Variety (Jul 1944)

Wednesday, July S, 194-1 VARIETY PICTURES 19 Literati Journalistic Idea ; A New York Democrat's idea of a solid non-partisan paper is PM. .-'.' More Argentine Stuff ■Allen Chase's "Five Arrows" (which is the insignia of the Falange) ' is a forthcoming Random House novel based on fact-fiction having to do with a certain South American country. Chase, who authored the widely controversial "Falange" for Putnam two years ago. did the foreword for 'Argentina Diary'' (also Random House) by Ray Josephs, "Variety" mugg in B. A. and also longtime correspondent for PM m. Y.) and the Chi Sun. : Josephs, currently jja Mexico City on a Latin-American survey trip north, is slated for a W. Colston Leigh lecture; tour. 11-T's Femme Copy Reader . What to N. Y. newsmen represents new low in that field's manpower shortage is action of the Herald-Trih in engaging its first femme copy reader. She's Virginia Rosen, added to the rim of that paper's copy desk a* initial petticoat influence in that part of the city room. •,; Femme copy readers common on Out-of-town dailies, with some copy desks wholly, bereft of males at this stage of the armed services' demands. But uncommon as yet in N. Y. Mrs. Rosen is from Rochester, and did newspaper work there, '*-*/ Tycoons Turned Mystery Authors The eminently successful man jyho for one reason or another turns to Writing mystery stories , and then triumphs in that field is getting to be almost a literary pattern. For ex- ample, John Buchan, statesman; Willard Huntington Wright, editor; . Evils Stanley Gardner, criminal lawyer;, and now H. W. Roden, presi- dent of American Home Foods, Inc., arid a top man in the advertising field, Morrow sold more copies of his first novel than any first mystery it ever published. His second thriller, ^T^o-Bus^y-to-4iie,'^wlrte-X)ttt--Au;gr B3. . Hal Mode's Book 'This Hero Business" (Gold Label; . |2); by Hal fiode, executive, assist- ant to Jack Cohn,. v.p. of Columbia Pictures, Is breezy, light reading. It's •written in a pungent humorous vein dealing with a punchy prizefighter who's an easy touch for dames and hi* manager. .v..- Pageant In Sept. Bow-In . First issue of the hew Hillman publication, Pageant, dated Octo- ber, will be out the end of Septem- ber. Contributors will include Prin- ces* Alexandria Kropotkin, Mrs; March Hereford. Henry Albert Phil- lips, Julian Lee Rayford, Robert Moses, Robert Humphreys, Arthur Daley and/others. Magazine, of gen- : eral interest in appeal, will be pocket-size, running 150 pages. It will carry no advertising. Staff, in addition to Eugene Lyons. ex-American Mercury, as editor, will include Emile Schurmacher, formerly of American Weekly staff, as managing ed.. and Edythe Far- reU; ex-Police Gazette ed.; Frances Gloncott, ex-Liberty, and Tony Fields as associate editors. CHATTER Ruth Boyd has quit the McKeogh and Boyd literary agency toijdb scrib- bling oil her pwh., '..' '"-;••' .;'. ' John Dos Passes and his wife. Katlierine, who scribbles, too', vaca- tioning in Virginia. '"'-',.'- Al Perkins, Look mag's film, radio and television director, married Jane Dean over the week-end. Mark Sherwin, N, Y. .Post picture editoiv doing a series of radio scripts for. the Hillman niags on the side. Arthur Hurwitcli the-ne.w war edi- tor ot the N; Y. Post, succeeding 60- bert Cant.who's gone to Time magi' John Kiirrow. film director, is writ- ing lus third book, a biography of Father Miguel Pro, Mexican martyr. Benjamin .'.Zimmerman; added to the Saturday. Review of Literature ccHt tonal slafV. He's.