Variety (February 1954)

HCTIJ1M Wedaeida^ Fekrnirjr 24, 1954 >♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦♦ » ♦ » »♦♦+ ♦♦♦ » »» + » + 4 f ♦ 4 M ♦♦ ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦++♦ »♦♦ ♦+ »♦♦ NEW YORK Bussell V. Downing, managing director of Radio City Musk Hall, N. Y., named chairman of dinner committee for N. Y, Variety Club's first annual Heart Award Dinner, it was announced; by Tent 39 tem- per Edward Fabian. ' Dinner on May 6 will honor Wil- liam J. German, head of Variety Club Foundation to Combat Epilepsy. , . Mitchell Wolfson, a member of directorate of Theatre Owners of America and operator of a Florida circuit, received citation for his ef- forts in employing physically handicapped. Citation was pre- sented Wolfson In Washington by Maj. Gen. Melvin J. Mass, U. S. Marine Corps Reserve, a member of the President’s Committee on Employment of the Physically Handicapped. Jules Lapidus, Warner Bros, eastern and ' Canadian division sales manager, on swing of the company’s branch offices in the central district. PHILADELPHIA George Murphy, film actor, re- cuperating here following opera- tion to remove small growth from vocal chords. f Jack Romaner, Stanley-Warner shorts subject booker, left com* S ariy tb go into bit for himself in . Y. Irv Loomis, film supervisor, replaces him. V Bert Leighton, manager of the Grand. Lancaster. Pa., working with dislocated shoulder as a re- sult of a fall. Jack Engel celebrated 25 years on Vine St. (18). Engel started with Universal, switched to RKO and finally wound up with Screen Guild. Phil Silvers was in town Feb. 17 In conjunction with world preein of ‘’Top Banana” at Goldman The- Joe Nevison. district maifager for the A. M. Ellis chain, returned to insurance business. Walt Disney received National Educational Assn, award Feb. 17 for his film, “Living Desert” at Haddon Hall, Atlantic City. Danny Kaye made personal ap- pearance at Sunday morning (21) preview of “Knock on Wood” at Mkltown Theatre, with Paramount and Decca Records sponsoring in- vitational showing. Stanley-Warner Lindley adopted policy of German films on week- ends, Ulrik Smith. Paramount branch manager, is distributor chairman for Brotherhood Week in this area. Bill Gandall. Universal flack, worked with Elmer Rickard, man- ager of Stanley, on exploitation campaign for “Glenn Miller Story.” named chairman of the Variety Club bouse commlttoo for 1954, Lee’s Woodland ozoner in Parks Township near • Leechburg, Pa., will not reopen when the outdoor season arrives, Harold A. Lee, the owner, stated he refused to collect a 10% amusement tax for the county. ■ v . ., * Ted Grarice elected president of the Tri-State Drive-In Theatres Assn, for 1954. Other offices are James Nash, veepee; Joseph Volpe, secretary, and Ernest Stern* treasr- urer. Both Volpe and Stern re- elected to directorate along with John A. Robb. - • Harold (Red) O'Donnell, veep of operators union and a projec- tionist at the Art Cinema for last 12 years, left that theatre to. go with the SW circuit. A1 Yerman, from nabe Triangle, replaces O’Donnell at the Art Cinema. Stan Dudelson, former RKO salesman ..here, resigned as UA 1 manager in DeS Moines to join his father, Moe Dudelson; who was with UA a long time, in operating National Telefilms Associates, in Detroit. * M. A. Silver, zone manager for Stanley-Warner circuit, and his wife returned from month’s vaca- tion in Palm Beach, Fla. Silver stopped off in New York for a S-W board meeting. With Cinemascope installations completed in 10 neighborhood and suburban houses, “The Robe” has opened extended second-runs in most outlying spots. 