Scanned from the collection of The Museum of Modern Art Library Coordinated by the Media History Digital Library www.mediahistoryproject.org Funded by a donation from David Sorochty Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2013 http://archive.org/details/independ15film The Museum of Modern Art 300311992 tilctm Pictute Jcut-nal JANUARY 6. 1947 AREN'T OUR BRITISH COUSINS WONDERFUL! Editorial by MO WAX, Page 3 FULL TEXT OF DECREE'S PRINCIPAL PROVISIONS Paqe 4 1 Reu/eios of the Neu) F\\ms HUMORES^E' CRAWFORD-GARFIELD WILL CARRY THIS BEAST WITH FIVE FINGERS' JUICY MORSEL FOR HORROR FANS THE SHOCKING MISS PILGRIM* DIFFERENT GRABLE MUSICAL '13 RUE MADELEINE- HARD-HITTING MELODRAMA STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN' ENGROSSING BRITISH FANTASY DEAD RECKONING' TYPICAL TOUGH BOGART VEHICLE THE FABULOUS SUZANNE' SNAPPY FARCE WILL GET LAUGHS And Others. Pages 6. 7. 8, 11. 12 YOU CAN'T GET AWAY FROM II ■111 WIjIH fm VICTORIA IS THE INDUSTRY NEW SCARE SENSATIOI It's at the VICTORIA on Broadway Now! And It's a screaming, Smashing, Solid Success! 7 Urring niALDA -ANDREA KING -PEIEIIH with VICTOR FRANCEN • J. CARROL NAISH Directed by ROBERT FLOREY Screen Play by CURT SIODMAK From a Story by WILLIAM FRYER HARVEY Music by MAX STEINER Produced by • WILLIAM J ACQP*^ I fDITOfi Vol. 15. No. 1 January 6. 1947 tHcthh fiictute JcatHai Page Three BULLETIN An Independent Motion Picture Trade Pa;er [ub- lished every other Monday by Film Bu l.tin Com- pany. Mo Wax. Editor and Publisher. BUSINESS OFFICE: 66 W. 53rd St.. New York C ty. PLaza 3-2S43. PUBLICATION - EDITORIAL OFFICES: 1233 Vine Street. Plii a^elphia 7. Pa., RIttenhouse 6-7424: Barney Stein, Publication Manaoer; Isabellc Weener, Circulation Manager: Bruc; Gallup, Business Manager. HOLLYWOOD OFFICE: 8580 Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood 46. Calif.. CRestview 6-2061; Sara Salzer, David Hanna. Subscription Rate: ONE YEAR. $3.00 in the United States: Canada. $4.00: Europe. $5.00. TWO YEARS. $5,03 in trie United AREN'T OUR BRITISH COUSINS WONDERFUL! About this time each year, those charming chaps who review the films for the New York newspapers give us a sharp pain in our posterior region. We feel the pang most acutely just now because they have followed their annual custom of presenting to the world their "bests" in filmdom for the preceding year and, as is usually the case, they have tumbled overboard in their en- thusiasm for the foreign entries. Now, mind you, we do not deny that the British, under the shrewd guidance cf mogul J. Arthur Rank, made notable strides forward in film production during 1946. But — Sam Goldwyn to the contrary notwithstanding — the simple truth is that the American studios are still turning out the overwhelming bulk of first- class motion pictures and our cousins across the sea contrive only on rare occasions to produce one worthy of shipment to these shores. It annoys us, this tendency on the part of some American critics to gather so affectionately to their bosoms sundry foreign-made films that are really only f alr-to-middling, while they give the brush-off to comparable — or better — pictures made in Hollywood. These reviewers give all the appearances of operating on some sort of a handicap scoring system like: any fair British pic- ture shall be regarded as the equivalent of a good American picture. Damn sporting, but is it cricket, old boys? Perhaps some of the virtues of the foreign pictures escape us, but, at risk of being called boorish, we voice the opinion that in many cases their foremosf asset is mere novelty — in the sense of unfamiliar players and modest (by Hollywood standards) production values. But actors are not outstanding for the sole reason that they are not familiar, nor do shabby looking sets attest to a producer's or director's latent artistry. And we do not mean to imply that the employment of new faces lacks merit in picture making, or that all pictures must glisten with an extravagant sheen, but we insist that much of the foreign product wins praise over here for just such shallow reasons. On the other hand, the critics yawn openly when reviewing many Ameri- can-made films that outshine in every respect some of those so-called "bests" of foreign origin. Of course, they condescended to award the "best picture" prize to Mr. Goldwyn's "The Best Years of Our Lives", but even that came only after a tussle with a British film. How can the contention that our own product does not receive a fair shake be proved? Let's think of several Hollywood films that received little or no recognition from the New York critics on their select list for last year: "It's A Wonderful Life", "The Killers", "To Each His Own", "Anna and the King of Siam", "The Big Sleep", "Notorious", "Angel On My Shoulder", "Dark Mirror", "The Stranger", among others. Ask yourself what the response of the critical gentry would have been had these pictures been produced in some other coun- iry. It is a safe bet that almost everyone would have elicited rapturous praise and something like a six picture dead-heat for top honors would have resulted. Unfortunately, it seems that in the subconscious minds of the critics some of these films are "tainted" by their Hollywood origin; that, or they simply are ■taken for granted. Heaven knows (as do our readers) that Film Bulletin makes no apologies tor the inadequacies of Hollywood, its extravagance and its abundance of dead-heads, but it is a grievous injustice to American film people to shower the honors on the British and French for the occasional good movie they send over to us. We need criticism, yes, but in some quarters it takes on the shape of unthinking bias against our own product. MO WAX states; Canada. $7.50; Europe. ^9.00. TEXT OF DEGREE'S PRINCIPAL PROVISIONS Following is the full text of the principal provisions of the decree handed down December 31 by the Federal Statutory Court in New York in the anti-trust suit brought by the Government against the major film companies and their theatre affiliates: No Minimum Prices "Each of the defendamt distributors is hereby enjoined: "1. From granting any license in which minimum prices for admission to a theatre are fixed by the parties, either in writing or through a committee, or through arbitration, or upon the hap- pening of any event or in any manner or by any means." Clearance Regulated "2. From agreeing with each other or with any exhibitors or distributors to maintain a system of clearances; the term 'clear- ance' as used herein meaning the period of time stipulated in license contracts which must elapse between runs of the same feature within a particular area or in specified theatres. "3. From granting any clearance between theatres not in substantial competition. "4. From granting or enforcing any clearance against thea- tres in substantial competition with the theatre receiving the license for exhibition in excess of what is reasonably necessary to protect the licensee in the run granted. Whenever any clear- ance provision is attacked as not legal under the provisions of this decree, the burden shall be upon the distributor to sustain the legality thereof." Franchises, Formula Deals Out "5. From further performing any existing franchise to which it is a party and from making any franchises in the future. The term 'franchise' as used herein means a licensing agreement or series of licensing agreements, entered into as part of the same transaction, in effect for more than one picture season and cover- ing the exhibition of pictures released by one distributor during the entire period of the agreement. "6. From making or further performing any formula deal or master agreement to which it is a party. The term 'formula deal' as used herein means a licensing agreement with a circuit of theatres in which the license fee of a given theatre is measured for the theatre covered by the agreement by a specified percentage of the feature's national gross. The term 'master agreement' means a licensing agreement, also known as a 'blanket deal' cov- ering the exhibition of features in a number of theatres usually comprising a circuit." Selling Rules "7. From performing or entering into any license in which the right to exhibit one feature is conditioned upon the licensee's taking one or more other features. To the extent that any of the features have not been trade shown prior to the granting of the license for more than a single feature, the licensee shall be given by the licensor the right to reject twenty per cent of such features not trade shown prior to the granting of the license, such right of rejection to be exercised in the order of release within ten days after there has been an opportunity afforded to the licensee to inspect the feature. "8. From licensing in the future any feature for exhibition in any theatre, not its own, or in any manner except the following: "^a) A license to exhibit each feature released for public exhibition in any competitive area shall be offered to the operator of each theatre in such area who desires to exhibit it on some run (other than that upon which such feature is to be exhibited in the theatre of the licensor) selected by such operator, and upon uniform terms. "(b) Each license shall be granted solely upon the merits and without discrimination in favor of affiliates, old customers or others; Competitive Bidding "(c) Where a run is desired, or is to be offered, upon terms which exclude simultaneous exhibition in competing theatres the distributor .shall notify, not less than thirty days in advance of the date when bids will be received, all exhibitors in the competi- tive area, offering to license the features upon one or more runs and in .such offer shall state the amount of a flat rental as the minimum for such license for a specified number of days of ex- hibition, the time when the exhibition is to commence and the availability and clearance, if any, which will be granted for each such run. Within fifteen days after receiving such notice, any exhibitor in such competitive area may bid for such license, and in his bid shall state what run such exhibitor desires and what he is willing to pay for such feature, which statement may specify a flat rental, or a percentage of gross receipts, or both, or any other form of rental, and shall also specify what clearance such exhibitor is willing to accept, the time and days when such ex- hibitor desires to exhibit it, and any other offers which such ex- hibitor may care to make. The distributor may reject all offers made for any such feature, but in event of the acceptance of any the distributor shall grant such license upon the run bid for to the highest responsible bidder, having a theatre of a size, location and equipment adequate to yield a reasonable return to the licen- sor. The method of licensing specified in this subdivision shall not be required in areas where there is no competition among theatres or in run, or in which there is no offer made by any exhibitor within the time above mentioned. The words 'exclude simultaneous exhibition' shall be held to mean the exhibition of a specified run in one theatre with clearance over other theatres in the competitive area. The words 'competitive area' shall refer to the territory occupied by more than one theatre in which it may fairly and reasonably be said that such theatres compete with each other for the exhibition of features on any run. "(d) Each license shall be offered and taken theatre by theatre and picture by picture. "(e) A theatre is not a defendant's own theatre unless it owns therein a legal or equitable interest of ninetyflve per cent or more, either directly or through affiliates or subsidiaries." Must Grant Run "9. From arbitrarily refusing the demand of an exhibitor, who operates a theatre in competition with another theatre not owned or operated by a defendant distributor, or its affiliate or subsidiary, made by registered mail, addressed to the home office of the distributor, to license a feature to him for exhibition on a run selected by the exhibitor, instead of licensing it to another exhibitor for exhibition in his competing theatre on such run. Such demand shall be deemed to have been refused either upon the receipt by the exhibitor of a refusal in writing or upon the expiration of ten days after the receipt of the exhibitor's demand." Pools Banned "Each of the defendant exhibitors. . .is hereby enjoined and restrained: "(1) From performing or enforcing agreements referred to in paragraphs 5 and 6 of the foregoing section II hereof to which it may be a party. "(2) From making or continuing to perform pooling agree- ments whereby given theatres of two or more exhibitors normally in competition are operated as a unit or whereby the business policies of such exhibitors are collectively determined by a joint committee or by one of the exhibitors or whereby profits of the 'pooled' theatres are divided among the owners according to pre- arranged percentages. "(3) From making or continuing to perform agreements that the parties may not acquire other theatres in a competitive area where a pool operates without first offering them for inclusion in the pool. "(4) From making or continuing leases of theatres under which it leases any of its theatres to another defendant or to an independent operating a theatre in the same competitive area in return for a share of the profits." Divorcement "(5) From continuing to own or acquiring any beneficial in- terest in any theatre, whether in fee or shares of stock or other- wise, in conjunction with another defendant, and from continuing to own or acquire such an interest in conjunction with an inde- pendent (meaning any former, present or putative motion picture theatre operator which is not owned or controlled by the de- fendant holding the interest in question), where such interest shall be greater than five per cent unless such interest shall be (Continued on Page 2<) 4 FILM BULLETIN Bi'Weekly Reoiew of the Trade's Events Dore Soliary was sif;n<>evant, J. Carroll Naish, Ruth Nelson, Paul Cavan- agh, Joan Chandle'r, Tom D' Andrea, Peggy Knudsen, Richard Gaines John Abbott, Craig Stevens, Don McGuire, Fritz Leiber, Nestor Paiva, Bobby Blake, Tommy Cook. Directed by Jean Negulesco More notable for its superb musical score than for the lengthy emotional outbursts of its plot, "Humoresque" is adult fare that will lean heavily on the marquee draw of Joan Crawford and John Garfield, each of whom makes the most of essentially tragic roles. Their names should mean strong grosses generally, but word-of-mouth may cut down grosses in sub runs. It will have a tremendous appeal to music.lovers, for no less than 23 classical selections, including the haunting title number and the mag- nificent symphonic playing of Wagner's "Liebestod" from "Tristan and Isolde," which brings the picture to a grim climax, are an integral part of this story of a con- cert violinist. Although based on Fannie Hurst's short story, which was made into an outstanding silent film, the film now plays up the hopeless romance between a sensitive violinist and a dipsomaniac mar- ried woman instead of stressing sacrificial mother love as did the 1920 version. Its picture of a frustrated woman who finds escape in strong drink is scarcely an edify- ing one and, while Director Jean Negulesco makes no attempt to justify her actions and Miss Crawford give-? a revealing and realistic portrayal, she manages to create some sympathy for her. Ernest Haller effectively uses lights and shadows in photo- graphing the star, especially in the close- ups during the lengthy drinking-and- desperation sequence which leads to her suicide by walking into the sea. The low- key photography and the unhappy plot combine to create a tragic mood which is lightened only by Oscar Levant's wise- cracks and witticisms which make mo.st patrons shout with glee. In 1920, in the tenement district of Man. hattan, Ruth Nelson buys a violin for her young son against the protestations of his father, J. Carrol Naish. The boy's love of music develops and when he is grown-up (John Garfield) he is a perfectionist who tries in vain to play with a broadcast orchestra. His best friend, Oscar Levant, takes Garfield to a swank party sponsored by Paul Cavanagh and his wife, Joan Craw- ford, who hides her unhappiness by drink, ing to excess and by sponsoring young and unrecognized talent. Miss Crawford finances Garfield's debut and gets him recognition in the world of music before she realizes she is falling in love with him. Miss Nelson warns Garfield about his affair with a mar- ried woman, but he disregards her advice. When Cavanagh agrees to give Miss Craw- ford a divorce, Garfield asks her to marry him but she stalls him off, feeling that she may not be good for him. She also learns that Miss Nelson still does not approve of the marriage so she purposely stays away from the concert hall when Garfield is mak- ing his debut with the New York Symphony While she listens to Garfield's playing of the "Tristan and Isolde" music over the radio. Miss Crawford drowns her sorrow in drink and, as the music swells to a cre- scendo, she walks into the ocean to her Reviews In This Issue Humoresque 6 Beast With 5 Fingers 6 Man I lAtve ^ Shocking Miss Pilgrim 7 Johnny O'Clock 7 13 Rue Madeleine 8 Stairway To Heaven 8 Dead Reckoning H The Fabulous Suzanne 11 Lone Wolf in Mexico 11 Temptation 12 Blondie's Big Moment 12 One Star Moonlight 12 death. Garfield is overcome, but agrees to continue his musical career. Except for an annoying tendency to take her glasses on and off, Miss Crawford gives a splendidly.sustained performance, al- though not of Academy Award calibre this time. John Garfield's sensitive portrayal is a note'worthy one and flawless finger wOrk in the many violin close-ups deserves special comment. Levant is content to play his cynical, amusing self— to tremendous audi- ence appreciation and J. Carrol Naish and Paul Cavanagh are excellent in important roles. The Jewish mother part which brought fame to Vera Gordon in 1920, has been changed to an Italian who remains in the background but Ruth Nelson makes her few scenes count strongly. Joan Chand- ler is sweet and appealing in a lesser roman- tic part. DENLEY 'THE BEAST WITH FIVE FINGERS' JUICY DISH FOR HORROR FANS Rates O • O in action spots; good supp Warner Bros. 88 minutes Robert Alda, Andrea King. Peter Lorre, Victor Francen, J. Carrol Naish, Charles Dingle, John Alvin, Barbara Brown, Ray Walker, David Hoffman, William Edmunds, Belle Mit<;hell, Pedro de Cordoba, Patricia White. Dire<-ted by Robert Florey. Although patrons are not expected to believe any part of the weird, macabre doing.s of "The Beast With Five Fingers," it's a juicy dish of fntertainment for the horror addicts With the attention-getting title, plus Peter Lorre and a familiar War- ner cast, this should clean up in the action spots and make a strong supporting dualler generally. Realizing that the .story has a Grand Guignol air of unreality. Director Robert Florey, who is adept at creating a shuddcry situation, has placed it against the gloomy backgrounds of an Italian villa in the year 1900. The unpleasant characters in. orting dualler generally elude a partially-paralyzed concert pianist, his neurotic secretary and a couple of grasp- ing relatives, as well as the usual frightened villagers and servants. After Francen's death, Lorre manages to scare away the relatives through a series of chiller-diller tricks, but the story goes completely out-of- this-world as Lorre, in his imagination, sees Francen's severed hand playing the piano and, after being hurled into the fireplace, crawling out of the flames and choking him. These scenes are guaranteed to elicit shrieks from scary patrons. Although this outland- ish situation is never satisfactorily ex- plained, the picture fades out with J. Carrol Naish, as an Italian police chief, winking at the audience and saying "It Could Happen." Naish gives a tongue-in-cheek portrayal, but Peter Lorre plays to the hilt the glove-fitting role of a mild-mannered astrologer who turns killer. Victor Francen is appropriately diabolical as the embittered pianist. As the romantic pair, Robert Alda and Andrea King give unimpressive portrayals. The trick photography is excellent. Victor Francen, a retired, semi-invalid concert pianist, lives in his Italian villa attended by Andrea King, his nurse, and Peter Lorre, his neurotic secretary. After he makes his will, which is properly witnessed, Francen plunges to his death down a fiight of stairs. When Francen's grasping rela- tives, Charles Dingle and John Alvin, arrive for the reading of the will, they learn the estate has all been left to Miss King. Sus- pecting a conspiracy. Dingle tries to contest the will, but after unseen hands are heard playing Francen's piano and his tomb is opened to reveal that his hand has been severed at the wrist, he becomes frightened. Later, Francen's severed hand tries to choke Lorre and the latter finally dies in a seizure of fear that affects his heart- The severed hand was all part of Lorre's imagination, but J. Carrol Naish, a local police chief, shows how Lorre had frightened the others by using a concealed record player and Francen's records. DENLEY 6 FILM BULLETIN 'THE MAN I LOVE' PLOT TOO INVOLVED. BUT HAS SELLING POINTS Rates • • -(- generally on nanne value Warner Bros. 96 minutes Ida Lupino, Robert Alda, Andrea King, Bruce Bennett, Martha Vickers, Alan Hale, I>olores MCran, John Ridgely, Don McGuire, Warren Douglas, Craig Stevens, James Dobbs, William Edmunds, Barbara Brown, Fred Kelsey, Monte Blue, Patrick Griffin. Directed by Raoul Walsh. The weak spots of the formula and many- sided plot of 'The Man I Love' are some- what offset by an attractive and highly-sale- able title, the forthright performances of Ida Lupino and Bruce Bennett and a half- dozen standard hit tunes by Gershwin, Kern and Johnny Green. With Bennett's newly- discovered romantic appeal and Robert Alda to draw the ladies, this should do slightly above-average business generally, especially if exploited The story, which has a decided Helen Morgan tinge, deals with a generous, crossed-in-love torch singer who warbles all the numbers that the late night club star made famous. Although Miss Lupino lacks Miss Morgan's tearful quality, she puts over Gershwin's title tune and "Liza," Kern's "Bill" (from "Showboat") and "Why Was I Born" and Johnny Green's "Body and Soul" effectively enough. While the heroine's romantic story is interest-holding, the film contains too many sub-plots, two of which are left hanging in the air at the finale. Raoul Walsh's direction is at its best in the sexy interludes, less successful in dealing with routine domestic problems of various secondary characters. Miss Lupino again proves herself a most attractive and ex- tremely capable performer, but the surprise of the picture is Bruce Bennett, who does a convincing acting job as an unhappy jive pianist and exhibits the strong, silent he- man characteristics that the ladies go for. Robert Alda is well ca'^t as a wolfish racketeer and Andrea King a'nd John Ridgely are good as a married couple beset by post-war problems. Dolores Moran gives one of her rubber-stamp portrayals of a two- timing younT wife. Ida Lupino, a successful New York night- club singer, goes home to California to visit her sisters, Andrea King and Martha Vick- ers, and her younger brother. Warren Douglas. While her husband, John Ridgely, is in a veterans' hospital. Miss King is supporting herself and her baby by work- ing as a waitress in a restaurant run by Robert Alda. As Douglas is also involved in Alda's racketeer activities, Miss Lupino gets a job singing at his night club. Trying to help Douglas out of a tight spot. Miss Lu- pino meets Bruce Bennett, a once-famous pianist who gave up his career because of his ex-wife. They fall in love but the jealous Alda persists in making trouble for them. Alda also tries to pin the accidental death of a two-timing wife (Dolores Moran) on Douglas but Miss Lupino manages to straighten this out and save her brother be- fore walkin'^ out on the racketeer. After Ridgely returns home to Miss King, cured. Miss Lupino bids goodbye to Bennett, who is making a last trip with the merchant marine before he returns to her. YORK 'THE SHOCKING MISS PILGRIM' DIFFERENT TYPE OF GR ABLE MUSICAL Rates • • -(- or slightly better; weak for 20th Century-Fox 86 Minutes Betty Grable, Dick Haj-mes, Anne Revere, Allyn Joslyn, Gene Loekhart, Elizabeth Pat- terson, Elisabeth Risdon, Arthur Shields, Charles Kemper, Boy Roberts, Stanley Frager, Ed Laughton, Hal K. Dawson, Lil- lian Bronson, Raymond Larga.y, Constance Purdy, Mildred Stone, William Frambes. Directed by George Seaton. Betty Grable's return to the screen should be cause for rejoicing among exhibitors, who have generally found the musical star's name qn the marquee an automatic signal for intense boxoffice activity. Their joy, however, must be tempered with some mis. givings for "The Shocking Miss Pilgrim" is not an out-and-out musical, wherein Miss Grable has shone, but a rather obvious sa- tirical comedy with music, in the same com- pany's "State Fair" and "Centennial Sum- mer" pattern. Returns should be well above average in first-runs, with a possible reces- sion as it goes down the line due to rather lukewarm word-of-mouth It will be weak action houses in action houses. It boasts of tunes by the late George Gershwin, no less than eleven heretofore unpublished songs, with lyrics by Ira Gershwin, but they are unevenly spotted- The satire concentrates on Boston's smug primness and lays it on thickly. But it's all really harmless stuff, with Miss Grable as a female "typewriter" of the latter 19th cen. tury who shocks Boston's hallowed mascu- line business world by working in an office and campaigning for equal rights for wo- men. A distinct asset to the film, which has received lavish Technicolor treatment, is Dick Haymes' warbling, which gives a lift to several of the songs. The balance of the large cast is equally well-chosen and contributes much to the film's entertain- ment, particularly in the earlier portions where the action is lively and pert before it is slowed down by the bunching of tunes. The best of these is "Aren't You Kind of Glad We Did?" and "For You, For Me, Forevermore" and the humorous "But Not in Boston." Betty Grable, operator of the newly in- vented typewriter, invades the Boston of 1874 looking for a job. Over his protesta- tions, Dick Haymes is forced to hire her by his militant suffragette aunt, Anne Revere, and eventually becomes convinced of the fe- male "typewriter's" value, both in the office and in the field of romance. Turned down by rooming houses because of her "indecent" work, Grable receives a warm welcome in Elizabeth Patterson's "haven" for Boston outcasts, including Allyn Joslyn, a poet; Arthur Shields, a painter; Charles Kemper, a musician and Lillian Bronson, who is re- writing the dictionary. After aligning her- self with the suffragette movement, Grable is introduced to Boston society by Haymes, who intends to make her his wife. She clicks and agrees to marriage with Haymes until she discovers that he wants her to stop working. She leaves the office and a series of male and female "typewriters" drives Haymes in desperation to the so'e agency in Boston for female typewriters where he discovers Grable as head of the agency and takes her back, both as secretary and wife. BARN 'JOHNNY O'CLOCK' ANOTHER HARD-HIT1ING DICK POWELL MELODRAMA Rates • • • in action houses and where Columbia 96 Minutes Dick Powell, Evelyn Keyes, Lee J. Cobb, El- len Drew, Nina Foch, Thomas Gomez, John Kellog, Jim Bannon, Mabel Paige, Phil BroM n. Directed b.v Robert Rossen Beginning with Dick Powell's metamor- phosis from crooner to tough guy in RKO's "Murder, My Sweet," this rejuvenated star has been fortunate in .^election of story and director. That good fortune continues un- abated under Columbia's banner in "Johnny O'clock," a hard hitting, terse melodrama that combines those elements that have proved so successful at the boxoffice — mur- der, suspense and flinty romance, this time set in a gambling house background. These basic ingredients have been spiced with a racy, machine-gun patter of dialogue as snappy as pre-war girdles — and just as tight exploited — delivered in ingratiating style by the aforementioned Mr. Powell, Evelyn Keyes and the lest of the well-chosen cast, particu- larly Lee J. Cobb's police inspector, one of the most convincing and realistic portrayals yet of this cinematically maligned char- acter- Through it all, director Robert Ros. sen's hand is apparent, eliciting the best from the performers, injecting a pertinent musical background, keying the photog- raphy to the mood of the .scene. Only in one respect has he slipped, drawing out cer- tain sequences beyond their effective length, letting the dialogue carry them. Perhaps this is because Mr. Rossen also scripted the film and felt that it was a shame to waste more of his efforts than was absolutely necessary. In view of the net result, he can hardly be blamed, for he has deliv- ered a crack melodrama that should garner sizeable returns in most locations and should be bang-up in action spots. Dick Powell (Johnny O'Clock) is a "pit- man," or overseer, as well as a junior part- ner, in the lavish gambling house in New York owned by Thomas Gomez. He is also linked with Jim Bannon, a crooked cop. in shaking down other gambling joints. When Bannon disappears and a checkroom girl in the casino is poisoned, Powell is suspected by detective Lee J. Cobb. The dead girl's sister, Evelyn Keyes, comes to town to find out more about her sister's death and falls in love with Powell. When Gomez learns that his v/ife, Ellen Drew, is on the make for him, too, Gomez attempts to kill him. However, Powell escapes and has a show- down with Gomez at the gambling house. In a gunfight, the latter is killed and, al- though Gomez's wife tries to frame Powell, he escapes. However, realizing that Evelyn loves him and will wait for him, he turns his gun over to the detective and goes to jail. BARN JANUARY 6, 1947 7 '13 RUE MADELEINE' HARD-HITTING MELODRAMA ABOUT O.S.S. Rates • • • in action houses; slightly le 20th Century-Fox 95 minutes James Cagney, Annabella, Richard Cont«, Frank Latimore, Walter Abel, Melville Cooper, Sam Jaffe, Blanche Yurka, Peter Von Zerneck, Marcel Rousseau, Alexander Kirkland, James Craven. Horace MacMahon, Reginald Mason, Alfred Linder, Ben Low, Richavid O. Selznick is all over the news at the moment. First, his pending deal with RKO. Then, his suit for $13,000,000 against United Artists, Mary Pickford and Charles Chaplin and their suit right back at him. Selznick wants $6,000,000 from Chaplin and Pickford for "maliciously conspiring to deprive (him) of (his) distribution agreement." He wants approximately $7,000,000 from UA for "deliberate and willful mishandling of Selznick's produc- tions." Selznick filed his suits in the Los Angeles County Superior Court. It was rumored that United Artists through its New York attorneys was preparing a counter suit in the New York federal district court against Selznick. Enterprise is losing no time getting off 1947 with a busy schedule. Now in work is "The Other Love" (Barbara Stanwyck- FILM BULLETIN STODIO sizf-yps David Niven). Startmg is "Burning Journey," the John Garfield starrer. Back for two weeks of retakes is "Arch of Triumph. Meanwhile, work has started on the exterior ^sets for Ginger Rogers' first Enterprise picture, "Wild Calendar. Milestone Pacted Lewis Milestone has signed a four picture .P;°duce.-director contract with Enterprise. Two of the pictures will be called Mile- stone Productions and two will carry the Enterprise latoel. The studio will submit material to Milestone for his approval for the pair he will do for them. He, in turn, will get studio approval on the two he plans as his own productions. One possibility for the Milestone initialer is John Steinbeck's 'Red Pony. Miklos Rozsa, Academy Award composer of scores for Lost Week-End" and "Spellbound," has been signed by Enterprise to compose and conduct the score of "The Other Love." Seymour Nebenzal will start "Atlantis" on January 15. the Goldwyn lot, where Nebenzal will work, was too crowded for Nebenzal to he given adequate space at an earlier starting date. Jean Pierre Aumont and Maria Montez are co-starred in this one. No new starters on the schedule with "Christmas Eve" and "Personal Column" wound up. "Miracles Can Happen" is still off production temporarily until the next episode is prepared for shooting. UNIVERSAL - INTERNATIONAL Mark Hellinger is preparing his next production at this studio with Burt ("The Killers") Lancaster again slated to be starred. This time Hellinger will do "Brute Force." an original by Robert Patterson, a San Francisco columnist. Jules Da.ssin will direct. Dassin, who was recently released in the MGM purge, will take this chore on in his new free-lance capacity. Production should start as soon as Lancaster finishes his chore for Hal Wallis. Joan Harrison, who is coming back to the U-I lot from RKO, has been handed her first assignment under her new deal. "Knave of Diamonds" is the title and production is slated for early Spring. The studio has four in work: "The Egg and I" (Claudette Colbert-Fred MacMurray), "Buck Privates" (Abbott and Costello), "Time Out of Mind" (Phyllis Calvert-Robert Hutton) and "Ivy" (Joan Fon/taine-Patric Knowles). WARNrai BROS. This studio begins the new year with plans for six features slated as starters during the month of January. "The Voice of The Turtle" is scheduled to go, although final casting has not yet been announced. Also set to come are: "Whiplash," with Dane Clark; "One Last Fling," Errol Flynn; "The Unsuspected," Mike Curtiz's first independent production, with Dana Andrews. Claude Raines, Virginia Mayo and Cathy O'Donnell; "The Wallflower." with Joyce Revnolds and Robert Hutton." and "Two Guys From Texas" in Technicolor, with Dennis Morgan, Jack Carson. Janis Paige and Martha Vickers. Despite all the talk from 20th Century and MGM about corner- ing the market on best-sellers. Warners reports that thev nabbed 19 published novels during the past year. Among those in the Warner coffers are, "Night Unto Night" (now in production), "Young Man With A Horn," "The Turquoise." "Radio City." "Dark Passage," "Return of the Soldier." "Rebel Without Cause" and "Ships in the River." There can be no question, with the current trend, that the surest and fastest way to get a screen play sold these days is to get it into print. The studios, desperate for ma- terial, are grabbing at anything that book publishers see fit to print. Old Films for Foreign Lands The studio has pulled 24 Bette Davis and Errol Flynn films out of the vaults for bookings in 22 different countries for the Davis films and in 21 countries for the Flynn oldies. The Flynn product runs from the current "Never Say Goodbye" back to "Robin Hood." The Davis films include the whole catalogue. Au.