Variety (May 1946)

PICTURES Wednesday, May 22, 19<U» British Indies Burn at Rank-Korda Space Tieup; Quota Law Seen Kaput Weral to „S,^! s Exchanges Have Enough fix Prints For 34 Weeks to Offset RR Threat Acute shortage of sliidi.ispace in * Briliiin. result of . the ambitiousi >>l;ms of first J. Arthur Rank /and IlK'ii Sir Alexander Knrda, plus those of the American majors for in- | creased British production, is creat- ing considerable agitation aiiioiig the small indie Brilish. produccis living io cut in on ille grcally-liypQcu lilm profits. Joe llazeii. plrxv of Hnl Wallis Productions, who ■ t f\ w% i version of "Ca Humoresque does Early »>«d .ved wa Hollywood. May 21. ! After a gander at the 'completed j III in. Jack L. Wainer ordered the release - of ■•Humoresque" far -ahead 'of Hp original distribution schedule. ! . Jerry Wald production, co-starring retiiriVcd ■'' oa " Crawford and Joan Garfield., is William LeBaro'n and Boris Mor- ros 'moved into temporary offices at Hie Hal Roach studios for -start of work with their firm..Federal Films. ] Initial picture will be "Carmen from Kenosha.'' musical comedy vrrsioh of "Carmen." Victor Young ishinglon are cleffing- music based on Bizet's original score. recently from a month's tour.of Eng- land and the' .Continent, declared: moreover, that the space, congestion must inevitably cause, tho British <|iiota law to die automatically when it comes up for rce'naclmcn; in 194H. With a scarcity of staple commodi- ties in England, the public is spend- ing its money on entertainment, resulting in terrific business for all facets of Ihe amusement Itc'.d. This, Ha/.en declared, is serving ;:s a bea- con light to lure new producer* into, the field. Many new dislrib compan- ies have sprung up with exchanges in the six or seven key ci'ies on the island, which has created a demand for still hiore •'product. As result, ho observes, prices (or all - elements of the industry are skyrocketing with the increased demand. With studios at a -.premium, conse- quently, the government's 'inula.-law has become a Frankenstein. Origin- ally enacted, before the Briii-h In- dustry's boom ■ to force American companies to make a share, of their pictures in England, the Aineiicans tried to bypass the edict b.-. (inning out quickies at the lowest, possible expense. These pix were usually run iii on the early morning or. late evening shows, when ths houses were not crowded. On Idea of Shortage's. But now. with..or. without quota law, there's already a iContinued on page 20) now slated Sepl. 15. to hit the public' cyfc> Rank Buys Deep In Selznick Sneaks 'Duel' Just Once in the East; & Starts Rolling Two More Ponding railway strike is expected lo have no, serious, effect, on ( |i s . tribution of picture prints: hero ns well as in liiost'distl itis throughout , Ihe country,- for two reasmis- New tops in the Screen Directors hi)ve enough prints Meggers Install Chiefs Hollywood. May 21, moved into office aM!,.n- ■ ^ Ihibi.tors in the major markets de- pend largely upon trucking (or ; transport of their /lllnis. 'FiiNi-.tak« r oii the current strike situation had Guild niml dinner. May Borzage, Frank Capra. John - Ford. I Garsou Kan in. Leo McCa'rey, George i Stevens, Billy Wilder and ''William 'Wilder as Guild directors. . Moving out at the same time were j t^i^^^Z^ -" vvr ,T^- W„k meview of " n., .1 in the •'<>"» Cromwell.. Edward Dmvlrvk,.