Joseph Gotten will be costarred by Selznick Productions in the Robert Nathan novel, "Portrait of Jenny," which David Hempstead will produce and William Dieterle direct. Miss Jones will play the title role, and Gotten will enact the part of the painter who loves her. Alan Marston was signed by 20th-Fox to play one of his direct lineal forebears, "Alan Marston, Lord of Marston Moor," in "Forever Amber," Linda Darnell-Cornel Wilde starrer being filmed in Technicolor. Viveca Lindfors has been given a new longterm starring contract by Warners, as a result of her work in "Night Unto Night," in which the Swedish actress is currently before the cameras with Ronald Reagan. Don Siegel directs, and Owen Crump produces. Jerry Bergen, radio comic, has been added to the cast of MGM's "The Pirate." He will portray a member of the band of itinerant actors headed by Gene Kelly. The Technicolor film, with Vincente Minnelli directing, begins production early in January. Arthur Freed will produce. Irene Dunne will wear her most lavish screen wardrobe to date in the Columbia picture, "No Sad Songs For Me," in which she plays a Boston socialite. Miss Dunne also will sing for the first time on the screen in several years. Eugene Borden, one of Hollywood's most versatile actors, was added to the cast of Paramount's "Saigon," in the colorful role of a French riverboat captain in Indo-China. The part is important to the dramatic action of the Alan Ladd-V eronica Lake co-starrer which Leslie Fenton directs for Producer P. J. Wolfson. Benay Venuta, Broadway star, embarked on a screen career when she was signed by EagleLion for a lead role in "Repeat Performance," starring Joan Leslie and Louis Hayward. Richard Wallace has been signed by RKO Producer Stephen Ames to direct the forthcoming Technicolor epic, "Tycoon," which stars John Wayne with Sir Cedric Hardwicke and Anthony Quinn. Much of the drama will be filmed in Mexico City. "Sea of Darkness," unpublished novel by Gerald Adams, has been purchased by Republic and assigned to Alfred Santcll to produce and direct. Modern drama of deep-sea divers will spotlight two top male stars. With Burt Lancaster as one of the stars and Jules Dassin as director, Mark Hellinger announced "Brute Force" as his third production for Universal-International release. This will be Lancaster's second picture for Hellinger, his first having been "The Killers." Warner Anderson was cast in the role of a doctor in MGM's "Song of the Thin Man." William Powell and Myrna Loy are starred in the newest picture of the wisecracking detective series, with Keenan Wynn, Jayne Meadows and Leon Ames also featured. Edward Buszell will direct and Nat Perrin produce. Richard Loo, Chinese stage and screen actor, has been signed by Producer Sidney Buchman for the role of a Shanghai police commissioner in Columbia's "Assigned to Treasury," Dick Powell-Signe Hasso starrer. Ken Niles, radio announcer, has landed a choice dramatic role in RKO's "Out of the Past," Robert Mitchnm-Janc Greer starrer. In the screen version of Geoffrey Homes' thriller, "Build My Gallows High," Niles plays an innocent lawyer who becomes involved in several murders. Ross Ford will have the role of the bellboy in the Ann Sheridan starrer, "The Unfaithful," which Vincent Sherman is directing witli Jerry Wald as producer for Warners. Confiscated Film in New RKO Picture Lt. Theodore Gciscl, expert on the Japanese, who was attached during the war to the U. S. Army Department of Information and Education, is with his wife putting the finishing touches on RKO Radio's tentatively titled "Kamikaze." The picture will include confiscated Japanese film never before seen by the public. More than a million feet of this film were viewed in selecting the footage. Theron Warth is producing under Sid Rogcll's executive supervision.