MODERN

: November
N. J, Allied Approves National Public Relations Stand
NEW YORK—The Allied
Theatre Owners
of New Jersey at membership and board of
directors' meetings Monday il4) approved
the public relations stand taken by National
Allied at the Minneapolis convention last
month. The national group voted to participate
in the industry public relations program
for one year, with certain qualifications.
Wilbur Snaper, president of New Jersey
Allied, said he hoped the industry program
would supplement the local public relations
work being done by individual members.
Snaper and Irving Dollinger, chairman of
the board, gave detailed reports of the national
convention. The New Jersey meetings
Monday were the first held by the local unit
since the Minneapolis convention.
The New Jersey theatre men indicated that
they would not play "Jolson Sings Again," or
any other picture, at 60 per cent terms. It
had been reported at the Mirmeapolis meeting
and later confirmed by A. Montague,
sales dhief for Columbia, that the company
was asking 60 per cent for "Jolson Slngi
Again" In certain situations.
The film has not yet been offered in the
New Jersey territory and no formal stand wtis
taken.
The members also discussed alleged mispricing
of second feature films by some distributors.
The unit's film committee will
fight such practice whenever it comes up.
There also was a discussion of legislation
in light of the re-»lection of Gov. Alfred E.
DriscoU on the Republican ticket. George
Gold, head of the legislative committee,
warned the members to exjject a new attempt
to legalize bingo when the state legislature
convenes in January. He pointed out that
although the governor was opposed to bingo,
DriscoU had also stated during his campaign
that until now the pro-bingo forces had failed
to draw up a proper bingo bill. The new constitution
permits a referendum on the issue,
with the restriction that bingo can be used
only for welfare and religious organizations.
Gold was certain that the Democrats would
probably try to draft an acceptable bingo
bill.
He was more optimistic about the tax situation.
Gold said the defeat of the $100,000,000
veterans bonus proposal removed the threat
of a statewide gross receipts tax, which would
have been proposed to help raise the money.
The New Jersey unit plaiis to hold its next
board of directors meeting in Trenton in January
when the legislature meets. Invitations
will be sent to Governor DriscoU, the leaders
of both houses and of both political parties.
The meeting will probably be tied in with
pending legislation.
The Monday meeting also included a brief
talk on television, and Snaper reported that a
weU-known television producer will discuss
video at the next meeting in New York, probably
in February.
Plans also were discussed for the 1950 annual
convention in September.
The War Cycle Is
On
(Continued from page 23
Claudette Colbert and directed by Jean
Negulesco. It is based on the true-life experiences
of Agnes Newton Keith, a British
subject imprisoned by the Japanese in Borneo.
Other more-or-less factual subjects bemg
shaped up for production include "To Hell
and Back," the autobiography of Audie Murphy,
America's most-decorated GI. now an
established film player: and "Up Front With
Mauldin," a chronicle by Bill Mauldin, who
gained fame in the war years as a satirical
cartoonist covering World War II themes.
Film rights to the Murphy saga are in the
hands of Producer Paul Short, who has been
affiliated with both Monogram-Allied Artists
and Universal-International; however, no distribution
arrangements have been made for
the screen version of "To Hell and Back," in
which Murphy is scheduled to portray himself.
U-I acquired the rights to the Mauldin
opus some years ago, but the subject, up to
this writing, has never progressed beyond
early scripting stages. If the war cycle in
films continues, however, it is more than
likely that "Up Front With Mauldin" will be
placed on the studio's active list for development.
The emphasis is upon comedy in two other
entries, both of which have been completed.
Fantasy underscores U-I's "Francis," in which
the pivotal character is a talking mule, a
linguistic quadruped who proves to be of inestimable
value to Donald O'Connor, a GI
in the Pacific campaign. Robert Arthur's
production was directed by Ai-thur Lubin. In
"When Willie Comes Marching Home," produced
for 20th-Fox by Fred Kohlmar, GI Dan
Dailey becomes involved in a series of comic
adventures in Europe and inadvertently
emerges as a hero. The Dailey starrer was
megged by John Ford, a departure for that
veteran director, whose specialty heretofore
has been the big-scale western.
