DECEMBER

MGM Schedules 15 Films
For Early 1953 Start
HOLLYWOOD—As the result of ten days
of top-echelon executive huddles just concluded
at the studio. MGM's 1952-53 picturemaking
program will be maintained at an increasingly
fast pace through the scheduling
of 15 pictures to start during the coming
three months. The slate was announced by
Dore Schary, vice-president in charge of production,
after east-west executive conferences
for
which Nicholas M. Schenck, president of
Loew's. Inc., and Vice-presidents Charles
Moskowitz. Joseph Vogel and Howard Dietz
came out from New York. Participating for
the studio, in addition to Schary. were members
of the Culver City film plant's executive
*
board, E. J. Mannix, Ben Thau, L. K. Sidney,
J. J. Cohn. Lawrence Weingarten, Kenneth
MacKenna, Marvin Schenck and Charles
Schnee.
In addition to the 15 features being readied
for production in coming weeks. Schary added
that a tentative 1953-54 program has been
outlined, drawn from among 52 story properties
which are in long-range preparatory
stages.
Here are the 15 titles soon to go into work:
Latin Lovers. Technicolor musical starring
Lana Turner and Ricardo Montalban, which Joe
Pasternak will produce and Mervyn LeRoy will
direct.
Years Ago, a romantic comedy toplining
Spencer Tracy, Jean Simmons and Teresa
Wright, to be produced by Weingarten and directed
by George Cukor.
All the Brothers Were Valiant. Technicolor
adventure story of the whaling-ship era,
with Robert Taylor, Stewart Granger and Elizabeth
Taylor, to be directed by Richard Thorpe
and produced by Pandro S. Berman.
Blie Goodess. Producer Edwin H. Knopf's comedy
starring Red Skelton, which Robert Z. Leonard
will direct.
Easy to Love, Technicolor musical toplining
Esther Williams, a Pasternak production, with
specialty numbers to be staged by Busby Berkeley.
Interrupted Melody, biography of singer Marjorie
Lawrence, who will be portrayed by Greer
Garson. Jack Cummings will produce.
Take the High Ground, story of the armed
services, to be filmed in .Ansco Color with Schary
personally producing. The cast will include James
Whitmore and Dean Miller, and Richard Brooks
will
direct.
Jefferson Selleck, from the best-selling novel,
to star Spencer Tracy, with Joseph L. Mankiewicz
as producer-director-writer.
K:ss Me Kate, from Cole Porter's stage musical,
starring Kathryn Grayson; to be produced by
Cummings and directed by George Sidney.
.Affairs of Dobie Giillis, featuring Debbie
Reynolds, which Don Weis will meg for Producer
.'\rthur Loew jr.
One More Time, a Lana Turner starrer, which
Cukor will direct and Armand Deutsch will produce.
I Married West Point, a William Grady jr.
production.
Flight to the Islands. The Big Leaguer and
Scarlet Coat, all to be lensed in Ansco Color.
Three other Technicolor specials are scheduled
for early spring, including "King Arthur
and the Round Table," starring Robert Taylor:
"Rose Marie," from the Rudolph Friml
operetta: and "Brigadoon," based on the
Broadway stage hit. Film rights also have
been acquired to "The Ruth Etting Story,"
biography of the noted singer.
Presently in work are "Mogambo." "Invitation
to the Dance," "The Band Wagon,"
"Give a Girl a Break" and "A Slight Case
of Larceny." These are in addition to 27
films already completed and awaiting relea.se.
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U-l Executives to Meet in Hollywood
During Week to Map Out Policies
HOLLYWOOD—To perfect production, distribution
and promotion plans for the coming
year, executives in charge of these pha.ses
of Universal-International's activities will
launch a week-long .series of top-level policy
sessions beginning Monday (8) at the studio.
Division and district sales managers will participate,
as will eastern and western promotion
executives, studio and home office representatives.
For the studio, the meeting will be attended
by William Goetz, in charge of production;
David A. Lipton. vice-president in charge of
advertising and publicity; Edward Muhl, vicepresident
and general manager: Al Horwits.
publicity director, and other officials. Here
from New York will be President Milton R.
Rackmil; Alfred E. Daff, executive vice-president;
Charles J. Peldman, general sales manager;
N. J. Blumberg. board chairman: Adolph
Schimel, vice-president and general counsel;
Charles Simonelli, eastern advertising-publicity
manager; Philip Gerard, eastern publicity
director, and Jeff Livingston, eastern advertising
chief.
They will be joined at the studio by Ben
Katz. midwest promotion representative; Ray
Moon, assistant general sales manager; F. J.
A. McCarthy, .southerri and Canadian sales
chief; P. T. Dana, eastern sales head; Foster
M. Blake, western sales manager; James J,
Jordan, in charge of circuit sales; Harry Fellerman,
sales head of U-I's special films division,
and A. W. Perry, head of Empire-Universal
in Canada, which distributes U-I films in
that country.
District managers participating will be
David A. Levy. New York; James Frew, Atlanta;
Manie M. Gottlieb, Chicago: Henry J.
Martin, Dalla,s: P. F. Rosian. Cleveland; Lester
Zucker, Kansas City; John J. Scully, Boston,
and Barney Rose, San Franci.sco.
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