20th-Fox sent Hal Marshall here to kick off the campaign. Picture business going all-out to cooperate . with Cambria County officials in celebrating county’s 150th anni this summer. Earl Gordon celebrated his first anni as manager of the Squirrel Hill, the.; clicko art naber. Bert Steam, head of Co-Opera- tive Theatres, indie booking com- bine, headed for Coast to huddle with Maurice L. Conn and Connie Mack on latter’s life story. Steam and Conn tied up the screen rights to the Mack saga several months ago. let’ 9 In schools with special rate of 50c for student groups. * “Go Man Go” pegged for RKO Grand on March 9. Bell & Howell absorbing DeVry Corp., manufacturer of film projec- tors, as of April 15. Purchase price undisclosed. McVickers switching to Wednes- day openings as permanent policy with current bill to build up week- ends. * Abe Platt of B&K and Bob Flan- nery of Whiteway Signs are co- chairmen of amusements for cur- rent Red Cross drive. B&K -settled for $20,000 from auctioneers for art objects, furni- ture, and other gingerbread ac- cumulated from refurbished thea- tres. Ray Hemple appointed head of special trailer department at Na- tional Screen Service vice Bill Harris who ankled the company a week ago for Fllmack Trailers. Jack Garber, B&K flack, back at his desk after surgery and conva- lescence. PITTSBURGH William F. Adler, ed-publisher of Pittsburgh and tri-state edition of TV Guide, elected prexy of Northside Amus. Co., which owns Ben Amdur’s Garden Theatre on the Northside, % Harry Rees, who until recently was with UA. has joined the Han- na organization here as salesman for its Franklin Film Exchange. Meade Theatre in Meadville be- ing purchased by Salvation Army, and will be remodeled into the SA headquarters there,. Eli Kaufmann, who operated an indie poster exchange here for many years, went to National Screen Service in New York on a roving assignment as a tv trailer rep. Hollywood Theatre at Hastings acquired by the Moose lodge and will be re-named Moose Theatre. Ray S c o 11, telesportscaster, .../ ST. LOUIS Leon Jarodsky, owner of the Lincoln and Paris, Paris, 111., readying his new 500-car ozoner near that town. Francis Barry, Navy vet, suc- ceeded James Bradshaw as mana- ger of the State, O’Fallon, 111., owned by Charles Goldman, St. Louis. Dominic Frisina, head of the Frisina Amus. Co., closed the Frisina in Taylorville, 111., and re- opened its ; Capitol, a 1,224-seat house in- same town. Company re- tagged the Ritz, a 560-seater,. the New Frisina, in the same city; For. first time in 14 years pol- | icy at the Roxy, Ramsey* 111., owned by Woody* Proffer has been changed. It now shows three fea- ures weekly instead of four, Henry Zack, former office mana- ger for Universal’s St. Louis ex- change, now a salesman for Re- public; replaced by William Emas, formerly with Allied Artists here.. Ralph Welch shuttered his Ill- inois, Newman, 111, Eddie Rudolph, Jr., who oper- ated the State, Columbia, 111., un- til' it was destroyed by fire early last year, joined, the St. Louis sales staff of Republic. Norvin Garner, owner of an ozoner between Liblourne and New Madrid, Mo., constructing an- other near Dexter. Mo. Publix Great States Circuit sold the Orpheum, a 1,200-seater in Quincy, 111., to Perry Heffler but will continue to operate the Wash- ington, 1,493-seat house in same town, St. Louis Amus. Cq., relinquished its lease on the nabe Aubert; house will be concerted into a su- per market. rr-RMMO CITY MUSIC HUl- .Rockefeller Center \ • ■ LUCILLE BALL • DEStARHAZ.. "THE LONG, LONG TRAILER” Photocfsphed in Anrco Color Print by Technicolor • An Ni-G-NI Picture *nd SnCTACilU STAGE rUttNTMION LOS ANGELES ■ Warners has slated its 3-D pro- duction, ; “Phantom of the. * Rue Morgue,” for mass booking in 250 theatres out of Cincinnati, Cleve- land and Indianapolis, opening Feb. 24. . Saturation booking, covering 70 theatres in Southern California/ set by Allied