Variety (April 1953)

niM 1EVXEWS * April ± 2 , X9S3 f«mer Takes * Wife (SONGS—COLOR) Teehnic«I*r musical starve Betty Grable; «®ly so-so o.o. chances. Hollywood, April 21.'* aotb-Fox release cf Frank P, Bosen^erfi • prodEction. Stars Betty Grabte. D*l t | ertson, TheJraa Bitter. iff ^’ i lures Eddie Foy. Jr., CJa^dt* Kalldeeo Crowley, Mem AJ*5ers, Dw«* j Lee Hickey. Directed by ! Screenplay, Walter BaEwt Sally Benson. Joseph Fields; ftra* the stase pl^y b? ■ Fraak B. ESser and Mac CooneDy; based n ob the apreh "Home Had,” by j Bdmoito^JBWa tTechmsdlj*?, ittto 3 E. Arling: editcr. Loois LgefCer; *~ags»i| Harold Aries, Dcrctt^y _ FSeSds; ehr.ie- cgntphy. Jack CcSe. Prevsewed AprJ 17, •. 'a Bfioase bate, tl MIMS. VoJly . . „ Betty Grab 1 !* : Daniel Hsjt©« I Lucy CwMsSiar 1 Jolham K3ere „ Joc Cj® ; Fortune Fiwn£3y "i p»srl . ......... Charlotte AcsSun. ,| Susanna Kathiaen CrcwSs* ■ Susanna . iierry AsnSers : fy.-”Ta Lee Kck-?y . Jioreisn llschaeils TTaS'Saai FriEea • .... Jaiaata Erea* ■■ JE«rt KEH= ' ... Let Ttor3>c2 ■! .. Esnrarfl XegSey , . „. Jshit* JcrAia „ Geae Bstij ■ ,... . , M*2 Faf-e ; . C%r*n**Si VerS.523 . ..... IRrea Graham ■ Jack SStooey ii ii mng _ E« I T te T 'j Race Official Gerfna n Hannah Eta Amy --- A**V* John Miss Eranz Floyd - - - - - Airiy Got. Fish Boatwife Ethan UcCcrlhr Abner Green .... A hi Fail . ...... UcCradai Galbooley . Drank 1 Idlcfvt lit Yw *1 Bellevt III You” British import opening at the Baronet Theatre, nTY., Monday (27), was reviewed from London ear Yahiext in the issue of April 2, 1952. Pic, which stars CeBa Johnson, Cedi Parker and Godfrey Tearle, spotlights the work of probation officers, via a documentary-like treatment, in relating a story .of yodths from the slums mixed up with criminal gangs. Myro said that "In a modest sort of way, it is engrossing material and should get fair boxoffsce returns on either side of the Atlantic.” Acting, on the whole, drew favorable comments from the reviewer, as did Michael Belph’s direc- tion. Pic is being released in the CL S. by Universal-Inter- national as a U-I Special Films Division release. fEeataiss to fie Seen * (SONGS) Fairly entertaining comedy* mystery, with June Allyson, Tan Johnson; okay for general bookings. Hollywood. April 20. jjcjI release of Arthur Honblov. Jr., | j-T <T»»fr-ng«tfr>^ Stars Jose AUyson, Van John -1 NawgMjr Mtrttw CFKENCH) Globe Rim* release U GatcmoaiFtAiMlre , HairfwiV pamdtteUen. star* Dany Kofcln, rClamte Dauphin; features Iffcten Barwat Hear! YSdzL Marguerite Moreno- Directed by EL E. Belnert- Screenplay. J*<*jnes Gompaiteez. At. 55th St. Playboase, N.Y., Apm R nnning time, H MIHS. Marline ... Daay Bebm . Brevanaes Oau<te J>»uphm j Baron « Lucien Baroux Pterre ... ... ...V../. Henri Vidal Schoolmistress Marguerite Moreno . % (In French: English Titles) A saucy, urbane outlook on life, a sexy setting in a girls’ boarding school and hijinks in a chichi ski resort in the French Alps, all com- bine to make this amiable comedy a fine b.o. lure on the art-house circuit. Lack of marquee names, its English titles and carefree moral viewpoint, though, will prob- ably limit its general release. Charming scenario by Jacques Companeez revolves around the ro- mantic ups-and-downs of Dany Robin as Martine. She’s a pert, pouty little number, with an addic- tion for spinning fibs, wtaoi leaves an exclusive boarding school to be- come an adventuress. She takes up with Lucien Baroux, who, as # a scroundrelly card sharp, con artist and fake baron, easily steals the film. Baroux. given the wittiest! dialog, plays his role as a gentle- man humbug to the hilt. When an Alpine avalanche cuts off their escape. Miss Robin oblig- Yiio Atfasfitn "The Assassin,” * British Im- port which preemed at the Sutton Theatre, N.Y., Friday (17), was reviewed by Vaiw O ct. 29,1952, under its original title of ’‘Venetian Bird.” Ap- praising its b.o. potential, Myro rated this Betty Box produc- tion as a "pedestrian meller with an implausible plot which does not take positive shape until die last couple of reels. It won’t command much atten- tion in overseas markets.” Written by Victor