Variety (May 1946)

so PICTURES Wednesday, May 1, 1946 Musical Shorts In for Heavy Play As FitzPatrick Plans Longhair Series Hollywood, April 30. Announcement by James A. Filz- Falrlck of plans annually to produce independently scries of from six to 12 musical-shorts, based on lives of 'famous composers, marks definite advance step in what appears to be a popular trend for the future. Originally lie was to have made them for Metro. FitzPatrick. who for past 16 years has lurni'd out "Travcltalks" for M-G. tans his .series "Famous Music Masters." .Originally, he was to pro- duce nne-reelers for Metro, but they couldn't net together on final terms so he will make scries off the lot. .Extreme popularity of Para- mount's Technicolor Musical Pa- rade during three-year life of this series has been noted by majority of studios. ,and more than one has thought of making similar series. Warners occasionally turns out hi^h-budgct one-and-tworeelers on musical side, apart from its regular Vitaphone musical shorts, and these have gone over for top business. Metro in past lias produced an oc- casional' musical of merit, too. and this has done unusual biz. Decision of FitzPatrick to delve Into the classics, for presentation to public of some of most magniucant music of the past, is cinch to be followed by other producers. Whole country has become classical-music- minded during past few years, due to radio programs, and majority of populace is in receptive mind to such, type of film. FitzPatrick actually paved way years ago. as harbinger of future, when he first made "famous Music Masters" in silent days. Ten years ago he added symphonic scores to shorts and they did land-office grosses when reissued. Good foreign Market That there is a definite market abroad lor such musical shorts is seen in Tad that FitzPatrick last I week received number of orders .from' Brazil, for his old-time series. I One Rio de Janeiro circuit requested j that 12 shorts he air-expressed. Al- i (hough FitzPatrick inserted tmisic in series decade ago. scries is still | a popular one. in different parts of I the world. With more musical shorts in off- i ing. there seems to be more than a little interest expressed by tclcvi- ! sion producers for such reelage. (Difficulty of 'live broadcasts over television makes musicals of short type a popular commodity, and this, with regular motion picture theatre presentation, elevates this cntev- ! tainmenl into high grosscrs of the | future. SORRELL & CO. PETITION FOR NEW TRIAL MAY 9 Hollywood. April HO. Herbert Sorrel I and seven other defendants will put their motion for a new trial before court May 9. when they appear for sentence in Burbank police court on charge of failure (0 disperse.. Long trial end- ed over weekend, when jury found the defendants guilty of not dis- persing. However, the jury, which was out 24 hours, found the eight unionists not guilty o( rioting and disturbing the peace, charges which grew out of the October strike violence at Warners. Scully's Scrapbook 1 ; ^^ = ^ =s Continued from page Zt -—. I 'Shayne' Cd-Stars Named Hollywood. April 30. PRC signed Cheryl Walker and Hugh Beaumont to co-star In the third edition of the Michael Shayne series of whodunits. Picture, still untitled, will be di- rected by Sam Nowllc.ld. Private Detectives Confidential Investigations Personal and Industrial Berlin Investigation Service ■40 Wall Street, New York 5, N. Y. Suite 803 WHitehall 4-7942 OULD SOD NOSTALGIA ; PAYS OFF VIA 16MPIX | Pat Stanton, manager of WDAS. ; Philly, left New York Friday -t2«) on , his fourth trip—first since the end | of the war—to Ireland to make llim | color films. He's garnered a hefty : b.r. over the past 10 years by exhibit- ing the pictures commercially to Irish organizations and church j groups throughput the country. I Stanton's .specially is taking pic- 1 (ures of the villages and people of | areas from which many of the Irish how in the U. S. emigrated. They. . pile into the screenings of his films with their families (o have a look at the old homestead and show the younger generation what it was like. New gimmick added by Stanton for the current trip is a portable re- cording machine to make synced sound disks for the films. Plays Not Pixed Continued from pane 3 New York Theatres Dan* CLARK • Janit PAIGE Zachary SCOTT In Wiit-ncr llnm. lilt "HER KIND OF MAN" In IVrt+on CARMEN CAVALLARO .\M> IMS ORCIIKMTHA ••111" LBN NY KKNT HKN lt<)( IIKI.I.K inn] JANK RKKICK B'way at 47th St. STRAND GUY L0MBAR00 tMUMLMOtf MHUMMYMCIEV CAPITOL BETTE DAVIS In \Vnnn*t' llros. Mil "A STOLEN LIFE" Willi Glenn FORD • Dane ClARK Wah«r BRENNAN • Charlie RUGGtiS JXrri'trd liy CnrtlH IIitiiIiii nit HOLLYWOOD ('uiilliiiimiii H'whv at .".l-a Slrwl - CENC TIKRNKT 7S i'WlAOOHWYCK"! ■ A 20H, Ctnrwr FtM Mrhn I ■ ruttMSTMt-J siManuvn DANNY KAYE - — Tettinicoloi faonOawi ..... I'woyol •=30..