Variety (January 1953)

21 PICTURES Forty-seventh Anniversary Wednesday, January 7, 1953 Showmanship Is Affirmative Selling, Not looking for Flaws By RUSSELL HOLMAN Way back yonder when dino- j picture. When v/e screened it^ to saurs, some of them good friends of mine, were still roaming Broad- way I joined Paramount as a press agent, and my boss, a very good \yise man, briefed me as follows; “Re- member kid, you’re not selling meat or pants or automobiles, something material people can eat or wear or sit in. When you sell motion pictures you’re selling shadows on a sheet, and whether the people like the pictures or not depends upon what happens in their brains and their emotions and their imagi- nations when they see them, or what you can sell them happens.” So when we got a picture to sell called “The Covered Wagon,’’ which was really a glorified west- ern with no stars in it at a time when big pictures with no stars in them were unknown, he said: “On this one we will convince people that not to like ‘The Covered Wagon’ is equivalent to spitting upon the American flag, and that anybody who says it isn’t great is liable to be tapped immediately ,upon the shoulder by an F.B.I. man and hustled off to Leavenworth in the morning.” So after our months of hard work millions of people, including exhibitors, be- lieved this, and “The Covered- Wagon” is still hailed as a mile- stone of screen history, usually with the word “Americana” at- tached to it. Skipping lightly to 1952, one of the phenomena of the picture busi- ness in the past year has been the fact that foreign grosses have been up, even in Europe, where general conditions are lousy and domestic grosses have been off. Maybe one of the reasons for this is as fol- lows: I was in Europe- recently and talked with a number of exhibitors in several countries. I also did things domestically like chinning with tjieatremen from abroad who visit the Paramount home office and sitting at an industry dinner a couple of months ago with soine smart lads~Who run theatres in Mexico, Central and South Ameri- ca. What struck me is that these gentlemen unanimously had a re- freshingly oldfashioned view about the business and their function in it. They treated me, now a picture production man, like an all-in-the- same-boat partner with a mutual job of making and merchandising the pictures to the public. They asked me what pictures we have coming and discussed how each one could be sold with a -profit to theatregoers. They didn’t say why the heck are we making that one, and that one maybe can be sold, but it will be a terrific problem, etc. They probably assumed, with- out saying it, that some pictures, like women and horses, are better than others, but they took the atti- tude that all of the pictures to- gether were the wares upon which Paramount and they relied for- a living, and the intended optimistic- ally and intelligently to milk them for all the boxoffice pounds or pesos or guilders that they could squeeze. They were looking for suggestions to help their selling job; not for reasons why the job was impossible or tough. And, to a man, they seemed to have great zest and energy for their profes- .. sion. ' ' " I have thought about this a lot when I have sat in a projection room for a tradeshow with a group of American exhibitors when the lights go up after the finish of a new picture, particularly a good but not run-of-the-mill subject. So -many of the boys are silent and frowning. They leave the place silently or, if they talk, .they say with dour shakes of the head. “With business tough as it is, this will be a so-and-so to sell,” or it’s too long, or they ought to change the title, or RKO had a picture something like this in 1938 and it didn’t do well, or if it had Martin & Lewis. Gregory Peck and Betty Grable co-starred in it we might get somewhere with it. Not much thought of "It’s our mutual baby, so it must be great,” or “Let's rush back to the office, summon the ad- vertising and publicity boys and work out a helluva campaign.” 1 remember years ago that Para- mount had a first exclusive chance at distribution of a foreign-made a man, me included, we decided that it was a swell picture, but it was impossible to sell to the Amer- ican public. Another major com- pany took it on, developed a mar- velous merchandising angle on it that had never occurred to us and made a fortune with it, as did American exhibitors. It was quite a lesson to me. The lesson was, “Don’t try to pick flaws in the shadows on the sheet. For better or for worse they’re our bread and butter. Dis- cover the reasons how to the brains and emotions and imaginations of’ the picture-going public they can be sold as entertainment.” The foreign exhibitors are doing it and prospering. PARTICIPATION DEALS KEY TO U BUDGETS By WILLIAM GOETZ (Production V.P., Newsreel) Hollywood. At our studio the budget are the stars because if you overprice your picture in the present market you can get into trouble. If our pre- liminary budg- et is far too high in com- parison with an anticipated gross we will certainly aban- don the proj- ect or shelve it until we know we can make it on an e c o nomically sound basis. For this rea- son we do riot plan further reduc- tion budgets, because we gear our budgets to how important we think the picture can be to us from the standpoint of boxoffice. Naturally we try to make each and every pic- ture as economically as we can. This does not mean that we hurt the quality of a picture in trying to trim expenses because we have proved with our big pic- Bill Goetz tures we can make high budget pictures without wasting any money and without losing anything in the way qf quality. We have made participation deals with a few top riiale stars. We do ^pot have any with producers, directors' or writers. Those we made with people like Jimmy Stew- art and Gregory . Peck we have found to be advantageous for both the studio and the star. We have further deals with Tyrone Power, Alan Ladd, Errol Flynn and Jimmy Stewart. Since we were the first major studio to inaugurate this partici- pation deal with stars, naturally we believe in it, for if a star can help the boxoffice and bring in the money, he is entitled to his share of the profits when he takes the gam- ble of receiving no salary. The cooperation we have received from the men with whom we have worked on such deals encourages us to go further. We don’t know what approaches there can be made to cutting stu- dio. overhead without impairing quality. Our operation is smooth and naturally we do not intend to disturb it. The motion picture industry is always looking to' the future and to any new ideas to implement its presentation, and