Motion Picture Herald (Nov-Dec 1948)

FRENCH QUOTA IS FOR LATER FILMS by EUGEN WEBER in Paris A surprise development in the recent Franco-American Film Agreement is that the quota provided for only applies to films licensed on or after July 1, 1948. Thus;, films licensed for import during the first part of the year do not come under the quota, but are in addition to the quota. As a result, the major companies, fearful of flooding the market, will probably limit themselves and keep back some of their first year's quota for release in 1949. Seventy-two films were produced in France between June 1, 1947, and the end of May, 1948. These figures compare ill with the 125 films made in 1937 or the 92 made in 1945. At the moment, work is in progress on 23 productions, seven of which have been put before the cameras. V Several bilateral agreements have been concluded between the French Producers' Union and producers abroad. These agreements concern representation in France and French-speaking countries and seem to have little in common with the commercial accord reached March 20, 1948, between France and Italy, which was arrived at on a much higher level. This Franco-Italian agreement provided for the importation into Italy of 100 French features and 100 shorts, also for 50,000,000 francs worth of raw stock to be available in Italy for French production there. INDIA by V. DORAISWAMY in Bombay India's first Technicolor picture will be produced shortly, partly in India and partly in London. K. S. Narayanan, of Messrs. Pakshiraja Studios, announced shortly upon his return here from London, where he arranged with J. Arthur Rank for studio space, that he will produce the picture in both the Hindustani and Tamil languages. British technicians will advise on the picture and are expected to arrive here in December. V A documentary on the life and death of the father of Pakistan, Mohammed Ali Jinnah, the first Governor-General of the new Dominion, has been produced and released by the Pakistan Government. AUSTRALIA by FRANK O'CONNELL in Sydney At RKO's annual convention — held this year in Melbourne — managing director Ralph Doyle broke press space with the announcement that local production by U. S. interests would be possible if the Govern ment waived some import restrictions. Claiming that U. S. films made here would ease the country's dollar shortage, Mr. Doyle said his company was preparing to produce "Stingaree" in Australia with American stars. V Commonwealth Government has been making sporadic enquiries into the state of the film industry, with particular emphasis on local production, with the idea of helping local film makers, it is believed. The enquiry is being conducted by the Secondary Industries Division of the Ministry of Postwar Reconstruction. V Embassy Pictures, the local production company headed by Tom and Alex McCreadie, Sydney exhibitors, has its third film in nreDaration. Their first was "Always Another Dawn." Their second is "Into the Straight," now nearing completion. The third film is a Dale Collins story, "Vulnerable,'' a story purchased when the McCreadies' first film was still a matter of conjecture. V It is believed that British Dominion Films, which has not been an active exchange for more than a decade, is making a bid for re-entry into the distribution field with an offer to Sir Alexander Korda to handle his product in Australia. Since the Korda break with Twentieth Century-Fox, the local trade has speculated on a possible outlet for the non-Rank British product. It is known that Hoyts will eventually lose the J. Arthur Rank product when the agreement with Gaumont-British expires and the Rank film goes to Greater Union. With several all-British houses to keep supplied, the Korda product looks attractive. CZECHOSLOVAKIA by J. B. KANTUREK in Prague The Czechoslovak State Film has closed a deal with French distributors calling for delivery of 30 full length French features for fixed amounts by the end of June, 1949. Czechoslavakia in the same period will export 10 features to France. V Film Polski intends to produce a film about Chopin to mark the 100th anniversary of his birth in 1949. In addition to a Polish version, French and English versions are likely to be produced. The direction will be handled by the outstanding Polish director, Alexander Ford. V By the end of October, the Czechoslovak monopoly was to have opened its own legitimate theatre to educate actors for local film production. See British Films In Australia as New Competition Washington Bureau Hollywood is holding its share of Australia's feature film market despite British competition, but the British are making inroads there in U. S. sales of newsreels and short subjects, a Commerce Department report indicates. The report, by motion picture chief Nathan G. Golden, shows that while Britain's share of the feature film market was increasing from 9.4 per cent in 1944 to a high of 10.9 per cent in 1946 and 10.5 per cent in 1947, U. S. feature films went from 87.5 per cent in 1944, to 88.4 per cent in 1945, to 83.1 per cent in 1946 and back to 85.7 per cent in 1947. Figures for all films — features, newsreels, and shorts — show a sharp drop for the U. S., however, going steadily down from 55.4 per cent in 1944 to 40.6 per cent in 1947. At the same time British films went up from 32.4 per cent to 37.4 per cent. Prefer British Films "There is a difference of opinion as to the relative values of U. S. and British films," the report declares. "A considerable segment of the population seems to prefer British films. If the supply of the latter increases considerably, it is conceivable that they might be a real competitive threat." British film fared much worse with Australian censors than American offerings. Of 293 films coming from the U. S. last year, 27 or 9.2 per cent were passed with eliminations. Of the 36 coming from the U. K., seven or 19.4 per cent had deletions. "Considering the volume of films from the U. S." the report states, "the percentage of rejections seems quite low." Remittance of 50 Per Cent Mr. Golden declares that the censorship laws of the various states of the commonwealth are in the process of revision to effect uniformity. The report reveals that the Government will allow an estimated $3,300,000 to be remitted to the U. S. this year — 50 per cent of the base year 1946. In 1947, 70 per cent was allowed. It comments that most states have quotas for American films, but that all have escape clauses and "in practice, the quotas are seldom adhered to." British Kodak Output Is Up 150 Per Cent Kodak, Ltd., Eastman Kodak's English subsidiary, has increased production 150 per cent during the past 10 years and during the same period has increased its personnel by 50 per cent. This was reported last week at Rochester, N. Y., by Ernest Amor, manager of Eastman's Harrow Works in England, through the company's main office. 26 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, NOVEMBER 6, 1948