-from the Philly Record. .'/."' " . ';. '}■'{'_■.'■ Good timing is Stanley. Walker's forthcoming boom oji "Dewey:. American of This Century'.' (Whit-, tlesey). ; ' . • . ■ Clark Kinnaii ci, for past five years associate editor or; King Features Syndicate, appointed assistant editor, ot the American Mercury. . Allan Will .Harris, former Balti- more Sun aviation editor, now handling public relations for Fair- child Engine and Airplane Corp., N. Y, - ' ' " GVacie./Allen, who recently cov- ered the Republican National Con- vention, - is considering an offer to ■write daily paragraphs for the Nash- ville Tennessean. ■'• '-,.;;•'-.' Lenore Ferber, daughter of Nat Ferbe'r, has left the N. Y. Journal? American for an editorial post with the Hillman mags. ; Nat, who gained fame with the old N. Y: American, is jiOw publicizing Douglas Aircraft on the Coast. '■";.'■ ' .', ' .«'..' Charles Guy Bolte, former mili- tary affairs writer for OWI, has join- ed Ziff-Davis as assistant public re- lations director. Publishers p a. de- partment, directed by Chace Conley, is located in N. Y., staff including Rose Crengal, Frank Stevens, Pix Guilds Unite Si Continued from page 3 S55 possible the freedom of the screen from such self-appointed censors as the Motion Picture Alliance .for the Preservation of American Ideals.' 4—To develop a program of pub- lic relations to inform the public generally of the importance to the whole '..IT. S. of maintaining free ex- pression on the screen, with proper safeguards for the public welfare. , 5—To prepare a plan, in coopera- tion with the Motion Picture Produ- cers' Association, for re-absorbirig motion picture workers now in the armed forces into the industry after the war is over, no matter how far distant that may seem at this time. 6— To study how Hollywood's'con- tribution to the successful, prosecu- tion to a completely victorious con- clusion may be increased and made more effective, and to put into effect all possible measures to that effect. 7— To make periodic reports to the Guilds and Unions, which it rep-' resents, and whose authority and, autonomy shall be in no way in- fringed upon or lessened by their agreement to work together in this manner for their mutual benefit. 8— To invite other Guilds and Unions in the industry to join the Council of "Hollywood GiiiHs pnrl Flacks Speeding Up On Pin-Ups to Servicemen Hollywood, July 4. Studio pool to facilitate the hand- ling of pin-up pictures for/service- men overseas ,was organized by pub- licity directors of major lots Harry Brand. 20t,h-Fox, - was elected chairman of fhe P.ub!!c .In- formation .. Committee."': and John Joseph, Universal, was re-elected chairman of . the group's executive committee,-. L Plenty of Theatres Change Hands; Other Briefs From Exchange Keys Film Reviews Los Angeles. July 4. Ownership of two downtown film houses changed hand-, in separate deals. Joseph Moritz bought the 800- seat, Victor from William Sobelman. and Rooert Lippert purchased the 480-seat Mecca from William Fulton. TIm' MuiijiiivV l.liosi . TTinver*:}) l ''Ic:isiv(>l'/Tt.-ii J'ivin 1 |iri','luci inn. SUir* l.un Oi;<*i»\v : : I'c-ii I lii.Inhn <'urj l ;niilli>, J(irtiw;iy A (UK* Bm lun \I H-l.niii.. <ii iute XutVO, Hgli'TI r i y. \ >in'll,-'i ),\; Jtfnl' r nal.l he J!..i:s. 'Wi-iwrijiljiy. Mli'lrlln -.lay; Hi»pry S.oi'hyr,. Hi:i»nila AVi'islifrK;oi-iyinni. J;o : and ■ ShcIi.t; t-iiuifi ;.t, - U'iltin in cJii-Un.'M'; fj/IUor. S;il.ll t'.'KKlliiii.i; . Hiiil'u,, ■ ,V. yj; June'Itfl,-. '! I. Jtunnfng-iii'ii,*, (iO .MI NS. , Khii] i>' , ■ , ... , , tj.n 'Ch ijiej ■Xstvwi ,.,*■;„;',,...