Canning from his novel of the same name, the script concerns a private detective who becomes implicated in a plot to kill a political leader in Venice. Richard Todd, the reviewer thought, "struggles manfully” in the role of the private eye, while Eva Rertok, cast as the wife of the heavy, is ‘'com- pletely wasted.” Direction of Ralph Thomas was considered "so-so.” Ernest Steward’s cam- erawork was praised. United Artists is distributing in the L.S. _ » »&. f,.,. Fiscaroon. »anf ^uos meu estate, iiai aa iwum uuug- BCtty Grab-e, cS *fce screen .or spends the night in a cave some time, needs a rssrria more i^poafweig. j with a robust mountain guide, auspicious vehicle ffrgn- tfofe fisedS-' ss* cr. saner sa»eidoB; on play fey Henri YidaL At first, she thinks cere musical for her reborn. Tie cotton warburton;|she has fallen for the young cave- entertainment valsies ^ re^c nSy u-iewed. April ns, * 53 . Hunnine time, ea j i0a f to his buxom peasant girl so at best and the glossing pros- t mihs. ] and fades into a clinch with Dau- pects are ol like ealitae. j S£,*gE?^ v£f i^S ! ” " - "The ranKrJ&g*iT'SlS first screened in 1935 as a straight. ^ Gienfon John. Beal drama, the same as it was on the ■ Dorothy Dandridse ......... Herself ■ stage, and it doesn’t take smoothly o^lair • — * * * *; * ! to the injiectioa of songs and West Kathrra card songs rianfps, probably because the tun- Mr. Bearatt Faol Harvey ing is unimpressive and the numbers lacking m bounce. Miss j u«iapp OuateeLase Grable and Dale Robertson achieve • Det. Mm e tti Larry BWce moderate results on “Somethin': Frank Nelson Officer roller Bobert Foulk Real Special ” which gets a reprise. < nemini’ "With the Sun Warm Upon Me” ] officer : and "We’re in Business.” The lat- | — * ter is used as a mild production | The * macabre comedy offered in number, as is Miss Grable’s ”T°“! “Remains to Be Seen” comes off day, I Love Everybody, another Ij ^ a fairly entertaining pace, and tune that is reunsed. Other Har-«. ^ picture shapes up as an okay old Arlen-Dorothy Fields songs are ; re iease for general bookings. Names "On the Erie Canal,”“We’re Doin’ ■? of Jtme ARyson and VmJohnson It For the Natives in Jamaica,” , BTe ^ ite fevor for ^tes in regular on which John Carroll comes in for i situations. a short chorus, and "Can You Spell \ __ v v nvti hr- Fnr \ "3sed on the stage play Dy 0y *” ■ r y ’ Howard Jindsay Sc Russel Crouse, Jr ‘4^° r tS t> , ! the Arthur Homblow, Jr„ produc- The Frank P. Rosenberg pro- ; tion roils along »m»?diig l y milling auction tells the story of a farm j a story about how a band canary boy who takes a job on the Erie | an< t ^ apartment house manager Canal to save jnoney for a farm, j get up in a Park Ave, meets a barge cook, falls in love, \ murder, but find time to fall in love and returns with her to the soil 1 during the mystery developments when the railroad puts the canal as well as to get off two songs and out of business. Henry Levin’s a dance direction hasn’t much to work with ^ w rfs . direction is eenerallv Sct'aSnSJr 1 *£8 ?Jb5!*ES£ KSS «2k^S he^Ss b |eripfb| El’tS ^olto.fnL k nLos I Sidne y Sheldon°ieatoes^a lot of m the unfoldment. Dialog is poor, J j ive - that fits the two princi- phin, the middieaged composer, preferring his suave city style. Marguerite Moreno plays the boarding house mistress. Actors uniformly handle their brittle -dialog in the best French Noel Coward manner, and director E. E. Reinert has lensed their an- tics with a view to exploiting adroitly the full values of the girls* boarding school and snowy moun- tain settings. Rash* USSR Today Artkino release of Central Documentary Studios (Kiev, Riga, Alma-Ata Film Stu- dios! production. Directed by Georgl Bobrov, nnmaw Karmen, Maria Stepanova, Ivan Gfigorovich, Leonid Kristi. Feodor Kiselov. S. Gurov. At Stanley Theatre, N.Y., April 18, *53. -Running time, H MIHS. 5 | a legit business, with a cafe tie-in. 1 A playboy chips in with com so he ran paw over fresh recruits. But the hero, a candy salesman (Leon- ardo Cortese), shows up in time to rescue the girl from the ring. Irene Genna, comely blonde, shows promise