«;tralia. Chile. Brazil. China. Finland, England, France .India, Italy are among the countries on the Davis-Flvnn itinerary. "Christopher Blake," the current Moss Hart Broadway play, is lieing bid for by Warner Brothers. Although no deal has been rlo;ed, as yet. the studio is rumored to b? offering $400,000 for film rights. JANUARY r, , 1947 MISCELLANEOUS INDEPENDENTS This division, this issue, might just as well be headed David O. Selznick, for it is his company and his doings which fill the space. First of all, it should be reported that "Look Homeward Angel," rights to which Selznick recently peddled back to Ripley- Monter, who held partial rights also, is back on the production schedule of R-M and, when made, will be distributed through the new Selznick Releasing Organization (SRO) set-up. Production on this one should start the end of January and the producers are attempting to borrow Van Heflin from MGM for a major role. Selznick, with "The Paradine Case" running smoothly, h£is given the go-ahead on "Portrait of Jenny" to star Jennifer Jones. William Dieterle will direct and David Hempstead will make this one his initial production chore for Selznick. Hempstead was supposed to have handled the production on "Little Women," which has now been tabled indefinitely. "Portrait For Jenny" is set to go February 1. As was expected, Neil Agnew, a director of United Artists, resigned his post to become head of SRO for David Selznick. Agnew was one of the Vanguard representatives on the board. Three other representatives of the firm remain as official repre- sentatives on the UA board. At the moment, Vanguard product is set for release through SRO, but if the RKO deal goes through, all of this may be changed. Meanwhile, Vanguard, as a corpora, tion retains 1/3 ownership in UA. In addition to Agnew, who is president of the SRO set-up, E. L. Scanlon is in as chairman of the board and treasurer, Leonard R. Case, Robert H. Dann, Richard Greenlee are also in as officers. The board consists of Selznick, Daniel T. O'Shea, Agnew, Greenlee and Scanlon. Ten offices have already been opened by the company in New York, Dallas, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Atlanta, Seattle, Kansas City, Cleveland and Boston. Other ofllces are planned throughout the country as well as in Europe and England. Joseph Bernhard, who recently took over a half interest in Film Classics, closed a deal last week with Sir Alexander Korda for the distribution of 24 Korda pictures in the United States and Canada. Among the old ones to come back in revival are: "Thief of Bagdad;" "Lydia," with Merle Oberon and Joseph Gotten;" 'That Hamilton Woman," with Laurence Olivier and Vivian Leigh, and "The Return of the Scarlet Pimpernel," with James Mason. Meanwhile, Korda is dickering with SRO for release of his current product through this new outlet. Korda has been seeking aJi Amsrican outlet for some time and it seems reasonably certain that he will make his deal with Selznick. All in all, the Selznick name and doings has colored and vitally affected the news from Hollywood for the past two weeks. The Selznick power, for whatever his enemies may protest, is one to be conjured with in the motion picture scene both on the production and releasing end of the business. Screen Guild Productions will have 15 new features in release by March 15, with at least 6 others in production for release during the late spring months of the year. When Screen Guild first launched its distribution activities in the early part of last year, it had only 3 new features in its ex- changes. Since that time, the various S-G independent producing units have produced 11 new features and a 12th has just completed camera work. Screen Guild Productions new release schedule sets the follow- ing pictures for release from December 25 to March 15: "Rene- gade Girl," Dec. 25, 1946; "Queen of the Amazons," Jan. 15, 1947; "Buffalo Bill Rides Again," Feb. 15, 1947; "Bells of San Fernando," March 1, 1947 and "Shoot to Kill," March 15, 1947- Other new features put into release during the latter part of the present year include: "Death Valley," in color, "Flight to Nowhere, Neath Canadian Skies," "Rolling Home," "North of the Border." "My Dog Shep" and "Scared to Death," in color. In addition to the new features on Screen Guild's program, the company will distribute 12 "Hopalong Cassidy" re-releases on its 1946-47 program. 1? PRODUCTION % RELEASE mm JANUARY 6. 1947 In the Release Chart, the date under "Details" refers to the issue in which cast, director, plot, etc., appeared. "Rel." is the national release date. "No." is the release nunnber. "Rev." is the issue in which the review appeared. There may be variations In the running time in States where there is censorship. All new productions are on 1946-47 programs unless otherwise noted. (T) immediately following title and running time denotes Technicolor production, (C) denotes Cinecolor. B i A 1946-47 Features Westerns Serials 1945-46 Features Westerns Serials Completed (27) Completed (14) Completed ( 2) Completed (44) Completed (15) Completed ( 4) In Production (3) In Production (0) In Production (0) In Production (0) In Production (0) In Production (0) NEW PRODUCTIONS THE CORPSE CAME C.O.D. Mystery — Started December 17 Cast: George Brent, Joan Blondell, Adele Jergens, Jim Bannon Director: Henry Levin Producer: Sam Bischoff story: Jewel thieving and imndor against a Hollywood background. RELEASE CHART Tltit— Rinninf Tlnii Cast IN PRODUCTION Assigned To Treasury Powell-Maylia . Lady from Shanghai. Th» Hayworth-Welles Three Were Thoroughbreds Yonng-Chapman COMPLETED 1946-47 Alias Mr. Twilight (69) Duane-Marshall B«tty Co-ed (71) Porter-Mills ... Blondle Knows Best (69) Singleton-Lake Blondie's Big Moment (69) Singiefon Lake Blondie's Holiday Lake-Singleton Boston Blackle and the Law (69) Morris- Marshall Bulldog Drummond at Bay Randell- Louise Cigarette Girl Brooks-Lloyd . . . Crima Doctor's Manhunt, Tha (61) Baxter- Drew Dead Reckoning (100) Bogart-L. Seott OtWB To Earth (T) Hayworth-Parks '. Fighting Frontiersman (61) Starrett-Burnette For the Love of Rusty Donaldson-Powers f'»mi Ford-Carter Details under title: They Walk Alone Glllt of Janet Amoi Russell-Douglas Details inder title: My Empty Heart Hunter Is A Foglti*«, The Dix-Morley ... InsMa Story Morrls-Dowling . King of Wild Horses Foster-Patrick .. JolsoR Story, The (T) (128) Parks- Keyes . . . Johnny O'clock (96) Powell-Keys ... Jack Armstrong Hart-LaPlanche Landrosh (53) Starrett-Burnette Laat o1 The Retfmag Hall-Ankers . . Law of The Canyon Starrett-Burnette Lone Hand Texan Starrett-Burnette Lone Star Moonlight (67) Curtis-Barton . . Lone Woll in Muleo, The Mohr-Ryan . . Detail! under title; Lont Wolf's Invitation to Murder Millie's Daoghter George-Nelson Mr. District Attorney (81) D'Keefe-Chapman lhar The Santa Fa Tmll Curtis- Holt Pralrlj Raiders Sfarrett-Saunders fetorn of Monte Crista, The (91) Hayward-Britton Riders of The Lone Star Starrett- Hunter Singin' In the Corn (66) Canova-Jenkins . Sa» of Tha Gaardsman (Strial) Kinnedy-Shaw Swordsman, The (T) Parks-Drew Secret of The Whistler (65) DIx-Brooks So Dark the Night (70) Geray-Choirei Strangor from Ponca City Starrett-Burnette Terror Trail (56) Starrett-Burnette Gonllghters, The (C) Seott-Britfon Details under title: Twin Sombreros Wett tf Dodf* City Starrett-Burnette 1945-46 Oetalli Rol. . .12-9. 10-14. . .12-9. No. Rn. , .9-16. .12-20. . .8-19. .11-28. . . .4-1. .10-17. . .8-19. . .1-19. .11-25 . .8-19. .12-12. . 12-23 . .9-30 . .5-27. .10-24. . .6-24 . .4-15 12-19. .12-23 , . .9-30 .828 .824. .12-23 .806. . .y-3C .807. . . .1-6 .822. .11-25 '.816. .10-i4 . .863. . .7-22. .10-14 . .9-30 . .12-9 .11-12. . .1-30. . . .7-8 .11-25 .11-26. .10-17. . .9-16 .10-28 .10-14 .8-19. .12-12. . . .9-16. . .1-16. .10-28 ...8-5 .9-2 .9-30 . .1-6 .861. . .l'-30 .854. .1-6 .11-11 . . .7-8. .12-26. . 12-23 12-26. . .7-22 . .12-9 . .7-22. . .11-7. .12-10. .10-10. .11-25 .10-29. .11-21. . .9-30 . . .9-30 12-23 .804. .. 12-9 .818. .11-25 .805. . .a-16 .862. . .12-9 Bandit of Sherwood Forest (T) (87) Wlide-Loilse ... ■laadla'i Latky Day (69) Lake-Slngleton Chick Cartar, Detectha (8«rlal) Talbot-Blake . . tMktf llaai (65) Curtls-Donnell Oaaforais Boilntss (59) Tucker- Merrick . Datalls ander title: Power of Attorney •nert Horteaian, Tha (54) Starrett-Burnette Datalls andar title: Phaoton of tha Desert D»»ir« Muk, Tha (66) Loalse-Bannon Frtiitler Ganlaw (59) SUrrott-Taylor Gallant Joarney (85) Ford-Blair . . , . . . .4-2. .10-15. .4-29. . .3-18. .2-21. . .4-4. .7-11. . .7-18. . .6-20. .7004. . .7020. . .7180.. .7223. . .7037. . .4-15 . .7-8 .9-2 .9-3. . .7-11. . .7209. .2-18. ! !3-18. .5-23. .1-31. .9-24. .7026 8-5 .7204 .7002. .10-28 . . .1-7. 11-12. .10-15. . .5-13. . .4-18 . .2-14 . .3-21 . .8-10 Galloping Thander (54) Ctarrett-Barnttte .. .7-9. . .4-25. Gentleman MIskehatres, Tki (74) Massen-Stanton .. .11-12. . .2-28. Otuils aider title: Lallaby of Brwdvai Gllda (110) Hayworth ford 9-17... 4-25. Gunning (or Vengeanea (56) Starrctt-Adalr .. .6-25. . .3-21. Datalb andar tttla: Bimlif tha Tnll Heading West (56) SUrrett-Hoach 10-1. ..8-17. DtUlli aader titio: Haatacra Maia Hop Harrlgan (Sarlal) Bakewell-Holt 2-18 . -3-28. It's Great To Be Yoang (68) Brooks-Stanton 6-10... 9-12. Jangle Ralden (Svlal) RIehmtnd-Barg 8-6... 9-14. last Before Oawo (65) Baxter-Barrle 11-26 3-1 Klu and Tall (90) Temple-Abel 2-5.. 10- 18. Man Who Darad (66) Brooks-Maeready 3-4... 5-30. Oetalli ander title: One Life Too Many Mytterloas latrader. The (62) DIx-Blalie 12-24. . .4-11 OeUils ander title: Mardar Is Unpradlctabli Night Editor (67) Gargan-Carter . Notorloas Lane Wolf. Tka (64) Mahr-Carter •atills ander titta: Lata Wail a« Iraadway Pirlloas Holiday (89) O'Brien-Warrick Personality Kid. The (68) Loulse-Duana Details under title: His Faea Was Their Fortune Phantom Thief, The (65) Morrli-Donneli 1-21 5-2 Details andar titia: Bastan ilaakla's PrWata Ghast Prison Ship (60) Lowery-Faeh 8-20 . 11-15 ■•ntgadcs (T) (88) Keyes-Parker 6-11... 6-13 Dttalb aadar tttla: Tha Kmhm Return of Rosty, The (64) Oonaldion-Oennli ... 4-1 .. .6-27 . Roaring Rangers (55) Starratt-Barnette . .6-11. . .2-14. Dotills ander tItIa: Pavdar Rlw Shadowed (70) Loalse-Danno 6-24... 9-26. Details under title: The Gloved Hand Sing While Vaa Danaa (73) Drew-Stanton 4-29... 7-25. Singing On The Trail Curtls-Donnell 5-27... 9-12. Talk About A Lady (71) Falkenborg Taeker 12-24. . .3-28. That Texas Jamboree (67) Curtls-Donnell ... 12-24 .. .5-16. Thrill of Brazil (91) Keyes-Wynn 4-29... 9-30. Drtalls ander title: Rio Throw a Saddle or a Star (67) Cartls-Robtrts 12-10. . .3-21 . (Details ander title: Saiaky River Serenade) Two-Flsted Stranger (51) Starrett-Burnette . .3-20. . .5-30. Unknown. The (70) Morley-Bannon 4-1.... 7-4 Details ander title: The Coflin Walls Came Tambling Down, Tha (82) Bowman-Chap«an .12-24 6-7 Who's Golltyl (Serial) Kent-Ward 10-15. . 12-13 . ..7207 . .7034- . .6-10 . .7001 4-1 . .7206 .7210 . .7JeO . .7038 . .7120 . .7021. . .5-13 . .7101 . .7040 ..7025... 5-13 . .7023. . .5-27 . .7028. . .4-15 . .7008 7-8 . .7039. . .9-30 . .7031 9-2 . .7036. . . . .7003. . .6-10 . .7032 . .7205 ..7041 . .7033 . .7224 . .7016 . .7222 . .7006 . .7221 ..7208 . .7027. . .9-16 . .7011. . .9-16 . .7140 1946-47 Features Completed ( 4) In Production (1) REPEAT PERFORMANCE Drama — Started December 29 Cast: Joan Leslie, Louis Hayward, Richard Basehart, Tom Con- way, Benay Venuta, Natalie Schaefer Director: Alfred Worker Producer: Aubrey Schenck story: A girl is given a chance to re-live one year of her life. RELEASE CHART Title — RannlDf Ttaa Cast Details Rel. COMPLETED Amy Comes Across Tone- Richards ....10-28 Details under title: Alias the Bride Bedalia Lockwood-Hunter .Foreign I See a Dark Stranger Kerr-Howard ....Foreign , It's A Joka. Son Delmar-Merkel 8-6 No. :MITRO-COlOWYN-MAYiEll 1946-47 Features 1945-46 Features Completed (31) Completed (27) In Production (4) In Production (0) RELEASE CHART Title — RannlRf Time IN PRODUCTION Cast Detilh Rel. Na. ROV. .11-25. . .9-30. .11-25. .11-25. Birds and The Bees, The (T) MacDonald-lturbi Green Dolphin Street Turncr-Heflln Details under title: The Personal Touch Song of Love, A Hepburn-Henreld Details ander title: Life's for The Loving Rich Full Life, The Taylor-Murphy 1946-47 Arnelo Affair, The Hodlak-Glfford 8-6.. Beginning Or Tha End Barrymore-Donlevy ..5-27.. Cockeyed Miracle, The (81) Morgan-Totter Details under title: But Not Goodbye Cynthia's Secret Barrymore-Bremer Fiesta (T) Williams-Carroll Gallant Bess (CInaaolor) (98) Thompson-Tobias Details andar tttla: Star fron Haavai High Barbarea Johnson-Allyson Holiday In Mexico (T) (127) Pidgeon-Massey It Happened In Brooklyn SInatra-Grayson ....8-6. LIttta Mr. Mm (92) Jenkins-Gilford ...10-29. Lady In The Lake (103) Montgomery-Totter ..5-27 1-7 Oct. .703... 7-22 .10-28 .12-24 702 .10-29 9-30 .5-27... . .9-17. . . ...701.... 8-5 .6-10 . .12-9 24 FILM BULLETIN .6-10. , . .7-8. . .3-4. . . .7-8. .4-1.. . .8-6. . 12-24 . .3-4. . . .7-22. Love Laughs at Andy Hardy (93) Rooney-Granville ...5-13 Merton of Tha Movlat Skelton-O'Brien 9-2. Mighty McGurk, The (85) Beery-HacMahon ...5-13 My Brother Talks to Horses (93) Lawford-Jenkins 4-1 No Leave, No Lote (117) Johnson-Kirkwood ..10-1 Reliance ol Rosy Ridga Johnson-Leigh 9-30. Woman of My Own, A Garson-Hart 4-1. Secret Heart, The (97) Colbert-Pidgeon . Sea of Grass Iraty-Heqourn Show-Oll, The (84) Skelton-Maxwell Simmer Holiday Rooney-DeHaven Tenth Avenii Angel I'Brien-Morphy . This Time for Keeps (T) (120) Williams-Melchlor Till The ClODds Roll By (T) (135) Garland-Walker To Kiss and To Ktep Kelly-McDonald 8-6 Two Smart People (93) Ball-Hodiak 10-1 Underenrrent (111) Taylor-Hepburn Details ender title: Yoi Were Thiro Unfinished Dance, Tha D'Brien-Charisse Details under title: Ballerina Undercover Malsle Sothern-Nelson Yearling, The (T) (134) Peck-Jarman REPRINTS Boom Town Gable-Tracy Captains Coorageoii (116) Tracy-Bartholomew Great Waltz Rainer-Gravet Rage In Heann (82) Bergman-IVIontgomerj .... COMPLETED 1943-46 BLOCK NO. FIFTEEN Utter for E»le. A (89) H ant-Carroll 6-11. Haney Glrli, Tha (T) (101) Garland- Hodiak 1-22. Portrait of Maria (76) Del Rio-Armendariz Foreign. Sailor Taku a WIfa (91) Walker-Allyson 4-2. Up Goat Malsia (89) Sothern-Morphy 8-20. BLOCK NO. SIXTEEN ■ad Basconb (112) Beery-O'Brien Hoodlum Saint (91) Powell-Williams 7-9. Uttt Chance, Tha (105) Foreign. . . 12-9 11-25 11-25 .704 9-2 . Dec. . Dec. .709. . .12-9 .708 . ' '.8-19 .11-25 .Nov. .Nov. .706. . .6-10 .707. .10-14 1111.. .8-20. . . . . 12-9 .9-2 6-25. 7-9. 8-6. 9-18. PMtman Always Rings Twice, The (113) . . . Turner-Garfield Two SIsten From Boston (112) Allyson-Lawford BLOCK NO. SEVENTEEN Boy»' Ranch (88) Craig-Jenkins Coiraga of Laula (T) (93) E. Taylor-Lassie Details under titia: Hold High tha Torch Faithful In My Fithlan (81) Reed- Drake 1-7. Thrw Wise Fooli (90) O'Brien Barrymore .11-26. SPECIALS *d»entira (125i Detalti ander titio: Thli Stranio AArontiraGable-Garson 6-11. Easy Te Wed (T) (117) Ball-Johnson 2-19. Gratn Yean, The (127) Cobnrn-Drako 9-3. Woakond at tha Waldarf (UO) Tirnar-Jehnson ...11-27. Ziejfeld Folllai (T) (UO) Astaire-Ball 5-1. Oct. . . .705. . . .9-2 . .1-46. . . .614. .12-10 . .1-46. . . .611. . . .1-7 . .1-46. . . .612. . . .1-7 . .1-46. . . .615. . . .1-7 . .1-46. . . .613. . . .1-7 4-46. . . .619. . .2-18 . .4-46. . . .618. . .2-18 . .4-46. . . .621. .12-10 . .4-46. . . .620. . .3-18 . .4-46. . . .622. . .3-18 . .7-46. . . .625. . .5-13 . .8-46. . . .626. . 5-13 . .8-46. . . .627. . .6-24 . .8-46. . . .628. . .6-24 . .3-46. . . .616. . 12-24 . .7-46. . . .624. . .4-15 . .7-46. . . .623. ..3-18 .10-45. . .605. . .7-23 . .3-46. . . .617. . .1-21 MONOGRAM 1946-47 Features Westerns 1945-46 Features Westerns (34) (12) Completed (14) Completed ( 6) Completed (33) Completed (12) In Production (3) In Production (0) In Production (0) In Production (0) RELEASE CHART Title— Rannlni TIma Cast IN PRODUCTION Black Gold (C) Ouinn-DeMllie High Conquest Lce-Roland . . , Violence Coleman-O'Shea COMPLETED 1946-47 Detalli Ral. . .12-23 . .12-23 . .12-23 lev. Bringing Up Father (68) Ynlc-McManus Cisco and The Angel Roland-Loring Dangerous Money Toler-Young Details under title: Hot Money Decoy (76) Gillie-Norris . . . Drifting Through Wakeley-Morloy Fall Guy Penn-Loring ... Gentleman Joi Palooka Errol-Kirkwood Guilty, The Granville-Castle . GIngor Alberfson-Reed Mr. Hex Goreey-Robbins Raiders of the South Brown-Hatton Details under title: Draw When You're Ready Rainbow Over The Rocklaa Wakely-Stirling . Silver Stallion Sharpe-IHason Song of The Sierras Wakely-Carlin Sweetheart o( Sigma Chi Reagan-Knox Satpama (101) Belita-Moora Datalb ind« mia: Glaaoir Girl Teen-agers Go West Stewart- Preisser Trap, The Toler-Chandler . WIfa Wanted Francis-Shayne . 