Variety (Apr 1949)

20 PICTURES W^ftnesday, April 13, 194:9 Shane Cttes U's BaUy for 'River On How No-Name Pic Can Be Sold Maxwell Shane, producer-direc-* toi'-scripier of Univeisal's "Gity Across the River," is throwing his weight behind the perennial film industry debate as to whether a no-n.ime pic can rack up lush re- i lurriis at the bosol'fice. In the east I to drumbeat for "City," Shane de- clares: ''Names or no names, if you | go out and build up a film in the i ri^!ht way. you can get a good i opening. After that; the rest de- j ponds on the picture." j "I've had debates with a lot of producers wjio claim you just can't sell a film without marquee names," Shane said, "They argue that the bookings can't be gotten. But Universal has booked 'City' in the Capitol here and the Oriental, a big showcase in Chicago. And thrre isn't a single name in the film. Sliane believes U's bang-'Up pub- licity job in New York demon- strated that it is the .lob you do for a film rather than the impetus of names that counts. "I purpose- Jy made this picture without Holly- wood personalities to make-it look- real. Then I depended on Univer- sal to get the picture across, and they've done so." Indicating the concentrated job done in the metropolitan area, Shane listed the following stunts pulled by U's flackery: 38 radio ap- ' pearanccs and interviews; screen- ing of the film for 20 separate or- iganizations; screening for 50 high school editors, each of whom wrote editorials in their sheets on the juvenile delinquency aspect of the pic; intei-views in every N. Y. news- paper; special screening in the criminal courts' building, which every magistrate attended. launched at the Improved Timing There has been some im- provement in the situation re- cently, but many pix'are still suffering publicity and ex- ploitation-wise from the lack of tinttj between the arrival of the first print in New York and the date of release. Flackeries usually require two to three months to do a tomplete job oh a film if all the angles are to be covered. In recent years the time available had ^bcen shrinking, although it never reverted to the old days, when a standard gag in the industry Avas that films were edited on the trains coming east, so that no lime would be lost between cofnpletion of shooting and the Broadway opening. Reorganizing the need for more time for screenings in. New York, most of the compa- nies, Jn thejpast Jew^ months_ have been* pushing harder to get prints east sooner. One of the principal reasons is to hit the many national mags which don't have Coast reviewers, and close up as far as 2Vi months before publication, date. Desire of producers for repeated last-minute reediting following a succession of sneak previews is frequently the eause of prints- arriving in New York close to the final bell. Indian Diplomat Causes Pic's Withdrawal in Can, Toronto, April 12. On heated protest from Sardar Malik, High Commisisjoner for In^ dia to Canada, revival of "India Speaks" (Astral Films) was abrupt- ly withdrawn from further Ontario ; showings, with the Indian Am- ; bassador also petitioning the State i Dept. over the weekend that the ■ film be barred from further show- ' ings throughout rest of Canada. With India importantly in the current news, film was doing splen- did business at the Victoria here when yanked out of the Famous I Players (Canadian) house by O. J. ' Silverthorne, censor chief. Indian ! ambassador's beef Ayas that the film was Aiade in. 1933; that it deals I with untouchables, mixed nude ■ bathing, child brides, creniation I ceremonies unwholesome to the western mind; but that such cus- I toms have been discontinued since India obtained its independence. Film Reviews Continued fronk p»fe 11 i In Nome B«>)lla T^«>gge falls In love, while in a novel switch, veteran director Camillo Mastroeinque, who has been direct- ing Italian films since 1934, turiis in