-.. ASTOR 45* SI. Owen Winter's "THf VIRGINIAN" - In Tivlinlcolor Slurring wllh J «l . Briu Stony Barluri McCRFA DONLEVY TUFT$ MITTON A I'HrHinohat Picture tit jPrrun-EODIE BRACNEN Bob Eberly. Jolimy L<n| end Hll Bend. PARAMOUNT Tine* Hurun I'AIXKTTK GODDARD |»rew«nle KAY HILLAND "KITTY'' MITCIIKII, I.KISI-:V l>r..ilu.(li.» R I V O L I DfHirn Oprn »:3» A.M. n'wu.T & mill st. ON SC'KKKN IIKI.II IIVKK III TA HAYWORTH 'GILDA' I 'fil.ENN I'OKD , Giorgt . MarrcAdy Jiseph Calleia IN PKHSON 'I'liurs., Aliiy 'I Johnnie 'Scot' DAVIS and ORCH. »M(nrliijf Cinrlli ANIMtKtVH RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL "THE GREEN YEARS" Spectacular Staqe Pradactient "WANTED— MORE HOMES!" ■■■ ME PALACE B'WAY & «7fh St. .Ml V\ MINT \INK FROM THIS DAY FORWARD villi MARK STEVENS ROSEMARY DE CAMP ' Aa KKO HmlJo I'i.lure Harris thinks that the forthcoming lour will increase the value of the play for pictures and push up the price. So he's holding nut. • "Are You With It.'" is one of those pieces that attracted no studios 'although lately Ben Bogcaus has manifested slight- interest >. Deal is pending on "Billion Dollar Baby." Asking price of $175,000 is slowing down negotiations. "Born Yesterday" has some moral angles that will cause whoever buys it to do a bit of crafty footwork before it gets past the Johnston office. How- ever, that's not holding up the sale. Reason is producer Max Gordon's and author Carson Kanin's thoughts of making the film themselves. GI Musical Sure "Call Me Mister" is a sure bet for films, based on current audience re- action, but just, hasn't been around long enough for a deal to have been set. Co-producer Melvyn Douglas is in a Hollywood producing part- nership with Martin Gosch thai could very conceivably end up with the rights. "CaTouser has a heavy wad of 20lh-Fox coin in il and is thought likely to wind up on thai lot, since "Liliom." from which the musical was fashioned, is owned by 20lh. It has made no move yet,, however, to buy the adaptation and music by Rodgcrs and iHammerstein. Pro- ducer Al Borde of "Follow the Girls" made the mistake of holding out too long for a fancy price. He could have sold his opus long ago. but the wartime theme of the musical has since caused interest to collapse. "Harvey" is another of the Holly- wood certainties for eventual pro- duction. Every studio wants il and has talked about it. but producer Brock Pemberton's asking price is causing air-sickness. Bing Crosby has been among the interested par- ties, but gave up the idea of casting himself in the Frank Fay part as unbecoming an accepted celluloid gentleman of the cloth. "Lute Song," because of the un- usual nature of its theme and mu- sic, hasn't engendered much Holly- wood interest. "O Mistress Mine" offers several obstacles. First is the censors, with the couple, as in "Born Yesterday." living in what Holly- wood writers choose to call an "in- determinate relationship." With that overcome, it's a question of casting. Alfred Lunl and Lynn Fontanne, who play the legit roles, are loo lough an act for many filmitcs lo want to follow. Just Keeps Rolling Alone; "Oklahoma!"—just a matter of lime. Theatre Guild . and Rodgers and Hammerstein aren't yet in a selling mood. "Song of Norway'' likewise is a sure thing for eventual piclurization. It just hasn't hap- pened lo be sold yet. Deal is now a root on "The Glass Menagerie." Agent Bill Liebling is currently on the. Coast making with the talk. "The Magnificent-Yankee'' is drawing no bids. Principal char- acter lOliver Wendell Holmes; is seen only between the ages of B5 and 90, which is the conventional Holly- wood idea of nothing so far as the Van Johnson trade goes. "I Like It Here" is another in the )ack-of- i merest department. "Three to Make Ready." a revue, offcts practically nothing for pic- tures except the 1 itlo. There has been some talk, however, of a film company buying rights to this and its two - predecessors. "One for the Money" and "Two for the Show" on a combination deal, using the best tunes and skits from each. screw loose, were looking for a lightening tool, and ho began idling me what show business was going to do lo the town in the next few months. All shopping marquees had been ordered down and in their stead will be ■ erected colorful fronts and pepper trees to simulate life as lived here a century ago. The Navy will put on a show i\nd the pao.sanos of Tortilla Flats will turn street singers and roving musicians July 4-7. The excuse for this four-day fiesta is the 100th anniversary of thc raising of the American Hag over the presidco of Monterey, a'ritual .which made" practically everything from Wyoming to the sea a part of the United Stales. The sub division involved 600.000 square miles. Without it there would have been no California and, .in 'consequence; no Hollywood. To assure never a dull moment the U. S. Flag Centennial Committee have 25 events pencilled in to entertain visitors. The radio chains, newsreels. picture crowd and tourist trade have booked all accommodations already. Under command of Commodore John Drake Sloal. the Marines took over the place in 1846 and the gold rush of 1849 