1945-46 Beauty and the Bandit Roland-Ames . . . DeUilt under title: Cluo Kid No. 3 Allotment Wivaa (80) FraneU-Kelly .. Behind the Mask (67) Richmond-Reed .. Datalli ander title: The Shadow'i Shadow Below The Deadline (65) Douglas-Ames Detalli under title: Jinpln' Joa ''lack Market Bablei (71) Richmond-Hayet Border Bandlti (57) Brown-Hatton ... Bowery Bombshell Gorcey-Hail Details onder title: Hoi Money Dark Alibi (65) Toler-Lorrlni ... Don't Gamble With Strangers (68) Richmond-Hayes Detalli under title: Charlla Chan at Aieatraz Faea ol Marbia, Tha (72) Carradlne-Drake . '•^ <^) Cookson-Wliiiara . Detalli inder title: Snpenia Freddie Stapi Oit (75) Stcwart-Prelster Detalli iBder tItIa: High Sahooi Scandali . .6-24. .11-23. .10-14. . .1-11. . .6-24. .10-12. .5-13. . .9-14. .604. . .12-9 .603! . . .601. .11-25 .11-25 . .6-10. . .10-5. , .11-25 . . .9-2 1-4. . . .9-2. . .12-7. . . .9-2. . .1-18. , . .8-19 , Reissue. .12-14. . .8-19. .12-28. . .7-22. .12-21. .10-29. . .6-15. , .10-28 . .8-19. .11-30. . .6-24.. .11-2. . . .8-5. .10-26. . . 6-25. .12-24. .10-29. . .5-11. . .602. .609. .608. .664. .681 .6C6 . . 699 . . . 4-15 .607. 605. .531. .505.. 12-10 .526 , .4-29. . .8-3 520. . .3-18 6-1. . . .8-20. . .1-12. . . .4-15. . .7-20. . .508. .365. .511. .12-24.. . .3-18. . . 10-15 . . ..7-23. , 5-25. , .6-22. .2-2. . ..3-2.. .519 .508. . .9-30 .528. .507. ..3-18. ..6-29..., 515.... 7-8 Gentlemen from Texas, The (60) Brown-Hatton ... .3-18. .. .6-8. Details under title: The Flghtlni Texant Gay Cavalier, The (65) Roiand-Amei ....12-24.. Haunted Mine, The (52) Bruwn-Hattoa 10-29.. High School Hero Stewart- Preisser ...6-iO.. In Fast Company (63) Gorcey-Hall 2-18. Details under title: In High Goar Joe Palooka, Champ (70) KIrkwood-Knox ...12-24. Junior Prom (69) Stewart- Preisser ..11-26. Details under title: High School Kids Live Wires (65) Gorcey-Draka 10-1. Details under title: Stepping Around \onesome Trail (35) Wakely-Whlta 9-17. Details under title: On Tha Cherokee Trail Missing Lady, The (60) Richmond-Beef 4-29. Details ander title: Jada Lady Moon Over Montana Wakeiy-Hoii 12.10. Red Dragon, The <64) loler-fong ii-lT.. Oetalli indar title: Charlla Chan Ib Mexlao Shadows On The Range (57) Brown-Hatton ....5-13.. Details onder title: Roaring Range Shadows Over Chinatown (64) Toler-Young 4-1. Details under title: Corpus Delicti South of Monterey (63) Roland-R ordan ...4-15.. Details onder title: Romance of the Rancho Shadow Returns. The (61) Richmond-Reed ...10-29.. Silver Range, The BrOAn-Hatlon .. .7-22.. Details under t'tle: The Silver Trail Spook Busters (68) Gorcey-Hall Details under title; The Shadow Strange Mr. Gregory. The (63) Lowe-Rogers . Details inder title: Gregory Sunbonnet Soe (90) Regnn-Storm Strange Voyage (61) Alb-rt-Taylor Swing Parade of 1946 (75) Stcrm-Reagan Trail to Mexico Wakcly-White Trigger Finger Brown-Hatton Under Arizona Skies Brown-Hatton Details under title: Code of The Drifter West of The Alame Wakely-Whlta 2-4... 4-20. . .5-27. .6-25. . .5-14 . . . 8- . . ..4-29 . . .6-24. . . . .2-4. . 3-30. 3-2. .y-7. . . .6-22. . .5-28. . .5-10. .1-12. . .12-8. ..8-17. . .2-16. . . 2-9. . .8 3. . . .7-27. .7-13. , .2-16.. .11-2. . , .8 24. . . . .1-2. .1-10 . . .7-6. . .3-16. 6-29 . .9-21. . .4-27. . . . .562 . . .529 . . .i66 . . .517 . . .510. . -8-19 . . .502. . .4-29 . . .514. . .5-13 . . .509 ...561 . . .525 . . .572 . . .513. . .4-15 . . .567 . . .518. .10-28 ,..530 . . .527 . .563 . .512 . .516. . .3-18 . . .501. .10-15 ...521... 8-19 . 03 9-2 . .574 . .568 ..561 . .573 1946-47 Features 1945-46 Features Completed (30) Completed (25) In Production (3) In Production (0) NEW PRODUCTIONS ROAD TO RIO Comedy with Music — Started December 26 Cast: Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, Dorothy Lamour, Gale Sonder- gaard, Frank Faylen Director: Norman Z. McLeod Producer: Daniel Dare Story: A couple ot deadbeat musicians set oft for .South America to escape tlieir problems. RELEASE CHART Title— Running Time CasI Details Ral. IN PRODUCmON I Walk Alona Lancaster-Scjtt ...12-23 Details under title: Deadlock Saigon Ladd-Lake 12-9 Rev. 1946-47 COMPLETED HOT UKS1UNATH> Adventure Island (C) Cal oun Flem ng Blaze of Noon Baxter- H olden islg Town . Reeo-Brooki . . . . Blue Skies (T) (107) Crosby-Astjire ... Calcutta Lada-RasMll . . . California (T) (97) Stanwyck-Milland Cross My Heart (83) Hutton-Tufts Details ander title: Too Good T* Be Tna Danger Street Lowery-Wltheri .. Dear Ruth aulfleld-Holden Desert Fury (T) Scotl-Hodiak Details under title: Desert Town Easy Come, Easy Go Tufts-Fitzgerald Details onder title: Third Avenue Emoeror Waltz, The (T) Crosby-Fontaine . . Fear In The Night Kelly York Golden Earrings MiliandD.etrich . I Cover Big Town Reed-Brooke . . . . Imperlett Lady. The Wrijht-Miiland Oetalli ander title: Take Thli Woman Jungle Flight Lowery-Savage Ladies' Man Bracken-Welles . . . My Favorite Brunette . Hope-Lamour . . . Perfect Marriage, The (87) Young-Niven .... Perils ol Pauline (T) Hutton-Lund .... Seven Were Saved Denning rralq Suddenly It's Soring MacMurray-Goddard Trouble With Women. The Mllland-Wright .. Two Years Before (lie Mast (98) Ladd-Donlevy . . . Unconquered (T) Cooper Goddard Variety Girl Hatcher-Kelley Welcome Stranger Crosby Caafteld Where There's Life Kope-Hat^o Wild Harvest Ladd-Lamour Details under title: The Big Haircut KEISSUES Jangle Princess, The Lamour-Milland Plainsman, The Cooper-Arthur COMPLETED 194'j-46 BLOCK NO. THREE Masquerade In Mexico (96) Lamoor-Cordova ... Miss Susie Slagle's (87) Tofts-Lake Tokyo Rose (66) Barr-Massen BLOCK NO. FOUR Blue Dahlia, Tha (99) Isidd-Laku They Made Me A Killer ;65) Lcwery-Brltton 9-30 , .11-11. . 12-24 . . . .8-6. 7-9. .12-10. . . .1-8. 12-27 . . 2-21 . .1-10. .9-30 .12 2? .11-25 .9-2. ..-2. 10-29 . . .6-24 . .4-29. . .8-19. . .6-10. .10-1. .3-7. .4-25. 6-2-,. 11-26. , .7-22. .1-21. .3-10 1-1 3-18. , .611. . .5-1. 819. .11-11. .3-18. .4-15. .9-16. . .2-7. . .4-4. . 1-24 . .11 25 .3-21. 11-22. . . .9-2 .9-1. .9-1. . .1-8 .9-18 .4-2 7-9. 2-22. .4512. .12-10 .3 8 . .4513. .12-10 .2-8. .4511. .12-10 4-19 4518. . .2-18 .5-3 .4517 . .218 JANUARY 6 , 1947 25 Virginian. The (T) (90) McCria-Brltlon Well-Groomed Bride, The (75) Mlllanl-deHavllland BKOCK NO. FIVE Bride Wore Boots. The (82) Stanwyck-Cummlngi Hot Cargo (57) Rogers-Reed Our Hearts Were Growing Up (122) Donlevy- Russell . . . To each His Own (1221 . ieHavlll.ind-Lund iJKOCK NO. SIX 0. S. S. (107) Ladd- Fitzgerald Searching Wind. The (108) Young Sidney .... Strange Lo«e ol Martha Iveri (116) Stanwyek-Hellln Details under title: Lovi Lies Bleeding Swamp Fire (70) Weissmuller-Grey .. SPKCIALS MnnUeur Beaucaire (T) (93) Hope-Caulfleld Road to Utopia, The (90) Cresby-Hope-Lamoir .11-13. 2-19. . .4-5. .5-17. .4516. . .2-lft .4519. . .2-18 . .8-6. .5-31. .4521 . . . .4-1 .6-28. .4523. . .3-18 . .3-5. .6-14. .4522. . . .4-i . .7-9. . .7-5. .4524. . .3-18 .2-18. .7-26. .4526. . .5-13 . 1-21 . . .8-9. .4527. . .5-13 10-15. .9-13 . .4528. . ,5-13 11-12. . .9-6 . 4529 . . .5-13 .9-17. . .8-30. . .4532. .5-27 12-13. .3-22. .4531. .12-10 Thinder Town (57) Stoele-Saylor Details under title: Man Without • Gun Wife ot Monte Crlito, The (81) Loder-Aeberl . l»46-47 Features Westerns Serials 1945-46 Features Westerns Serials 12-10. . .4-10. . 8-6 .4-23.. .4-1 Completed (14) In I'roduction CD Completed (10) In Production (0) Completed ( 0) In Production (0) (40) Completed (38) In Production (0) (16) Completed (23) In Production (0) ( 4) Completed ( 4) In Production (0) in 1 1946-47 Feature's Westerns 1915-46 Features Westerns Completed (10) Completed ( 5) Completed (20) Completed (16) In I'roduction (2) In Production (0) In Production (0) In Production (0) NEW PRODUCTIONS PHILO VANCE No. 3 (Temporary Title) I.Iystery — Started December 17 Cist: Will Wright, Leon Belasco, Terry Austin, Ramsey Ames Director: William Beaudine Producer: Howard Welsch story: Playlmy anil fiance muriiereil. His four ex-wives are suMpects but It is his grandmotlier who Is the killer. RELEASE CHART c»t Title — Running Timt IN PRODUCTION It's All In The Game Brown-Nash COMPLETED 1946-47 - Details Rel. .12 23. 12-23. .8-19. . .9-30. .7-22. . Border Feud LaRue-Marlen Born To Speed Sands-V/all .... Details under Eagle-Lion heading Brute Man. The (58) Hatton-Adams .. Details under Universal Release Chart Devil On Wheels, The Cardwell-Ford Driftin' River CS) Dean-Ates Her Sister's Secret (85) Coieman-Reed Outlander. The Pendleton-Whipper Philo Vance's Gam'-le Curtis-Austin Details under title: Philo Vance's Secret Mission Piiilo Vance Returns Deta ls under title: Philo Vance's GamblcCurtis-Ryan .... Red Stallion (C) Paige-Nasti Return of Rln-Tin-Tin, The (V) R:n-Tin-1 In-Woods Stars Over Texas ... Dean-Ates Three On A Ticket Beajmont-Walker Details under title: The Corpse Came Calling Tumbleweed Trzi! (57) Dean-Ates 9-2 Wild West . Dean-Ates 5-27. Details under tnie: Melody Round-Up 1945-46 .1 12. 11-26. . .10-1. .11-25 . .2 15. 10-1.. . .11-11 10-29. . .9-23 10-14 .11-25. .2-22. 10-14. .10-14 9-16 .9-16. .11-18. .10-28 .10-28. . . 12-1 . . 12-23 Accomplice (68) Arlen-Borg Ambush Trail (58) Sleele-Saylor ... Avalanche (68) Cabot-Borg Blonde For A Day (67) Beaumont Walk. r Details under title: Blondes On the Loose Caravan Trail, Th« (Cinecolor) (65) Dean Carlin .... (iiiiti Havana (62) I ndsay-Ntal .... Colorado Serenade (68) Dean-Ates . ... Datiiiy Boy 166) Henry Johnson "5 1 aavaje-Neal Devil Bat's Daughter LaPlanchp-j mes ')"• R.cardo Relurns Colby Isabel t2 Down Missouri Way (74) 0' Driscoil-Wr ght Oetail^ under title Missouri Hayridc Fnchantfd Forest The Cinecolor) (80) ... Lowe- Joyce Flying Serpent, Thi (60) i " M^-K^amer . . (;.is House Kds (68) Halop-Lowery ... fientlemen with Guns Crabbe-St. John Ghost o( Hidden Valley Cralibc-St. John How Do You Do? (83) Sordon-Windsor . . I Ring Doorbells (67) Stavne-Gwynne Lady Chaser Lowery-Savage Details under title: Lady Killer Larceny in Her Heart (68) Beaumont-Walker Details onder title. Crime In The Night Li'-h»houie Litel-Lang Lightning Raiders (61) CraDn.:-Sl. John Mask 0) Diljon (73) Von Stroheim-Bates Murder h My Business (65) Beaumont-Walker Havaio Kid (59) Steele-Saylor Ouli 'ws ot the Plains (56) Crabte St. John Overland Riden (54) CrabLe-St. John ■a h ■ini'pr title: Rust r Crabbe No. 8 Pralrif Badmen Crzbke-St. John Detail) undai titli DaitgnHs nti r'i\:u Rastlers (55, Crabbe-St. John .. Details under title: Buster Crabbe No. 1 Oiifcn ol Biirlcsniie (6// Ankrr'i-'rsung Romance of the West (60) . ." Dean -Barton . . . . '"crH- o( A Soro-ity Girl Ware-Valiln Six Gun Man (60) Steele-Carlln Details under title: SIx-Gan For Hire Strange Holiday (fil) Raint-Holden Strangler o( The Swamp rfiO) LaPlanehe-Fdwards Terrors On Morsebatk (54) Crabbe - St. John ..3-4. . .5-3. .10-1. .5-28. . .9-29 10-28 .'2-17 . .6-20 5-21 . .8-22 8-19 8 6. 6 25. .1-21. .8-19. .4-29. .1-22. 9-3. .819. . 1-21 . .4-29. . 8-6. .10-2. . .9-2. . .4-20. . .10-23. . .6-30. . . .1-8. . .11-30. . .4-15 10-21 . .8-15 11-11 . .4-29 .11-26 , . . 12-24 . .12-8. . . . .2-20. . . .10-14. . . .3-27.... ..6-3.... .12-24... . .2-25. . . 10-21 .10-1 .2-18 .12-9 .11-26 . .9-16 . .3-18. . .7-10 6-10 .9-30. 10- 15. 11- 26. .12-26. 10-15. . 6-24 . . 4-29 . . .9-17. . . . 4-1 . . .8-6. .1-10. . . .1-7. . ...4-9. . .4-10. . 11-21. . . .9-22. . . .8-21. . .8-19 .5-13 . .12-9 .10-14 .7-17. .11-7. 10-29. 9-3. .1-21. .7-24. . .3-20. . - 8-1. . ..2-1.. . . .8-5 .11-11 . .9-16 . .9-2. . . .1-1. . .8-14. . .9-30 . . 12-23. Details .1-21. .11-18. .4-29. . .1-15. No. Rn. .603 .1-29. .604 .601. . .9-30 NEW PRODUCTIONS LIGHTNIN' STRIKES TWICE Melodrama — Started December 26 Cast: William Marshall, Adele Mara, Ricardo Cortez, Stephanie Bachelor Director: Leslie Selander Producer: William O'Sullivan .story; Not available. .See next iHsue. RELEASE CHART IN PRODUCTION Bells of San Angelo Reg rs-Evans Iiiio— Ranninf TIih. Cast COMPLETEU 1946-47 Aflairt ot Geraldine M ithers-Withers Delaih under title: Lonely Hearts Clab Angii and the Badman. The Wayne-Russell Details under title: Angel and the Outlav Apache R04e Rrgen-Evans iijar Girl Frazee-Marshall Gallant Man Ameche-McLeod Hit Parade, The Albert- Moore Magniflcent Rogue, The Roberts-Douglas Fabulous Suzanne. The (71) Britton-Vall e . I've Always Loved Yof (T) (117) McLeod-Dorn Details indet title: Conicrta Oregon Trail Scoots Lano-Wentworth Marshal of Crippled CrMk Lane-Wentworth Outlaw of Sioux City lane-Stewart . • Pilgr.m Lady, The Mara-Douglas . Drtalls under title: Thi Inner CIrelt Santa Fe Uprising (56) Lano-Wentworth Sioux City Sue (69) Aotry-Roberts Spoilers of The North Kelly-Booth . . . Stagecoach to Denver '56; Lane-Blake . . . That's My Girl (Trocolor) Barry-Roberts Trail To San Antone Autry-Stewart Untitled Eddy-Massey . . Vigilantes of Boom Town Lane-Blake . . . Winter Wonderland Roberts-Drake Details under title: Snow Cinderella Wyoming Elliott-Ralston 1945-46 Alias Billy The Kid (56) Carson-Stewart . California Gold Rush (56) Elliott-Fleming . Lai Man of Parib The ^bi) Csmond-Aubert Conquest of Cheyenne (56) Elliott-Fleming Crime ol th» Certify (56) Bachelor-Browne Crimson (ihost. The (Sfiah Stirl.ng-noioley Earl Carroll's Sketchbook (90) Moore- Marshall El Paso Kid (55) Carson-Harmon Daughter of Don Q (Serial) Booth-Allen ... Days of Buffalo BUI (56) Carson-Stewart . . .9-2. . .7-8. .11-11 ..9-16 . 7-8. .10-15. .3-18. .12-15. , ,8-20. . .12-2. . . .9-2 .11-25 .10-14 .3-18. . .1-22. ,3-18. .11-15 . .6-24. .11-21. ..8-19 12-23 . . . .8-6 . .8-19 .11-25 . .5-27 ..5-'* .682. .661. .681. .12-9 .682. .11-25. French Key, The (67) Dekkfr-Ankers Gay Blades (67) Ashley-Rogers ... G. I. War Brides (69) Ellison-Leo .. .. Gey Could Change. A (65) Lane-Frazee Glass Alibi. The (68) Wrixon-Fowley H»Idorado Rogers-Evans . . . Home in Oklahoma (72) Rogers-Evans . . . . Home On the Range (55) Hale-Booth Details under title: West of God's Ctintry In Old Sacramento (89) . Mooro-Elliott . . . Invisible Informer (57) Stirling- Henry Inner Circle, The (57) Douglas-Roberts King of the Forest Rangers (Serial) Th-minon-Talbot Last Crooked Mile, The (67) Barry-Savage ... Last Frontier Uprising (Magnacolor) Hale-Booth Madonna's Secret. The (79) I . . . Lederer-Patrick Man from Rainbow Valley (M) (57) Ha'e-Booth Murder in the Music Hall (84) Ralston-Marshall li'y Pal Trigger |7J) PoifrsEvans .... Mysterious Mr. Valentine (56) Stirling-Henry . . Night Train to Memphis (67) AeuB-lMara One Exciting Week (69) p.,.,, .j--;. Out California Way (M) (67) Hale-Booth Passkey to Danger (58) Bachtlor-Mara . . . Phantom Rider. The (Serial) Kent Sdwarl .... Plainsman and The Lady (87) Elliott-Ralston Rainbow Over Texas (65) Rogers-Evans ... Red River Renegades (55) Carson-Stewart ... Rendezvous With Annie (89) Albert-Marlowe Rio Grande Raiders (56) Carson-Stewart Roll On, Texas Moon (68) Rogers-Evans . . . . Details under title: Shine On Texas Moon Rough Rider] of Cheyenne (56) Carson-Stewart Scotland Yard Investigator (68) VonSt'helm-Baehetor Sheriff of Redwood Valley (56) Elliott-Fleming .. Song of Arizona (68) Rogers-Evans Song of Mexico (57) Mara-Barrier .... Spectre of the Rose (90) Kurov-Essen Strang? Impersonation. A (68) Marshall-Gargan Sun Valley Cyclone (55) Elliott-Fleming .. That Brennan Girl (95) Dunn-Freeman Iratfle In Crime (56) Richmond-Mara . . . Undercover Woman (56) Bachelor-Llvings'on Details under title: Passkey to Danger Under Nevada Skies (69) Rogers-Evans .... Valley ol the Zombie. The (56) "noth I ivinoston Web of Danger Mara O'Flynn .12-24. . .4-17. - .4-30. . . .2-4. .10-1. . .4-20. .10-29. . .7-22. . 10-29 . . .2-23 . .4-15. .10-26. . .318. . . 8-13 5-22. 1-21. . .7-27. ..10-1. ...2-8. . 10-29 . .5-18 .12-10. . .1-25 . .4-29. . .8-12 . .6-25. . .1-27. .12-24. . .4-27. . .7-22. . .12-5. . . 6-24 . . .11-8 .11-26. . .4-18 .12-10. . .5-31. . .2-18. . .8-19 . .2-18. . .8-7. .JO-JS. . A '^l . .12-10. ...8 9. 10-22. .' ."io-'i . . .2-16. . .2-18. . .6-14. . 10-29 . . .4-10. . . 3-4. . .7-12. .6-10. . .9-3. .11-12. . .7-12. .12-24. . . 6-8 4-29. . .9-6. . .5-11. 8 e, l-?6. . .4-29. .11-15. . .4-1. . .5-9. 4-1. . .7-25. .3-18. .7-19. . .9-9. . .5-13." . .9-12. . .555 ..565 . .514 . .568 . . .511. . .6-24 . .584 . . .530 9-2 ..556 . .583 ..554 . . .519 7-8 , . .509. . .4 29 . . .528. .10-14 . . .508 2-4 , . .516. . .5-27 . .5542. .12-23 ..5501... 4-29 . .517. . .5-13 . . .529. .10-14 . .526 . .582 . .527. . .9-33 . .510. . .5502. . .512. . .5541. . . .531 . .523. . .8-19 . .521 7-8 .5503 . .518. . .8-19 . . 581 . . . . .532. . .448. ..557.. . .525. . ..558 . . .542. .11-1] .3-18 .7-27 . .3-4 .7-22 .11-25 . .6-10 .9-2 .5-14. . 2-19 . .7-23 . 12-24 . 11-26! 8-6. .9-17.. .5-13. .4-1. 11-26. .4-15. 917 10-28. .11-1. .9-30. .3-29. . .3-9. 12-28. ..7-5. .316. .5-10., 12-23. , 6-28 . .4-15. .8-26. . 5-24 .552 .501 .566 .447. . .4-15 5- 27 6- 10 ,4-1 , ,506 . .524 ,513 .567. .533. . .12-9 .522. .10-1-4 .511 9-2 .541 . 520 . .9-16 7-8 2a FILM BULLETIN Wagon Whtels Westward (56) Elliott-Fleming Woman Who Came Back, Thi (68) Kelly-Lodn' . . Ottalli and* titit: Thi Wat . .4-16. .12-21 564. 