Meet Hal R. Makelim (1953) 🇺🇸
Hal R. Makelim started his motion picture career as a boy actor in the silent days.
by Paul Manning
Hal R. Makelim, independent motion picture film producer, whose latest picture, Man of Conflict, starring Edward Arnold and John Agar, is now being released, started his motion picture career as a boy actor in the silent days, a steady performer in front of grinding cameras of the old Essanay Studios. Reaching for working knowledge of other types of entertainment media, he went into the field of radio when it burst into the public scene. Climbing up the ladder of success, he became a top-notch radio producer, producing such outstanding air shows as Sweetheart Time, Service with a Smile, and The Voice of Business among others.
In every phase of his education, Makelim studied with sincerity the pulse of public preference. He learned what kind of programs his audience would listen to, what sort of people they liked to be on these programs, how long they would stand still for a set formula, and all the other million and one cues for which showmen must constantly be on the lookout. This is the background he has brought into his present activity as the Hal R. Makelim Productions president.
Carrying his deep zest for knowledge further, he headed his own advertising company, with offices in Chicago, New York, and Hollywood. He is a former vice-president and sales manager for the Hal Roach Studios, and has produced outstanding films on behalf of Americanism, many now being shown in the free countries of the world.
With today’s drastic production cutbacks of the major studios, it remains for independent producers of Makelim’s experience to fill the ever-growing needs of thousands of exhibitors. The ranks of independent production realizes this dual opportunity and responsibility and, like Hal R. Makelim, have entered into this giant task with enthusiasm and unshaken faith in the future of our great business. — P. M.
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Good Things to come from Hollywood… Walt Disney’s “The Living Desert”
“The Living Desert,” Walt Disney’s first feature-length “True-Life Adventure,” is the first film of its type ever to be heralded by “Studio Survey”.
by Paul Manning
To deny Disney and his worthy associates this honor would be unforgivable, even though it will come as a tiny drop of water in the mighty oceans of praise which will pour once the picture is publicly shown.
With his fine skill as a master story teller, Disney unfolds the age-old mystery of the desert, which has fascinated man since time began. It satisfies, thrills, and answers the curiosity of man, who has long wondered what goes on in the desolate and seemingly God-forsaken wastelands of the world, from the Sahara to Death Valley; from the sands of Araby to the lonely mesas of our own beautiful Colorado. What lives there? How does it exist?
Weaving, as is his manner, irresistible comedy touches into a story of Nature, which must, of necessity, contain grim and sudden reality, Disney has fashioned a truly great picture, one which will be remembered long after the synthetic dramas of the screen have passed into forgetfulness. Headlining an all Disney program, The Living Desert will be world premiered at the Sutton, New York City, in November. A most satisfying answer to constant pleas from both exhibitors and the public alike for a different kind of program, this show has all the ingredients necessary for a long and successful run in any situation. — P. M.
Seen above, in the usual left to right, top to bottom, order are some highlights from Walt Disney’s first feature length True-Life Adventure, The Living Desert, including a Pepsis wasp winning a fierce battle with its implacable enemy, the tarantula; a red-tailed hawk battling a deadly rattlesnake; a meeting of the shy, harmless kangaroo rat mother and the lethal serpent, the sidewinder; and Disney, maker of the film.
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La Varre Shoots Rio Film
Hollywood — André de la Varre, director and photographer of many foreign locale shorts for Warners, recently arrived at the studio in Brazil with the film of “Carnival in Rio.”
He shot the one-reel Technicolor picture during Rio de Janeiro’s famed annual festival, which attracts thousands of visitors yearly.
De La Varre will remain at the studio several weeks discussing future assignments. He has through the years shot scenics all over the world.
Collection: Exhibitor Magazine (Studio Survey), October 1953