as the country girl who tries her luck in the big city. Otello Toso is a proper villain as a publisher of pulp magazines, gam- bler and link with the modeling agency. Eleondra Rossi Drago dis-| plays the proper amount of anguish as the femme about to be shipped to Brazil through a white-slave or- ganization. Araaldo Foa, as Toso’s righthand man, plays the shady character * who spots ^ promising femmes. Franca Marzi makes a typical proprietor of a girls’ "room- ing house.” Supporting cast is ade- quate. Director Leonardo De Mitri also had a hand in the story and screen- play, and does a good job. He shares story credits with G. Pros- peri, who also had a hand in the script Diego Fabbri and Turi Vasile likewise helped on the screenplay. Giuseppe La Torre does okay with the camera. Wear, WotfSM’S&rS ConOnud from pag« 4 pealing ‘product’ which can come from no other source.” On the question of industry trade practices, the former TOA topper said that it seemed illogical to abandon hope and work toward the 1 setting up of an arbitration system 1 "Most of aH,” he said, "it is the little exhibitor who should be clam- orlng for arbitration, and it is folly to junk the progress that has been made. It has been said before, but it needs emphasis: that when the courts awgrd the Hometown Amusement Co. dn the Atlantic coast $1,000,000 in damages, it is John Exhibitor * in Seattle who helps pay those damages in in- creased film rentals.” Wolfson said that arbitration is the only answ er, since; no other method to prevent "ruinqus litigation has ever been offered” Wolfson was accompanied to Se- attle by K. D. Martin, TOA veepee. Pair move on to Portland tomorrow (Wed.) where they will address Oregon exhibs. On Thursday <23\ they’re due in San Francisco to meet with the board of the Cali- fornia Theatre Assn. Their tour will end with a meeting of exhib leaders'of the Southern California Theatre Owners Assn, in Los An- geles April 25. ABCRufc Continued from pace 4 and is delivered in an odd assort- ment of dialects by the players as the story begins. However, the accents are soon dropped. Sev- eral fight sequences are featured In the footage, but they could have been more exciting. pals and provides some chuckles to leaven the suspense. Mystery comes about when Miss Allyson’s millionaire uncle, a char- acter whom she doesn’t like, gets a knife in his chest after he had w Miss Grable takes prettily to the j fn £iS p° r iSSr $Sh° d 1 11115 development are Johnson, fanw 33 f?f , a r 3 manager of the Park Ave. apart- ment but a drummer boy at heart, This 90-minute documentary is a ! Soviet progress and happiness re- 1 port that has little entertainment value, even for the Red partisans. It’s divided into two parts, first being a Magicolor travelog of four of the Soviet’s republics, while lat- ter half is a black-and-white pic- torial tagged "Folk Dances.” Color effects in the first portion treat the eye to some okay pano- ramic scenes, but the similarity of each episode has a lulling effect. Camera steadily dwells on the So- viets working on farms and in fac- tories, studying in schools and spending their leisure frolicking at the beaches and dancing in native costume. Shots of modern build- ings, modernized cities and endless, albeit, pretty parks have the effect of riffling through picture post cards. The many directors ‘credited have shown little imagination, and the commentary, in English, is laudatory and dull. “Folk Talent,” the black-and- white presentation directed by S. the farmer turned boatman, Rob- ertson is okay, but-is out of his element in picture’s musical re- quirements, light as they are. Car- roll is asked to. do little but blus- ter through his role of a rival boat- man, and, as previously noted, is called upon to display his baritone in only one short snatch of song. Thelma Ritter is the fourth co star, playing the police and Louis Calhern, the dead man’s attorney. As footage unfolds, vthe shenanigans are seen as part of a scheme of Angela Lansbury to fasten the blame on John Beal, a crooked doctor, and collect the dead man’s millions for her own. Apartment