Hollywood's iggest Year
- sets Prophets of Doom
Up

By LEON GUTTERMAN

(Copyright, 1950, Jewish Telegraphic
Agency, Inc.)

HOLLYW 0 OD — Apostles
of Doom, who foresaw nothing
but dire disaster for motion pic-
tures, are looking for a nice,
large hole to crawl into. If ever
the wise men of Hollywood were
shown to be just charlatans and
occult in reverse, the self-ap-
pointed critics from coast to
coast poured in the evidence
that showed them up as phony
prophets and feeble- minded
picture makers.
The soothsayers sounded the
death knell of motion pictures
at the end of 1949, doubled it
in spades when television was
proclaimed over the land and
theatres were empty of ticket-
buyers. And now, just because
they won't lay down and die,
the smart critical crowd howls
"double cross"!
Little daunted by free predic-
tions of doom, MGM's Dore
Schary, Warner's Jack L. War-
ner, 20th Century-Fox's Darryl
F. Zanuck, Columbia's Harry
Cohn, Universal-International's
William G o e t z, Paramount's
Henry Ginsberg, RKO's Sid Ro-
gell, and others such as Samuel
Goldwyn • and Stanley Kramer
went ahead as if the portents
were all in their favor.
They looked down their col-
lective noses — and beyond —
where lush, green fields loomed
on the clouded horizon. They
were sure it wasn't a mirage—
common sense told them that
television, sporting events, legi-
timate theater, radio, automo-
biles, travel, magazines and
newspapers made prosperity,
that this country, the arsenal
and breadbasket of democracy,
would be rolling in wealth.
What happened? Studio
bosses put their heads together
and began to plan strategically
for the future. How's it all
working out? The past year has
been one of the most prosperous
Hollywood ever enjoyed.
Diversification of entertain-
ment has been and continues
to be the keynote of the pro-
duction policies of every stu-
dio. Emphatic proof of the
wisdom of . this policy is the
fact that 1949-50 has been,
with the exception of the war
years, the greatest, measured
both in terms of profits and
progress in every studio's his-
tory.
During the past season MGM
deftly balanced the artistic and
box-office factors with Dore
Schary's - Battleground," script-
ed by Robert Pirosh, to answer
critics who had stated contin-
ually that both ends of the con-
troversy could not coincide in
production. In catching both
critical and audience attention
to the fullest, "Battleground"
shattered all records everywhere.
Producer Arthur Freed's "On
The Town," written by Adolph
Green and Betty Comden, and
"Annie Get Your Gun," Irving
Berlin's smash hit screenplayed
by Sidney Sheldon, broke away
for extended theatre runs and
heavy grosses.
MGM keyed its program with
c o m e d ies: Producer-Director-
Writer Norman Krasna's "The
Big Hangover"; Producer Pan-
dro Berman's "Father of the
Bride"; "The Redhead and the
Reformer" written, directed and
produced by that youthful team

of. Norman Panama and. Melvin
Frank; producer Larry Wein-
garten's filmization of Ruth and
Garson Kanin's smash original
story "Adam's Rib"; Producer
Jack Cummings' story of song-
writers Harry Ruby and Bert
Kalmar, "Three Little Words."
For Warner Brothers, big-
gest event of the season was

the presentation. of Jerry
Wald's two box-office hits
starring two great Jewish co-
medians, Danny Kaye and
Milton Berle.
The pictures: "The Inspec-
tor General" for Danny Kaye,
and "Always Leave Them
Laughing"' for Milton Berle.
Brilliant Jerry Wald made
hits such as "Task Force,"
"Perfect Strangers," "Young
Man With A Horn" which
zoomed another young Jewish
actor to the top : Kirk Doug-
las; and "Caged," a powerful
indictment of present - d a y
penal abuses.