^ ^ P'""^''^ Sneak preview of. Duel in the , . , ■ • i out in the various districts f ra si Sun- wasMield by David .O. Sel/nick ; T «>' ^rnet Mervyn LeHoy Rou- lriillsp(>1 . ti)lioll cu t „ )om ,„ , ^ at the Warner theatre in Bayonne. >«. Mamoulian, William A. Sell*,-, Wm*.1^\*n^*tato^*? ' N. J., last week. II had been Norman laurog and Charles V.dor. | si(U , ration , Ihis £ - Par Cancels Atlantic Preview in Deference To Hal Wallis'W ; Reason why Paramount at the last ] minute cancelled a showing of "To I Each His Own", on a trans-Atlantic | flight was a complaint by the Hal Wallis-.loe. Ha/.eii producing unit for Par which felt that this would conflict with plans which Ihey have for their "Strange Love of Martha Ivers." Prior plans; it. seems, had been laid by Wallis and Ha?.en to .show "Ivers" oif a cross-country ' TWA flight shortly. j Par's "To Each His Own" was to I have been shown on .an American" Airlines plane which left New York . Sunday il|)i for London carrying; six theatre managers who were ad- judged winners in ihc recent.nation- ' wide victory bond contest. They I were accompanied by Raymond A. | Beall of Dallas, who was national | publicity chairman lor the War Ac- I tivilies Committee ' on the Victory j bond drive. * Managers who will spend 10 days . between London and Paris arc: Thomas S. Maine. Roxy. Lafayette, j la.: George Pappas. Circle. Indian- apolis: Joseph' Goldstein. Capitol. St. i Louis: William Brown. Pnli-Bijou. ! New Haven:' Lewin Pizor. Mayfair. Philadelphia, and Elmer M. Jack- son, Orpheum. Plenty wood. Mont. MOT's Reels on Boozers And Anglo-U S. Pix Prods. March of Time, in its liext release, w ill present , ^ts ; own version of •■Lost Weekend.'' Tenlaliyely, labeled '•Problem Driiikei-.s." it will fake up whore the Paramouiil Academy Award winner lefl (ilf, showing what's being done lo aid Ihc miy< who can't handle the stuff.'■- Tic will include Ihe Nisi (locunien- tiir.v reporl on . the work of Alco- holics Anony.nioiis. il wjll also show the activities of major 'distilling com- panies in combating chronic alco- holism. MOT has discovered ils Own Ray Millaiicl lo porlray Ihe boozer, but in keeping with ihc outfil's pol- icy he'll gel no billing, iir plugging. . MOT is a {so planning io have iin- olher look at fhe. /ihn -industry in a. release ..tcnlalivcl.y ■ scheduled for later this year. It did an issue on Hollywood in. I!):i7; but will go'into competition being planned by British snd other foreign- producers in- the new version,' plus taking up the trend to Indie production. - ' Dublin, May 21. . Having just bought himself a huge, slice of stock in two large groups of Irish'■ .theatres. J.- Arthur Rank. Brilish film magnate, has iiot taken a place on the board of file new setup. The groups, being amalgamated, as Metropole and Irish 'Cinemas.-'.Ltd.. will: be. the biggest thealrc-coiurol- ling. unit in Ireland, wilh a string of Doiiblin's biggest first-run.' houses, a group of suburban theatres, one cac.h in Cork and Limerick, and. a niniibcr of smaller provincial houses. . Although Rank slays off- the board, his . second-in-commanri John . II. Davis is.on. with ,one other iiieniber' of the Raiik orgaiii/.atioii. llorace Moore. Louis Ellinian. recognized lop man in ■ Irish film business, is I managing director: Setup has 'meant several changes in management of houses:. -due lo promotions \o .meet, needs, of the great j contrplling. organization. Adie Elli- : man becomes gen. manager with [ Goerfrey Elliman and Coleman Coii- roy as principal assistants. . . planned to have a series iif siieaks in and around New York, but- Selz- nick said .'Monday- 120'• that he was well satisfied, wiih'the results of the oiie showing of the 2 f -j-hour. $6,- 000.000 epic and thought he'd aban- don the rest. He'll leave for Ihe Coast Sunday i2(ii following a.