Better Shorts Expected From Hollywood

Dominion, Volume 34, Issue 191, 10 May 1941, Page 16

Better Shorts Expected From Hollywood

Petter short films are expected from Hollywood soon. The “New York Times” states that producers, are responding to complaints by American exhibitors about the quality of the shorts they have had to buy with the

features. Despite the loss of revenue from the foreign market, not one company has dared to lower its budget on shorts for the coming season, states the news paper. There is talk of using featured players and better directors and technicians in future short subject production. Plans for broader exploitation are already in motion. Symptomatic of the new regard for shorts are such attempts as M -G.-M.’s “The Happiest Man” taken from an Albert Maltz short story and Warner’s “Dog in the Orchard” from Mary Roberts Rinehart’s story—the first efforts of the picture companies to adapt short stories to an apropriate film length. Columbia’s “International Forum” reflects the trend toward seri-

ous topical material and the featuring of contemporary “names.” The established “March of Time” and such far tual films -.is .Julian Bryan’s essayistic travelogues, both released through R.K.0., are precursors of plans for documentaries. Universal is planning superserials for adult audiences in bet ter theatres. Paramount is trying to catch Hie drift of public taste by setting up a separate short subject sales unit with representatives in ail parts of the country. Metro has experimented with “three-dimension” shorts.