4-30. .12-13 507. .1-21 R KO-R AD ID 194&-47 Features 1945-46 Features Completed (38) Completed (39) In Production (3) In Production (0) Wonder Han (T) (9t) Kaye-Maye . REISSUE Pinoeehit (T) Disney Cartoon Featare .7-24 2 0 t K Ci H T U Rl Y: .1946-47 Features 1945-46 Features Completed (26) Completed (35) In Production (5) In Production (0) NEW PRODUCTIONS THE FUGITIVE Adventure — Started December 4 Cast: Henry Fonda, Dolores Del Rio, Pedro Ai-mendariz, J. Car- rol Naish, Leo Carillo, Fortunio Botnanova, Chris-Pin Martin Director: John Ford Producers: Merian C. Cooper- John Ford Story: Not available. Picture being made in Mexico. RELEASE CHART Title — Rinnlng Tima Cast IN PKODUCnON Magic Town Stewart-Wyman Out o< the Past itiitchum-Greer Details under title: Build My Gallows High Details , .11-25. . . . .10-28. . , COMPLETED 1946-47 . Foreign. . .10-29. , . .11-12. , . . .1-21. , . .12-10. . BLOCK NO. ONE Great Day (69) Robson-Portman Lady Lock (97) Young-Hale Sitter Kenny (116) Russell-Knox Step By Step (62) Tierney-Jeffreys Sunset Pass (60) iVarren-Leslie . BLOCK NO. TWO Child of Divorce (62) Moffett-Toomey 3-4 'J-Ii"lnal Court (62) Conway-O'Driscoll ..3-18 Genius At Work (61) Carney-Brown 9-3 Nocturne (88) Raft-Bari 5-13 NOT DESIGNATED Amazing Mr. Hammer, The O'Brlen-Slezak Details under title: Riffraff Bachelor and The Bobby-Soxer, The Brant- Loy ... Beat tht Band Langford-Krupa Banjo Moffett-White Best Years of Our Lives, The (172) Loy-March . . Born To Kill Irevor-Tlornay Details under title: Deadlier TIan the Male Code of The West Warren-Alden 7-22. Otvll Tliumbi A Ride, The Tierney-Leslle 7-8. .705. .702. . 701. .703. .704. .708. .709. .710. .706. 6-24.. .8-6. . 6-24. . 9-16. . .4-29. 5-27 . , .7-22 .7-22 .7-22 .7-22 .7-22 10-23 . .9-2 e-ij 10-23 .12-9 OIck Tracy vs. Cueball (62) Conway-Jeffreys 4-1. Dick Tracy vs. The Claw Byrd-Christopher ..11-11.. Falcon's Adventure, The (61) Conway- Meredith ...4-29. Farmer's Daughter, The Young-Cotten 5-27.. Details under title: Katie for Congress Fascinating Nuisance Wllllami-Hale 2-4.. Detalli andor title: Master MIndi FI'Bht Brodie-Long 12-9.. Honeymoon Temple-Madlion 4-1.. Locket, The (86) Day-Aherne 4-1. Details under title: A Time to Kill Long Night, A Fonda-Bel Geddes ..9-16.. San Quentin (66) Tierney-Carr 8-19. Secret Life of Walter Mitty (T) Kaye-Mayo 4-29.. Seven Keys to Baldpate Terry- White 11-25.. SInbad The Sailor (T) Falrbankj-O'Hara 3-4.. .11-25 . 12-23 . 12-23 .12-23 10-14. .8-19., 10-28. .8-19. , . . .2-4. . .2-4. Tarzan and The Hunters Weissmuller-Joyci They Won't Believe Me Young-Hayward Thunder Mountain Holt-Hyer Trail Street Scott-Jeffreys . . Vacation in Reno (60) Haley-Jeffreys . Woman on The Beaeh Bennett-Ryan Details gnder title: Deilrabi) Woman SPECIALS It's A Wonderful Life (129) Stewart-Reed 4-29... Notorious (101) Bergman-Grant ..10-29... Song of the South (T) (94) Disney Cartoon Feature 1945-46 BLOCK NO. FOUR Deadline at Dawn (83) Hayward-Wllllams ..5-28... Fr»B This Day Forward Fontaine-Stevens ...9-3... Dataili inder title: All Bridei are Beaitlfal Game of Death (70) Loder-Long 2-19... Details under title: The Matt Oanftroai RIverbaat Rhythm (64) Errol-Newton '-9... Tanan and the Leopard Woman (72) Weisrauller-Joyee ...8 tO... BLOCK NO. FIVE Badman'i Territory (98) Scott-Rlchardi 10-1... Ding Dong Williams (62) Vernon-McGoIre ...5-14... Partners In Time (76) Goff-Lauek Tnth Aboit Murder, The (63) Granville-Conway ..7-23... Datalli iRder title: Tha Lie Dettator WIthotI Reservations (107) Colbert-Wayne ...10-29... Detalli under title' Thanks God. I'll Take it From Here) BLOCK NO. SIX Bamboo Blonde (68) Langford-Wadi 9-17... Bedlam (79) Karioff-Lei 8-6... DttalU ander titio: A Jala of Bedlam Cr>ik-Hp (93) O'Brlen-Trevoi 1-21... Falean'i Alibi, The (62) Conway-Corday 8-20. .. Till tbt End of Ttme (105) McGuire-Madlson .10-29... Details gnder title: The Dream af Noma SPECIALS Along Came Jones (90) Cooper-Young ....11-27... Mil aif St. Mary's, The (125) rro^by-Bergman 3-5. Heartbtat (102) Rogers-Aomont 8-20... Kid From Brooklyn, The (T) (114) Kaye-Mayo 6-25... Make Mine Mosle (75) Disney Cartoon Feature Stranger, The ('»5) Roblnson-Young ..10-29... Tomamw Is Forever (105) Colbert-Welles 4-2... .11-11 .781. .12-23 .761. . . .8-5 .791. .11-11 .617 3-4 .616 3-4 .619. .12-10 . 620 . . .618. . .622. . .623.. .625. .624. . . .3-4 . .2-18 , .4-29 , .4-29 ..4-29 , .4-29 .621. . .5-13 .630. .628. .6-24 .5-13 .627. . .6-24 .629. . .5-13 .626. . .6-24 .681. .661. .662. .652. .692 .683. ■ 682. .••25 11 26 .4-29 . .4-1 .4-29 .5-27 .1-21 RELEASE CHART Title — Banning Time Cast Details Rel. IN PRODUCTION Captain From Caslile (T) Powers-Peters 12-9 Forever Amber 0 rnell-Wilde ....11-11 Ghost and Mrs. Muir, Tht Harrison-Tierney ...12-9 Moss Rose Mature-Cummins 12-9. Mother Wore Tights GrableDailey ....11-11 1946-47 Backlash Travis-Rogers . . . .'.9-30 Big Heart, The Payne-O-Hara 12-9 Black Beauty (74) Freeman-Denning ..12-10.. Bo3, Son of Battif (T) u.iiner-McCallister ..7-22... Details inder title: The High Window Boomerang Andrews-Wyatt ....9-30.. Bowery, The Raft-Beery Reissue... Sept . .Oct. .636. . .8-19 .642. 7-22. . . 4-29 . . . .3-18. . . .7-8. . 7-22. . . .8-6. . . Brasher Doubloon, The Montq mcry-Guild Carnival In Costa Rica (T) Haymes-Holm Claudia and David (78) McGuire-Young . Dangerous Millions (69) Taylor-Drake Homestretch (T) w u Hara I Wonder Who's Kisslni Her Now (T) Haver-Stevens Jewels of Brandenburg Iravis Cheirel Late George Apley, Thi Colman-Cumnins ....7-8.. Home Sweet Homicide ,70) ilarl-Scott 3-18.. If I'm Lucky (79) Blalno-James 4-29.. Details ander title: That's for Me Margie (T) (94) Craine-Young 2-18. My Darling Clementine (T) (97) Fonda-Darnell 4-29. Razor's Edge, The (146) Power Tierney 4-15. Shocking Min Pilgrim. The (T) Grable Haymes 12-10.. Strange Journey (65) Kehy-Massen 5-27.. Details under title: Flight To Paradlsa Sun Valley Serenade ( — ) Henie-Payne Reissue.. 13 Rni Madeleine Cagncy-Annabclla ...6-10. Three Little Girls In Blue (T> (90) Haver-Montgomery .11-25.. Wake Up and Dream (T) (92) fayiio-Havef . 5-14.. Wanted for Murder (91) Portman-Grey ...Foreign.. Sept. . Dec. .637 8-5 .648. . .12-9 COMPLETED 1945-46 NOT DESIGNATED Anna and The King of Slam (128) Dunne-Harrison ....12-10.. tell far Aiaoa, A (103) Hodlak-lierney ...11-13.. Centennial Samner (T) (102) Craln-Wiide 9-17., deny Brmn (100) Jones-Boyer 12-24.. Dark earner. The (99) Bail -Stevens 12-10.. Daadllni Far Mordii (65) Ke.ly-Ryan 3-18. Do Yao Love Mel (91) O Hara-Haymes 4-30.. ianiar Mbt (94) Garner-Joslyn 2-19.. It Shauldn't Happen To A Oaf (70) Landls-Joslyn 2-4.. leidazvaui 24 (70) Gargan-Palmer 1-21.. ••■aartiert la tiM Right Hodlak-Gulld 12-10.. Saakl (T) (87) MaeMirray-Baxter ..7-23.. Stranga Triangia (65) Hasso-Shepperd 1-7.. . .Oct. . . .640. . . .8-5 • Sept. . . . 638 • . . .9-2 .Nov. . . . 646 . .10-28 . Nov . . . .645. .10-14 . . Dec . . . .647. . 11-25 . . .1-6 . . Oct . . '. .643.' . .9-16 .Sept. . . .641 . . Jan 1-6 . . Oct . . .639. .9-16 . .Nov. . . .644. .n-11 . .Aug. . . .634. . .6-10 .Aag... . .601. . . .7-9 . .Aug. . . .633. . .6-10 .Jane. . . .628. . .5-27 .May. . . .625. . .4-15 ..A.g.. ..635. . .6-24 .May. . . .626. . 4-29 .Aag.. . . .60S. . .6-25 .July.. . .632. . .5-27 .May. . . .627. . .5-13 .Jane. . . .629. ..5-13 .Jaly. . ..631. ..6-24 .Jane. . . .630. . .5-27 1945-46 Features Completed (42) In Production (7) KEY TO PRODUCERS Small (SmI); Rogers (Rgs) ; Vanguard (Van); Crosby (Cby) ; Bill Boyd (BB) ; Pressburger (Psb) ; Ripley-Monter (RM); Bogeaus (Bog) ; Stromberg (Smg) ; Levey (Lev) ; Cowan (Cow); Stone (Stn); Selznlck (Szk); Nebenzahl (Neb); Lesser (Les); Loew-Lewin (LL); Eagle-Lion (GFD); Cagney (Cgy); Bronston (Bm); California (Cal); Chaplin (Chn). RELEASE CHART TItIo— Rinnlng Tims Cast Details Rel. No. Re«. IN PRODUCTION . 12-9 .Csi. Cobacabana MIranda-IHark Little Prince, The Harman-lsing Cartoon Heaven Only Knows Cummings-Donlevy .12-23 Miracle Can Happen, A All-Star 8-5 . .Bog-Mer. Other Love, The Stanwyck-Niven 10-28 Enterprise. Red River Wayne-O'Sheridan ..9-30.. Hawks. Vendetta DeGeorge- Brooke ...8-19 1945-46 Abie's Irish Rose (96) Dru-Chekhov 4-29. Abilena Town (89) Scott-Dvorak 1-6.. Detail! gnder title: Abilene Adventures of Don Coyote (C) Martin-Rafferty ....8-19.. Angel On My Shoulder (102) Muni-Baxter 1-21. Oatall» under title: Me and Mr. Satan Arch of Triumph Bergman-Boyer ...7-22.... Bachelor's Daughters, The (89) Russell-List 4-1. Caesar and Cleopatra (T) (126) Olivier-Le'gh ....Foregn.. Carnegie Hall Hunt-Prince Cha^e, The (86) Cummings-Morgan ...6-24. Christmas Eve Raft-Blondell 12-9.. 12-27. . .Cby. .1-11...LH.. 12-23 ..1-U R-C. .9-20. . . Rgs. . . . Enterprise. . .9-6. . S n. 8-16. . GFD. LaB-M 11-22. . Neb. .11-11 BiS .9-30 . .9-2 JANUARY 6, 1947 21 ^•'''•y Raffwty Olten 5-27.. Oangtroui V V ives." The picture also was se- lected as the "best" of the year. Other honors went to I^urence Olivier for his performance in "Henrj- V" and to Celia Johnson for her role in "Brief Encounter." Joseph Bernhard purchased stock to assume a controlling interest in Film Classics. He is a former Warner Bros. exe<'Htive. Adolph Zukor, I'aramount board chairman, struck out at British and domestic "maligners" of the motion picture industry. Declaring that Hollywood "makes the best pictures in the world," Zukor said the industry and the men in it deserve respect. HIS DIGfST (Continued from Pn^e 5} as a consequence of the controversy which resulted in the withdrawal of Selznick's product from UA distribution and the formation of his own releasing organization. The litigation was formed of two separate actions, one, in Superior Court, against Cnaplin, Miss Pickford and the Pickford Corp. for damages of $6,000,000, alleging "that they maliciously conspired to deprive Selznick's company of a distribution agreement executed in October, 1942 for selfish purposes of their own which will be revealed," and, the other, in Federal Court, against United Artists for $7,500,000 damages, claiming "deliberate and wilful mishandling of Selznick's productions, including the sale of weaker product of other producers on the streng:th of Selznick's pictures." In a statement announcing the suits, Vanguard charged Miss Pickford and Chap- lin had refused to heed the advice of the "management of United Artists. . .that there was no merit to their claim that Selznick or Vanguard had violated their contracts by turning over to 20th Century-Fox and to RKO stories and scripts which Selznick had abandoned, as provided for in his distribution agrreements because he did not think them up to his standards: that the agreements also provided for Vanguard's and Selz- nick's right to lend producers, directors ajnd players to other studios." Attempts Made to Settle The Chaplin and Pickford charges were denounced by Daniel T. O'Shea, V.anguard president, as "red herrings" used by the other two partners in the United Artists hold- ings to serve their own ends. He added that attempts had been made to settle the situation throurh offers made to Selznick and Vanguard, starting at $1,000,000 and that recent attemptr hrd been made by the management of UA to bring about a peaceful settlement through an accession by Selznick and Vanguard to Miss Pickford's demands concerning her own productions. Selzmick also charged that Miss Pickford and Chaplin "had not contributed anything of appreciable value to the company for years." Meanwhile, the Selznick Releasing Organization revealed that it already had its own sales offices operating in ten cities — New York, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Atlanta, Seattle. Kansas City, Cleveland and Boston. These offices are now being used as headquarters for sales of Selznick's "Duel in the Sun," and will be fully staffed within two weeks, a company spokesman reported. * * * PARAMOUNT DECENTRALIZES TWO DIVISIONS In a decentralization move described by Charles M. Reagan, vice-president in charge of distribution, as designed "to maintain the closest possible connection with our accounts," Paramount last week transferred its mid-eastern and western sales divisions from the home office to the field. Earle Sweigert, sales manager of the mid-eastern division, henceforth will work from the Philadelphia office, while George Smith, manager of the western division, will operate from Los Angeles. Hugh Owen, of the eastern-southern division, and James Donahue, of the central division, will continue to function from the home office. Reagan declared that this move is an experiment and, if successful, "will be expanded end made permanent." The ten branches in the western division will be divided into two districts, instead of the three as at present. Hugh Braly has been transferred from the Denver to the western district, where he succeeds Del Goodman, who resigned. Braly will continue to supervise Denver and Salt Lake, as well as the four west coast offices. The Omaha branch will be added to Ralph Libeau's district, Reagan also stated. * « * FEDERAL TAX 10% JULY 1st Despite the looming spectre of Republican opposition, the industry welcomed enthusiastically the President's proclamation halving the Federal admissions tax effec- tive July 1 of this year. The wartime levy of 20% will be cut to 10% on that date, un- less the Republican-dominated Congress enacts a tax bill to continue or otherwise modify the present rate. The President's proclamation, issued unexpectedly on New Year's Eve, was the official declaration of the end of hostilities. In some exhibitor quarters, fear has been expressed that a drop in the Federal admissions tax will bring on a wave of mew tax bills in municipalities and state legislatures. * * * BEN BERGER SUES MAJORS Charging violation of the anti-trust acts, Ben Berger, Minneapolis independent, has filed suit for $1,350,000 triple damages against the major film companies and the Minnesot?. Amusement Co. On behalf of the Duluth Theatre Corp. and the Lyceum Building Corp., Berger, president of both companies, alleged that he has been unable to obtain first-run product since he acquired the Lvceum Theatre from Minnesota Amusement in 1941. At the same time, he asserts, the majors have granted first-run showings to the competitive theatre operated by Minnesota Amusement. Berger says he was forced to reduce his admission prices and was ur.able to compete with other houses in Duluth. * * if; GOLDMAN ASKS 8 MILLIONS IN 2nd SUIT The $375,000 recently awarded to William Goldman, Philadelphia independent cir- cuit operator, by a Federal Court looked like peanuts last week when he filed his second suit against the Warner Bros, theatre chain and the major distributors in U. S. District Court. This time Goldman is asking $8,400,000. In his previous action filed in Dec, 1942, Goldman claimed that the Warner circuit and the major film companies had conspired to prevent him from obtaining first-run product for his Erlanger Theatre in downtown Philadelphia. District Judge William (Continued on Pa:^8 24) JANUARY 6, 1947 23 nfUJS DIGtST iC.ontimii'il from I'tifif 2'.i < "EAgar I^ayioii. treiisiirer of Warncr'H Karle Thesitre, Washington, I). ('., flioH t«i New York eaoh week ti> attcnil (h« <'la«s in Motion I'ic- tiire Miinaiccenicnt at New York University. Here he is sho\vn with I'rofesNor Micliiiel XuIn (left), who eondaets tlie eluMH, »nfl Arthur AVeiiiherger, office inanaRer of WB New York exchange, who re<'ently aililrettHed the claHS. PICKUPS to and from Phila. Airports Meeting All Planes Day and Night Service ANOTHER SUPER SERVICE from HIGHWAY EXPRESS LINES, Inc. 236 N. 23rd St. 1239 Vine St. 1225 Vine St. Phila. 7. Pa. LOcust 7-43 II DEPENDABLE DELIVERY i • ^ NEW JERSEY MESSENGER! SERVICE Member Nat'l Film Canritora 250 N. Juniper St., Phlla. 