Boxoffice-December.17.1962

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FEATURE REVIEWS Story Synopsis; Exploits; Adiines for Newspapers and Programs
THE STORY:
"Days ol Wine and Roses' (WB)
In a San Francisco bar, public relations man Joe Clay (lack
Lemmon) is seen making telephone calls for a list of "girls"
to attend a party aboard the yacht of a client. At the party , b.
Joe mistakes Kirsten Amesen (Lee Remick) for one of the ""y^
party girls—she is actually the secretary. Joe finally persuades
her to accept a dinner dote, following up with
frequent dates and culminating in marriage. They visit
her- father, Charles Bickford, and after learning of their
marriage, he is shocked and disappointed. They leave
hurriedly with Kirsten noting, "I need a good stiff drink"
(up to now she has not drunk). The passage of time finds
them both drinking excessively and Joe losing one job
after another. They try to stop drinking, but cannot.
Recognizing the hopelessness, Joe joins Alcoholics Anonymous,
but Kirsten refuses. A separation comes with Joe now
back on the wagon, thanks to AA, but Kirsten still claims
she cannot stop drinking. Joe refuses to let her come back
until she is willing to help herself by taking the cure.
EXPLOrriPS:
Make tieins with local AA groups. Display literature in
lobby to create early audience interest.
CATCHLINES:
Jack Lemmon's Most Outstanding Role of His Career .
The Sober Truth About a Marriage Triangle—A HUSBAND
WIFE AND LIQUOR]
THE STORY: "Kill or Cure" (MGM)
Terry-Thomas, private detective, receives a telephone call
from a wealthy widow to investigate the mysterious happenings
at a health-cure hotel. On arrival, he finds the widow
murdered. Terry-Thomas is forced to pose as a guest and
drink carrot juice and take exercises and massages while
tracking down the murderer. Lionel Jeffries, police inspector,
arrives on the case, but Terry-Thomas gets more help from'
Eric Sykes, a health instructor. The suspects include the
dead woman's nephew, the resort's director (Dennis Price)
and the nurse with whom he has been having an affair.
Finally, Moira Redmond, who had feigned being poisoned,
falls into Terry-Thomas' trap, is revealed as the killer, who
had •"''-
hoped to marry the nephew and get the dead woman's y^'^
money. The will is read and the
'
widow has left all her
money to her pet dog.
EXPLOITIPS:
Play up Terry-Thomas, the British comic of " Make Mine
Mink" and a dozen other British comedies, who has been
building a U.S. following. He was recently in Hollywood for
"Bachelor Flat" and the current "The Wonderful World of the
Brothers Grimm."
CATCHLINES:
Murder at a Health Resort—With the Detective Forced to
Pose as a Patient . . . Terry-Thomas Bungles Into a Murder
With Doctors and Patients as the Prime Suspects.
THE STORY:
"Juke Box Racket" (Brenner)
Peter Clune, questioned by a Senate sub-committee about
his racketeering connections with the juke box industry,
lakes the fifth amendment and is excused. In a small New
Jersey town, youngsters Steve Karmen, Arlene Corwin, Beverly
Nazarow, Seymour Cassel and Dalene Young, hosts
Arlene's visiting cousin, Lou Anne Lee, at the local hangout,
a pizzeria owned by affable William DePrato and Emy
Boselli. Clune, passing through, orders syndicate man Ray
Singer to install a juke box. Singer uses his wiles on aspiring'
singer Arlene to get DePrato to use the syndicate's proffered
juke box. Disgruntled, Clune decides to bring strongarm
boys into the small town and show DePrato the meaning
ol big-league racketeering. While the gong is pushing
DePrato around, Karmen and the others go for help.
EXPLOITIPS:
Get local singing teenagers to stage improvised shows between
screen performances, inviting the community-minded
columnists and the like to provide stories to this effect. The
tunes can be exploited through record stores, "teenage hop"
gatherings and the like.
CATCHLINES:
Payolal
. "Story the Headlines Didn't " Tell) The
Cry in the Night—Pay or Don't Play! . . . Mobsters on the
Rampage!
