Variety (November 1950)

PICTIJIIES ySbsmfr Wednesday, November 1, 1950 Houston, Oct; 31i f Freeze clamped by Government, last week bn aU new theatre con- struction iis causing no tears among exhibs. Fact is, while no one’s doing any public applauding, many house operators at convention of Theatre Owners of America here are quick to admit prhately that new building ban is just about the best thing that could have hap- pened to them at this time. Estimates are thfit it will push Up value of present properties by at least 25%. Nix on construction means end of added competition for standard theatres from drive- ins—which have comprised most theatre building during past few year&—and elimination of threat of new competitive roofed-^ in houses. Further, of course, it gives any- one interested in acquiring a thea- tre no alternative but to buy an es- tablished one, perhaps putting some competition back into the theatre realty market. Charles Skouras, prez of National Theatres, was particularly jubilant about the new ban on that basis. He declared that the 20th-Fox cir- cuit is faced with a problem at the momenL of getting rid of large nuriiber of houses under diyestiture agreement with the Dept, of Justice in industry anti-trust case. He said. However, that on many houses he couldn’t get bids at any price with biz at the present levels. He thinks now that new houses can’t be built, he may find takers for some of hL. No Hardship From any viewpoint, construc- tion freeze is. no hardship, theatre- men here agree, since there’s gen- erally.*-, no need for new, houses. Only exceptions are isolated in- stances where population shifts have created new neighborhoods. Otherwise, the country is plenti- fully seated, wifh new standard theatres merely divvying up pres- ent audiences, although drive-ins are perhaps getting some new trade. The $5,000 ceiling on what may be spent in any 12-month period on keeping structures in repair is felt adequate. Parallel figure during the last war was $1,000. Nathan Golden, of the Dept, of Commerce, who is the industry’s liaison with the Government on ad- ministration of new National Pro- duction Authority order, is here to ‘ explain regulations to theatremen. He said most squawks so far have concerned categoi*y into which NPA has thrown.film houses. Exhibs resented. Golden admit- ted, being tossed into “amusement” pot with danCehalls, bowling alleys, skating rinks, etc. Commerce Dept, exec agreed that films hold an important and unique place as medium of mass entertainment and for dissemination of information. Squawk by Arthur Mayer, exec, v.p. Of the Council of Motion Pic- ture Organizations, was made par- tially on this basis last week. Golden said Mayer and other reps of the industry have been invited to Washington to discu.. the new regulations. Rap TV’s Upped Bally Indie exhibitors have conie up with a new gripe against television-^that the new me- ; diu.m hogs most of the news- paper publicity at the expense of films. According to a bul- letin published this week by Allied Theatre Owners Of In- diana, this "practice” is espe- cially prevaleni. in, situations where newspapers own the TV stations. It’s pointed out, of course, that even more novvspapers re- fuse to have anything to do with Video, considering it a threat to their business as well. ATOI bulletin, inci- dentally, advised exhibs utiliz-/ ing TV trailers to build a five- minute spot around a regular two-and-a-half-minute ‘"IraTler. It claimed the 50-second spots being turned out by some of the film studios w’ere "on and off t0'> quick” to have, much effectiveness. See Labor Concession To Telefilm Prod. Holly wood, Oct. 31. Hollywood, AFL Film Council’s helping hand to bolster local tele- vision production ’took; the form of a report recommending that unions require only one man in each craft on a telefilni crew; Each craft member would be held re- sponsible to his own local to see to it that production is adequately manned. Jlecommeiidation is a break for producers, lowering labor costs. Council’s tele committee will next take up minimum working hours to see if formula favoring telepic produCei*s can be Worked, out satisfactorily. It will probably report at next Monday’s meeting. Wolf^n Tells TOA of ‘Advantages’ ^ I Film Festivals in U.S. To Hypo Film Interest Houston, Gcti 31. Stressing the cuiTent need to create events and programs that will iiicrease public interest in the film business, 20th-Fox prez Spyros P. Skouras suggested to the Thea- tre Owners of America convention here today (Tues.) the scheduling of film festivals or rallies in 10 or 12 cities each year. Terming the Ideav a “positive step in showman- chip that Would reacquaint us with the American people,” Skouras ex- plained: “At these gatherings would be marshalled the great personalities of our industry, ba$ed on all its re- sources, its dignity .and its glamor. Outstanding stars, directors, pro- ducers and executives, people of high reputation and Integrity, would appear in each city and there would be gala ^showings of our Current films at first-run the- atres. This would create over- whelming interest because the stars would attract a tremendous follbw- Jng and create a favorable atmos- phere.