7, Pa. LOcust 7-4823 H. Kirkpatiick wa.s overiuled by the Circuit Court and ordered to make an award to Goldman, which was fixed under the Clayton anti-trust act at triple the loss of $125,000. The new suit is ba.sed on a claim for loss of potential profits, damages and expenses amounting to $2,800,000 incurred between the date of the original suit and the present action. If sustained in the full amount, Goldman would be awarded treble damages of $8,400,000. ' ^ if If BERNHARD BUYS INTO FILM CLASSICS A "substantial" interest in Film Classics has been acquired by Joseph Bernhard, former Warner executive and until recently affiliated with United States Pictures, through his purchase of stock held by Joseph Auerbach and the law firm Stillman and Stillman. There was no word whether Bernhard would be active in the operation of the independent distribution organization. Film Classics functions through franchise hold- ers in most territories, but operates several of its own exchanges. In fonjunrtion with the news of Bernhard's affiliation, the company announced that it had acquired 24 Alexander Korda features, formerly released by United Artists, for distribution in the United States and Canada. First of this group will be "Thief of Bagdad." Others to follow include "Lydia," "That Hamilton Woman," and "The Return of the Scarlet Pimpernel." DANSON HEADS PRC ADV'G; STOLZ UPPED Harold L. Danson has assumed the post of director of advertising, publicity and exploitation for the new PRC, succeeding Arnold Stolz, who was promoted to special national sales representative. Both appointments were announced by president Harry H. Thomas. Danson was formerly with the Kayton-Spiero Advertising Agency, where he handled special work for 20th Century-Fox. Previously, he had been with Paramount in New York and Hollywood. Stolz will be assistant to Lloyd L. Lind, v. p. and assistant general sales manager. His immediate function will be concerned chiefly with the sale and promotion of a series of new pictures to be released shortly. ♦ « • M OF D TRAILERS JAN. 24-30 The March of Dimes trailer, featuring Greer Garson, will be shown in theatres from January 24 through January 30, it was announced by Emil C. Jensen, director of the film division of the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis. The number of theatres that have pledged support of the annual drive has been growing steadily, M of D headquarters reports. The press book, being prepared by film division Publicity Director Charles Reed Jones, will be in the hands of exhibitors shortly. PRINCIPAL PROVISIONS OF DECREE (Continued from Page 4) ninety-five per cent or more. The relationships between the defendants and independents which violate this provision shall be terminated by a sale to, or purchase from the co- owner or co-owners, or by a sale to a party not one of the other defendants. In dis- solving relationships among defendants and between defendants and independents which violate this provision, one defendant may acquire the interest of another defendant or independent if such defendant desiring to acquire such interest shall show to the satis- faction of the court, and the court shall first find, that such acquisition will not unduly restrain competition in the exhibition of feature motion pictures. Each of the defen- dants sKall submit to this court within six months a statement outlining the extent to which it has complied and the manner in which it proposes to comply with this pro- vision, setting forth in detail the names, locations, and general descriptions of the theatres, corporate securities, and beneficial interests of any kind involved, the sales theienf that it has made, and such interests as it proposes to acquire, with a statement of facts regarding each competitive situation involved in such proposed acquisition suf- ficient to show the probable effect of such acquisition on that situation. Similar reports shall be made quarterly thereafter until this provision shall have been fully complied with. Reasonable notice of such acquisition plans shall be served upon the Attorney General and plaintiff shall be given an opportunity to be heard with respect thereto before any such acquisition shall be approved by the court. "(6) From expanding its present theatre holdings in any manner whatsoever ex- cept as permitted in the preceding paragraph. "(7) From operating, booking, or buying features for any of its theatres through any agent who is known by it to be also acting in such manner for any other exhibitor, independent or affiliate. "Nothing contained in this decree shall be construed to limit, in any way whatsoever, the right of each distributor-defendant to license, or in any way to arrange or provide for, the exhibition of any or all the motion pictures which it may at any time distribute, in such manner, and upon such terms, and subject to such conditions as may be satis- factory to it, in any theatre in which such distributor-defendant has or may acquire pursuant to the terms of this decree, a proprietary interest of 95 per cent or more either directly or through subsidiaries." 24 FILM BULLETIN 4^ OUOIfS What the Neiospaper Crit/cs Say About Neiu F/lms 'HUMORESQUE' WARNERS 'T Tnadulterated schmaltz .The Warner Brothers have wrapped this piteous affair in a blanket of soul-tearing- music which is supposed to make it spiritually purgative. . .The music, we must say, is splendid — and, if you will only shut your eyes... and your ears... you may enjoy it very much." — CROWTHER N Y- TIMES. "J_Jardly any story at all to fill its two hours and five minutes. So the characters just stand around and kill time by talking ...A much more substantial side of the entertainment the picture brings is the long and frequent interludes devoted to the violin music." — COOK, N. Y. WORLD-TELEGRAM. "IJemarkable variation on the Svengali theme. It is chock-full of come-ons; it is not much in the way of entertainment... Even with Jean Negulesco's sometimes effective direction, 'Humor- esque' is definitely palling. .. Levant earns his screen simoleons b-' playing rather triumphantlv when the plot goes dead."— BARNES N. Y. HERALD TRIBUNE. '"jphe award performance she (Joan Crawford) gave in 'Mildred Pierce' is more than sustained in 'Humoresque' ►.Sure-fire hit." — THIRER, N. Y. POST. "W/*^" written, judiciously directed and sincerely acted drarn^ " CAMERON, N Y. DAILY NEWS. *' ■STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN" UNIVERSAL-INTERNATIONAL ^. ' "gripping and fanciful .. .Part kmusing, part serious, and an al- most wholly intriguing bit of make-believe. . .Fascinating trick of cinema fancy, another plus score for Powell, Pressburger and the English film industry." — GUERNSEY N Y HERALD- TRIBUNE. "Conservative British humor is combined with extravagant Hol- lywood taste. . .Unique picture, an amusing and often de- lightful comedy of a serious theme." — HALE N Y DATT.V NEWS. ' "jr\elicate charm, the adult humor and visual virtuosity of this Michael Powell-Emeric Pressburger film render it indisput- ably the best of a batch of Christmas shows. . .Deliciously sophisti cated frolic... Take this recommendation: see 'Stairway to Heaven. It's a delight." — CROWTHER, N Y. TIMES "^n intellectual strip-tease, a titillating cerebral prank, a gay and tender adult holiday, a movie that dances for joy on the premise that movie audiences have wit and minds and imagination Ar^ti'^^'l^/"'^ original picture, a treasure of joy to the wise." - " picture of rare distinction and intelligence. . .Perfectly bal- anced. perfectlv eniovable picture, always noting the fact that, as usual, the British make no concessions to youthful or immature grouDs in movie audiences." — WINSTEN N Y POST \7ery enjoyable fable, slyly comical one moment and pleading to GRAM.''^'' ^^^^^ ^°°^' WORLD- TELE- •THE WICKED LADY' UNIVERSAL ■'(-|loak-and-nonsense drama. . .Impossible wickedness and impos- in this lentthl f ''f T P''"'^"^' "^^"^^ ^'"^-d -^"n^-s ^xaggL e ?hffi> ' ''^'^ '^""y '^^^^^ serves to hSaLD%ribUNE. - GUERNSEY, N. Y. •"phe English picture that had to be sent back across the Atlantic gowns" Who'le'Xr hT'' '"'"^ '^^^ ^""^''^ ^^^^'^ t° ^o^^^slo^^'':^.^^^ emphasis rrther'undTst""'- t'T'""'' ""'^ '"^'^^"^^ - themselves upon the solitarrffc; of '"'"^ ^-^^ ~. iZ' ^ =\S.'' -^NS»S ''^''r;eh?ows 'ifluf guaranteed to cause lifted venlure"^ captures desSte'a'^ ^^^^^^ '"-^"^^ ^d- extravagant Plot' the ' °' ''^^"'^ P^''^'^^ ^"'^ ^» England." -^.'S^N.^WO^S^^^^^^^ — ^ 'ABIE'S IRISH ROSE' JANUARY 6 , 1947 UNITED ARTISTS "■^To objection to 'Abie's Irish Rose' on religious grounds. If a mediocre little movie like the current conception of Anne Nichols' marathon comedy preaches anything, it's tolerance. You certainly don't get provoked with any special person or race in the picture — only at everybody who acts so foolishly for a whole hour and a half's unreeling." — THIRER, N. Y. POST. "'T'he old jokes about the Jews and the Irish have not only been squeezed dry, they create at this stage in civilized progress a peculiar embarrassment among listeners. . .The fun in 'Abie's Irish Ro^e' was never authentic. At present it is tasteless. . .Acting is no better than the script."— PIHODNA, N. Y. HERALD TRIBUNE. "■^Tot much harm in it... But not much entertainment either." ■'-^ COOK, N. Y. WORLD-TELEGRAM. "A source of intermittent laughter; laughter which stems from the exaggerated racial and religious prejudice; ... But some, how in this dav one does not relish this sort of humor. . .Direction lacks comic inventiveness and the dialogue, alreadv supposedly tontd down by the producers, still contains seemingly unnecessarily offensive lines." — PRYOR, N. Y- TIMES. 'CROSS MY HEART' PARAMOUNT "1" Tneven farce. . .A court-room scene does have some moments of ^ frenzied and fanciful fun... But then the whole thing goes haywire ... Obviously the writers and the director (John Berry) took the silliest way out." — CROWTHER, N. Y. TIMES. "'T'here are more than enough antics for a screen comedy, but they add up to very little laughter. . .Generally tedious and tasteless entertainment. . .Never succeeds in making wacky screen comedy much more than wearisome." — BARNES, N. Y. HERALD TRIBUNE. "Qonny. . .Betty. . .They do not fit. The director or someone con- nected with the picture has it jumping incoherentlv from Fcene to scene in the effort, but they cannot make it." — COOK, N. Y. WORLD-TELEGRAM "/Caricature and satire, with plenty of vigor. . .There is a racuous ^ impertinence about 'Cro'^s My Heart', something almost bur- lesquev in its spirit, that impels your reviewer to rank it well above its predecessor and a bit higher than would the popular 'IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE' RKO "T^ocument of small town existence ... Has moments which are trying, but they are easily forgotten in the fluency and real- ism of a forthright and deeply felt motion picture. . .Loaded with artistry and sincerity. . .With Stewart playing the chief figure in his cinematic morality play, it is engrossing and universally pertinent." — BARNES, N. Y. HERALD TRIBUNE. ""IS^r. Capra, back from the war, has resumed with a will his previously manifest penchant for portraying folks of simple, homely worth. . .Great abundance of colloquial incidents and emo- tional tangles of a mistful, humorous sort .. .Weakness is the sentimentality of it — its illusory concept of life." — CROWTHER, N. Y. TIMES. "'T'he war made no change in Capra, glory be, but it seems to have made a considerable one in Capra's favorite actor, James Stewart — and every hit of it decidedly for the better... Like many another Capra masterpiece, this is a humorous fantasy. Once more this director will demonstrate the fallacy of the old Hollywood maxim that fantasy is poison at the box office." — COOK, N. Y. WORLD-TELEGRAM. "/^apia seems to have lost touch somehow. He is trying for the ^ big meaningful sentiments and as often as not falling into eml;arra£sing theatrics. . .His sense of comedy seems to have rusted during the years away from Hollywood. . .A pictuie built along noble lines" — WINSTEN, N. Y. POST. 23 mruRES . ol an ^■^'^f.^Se™ cities .11^^^^! and 16 U» ^^-rg^J a lavg^r ^^^^ ^^.er Tin," fnd scheduled to r u^^^ dogs .^^ tlae c ^^^^x^Xi t'b ?rin ^Jr^ens earM^^ , A interview's J^r ^^^^v l^e nation s |cre T^^^^l^aW «^«^«' represented or V^*^Se cTties-'^^r^ thiti San •pranas.co^j.^^uirf ^"tuS^^ding J^ariott V/ednesday. Nov BULLETIN AmeNca\A yH((ef2en4eHt ttlctm Pictute Jcuftta/ FEBRUARY 3. 1947 MESSAGE OF HOPE A. F. MYERS SEES GAINS FOR EXHIBITORS IN DECREE. BUT SAYS DIVESTITURE STILL VITAL ISSUE. Page 7 STUDIO SIZE-UPS TWO NEW COLUMNS LOADED WITH "INSIDE DOPE" FOR EXHIBITORS AS WELL AS FILM PEOPLE Page 15 TURN TO PAGE 4 FOR "THINKING OUT LOUD" AND "SHORT SUBJECTS" BOOMERANG' GKimNG, REALISTIC DRUM A WIIH EXCITING TWISTS SONG OF SCHEHERAZADE- LAVISH SPECTACLE. DULL ENTERTAINMENT BEDELIA' SLOW-MOVING BRITISH VERA CASPARY DRAMA BLIND SPOT' STRIVES TO BE A MINOR LEAGUE 'LOST WEEKEND' THE DEVIL ON WHEELS' HEAVY-HANDED TOPICAL PREACHMENT And Otfiers, Pages 10, 11, 12 Exciting DEANNA DURBIN ...Singing, loving, having fun! Sensational TOM DRAKE ...The Screen's new romantic star! Hilarious WILLIAM BENDIX ...That "Life of Riley" favorite! Merry Mad ADOLPHE MENJOU ...A riot in his grandest role! Exhibitors Welcome Eagle -Lion Eagle-Lion, the new- born babe of the industry, is certainly entitled to a hearty welcome from the I exhibitors of the nation, i This latest addition to the film family arrives at a crucial moment when the pinch of the acute product shortage has most theatremen howling in agony, when any new source of pictures can be counted on to ease the tight market to some degree. But Eagle-Lion looks like something more than an outfit that will merely furnish film. It promises to provide good, exploitable product. The company's manpower is composed of well-grounded film executives with their feet planted firmly on the terra firma. The tone of the publicity issued throughout the organizational period was notable for its absence of the usual flamboyant claims and promises. This was to be no effort to crowd Metro off its perch, but, frankly stated, the source of a new supply of repre- sentative major-quality product, produced here and imported from England. Sponsoring E-L financially are Pathe, Inc., representing the Young interests, and that redoubtable British entrepreneur, J. Arthur Rank. This is a formidable alliance, well able to furnish some stiff competition to the major companies. Pathe recently plunked down close to 4 million cool dollars for the expansion of Eagle-Lion and PRC, the major portion ear-marked for the for- mer outfit. That's a sizeable bit of American coin and can be accepted as forceful reiteration of the parent company's deter- mination to advance E-L to a prominent position in the indtxstry scene without too much delay. In Bryan Foy, they have acquired a shrewd and thoroughly seasoned production chief. He does not strive to be a Goldwyn. but he knows plenty about making box-office movies. Foy has been building a backlog of story properties that will emerge as highly marketable films during the coming months. An example of the type of story he is lining up was reported in our Studio Size-ups department last issue. It is "Corkscrew Alley, " a yarn about a thrilling escape from a chain gang, on which Humphrey Bogart held an option with intentions of producing it as an in- dependent venture of his own. When Bogart was re-signed by Warners, he dropped the option and Foy grabbed the rights. A glance at the Production Record in this issue of Film Bulletin reveals a couple of imposing pictures already listed in. the so-far slim number of E-L features soon to be released. "Amy Comes Across," with Franchot Tone and Ann Richards, and "Re- peat Performance," with Joan Leslie and Louis Hayward, are definitely of major calibre. The currently premiering "It's A Joke, Son!" is a capital piece of showmanly merchandise. The Hollywood studio, it is true, has moved cautiously, but certainly in the right direction. President Arthur Krim is proving to be an adept organizer and he has assembled a staff of topflight executives. Exhibitors can expect to find in vice-president, general sales manager A. W. Schwalberg, one of the industry's fair-minded sales officials. The company's advertising, publicity and exploitation are in the able hands of Max E. Youngstein, who knows all there is to know- about what to do with film merchandise. Eagle-Lion is well named. It is an organization that com- bines strength and the capacity to soar to great heights. It merits the best v/ishes of all theatremen. They re Making Book On Scuddas I The bookmakers are I laying the following odds i on 20th-Fox's title "Scudda I Hoo, Scudda Hay": 20 to 1 I that one Scudda is drop- ^ ped; 8 to 1 that both Scud- das are dropped, and 4 to 1 that the Hoo and the Hay don't go. You steps up and takes your cherce! Two of Philly's exhibitor pioneers passed away within one week. Marcus Benn died on Jan. 23rd. He opened his first thea- tre, The Benn, in 1909. On Jan. 28th, Morris Gerson, also a veteran theatreman, passed on. Shades of The Great Lover! Rudolph Valentino has been signed for the cast of Paramount's "Road to Rio" — only this one is Irish — Rudolph Valentino Freeman, so named by his mother, who was an avid admirer of the silent screen lover. Valentino (the Freeman has been dropped for screen purposes) will play a bellhop! Note for music-lovers: Spike Jones, zany band leader, has been named "King of Corn" for the sixth successive year by the readers of Downbeat Magazine, tradepaper of the orchestra world. Hank Linet, Universal-International Eastern Advertising Manager, will conduct a series of lectures on motion picture ad- vertising and publicity at the New School for Social Research in New York. An informal three-day meeting of representatives of several Allied units in connection with the Allied Caravan is scheduled for Philadelphia on Feb. 3. Attending will be Sidney Samuelson, Caravan chief; H. A. Cole, Texas Allied; William Carroll, ATO of Indiana; John H. Wolfberg, Denver Allied; Bennie Berger and Stanley Kane, North Central Allied; Charles Niles, la-Neb. Allied. William Goldman announced the purchase of Philly radio sta- tion WDAS and will demolish his central city Keith Theatre structure to make room for both the radio station and a new 2500 seat deluxe first-run theatre. Plans for the distribution of Universal-International product for the next six months will be formulated at three regional sales meetings scheduled by W. A. Scully, Univer.sal sales chief. The first took place at Mark Hopkins Hotel, San Francisco, Jan. 27; the second is set for Drake Hotel, Chicago, Feb. 7; the third will follow in New York. Particular emphasis will be accorded "The Egg and I," which Scully termed the most formidable U-I release. A huge amount is ear-marked for exploiting this one. M-G-M purchase of the Hotel Astor, New York, was confirmed last fortnight in a deal reported to involve $5,700,000. There was no comment from the company as to whether the building will be demolished to erect a theatre and office building, but the rumor to that effect is strong. Realignment of Paramount's home office promotional setup following the recent resignation of Al Wilkie, publicity manager, was announced by Curtis Mitchell, director of advertising, pub- licity and exploitation. C. N. Odell, formerly in charge of news- paper contacts, will head a newly created press department, which will include publicity services, and Gordon Swarthout becomes co-ordinator of the company's publicity-exploitation activities. Admissions tax collections for November, 1946, reached a new high for the month and was the third highest in history, as Bureau of Internal Revenue receipts showed $42,182,000. This compares with the take for November, 1945, of $29,862,687. Universal's Maurice Berg;man and the horse he was riding" disagreed. Maurice lost. He was discharged from the hospital in San Francisco late last week and is scheduled to leave Tuesday (4th) with U-I advertising chief John Joseph for regional meet- ings in Chicago and New York to discuss plans for selling "The Egg and L" Lou Lifton v/as in New York last week to lay plans for the national advertising and publicity campaigns on Monogram's big" special, "It Happened On 5th Avenue." 