The Big Operator (MGM) (1959)

PRODUCER RELIES ON “PSYCHOLOGY” Albert Zugsmith Knows How To Judge Performers On First Sight The year was 1947 and the hour was 6:00 p.m. in a darkened projection room on a major motion picture studio lot. A small group of men and women were watching scenes from a new film. The scenes were playing well and many producers would have been happy with the picture. Albert Zugsmith wasn’t exactly unhappy but something kept him from being enthusiastic. He requested that the film be re-run. “Okay,” he said finally, “that might get by but...” The director received a memo the next day. “Do the scene over,” it read. “Try this time to sell harder and make the change of heart more pronounced.” The picture’s female star was upset at having to do the scene over. But Zugsmith, long accustomed to the hypersensitivities of his artistic family, assumed his most practiced air of casualness and had a little conversation with her. The star, never an introvert, splashed her indignation all over his front. The producer countered with a disarming smile. “You know,” he said, “I’m reminded of the great director, Richard Boleslavsky. I recall once he rushed into his star’s dressing room inimediately after a scene and_ said, ‘Darling, you were wonderful, superb, magnificent. Next time, be just a little more magnificent.’ ”’ Needless to say, the results of the repeated scene were more wonderful, more superb and more magnificent. So were the future relations between Zugsmith and the star. What this story points out is that a motion picture producer’s job, in addition to experience and talent, requires an understanding of human relations. ‘Without that,’ declares Zugsmith, ‘you can be a first-class candidate for the flop parade.” Zugsmith recently completed “The Big Operator,” starring Mickey Rooney, Steve Cochran and Mamie Van Doren, a picture he produced in association with Red Doff for MGM release. “Mickey is a pro and a veteran of show business, who knows all the ropes,” he says. “Steve also is a trouper with definite ideas on what he wants to do. Mamie is relatively new to the business. A producer can’t treat them all the same or he might have trouble lining up a cast for his next picture.” His explanation for dealing with people is simple. “You’re either a natural psychologist or you aren’t. It’s like being able to sing. Either you can or you can’t. The trick is to learn to judge performers on first sight. This may not be good practice in everyday life but for a producer it’s a necessity.” Zugsmith credits the auction galleries, where he once worked in Atlantic City, with doing most to sharpen his judgment of people. He recalls a case in which a middle-aged woman, richly but not gaudily dressed, arrived at an auction where he was working as an aisle salesman. She was well mannered but somewhat shy. Nothing she did gave him an idea of whether she was interested in the items for sale. “T chatted with the woman about her dress,” he says, “and in a few moments knew where she had bought it and how much it had cost. This established her price bracket, and the name of the store established her taste level. I communicated my analysis to the auctioneer and he immediately offered for sale two rare and costly ivory pieces. The woman topped every bid on them.” Despite his diversified background as a newspaper editor and publisher, CBS executive, and owner of radio RACKETEER USES STRONG-ARM TACTICS Mickey Rooney orders his henchmen to throw Mel Torme out of a union hall in this scene from *“*The Big Operator,”’ hardhitting topical drama of a union exploited by an unscrupulous racketeer. The CinemaScope picture, released by MGM, co-stars: Steve Cochran, Mamie Van Doren, Ray Danton and Jim Backus, with Jackie Coogan, Ray Anthony and Ben Gage in guest star roles. Still 1749-8 The Big Operator Mat 2-B» CALL HIM A SINGER; LABEL HIM MOVIES’ NEWEST ACTOR, It’s no longer news when a singer becomes an actor. Nor is the reverse news. But when a successful singer becomes a successful actor—gives up acting to concentrate on singing—and ends up alternating between both media—that’s news. Mel Torme, of the famed “velvet fog voice,” is the guy in question. In the mid-forties, Mel Torme’s soothing voice swept America with such popular songs as “You're Driving Me Crazy,” “Dreamtime,” “I’m Yours” Mickey Rooney attempts to bribe Steve Cochran into keeping his mouth shut in ‘*The a Big Operator,’? drama of a union exploited by an unscrupulous racketeer. The MGM release, in CinemaScope, costars Mamie Van Doren, Ray Danton, Mel Torme and Jim Backus. Still 1749-61 The Big Operator Mat 1-A and TV stations, Zugsmith now concentrates entirely on motion picture production. With “The Big Operator,” topical drama of a tough racket leader, shortly to be released, he is working on seven other properties, among them a film version of William Faulkner’s novel, “The Unvanquished.” “The best relaxation for the mind is work,” he declares. IT'S STILL MEL TORME and “Who Cares What People Say.” He was so hot with the public that Hollywood signed him for leading roles in “Pardon My Rhythm,” “Let’s Go Steady” and “Night and Day.” Then suddenly he quit acting and organized a singing group, the popular Meltones. While making a number of hit recordings with Artie Shaw, Torme was forcibly absent from the screen. “T was young enough at the time to want to be best at what I felt I could do best,” he explains. “After I had secured an established niche as singer, I was ready to return to the acting field.” Torme came back in a big way. He was signed for a top role with Mickey