a sterling performance as a sel- fish, drunken baron. Charles Va- nel is fine as head of the "Mafia." Added Jove interest is provided in rustic style by two newcomers to the screen, Nadia Niver as i girl visiting Stockholm, who falls in love with a gangster, only to be forced into a life of a streetwalker. The gangster is nicely played by Peter Llndgren. Another com- petent performance is turned in by Stig Jarrel. Wiwq. Chiseling Continiirtl rrom page } 'Set-Up/ Thamp' Ad Bally Attracts Metm s Attentioir Hollywood, Apriri2. Metro is surveying the impact of opposition ad campaigns being used by RRO and United Artists on "Set-Up" and "Champion" in an eft'ort to find a formula with which to hypo- its own product, Impressive boxoffice returns being hung up by both pix is: reportedly: the cause of the. survey, with com- pany toppers so impressed by biz that orders went out to keep track of all ad campaigns in each of the 35 key cities, along with an ac- curate boxoffice tally in each situ- "Flottant K*v»l|»r»r" (CavalUcrs bf the Navy) (SWEDISH). KunKsfilm proiluctlijii and release. Directed by Guataf Etlgreu. Stars Ake Sodebloln and EUs^elA. Foa- Vastlanedda and Bernardo Indeli- i ert peiper, FrKiof BUiquist, Aflan Bohiin, cato as Paolino. The clear, well- l Marlaiinc Lofgren, Bojan. Wcstin, Naima modulated soimdlrack is a rare I ^l';,^'6rdar4hfb'e%"'a„S''^;Sf SSfl'S; factor in Italian films;. Pietro camera, Ake DsthUqulst. At Pauaojum; Germi's direction is tight and no-; Stockholm. Run ning tim e, as mins. ticeable throughout film. Hawk, i . , : ; . , , : ■• ■ " ' ■■ ! An okay comedy which should do good in Scandinavia, but has little to: orter , tlje international nikrkot, I It'SvChdpC^s . ill: Oie-Uv S. will • be- ri m i t e d to Swedish-laniguage houses. Story revolves around a Swedish b^ieon,. sufferihg from amr: n'esia,: who is accideritally tiken aboard a cruiser as an ordinary Tomorrow's a WonitorCiil Itay Di- (ISRACL) . Kndassah'^production, and . release, rected by . Dr.. Siegfried Lehmann.. Screen^' [ play. Mina Brownstone; adaptation; Hazel i Greenwald: camera. Helmar Lerski; edl^ tor, Stephen Sharif; narrator. ..rimmy ljip- .ton; incidental sonija, mupic and dances i'^^_^^ by children of Ben Shemen. children's ] . . ,, Village in Israel. . At Stanley, N^.Y;, start-' { Film S basic idea: Was good, bUt ing April 9. '49. Bunning time, iM> MiKS. | ((ue to poor Writing, its chances , . , ~ ;. , , -Ifor being an outstanding comedy (In Jewish; Engltsh Titles) I fkll sh6rt. ■ ' - Winq.! Hadassah has made an intelli-■ gent,. if ■■: slow-moving, documentary of Children's Village in Israel. Pro- duced-jn Israel and with ah ama- teur cast, picked for the most part from refugee youngsters, in afore- mentioned juvenile settlement, "Tomorrow's a Wonderful Day," however, hardly measures up to modern . documentary standards. Film, obviously, will have very lim- ited appeal in U. S. theatres.; As a fund-raising instrument, which category it deftly fits, this j|>icture is truly inspirational. Unbilled "Benjamin," German MPAA Cites Conunued from page 6 natprieS, t6 work for reduction of restrictions and barriers thvva rti ti g the explanded flow of trade among the nations^ Siritain undertook these pledges in the General Agreeinent on Tai'iiffs and Trade arid under tite Jrit^rriation^ U't'Sde Organizsition: Cbai*ter. ■. *'A:t a time when billions of dol- Jewish boy of 15 years, steals act- ' lars of American taxpayers' money ing laurels as the sullen graduate is going into the cause of world Of Nazi concentration camps. He is depicted ^as being rehabilitated in the Israel Children's : Village. But in unfoldirig 'this; tale of the lad's return to normal society^ this . With the film . , , . „.„.. .^.„.„ „ ^ „ Capitol. Shane has headed to Bos-; ' ^ „ ^otf«,. "«f haWt i f.