Variety (November 1954)

PICTtJlllSS , PftiRMETY Wednesday, November 10, 1954 U IS DEE-ttGHTED * 9 Actor Dick Powell is banking his>- ifuture as a film producer, on "The Coriquerer,” tl>e $6,000,000 Cinemascope production he made for. Howard Hughes. “If this pic- ture. turns- but to be a huge, suc- , I’ll 'get out of television and devote full time to theatrical pic- tures,” Powell declared. In New York to . drum up interest in the story of Genghis Khan,. Powell, confirmed that he had been of- fered the production, helm at RKO by Hughes,-but had turned down the offer. "After all; he said,, ‘■production is a new: experience for me and, I wanted to see how the first, picture I’ve ever pro- duced came put;” The. John, Wayne-Susan Hayward starrer, now being scored, will be released either In March or. about Easter,-PoWeli reported. He re- turned to the Coast Monday (8 V “T don’t know what will happen at RKO,” he said. “■I.t’s.'/ndne Of/ my business, but I do know I’d .like to. stay with Hughes, We’ve had. a good relationship and he gave me a free, hand in the production of ‘The Conqueror Y” Powell said there was still a chance that .he would handle ail of .Hughes’ per- sonal projects as.producer-director as well as produce several pictures h his own. He has several prop- rties; ’ mind,' including a west- ern, musical, arid a ; suspense story. Took Five Years Tli actor turned producer-di- rector is •particularly enthusiastic about his role as a director. "It took me five years to get put of musicals.” he said, "and. five years to become a director.”. Although lie’s not' . mplctely giving up his thesping chores, .be said: "I’m ob- jective. of my alue. as. a boxoffice star, i.’in not the biggest star in the' business, but I’ll, continue to act if the right part comes along.” "Tire Conqueror.” which origi- nally had a shooting, schedule of 57 days, was fi' ished: in 61, with the hulk of the work done on loca- tion in Utah at a locale resembling the Gobi Desert area inhabited by. the follower of Genghis Khan. The. (Continued ori page 18) Cecil. B. DeMille,: currently in. Egypt lor location shooting o.f his new film version- of "The Ten Commandments,” is : working, on an unlimited budget. This was d; - A Star Yet! Ottawa, Nov. 9, -Alex Barris, Toronto Globe, and Mail columnist, quotes Al- ber.ta-borri Wendy Remington,: a film bit player in London, as saying her conditions for star r dom are: "I won’t pose for cheesecake; all statistics, in- cluding"age, height, weight and . -measurements, •, riiy" own business; I refuse to hire an agent.” “Remember the nai .’’ adds Barris. “ You may; never hear it agai .” Hollywood, Nov. 9. Jose Bohr, Argentine producer- director wh starred in. “Somto’as De Glori .’’ first talking. Spanish- language feature made in Holly- wood 25 years ago, is here: on visit from Santiago, Chile, Bohr, .will sound, out producers oil possible cp-productiori .deals , in Chile. He will also study television technique tor his upcoming Weekly .Argen- tine video program. . Bohr,,in. Chile for. last 12 years, reports that- production there is relatively cheap. A feature can be made, for about 40% of, Hollywood cost. No u ions; Chile is also, lenient about film being flown to American labs for processing although country has one well equipped studio operated by. gover rnent owned corporation, which is anxious to develop film industry there. Improved Fiscal State Of Screen Writers On Eve of WGA Fusion Hollywood, Nov. 9. Even though earnings of theatre film; : scripters over past year dropped $i;500,00Q, the Screen. Writers Guild is operating in the black, as compared to last year when it closed $20,000 In the.rOd! Thi was disclosed in final finan- cial report of SWG before its ab- sorption into the hew Writers Guild of America-West.: closed this week: by Adolph Zukor,. Paramount board! chairman who was associated with the producer In the silent “Commandments” 30 years. ago. Said Zukor: “If DeMille brings the -picture in at as low as $8,- 000.000; I would consider it rea- sonable.” The 1925 version of .the biblical drama cost about a $1,000,000. an expenditure Zukor believes equal to $10,000,000 in Our modern econ- my. The picture ran for 15 years lid is still being shown in various parts of the world. Thirty years ago, the undertak- ing of biblical... subject repre- tenlod a - delicate undertaking. Be- fore commencing op the produc- tion.: be toured the country, With- Guild’s healthy financial statu resulted, largely, from drastic ecor omy program which accounted fo $41,000 less in operational expense according to treasurer Harol Greene. n . S.WG income this year was $116 043, as compared to $127,937 las year. Greene comments drop ■ Tt suited largely from panic in pic • ture business. Last year’s inborn ■fr nv assessments was. approximate ly $11,000, representing $11,000 000 in fees and wages paid to wrii ers.. This year its $98,000, repre sen ting only $9,800,000 paid ..writer —of which $13,000 came from,tele vision. Rock Hudson Gets Studio Profit & Prestige Via ‘Giant’ Universal’s Rock Hudson loan- out to George Stevens, and Henry Ginsberg for their production: of “Giant” has U contemplating the arrangement with more then ordi- nary satisfaction as proof of tan- gible benefits from its talent- deveipping program. Hudson, one of the brightest entries in the U talent stable, will portray Bick Benedict, head of the vast Texas ranch, In the filihization of the Edna Ferber nOvel which Werner Bros, will release. As U execs see. it, the benefits to them of the> lliidsori casting are. manifold, particularly since the star was recently