-mouth's vacation in New "York. Washington and Miami Beach, taking the. print of "Duel" with him 'filr further work. As shown, it had a music track, made up of bits of previous Selznick pic- tures. Hal Kern, his film editor, air tended tlie sneak with the producer. Selznick said he hopes to release the lilm around Labor Day if Tech- nicolor can' liirn out the prints. In ihe .meantime, he's going ahead with "The Paradine Case." on which Al- fred Hitchcock is currently shoot• Philadelphia. May. 21. A booking, 'combine/ long, talked about among- indies iii Pliilly,. is dually, in .the making. Thus far it's all very hush-h'ush. biit exhibs representing approxi- imitely 100 -theatres met secretly last week and (he grouiidwork. .was laid the boys si ill have their-'worries/' Chief cause for anxiety is the ap- parent secondary effecl of a rail tieup. which could very well put flicker exhibs right back in I ho ■ i : o-.il- • hcile dug by John L. Lewis. •Willi ' the. amusement industry not \c( ftilly recovered from the coal shortage, 'stoppage of fuel (low to the large -cities by .a train strike ininht cause | complete shutdown to become a gen- eral fad. I Since the burden of proof in niov- ' in.S prints; from '.he exchanges'to .theatres lies with exhibitors, disliih execs are not particularly worried liver the strike as it "affects Uiein di- for a buying and booking setup.ihod- reclly. In large cities, where Ihe i eled. along the lines of the Coopera- tive combination in Pil'isburgh. A colnniitlee .was appointed to be sent to Piltsburgli lo look over |he ing backgrounds in Europe.; and ' Smoky City'organization and report any back- to Ihe Philly independents. Identity' of the leaders, or the pro- posed Philly combine is a closely- guarded secret, bin il was learned that Ihey are a couple of men-who have been active in independent theatre movements hero. Another meeting of Ihe Philadel- phia group is expected lo be held •'next week. The combination should • start functioning within Ihe month. L. A. to N Y. Frank Bcrend Ken Cook Philip Duniie George Edwards ■ William Elliott Joan Fontaine Jean lieisho.ll Jack Kai-p Allah Lane Laudy Lawrence Jacques Leslie 1 Jules Levey Lou Levy . Howard J. London Joseph Mankiewicz John Masterson Bob Mclirnes : Bertie Niciiols . George Pal John Perri "Olio Preminger Maurice Ransford Budd Rogers Frank 'Seltzer Winifred Shank Mike Spcclor Larry Stevens Harry II. Thomas Arlhur. Van Horn "Little Women/' on which Merv'yn LeRoy will .start tensing Aug. 15. Paul MacNamara. Sel'ziiick's' press chief: who has also, been east, re- turns lo the Coast some time next week. He's working on the "Duel" campaign and - getting publicity started on "Paradine" and -"Women." Preem of "Duel"-definitely will be held in Texas, but in. what city has not yet . been determined. MacNa- mara has set up p.a. Claude Morris ■''• . in an office in Dallas to'start the M P**- S'h Combine Texas publicity rolling arid to sur- Minneapolis. May 21; vey the situation to aid in deciding Firth, independent buying and on a preem town. ' booking circuit hiis been '.formed by Meantime. Neil Agnew. Selznick's : exhibitors in (he Twin Cities. Called v.p in charge of distribution, 'was i 4""«P*»».<!«"t Theatre Assn.. group is operated on Friday • 117-t. in a New . conlpo<*d of several circiiil owners. York hospital for.a"hernia. His con- | w'. 