Paramount's Academy Award
winning Producer-Director Wil-
liam Wyler won for Olivia De
Havilland with his film "The
Heiress," Henry James' novel of
the 1850's. Composer Aaron
Copland won an "Oscar" for
contributing the melodic music
marked by unusual inventive-
ness and originality. The team
of Ruth and Augustus Goetz
wrote the screen play. •
Producer-Director Cecil B. De-
Mille starred Hedy Lamarr in
the Biblical "Samson and De-
lilah" and again proved that he
could achieve sumptuous pag-
eantry and turbulence.
Indicative of. 20th Century-
Fox's new place in the scheme
of picture-making during the
past year is a single set of films.
Edward G. Robinson starred in
Producer Sol Siegel's "House of
Strangers" with ace direction by
Joseph L. Mankiewicz, and the
team turned out one of the big
Robinson hits of all time. Writ-
er-Director Mankiewicz went on
to make "A Letter to Three
Wives" and win the Academy
Award for outstanding direction.
Producer. George Jessel proved
that he could make films with
the best of them, turning out
"Dancing In the Dark" and "Oh
You Beautiful Doll."
Not to be outdone, Producer
Sol Siegel followed with "I
Was A Male War Bride" star-
ring Cary Grant, and hit the
jackpot at the box-office.
William Perlberg and Writ-
er Director George Seaton
filmed "The Big Lift" on the
spot in Berlin, and gave the
picture a realistic treatment

-

of occupational problems and
emphasizing historical values.

Topranking 2 0 t h Producer
Samuel G. Engel was chosen to
make the sensationally success-
ful "Belvedere" series starring
Clifton Webb, and proved that
he could produce the finest
Catholic inspired picture in
years, "Come To The Stable."
"Jolson Sings Again," .Colum-
bia's follow-up produced by Sid
ney Buchman, carried on the
"Jolson Story" through tempor-
ary decline and spectacular
comeback.
A shower of "Oscars" came to
Columbia with young Robert
Rosson's emergence as a top-
flight writer-director-producer.
His "All The King's - Men" was
a dynamic motion picture, voted
the best of the year by all of

THE JEWISH NEWS-19

Friday, September 8, 1950

0 9etury

a

the

This Week's Radio and Tele-
vision Programs of
Jewish Interest
THE ETERNAL LIGHT
Time: 8 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 10.
Station: WWJ.
Feature: Dr. Ordway Tead,
chairman of the New York
Board of Higher Education, will
be guest participant in a panel
discussion of the second chapter
of Job.
* * *
MESSAGE OF ISRAEL
Time: 10 a.m. Sunday, Sept.
10.
Station: WXYZ.
Feature: Dr. Louis I. Newman
of Cong. Rodeph Sholom, New
York, will give a pre-Rosh Hash-
anah discourse on "A Fresh
Start in Life: Is It Ever Too
Late?"

French General Zionists Boycotting European

PARIS, (JTA) — The central
committee of the Organization
Sioniste de France—the General
Zionist organization of France—
decided not to participate in the
European conference of General
ZionistS, scheduled to open Sept.
15.

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Hollywood. The film itself was
alive with the richness of true-
to-life backgrounds, the pattern
of dictatorship given with force-
ful and important presentation.
Universal's "Sword In The
Desert" produced and written
by Robert Buckner, a non-Jew,
was a stirring melodrama, based
on the conflict in Palestine in
1947. As sheer theatrics, the
picture was outstanding; as per-
suasive drama its wisdom was
questioned by those who saw it.
"Champion," "Home of the
Brave" and "The Men" came
from the most brilliant young
producer in Hollywood today,
Stanley Kramer. All three were
dramas of stark realism made
with an unemotional approach.
The films aroused true Ameri-
cans to more determined ana-
lytical thinking toward clear
sanity regarding conditions de-
picted.
Yes, the motion picture indus-
try has also gone all-out. But
when one checks the records of
its activities, it appears that all
out falls short of describing this
work!

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Blow The Shofar

For Freedom & Righteousness

. . . And may the Shofar join the trumpets
of all nations in a hymn to peace and free-
dom for all men . . . announcing to the
world that a new age of justice and pros-
perity is dawning.

A HAPPY NEW YEAR

to the

ENTIRE JEWISH COMMUNITY

from

Best Wishes for A Happy New Year

DETROIT INSURANCE AGENCY

Talks

The committee said it con-
siders t h a t - the forthcoming
conference is not entitled to es-
tablish a European General
Zionist Organization and that
the parley was "convened ar-
bitrarily by progressive mem-
bers" of the General Zionist
movement.

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