Variety (January 1953)

Wednesday, January 7, 1953 Forty-seventh £ / 3 S&IJ&¥y Anniversary PICTURES ss 3d Dimension White Hope of Fix Biz, Sez Wolfson; Brandt for Theatre TV By MITCHELL WOLFSON Miami. While television is strong com- petition to pix it’s no more than that* the economic factor has much more bearing on movie attendance than does television. TV is a much stronger competitor to M B” prod- uct than it is to top film product vhieh. incidentally, records show j s doing business that exceeds grosses of the past. If I tried to select territories which are not affected by TV, the answer must necessarily be obvi- ous, since territories which do not vet have TV, or are one-station markets, are less concerned with TV competition. Boxoffice is, in my experience, influenced most by high cost of living and quality product; the for- mer tending to decrease the over- all amusement expenditure, the latter building all-time high gross- es. At least, that is today’s picture. Third Dimension is the Great White Hope of the movie industry. The industry will not expire if third dimension does not come, but to return it to the vigorous posi- tion it once held periphery photog- raphy is needed. It’s just another case of being better than yoyr com- petition. Cinerama, as we know it today, is not the nationwide medium for bolstering the b.o. Cost of installa- tion as well as production is the deterring factor; the system may be practical in some large metro- politan centres, but of small value to Main Street. What is needed is simple process whichcan be. mass-produced and easily ^'adapta- ble to the average theatre, prefer- ably without the audience having to use glasses. Large-screen theatre television is another b.o. builder which will become increasingly important in the future, growing in stature even further when color is added. What has “gone over” in the past will probably be the best b.o. for the future—boxing, all big sports events, opera, stage shows— and, too, the future should see shows created especially for thea- tre television. As more theatres become (-quipped for large screen TV and *the monetary potential be- comes greater, more and more events will be offered to the thea- tre boxoffice. When this occurs, and probably before, the industry will have to undertake a huge pub- lic relations program because the public thinks it is entitled to see in its own living room anything that has once been televised to the public. However, the owners of many events — such as college sports, etc.—simply cannot afford to sell their shows without the .revenue provided by theatre box- offices. We must avoid monopoly at all cost but provide a boxoffice for those shows that must have the revenue we can provi.de. Nixes Day-and-Dating In my opinion, day-and-dating reduces the overall b.o. revenue for a picture as it does tend to re- duce the overall attendance 7 at theatres by depriving the public of a wide selection of movies to see at any given time. This practice could be-remedied by discarding national sales policies on films and selling situation by situation, low- er percentages for later runs and the offering of other incentives. Today there are too many ob- solete theatres operating. Thus, there will be more closings, but f the number of drive-ins will con- tinue to increase. The drive-in is this industry’s answer to the baby- sitter and the parking problems. Once a double-feature policy has become established, it is very dif- ficult to satisfy the customer with one feature. As for changes in admission Pnecs, with rising wages and all our costs of doing business, there oan hardly be any reduction- and many theatres need what they are now paying in admission taxes to stay in operation. No other indus- try is so handicapped'with discrim- inatory legislation and taxes than tne motion picture industry and it is high time . that our lawmakers gave us and our patrons relief, i here is no question but that ' ^P^itive bidding results in hher film rentals and higher ad- mission prices'to the public and ® P ni nary cause of it ig some of forced to engage in this form picture buying. Divorcement failed to create the rosy picture which was intended. I doubt if this benefited the inde- pendent exhibitor at all, and if it did provide some benefit then it was to an immeasureably small de- gree, It would be. of great help to the industry if we could return to block-booking and franchises, at least to independent exhibitors, so that an exhibitor would know what product he w'Ould be playing and could do a long-range job of sell- ing and exploitation of his mer- chandise. I believe that there should be prompt, economical justice for any mari who has been wronged, so I believe this industry should have a system of arbitration. This sys- tem need not include film rentals, unless it is a one-way system for relief of exhibitors who might be overcharged on certain films. There is some justification for advanced admission-price films for a few outstanding high-budget films but this has been overdone arid abused