'^'p°E^
THE STORY: "To Kill a Mockingbird" (U-I)
in an Alabama town in the 1930s, lawyer Gregory Peck,
widowed father of Phillip Alford and Mary Badham, is ^
'jj^ assigned to defend Brock Peters, a young Negro accused of
'io raping a white farm girl. At school, his children get into
f
vj
fights because their classmates ridicule Peck's efforts and
it is Mary who manages to influence the townspeople against
lynching Peters. At the trial, Peck is able to prove Peters'
innocence, but the all-white jury returns a verdict of guilty.
The farm girl's father (James Anderson) swears vengeance
on Peck, even after Peters is killed while attempting to
escape. As Phillip and Mary are returning from a school play,
they are attacked in the woods and a mysterious benefactor
saves them by killing the bigoted Anderson. Their savior
turns out to be a mentally disturbed neighbor, of whom the
children had always been afraid.
EXPLOITIPS:
The tame of Harper Lee's novel, which won the Pulitzer
Prize after being on the best-seller list for two years, is a
terrific selling point and wont-to-see feature for patrons.
Arrange for window displays ol the novel in bookshops.
CATCHLINES:
Harper Lee's Pulitzer Prize-Winning Novel, Recognized As
an American Folk Classic—Now in a Brilliant Picturization
Peck in His Greatest Role—of Academy Award
Calibre.
THE STORY: "Joseph and His Brethren" (Colorama)
Jacob, the patriarch of Israel, has two favorites among his
12 sons, Joseph (Geoffrey Home) to whom he entrusts the
selling of his flocks of sheep, and the youngest, Benjamin.
This arouses the ire of the other sons, who beat up Joseph and
sell him to a slave-trader bound for Egypt. Joseph is
bought by the middle-aged Potiphor (Robert Morley), whose
young wife (Belinda Lee) tries to seduce and then accuses
him of attacking her. Joseph is sentenced to death, but he
is saved when he interprets a dream for the Pharaoh—that
seven years of prosperity will be followed by seven years ol
famine. The Pharaoh names Joseph his Viceroy. His
P''°Phecy comes true and Egypt is saved from famine by *
'li'
'..jlr the storing up of grain. In Israel, Jacob and his other sons
ore near starvation and come to Egypt to buy food. Not
^
recognizing Joseph as the Viceroy, the brothers come before
him and, after a joyful reunion with Jacob, he forgives them.
EXPLOITIPS:
To attract the devotees of Biblical lore, play up the title,
the costumes and the pageantry, and use photos of Geoffrey
Home and Finlay Currie as Joseph and his venerable father,
Jacob.
CATCHLINES:
The Famed Biblical Tale of the Dreamer and His Jealous
Brothers . . . Sold to the Egyptians for 30 Pieces of Silver,
Joseph Becomes a Viceroy and Ruled All the Land.
THE STORY: "Run Across the River" (Citation)
In New York's placid Greenv/ich Village, Joan Calistri is
pleasantly s'urprised by the unexpected return of engineer
brother, Curtis Conway, from overseas. Conway is abducted
by three mugs carrying guns, and William Lazarus, a young
artist, follows the men to an abandoned warehouse, where
he overhears questions concerning film ostensibly brought
back from South Africa by Conway. The film reveals the
location of rich uranium deposits. The mugs murder Conway.
With the assistance of the police, Lazarus determines
that Gordon Peters, who partners with the initially sinister
George Cathery in a flourishing business, is the secret leader
of the killers. 'The much-sought film is turned over to Cathery,
Peters is trotted off to prison, and Joan clinches with
Lazarus.
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EXPLOITIPS:
Set up teaser ads in newspapers, with such copy as "Wont
to Know What Happens to TTiose Who've Rum Too Much,
Too Far ." Remind drama critics that Joan
Calistri
.
appeared
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in the Broadway version of "Middle ol
..«. the Night." ,
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CATCHLINES:
^
A Real Cool Blonde Out-Beats Beatniks, Bullies and Bullets!
Desperate Mission! A Desperate Girl! . . . Running
for Her Life! Blazing Fury!
BOXOFFICi: BookinGuide Dec. 17, 1962