•.....,..,. Juhn l e u uriinc torn lli'nvv. .',. .. .......... . . li,,h,>n l,o«>i »- .Miiiim, ... .... K iiihu Ann - lh<i|)efliir U ,-h.,U u-ic.n .Msii I rnf >HK.i, >>ne»i . . i „■■ /:„•, : , J'ioi' NiMiui.n . l-'intik Iit'iil if , Slionff. , , ii.iim Sliiuniui, 2 K. C. Nabcs Sold /Kansas.City, July 4. Gladstone , theatre, habo house in northeast part or city, bought by Herinan Illmer fiom General Ameri- can lnsuranc, company at a re- ported $48,000. .Another nabe. the Aladdin, purchase'd by Bell Theatre Carp, from Mrs." John 'Thompson for $40,000. ■ V ■ ••.:' / Spiers First 'Beast' / Hollywood. July 4, First job for Robert Spfer under hi* new producer contract at- Metro will be "The Beast Must Die," screenplayed by Robert Tallman. Before checking in at Culver City, Spier produced the "Suspense" pro- gram on the an Cert's Beef on "Best Stories" Random House publisher Bennett Cerf, saying he's "sick of the snob- I ^pcu^; „flfti^wg^i- w ••ws«r'-:o^^^^ point of- view'' : -govewlng- -sefeerHyi, of the annual "Best American Short Stories," has arranged with Herbert Mayes, Good Housekeeping editor, to put- out-a new annual, this one to Include only stories from magazines With over a half-million circulation. Publisher claims the "Best Stories" annual, first edited by the late Ed- ward J. O'Brien and now by Martha Foley, is unrepresentative and "sus- pect," its stories being picked mainly fr«m the subsidized and* little-known 'arty" magazines. In the 1944 edi- uon, soon to come out, says Cerf, Editor Foley ''overstacked her cards." Sixteen of the 30 stories come from such periodicals as Accent (3,), Par- tisan Review (3), Story (2). Tomor- row (2i, Yale Review, Southwestern Review, Kenyon Review and New Mexico Quarterly. Although the New Yorker and Harper's Bazaar contributed six stories each, says Ceit. it's "unutterable nonsense" to assume that mags like the Post, Journal, Harper s, Cosmo, McCall's. Squire and a dozen othersydidi^t Publish a single Mt^fWa: year Worthy to be in tiie\';3'0 «best." ..,^ e, ' , '-Mayes annual is tentatively "tied "Editor's Choice," "The Mummy's Ghost" contains the usual stock ingredients of the horror- thriller.: But careful direction keeps the,suspense sustained, and a good production and plausible perform- ances help make the. film Satisfactory, entertainment, A godd dualer. Juxtaposition of ancient tombs of Egypt and prosaic midwest.' college town aid in giving the film plausi- bility as well as interest. Yarn con- cerns the remains of Princess Anan- ka, which were taken from Egypt to America, The'.Princess'?-Had, been gunished 3.000 years ago for loving one Kharis. a subject beneath -tier. Kharis' punishment has been to be kept alive in mummified form, to guard the Princess/ tomb. Balance of film shows Kharis' attempts to re- turn the Princess' incarnation, ending in a . weird finish reminiscent of a famed incident in "Lost Horizon." Lon Chaney has a weird but effec- tive getup as Kharis, and his'limping figure barging through the country- side makes good drama. John Car- radine acts a modern-day Egyptian priest with plausible understatement, and George Zucco is persuasive as the-^high—priest:- Ramsay Ames—is- unusually attractive as the unfortu- nate reincarnation of the Princess, and Robert Lowery is appealing as the boy friend. . Broil. Warners Adds 3 iii PottsloWn Philadelphia, July 4. . Warner . Bros, "has announced it would take Over operation of StriUid and Victor, both in Pottslown, Pa., on Oct. 1. Houses have been tinder lease, for last 10 years to William I Goldman, local indie exhib.. who has been feuding with Warners here re- cently, Warners, owners of properly, take over both houses at expiration ofthe Goldman leases. Laiv of Hi<» Satlill^ rl*.C releas*. of Sitfinnml .