*^'""-. Should the campaigns con- la^Ks mobility. It leans too Ion to do a repeat on the flock of right figures as a matter of habit, tinue to be impressive for the next heavily on narration by Jimmy Lip- interviews and screenings staged No exhib, it is said, is slapped with few weeks, it's likely Leo will do | ton, and that's not enough. Like In N, Y. He plans, to stay on the : an auditing demand unless there iquick switch from the type, of ad- documentaries of several years ago. road for another two weeks, work- =. ,.„-._., tps ird his reoorts ' vertising used in past in favor of nTalone with U on the film's *° ^' "^^^P^'^® boldface type and more blatant ex- bufldup in veriSus big cities. i ^"^h less than 100% approval. Gen- pioitation."^ Shane's next film will be "The; erally, suspicion is dlrectod to-i Although no official go-ahead Salem Frigate," which he will also [ ward the theatre man by the fact j was given, it's almost certain it keeps hammering on one angle without compensating action. Film reconstruction and recovei'y, Britain has adopted a damaging action." : Britain's CEA is quoted a.s stat- ing that it can be estimated that every firm produced in England for £200,000 ($800,000) would lo.se £40,000 ($160,000). Quota is an obvious mistake, it adds, "because it encouraged producers to churn out too many films. The more is handicapped boxofficcTwise by i they produced, the more money make for U. For this ono. a swash-' returns on various pix dlir- .is;.' Metro would test-that type, of cam- buHding historical treatise, he is ; 1" oaVat'ive'neriods !^ "made-for-price" ex- looking for one bi» name, with the ' '"^ ditlerent comparative perioos pioitation pix, such as the recent- rest of the cast to fit the oarts. Film I ^"st fail to jibe. Confessions by | ly completed "Border Incident." k budgeted at .tl 500 000 | checkers that their reports have t Since Metro is planning several iust bought an ^^een tampered with is cetjain to | medium budget pix it's more than Producer ha.s original story. "The Big Frame," from Leo-Katcher. It is slated to go before the camera after comple- tion of "Frigate'." TOA's Lockwood Continued Irom page I , a franchise company similar to the "'only l^hffiTm biz, TOA's top-l l^jeir ,f"-s to__pix_^played onjat bring on a call from a posse film auditors. Since the Treasury Dept.: has been regarding - percentage-chiz suits with a more than academic interest of late, exhibs have re- cently been revamping their meth- ods when embarking on an em- broidering - of - reports campaign. Instead of straight under^reporting on percentage films, these wary ex- hibs have been diverting some of of I likely that the company will seek i yarns lifted from the headlinfes which lend themselves to straight ballyhoo. Other Leo pix which lend themselves to the new forniat and being considered are "In- truder in the Dust" and Devirs Doorway." ' . iiS^e.":^ ^ iE^k z,:^^ i s^^f»^^H5? Pays Off ill Publicity Anyway Los Angeles, April 12. Both contestants in the legal battle biBtweeii RKOi's "The - Set- up" and Screen Plays' "(Champion" corners Canripbell Beau- mont and told to restrain their The T-men, it is noted, have [ punches until May 16, when the victim of a "publicity barrage" P«^«'"t«Jf"' P-'^'^.f*.''^P' nimnri af fipttintr <i(>rn<3« thp id<>»1 The 1-men, It IS : noted, have i tTt a p odu er musT get^lck Ms been punctually attending all trials .scrap .^11 be r^u.n^^^^^^ investment.plus a profit on a pic-' based on phoney returns. For those test involves prior rights to certain I think it is about time toj^jihibs who stick to the old metli- that one down for good," «f Pl^^"?* d"*"* their percent- ture nail that one Lockwood said. "No one has any 'right' to anything. The producer of a motion picture should take age take, the keeping: of double sets of books^-one for the distrib, landlord, silent partner or who- w.