in which most of the action takes place is deco- 1 rated with masks and relics that go La Voee Del Silenzio (The Voice of Silence) (FRANCO-IT ALLAN) Genoa, April 7. Lux Film release of Cines-Frenco Lon- don Film production. Stars Aldo Fabriri. Jean Marais, Daniel Gelin, Frank Villard, Cosette Greco, Antonio Crast, Edoardo Cianelli; features Paolo PaneUi. Fernando Fernan-Gomez. Rosanna Podecta, Maria Graxim Francia, Enrico Lori, Franco Sca- durxa, Cbeceo Durante, .Paolo Stoppa. Pina PlovanL Directed by G. W. Pabst. Screenplay, Pabst. Tolnay, Prosperl. Coc- teau. Bost. Lauderbach. Berto, Biancoll, Pinelli, Tompkins; Treuber. Tecchi, from story by Cesare Zavattini; camera, Gabor Pogany; music, Enzo Masetti; editor, Eraldo Da Roma. At Palazzo, Genoa. Run- j nine time, 110 MINS. 20th, which is converting to Cine- mascope entirely. Special lens would have to be used to promote Cinemascope pix on TV, unless 20th is willing to lens special 16m footage. According to the ABC proposed format, the MPAA show would be filmed using the technical produc- tion facilities currently in use for lensing the "Ozzie and Harriet” show. If MPAA endorses the pilot film, ABC would get exclusive sell- ing rights to the series to Dec. 31, *53. If, by that time, there’s no bankroller in sight, pic and idea go back to MPAA. Should the lat- ter not like the way the initial stanza turns out, ABC would scrap the pic, whieh should cost in the neighborhood of $10,000. In acknowledgment of various onions’ personality contributions ’to the show, the sponsor would be required to shell out coin for the Motion Picture Fund and also to meet certain MPAA expenses. "Hollywood Parade” would be emceed by different stars each week, with the pilot probably using MPAA proxy Eric Johnston as host. Despite production gloss and an j all-star European cast, "Voice” j looks a slow* mover on most mar-’ kets. Weighty content, seldom re- laxing its grim mood, plus its han- dling, will encounter limited audi- ence sympathy, arty or otherwise. Mosaic plot, overdeveloped from Gotov, “suffers from repetition. It’s \ an idea by Cesare Zavattini, fol- an amateur terp exhibition-and]lows several men on a three-day each of the groups repped in the ] spiritual retreat through their Moscow dance contests go through j mental qualms, as they mull over their native routines but after rrar nlatHtifr r% mWI* s tavcu wiwi auapiw auu vuai gu Sftriio^S 8 de%^? 0 jFoy W a with th f “-^ intents There's salesman w 7, a rum j a secret door thrown in for good few chances™ com^y^The Sthera “T?"? 6 ? h elp *?*? th , e ? uspense in the cast have very^r rale"! pt1llCipal5 “ come ' Arthur E. Ariing’s color lensing ’ m hanger, features bright post card tints. Edi- you’ve seen the first you’ve seen ’em alL Gros. ting has trimmed the picture down to 80 minutes. Brog, Miss Allyson is perfectly at home as the jive-talking band singer and does much to carry the picture. She and Johnson sings "Toot Toot ] Tootsie, Goodbye” and "Too Mar- ; velous for Words” agreeably. Col Skeds 9 Overseas In Npw Johnson goes through the demands ill new Location Irena of his role nicely but his long hair Hollywood, April 21 - seems at variance with his hep Columbia is going far afield to : character. Calhern is good, Miss shoot its 1953 production program ! Lansbur y mysterious and Beal with nine pictures slated for film- \ acce Ptable. Dorothy Dandridge is ing on foreign soil and seven more « " Titten 111 a nitery singer for due for lensing beyond the limit* one s ? ng » ‘Taking a Chance on of California Love.” Barry Kelley, Sammy Currently in production in Lon ^ te ' Kathr 5? 1 Card ® nd ft* don is “Hell Below Zero”' others “* ca P able - of the Sun” will be filmed in RtS < Technical assists, including the zil; “High CoiiuLd^Sa 4h'! lensi »8 b y Robert Planck and the Hinan canad? : rau „ sical dttec 5°“ b V T “* *’~ Black Knight” and *TCchami The ander ' are good - Lion Hearted” In England; "Lola Montez m BavSria* "Debut*' in - Italy, and "Casanova” in Tt* t£ ’ tlon Program calls for five start- Sprin In an , d : ers > “Screaming Eagles,” "Canai- Eteroity” and ‘7^ IsX ! P aI l sland *” Pass,” "Re- son" wiH be shot in Hawaii. • ^ j age^FronUer! 