111 '. H ?™y -G»wne. Jr... president: dition : .was: reported i.Tuesday) as good. "■ ■ ■ sccrc- Vidor Draws Full Credit .i'"'^' Holiyw.M)d. May 21. ! , A '-'. nve - °' f "* w buying and Direclor credit for "Duel in Ihc °"" k "'«. Kioups have come into ex- Sun." a picture with a flock of di- ! V 1 *!™. 1,1 !' lh «" P«sl year, and present- rectors, will go to King Vidor! I.'!.'. .'. c .'?. ' < ! l ''' i .' ll ! e . . ,n; '' ">ereH be few David O. Selznick. producer, put the i problem up to the Screen .Directors ! Guild, which decided the contest between The two leading candidates. Vjdor and William Dieterle. - Others who. had a hand in the direction of the lllni wore Chester Franklin.. Breezy Ealon and the late Olio Browcr. N. Y. to L. Bud. Ablxilt Dane Clark Harry Cohn Lou 'Co.st.ello Allan F. Cumming.i Tyree Dillard Leo Kilzpalrick Aileen Francis Martin Gabel Jack Mellilian . Oscar Karlweis Art. Kaye . Fred Kohlm.ar Jack Kreigor Arlhur Lake Irving Lazar. Lawrence Phillips-. Ilaiiiy Rcyel Nicholas M. Schenck Pcniiy Singlelon BillTreadweli A. LONDON to N. Bud Flanagan Haydch Talbot ■'. Y. Alec Moss OK Now Following a prolonged illness. Zoltan Korda Signs 2-Pix Pact With Alex Zoltan Korda will join. Alexander . Koida next summer as producer-di- rector on a two piclure (leal just ' pacled. Currently di reel in;; Ernest Hemingway's "Short Happy Life of Francis Macombcr.'' Zoltan Kiirda's first piclure under the ticket will bo iilniizalion of Thomas Mann's "Magic Mountain:" recently acquired from the aulhor by sir Alex. Second will be "Hungarian Rhapsody." an oiigi- nal based on trie, lire or Franz Liszt: Renewal of his London Mm niak- ing niarks / resumption of Zoitan'.-- career, as (lireclor in both i-iiunliies. He directed .''Elephant Biiy.-' "Jungle Book." "Sahara" and sever:-! olliers, Guy Marlon. coiltiiieiital.liii>rar> and lilm ligine. will join him lis copro- duccr.of liic two films'. Spigelgass Aiding Mayer On MPA's tt Educationals Leonard Spigelgass. Hollywood scripler: is in New York on leave, from Hal Walli.s Product ions, lo col- laborate with Arlhur Mayer on (he educational dim project o( Ihe .Mo- tion Picture Association of America. ■ Plans! at present, call for six films : on subjects which acadeniic liulhori- |iies and leaclH-rs reporl serve iority o( picture nione.v is spent, theatre meii depend upon uiu-king- almost exclusively rfor their, lilm transportation. In instances -.vficre there is no (rucking service. ;,nd lliis is rare, parcel post or ihe more ex- pensive air express can be used: Kx- hibitors.in ihe less densely popu- lated areas Jire prepared to drive Iheir own/cars -to di";lribulion cen- ters, where in many cases they would probably be permiiled lo pick up-more than the number of prims Ihey have booked for the immediate future. Exchange heads .-ay thai ihey have enough prints on hand to keep ex- hibitors who stretch their runs sup- plied for four weeks.This would ' eventually bring about a rash of re- issues which would have lo serve during the emergency period. Should this period extend beyond I Iir four- week limit. National Film Carriers are reported lo have developed a shuttle system -under which Ihe na- tion would be divided into arbitrary districts for. motor transportation of li In is. When a truck reached (lie end of its district there would be another there lo carry the print cargo on to the next, border. ::nd so on. In any case, the exchanges won't be caught with llieii- prints down. Rosselli Loses in Move To Leave Atlanta Pen New Orleans. May 21. An effort of John Rosselli lo obtain release from ihe Atlanta. Ga.. peni- tentiary, where he is serving a .10- year term for his pari in a conspira- cy involving the altcnipled extortion of over $1,000,000 from four lilm slu- i dios. was.denied here Thursday ill!) by Ihe U. S. circuit court <>r appeals. , The court afllrmed Ihe ruling of . , ,. a,ul ■' <fHI ' Piei re. Judge E. Marvin Underwood of Hie AumoiK. her husband. Historical .smuhern division ot Georgia, which yarn based on love of Fran*-Joseph 1 oil Nov. 27. 