Artists for “Riot ih Cell Block 11.” Film will open March 31, accompanied by a TV-radio campaign blanketing the area from L. A. to San Diego. Don Halley, formerly with :the United Paramount circuit in Kan- sas City, appointed manager of the Los Angeles Paramount theatre, succeeding Buzz Davenport, who entered private business. . Columbia closed a deal to dis- tribute “End of the Affair,” to be produced by David Rose and David Lewis in England with Deborah L-Kerr starring. DALLAS Henry Munder sound engineer for Dorsett Laboratories of New Orleans, installed a special Pana- phonic sound system at _ Melba Theatre here for showing of “Wings Of the Hawk.” Exhibitors throughout, the area invited to the demonstration. The Plaza at Denton reopened under the ne\y ownership of C. L. Robinson, who also owns._and op- erates the El Ranchq Drive-In there* Home Theatre, White Face, for- merly owned and operated by Jack Holman, sold to J. B. Prather, who operates, theatres at Hale Center. The 183 Drivein here opened a new heated auditorium and snack bar. a Walter Penn joined sales staff of Metro exchange here. More than 100 theatre owners from Houston and other parts of Texas gave testimonial luncheorf for S. M. Sacks, manager of RKO exchange in Houston; Col. Vic Barraco succeeded by Dick Wygant as prez of Houston and Gulf Coast Theatre Owners An extra usher at Loew’s State in Houston confessed to police that he set four fires at the hpuse and one at the nearby Majestic, nil in the last two months. BURT LANCASTER., HIS MAJESTY PARAMOUNT CHICAGO . B&K held business meet of all department heads last Wednesday (17) at Blackstone Hotel, with John Balaban and Dave Waller- stein at helm. “Rose Marie” set for Staite-Lake on March 4, with “Long Long Trailer” pegged to open the Chi- cago the following day barring holdover of present bill. Complete fire inspection of al Chi theatres last Week resulted in 100% okay by Chief James Collins of fire prevention bureau. James Thompson, former man- ager of United Artists Theatre, in Masonic hospital following heart attack. Clark Theatre installing wide screen and refurbishing; Surf exploiting reissue of “Ham* DENVER At its February meeting the di- rectorate of Allied Rocky Moun- tain Independent Theatres elected Neil Beezley, prexy and national director; Fred Hall, veepee; Gus Ibold, treasurer, and Joe Ashby, general manager. Set May 3 as convention date. Variety Tent 37, having settled with insurance companies for losses ih the last year’s dishsterous fire, is looking for new location. John Sandro and Fred Penny, Aladdin doormen, joining the U.S. Marines. . Ben Benda, Ritz manager, pro- moted to similar job at Santa Fe, with the Ritz spot going to Eddie Specht, recently of Rapid City, S. D. Henry Herzog quit, the Santa Fe post. Lorane McCarthy reopened the Ute, Strasburg, Colo., after face- lifting. James Nicholson, Realart veepee here taking over operation of ex- change from Robert Patrick, who intends concentrating on a few out- standing roadshow films. Laura Haughey remains as Realart office manager and booker. Mrs, Otto Wcddeiifeld bought the Zala, Madrid, Neb., from the E. J. Touey estate. Fox Inter-Mountain Theatres changes included moving of Ed Doty, manager of the Foie, Cald- well, Idaho, to Las Vegas, N. M., as city manager, where he succeeds Jack Fleming, who went to Walsen- burg, Colo., in a similar capacity. Hollywood, Feb. 23, Columbia signed' Rudy Mate to direct “The Bandit*,” a Lewi* J. Raehmll production, starting March 1 . . . Josef Shaftel, indie pro- ducer, signed Edgar Ulmer to di- rect “Tlv Bandit,” starting March 15 .. . Ross Hunter draws produc- tion reins on UI’s “All That Heav- en Allows,” based on a novel by Edna and Harry Lee ... Harold Gordon drew a role In UI’s “Ben- gal Rifles” . . . Robert