if third dimen- sion or other technological theories contribute anything to our busi- ness, naturally we will be very much interested in it. All companies are busy with re- search and experimentation and the industry as a whole, through its research division, is constantly looking for devices and develop- ments to improve^ sight and sound. We will have to wait, rather than anticipate, meeting departures from the conventional operations, in the event third dimension can be integrated with standard pro- duction and also exhibition. The only conclusion I can draw from the record grosses from such pictures as “Greatest Show on Earth” and “Quo Vadis” and our own “World in His Arms” is that the public goes for this type of pic- ture and prominently supports them at the boxoffice. I am sure there will continue to be such big pictures made by the industry and will do well. ’53 Benefits From Technological Advances—Mebbe Also 20% K.0. By HARRY B. FRENCH (Pres., Minnesota Amusement Co.) Liebler Joins Mono Walter Liebler, long with United Artists, has joined Monogram In- ternational Corp-.-as assistant treas- urer. He succeeds James J. Tier- ney, who resigned. Prior to assuming the new post, Liebler was foreign controller for UA. Minneapolis. 1952 has been a very eventful year—one that will be referred to many times in relating the history of our industry. Certainly there are many things that have plagued our business and affected the box- office seriously, and I am sure we will be confronted with many more problems. However, there are some bright spots on the horizon:* Third dimen- sion is surely coming and perhaps sooner than originally anticipated. Cinerama, while not really third dimension, is referred to as such, and the favorable publicity that Cinerama generated was startling to every one in this business— : even more so to those putside our busi- ness—and it aroused new hope and enthusiasm for our future. The terrific response by the public to “Bwana Devil” indicates a tre- mendous interest in third dimen- sion no matter how crude. The repeal of the 20% admission tax looks more encouraging every day. Elimination of this tax would be a tremendous factor in promot- ing enthusiasm and optimism in all branches of our industry, especially exhibition. Comparison shows that theatres enjoyed their greatest prosperity since radio became a reality. With the advent of the airplane some predicted the collapse of the rail- roads. But it didn’t prove true. Railroads have made great prog- ress; they provide finer service and equipment today than ever before in railroad history. No doubt the airplane was an influence in bring- ing it about. By the same token, television can very well be the me- dium to do the same for the picture business. j Theatre TV Too [ Indications are that theatre large screen television is fast becoming an important factor in theatre operation. It can be developed into a very lucrative part of our busi- | ness, especially so during off hours. The potential is almost unlimited, and I am sure we will see this phase of television develop rapidly to the benefit of the theatres. I am of the opinion that in 1953 we are going to see some really outstanding attractions—more of them than in any previous season. Hollywood knows that the days of the so-called ordinary program pic- tures are past, and Hollywood also knows the advantages of top at- tractions. It is possible the product trend may change to some extent; any successful picture of an un- usual nature or theme will prob- ably start a cycle of that type. I realize public tastes do change as far as film fare is concerned, but re'al human, down-to-earth stories with good production, direction, capable players, and color still pay off at the boxoffice. Surely, many of our problems will be solved in 1953, but it will take more than wishful thinking to solve them. It will take deter- mined, constructive action and plenty of it on the part of every one ip this business. I have always said that the greatest era of the motion picture industry lies ahead, and I am more convinced than ever that it will become a reality. GEORGE SIDNEY One of Hollywood’s outstanding directors just completed “YOUNG BESS" for Metro-Gnlfiwvn Ar, V( .r where he Is under contract. ^tro-troldwyn-Mayer Sidney’s last release was “SCARAMOUCH E,” he is currently preparing “KISS ME KATE," Darryl F. Zanuclc H WOOD HAS KEY TO COST CUTS: ZANUCK Hollywood. Darryl F. Zanuck, head of pro-* duction at 20th-Fox, is. bullish on the future of the motion picture industry and, while he sees room and has en- thusiasm for the new di- menSijons, such as Cin- erama,* T r u - Vision, etc., he says the pres-^ e n t produc- tion and ex- hibition meth- ods will con- tinue to pro- vide the bulk of the indus- try’s income for at least some years to come. While Cinerama, for instance, is a proven boxoffice quantity, Zanuck says that if “there are even as much as 25 to 50 the- atres equipped for the process in less than two to three years, it will be a miracle.” As for the regular dimensional' films, Zanuck says that every studio has learned by now how to meet the lowered boxoffice condi- tions by streamlining production methods, plus careful pre-produc- tion planning, to at least partially recompense for the drop in in- come. Zanuck is not inclined to set any arbitrary ceilings on budgets. He says: “That depends on the picture. It doesn’t matter whether you spend $2,000,000 or $3,000,000, if the picture turns out to be a win- ner. And if it’s a big subject in which you have confidence, you’ve got to give it every possible insur- ance. “The factor is not so much ex- travagance in cost—but to be sure you end up with something that justifies great theatre business. You must insure it.” Must Be Worth It As a corollary to this, Zanuck holds no belief in the theory that the public has a broad and general antipathy to occasional hikes in admission prices. “The public is never mad at paying advanced prices,” Zanuck said, “as long as they get their money’s worth. The only complaints in the past have come when prices were raised be- cause of the cost of a picture rather that the quality or content of a picture.” Zanuck is high on big-scale mu- sicals, citing “Call Me Madarii” as an example, but is dead set against the in-between tune pictures. “The in-between musicals are overpriced at any price,” he thinks, so far as boxoffice draw is concerned. Zanuck said that 20th-Fox, lik& other studios, Is constantly experi- menting with color 'and, now, new dimensions. He said that the com- pany, at present, is working on a new dimensional process the like of which has not yet been seen. He wouldn’t disclose what it is.