Boxoffice-July.01/1950

Oh.
—
CIVIL WAR General Nathan Bedford Forrest
apparently was distinRuished as a
tactician rather than as a rhetorician.
Tlie Union commander summed up his formula
for winning battles with a simple credo;
"Get there fustest with the mostest."
Comes now Independent Producer-Distributor
Robert L. Lippert and his vice-president
in charge of production. Murray Lerner,
with a modus operandi which reflects a paraphrase
of the good general's tactics. Probably
the Lippert-Lerner combine, in summing
up their operations, would be a bit more
grammatical than General Nate, but nonetheless
the tactics seem to be "Get there
fustest—even if it's with the leastest."
Interplanetary transportation, a subject as
hot as a four-buclc shotgun in the minds of
scientists and newspaper headlines, is one
topic which currently illustrates the Lipperian
"fustest" approach. On June 2 Lippert
released a feature titled "Roclcetship XM
(Expedition Moon)." which pseudo scientific
subject was laudatorily received by the tradepress
film reviewers and which immediately
garnered a number of first run bookings several
steps higher on the exhibition ladder
than the rung usually allotted to Lippert releases.
Locally, for example, it was set as
the topsider on the kickoff program which
launched Showman Sherrill Corwin's new
alignment of first run houses, including the
Orpheum, Forum, Hawaii and Beverly Hills
Music Hall—in which situations it was held
over for a second week after scoring impressively
in its first stanza.
Nearly a month later the same tradepress
celluloid appraisers were summoned to see
"Destination Moon." which George Pal had
put into production—for Eagle Lion distribution—long
before Lippert. Lerner. et al. began
to play with the idea of planet-hopping.
There was an interesting sidelight to the
press previewing of "DM" which lends itself
to a bit of discussion, most especially inasmuch
as the clambake apparently was in the
hands of some of Cinemania's reputedly topdrawer
experts on public and press relations,
including Bill Hebert and Paul MacNamara.
Instead of the usual comparatively simple
but adequately informative credit sheet, the
critics, upon entering the theatre, were
handed an impressive, 26-page brochure
which—under the title "Facts About 'Destination
Moon' " —undertook to sell the picture's
excellence. The presentation specialized
in such headlines as "A Hit! Here's how
we know ... by actual 'Sneak Preview' survey,"
and "Actors Give Great Performances
"
in 'Destination Moon.' yes. the picture
credits were there—on one page 'way at the
back of the book—just in case some stubborn
or misguided reviewer wished to see them
and was desirous of formulating his own
opinion of the feature without accepting at
face value the other 25 pages devoted to
stressing the offering's multitudinous merits.
Nor did the departure from established
press preview procedure end there. Tucked
into the brochure was a mimeographed message,
captioned "A Slight Case of Mistaken
Identity." This after-thought insertion undertook
"for the sake of the records" to "give
you a little history on the two projects." That
historical information drew comparisons concerning
several facets of the two featui-es
when and how they were conceived, started,
photographed, researched, etc.
Tlirough lengthy experience and scores of
loud wails from producers and distributors,
trade reviewers have long since learned that
it is hazardous business to compare a picture
from one company with one of similar
theme from another outfit. The filmmaker
who wins second in such collation is a cinch
to yell "police" and base his charge on the
bromide that "comparisons are odious." Nor
is
his beef without logic.
Yet, here is a case where comparisons were
strongly, almost unavoidably, invited.
And obvious is the fact that whenever and
wherever those comparisons are made they
must accord, per se. just as much publicity
to the Lippert opus as to that from Pal.
Whether or not the above triple-faceted
preview innovation can be considered smart
press relations is a matter of individual opinion.
Admittedly Lippert was there "fustest."
If some of the reviewers—goaded into indulging
in collating—should opine that he was
there also with the "mostest," then Producer
Pal's battery of high-pressure publicists may
find that they overplayed their hands.
Parenthetically, the same Paul MacNamara
is doubling in brass as a screenwriter. He
recently sold to Olympic Productions, the independent
outfit headed by Sam Wiesenthal
and W. R. Frank, a crime documentary titled
"The Heat's On."
In view of his tenure as public relations
topper for David O. Selznick—which is tantamount
to belonging to the human race
MacNamara should be an expert on the subject.
Universal-International's welkin-ringer, Al
Horwits, comes through with intelligence that
"following a pattern which has long been
successful in the motion picture industry, the
chinaware industry now has turned to premieres.
Barbara Lawrence . . will plane to
.
Honolulu ... to be the special guest of honor
at the premiere of the new Pan-American lei
chinaware."
To complete the pattern, the chinaware
manufacturers should start giving away
movies.
From the Burbankian blurbery of Alex
Evelove:
"James Cagney had to interrupt his lovemaking
to Virginia Mayo for Warner Bros.
'The West Point Story' when a flock of
pigeons flew on the set. The birds were so
ardent in their cooing that it interfered with
Jimmy's."
For the rich they sing.
MPIC Elects Officers;
Two Posts Added
HOLLYWOOD—Revising the organization's
executive structure, the Motion Picture
Industry Council membership elected Ronald
Reagan and Allen Rivkin to the newly
created posts of .secretary and treasurer, respectively.
Simultaneou.sly the current MPIC
chairman, Roy M. Brewer, was named president
and the co-chairman, Paul Groe.sse, took
office as vice-president.
NEW OFFICES ON ANNUAL BASIS
The two new offices will be held for oneyear
terms. The presidential post, however,
will continue to be rotated every six months
as has been the custom In the past.
Reagan, a former MPIC chairman, is also
president of the Screen Actors Guild. Rivkin,
active for the MPIC in the Committee
of Motion Picture Organizations, is director
of public relations for the Screen Writers
Guild.
Also approved by the MPIC membership
was the designation of Walter Wanger as a
council delegate by the Society of Independent
Motion Picture Producers.
At the same MPIC meeting, wholehearted
approval was given a resolution honoring
Harold Lloyd, retiring head of the Ancient
Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, as
a screen luminary who has distinguished him-
.^elf "beyond measure." The tribute was paid
Lloyd in closing ceremonies of the recent
Shrine national convention here.
LAUD U.S.
FILMS ABROAD
Praise for the contributions made by American
films as ambassadors of democracy
and the desirability of closer cooperation
between Hollywood and the State department's
public affairs section highlighted a
subsequent, informal meeting between MPIC
members and Edward J. Barrett, assistant
secretary of state for public affairs. The
discussion took place just prior to Barrett's
return to Washington.
The government official opined that films
"have been improving steadily in adult, intelligent
content" and deplored the fact that
distribution abroad is becoming "increasingly
difficult."
Attending the session were Joseph I. Breen,
head of the MPAA's production code administration:
Y. Frank Freeman. Gunther Lessing,
Ronald Reagan. Roy M. Brewer. Valentine
Davies, Charles Brackett. Cecil B.
DeMille Walter Wanger, Albert S. Rogell.
Leonard Spigelgass, Richard Murphy. Henry
Wilcoxon, Allen Rivkin, Margaret Herrick,
John Dales jr.. Arch Reeve and other industry
representatives.
Grover Livingston Heads
WB Branch in Charlotte
NEW YORK—Grover Livingston. Warner
Bros, branch manager in Oklahoma City, has
been promoted to branch manager of the
Charlotte office, succeeding Frank Neel, resigned,
according to Ben Kalmenson, vicepresident
in charge of distribution.
Livingston joined Warners as a salesman in
Oklahoma City in 1946 and was promoted to
branch manager there in 1948. No successor to
his Oklahoma City post has been named as
yet.
32 BOXOFFICE :: July 1, 1950