The Waterbury Democrat., 1946-05-07

HOLLYWOOD, May 7-Trade pa- pers report that group of Middle Western exhibitors are fathering national campaign to get suitable screen fare for juvenile audiences. They propose Saturday afternoon programs in all theaters which would consist of one feature, one cartoon, one travelogue and one educational reel, all units to be carefully selected for kid consump- tion. In support of their plan, they stress the fact that 100000 cI1il- dren, 12 years old or under, attend picture shows each week and ac- count for l0 percent of all tickets sold.
 want those theater-owners to know that any support this column can give such program is enthus- iastically at their disposal. I've been campaigning for exactly such Sat- urday Inatinees for yearsl But be- fore the exhibitors get too optimds- tic, as they're apt to do when they read the avalanche of letters they are sure to receive from parents endorsing their plan, I'd like to call to their attention a few discourag- ing statistics.
 I have on my desk the National Legion of Decency's ratings of all pictures reviewed during the past year. Only 61 feature pictures, out of total of 367, were given a clean bill of health for juvenile audiences and of the 61, 26 were program westerns! urge the theater own- CTS to give those figures second thought. When they do, they'll req lize that they must, first of all, bring heavy pressure to bear on Hol- lywood. It's impossible to make up suitable programs for kids unless suitable pictures are provided by the studios.
 Martha Scott, who deserted Hol- lywood for the stage a couple of years ago, is back in town and will ing to resume her screen career IF she approves of the stories offered her. If she doesn't like them, she says, she'll return forthwith to Broadway. That attitude seems to be shared nowadays by most of the topflight stars in show business. Whether they are under contract to studios or not, they simply refuse to work unless they, personally, ap- prove of their vehicles. While I'm far from convinced that the average actor or actress is the best possible judge of story's overall merit, am convinced that the trend is heal thy for the future of screen enter tainment. With almost all big name stars demanding stronger material, producers are being forced to meet new standards of quality.
 Speaking of great stories, I'm re- minded, strictly by contrast, of Forever Amber" to my way of . thinking one of the most nauseus messes of tripe ever published. From the start, the effort to film it seems to have been @ major headache for 2Oth Century Fox. It looks months of effort on the part of high priced writers to produce a screen version that would pass the MPAA moral code. Serious production delays irn- peded the first months shooting. Then the director, John Stahl, re- signed his assignment and studio bosses decided to refilm almost all of the footage he had turned in. Being so strongly prejudiced against the original story, can't help but feel that the woes encountered in its production are just retribution.
 s-h
 According to trade papers, Cornel Wilde's fan mail has now scared to record high of 22OO0 letters 8 week. At the risk of being cold thrower, I'd like to advise him that it's time to beware, and I would base my warning on the following
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