in the past few years. Overall product today is definitely better than the past. In order to compete with the high cost of liv- ing, TV night baseball, etc., we must continue to improve our prod- uct. If the motion picture industry ever gets around to the undertak- ing of a real research program, product and our industry’s service to the American public will con- tinue to improve. That se'ems to be the real challenge for our leader- ship at this time. Brandt Bullish on 3D, Ditto on Theatre TV By HARRY BRANDT The motion picture theatre in- dustry has enjoyed a brilliant past. I have no doubt that its maximum potential, reflected in terms of box- office dollars, lies in front of it. The pressure of commercial tele- vision competition, \yith its novelty of home entertainment without ap- parent cost, has been responsible for a slump at the boxoffice. How- ever, it will not result in perma- nent injury and has already brought about a healthier condition gen- erally. It threw down a challenge to the Hollywood filmmakers to produce theatrical films of a quali- ty capable of drawing people out of their homes to the theatres. That we have been able to weather this storm of free video offerings is a tribute to the producers—and it is no longer in the realm of speculation that the theatres have retained their solid core of patron- age. The task ahead requires an ex- pansion of the patronage potential. We can’t hope to accomplish this objective by resting on our laurels. The industry must go forward, combining the latest technological improvements with the finest en- tertainment to excite the public’s interest. That the public is recep- tive to new innovations has been amply demonstrated by the phe- nomenal success of Cinerama and Natural Vision. Sol Lesser’s tri- opticon process is making its debut in several Coast theatres. “Bwana Devil” likewise is set for hundreds of theatres after a sensational play- date in Los Angeles. By the end of 1953, Cinerama will be unveiled in more key cities and feature pro- ductions should be ready for exhi- bition.- And most important, the film companies are hard at work developing new third dimensional processes to capture the fancy of John Q. Public. Willing to Pay But, of primary importance, is the rapid growth of theatre tele- vision. This past year furnished ab- solute proof that the public will pay to see important events tele- vised to theatre screens and the new year presages a far greater acceleration of' industry^afforts in this direction. The historic telecast of “Carmen” is a concrete evidence of promoting our wider audience. In this connection, we must be sure that we do not repeat the mistake of outpricing the public. Picture theatres must never lose sight of the fact that its product must have mass appeal and must be within the pursestrings of the public. We must never price our customers out of the theatre.*. Eidophor, RCA and General Pre- cision television equipment for the- atres arq^,. of momentous signifi- cance to the development of thea- tre video. Installation of theatre TV equipment during the next 12 months should soar. There is no denial that the in- dustry is going through a difficult period, a period in which the dis- criminatory admissions tax has wrought more havoc with the eco- nomics of the business than any other combination of factors, in- cluding the cost of living. Fortu- nately, there is a enduing awareness in Congress that the motion picture theatre can no longer be called upon to subsidize government and there is sufficient reason to hope for much needed relief this year. Too often, we are prone to forget that a number of industries cater- ing to the public’s leisure time have been concerned with the in- roads made by television-news- papers, books, magazines, records, radio, the legitimate theatre, sports, etc. They will manage to survive— and prosper—with each spurred on to greater efforts to maintain its niche in the order of things. Can’t Buy Cadillac Quality Pix At Ford Rentals—20th Distrib Chief By AL LICHTMAN Since, legally, exhibitors cannot be called upon by distributors to advance prices, the decision rests with the exhibitor and it is within his judgment whether the product calls for higher prices. It is common opin- ion, not only in our indus- try but count- less others, that product of higher cali- bre and value, on which con- siderable spent, demands General A1 Liclitman money has been higher admission prices. Motors, for example, sells Cadillacs at a higher price than Chevrolets, but the' difference in cost is based on workmanship and performance similar to tfije calibre of “Ivanhoe,” “Quo Vadis” and “David and Bath- sheba,” which also have values far above the common run of pictures. Reduction of production' costs, per se, is not an economically ad- vantageous move for Hollywood if the quality of product must neces- sarily suffer. Certainly, in this period of struggle there is no room for waste on any level of produc- tion. However, if the ingredients of the film merit, the money spent on shaping them