Boxoffice-April.07.1958

—
. . ""Passport,"'
'i¥oiCtfeiMMd ^e^iont
By IVAN SPEAR
AprW Production Takes a Nosedive;
Only 18 Films Poised for Start
The lineup of feature pictures scheduled to
start In April appears gloomy, with 18 photoplays
revealed to go before the camei-as at
the month's beginning. This is considerable
of a letdown from the 23 slated to roll in the
previous month and the whopping 38 films
blueprinted for production in the parallel
montJi a year ago.
20tii Century-Fox and United Artists give
promise of being the most active of the film
foundries, what with four features apiece
six from independent sources — poised for
takeoffs. Tied for second position are American
International Pictures. Allied Aitists,
MGM and Warner Bros., each with two features
slated to
get under way.
The breakdown by studios is as follows:
ALLIED ARTISTS
•The Par Wanderer." An outdoor drama
concerning a seal hunt. Stars Sterling Hayden
(incomplete*. Producer. Lindsley Parsons.
Director. Harmon Jones.
"The Giant Behemoth." To be lensed in
England, it's a science-fiction yam. Stars
Gene &'ans (incomplete). Producer, David
Diamond. Director. Eugene Lourie.
AMERICAN INTERNAT'L PICTURES
"High School Hellcats." A teenage story
involving a gang of high school kids whose
actions earn them the "juvenile delinquent"
term. Stars not set. Pi-oducer, Buddy Rogers
and Perde Grofe jr. Director. Edward Bernds.
"How to Make a Monster." Packaged with
"Revenge of the Colossal Man. " it deals with
how "monster" pictures are made. Stars not
set. Producer. Herman Cohen. Director,
Herbert L. Strock.
COLUMBIA
"The Man Inside." A melodrama about a
New "Vork detective assigned to capture a
master criminal guilty of murder and robbery.
Stars Jack Palance. Producer, Irving Allen
and Albert Broccoli, for Warwick Productions.
Director. Jolin Gilling.
METRO-GOLDWYN-MAYER
"End of the World." Set in 1962, this drama
reveals what happens to survivors of a cataclysmic
event that rocks the world. Stars
Harry Belafonte and Inger Stevens. Producer,
Sol C. Siegel, for Harbel Productions.
Director, Ranald MacDougall.
"Hell Below." A World War II submarine
officer searches for enemy transports. Stars.
Ernest Borgnine, Glenn Pord and Dean Jones.
Producer, Edmund Grainger. Director,
Joseph Pevney.
PARAMOUNT
"Showdown at Gun Hill." A western to be
lensed in Technicolor and VistaVision. Stars
Anthony Quinn. Pi-oducer, Hal Wallis, independent.
Director, John Sturges.
20TH CENTURY-FOX
"Enough Rope." A western yarn. Stars
Hugh 0"Brian, Henry Silva. Producer, Herbert
Bayard Swope jr. Director not set.
"Lone Texan." Another western tale. Stai's
not .set. Producer, Jack Leewood for Regal
Films. Dtj-ector. Paul Landres.
"The Octopus." Based on Prank Norris'
novel. Stars not set. Producer. Robert Rossen.
Dliector, Robert Rossen.
"These Thousand Hills." An outdoor drama
based on the novel by A. B. Guthrie jr. Stars
not set. Producer, David Weisbart. Director,
liichard Fleischer.
UNITED ARTISTS
"Anna Lucasta." Another version of the
famed Broadway play. Stars Sammy Davis
jr. and Eartha Kitt. Producer. Sidney Harmon,
for Longridge Productions. Director,
Arnold Laven.
"Guns, Girls and Gangsters." A modern
day drama about just what its title implies.
Stars Mamie Van Doren. Producer, Robert
E. Kent, for Vogue Pictures. Director not set.
"The Naked Maja." Biopic of Goya, famous
Spanish artist. Stars Ava Gardner, Anthony
Franciosa. Pi"oducer, Goffredo Lombai'di, for
Titanus Films. Director, Henry Koster.
""Timbuktu." Drama. Stars Victor Mature.
Producer, Edward Small and Victor Mature,
independents. Director not set.
