Boxoffice-Febuary.18.1956

. . "The
. . Richard
:
. . Alan
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February
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Film Council Launches
Boycott Against 'Boone'
Firing another barrage in its continuing
campaign against so-called "runaway" production
by American filmmakers on foreign
location sites, the Hollywood AFL Film Council,
comprising unions and guilds with a total
membership of more than 24,000 film industry
workers, is launching a nationwide consumerboycott
campaign against "Daniel Boone," a
Gannaway-Ver Halen theatrical release which
was lensed in Mexico.
The Film Council charges that "Boone," although
produced by U. S. interests and "telling
the story of a famous American's activities
in this country," was made entirely bekw
the border "under non-union conditions and
without American union technicians." George
Flaherty, IATSE international representative,
has told Albert Gannaway and Charles Ver
Halen that the feature will be denied the IA
union emblem. No release for the picture,
stalling Bruce Bennett and Lon Chaney jr.,
has as yet been announced.
In rebuttal to the Film Council charges,
Gannaway declared "Daniel Boone" had originally
been scheduled for shooting in Kentucky,
but that inclement weather developed
there and because of commitments with stars
and other personnel it was deemed necessary
to switch the location to Mexico. Some of
the financing for the opus was obtained in
that country, he added, and union labor was
employed there, while approximately 100 IA
members in Hollywood have worked on "various
phases of processing the picture." He
pointed out further that his company is sending
a unit to Kentucky next month to pick up
backgrounds for a "Daniel Boone" TV series.
To implement its campaign against the
feature, the Film Council is calling on national,
state and local groups in the AFL-CIO
to warn members against it, and claims it
has already been pledged the active support
of the Kentucky state federation of labor.
Flaherty charged "Daniel Boone" was made
in Mexico "to escape paying American standard
of living wages which make possible attendance
at our movie theatres." The council
recognizes, he said, that some pictures must be
filmed in other countries to insure authentic
locales, but in the case of "Boone" the plot
is laid entirely in the U. S. and "it should
have been made in this country."
Two Filmmakers Purchase
Magazine Story Apiece
Two stories originally penned for magazine
consumption have been gobbled up by filmmakers
for addition to their upcoming dockets.
Purchased by Columbia was "The Missing
Witness," a mystery drama by John and
Ward Hawkins and now running in Cosmopolitan,
the film version of which will be
produced for the studio by Jonie Taps and
directed by William Asher from a screenplay
by Blake Edwards . Wreck of the
Mary Deare," by Hammond Innes and soon
to be published in the Saturday Evening
Post, went to MGM. The maritime drama
deals with the history of a freighter whose
owners conspire to sink her for the value
of her cargo. The vessel is preserved, in part,
By
IVAN SPEAR
by her tenacious captain, who exposes the
plot and at the same time removes a former
blot on his record ... A Spanish-language
novel, "Saint Patrick's Battalion," by Patricia
Cox, herself a Mexican of Irish descent, was
acquired by independent producer Carl Krueger.
It is the historical account of a battalion
of 700 Irishmen who were hanged by
Gen. Winfield Scott for fighting against him
m the Mexican War of 1847-48, and is a
best-seller in Mexico, where Krueger plans
Two purchases were recorded
to film it . . .
by Universal-International, which bought
"The Tattered Dress," an original melodrama
by George Zuckerman, and "For Love or
Money," a Broadway play by F. Hugh Herbert.
"Dress," centering around a New York
criminal lawyer, has been assigned to Albert
Zugsmith to produce, with Zuckerman inked
to prepare the screenplay. "Money," which
. . Director
will be produced by Ross Hunter, is set in
the Long Island home of a celebrated actor
who falls in love with a young gal who stops
at his house to use the telephone after she
has become stranded in a storm .
Francis Lyon, who recently formed Leo Productions
as an independent unit, bought
"Deborah," an original screenplay by Richard
Collins. It will follow "Man Tracks" on
Lyon's slate.