20th Century-Fox will enlarge and re-equip Wembley Studios in England to the tune of one million pounds if it can get permits from the Board of Trade in London to do so, according to Murray Silverstone, company international head. DAVE BADER JOINS FILM BULLETIN Dave Bader, industry veteran, has been named Business Manager of FILM BULLETIN, it was an- nounced today (3rd) by Mo Wax, Publisher. His head- quarters will be in the New York business office. Suite 622, Manufacturers Trust Bldg., 1819 Broadway. Tele- phone: CI. 6-9159. Mr. Bader has just completed a special assignment with the motion picture division of the March of Dimes, working with Emil C. Jensen, director, and Charles Reed Jones, publicity manager. 4 FILM BULLETIN YOU Tke National Conference of Cliristians and Jews is an organization devoted to ^ood will among men. Or, wkat tlie cliarter of tke , United Nations defines as, "Universal respect for an observance of kuman rigkts and fundamental freedoms for all, witkout distinction as to race, language or religion." ^ American Brotkerkood Week will ke okserved Fekruary 16-23, 1947. Joining iogeilier in this fight against prejudice will he: RADIO THE PRESS NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS and THE MOTION PICTURE INDUSTRY! You are tke Motion Picture Industry! You are tke vital part of tkis drive ! All you are asked to do is to oktain a minimum of 10 people to sign a pledge card and mail it in witk a contrikution of at least ^'l.OO SPYROS P. SKOHRAS, National diairman; JACK KIRSCH, FRED WEHRENBERG, TED CAMBIj;, National Co-Ciiairmcn. First sign and mail fhe pledge, printed here fo" your convenience . . . then tutn to the next page for more information on how to im- plement the drive! AMERICAN BROTHERHOOD HAR«Y S. TRUMAN, Hon. Choirmon JOHN G WINANT, Chairman I pledge allegiance to the ideal of my country— fair play for all. I pledge myself to keep America free from the disease of hate. In good heart ! pledge unto my fellow- Americans all of the rights and dignities I desire for myself. And to win support for these principles, I join the American Brotherhood. NAME THEATRE CITY STATE To b»com« o m«mbfr I give $. (TAX DEDUCTIBLE) KEEP YOUR BOX OFFICE EYE ON REPUBLIC 'BOOMERANG' GRIPPING DRAMA WITH EXCITING TWISTS Rates • • • generally 20th Century-Fox 88 minutes Dana Andrews, Jane Wyatt, I^ee J. Cobb, Cara Williams, Arthur Kennedy, Sam I^- vene, Taylor Holmes, Robert Keith, Ed Beg. ley, Leona Roberts, Philip Coolidgre, Lester Lionergan, Lewis Leverett, Bar'ry Kelley, Ida Mc'Guire, Clay Clement. Directed by Elia Zazan. This engrossing drama seldom flags an intere t, su pense or excitement. Producer Louis de Rochemont again uses his "March of Time" technique, seen previously in "The House on 92nd Street" and currently in "13 Rue Madeleine." The documentary atmos- phere is further enhanced by having many of the scenes enacted in the picture's locale, a small city in Connecticut. Superiorly di. rected and acted, it will prove satisfying filmfare to all classes of patrons, and favor- able word-of-mouth response should bring gratifying returns in all types of theatres. Dana Andrews, starring in the role of a conscientious, politician-harried state's at- torney. gives an outstanding performance. So, too, do Lee J. Cobb as a hard-bitten po. lice chief, Sam Levene as a cynical court reporter, and Arthur Kennedy as a war veteran accused of murder. Cara Williams gives a noteworthy portrayal of a vengeful waitress in a cheap restaurant. Photogra- phy is above par, both in lighting of scenes and movement of cameras; many of the ex. terior crowd shots have the factual quality evident in new.sreels and "Maich of Time." Off-scene narration is unobtrusive, estab- li.shes time lapses, identifies changes of lo- cale and advances the story. The tightly- woven plot unwinds smoothly and logically, its many and unexpected twists keep the story alive at all times. Credit for a swift, paced narrative should go to Richard Mur- phy, scripter, and to director Elia Kazan. Among the film's many dramatic moments, two are worthy of special mention; one a gruelling third degree of a murder suspect, the other his attempted lynching by a mob of the slain man's friends. Based on an article published in Readers Digest, the film gives a behind-the-.«cenes view of politi- cal chicanery and skullduggery in an aver- age.sized city, and shows how a courageous official, unafraid of jeopardizing his own career, can arouse civic conscience and fore- stall a miscarriage of justice. The picture nigest. For weeks, Fairport's reform, administra- tion vainly tries to solve the murder of a beloved pastor, slain on a busy street. The opposition bitterly assails state's attorney Dana Andrews and police chief Lee J. Cobb as "inefficient." Scores of suspects are ques- tioned to no avail. Finally Arthur Kennedy, answering the description of the killer and carrymg a gun of the same calibre as the murder weapon, is caught in Ohio, extra- REVIEWS in This Issue Boomerang -10 Song of S<-hehera7>ade 10 The Devil On Wheels 10 Bedelia 11 Blind Spot 11 Scmth of the Chisholm Trail 11 Born To Speed 11 Trail To San Antone 12 Tho Pilgrim Lady 12 Mr. District Attorney 12 Wild Country 12 dited to Fairport. He denies all knowledge of the crime until, broken by forty hours of ceaseless grilling, he signs a confession. During the trial, Andrews throws the court into turmoil by suddenly declaring he be. lieves Kennedy innocent. The whole com- munity turns against him. Next day, facing political suicide, he dramatically discredits, one by one, the positive identifications of the accused by seven witnesses. To clinch his argument that Kennedy didn't kill the pas- tor, Andrews loads the gun, has an aide aim it at his head — and pull the trigger. Only a click results: Kennedy's gun has a loose firing pin, couldn't have shot the lethal bullet. 'SONG OF SCHEHERAZADE' LAVISH TECHNICOLOR SPECTACLE, DULL ENTERTAINMENT Rat es 4- generally Universal-International 106 minutes Yvonne DeCarlo, Brian Donlevy, Jean Pierre Aumont, Eve Arden, Philip Reed, Charles Kullman, John Qualen, Richard Lane, Terry Kilburn, George Dolenz, Elena Verdugo, Robert Kendall, Rex Ravelle, Mickey Simp- son, Sol Haines, Florence Rozen, Milio Sheron. Directed by Walter Reisch. Save for magnificent settings and cos- tumes enharced by Technicolor and some good exploitation angles, this escapist ex- travaganza has little to recommend it. Ex- hibitor.; must judge its box-offlce worth by grosses shov/n on previous Yvonne DeCarlo plc'.ures of this type from Universal. Pro- ducaon quality is apparent in several ex- pensively-mounted ballets, but whether these and the music of Rimsky-Korsakoff will reconcile patrons to an inane plot is open to question. Despite its evident costliness, the picture drags interminably, the develop- ment of its all-too-slight and unbelievable plot slowed by ten lengthy musical numbers. The cast is studded with names of better- than-average drawing power, yet most of the players show little relish or aptitude for their respective roles. Of the huge roster only Brian Donlevy, Philip Reed and Jean Pierre Aumont give convincing perform- ances. Blame for this entertainment-lacking production may be attributed to the writing and direction, both by Walter Reisch. Exhibitors should exploit the film's spec- tacle, color and romantic aspect. "Inspired by the music of Rimsky-KorsakofT" (accord- ing to a program note), the picture may ap- peal to music lovers. Doubtless it will draw die-hard DeCarlo fans also. Nor should Jean Pierre Aumont's growing popularity be overlooked. Exploitation should stress these angles and play up the romantic rivalry be- tween a young Russian prince and a strug- gling composer for a glamorous Moroccan dancing girl. Mention should be made of the film's one novel scene, a duel with bull whips. Becalmed in a Moroccan port during a training cruise, the midshipmen of a Rus- sian naval ship seek entertainment ashore. Jean Pierre Aumont and Philip Reed be- come rivals for the favors of Yvonne De- Carlo, dancing in a cafe to earn money for her extravagant mother, Eve Arden. Yvonne prefers Aumont, a budding composer, to his titled rival. Eve tries to fleece Reed, but loses heavily when the North African heat melts the paint with which she has marked the cards. Yvonne borrows from the cafe owner to pay Eve's debt to Reed. Later, she smuggles herself aboard the ship, dons the uniform of Terry Kilburn, a deserter, to save him from disgrace. Captain Brian Donlevy discovers the ruse, puts her ashore and forbids Aumont to do any more com- posing. Later, in St. Petersburg, Yvonne stars in a ballet by Aumont, now a civilian. 'THE DEVIL ON WHEELS' HEAVY-HANDED TOPICAL PREACHMENT Rates • • — for lower spot In action and naborhood houses PRC 67 minutes Noreen Nash, Darryl Hickman, Jan Ford, James Cardwell, Damian O'Flynn, Lenita Lane, William Forrest, Sue England, Ro- bert Arthuir, Ann Burr. Directed by Crane Wilbur. CJood action and bad acting mark this high.speed low-budget PRC release. Woven into the plot is an expose of the dangers of drag races wherein youthful speed maniacs risk life and limb in backroad contests be- tween hopped-up jallopies. The picture may appeal to youngsters because of its jive dialog and sensational shots of hot-rod cars in action; it may interest grownups as an object lesson of what happens when parents fail to practice what they preach. How. ever, the total ab'^ence of marquee names re'egatps this to the lower spot in minor pct'on r>r fpmily hou'^es. Performances bv the juvenile members of the cfi~t. other th^n Noreen Nash are ama. tenri=h: those of the adults. William Forrest and Sue England, are little better. Handi- capped bv this roster of unknowns, the ex- hibitor will have to concentrate on the film's several exploitation possibilities, such as cooperation of local safety councils, auto- mobile clubs, insurance companies and ju. venile welfare groups. Inexpensive but striking lobby displays might include blow. ups of pictures showing wrecked jallopies and newspaper headlines stressing the na- tion's highway death toll. Damian O'Flynn and Sue England pamper their younger son, Darryl Hickman, owner of a hopped-up jallopy. Damian's reckless driving results in a minor collision between Damian's elder son, James Cardwell, and the judge's pretty daughter, Noreen Nash. Disobeying his father, Darryl enters his hot- rod car in a drag race and is pursued by the police. Later, attempting to shake off a pursuing prowl car. Darryl is responsible for the death of his chum, Robert Arthur, and the near.death of his own mother in the ensuing two-car crash. He goes to prison, learns his lesson. FILM BULLETIN 'BEDELIA' SLOW-MOVING BRITISH DRAMA Rates • • + in class houses; fair dualler elsewhere more palatable for American consumption, producer Isadore Goldsmith obviously has been guided by such domestic successes as "Woman in the Window" and "Laura," the last-named also written by Vera Caspary, author of "Bedelia." To give the produc- tion authentic atmosphere, Miss Caspary has changed the locale from the United States to England, and to satisfy Production Code requirements, written an alternative ending for American distribution. Eagle-Lion Films 83 minutes Margaret Lockwood, Ian Hunter, Anne Crawford, Barr>- K. Barnes, Jill Esmond, Barbara Blair, Ellen Pollock, Louise Hamp- ton, Julien Mitchell, Kynaston Reeves, Beatrice Varley, Olga Lindo. Directed by Lance Comfort. "Bedelia," J. Arthur Rank's latest chal- lenge to American film producers, is well mounted, capably acted and adequately photographed, but, like many British pic- tures, its pace is pedestrian, its cast rela. tively unknown to U. S. audiences, its heav- ily-accented English dialect at times difficult to understand. Returns will be slightly above average in class houses, but it will fit only into the supporting slot in other locations. In his effort to make the feature Margaret Lockwood, Ian Hunter and Bar. ry K. Barnes have been seen to advantage in previous British successes brought to this country, and enterprising showmen will not overlook this fact. Miss Lockwood's stunning gowns also lend themselves to fashion tieups. Miss Caspary's many popu- lar novels should make bookstore counter and window displays easily available. The film's main character is a psycho-neurotic killer, her motivation "murder for profit;" catch lines and teaser ads based on these angles might benefit by the current interest in both these topics. The story opens in Monte Carlo where Barry K. Barnes, apparently an English painter on holiday, meets Margaret Lock- wood, honeymooning with Ian Hunter, her second husband. Lespite her beauty, she is averse to being photographed by her doting husband and similarly reluctant to let Barnes paint her portrait. He is persistent, however, and at Hunter's invitation later visits them in England. Hunter suffers a severe attack of food poisoning. Barnes, re- vealing himself as a private detective to Hunter's doctor, tells him Margaret's three previous husbands — she has always insisted she's been married but once before — have died suddenly under suspicious circum- stances. When he exposes Margaret to her husband, she tries to poison Barnes. Hunter foils her scheme. Margaret sees the game is up, surrenders herself to the pd'ce. 'BLIND SPOT' STRIVES TO BE A MINOR LEAGUE 'LOST WEEKEND' Rates • • as dualler generally; slightly Columbia 74 minutes Chester Mor'ris, Constance Dowling, Steven Geray, Sid Tomack, James Bell, William Forrest. Directed by Robert Gordon. Hampered by a perfectly obvious de- nouement and a not-so-successful attempt tc be "arty," the makers of "Blind Spot," pro- ducer Ted Richmond and director Robert Gordon, have achieved a spotty murder mystery that starts off like a minor "Lost Weekend" and takes a long time to reach a pace suitable for this type of melodrama. Little ingenuity has gone into script, direc- tion or production — unless you could call utilizing a lavish set from the same com- pany'.= "Johnny O'Clock," ingenious. Occa. more in action spots sional flashes in the dialogue and a couple of camera tricks are buried among the cliches which characterize the rest of the film. It's just a fair dualler, with slightly more promise for the action spots. For the first half-hour or so, Chester Mor- ris, as a writer whose ambition is frustrated by lack of popular appeal and an ironclad contract with his heartless publisher, sops up enough liquor to float a battleship. With the inevitable hangover comes the cops and an accusation of murder of the publisher. Complications hinge around the fact that Morris, during his binge, had derisively con- cocted a plot for a murder story, blabbed the outline to several characters, and was chief suspect because the victim had met his end just as outlined, i.e., stabbed, with the door bolted from the inside and windows locked. Since the solution is a blank in the writer's memory, he escapes from the law and tries to round up those who heard the story. These include the publisher's secretary, another writer victimized by the deceased and a bartender, who also meets a violent death under similar circumstances. It's all explained at police headquarters and the great "mystery" of the bolted door is the old latch and string gag. Morris, doffing his Boston Blackie charac- terization, makes a supreme effort to be histrionic, but succeeds only in hamming up his drunk scenes. He is much more in his element as he flees the law while hunting up his suspects. Constance Dowling, of "Lost Weekend" fame, goes blond for this one and manages to achieve a few sexy moments. Steven Geray is sickeningly sweet in a role that calls for more subtlety. Ro- bert Gordon's direction attempts, with not much success, to fly high in the earlier por- tions, then settles down to routine melo. drama. 