^ ever else is interested-in profits— the chance ot gain or loss based. ^ ^^ ^ Treasury, on public reception of his produc-1 become the vogue, tion, just as the producer of a 1 , ,. legitimate play does." i. By and large, however, the old Industry is now witnessing a big tested methods ol chiseling are bc- boost in the number of pix re-,'"S foU^^J^f it is said. Favorite leased. Lockwood noted, because of 1 Is still to slip in an extra roll shorter runs in keys and the fact l"'^^^^ ^T'*^",^^*' checker's head that more first-runs "are throwing f,,,^." f .^^^'^ ,"'^ff/f5:„^^P f off product. Subsequent runs and ^'^^llj.^l^, oidei afe also systems smalltown ops are now "glutted oSed by some with film" and buying must be r ,„^^*^''*° hi"hlv selective • | While the checker is still the To"be successful a distrib must Pi*."-? fall guy for most fraudulent make only good b.o. pix and re- mm'sd'ations, audits have disclosed story material, said to be used in both films. Meanwhile, both sides claim a victory in the struggle which is reaping a lot of publicity. the fact that at least one foreign production dealing with similar refugee camps for yoitngstcrs has been around in the U. S.'within the past year. Picture does prove that, given half a. chance, film producers in Israel may soon be turning out worthwhile productions. Dr. Sieg- fried Lehmann does fairly well at directing, especially in view of the cast and technical help given him^ Wcor. they lost. Once a producer gets an idea that exhibitors are ex- pected to show whatever he pro- ducers, : the temptation to neglect quality is strong. Too many Brit- ish films fail to attract the public and everybody loses money." Exhibs, the CEA says, both want and need U. S. pix, and American 1 distribs have shown a spirit of com- i promi.se on the dollar shortage. It is pointed out that it is very, un- likely the Briti.sh industry will, be ; able to meet the new 40% quota, : .since last year 109 films were promised, this was whittled down I to 95 and only a poirtion of that i number was made. This year, it is said, the list started with 92, was' Lainb«>^rl Fnolilt Sieh Hedroht (Lambei^ b l^hreatened) (AUSTRIAN) Vienna. March 8; _ Ncue Wiener Film release of Gem von \ ~,,i~ ~J,,'^r^t{,y'^,,V CzilVra production. Stars Curd luergensi ! subsequently Whittled tO 74 and It features Hannelorc .Schroth. Leopold Ru-I is safe tO predict that nunibcr dolf. Dolores Hubert. Paul Kemp, Hllde i ^.c,i_ ,,,111 mnnh Viicc Th* ■Taeger. Eini ManSold. Direction and I ""aoe Will Oe mucn lesS. . ine .icreenplay by Czifira: camera. Ludwlg i mathematics 01 a 5% reduction Bergerr musicy-Hanns Elin5-4!ditor.. JIennyJ:fr„m--:n—--mintn Bruensch. At Wienzelle Kino, Vienna. '™ni—a 40%-qUOlaT-^vnlen—WHeOr Running time, 9ft M1N8. 1 are incomprehensible." Balaban-TV Ggldwyn Continued : front page t Continued from pace 5 effect of television," Balaban said, : "and if there is any harm, we will tain his customer's good will, Lock wood said. If a customer's rela- tions with the distrib are satisfacr tory. "he will be inclined to stretch a point and absorb an in- ferior box office picture wherever possible." The theatre op will not do this again for 20th in view of the company's announced de- termination to get "the last drop of blood." Twentieth's call for a reduction of clearance is lauded by Lock- wood. Only one or two distribs have "made a realistic approach to the setting up of equitable clearances, in spite of their bitter experience in the law courts," TOAer declared. "Prompt over- hauling of all clearances is the order of the day." some instances where no cheating was attempted on checked film.s. More frequently, audits indicate that the exhib lays back until the checker steps out for a meal be- fore jamming through some fast skullduggery on the ticket take. try where they are' produced, not in English, as some American ma- jors: have been doing in Italy re- cently. Lopert already has estab- lished .