1945, denied a petition and Elizabeth of Austria is budgeted for a writ or habeas corpus. In the 1)1.1 V.LMI- I ■ — ...... |'< i m . yesterday Charles Riibensteiu and-Ted- Mann. * '. .,- vice-presidents: M. K-. • Montgomery. . treasurer, and Lyle Carisch. unorganized independent exhibitors iii territory by the end or l!14B. in spite of disliibiilor's opposition to treiid. Mr. & Mrs. to Reenact Franz Joseph Romance Hollywood. May 21. Charles R.' Rogers will produce "Queen of Hearts." based on Best-' seller "Golden Fleece." si an Maria Montez for $2,000,000 and to be directed bv Alexis Thurii-Taxis. Aiimonl moves over (in loanoiil from Metro while Miss Moiilez. is allowed one outside film on her Uni- petiliou for the writ. Rosselli claimed that Ihe New York court which'sen- ' lenced him on -Dec. :tl. : l!M:l. io 10 ' years and a $10,000 I'uie was without 1 jurisdiction'. ycrsal ticket vcmbei Film will roll in No- I i' c was indicted by the N. V. fed' I era I grand jury March IB, linn, along -— -— : ! wilh eight others for conspiring 1° ' violate Ihe anti-racketeering act. ! The indicimenl alleged liiat liie de- fendants and three confcileiiilcs I would "atlenipl tonbtain by the use , I of force and violence the pa.Miicnls duel!..,, -i^u f " l 1 " u -'":"""- P'"- i of upward of $1,000,000 bv deniand- diiclion. II Happened in tiooklyn. ' Will be filmed in lhal boroi.gh. M-G to Shoot Wklyn' There ' Hollywood. Mav i\. Most Troiipe led-by Richard wiiorf. di- rector, will spend'sK-K wi-eks in-.Flat- hush ' and vicinity, shooiin;: outdoor sci ncs with Frank Sinatra .nid Peter 'I Ji'ivford. Leaves /Bob' for 'Geo.' Hollywood. May 21. Life is oive shirt aHer aii.ilh ( r for Peggy Ciinimiiis. Brilish ariress.- who has been tiansrcrrcd. lo "The Laic George Apley" Ironl "Bob. Son or Alec Moss.-.exploitation manager for ! stumbling blocks iii (he ^ducalional Bailie," arter a previous switch Trom Pai iimoiml. reiurned lo his desk »l ! process. , "Forever Amber." the.homeofficemi Monday i'20). Away from the office five weeks he spent inosl ot this lime recup- erating in Miami. 1 process. ' " ■ "Forever Amber i Spigelgass recently finished the | Filming or "Apley" starts June 10. j scenario tor "Perrort Marriage. " wilh Fred Knlilmar. producing. Jo- .'.based upon the stage play of Ihe seph Mankiewicz directing ;.nd Ron- i saine ntiine.. • j aid Column .starring. ing lhal their victims pay for proler- lion to prevent the ilclendanls and confederates from . obstructing pro- duction' and distribution--of fih.ns throughout the nation." Washer Changes Mind Ben Washer, who resigned/Iroin' the 'Samuel Cloldwyn Hackery- in New Yolk. (Wo weeks ago. did, a switch and -.returned'- to his dek there Monday '<20r. following tele- phonic/ talks with Guldwyii aitil press chief Lyiin Farnol- V'' 10 . w . !lS on the Coasl, . Farnol returned lb N'< w Vork Sunday i|9) after a Week at die studio and a short -lour wi'li l,u ' Goldwyn Girls. Six of Ihe gals, i"- cidcnU'illy. hiive been set for a ol Latin. America.