Tony Curtis to Promote
Trapeze' in Global Tour
Short takes from the sound stages: Hecht-
Lancaster is projecting a worldwide exploitation
tour for Tony Curtis in conjunction
with the global release of "Trapeze," in which
he co-stars with Burt Lancaster and Gina
Lollobrigida for United Artists release. The
proposed trek would begin on the east coast,
thence to Europe, Asia and Japan . . . Henceforth,
cartoon-maker Walter Lantz has decided,
all his animated subjects will have
singing main titles; the first short to get
the new treatment will be a "Chilly Willy"
subject, "Hold That Rock," for which Bonnie
Baker will vocalize "I'm Chilly Willy the
Penguin"
. Carruth, who had been
an assistant to Robert L. Jacks and Robert
Goldstein in Crown Productions, has been
set as an associate producer by Jacks in the
latter's independent organization, which will
roll "The Lonely Gun," for United Artists
distribution, next month.
Samuel Goldwyn Jr. Signs
James Olson for 7 Years
Here and there in the Hollywoodlands
Samuel Goldwyn jr., off on a "new faces"
kick, inked James Olson, young Broadway
. .
actor, to a seven-year deal, under which his
debuting appearance will be in Goldwyn's
"The Sharkfighters," a Victor Mature starrer
for United Artists, which rolls March 1
on location in Cuba .
Roger Corman set
Producer-director
"Reception" as the sixth
on his slate of ten independent subjects for
lensing this year. It deals with a Confederate
hero who brings a northern bride back to
his home in an embittered town in Georgia
. . . C. V. Whitney, president of C. V. Whitney
Pictures, and Merian C. Cooper, vice-president
in charge of production, have retained
Writers Guild Selects
Screenplay Nominees
Members of the screen writers' branch
of Writers Guild of America, West, have
selected nominees for the "best written
screenplay of 1955" in three categories
comedy, drama and musical—upon which
final voting will be concluded this month.
Toppers in each of the three divisions will
be announced March 8 at the scriveners'
eighth annual awards dinner.
The candidates:
Comedy—Frank Nugent and Joshua
Logan, "Mister Roberts," Warners; George
Axelrod, "Phffft," Columbia; Billy
Wilder and George Axelrod, "The Seven
Year Itch," 20th Century-Fox; Julius
Epstein, "The Tender Trap," MGM; John
Michael Hayes, "To Catch a Thief," Paramount.
Drama— Millard Kaufman, Don Mc-
Guire, "Bad Day at Black Rock," MGM;
Richard Brooks, "Blackboard Jungle,"
MGM; Paul Osborn, "East of Eden,"
Warners; Paddy Chayefsky, "Marty,"
Hecht-Lancaster-United Artists; Daniel
Taradash, "Picnic," Columbia.
Musical—Phoebe and Henry Ephron,
"Daddy Long Legs," 20th Oentury-Fox;
Joseph L. Mankiewicz, "Guys and Dolls,"
Goldwyn-MGM; Betty Comden and
Adolph Green, "It's Always Fair Weather,"
MGM; Daniel Fuchs and Isobel Lennart,
"Love Me or Leave Me," MGM, and
Sonya Levien and William Ludwig, "Oklahoma!"
for Rodgers and Hammerstein.
the Music Corp. of America to handle the releasing
deal for the next Whitney film project,
as yet unannounced. MCA negotiated the
distribution, through Warners, of Whitney's
initialer, "The Searchers," starring John
Wayne . Ladd inked Van Heflin to
co-star with him in Ladd's upcoming Jaguar
production, "Guns of the Timberland," which
will roll late this year for Warner release.
The teaming reunites the topliners in Paramount's
"Shane."
AA Completes Music Deal
For Tunes From Its Films
Allied Artists has completed a deal with the
Music Publishing Holding Corp., a Warner
Bros, subsidiary, whereby that organization
will publish, through three music houses, all
tunes used in current and forthcoming AA
releases.
The transaction was set by Victor Blau and
Herman Starr on behalf of the holding company
and Marvin Mirisch for AA. First films
to be affected are "The First Texan,"
"Mother-Sir." "Three for Jamie Dawn" and
"Hold Back the Night."
George Pal to Produce
Another Wells Thriller
Science-fiction specialist George Pal, who
checked out of his berth as a Paramount
producer several months ago after a tenure
of several years, is launching a new independent
production setup with the acquisition of
the H. G. Wells story, "The Time Machine."
Wells and Pal are no strangers, the latter
having made as his last Paramount entry
the Wells thriller, "War of the Worlds." Pal
has retained David Duncan to prepare the
script
for a late-summer start.
26 BOXOFFICE :
18. 1956