Variety (January 1953)

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Wednesday, January 7, 1953 Vorly^evenih P^RIETY Annivernary PICTURES MY LIFE WITH JOHN STEINBECK By GEORGE FRAZIER The recent report that John <;tein beck plans to convert “The Wav ward Bus” into a Broadway musical stirs bittersweet memories 2 the lime the Sage of Salinas and I collaborated on what we fin'nlv (but foolhardedly) believed would be greater than “Okla- homa ” It was in 1945, when I was on Life and John, who was be- tween best-sellers, had just com- pleted a charming story called **The Wizard of Maine,” which he hoped to do as a Broadway musi- cal. I, it appeared, was his man. Be' ween Steinbeck and me there was a bond of affection that exists nowhere beyond the realm of, those who own Old English Sheep- dogs. But beyond that, we had such kinship as admiration for the ' work, of George Wettling a la bat - terie, a devotion to the purity of the Gregorian Chant, an affinity for Tim Costello’s, and member- ship in the Chowder & Marching Society of Persons Insulted by John O’Hara. We were, indeed, hail fellows well metten. But it takes more-than hail fellows and so forth to write a musical. Even with picture companies 'enthusias- tic. The news of Steinbeck’s inva- sion of the Broadway beat had Metro out of its mind. Annie Laurie Williams, John’s agent, and Mark Hanna, my boy, conferred for days on end about Leo the Lion’s offer to underwrite the whole goldarn project. It was a superb offer. But then John de- veloped misgivings. “I can’t stand Judy Garland,” he announced. “And sure as heck they’ll put her into ‘The Wizard of Maine.’ Re- (Continued on page 65) Weakest Prod. Year Since ’44 on Riviera Nice. .In comparison with last year, when the Vict'orine Studio Co. here co-operated in making , of 13 films, this year looks to be the weakest since 1944. Only one feature film, “Operation Magali,” was made on the Riviera. For “A Caprice of Caroline,” “I Have Been Three Times,” with Sacha Guitry, “My Husband Is Marvellous,” with Fernand Gravey, and “His Last Xmas” only a short time was spent on the Riviera for exteriors. The studio directors, M. Henri Clair and M. Frederic Boaet, feel the plant here suffered partly be- cause only 75 film films were made in France this year against 95 ia 1951. Another factor is that many French producers tried to make pix in the cheapest and quickest way, and felt that while the rates of the Nice studios are about the cheapest in France, the offer of 100% credit by one or two Paris studios is very convenient, and the increased cost of hotels and transport make it ex- pensive to bring actors and crew here. Touchard Stirs Fresh Comedie-Francaise Row p ar | s Pierre-Aime Touchard, inpum- oent director of the Comedie-Fran- cabe, who is to be replaced by nerre Dcscaves next April, has accused the Secretary of Beaux Arts of prematurely appointing his ccos.sor five months before his oireclorship was up. This has cre- a ed a certain hostility to his ten- oie m office, and the loss of his Powers, he claims. Andre Cornu, secretary of Beaux Arts, made the 1 point ment of Descaves after re- viving a letter from Touchard ask- a release from his office, i us move has brought to a head .. ch, I 011 ^ sm °ldering friction in this siad government-subsidized rep th >Recently the argument over Ermi '^bointmcnt of, a three-man t< . dl1rect - ors to make up the inHvi ' lS0 i l y com mittee created an err n u hon the remainder of th$ Din iL ?i ,JO i C ^ e< * *° power being foe nil l c . °f three directors, Vienna Mulls Film Fete Vienna. The city of Vienna’s Cultural Office has begun discussions which may lead to staging a film festival here in the spring of 1954, it has been revealed. Screen event would be within the framework of the an- nual festival weeks which so far include operatic, musical and legit special attractions in the months just before Salzburg stages its an- nual longhair clambake. Some elements wanted to hold the first Film Festival next year, but cultural brass turned thumbs down because next year’s events are too far advanced to be altered. Further discussions will be held before a final decision is made. Sees Paperback Bestsellers Big B.O. Potentials By THEODORE PRATT In 1952 something like 300,000,- 000 paperback books, both reprints and originals, were sold. Not all were priced at 25c. Many were at 35c, some at 50c, a few at 75c. This means that the business is getting close to doing a $100,000,000 gross a year. With perhaps a low.average of four read- ers to every book, it also means one bil- lion, 200 million readers annually. Hay is far from that. We’ll let the other boys talk about the usual aspects of the paperbacks. They can fight the battle of the sexy covers, the war of whether or not paperbacks will destroy the regular hardbook busi- ness, the hassle about the golden goose