1942: Motion Pictures

Well-Known Figures in Armed Services.

A variety of perplexing war problems confronted motion picture producers in 1942, a year in which the screen offerings in key city theatres attracted an unprecedented number of patrons.

Among these problems was that of manpower, the loss of box-office 'names,' a 25 per cent cut in raw stock (film) by the War Production Board, the effect of priorities on material for studio sets, and the ceiling on salaries.

It is estimated that more than 10,000 persons engaged in different ways in the motion picture industry are now in military service, besides hundreds of men and women who have abandoned the studios for war plants. Those close to Hollywood activities assert that more than 3,000 film technicians — camera men, electricians and other skilled workers — have been called into the armed services.

But, according to Jack Alicoate, publisher of Film Daily, the most disturbing feature of the manpower problem concerns the loss of established 'names' — actors, producers, directors and writers — to the armed forces. Some of the topnotch players now in uniform include Robert Montgomery, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Clark Gable, James Stewart, Tyrone Power, Gene Autry, Victor Mature. Producers who are in the services include such men as Maj. Hal Roach, Capt. John Hay Whitney, Maj. Jack Warner, Maj. Sam Briskin, Col. Darryl F. Zanuck. Listed from the writers' ranks are Col. Tristam Tupper, Maj. Robert Pressnell and Capt. Jerome Chodorov.

Camp Entertainment.

In the report of the Victory Committee, it was set forth that 1,141 screen stars were drawn from the free talent pool to help the war effort; the individual appearances during the twelve months totaled 6,828. Four hundred and seventy-four film players took part in 222 live broadcasts; 507 participated in the recording of 111 radio transcriptions, 56 of which were for the War Department.

Mr. Alicoate, in his review of 1942, says that the Victory Committee's plans for 1943 call for even more extensive operations from performers, and announcement has been made that players will be sent to 700 Army camps throughout the nation early in that year. Also more than one hundred 'personalities' are to be sent to fighting areas overseas. Calls from other Federal agencies are expected to be met with the fullest extent of available talent.

Arthur W. Kelly, a vice-president of United Artists Pictures Corporation who has had long experience in the foreign field, pointed out that keeping the populace going at full tilt at war work calls for entertainment for them during their leisure periods. This, he explained, did not mean the deferment of male stars from being put into uniform, but it did mean their temporary return to the studios when they were needed.

Up to the end of 1942, none of the male stars had received furloughs to return to work in the studios, but it is believed these screen favorites will eventually be permitted to have leave to appear in pictures, just as was done in Britain.

Saving of Film Stock.

Great economy has been effected in the use of negative and positive film stock, with the result that millions of feet have been saved; in fact, it has been stated that motion pictures are virtually edited before the turning of the camera.

The 25 per cent cut in raw stock brought about a further economy in the use of film; those in charge of the five newsreels entered into an agreement limiting the length of their issues to 750 feet.

Salary Ceilings.

So far as the $25,000 net salary ceiling, and the gross of $67,200, are concerned, complications and misunderstandings have arisen. It is a question as to whether the star's contract is abrogated under the new order. Producers and actors claim that there should be an understanding or clarification of matters pertaining to salaries between them and the Government. If a star does not wish to work for the salary, which is a saving for the producer, the studios may have to seek new talent. However, players as a rule do not wish to cancel their contracts, but they are opposed to the idea of the producers pocketing the salary money over and above the $67,200. They would prefer to give the surplus to the Government.

Censorship.

Toward the end of 1942, the Federal authorities made it known that they wanted to read all motion picture scenarios before a picture was started. This, it was said, was done to make certain that no military secrets crept into films, and also to prevent the picturing of certain locations and sky views of certain cities and towns, which are sometimes used for established backgrounds. There was no resentment on the part of producers so long as this supervision of scripts was confined to military matters and not designed to start complete censorship.

Government Instruction Films.