Already screened in England and due for
U.S. bookings this fall is Warners' Britishmade
"The Hasty Heart," featuring Ronald
Reagan. Adapted from John Patrick's successful
play and directed by Vincent Sherman,
"Heart" is a story of the campaign
against the Japanese in Burma. Upcoming
projects on the Warner docket include "The
Caissons Go Rolling Along," devoted to the
U.S. artillery, and "The Naked and the
Dead," based on Norman Mailer's best-seller.
"Caissons" is being developed by Milton Sperling's
United States Pictures unit; the Mailer
tome was acquired recently by Norma Productions,
the Burt Lancaster-Harold Hecht
independent. Lancaster will star in the film
version for Warner release.
MOT only World War n itself, but the aftermath
of that conflict and the sociological,
moral and political influences it is exerting
upon civilization, are the subjects of a variety
of other productional ventures. As
heretofore noted, "Berlin Express." "The
Search" and "I Was a Male War Bride"—all
of them already in release—probed such topics
as the Nazi underground, displaced war orphans
and the American occupancy of Germany.
Problems of the returning servicemen
were surveyed In Samuel Goldwyn's
wldely-acclalmed, awards-winning "The Best
Years of Our Lives" and are, although to a
less emphatic extent, a basic part of Goldwyn's
latest, "My Foolish Heart." Another
in this vein was a 1946 release, RKO Radio's
"Till the End of Time." Producer Stanley
f"Home of the Brave") Kramer Is readying
"The Men," a story of the rehabilitation of
paraplegic veterans, as his next for United
Artists; Fred Zlnnemann, who megged "The
Search," will direct It. Recently completed
by 20th-Pox was "Two Corridors East," starring
Montgomery Clift, filmed on location
in Europe, and relating the factual story of
"Operation Vittles"—the famed Berlin airlift
in Occupied Germany. It was produced
by William Perlberg and directed by George
Seaton. A 1947 release was Paramount's
"Sealed Verdict," based on the Nazi war-criminal
trials In Nuremberg.
Closely related, too, are those film projects
concerned with our nation's efforts to
strengthen its military defenses. Four such
properties deal with jet-propulsion experimentation
In the aviation field; Warners,
getting the jump on its competitors, has already
completed "Chain Lightning," which
Anthony VeiUer produced and Stuart Heisler
directed as a Himiprey Bogart starrer. John
Wayne will be the topUner in RKO Radio's
Robert Sparks production, "Jet Pilot," while
Paramount has set Alan Ladd to star In
"Eagles of the Navy," with Robert Fellows
producing and John Farrow as the director.
Jet-propulsion also themes Republic's "Airborne,"
which is scheduled as an Edmund
Grainger production.
Two of the few pictures to present the German
viewpoint as regards the first World
War were Universal's "All Quiet on the Westem
Front" and its sequel, "The Road Back."
As yet—and probably because of undoubtedly
well-grounded fears that the American public
would not accept the theme, Hollywood's
filmmakers have made no attempt to spin
World War n stories from the Axis side. As
•time broadens and tempers the perspective,
however. It is entirely possible that some enterprising
producer with a memory directed
backward toward "All Quiet" will one day attempt
something similar. Indeed, not too
far afield is one soon-to-be-released opus,
"Tokyo Joe," which concerns itself with postwar
Occupied Japan. This Santana production,
starring Humphrey Bogart, Is for Columbia
distribution.
Strangely enough, the postwar world's major
problem—the atomic bomb—^has been
thoroughly described in only one picture,
while there is no evidence at this point that
other A-bomb subjects are under consideration.
In view of Hollywood's alertness in
bringing such widely-discussed topics to the
screen, however. It would be safe to predict
that the atomic age almost certainly will be
given full-scale cinematic treatment. To
date the sole entry has been MGMs "The Beginning
or the End." the Sam Marx production
which traced the development of the
bomb and its devastating use in the war
against Japan.
At any rate, one prognostication may be
safely advanced:
World War IT, the mightiest struggle this
globe has ever seen, struck closer to the
homes and hearts of more persons than any
previous conflict In recorded history.
Therefore, and by reason of Its tremendous
scope, it will provide source material for many
years to come for the fertile minds and
skilled hands which fashion motion picture
entertainment.
26 BOXOFFICE :
19, 1949