continuing to lay her two-bit- eggs. As far as we are concerned here, these little questions have become academic and beside our point. The paperbacks are not by any means alone in American industry in using sexy illustrations to sell its product—and they don’t go as far as some other products in this regard. It is extremely doubtful if they will destroy the hardbook business, though they may replace a lot of its fiction. As for the goose continuing to lay, it is our belief That the waddling bird hasn’t even begun to wag her' production tail. Instead of the 10,000,000 estimated softbook reading public as of now, up to a 50,000,000 reading public is visualized. If that comes about, it would really make our point a thing to (Continued on page 65) Theodore Pratt stifT,, men ibers have a right to S ? ays * Th ?y felt that this and r >i/I a .direction monopoly ( in tail their chances. By GEORGE GILBERT With film industry grosses rela- tively stabilized, the problem facing the trade is how to stem declining profits. The seven majorsj (United Artists excepted) went into a “toboggan after hitting an all-time earnings peak of $125,- 000,000 in 1946. Succeeding, years produced sharp drops and 1951 saw the mark at $31,101,845. Reports for the past 12 months are incomplete but on the basis of statements available it appears that the 1952 profit tally will be fortunate to reach $25,000,000. While this figure is well below the colossal takes racked up in ’46 and '47, it nevertheless compares fa- vorably with so-called “normal” earnings of pre-war years which usually ran anywhere frOnv*$25,- 000,000 to $40,000,000. . . ' Experience of Columbia .Pic- tures over the past fiscal ypiir is typical of what most of Wie ma- jors are up against in the face of the two-way 'squeeze—high Taxes and high production costs. Prexy Harry Cohn recently pointed out in his company’s annual report that although the firm’s gross of $59,081,213 was the largest in its 30-year history the lower net of $802,,872 resulted from the bite of substantial, operational costs. H’wood Still Best U.S. Ambassador Despite Some Contrary Opinions Grandpop Blumberg Hollywood. Vera and Nate Blumberg says, that “in the best show biz tradition Dodo and Stan’s son will get his first press no- tice in the Anniversary Num- ber of Variety.” It’s the first- born for the daughter of the Universal board chairman and Stanley Meyer, exec producer of the “Dragnet” radio-TV se- ries, after having adopted twins some time ago. Son was born in St. John’s Hospital, Santa Monica, Dec. 30. Pay Cuts Rank Sets Anglo-Italo Deal for ‘Juliet’ Prod. London. An Anglo-Italian production deal for the lensing of “Romeo and Ju- liet” in Technicolor has been an- nounced by the J. Arthur Rank Organization. It has set an agree- ment with Universalcine. The film will be made mainly on location in Italy, in and around Verona. The Shakespeare classic will be Management by no means has assumed a complacent attitude insofar as the spiraling costs are concerned. Loew’s, Inc., instituted sweeping paycuts last summer which applied to personnel re- ceiving $1,000 per week lor more. Slashes ranged from 25% to 50% (Continued on page 63) Justin, Star of ‘Barrier,’ In Swiss Documentary Zurich. Following the completion of “Heidi,” which is racking up top grosses at Zurich, Basle and Berne, Praesens Film Zurich started jshoot- ing its second pic to be ready for release this season. With another film, “Venus From the Tivoli,” be- ing produced by Gloria Film Zurich, also before the cameras, this is the first time since the boom years of the last war that a continuous film production sched- - uled has been realized in this coun- try. The new Praesens vehicle, as yet untitled, is about life in the famous Swiss Pestalozzi Village at Trogen for displaced children from all over Europe. The semi-documentary pic is being filmed on location. It is another multi-lingual production in the tradition of former Praesens pix, “The Last Chance,” “The Search” and “Four in a Jeep.” It is being produced by Lazar Wechsler and directed by Leopold Lindtberg, who also did “Chance" and “Jeep.” Story and screenplay are by David Wechsler and Kurt Frueh, adapted by Lindtberg and Elizabeth Mon- tagu. Starring roles have been given to British actor John Justin, who recently starred in “Breaking the Sound Barrier,” and Swedish ac- tress Eva .Dahlbeck. Swiss actor ■Sigfrit Steiner is 'also featured. Cast and technicians have been recruited from 10 nations. Chauvel Fails to Get U.S. Backing on Medela’ Sydney. Charles Chauvel, Aussie pro- ducer-director, ‘ has broken off American negotiations for capital investment in his . locally-made Optimism Grows In Ifalo Industry As Pix B.0f Hikes By ROBERT F. HAWKINS Rome. Continued optimism prevails in the Italian film industry as it heads into the eighth year of the postwar “rebirth” with