Walt Disney devoted a good deal of his studio's time to the production of colored drawings for the Government. Col. Zanuck, at the end of the year, was assembling and editing a motion picture record taken by his film unit, of the United Nations landing operations in North Africa. This record is of sea, air, and land activities. Part of the time Col. Zanuck's men worked with a tommy gun and the rest of the time cranked the camera.

Courses in Motion Picture Work.

Because of the increasing shortage of skilled motion picture technicians, the New York University Washington Square College of Arts and Sciences is to sponsor the first course in film editing and cutting to be offered in the East. The course will include lectures and laboratory work to be given two evenings a week at the workrooms of RKO-Path‚ News under the direction of Harold H. Bonafield.

Awards to Major Films.

Noel Coward took the American public as well as the critics by storm with his brilliant English-made screen production, In Which We Serve, which was presented at New York City's Capitol Theater on Dec. 23. It is doubtful whether any picture has ever received the fanfare of plaudits accorded this one. Less than a week after the opening performance, it was awarded the accolade of the New York Film Critics' Circle. Its chief rival was Paramount's Wake Island, described as a savage and uncompromising tragedy about the group of U. S. Marines that fought so gallantly against overwhelming odds on Wake Island.

The Coward production is the tragic story of a British destroyer and her crew, at home and afloat, in fights and on leave. Bosley Crowther, screen critic of the New York Times, wrote: 'It is a fine and eloquent expression of British courage and unity in this war. As played by Noel Coward, Bernard Miles, John Mills, Joyce Carey, Celia Johnson and an almost flawless cast, it is one of the most stirring and poignant films ever made.'

Howard Barnes, film critic of the New York Herald Tribune, wrote: 'This Noel Coward Saga of a British destroyer, valiantly fighting its way to eventual destruction through those early desperate years of the war, is great in every right sense of a badly misused adjective.'

It is interesting to note that the critics of these two newspapers in naming the Best Ten pictorial productions of 1942, for the full calendar year, agreed on seven. They were: In Which We Serve; Wake Island; Yankee Doodle, a colorful biography of the late George M. Cohan; Mrs. Miniver; Woman of the Year, a bright screen comedy; One of our Aircraft is Missing, a film about British fliers downed in Holland and their efforts to escape, produced in England by Michael Powell who was responsible for an earlier film, The Invaders; Casablanca, a tough and exciting melodrama directed by Michael Curtiz for Warner Brothers.

In addition to these, the Times critic liked Journey for Margaret, based on a story by William L. White, author of They Were Expendable; Charles Chaplin's re-issue in sound of the old Gold Rush, and Sullivan's Travels, a satire by Preston Sturges.

The Herald Tribune's other three were Walt Disney's Bambi; Holiday Inn, described as a 'musical melange'; and Moontide, a somber story of outcasts on the Pacific coast waterfront.

Five hundred and fifty-five critics throughout the country, in the Film Daily's poll, voted for Mrs. Miniver as the outstanding picture of the fiscal year — from Nov. 1, 1941, to Oct. 31, 1942. Five hundred votes were given to How Green Was My Valley.

Radio City Music Hall.

The Radio City Music Hall, under the direction of G. S. Eyssell, who succeeded the late W. G. Van Schmus, had its most successful year since its opening ten years ago. Known as the world's largest theater, seating 6,200 persons, this great entertainment center presented only fifteen pictures for the full twelve months. This tops a record of hold-over engagements made in 1941, when the Music Hall played a total of 26 screen offerings.

Beginning in August 1942, Mrs. Miniver won more laurels by staying at the Music Hall for ten weeks and playing to an audience of 1,500,013 persons who paid $1,431,500 in admissions. The previous high mark was held by Philadelphia Story which had a six-week run in 1941, played to 815,470 persons, and grossed $590,472. Other six-week run photoplays at the Music Hall were Rebecca, in April-May 1940, and The Woman of the Year, in March-April 1942.