^affiliated ' companies in France and Italy to meet require- ments of local laws that there be domestic partners: in production of any pix out of blocked funds. Lopert disclosed that he is at- tempting to make a deal with Si- mone Simon to .star in "Women of Sabina," which goes into produc- tion in Italy in June. It will be produced and directed by Geza Ratvanyi, Hungarian filmmaker whose "Somewhere in Europe" will shortly be released by Films in the U. S. and Dowling are pfirtners in "En rope" and are financing Ratvanyi's "Sabina." The two real estate men and: Chiz Suit in N. O. New Orleans, April 12. Three separate percentage-chisel- ing actions have been filed here j against S. Edgar Mortimore, Lyall I G. Shiell and Mortimore & Shiell,Lopert were to have been assoclait Inc. Complaints charge false re-: ed with Samuel Goldwyn in the turns on percentage pix booked , current production by Roberto Ros- into the Bell and Town theatres in sellini in Italy of an Ingrid Berg- this c'lty. Recovery of lost reve- man starrer. Deal fell through, nues IS demanded. but it is hoped to continue the as- Chaffe, McCall, Toler & Phillips , sociation that grew out of those represent the three distribs. \ negotiations. The ingredients of a good crime | story, are all-there, but. pic some-1 times lacks suspense, due to fact 1 that audience learns too late the 1 basic idea of plot^that the mur- derer playa the part of the mur- dered man. It's the story of a re- s'Ts^^thaTThe'■mwr"H'l,-.'rf'^,j;«n'''h,^ '"^e action. However, may I point sees.tnat tne murdered man had 1 .^.i. ♦i,„i. „ i.„i,.„i. „>.^!.i. „„„ in no friends in the nearby town, he * ^^^f f/''^ quickly decides to play his part. ^'"=*'s on televi- Curd Juergens arrives as private » '"""^t s'-'"'^ " detective anc'. discovers facts by we can. get one star a year by this mere coincidence. He is very good "method, it would make up for any in the role. Casting throughout I possible harm from television." is okay , Film is an Unpretentious 1 This theatre group has made low-budgeter but is capably lensed. : some studies. Goldenson s.iid. on Maws. putting on television trailers. "I don't know a better medium to sell the theatres. I've been li6i)ihg for' .years to. be atile to get into Hie horn^s and give the pub!ie sampies of our films. With these trailers, . we can't help but brinig tliein to the theiiires. ',.::,.'■ "Women will take men out of son e a tough time .doing so. Alter tele- vision is in a home several monlhs, she will be sick and tired of vv')'e.S- tling matches, sports events and other things which men like to see. People watching television sets are This is a good film, but whether tr^«"r.h^^"trtlr?t„''('Lni^ It will pass the censors abroad is ! ^^^^f" T,! ll^ht doubtful. Story about gangsters ^tt^J^./'^'*' and prostitutes in Stockholm is;, l**^..'''^'=°'I!P""^ told with a great de.al of authen-' \° hold on to its sizeable DuMont tlcity, especially in .scenes showing I Laboratories stock, at least tor (he police carting off Swedish girls ^^^^ being. As for theatre tele- caught visiting American ships in vision. Par is expanding its manu- thc harbor. facturing facilities and plim.s to Ma.j-Britt Nilsson gives an out- ship out additional units within standing performance as a country short order* Foreign Film Reviews Wnlikely for Anglo-V S. Morlcet) Catan" KunKsfilm (The street) production .and (SWEDISH). release. Di- rected by Gosta Werner, stars Ma.i-Britt i their homes everytiiTie," Goidensol Nxisson; features Peter Lindgrcn. Keve a* ■ 1,,.,, Hjelm, Erik Berglund. MarianSe Lofgren. COntmued. "Generally, thcv hi)\' Naemi Brise, Per Oscarsiion, Stig Jarrel, Julia Caeaar. Barbo Flodqvlst, Harrine Cederholm, Viktor Andersson and Anna- Greta Krigttrom. Screenplay. Martin Ed- Lopert I lund, Nils Idstrom and Ivar Ahlstedt; T Anirl- finilot I od.-iptcd from iiovel. "Birgcr .larl.iKutan"; l^operi, (joeiet camera, Sten Dahlgren. At ofympia, Stockholm. Running time, 8« MT9(8.