several added ac- complishments to its credit. In- creased home b.o. for its own or co-produced product, higher ex- ports of both its prize-winning prestige films and its sex-peppered exploitation fare, has continued (and increased) government finan- cial support of the industry via tax rebates, favorable publicity and word-of-mouth. True, there is still considerable indecision in local film-making, and there are still remarkably few Italian production units or com- panies with consistent,* 1 soundly planned programs. But these fac- tors must not necessarily be debited; after all, improvisation was at the based Italy’s postwar upsurge. The 14 Italian film studios, 10 of them in Rome, are now geared to a more or less regular produc- tion rate of 110-130 features per year (60 in 1949, 97 in 1950, 112 in 1951).Of this total, the capital’s $4,000,000 Cinecitta studios, with its 14 sound stages, completes about 40 pix per year, while the city’s 32 other sound stages, spread over the nine remaining studios, take care of 70 features or over during the same period. Less busy studios are located in Tirrenia, Milan, Turin, and Venice. Also to be considered in the .almost $9,000,- 000 yearly Italian production nut are approximately 450 documen- taries, an increasing number of these in color, and the 370 or more newsreels. The home market has likewise proved fruitful, especially for the local product, which has enforced its position at the Italian boxoffice. An estimated 700,000,000 tickets (15 per inhabitant) were sold iq Italy during the 1951-52 season, (Continued on page 33) By ERIC JOHNSTON ( President, MPAA) Washington. If there’s anyone around who forgot to list a few Ne.w Year's resolutions, I’d like to suggest a theme for one. It’s this: Layoff Hollywood. It w o n’t happen, of course. No, I sus- pect 1953 will read like the roll call of other years: when in doubt take a swipe at Hollywood and blame the movies for Eric Johnston) mankind’s ills. Most of the time this doesn't bother rne. After seven years in the business I've built up a sort of immunity to phoney cracks at our industry. In recent months, though, they’ve dusted off an oldie that’s made me bristle more than a bit. Some critics have taken the wraps off an old rap and hung it— as usual—on Hollywood. In short,. they are charging that American films are selling our country short overseas. Hollywood pix, they say, give people abroad a distorted picture of 'America— we’re regarded as a nation of loaf- ers, gangsters and moral degener- ates. As a clincher, they cry that American- films are handing over victory in the world’s ideological struggle to the Kremlin on a cellu- loid platter. Now these are no straw men I’ve conveniently built so I could huff and puff and blow them down. It’s deadly serious stuff and calls for some sober examination. The charges are baseless but they have my dander up because (Continued on page 65) British Filmites Would Improve Command Show London. Looking well ahead to the future, the pix industry is being sounded on its views for Uiis year’s com- mand film performance as a result of the unanimous criticism that fol- lowed last year's gala. Reginald C. Bromhead, president of the Cinematograph Trade Benevolent Fund, is asking the major trade as- sociations for their views. From recent discussions agree- ment has emerged that the press and public criticism has had an ad- verse effect on the industry. This point of view was underlined at the recent meeting of the British Film Producers Assri. executive board when it was suggested that the industry as a whole should ac- cept full responsibility for the per- formance, and should organize every aspect of the show. It now seems likely that the stage show will be substantially scissored and that part of the time will be taken up with ghowing an additional film. color pic,- “Jedda,” currently directed by Renato Castellani with j stalled because of the rainy sea Sandro Ghenzi as producer, in as- sociation with Joseph Janni. It Jam and/J mo )i son in the northern territory where the film is located. CriaUvel will be made in English £fndyItalian j was reported dickering with a couple of U. S. majors for a pro- duction buy-in. “Jedda” has nearly $52,000 to date. Chauvel will continue solo via capital hooked on a company pro- motion basis plus finance from the Aussie government. versions. Castellani, who )is cur- rently in London selecting the English cast, has spent more than two years preparing ’ the script. Dallas Bower has been inked as dialog director for the English version, i Subscription Order Form Enclosed find check for $ Please send VARIETY for ?wo Years 1/7 To CPlcaco Print Name) Street City. . Zone.... State, Regular Subscription Rates One Year—$10.00 Two Years—$18.00 Canada and Foreign—$1 Additional 'per Year PftRIETY Inc. 154 West 46th Street New York 36, N. Y.