for ultimate im- portant boxoffice effect, that money can be judiciously spent without undue tightening of the purse- strings. Today, there are many ways in which costs can be cut without working hardships on the enter- tainment values of the product. There are special advantages, as suggested, in participation deals with important personnel which offer the sound business factors of economy and incentive. Third Dimension At this time, we are seeing great strides being taken in the film industry through technological advances. Most companies are in the throes of research and experi- mentation and we can foresee even more startling advances shortly. At 20th Century-Fox we are con- tinuing with the development of Eidophor, the large screen color television system, and we are also at work on a stereo, wide-screen process which we expect to be eco- nomically and technically superior to anything that has gone before; Whether standard production and exhibition can continue side by side with third dimensional P ouucers’ selling policies. Exhibi- ts would do themselves a favor to Hriuse to bid whenever they are product depends on whether an economical and completely feasible third dimensional system were de- veloped to take the place of the standard system. Until that time, however, both must develop side by side. The record grosses of such pic- tures as ‘.‘Greatest Show,” “Kili- 1 anjaro” and “Vadis” are most encouraging signs on the motion picture horizon. They prove that the public will come out in large numbers to see superior product and will pay higher admission prices for them. If a sufficient number of pictures of this calibre could be made there T . r ould be lit- tle for i.s to worry about. As to the future of “B” pictures, let me say that “B” pictures have never had a future, only an inglo- rious past. Witji elimination of the' double feature^, system. “B” pictures will not be around to plague us. Over the years I ha\te personally opposed the doubled feature on many occasions. However, I still feel that the exhibitor is best qual- ified to cope with this situation. The double feature system'fhas al- ways been its worst enemy creating outlets for inferior films which re- flect on the industry in general when the public singles them out to damn all product. | Too Many Theatres? There are never too many the- atres in operation if they can all operate on a profitable basis. Good product plus showmanship will bring customers in, a fact which „ has been proved many times de- spite strong competition for Jhe entertainment dollar. The “Drive-In” is a special kind of theatre, and can appeal to that great audience which may have fallen off during the years. “Drive- Ins” cater to large families with young children, lessening the bur- den of ^aby-sitters, an expensive night out, or other factors which have cut into the downtown and neighborhood theatre patronage. We have become a motorized na- tion since the last war, greater than at any period in our history, and the drive-in has capitalized on this aspect of our daily lives. Itaio Optimism HILDEGARDE Holiday greetings to my friends all over the world Yhe same good wishes from ANNA SOSENKO—Personal Manager Continued from page 5 108% over 1938,. fpr a total gross of about $108,000,000. Of this total, the government took about $12,- 000,000, rebating an approximate $3,400,000 under the Italian merit system. This rebate figure will re- portedly be increased to about $8,000,000 under the new plan for increased aid. The rising boxoffice power of the Italian film is evidenced by the jump from a 13% slice of the Itaio market*which the local prod- uct garnered in 1949, to the 33% high reached by Italian pix during the past season, ’thanks in large part to such sock grossers as “Don Camillo,” “Cops and Robbers,” “Anna,” etc., which in some cases outdistanced even the strongest Yank product. .While the French b.o. out of the Itaio market, partly swept in on the momentum of co- produced items, grew slightly dur- ing the past year, the U. S. per- centage dropped perceptibly though still keeping its healthy majority on the market. Most ap- parent example that the local pic has attained boxoffice stature is the fact that enforced quota-filling (requiring V 3 Itaio product) by local theatres, an exhib nightmare in previous years, has become a thing of the past. Among co-production ventures with several countries such as France, Germany, Spain, Britain and U. S., the tieup with its Gallic neighbor was the most fruitful for the Italian film. Link with France resulted in 20 co-productions dur- ing the past year, among them some of the top money-makers in both countries (notably “Don Ca- millo”). Many treaties and recipro- cal trade arrangements have been worked out with various nations during the year. Currently, serious k attempts are being made to settle with Argentina, an important ex- port market. And the present link with the U. S. via IFE for produc- tion, publicity, and distribution of Italian pix, is now ready to undergo its first practical tests.