*' M-G ‘Worst Offender Houston, Oct. 31. i»jiajor distnbs. Who generally are battered from pillar to post at exhib conventions on charges of excess film rentals, found them- selves the target of a novel kind here. They’re threatened with suit for selling films too cheaply. Robert L. Lippert disclosed new charge at conclave of Theatre Own- ers of America here. It was in hi« capacity, of course, as topper of Lippert Productions, Inc., not as Lippert, the exhibitor, at w^hich he i doubles. ‘ • / Producer’s squawk is that major companies — particularly Metro — are making it impossible for minor companies to do business with many small -theatre accounts because they’re selling film at rentals be- low actual cost of operation. Lip- pert’s beef is against $12.50 deals. He claims charge by disti'ib of any- thing less than $15 for film will not pay print amortization and in- spection, handling, shipping and bookkeeping. Majors can afford to do it, he declares, because they make it up by charging more on bookings elsewhere, which he can’t do. Lippert said he has taken matter up with Dept, of Justice and Fed- eral Trade Commission as unfair competition, and “they are very interested.” He declared he has more meetings coming up with them and anticipates action, adding that he bad tried to interest Mono- gram—which suffers from same problem—-in going along with him on the complaint, but company re- fused. Producer claims Metro Is chief offender on $12.50 business, but that other companies also take such terms. He’s concentrating fire, however, on M-G, on which he claims to have considerable statis- tical file* Reeling that if he can force the company into minimum [ $15 deals, other distribs AVill follow* BRACKEn LEAVES PAR AFTER DIFFERENCES Hollywood, Oct, 31. Feud between producer-writer Charles Brackett and the Para- mount lot came to a head with the producer’s return fronli N. Y. where he was honor guest at a luncheon meeting of the Associated Motion Picture Advertisers. Brackett has resigned from the major after an association of 17 years as a result of differences over production economies and autonomy, it’s un^ derstood, He recently completed "The Mating Season” at Par and will bow out after winding up prepara- tion work oii a new Bing Crosby starrer. Among his most recent works is “Sunset Boulevard,^’ which he did in collaboration with Billy Wilder. Brackett is president oLthe Academy^^f Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Although it figures to benefit handsomely if color television scores on a full-industry basis, Technicolor at. present is keeping a watchful e 3 'e on developments following the FCC approval of the Columbia Broadcasting System method but is not getting into the act. The film-tiiiting firm instead is operating on a heavy schedule with Hollywood studio work and is not making any elaborate plans to take on processing of film for video. Techni apparently reasons any full- scale development of color TV is not promising at the moment, largely because the video industry itself is traveling on uncertain grounds with its new advance- ment in electronics. Film ihdustryites point out also that teevee, including agencies and sponsors, have a cost problem facing them already with produc- tion of black-and-white films for telecasts, and taking on the addi- tion of color would constitute a further financial burden. Thus, the new work in immediate view for Techni would be trivial in relation to its standard pic films. Obviously, however, the company will be alert to W'hat the future brings and will be ready to move in when the field is more promising of commer- cial feasibility. Techni is not making any state- ments regarding the FCC green , light to CBS, and Techni’s pos- sible expansion into the teevee me- dium, beyond experimental W'ork. Some tim^ ago the color firm mapped a $500,000 research pro- gram aimed at developing a color TV tube invented at the U. of Southern Cal. by Dr. Willard Geer, professor of physics. Big advan- tages of the device, it was claimed, waff” that it possibly could provide a means for converting existing black and white sets to receive the colorcasts. Techni has been at work on , th»' tube since last March, it is understood, but has yet to make any public disclosures on developments. RKO Books ‘Shoes’ After ELC ‘Exclusion’ Suit Day after Eagle Lion Classics hit the Loew’s and RKO circuits in N. y. with a $15,000,000 suit charg- ing ‘‘exclusioh,” RKO closed a deal to' give "Red Shoes” top playing time at top terms, according to a spokesman for ELC, which dis- tributes the film* • Maybe just a coincidence, he suggested, but added the distrib had been trying to strike a deal with the circuit for past 18 months. After more than two years at the Bijou, "Shoes” is slated to go into the Victoria, ori Broadway, .follow- ing the current “State Secret” This will be followed by the RKO nabe runs. Hollywood, Oct. 31. Sol Lesser and Douglas j^air- banks, Jr., have teamed up on tele- vision deal and formed Avon Pic- tures, Inc., for purpose of produc* ing and distributing series of TV Sliakespearean films. Piets will be made in England. Partners have closed with British producer-directors Gordon Little and Desmond Davis to turn but 11 28-minute video films based on Shakespearean plays, which they will release in this country at rate of one every four weeks. Tn addi- tion, they have already bought two films, "Julius Caesar” and “An- tony and Cleopatra,” from the Brit- ons, which will tee off series. Lesser and Fairbanks will finance series, all of which will be entirely British-made with British players. After films have been showm in this country once, they will be withdrawn for one, year, then booked again for TV outlets. Wald Finds Little Women’s Appeal For Matinee Fix Trade Hollyw^ood, Oct. 31. Jerry Wald, since incepting his independent film production part- nership with. Norman Krasna, via RKO (Howard Hughes) financing and release, has been surveying the hinterland theatres* matinee busi- ness. His findings, to date, indi- cate “little women’s appeal for the matinee trade.” Exhibitors re- sponding to Wald’s questionnaire aver that if the daytime business is off, no amount of night trade can insure a really boffo week. Wald carried his findings into the department stores, and has in- terested establishments like the May Co., with branches throughout Los Angeles, on a cooperative “go to a matinee” campaign. The stores realize that once the women are but at a theatre they’ll shop.