Francis plays a cadet in Columbia's “Mis- ter West Point,” co-starring Ty- rone Power and Maureen O’Hara . . Schenck-Koch signed John C. Higgins, author of “The Swamp Fox,” to do the screenplay . Carl Faulkner, 24 years with 20th- Fox, renewed as head of the studio sound department. Gale Storm signed as femme lead in “Three Gobs in Paris,” with Tony Curtis, Gene Nelson and Paul Gilbert as mile toppers, at UI..... . Columbia’s “The Pleasure Is All Mine” switched to “Three for the Money”; Hecht-Lancaster’s “Bronco Apache” to “Apache,” and “Athena” to “Adam and Athena? '. Phil Carey snagged a featured role in “Mfster West Point” at Co- lumbia . . Judith Ames drew a key role in. UI’s “The Matchmak- ers” . . . Vincent M. Fennelly. picked Beverly Garland as femme lead opposite Wayne Morris in “Two Guns and a J Badge” at - Al- lied Artists . . . Carl Dudley and camera crew to Lake Geneva, Wis., to shoot “ice Boating,” a two-reeler . Hal Wallis handed Mara Lane a contract calling v for one film a year. " Paul Douglas will co-star with Stewart Granger and Grace Kelly in Metro’s “Green Fire,” to be produced by Arinand Deutsch on location in Colombia;. . . Comdr. Marshall Beebe; doubling as tech- nical adviser and actor in Para- mount’s “The Bridges of Toko-Ri” . . Mark Robson negotiating for screen rights to James A. Miche- net’s “The Jungle,” for indie film- ing in 1955 . . . Anthony Ross drew a role in Paramount’s “The Coun- try Girl” , . . Warwick Produc- tions signed Richard Widmark to star in “Prize of Gold,” to be filmed in England . . . Lt. Col, O. F. Lassiter will function as technical adviser on Paramount’s “Strategic Air Command” . . . UI signed Dianna Cyrus Bixby to pilot a. spe- cial jet camera plane for sequences in “This Island Earth.” Columbia signed Gary Merrill to star in “The Black Dakotas,” with Wallace MacDonald producing and Ray Nazarro directing . . . Metro assigned Lana Turner to a “guest” spot in “Deep in My Heart,” the story of Sigmund Romberg, which Roger Edens . will produce with Jose Ferrer starring . . . Dianne. Foster plays femme lead opposite Robert Francis in the Bryan Foy production, “Those Reported Miss- ing,” at Columbia . . / Gordon Lockert.e, head of the newly or- ganized G-L Productions, opened offices on the Hal Roach lot with a program of three features . . . Jobfi Ericson j oined Stewart Gran- ger, Grace Kelly and Paul Douglas in Metro’s “Green Fire.” Susan Hayward will co-star with John Wayne* in RKO’s “The Con* queror,” the story of Genghis Khan . . . UI assigned Julia Adams as femme lead opposite Don a 1 d O’Connor in “Francis Joins the WACS” . . . Jerry Schnitzer, Bob Stevenson and Rita Rayburn or- ganized Gallery Films for the pro- duction of industrial and commer- cial pix . . . Kurt Kasziier drew a pivotal role in Metro’s “Babylon Revisited,” to be filmed in France . . , John Ford, negotiating for screen rights to James Warner Bellah’s novel, “The Valiant Vir- ginian” , . . Moulin Productions closed a deal with British Pictures Corp. to co-produce “Moby Dick,’’ with John Huston doubling as pro- ducer and director . . . Hugo Haas' “Bait”given a“B” rating by the National League of Decency. Mark Robson will direct “Phfft” at Columbia ... . Metro’s “Athena” will be filmed as “Adam and Athena” . , . Jerome Courtland back in town .for a role in “Those Reported Missing” at Columbia ... . Columbia bought “Which. One,” new-tune by Lester Lee and Ned Washington, to be sung in “Three for the Show” ... Philippe de Lacy arid his “Cinerama Holiday” troupe completed their California shooting and left for Chicago to film another sequence . ... Lance Fuller snagged a role in “Syndicate,” to be pro- duced by King Brothers for RKO release. . Hugh O’Brian's first film since leaving UI is ‘‘Broken Lance” at 