\VufelJ- uroOur tiiHi'i Start* liob 1,'f vlniiSllnit, features At ll-'uzzyl St, John, Bally Miles.- I.ane .(.'liunil )"r. Jolin KlDott. Directed tty Melville T)e t,ay: - Stoiy ami adaptation. Kreil ;Uvlnn; Alitor. Hnlbronk N". Totl.l;' .rttwra. Jtiihei-t ("line.. Al New York,- N, Y.. dual. • we.ej; June 27. '13. RUftnln^ time, 5». 3IINS.- Rocky t'unieron . i.... . . . . . Boll r.ivingMlon Fiftzy 3vnmi. .......... At IKuz/.y) HI. .lolin ftayle. ... .Belly Allien Sieve Kinney............ I,ane ('.handler Dan Klrby..., .John Elliott »vn.....;, .-Reed Howe* •loe ..,./...,„i,,.,.,. .t'urly Dieaden Bait...., i.. .•,.*,,..-.'....... AI Fei'KUNOn Vic. .'.Frank Ellis 6-In-l Press Book Conserving on. papr-r, printing, ink and work, Warner Bros, has pre- pared a composite pressbook to cover the six re-releases .which It/ is mak- ing available during July, r .. / / The picttires are being sold under a package deal rather than singly. W00DIN VICE JOHNSTON " Hollywood, July 4. Republic appointed Larry Woodi'n. former theatre operator in Pennsyl- vania, to succeed John LeRoy John- ston- as. studio publicity director, 'Vjohtlsloir^moves into 'Thternational this week to run the publicity-adver- tising deparlnieut. - Routine western, but one which has sufficient action to please the average follower of this type of fare. Running time is short enough at 59. minutestto make the picture a con- venient fit for double bills> ; </ Bob Livingston, . starred, plays a wandererwhose specialty appears to be that of rounding up rustlers and other baddies of the plains. In this case he's called in to get the goods oh a crooked sheriff, who moves from town to town with a gang of /looters an^ highwaymen, using the expedient of getting himself elected constable as a coyetup. Livingston, however, is on to the sheriff s game, and finally corners him for a kill. He has as his steady aid the wizened prairie-country character, Al (Fuzzy.) I St. John, who supplies comedy relief. ' The girl is the daughter of a rancher | who gets bumped off. She's a per- sonable young lady. Betty Miles, who j might graduate from westerns ulti- mately; ■;- .-.. '"'•'.'; Lane Chandler makes a good heavy as the conniving sheriff, while John Elliott does well as' his first lieuten- ant. Lessers include Reed Hpwes. Curley Dresden, Al Ferguson and Frank Ellis. Char. I . - - ... N. Y. Femme Doorman Workers tn sku ts have taken over managerial posts in theatres, are manning—books in many of the ex- changes and doing other jobs, includ- ing one who recently hit the road as a film peddler, but latest is a door- lady. She's Maria Menez. an 18- year-old of Philadelphia, who. re- cently came to N. Y. with footlights and marquee glamor On her mind. Stumbling into the Rivoli, N. Y., one day looking for anything to do, Monty Salmon, managing director, put her on the jjoor. Par's Canadian Convention " Charles M. Reagan, Paramount's sales chief: Oscar Morgan, shorts sales manager, and Bob Gillham, ad- publicity director, attended Par's sales convention last week in/To- ronto. Gordon Lightstone, Par's g.m. in Canada, who presided at sessions, had Stan Atkinson.' president Of General Films, pioneers in the 16^ millimeter field, as guest. Atkinsom told the convention about the distri- bution of 16-mm. Par product which he has/just taken Over in