WARNER BROS.
""Auntie Mame." Screen version of the
Broadway stage hit. Stars Rosalind Russell.
Producer, Alex March. Director, Moi-ton Da
Costa.
"John Paul Jones." Located in Annapolis.
Maryland, Spain and England, it's based on
the life of John Paul Jones. In Technirama
and Technicolor. Stars Robert Stack and
Charles Coburn. Producer, Samuel Bronston.
for John Paul Jones Productions. Director,
John Farrow.
Six Story Buys for Week;
Bulk Drama and Action
Story buys for the week numbered six in
all. with emphasis on drama and action in
the yarns purchased. Jan Sterling optioned
"The Walls Came TumbUng Down" by Henriette
Roosenburg. dealing with the escape in
1944 of the author, a Dutch resistance operative,
from Waldheim concentration camp
in East Prussia across Germany and into
Holland. Miss Sterling plans to star as Miss
Roosenburg, with independent filming to be
under the banner of Senalda Productions,
owned by Paul Douglas Martin Rackin
and John Lee
. . .
Mahtn, who recently formed
their own production organization, have
bought Harold Sinclair's Civil War story,
"The Horse Soldiers." and will co-script and
co-produce it as their first independent feature.
The yarn deals with Union raider Col.
Scott Marlowe and his cavalry raids in
Producer-director Roy
southern territory . . .
Row'land acquired ""The Organ Grinder From
Turin," an original screenplay by actor-
.
. . .
author Renato Rascel. Rowland intends to
lens it in Italy under the new Floy Rowland
Productions banner an unpublished
novel by Elliot West, was purchased
Dy Riiymond Stress, British producer
George Pal took an option on John Q. Copeland's
original .science-fiction screenplay,
"Man in Orbit"' . . "'Blueprint for Crime,"
.
by Art Estrada, was picked up by pi-oducer
Joseph D. Blau, president of E.ssex syndicate,
after Gannaway International's option on
the yarn expired recently.
Mirisch Co. Is Welcoming
Joint Production Deals
Gearing up to operate like a major, but
without the handicap of big studio overhead
or the costs of a dLstribution organization of
lus own, the Mirisch Co., through president
Harold Mirisch, dLsclosed an "open door"
policy of welcoming other independent film
setups in joint venture production activities
in making features under the company's financing
and distribution contact with United
Artists.
Miri.sch revealed that five such joint venture
deals have already been concluded, to
provide five of the six features the Mirisch
Co. has slated for production and delivery
this year.
"And," added the executive, "our door is
wide open for discussions of others. We will
have over $8,000,000 invested in the six featiu"es
before the year's end, and we are looking
to 1959 and beyond for additional joint
ventures."
The five films set under the new program
are ""Man of the West," "Cast a Long
Shadow," "The Man in the Net." an untitled
co-production with producer-director
Billy Wilder now being written by Wilder
and I. A. L. Diamond, and "Roar Like a
Dove."
Edward Levns Appointed
Bryna Vice-President
As the first move in a planned major expansion
program, Bryna Pi'oductions announced
the appointment of Edward Lewis
as a vice-president of the company and the
addition of two members to its New York
staff.
Seymour Poe joins the organization as the
producer's worldwide sales representative and
immediately will stai't work with United Artists
officials on the release of "The Vikings."
Joseph Barry has been signed as eastern
story editor. Future films on the Bryna slate
include "I Stole $16,000,000." ""Michael Strogoff,"
"The Silent Gun" and "The Brave Cowboy."
The company also is plamiing to enter
the TV field and currently is working on a
number of series, including "King of the Vikings."
Maxw^ell Arno-w Returns
To Columbia Studios
Maxwell Arnow, an executive with Columbia
for 15 years before moving to Hecht-
Hill-Lancaster, where he served as executive
vice-president for two years, has returned to
Columbia Pictures in a newly created executive
position, it was announced by B. B.
Kahane. administrative head of the studio.
Arnow, who recently tendered his resignation
to H-H-L effective April 1, will function
in various creative branches of production at
Columbia.
20 BOXOFFICE :: April 7, 1958