'SOUTH OF THE CHISHOLM Rates • • -|- for the western houses Columbia 59 minutes Charles Stai«rett, Smiley Bumette, Nancy Sanders. Directed by Derwin Abrahams. Another assembly line Durango Kid western, possibly no worse, certainly no better than its predecessors, this Charles Starrett-Smiley Burnette oater packs the standard quota of gunplay, rustling and TRAIL' DURANGO KID RIDES AGAIN AND AGAIN corn-crooning, a minimum of fist-play and an abundance of riding. In the time-hon. ored tradition, Starrett makes his lightning changes from lone-hand cowboy to jet-clad Durango Kid, dispenser of range justice astride a white charger. Smiley Burnette's comedy is probably just what western fans want for relief from the hectic doings. This should be up to par as a grosser in the spots where Starrett is a favorite. It all begins when Burnette, cure-all sales, man, retrieves the loot from a stage-coach robbery and is saved from hanging by the Durango Kid. The Kid learns that there is a great deal of cattle rustling in the area and decides to clean it up. He gets the ranchers to band together for a cattle-run to Abilene, outwits the rustlers by pretend- ing to be on their side, then shoots it out with the gang as the herd reaches its desti. nation to gamer a whopping price of 15 dollars per head. True to form, he shakes hands with the fair-haired daughter of the slain leader of the honest ranchers and rides off to the horizon, to the strains of Smiley's yodeling. 'BORN TO SPEED' OLD-FASHIONED THRILLER Rates • • — as secondary dualler in action houses PRC 61 minutes Johnny Sands, Terry Austin, Den Castle, Frank Orth, Geraldine Wall, Joe Hayworth. Directed by Edward L. Cahn. This PRC quickie is very light on name and production values, but it has more than a modicum of action that will carry it through as a supporting dualler in minor action houses. The fast-moving story of a youth's inherited love for auto racing and his fight to overcome cowardice would have profited by more capable performances, some of which border on the amateurish. However, devotees of this type of fare, es- pecially the youngsters, should find enough to give them an hour's excitement and enjoyment. Johnny Sands has inherited his love for auto racing from his father, who was killed on the Indianapolis track. His mother, Geraldine Wall, tries to keep him away from the game, but submits to his ambition and sends him to Frank Orth, her husband's old mechanic. Johnny meets Terry Austin, Orth's pretty niece, who is being courted by racing promoter Don Castle. When Johnny outdrives Joe Hayworth, Castle's ace driver, he is given Hayworth's car and billed as The Masked Marvel. However, when Terry switches her affections to Johnny, Castle and he have a fight and, later, Castle ar- ranges to have Johnny's car run off the speedway. He is injured and when he tries a comeback, finds that his nerves are shat- tered. In the big race, he is again forced off and is ready to quit, but Terry promises him her love if he is not a coward. He goes on to win the race and her hand. FEBRUARY 3. 1947 11 •TRAIL TO SAN ANTONE' SUPERIOR AUTRY VEHICLE Rates • • • in western houses: OK dual Republic 67 minutes Gene Autry, Peggy Stewart, StfiHiiig: Hollo- way, William Henry, John Duncan, Tristram Coffin, Dorothy Vauffhan, Edward Keane, Ralph Peters, Cass County Boys and Cham- pion, the horse. Directed by Jchn English. Republic has evidently put extia effoit into this release. Pioduction quality is ap- parent in interior and exterior setting.s, lilt, ing musical numbcr.s, new scenic locales and a better-than-average script. The film has action, su'^-pen'-e, comedy and the songs advance, rather than retard, the believable plot. Sound is good. The cast is well-chosen and good characterizations are presented by Gene Autry, Sterling Holloway, William er for naborhoods Henry, .John Duncan and the attractive Peggy Stewart. Only the photography is below par. several of the night shot.s being so under-lighted as to be barely discernible. The picture should appeal not only to Autry fans and western devotees but also to patron.s fond of horse. lacing films. Gross- es in action houses will be veiy strong. The fast.moving footage is liberally sprinkled with chases, fights and turf contests. One of the most actionful climaxes .shows Autry grimly maintaining a wrestler's head-hold on an eniaged stallion. Exhibitors may safe- ly advei-tise this as one of the best Autrys to date. The six songs, intelligently spotted into the picture, lend themselves to music counter and window displays. The film's ail-plane and racetrack angles might be mentioned to advantage in the advertising. Gene returns from the war, finds that his ranch hands, the Cass County Boys, have inadvertently bought for him Don Di- ablo, a stallion stolen from Peggy Stewart's adjoining ranch. He learns William Henry had .stolen the horse to pay hospital fees for his brother, John Duncan, an ex.jockey temporarily crippled in a track accident by Peggy's trainer, Tristram Coffin. Touched, Gene gives the two boys and their pal, .Sterling Holloway, jobs on his ranch. He pays Peggy for Don Diablo who later dis. appears, followed by a dozen of Peggy's racing mares. Followed by the mounted ranch hands. Gene and Peggy board her plane and locate the missing beasts. Despite Coffin's attempts to break his spirit, Duncan rides Peggy's mare, Debutante, in a high stakes race. He loses the race — a startling novelty in film plots - but finishes .second, winning enough money to extricate Gene and Peggy from their respective financial difficulties. 'THE PILGRIM LADY' MILDLY AMUSING MISTAKEN-IDENTITY YARN Rat es as supporting dualler Republic 67 minutes Lynne Roberts, Warren Douglas, Alan Mow- bray, Veda Ann Borg, Clarence Kolb. Helen Freeman, Doris Merrick, Russell Hicks, Ray Walker, Charles Colman, Carlyle Blackwell, Directed by Lesley Selander. The familiar "ugly duckling" theme has been given the once-over lightly treatment in this Republic programmer. Lacking marquee names and palpably produced on a low budget, it will serve only as the sup- porting feature for a strong dramatic or action hill topper. The mildly amusing yarn about the unattractive sister who, by the simple expedient of removing her eyeglasses and running a comb through her hair, be- comes a ravishing beauty, is rather synthe- tic and most of the performances furnish little to aid the plot. Alan Mowbray, as a Casanova-like literary critic and radio com- mentator, comes up with a stand-out por- trayal that will get a fair number of laughs. Helen Freeman, a spinster college instruc- tor, has written a risque novel, "The Pilgrim Lady," under a nom-de-plume. It is pub- lished, much to her surprise, and she is called to New York by the publisher. Fear- ful of her .authorship being revealed, she arranges to take her "ugly duckling" niece, Lynne Roberts, to pose as the writer of the book. The latter, having just lost the boy she loved to her pretty, spoiled sister, Doris Merrick, agrees to the plan. However, when she arrives in New York, Warren Douglas, the literary agent for the book, decides that Lynne is too drab to make good copy and to impress Alan Mowbray, the famous critic, so he has Veda Ann Borg pose as the au- thor. Lynne turns the tables on Douglas, exposing the fraud and makes herself look attractive enough to have Mowbray start chasing her. Douglas realizes he is in love with Lynne and they wed, while Mowbray plugs the book on his weekly broadcast. ■MR. DISTRICT ATTORNEY' PROGRAM MELLER HAS ABOVE-PAR CAST Rates ♦ • -|- as dualler generally Columbia 81 minutes Dennis O'Keefe, Adolphe Menjou, Marguer- ite Chapman, Michael O'Shea, George Coul- ouris, Jeff Donnell, Ralph Morgan, Steven Geray, Charles Trowbridge, John Kellogg, Frank Reicht'r, Arthur Space, Holmes Her- bert, Emmett Vogan, Frank Wilcox. Directed by Robert B. Sinclair. Although five well-known and capable players do their utmost to make this melo- dramatic tale convincing, "Mr. District At- torney" remains implausible and fails to rirc above the prorammer class. However, the marquee names, plus the popularity of the radio program of the same name, should suflSce to make this a fairly strong dualler, especially in naborhood and action houses. There is action and some gun.play, but little actual suspense, in the film, mainly because the audience is too soon made aware that the beautiful heroine is a modern femme fatale who kills the men who stand in her way. Marguerite Chapman looks extremely attractive and does an excellent acting job as this heartless lady, while George Coul- ouris is outstanding as the husband she murders. Adolphe Menjou, as The District Attorney, and Dennis O'Keefe, as his assis- tant who temporarily quits him to join the easy-money game, give uneven portrayals, marred by a tendency to inject too many lighter touches in their essentially serious roles. Michael O'Shea is wasted as a wise- cracking henchman and Ralph Morgan has little more than a bit. Impressed by the refusal of a young attor. ney .Dennis O'Keefe. to handle the case of a dishonest client, District Attorney Adolphe Menjou makes him his assistant and he starts investigating the allegedly fraudulent manipulations of George Coulouris enter- prises. Coulouris persuades his secretary. Marguerite Chapman, to use her "woman's touch" on O'Keefe and ,when the latter's court prosecution is a failure, Menjou real- izes the girl was responsible. Menjou also recognizes Miss Chapman as a girl acquitted ■WILD COUNTRY- DULL WESTERN WITH SONGS R^+es • • — in western houses PRC Pictures 59 minutes Eddie Dean and his horse Flash, Roscoe Ate«, Peggy Wynn, Douglas Fowley, I. Stan- ford Jolley, Forrest Mathews, Henry Hall, Directed by Ray Taylor. This mediocre western has little to rec- ommend it. Stereotyped characterizations, inane plot and sub-par acting will probably bring titters from all but the youngsters. The film contains a minimum of fistic en. counters and mounted pursuits, and even these are lacking in motivation. On the credit side of the ledger are the photography and three songs — all of them spotted into the picture without rhyme or reason. Juvenile fans loyal to Eddie Dean and his horse, Flash, may accept their idols' cur. rent release. Roscoe Ates and Douglas Fowley, have previously been seen to better advantage, and the acting of Peggy Wynn probably — as it was at a press screening — of a murder charge so he sends O'Keefe abroad on a case. When O'Keefe returns to find Miss Chapman married to Coulouris, he quits Menjou and joins up with Coulouris and is foon involved in the latter's shady deals- Learning that Coulouris and his crooked associate, Steven Geray, plan to do away with O'Keefe, Menjou warns him. O'Keefe has a dispute with Coulouris and, when the latter is found murdered, he is suspected. While Geray, is attempting to blackmail Miss Chapman. O'Keefe enters to ask her aid in finding Coulouris' real mur. derer. After she attempts to double-cross Geray and then shoots him. Menjou dis. covers she actually killed Coulouris. When O'Keefe confronts her with her guilt. Miss Chapman hysterically claims she did it all out of love for him. Failing to impress O'Keefe, Miss Chapman then tries to kill him, too, but it is she who dies in a fall from a balcony. O'Keefe then agrees to re- turn to Menjou and clean up the rest of Coulouris' gang for the District Attorney's office will be greeted with snickers. Direction and writing are slip-shod. U. S. marshal Henry Hall sends Eddie Dean and his pal Roscoe Ates to bring in Stan Jolley, escaped convict and killer of sheriff Steve Clark. At Silver Springs. Ed- die learns Jolley and Douglas Fowley. local boss, plan to kill Clark's daughter Peggy Wynn and take over her ranch to use as a cattle-rustling base. Eddie escapes various traps laid by Jolley. eventually captures him, following the customary chase and hand-to-hand encounter. 12 FILM BULLETIN ols mm Bi-Weekly Review of the Trade's Events Jack ly. Warner will receive I lie War Depart- nient's Me.')0,(M)0 new memhersliips, as part of the 11th annual <'ampai;(n sponsored hy the Nation- al Conference <»r Christians an It was certain that an appeal will be taken to the Supreme Court by Universal, Columbia and United Artists, as well as by the Government. The Big Five defendants, however, were still mum on this prospect. March 1 was the date selected by the De- partment of Justice for its Supreme Court appeal, Wright disclosed. * * * JOHNSTON ATTACKS BRITISH RESTRICTIONS Calling upon the Republican Party to support America's reciprocal trade program a.f a necessary aid to world prosperity and attacking British film restrictions, Eric Johnston, president of the Motion Picture Association, told the Rochester Chamber of Commerce, "As a Republican, I sincerely believe that this issue of reciprocal trade pro- vides the supreme issue for my party." Mr. Johnston warned other nations that they cannot expect the United States to make all the concessions, "for America alone can't give the world freer and expanded trade." He noted that the U. S. imposes no barriers against British pictures, whereas in Britain, "there is great and frequently unfair and abusive agitation to impose even greater restrictions on the showing of American pictures." The question of America's foreign policy will be resolved in the Geneva trade confcrr.ncer: scheduled for next April, said Johnston, "but the United States alone cannot assure the succols oi the Geneva conference. If the British are worried about our foreign economic policy, so are we worried about Britainl's economic policy. And that goes for the rest of Europe, too." As a sign of the MPAA's concern over a foreign market for American films, the appointment of Col. Frank McCarthy, close friend of Secretary of State Marshall and assistant to MPAA vice-prexy Byron Price, as MPAA head in France, was announced by Johnston. McCarthy was in line for an important post in the U. S. State Depart- ment, but will be Hollywood's European "trouble-shooter," instead, according to Wash- ington columnist Drew Pearson. Although his immediate duties will be confined to France, it is expected that McCarthy's duties will take him to key spots in Europe, in- cluding the potentially huge German market. ( Continued on Next Page) FEBRUARY i , 1947 IS T^oreii Ryder, Paramount 8tiulia sound department eliief. was inKtalled a.s president of the Society of Motion I'ieture Kni^ineem last week. Albert K Seliiller (center) u liose appointment as head ol' Republic branch operati<)n^. was re<'ently announced, is congratulated by Walter I.. Titus. Jr., (left). Southern Division Sales Managrer, A. K. Fox (right) will be Schiller's assistant. I'esriry Ann fJarner, 20th-Fox star, went to Wash- ington for I ho March of Dimes campaign and is seen here with (left) Mrs. Harry S, Truman and Mrs, Franklin D. Roosevelt, First prizf in the contest wliicli helped make the .March o{ Dimes campaign »n industry success is tlic Iliggins (amp Trailer, which Kroadway sinrs Alnn Baxter luid > i<'ki ( ummings find so relaxing, and wlii'n's "The Best Years of Our Lives," which he is withholding for general release until 1948, will be shown in theatres leased by Samuel Goldwj-n Pictures, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Goldwyn Productions, in Delaware at advanced prices. (Continued on Page 25) llea 1945-46 BLOCK NO. THREE Masqiieradt In Mtxlco (96) Lnmour Cordova IVIIss Siisif Slagle's (87) Tutts-Lake ICiyo Rose (66) Barr-IMassen lil.OCK NO. FOLK Blut Dahlia. The (99) LaddLake Thev Made Me A Killer .•65) Lowery Brltton " ' .' Virginian. The (T) (90) McCrea Brlllon . . Well Gronmpd Bride. The (75) Miilanl-deHavilland BLOCK NO. FIVE Bride Wore Boots. The (82) Stanwyck-Cummlngs Hot Cargo (57) Rooers Reed Oirr Hearts Were Growing Up (122) Di)nlfvv Rus<.ell . . . To Each His Own (122) (iH.ivill.Tnd-Lund fiLor'< NO. SIX n. S. S. (107) Ladd-Filzgerald R'archlng Wind. The (10«) Young Sidney ... Strange Lo»e ol Martha Iverj (116) Stanwyck Hetlln Details under title: Lovi Lies Bleeding Swamp Fire (70) Weissmuller-Grey SPECIALS Monsieur Beaucairp (T) (93) Hope-Caullleld Road to Utopia. The (90) Crn^hy Hnoe-LamoDr ,1111. .3-18. .4-15. .9-16. . .9-l.R5-36'.n .9-1.R5-3624. .1-8 .9-18. . .4-2 .7-9. 11 13. 2-19. 8-6. .2-22. .3-8. . .2-8. .4512. . .4513. 4511. 12-10 .12-10 .12 10 .4-19. .5-3. .4-5. 5-17 .4518. .4517. 4516. 4;i9 . .2-18 . .2-18 . .2-18 21K 5- 31 6- 28 6-14. 7-5. 4521 .4523 .4522. .4"^24 41 . .3-18 . . .4-1 3-18 7-26. .8-9. 9-13. .4S2fi, .4527. .4528. .5-13 . .5-13 . .5-13 9-6 .4529 .5-lJ 8-30. . 3-22 . 4532 . 4531 .5-27 12-10 1946-47 Features Westerns 1915-46 Features Westerns Comnleted (ll) Completed ( 5) Completed (20) Completed (16) . .3-5. . .7-0 2-18 1-21. 10- 15. 11- 12 .9-17. 12- 13 In 1' r:idiic«ii>n (1) In Prodiiclion (0) In Production (0) In Production (0) STEP CHILD Drama —Started January 27 Oast: Terry Austin, Brenda Joyce, Donald Woods Director: James Flood Producer: Jerry Briskin etoiy Cliilcl of ilivoiccil >• stcp-niolher. Tli*-