20th-Fox . . Wanda Hendrix plays femme lead opposite Gary Merrill in “The Black Dakotas” at Colum- bia . . . Mamie Van Boren cast as second femme lead in UI's “Francis Joins the WACS’*.. . Allied Artists signed Lyle Talbot and Florence Lake for roles, in. “Two Gjuns and a Badge” ... Robert Francis, plays a prisoner of war in ““Those .Re- ported Missing” at JColumbia . Donna Reed drew a top role in Metro’s “The L&st Time I Saw Parig,” formerly titled “Babylon Revisited” . . . Dkk Powell’s first producer job under his RKO con- tract is “The .Conqueror” . . Philip Tonge snagged a comedy role in UI’s ”The Matchmakers” . * Vincente Minnelli put Metro’s “Brigadoon” back before the cam- eras for the final week of shooting. Milehimir Masseur , Continued fr.om page ,l 4 accord as a helpful instrument un- der which practfcally anything can be brought to the screen. He cited the instance of “River of No Return” for which he megged some added footage. It in- volved a shivering Marilyn Mon- roe, .naked under a blanket, get- ting a massage from Robert Mitch- um. “We took the script to the Code people and they told us that there was absolutely no chance of getting this scene into the film,’* Negulesco related. No Thrill! “So I took it up with Darryl Zariuck, and we decided to go ahead ariyway; on the assumption that we could Create an inoffensive scene. I told Marilyn that, under no circumstances, could either she or Mitchum give the impression that they were enjoying them- selves. When we showed the film to the Breen office, not a foot of it v/as deleted.” Negulesco, who megged “Three Coins in the- Fountain” in Rome for 20th, said he was convinced that CinemaScope demanded much more location shooting than iri> the past since artificial backgrounds tended to show up a lot more. He didn’t think the Hollywood unions had a right to quarrel with this practice arid commented that it added greatly to the realism of pic- tures'and to their acceptance abroad. “In ‘Three Coins’ we had a scene where three girls throw coins into ar old fountain to bring them luck. When we did that scene, an on- looker informed us that, tradition- ally, people threw the coins over their shoulder. That’s the kind of detail you just don’t know unless you’re on the spot, and it adds color, too,” he declared. '“A Woman’s World” so far has Clifton; Webb, June Ally son, Glenn Ford, Lauren Bacall, Charlton Heston and either Fred MacMurray or Paul Douglas in the cast. It also features the the $210*000 Ford ex- perimental dream car which has been touring auto shows. Buggy is insured for the amount it cost to riiake. Negulesco said he was us- ing a new CinemaScope camera lens said to give considerably bet- ter depth than the taking lenses in use so far. “We’ve got a lot to learn yet about making CinemaScope films,” said the man who was also respon- sible for making. “How to Marry a Millionaire.” Stereophonic sound was still far from perfection, he observed, particularly at the shoot- ing end where it’s difficult to con- trol the sound when a person isn’t moving but standing still and turn- ing his head while conversing. Asia Continued from page 3 with many theatres overrun by the Communist forces. The country is serviced film-wise from France. Ugast said he had seen a number of Russian propaganda pix that circulate in his territory, but he didn’t think the Soviets were very successful in selling their line. “The people know it’s propogartda,” he said. According to Ugast, British and French films are finding increas- ingly friendly reception, particular- ly in Japan. Local production flourishes iri Japan, India, Siam, Malaya, Hong-Kong and .the Philip- pines. “The more better pictures • we make, the more this, is an in- centive for local producers; to raise their standards,” he maintained*