Boxoffice-January.07.1950

salaried producers will bring the Marathon
St. lot's starting total up to three for the
period. Wallis will gun "My Friend Irma
Goes West" as a sequel to his recent "My
Friend Irma," and reuniting the cast topliners
of the original, Marie Wilson, Diana
Lynn and John Lund. It's based, of course,
on the network airshow created by Cy
Howard, and which also has Miss Wilson in
the title spot. Also on the docket are "Montana
Rides," a high-budget western to star
Alan Ladd, and "Union Station," with William
Holden and Wanda Hendrix. The
Ladd opus is discussed in detail in the box
on this page; "Union Station," a Jules
Schermer production to be piloted by Rudy
Mate, is concerned with a kidnaping and how
the criminals are apprehended. Much of the
action transpires in a large railway terminal.
Its genesis is a Saturday Evening Post serial
by Thomas Walsh; in the cast, in addition
to Holden and Miss Hendrix, are Nancy Olson
and Barry Fitzgerald.
RKO Radio
Contributions from independent producers
comprise the bulk of the Howard Hughes
organization's January lineup, three of the
four scheduled entries being in that category.
Moreover, two of the quartet are carryovers
from December, when — for one reason or
another — they failed to get before the
cameras as had been scheduled. The independents'
contributions are "The Story of a
Divorce," a Jack SkirbaU-Bruce Manning
production; "A White Rose for Julie," emanating
from Westwood Productions, headed
by Irving Cummings jr. and Irwin Allen; and
"Nobody's Safe," to be co-produced by Collier
Young and Ida Lupino for Filmakers. Rounding
out the list is a studio-sponsored entry,
"Code 3," which is on the agenda for Producer
Herman Schlom. Both "Divorce" and
"Julie" originally had been slated to roll in
December. The former, starring Bette Davis
and Robert Young, tells of a wife who, realizing
her marriage is breaking up, reviews
her past and discovers her own weaknesses
brought about the situation. Curtis Bernhardt
is the director. "Julie" will co-star
Robert Mitchiun and Faith Domergue, with
John Farrow at the megaphone. It is a
romantic melodrama centering around a
young interne, a nurse who loves him and a
wealthy young widow who almost ruins his
career. The Young-Lupino contender, "Nobody's
Safe," was uncast as the month began;
Miss Lupino will direct the semidocumentary
about runaway girls, the story line of which
is taken from tho files of the Los Angeles and
New York police departments. "Code 3" is
cops-and-robbers stuff; Richard Fleischer
holds the directorial reins and Charles Mc-
Graw has been set for the lead.
Republic
Paced by one offering, "Sleep All Winter,"
which got under way in the latter days of
December, this valley lot has carded a gr&nd
total of five starting vehicles for 1950's opening
month. The above-named opus is a
western, an independent offering from
EUiott-McGowan Productions, starring Wil-
Uam Elliott and being produced by Stuart and
Dorrell McGowan, in association with the
actor and William J. O'SuUivan. The Mc-
Gowans, who wrote the script, are also serving
as co-directors. Elliott's supporting cast
includes Marie Windsor and Walter Brennan.
Two other sagebrushers on tap are "The
Vanishing Westerner" and "Hills of Okla-
Paramount, 20th-Fox and Universal
Starting Three Super-Westerns
When three top stars, whose appearances
in super-westerns have been rarities
heretofore, don cowboy garb and begin
ridin' thataway — all in the same
month—it is of more than passing interest,
and a concrete reaffirmation of the
industry axiom that sagebrushers will be
with us as long as there are movies.
The players involved are Alan Ladd,
Tyrone Power and James Stewart; they'll
head for the open spaces in, respectively,
Paramount's "Montana Rides," 20th Century-Fox's
"Rawhide" and Universal-
International's "Winchester .73." All are
of the high-budget, semihistorical variety
and together they constitute a significant
signpost to indicate that westerns will
undoubtedly continue to occupy, in 1950,
the important niche they have already
gained for themselves as production and
exhibition ventures.
homa." The former, toplining Monte Hale,
is to be produced and directed respectively
by Mel Tucker and PhU Ford; the latter stars
Rex Allen, with Franklin Adreon producing
and B. G. Springsteen as the director. Uncast,
early In the period, were "Women Prom
Headquarters" and "Faces in the Sun."