seemingly completed the rout of every gay cabarillo except Leo Carillo. The year after Sloat's grab, thc flr.st theatre in California was opened by Jack Swan. • It's still running in Monterey and is currently staging "Black Bart." one of those medieval metiers spliced out with free beer and olio, like "The Drunkard," "The Blackguard'.". and it you want to get tough about it. "Hamlet." I had to explain to my chauffeuring consort, four years in Ihe Fijis with the Army, what olio was. H« thought it .might have been a byproduct of Standard Olio of California. But I told him it was more likely a byproduct of ah earlier Olio and Johnson. Joe Laurie would have done'it better. Grrcc Ganon'i Tidal Wave We had hardly got bedded down by Milus and Antoinette Gay, the romantic ranchers who write, typeset, print and deliver The Monterey Trader between morning and evening miLkings of Buttercup on their Belly Acres estate, when Greer fjarson gets caught in a. wave and is yanked into the sea. -Smacked around a few times, she was rescued by * sanlitte fisherman, and it might as well have been me t ), I (. ). Vote tor one. A mu?g on a holiday, I wasn't keen. After all, press agents have lo live and ncar-drownings are like bullets that just miss. You don't gel ii purple heart for them. Even 'so, the GarsOn shore line was photographed by so many news photographers that it she wasn't exhausted by Ihe clunking she certainly must have'been by all the "attention" she received afterward. I checked, knowing that this coast line is a dangerous, stretch of riptide which drowns several each year. So I called to check on Mile. Carson, More,. I sent in my embossed caret asking "Are you in? Arc you decent?" Apparently she was and she wasn't, but would be both later in the day. By then, however, the Scully Circus would be heading south to spend Easter with its trained fleas from heaven and a Garson on the nicnri was hardly detaining news. Still. 1 was curious lo know if she was convalescing' on my "Fun In Bed" books, or her own press notices. . . . Well, city news will get it. One thing I'd like to bet on. That is. she won't have any part'of ihe Water Follies which will open the centennial whoopadoop July 4. That will be left lo what Ed Cochrane'.* press release calls "a bevy of heaittiful bathing girls in two hours of spectacular events." Big Pix Continued from paice S BRANDON'S UNRRA AND 'WARSAW REBUILDS'PIX the market can best absorb them. Meantime, aim companies are here j ^tHcs. Brandon Films. N'.Y and there actually restricting runs in order to make room lor new pic- Tying in with President Truman's food-saving program for European' indie producers and distributors. has scheduled for nationwide Him re- lease "The Pale Horseman." in conp- turcs, their own as well as other's. Here They Are 1 eralion with UNRRA. Film w as one A survey of the various dislrib- lor the last produced by the former tiling companies, listed alphabetical- i OW1 overseas film unit and has ly, reveals the following among big j never been shown publicly in this and near-big pictures now in circu- i country. It's a documentary on the lation that are creating the present ! poor health conditions in the li'oer- logjam on playing time: ! i'ted countries of Europe, due to the COLUMBIA: "Bandit of Sherwood I r " 1 "' s '' 0, ' ta ge. Forest" and "Gilda." „ B, ; a, ? d «» h ^ also acquired for A,m ■ _ I theatrical and.television distribution METRO: 'Adventure. "Harvey - Warsaw Rebuilds," a one-reel docu- Girls," "Sailor Takes Wife.' "Zicg- I ni0 ntary showing the destruclion of fold Follies." "Hoodlum Saint" and i Warsaw by the Nazis and plans for ! ils reconstruction already begun by "Bad Birscomb." PARAMOUNT: "Road to Utopia. "Virginian." "Blue Dahlia." "Kitty." "Stork Club" and "Lost Weekend." PRC: "Wife of Monte Crislo." RKO: "Bells of St. Mary's." "From This Day Forward." "Spiral Stair- case." "Cornered" and "Tomorrow Is Forever." REPUBLIC: "Dakota." TWENTIETH-FOX: " Leave Her to Heaven." "Dolly Sisters," "Dragon- wyck," "A Walk in thc Sun"' and "Sentimental Journey." UNITED ARTISTS: "Spellbound;' "The Outlaw." "Abilene Town." and "Whistle Stop." UNIVERSAL: "Scarlet Street." "Because of>Him," "Little Giant" and "Seventh Veil." WARNER BROS.: '"Saratoga Trunk." "My Reputation," "San An- tonio" and "Devotion." There are various olhev pictures of lesser grade that are getting enough business lo help complicate the booking situation. Excluded, of course, are such pictures as ""Green Years," which has not gone beyond the Music Hall. N. Y.. and "Kid From Brooklyn," current only al the Astor. N. Y. "Make Mine Music' now playing the Globe. N. Y., Is an- other that will number among near future contenders for lop time throughout the country. . the Poles. Toler Starts Totin' Iron Hollywood, April 30. . Sidney Toler lays-aside his Charlie Chan for a while to play a western heavy in "t)evi|'s Playground." Picture is the first of the new Hopalong Cassicly series to be pror cluced independently by William Boyd..