Rooney in TV’s “The Comedian” and won an Emmy nomination as the best supporting actor on television in 1958. * Later that year, Rooney was set by MGM for the starring role in “The Big Operator,” an Albert Zugsmith Production in association with Fryman Enterprises. Rooney suggested Torme for the straight dramatic role of a union member who, with Steve Cochran, becomes the enemy of a tough racketeer, the part played by Mickey. “T was very happy with this role,” Torme says. “It offered me the biggest acting opportunity I’ve ever had in pictures.” However, Mel is not contemplating abandoning his singing career again. His latest long-playing album, “Torme,” is currently one of the topselling LP’s in the country. Asked why so many singers become good actors, Torme answered, ‘For most singers, acting is just another rung on the entertainment ladder. Basically, singing and acting are the same thing. In selling a tune, you project a personality. In acting, you project a character.” Torme also believes that acting helps singing. “It’s no secret,” he says, “that a good voice doesn’t necessarily make a successful singer. Many singers with beautiful pipes never had a hit record or sold out a night club. The most important thing is ‘feeling.’ If you believe the lyrics in a song, the public listening to you will also believe them. Acting experience helps you do this.” DOES DOUBLE DUTY Jackie Coogan doesn’t confine his activities to acting, these days. For his most recent pictures, “The Beat Generation” and the current “The Big Operator,’ Coogan has doubled as actor and dialogue director. EASIER TO PLAY GUN MOLL THAN TYPICAL HOUSEWIFE, INSISTS MAMIE VAN DOREN Mamie Van Doren, parlaying a fabulous figure, .shimmering blonde hair and seductive appeal into one of Hollywood’s popular feminine personalities, has completed six starring roles in the past year and already is committed for five pictures in 1959, In her busy career, Mamie also finds time and energy to record for Dot Records, make television guest appearances and work in night clubs. In contrast to her past screen characterizations, she plays a typical young housewife in MGM’s new Mickey Rooney starrer, “The Big Operator.” And she considers it her most difficult screen role to date. “Tf you’re playing a gun moll,” she says, “the public is more or less apt to accept your characterization. Few of them have been in contact with this type of person. But everyone knows what a housewife is like.” In “The Big Operator,” an Albert Zugsmith Production in association with Fryman Enterprises, Miss Van Doren portrays Steve Cochran’s wife and the mother of a seven-year-old boy. Their happy home life comes close to disaster when Cochran and the boy are kidnapped by racket boss Rooney. “Every mother in the audience will put herself in my place,” Mamie says, “and will judge my performance by her own feelings. Don’t tell me that makes for an easy acting assignment.” With all her present activities, Miss Van Doren still yearns to return to the Broadway stage. Few people remember that her show business debut was made in the revival of the Broadway musical, “Billion Dollar Baby,” starring Jackie Gleason. Of 500 applicants, Mamie was one of two chosen for the musical. It ran for six months and she attracted enough attention to be booked as a band singer in night clubs. When she moved on to the larger Hollywood horizons, she found immediate success. “But I want to return to Broadway one day,” she says. ‘Not that I have Mamie Van Doren, usually seen in sophisticated siren roles, makes a striking switch in the new MGM release, ‘‘The Big Operator,” in which she is seen as a young wife and mother whose happiness is threatened by a vicious racket leader. Mickey Rooney plays the unscrupulous killer who attempts | to exploit a labor union, .with' other starring roles filled by Steve Cochran, as Miss Van Doren’s husband, Ray Danton, Mel Torme and Jim Backus, Still 1749-88 The Big Operator Mat 1-E anything against Hollywood, which has treated me fine. Nevertheless, the satisfaction of playing in a long-run stage show is wonderful. Nothing matches iin “SIGHTLESS CLUES” ADD FILM SUSPENSE The feat by which a man retraces the route to a hideaway to which he had been kidnapped in an automobile, blindfolded, is an unusual suspense highlight of MGM’s “The Big Operator,’ topical drama of a thug who attempts to take over a labor union. Mickey Rooney plays the unscrupulous labor boss who uses strong-arm measures on Steve Cochran when the latter stands in his way. When he is released from the hideaway, where his son is held captive, Cochran brings help and makes his way back in a car. He relocates the house where he was taken by the use of such “sightless clues” as the count of pulse beats to indicate coverage of time, the music of a bagpipe and the sound of the car crossing tar strips, the meaning of a dip in the highway and other ingenious location aids. The difficult search was literally acase of the blind leading the blind ! An Albert Zugsmith Production for MGM, “The Big Operator” stars Rooney, Cochran and Mamie Van Doren with Ray Danton, Mel Torme and Jim Backus in co-starring roles. It was directed by Charles Haas and produced by Red Doff. An uncooperative union member (Steve Cochran) becomes the victim of Mickey Rooney, vicious racketeer leader who attempts to take over a labor union in *“*The Big Operator.”’ The hardhitting drama, released by MGM, co-stars Mamie Van Doren, Ray Danton, Mel Torme and Jim Backus, with Jackie Coogan, Ray Anthony and Ben Gage in guest star roles. Still 1749-56 The Big Operator Mat 2-D ————