- They, too, have their own form of “night” business—-i.e., phone and mail orders. For one thing, if they order from the ads, it’s just that item. Besides which there is the cost of shipping and delivery, not to overlook the risk of getting it returned. If they come down- tCFwn to shop they'll buy both the bargains (“leaders”) plus other items. The exhibs stress that the wo- men don’t come to matinees be- cause of films with “excessive vio- lence”; “too much brutality”; “no feminine appeal”; “no glamor,” etc. Par’d Smith Eyes N.Y. Bernard Smithy Paramount’s stu-r dio story editor, arrived in New York over the weekend for a fort- night’s stay. It is his first trip east since he took over at Par about two years ago. He plans seeing the Broadway/ plays and huddling with Par's ea.st-- ern story department toppers, Alan Jackson and John By ram, as v/ell as with Other Par execs and agents. Cahton-Weiner Gets ‘Nightingale’ Canton-Weiner, New York dis- tribs of art pix, will handle U. S. release of “The Emperor’s Night- ingale,” foreign-made puppet fea- ture. American rights are owned by William Snyder. Phyllis McGinley is now doing an English-language commentary on the film, which is being readied for Christmas release. N. Y. to L. A, Jack Benny Valerie Cardew Roger De Koyen Marsha Hunt Gol. Nathan Levinson . Mary Livingstone George Montgomery- N. Peter Rathvon Dinah Shore N. Y. to Europe Harry Adler Fayette Allport Irving Berlin Yvette Chauvire Christian Dior Leland Hayward Henry Kahn Jerome Robbins Lou Walters Clifton Webb Europe to N. Y. Herve Dugardin PiJfigy Fears Sid Goldman Tilly Lpsch Marion Ross Domenico Savlno Tessa Smallpage .rerry Whyte Col. Harry Wilder Houston, Oct. 31,. Mitchell Wolf son, chairman of the Theatre Owners of America Television Committee, presented himself as a Jekyll-and-Hyde per- sonality in a talk at the TO A con- vention here yesterday (30). He;s operator of both a theatre circuit and video station. Sketching the tremendous growth of TV in the past three years, his speech in the guise of a station owner could hardly have been en- couraging to exhibs assembled here. His advice was for them to look into the possibility of acquir- ing TV outlets in their own ter- ritories. As a theatre operator he took a somewhat more optimistic note, de- claring that “exhibitors should use television instead of shying a\vay from it.” The two industries “can be mutually helpful,” he asserted, pointing out that radio’s advent had increased both recording sales and newspaper circulation. Wolf son opined that no adver- tiser’s budget could ever bear the freight of a first-class feature for tele. He said his own station ex- perience had shown that telecast- ers prefer shows in 15-minute time segments, ana nothing more than one hour, since that offers top com- mercial income. For that reason, Wolfson declared , video probably will move .toward shorts, with the- atres getting features’ biz. Cost of a TV station installation is between $300,000 .and $500,000, Wolfson added. He opined that tele broadcasters would break even in 1950 and show profits from 1951 on, unless there was a war set- back. He pointed out that 859o of present stations are owned by radio broadcasters asd asserted it was just as logical for men who purveyed “sight entertainment” to the public to acquire stations as for those who purvey “sound.” Ownership of a station by his Wometco circuit, he declared, sat- isfied him that the biz is a natural for exhibs. Among other things, he declared, it provided a fine medium for sell- ing pix and exhibs would get add- ed income on their own advertis- ing. He declared tele plugging would whet the appetite of the public for seeing films in as at- mosphere of the theatre. Ordinary pic gets only 15% of potential 110,000,000 film patrons, and ex- perience Wometco and Balaban & Katz in Chicago is that theatres can tap. new audiences via tele, he added. Truces TOA*s TV Activity Wolfson traced activity of TOA’s theatre tele committee, stating he was sure Federal Communications Commission would provide fre- quencies for theatre TV following hearings which it has promised to hold. Both Wolfson and Nathan L. Halpem, theatre tele consultant to Fabian theatres and TOA, brushed off Phonevision. Halpern declared that theatre television “is the ooly practical boxoffice system of television ready for im- mediate viudesprea^ growth. There is increasing recognition of the need for a boxoffice for those (Continued oh page 16) L. A. lo N Y. Lola Albright Yvohhe Bellamy Richard Benedict Charles Brackett Vera Caspary Peggy Cummins Andy Deyine Ludwig Donath Ellen Drew James Dunne Jose Feirer Paul Gregory Alfredo Ouarinl Andx’e Hakim Stanley Kramer' Frankie Laine Genb Lockhart Ranald MaePougall Kenneth MacKenna Paul McNutt Edith Meiser Isa Miranda Norman Moray Edward Hassour William Nassour Edward Newhouse Walter O’Keefe Maria Palmer Joe Sargent Sidney Sheldon Henry M. Spitzer " Oliver C. Stratton Arthur Treacher