1 ^ and 4<Sav ’ Verginita (ITALIAN) I-F.EL release of Romana Fflm produc- tion. Stars Leonardo Cortese, Irene Genna. Eleonora Rossi Drago. Directed by Leonardo De Mitri. Screenplay by De Mitri. G. Prosperl, Diego Fabbri, Tori J Vasile, from story by De Mitri and Pros- per!; camera, Giuseppe La Torre. At Cinema Verdi. N.Y., April 17, '53. Running tbne, 74 MINS. Gina Irene Genna Mara Eleonora Rossi Dfago Franco Leonardo Cortese Giancarlo Otello Toso Landlady Franca Marzi \ Rene Araaldo Foa M. Find Tamara Lees Jeff Alex- Brog. Edward Email’s summer produc- (In Italian ; English titles) This highly melodramatic story of an Italian white-slave ring is told with bold flourishes. Even with deft pruning and what appears to be cleaning Up of the English titles, the N.Y, censors must have a prob- lem. Story is an unsavory screen subject at best and the leering, methodical way in which it is told doesn’t make it more palatable. A highly competent cast is worthy of a better yarn. However, the film looks to get good business at Ital- ian-language theatres. Yarn concerns a hardworking, smalltown femme who enters a beauty contest in a big city. When she misses out. a rep for a model agency suggests she earn a living past end present and try to re- establish their purpose in life. Among victims of their problems are a politician with a guilt com- plex about having killed . some civilians during a war action; a returned vet who finds his wife remarried and happier than before; a pulp writer whose books may have caused a murder; a thief who has entered the retreat to escape seizure; and a candle merchant whose more worldly problem in- cludes danger of a new synthetic candle which may .ruin his busi- Book of Riles ContinuM from page 3 thing about films being peddled in too versions- Three-D pix can also be exhibited in theatres only equipped for the standard 2-D’ers. Consequently the latter can claim being left out in the cold with such dual-type product if the distrib insists on the first playoff in only 3-D houses. The same situation could obtain with bigsereen entries, particularly now that some companies such as Paramount want to give standard pix the "new look” via adapting them for widened projection. Ques- tion unanswered by the legalites is whether theatremen, who can't convert to largescreen, will be en- titled to bid for such product in its standard size. Clearances must be "reasonable.” says the court, and this means an- ness. With exception of the last ] other poser. For, if an exhib w’ants t^ 0 ’ -n- e j < e £j by Paolo | a subsequent run ofTsay Warners’ and Aldo Fabrai s colorful -House of Wax ” in 2-D. how long arouse sj mtath^ “ even much i^ l Would he have *° wait feHowin * terest in their problems. # Characters are cold and over- simplified, and their brief flash- backed tales too patly resolved for; belief. It’s a case of too-many-" scripters-spoil-the-stoiy, and the j intricate but empty screenplay pro-! vides an inadequate guide for the pic’s showcasing in 3-D at a firstrun house? Antifnst Bills Continued from page ,4 Pabst’s direction. Pic’s message is - Reed (R., HI ), chairman of the often stated, rarely felt, and the 5 Judiciary Committee, w*ould ter- 1 r ? e provided by ] minate compulsory treble damage mvoluntarily steal verdicts in private antitrust suits. Technical tv nic ic innnnfcK «-?«, ■ w °uld permit the trial judge to Pabst’s” 1 band ’ aaen inGabw p£ i set damage verdict, in b^dig gany’s excellent lensing. and ex.S2 cefaon > at ar 'V fiRure R™" 1 actual penses have obviously not been; damages to treble damages, spared. Much - ballyhooed ctrinl House committee turned Dorn -i - woujnuuuu Stnp li , . „ , j . . —■_ . a , scenes in which gal’s (Rosanna ! blll S over to a subcommittee, heaa- by posing. It is never made very j Podesta) clothes are auctioned off 11 ed by Keating, to see if they can clear whether the agency setup i§ • was almost entirely cut in Italian' be put into one piece of legisla- only a blind for procuring gals or is > version seen l\ere. Haick. i tion. L