Stephen Auer produces the first-named, a
melodrama about policewomen, with George
Blair set to hold the megaphone ; Allan Dwan
draws producer-director credit on the latter,
a costume piece about Mississippi in the 1850s,
the story of a scheming girl who marries her
sister's fiance, ruins their lives, falls in love
with a gambler and ultimately wipes out her
mistakes by committing suicide.
20th Century-Fox
star power highlights the brace of offerings
being blueprinted by the Westwood studio for
camera work in January, with Dana Andrews
and Gene Tierney lined up as the co-stars of
"Where the Pavement Ends" and Tyrone
Power and Susan Hayward booked for the
toplines in "Rawhide." Otto Preminger produces
and directs "Sidewalks," a portion of
which will be filmed on location in New York.
A melodrama of big-city crime, it is adapted
from William L, Stewart's novel, "Night Cry,"
and was scripted by Ben Hecht. Rights to
the property were acquired by 20th-Fox some
time ago from an independent unit. Colony
Pictures, which thus tabled plans to make the
opus imder its own banner. "Rawhide," a
Samuel G. Engel production, is in the historical
western category and, with Paramount's
"Montana Rides" and Universal-
International's "Winchester .73." is discussed
more fully in the box on this page.
United Artists
The best that could be mustered up productionwise
by filmmakers distributing under
the UA banner was one starting subject for
the month—that one emanating from Producer
Seymour Nebenzal, who was readying
a remake of "M," which he first filmed in
Europe in 1933 as a starring vehicle for Peter
Lorre. For the new version, as the month
began, no cast nor director had been rounded
Ladd, Power and Stewart are not, of
course, complete strangers to the saddle;
Ladd most recently brandished a six-gxm
in "Whispering Smith," Power had the
title role some years ago in "Jesse James,"
and Stewart toplined "Destry Rides
Again."
"Montana Rides," a Mel Epstein production
in Technicolor, is backgrounded
in Texas and New Mexico in the 1860s.
"Rawhide," which Henry Hathaway will
meg for Producer Samuel G. Engel, is laid
in the Arizona territory, with Susan Hayward
cast as Power's leading lady. "Winchester
.73," an Aaron Rosenberg production,
wiU be directed by Anthony Mann,
and lists Shelley Winters as Stewart's
leading lady. It's described as a panoramic
story of the old west dealing with
the important part played by the historic
Winchester rifle in pioneer days.
up, however. The story is a psychological
study of a congenital killer who, despite all
his efforts to control his murderous tendencies,
cannot resist the overwhelming urge,
and is ultimately tracked down and captured
by the law.
Universal-International
Of three projected starters for the period,
one — "Winchester .73" — rates more than
passing attention as an entry from this valley
studio and, therefore, is treated in greater
detail in the box on this page. The
remaining two, "Panther's Moon" and "Rose
Queen," were both being readied by Producer
Ralph Dietrich and, at month's beginning,
were uncast and minus directorial services.
"Moon," adapted from a novel by Victor
Canning, is a story of espionage in the post-
World War II era, laid in Italy and Switzerland,
while "Rose Queen" is a glamorization,
on celluloid, of the world-renowned Tournament
of Roses which is staged on New Year's
Day each year In Pasadena, Calif.
Warner Bros.
Maintaining the same pace as was established
in the final month of 1949, this Burbank
lot laid plans to launch two new films
during January—one a comedy, the other of
melodramatic content. Danny Kaye wlU have
the starring role in "Stop, You're Killing
Me," in which the carrot-topped comic finds
himself involved in adventure and mystery
as he is pursued by a beautiful feminine
private eye, Lauren Bacall. Harry Kurnitz
wrote and will produce the offering and Philip
Rapp, a scenarist, will make his debut as a
director thereon. The other starter is "Lightning
Strikes Twice," first American starring
fiUn for Richard Todd, the young Irish actor
who rose to prominence in Warners' Britishmade
"The Hasty Heart." King Vidor will direct
the Henry Blanke production, in which
Todd portrays a man acquitted of the murder
of his wife and who, although innocent in the
eyes of the jury, is guilty in the opinion of
the townsfolk. Not until he ferrets out the
real slayer is Todd exonerated by the people
of the community.
BOXOFnCE January 7, 1950 19