Canada,-. RKO's "Step Lively" Contest/ RKO held a special screening of "Step Lively" last week for its thea- tre managers in Greater N. Y. area aijd vicinity as a' prelude to launch- ing a contest among managers for the best ad suggestions for this pic- ture when it plays N. Y;. Brooklyn, Long Island and Westchester,county. Cash 'prizes-will be awarded. Homeoffice execs also attended th« screening and buffet slipper. ; , New Houses In III. -Post-War St. Louts, July 4. Frisina Amusement Co., Spring- field. III., plans building two new houses after the war ends, one in Woodale Township. III,. Springfield area, costing $150,000. and the other a $200,000 house in Keokuk, la. Frisina operates in both areas. Two local employees Of Loew'.V Inc., awarded 10 and 20-year pins as part of Metro's Anni celebration. They are J. Zimmerman/office man- ager, and Mary Vaughn, chief in- spector,, J., Frank Williftaham, branch manager, received 20-year pin re- cently at Memphis. RKO House Managers on II.O. fours RKO theatres" N; .Y. General Man- ager J. M. Brennan has inaugurated a system at homeoffice whereby each week one house'manager from the "NV Y.-Westchester-N. J. area will serve as his assistant at the home* office. ' i Each manager will probe the inner workings of the h.o. on his one-week • lour and become acquainted with problems of circuit operation. Most of the time will be spent in the ex- ecutive, booking, publicity, mainte- nance, accounting and personnel branches. CAPITOL ■'WAY a S>« ST. TWO GIRLS I AND A SAILOR J ! M-O-M'i | Ship-Shopatyl Muttcslf. , IN PERSON £winq t, Swmy with ■; fSAMMY KAYEl mn4 hit ORCH. pfui .. S ROSS SISTERS 1 CXTR* . MUl WINCHEU "HOME IN INDIANA" .A SOtli Century-F»i rirlnrs . HI, Ntncs POXY * Hliow '\ 7* .." , :, «oiii St,: •ABAMOl-NI'S "GOING MY WAY" .."',: With BlNG CROSBY la IVr<HMi CHABMK srilAK »n«I Bund BETTE DAVIS * An R'arner Bros.' Hit!. . 4 MR. SKEFFIIVGTON' ;.; 'with : Clnusle llainis broadwav .i 5i,t ST. HOLLYWOOD Seadler Bowing Out As PRC Chairman Although the usual weekly meet- ing of the Public Relations Commit: tee (eastern group),-was not held last- Thursday (29 I." members of the com- mittee..balloted for a new. chairman: with Votes to be tabulated; this Thursday. Si Seadler. of. Metro;; is present chairman, each one serving six months and only those who -have not-served being eligible. . F. F. Rosenberg; of Columbia; Jfal Home, of 20th-Fox; and Lou Pollock of UA, were voted on for next chair- manship term.. Plan is lo.have each major company represented as chair- man by. vote rather thaii picking them alphabetically, only 20th-Fox. Columbia', and UA hot 'having had a thaimtan of PKC. .-, tiTv 10 MUSIC HALL "OINCE UPON- ; -; , ,;-.A TI.ME" . Spectacular Stags Productions WARMER BROS. HIT "THE MASK OF DIMITRIOS" ;'- ■, '/■'•:.-.' -.-'• 8ydn«y Gi-efltlltrcet Ziehiry Scttt ',-' P«t«r Lgrrt ; ' . IN PERSON LOUIS PRIMA and His Orch. EXTRA AODEO ATTRACTION PHIL REGAN Air-Co'iditiftiHiil BROADWAY »l 47th ST. S T RAND TH m'ti m rii«« TECHNICOLOR MUSICAL Set SttlweM in the War's Most Incredi ble Venture THE LATEST MARCH OfTIME ■ Readied by 20lh C«ntwvFox RED SKELTON '•" ESTHER WILLIAMS Continuous xool Ooors 0p«« Populai Prices *st\STOi*L 10 A M B'yyay & 45 St. PALACE 8 WAY & 47th St, 'MARINE RAIDERS' PAT ROBERT RUTH O'BRIEN - RYAN - HUSSEY ■"r,\lt;\.MOL',N'l' rKKSKNTti" 11- " GARY COOPER in CECIL B. DeMILLE S "The Story of Pr. Wosssll" IN TICC'HMCOI.OR —nnuu inn, si. On Hcrfrn Tlium,, Juljr ft "Sensations of 194S" SlMcrluK . Elsasor Pswsll III l'rr«,n Gracie tarrie ■ • •enny Rubin