signed by U for a new seven-year contract. First, U gets a cash consideration of close to $150,000 for Hudson’s services. Secondly, and considerably more important from U’s point of view; the. “Giant” part is likely to cata- pult Hudson to the. top rungs of screen stardom and pay off in plenty of marquee value on future U releases. That's particularly significant in the light of the: fact that Holiywood is experiencing a pronounced dearth of male b.ov. names. .Hudson was recently starred in “Magnificent Obsession” and collected critical kudos for his theSping in. that weeper.. Example of Hudson to U execs is the. tipoff 'that their expensive ‘•talent farm” on the Coast is pay- ing the kind of divvies that had been expected from it. Feeling is that if. oniy one out of ten names 1 breaks through • the barri U’s investment is fully 'repaid. Studio has also great hopes: for George Nader whom it picked up- as an unknown and who, without a major release, is. already drawing large volumes of fan mail and has roused much fan mag Interest. He’ll be seep in “Six Bridges to Gross” and the “Lady Godiya” pic in which he plays opposite Maureen O’Hara. BOXOFFICE CLICKS ECHO IN PAR’S NET ■ Succession of click b.o. pix, eluding “Knock On Wood,” “Money From Home,” “Rear Window” arid "Sabri ,” is reflected in Para- mount’s. new financial statement. Corporation reported a net profit of $2,428,000 for the third quarter ended Oct. 2, which is equal to $1.10 per share on 2,208,133 out- standing shares... This compares with $2,005,000, 89c per share on 2,256,158 shares, for the cor-: responding period of 1953. Earnings, for the first nine months of this year sire up to..$6,- 390,000, which equals $2.89 per share and includes a special rake- in of $832,000 ori sale of a block Of stock in Famous Players Cana- dian. Theatres. The first nine months of 1953 brought a net of $4,996,000, or $2.21 per share 1 .. The Par board last Friday (51 declared a regular quarterly dividend of 50p per common share, payable Dec.. 14 to holders of rec- ord on Nov. 29. Marquee Humor Marquee on the Roosevelt Theatre, ’ New York’s Har- lem section, drew raised eye- brows last week with: "Seven Brides For; Seven Brothers” and “Go, Man, Go.V DeMille , to discuss., the. project with religious' arid civic leaders. DeMille, who has completed . five weeks ol‘ location . filming in : Egypt, will wind up his on-the- spot camera work-by the end. of the year., lie then returns to the Paramount studio for. three more months of work, making a total shooting schedule of about six [ ioriths; Should be released in fall ' of 1956. Digressing from, the "Command- 1 ments,” Zukor termed as "uri-, founded" the exiiib charges that ■"■the' film companies were deliber- ately cutting their him output. “Two or three years ago when -the '. industry Was at a low ebb.” he • pointed out. “there were pictures • in quantify. Bad -busirie. was blamecl on everything from- tv to sports,. W'hat kept the public away Vvas the fact' .that there weren't enough good pio’ ui'os for theni to , be interested in.” i $500,000 Payoff at $25,000 Annually —• Spillane Rough Stuff Plots ah Influence, Too Produc£V-divecl or Robert Aldrich and a group, associated .with him recently offered Robert Mitchum $500,000 to do two Mickey Spillane pictures back- to-hack over an eight-week- period but 'the actor turned it down.. Had the deal gone through it would have been. 1 an unique . payoff for . Mitchum was to. receive his mperisation some 10 ye^rs later at the *ate of $25,000 "aflnually. While agreeing it would be a ‘.’wonderful annuity” the star’s in- terest cooled later,. Factors in the turndown., it’s re- ported, arc twofold. Firstly, there was -a time element.. Mitchur currently working in Stank Kramer’s “Not as . a Stranger,” fe that, he couldn’t squeeze in ty pictures between “Stranger” ar ; another coinitnient he has comir ' up. » .... ! Secondly. Mitchum is .said to 1 trying to live down some escapad of the past, in favor of a mo conservative mode of existenc Hence; when his agent remind* him of the nature of the Spillai yarns he assertedly opined that tl j stories were a little too robust light of his attempts to get aw; 1 from too much sex, etc. Hardy Exhib Minneapolis, Nov. 9. Surviving approximately six weeks of . night temperatures ranging from 30 to 40, the lo- cal 7-Hi outdoor theatre at- tained its goal of. remaining open until Nov! 1, regardless of adverse weather conditions. . It’s the latest that any of this territory’s ozoners lias held out.; However; wlien, on Nov. 1, a near-blizzard hit the town, the. mercury dropped to 15 and streets and roads had icy coatings, plans for continuing further" into the winter were abandoned by 7-Hi owner, Maitland Frosch. Despite its. continued slim supply of new product Oil the domestic front, RKO’s gross business abroad is running nearly .6% ahead of 1953.. Walter Branson, global sales chief who’s now back in N.Y. fol- lowing a .five-week swing of Eng- land and the Continent, cited quota restrictions as . among the reasons for the upbeat!/ In France, for example, RKO is permitted 12 import licenses an- nually. Films riot sent to that coun- try . in previous’ years are. nqw being used. This obtains 1 in all areas which -have quotas and in every case. RKO is selling a full quota program. In nations without restrictions on the number of American filt Imports, the com-, pany has had a substantial number of reissues, Branson noted. These, account for the full programs of ,pix peddled ori foreign: terrrairi and the general improvement in theatre business is attributable to RKO gross revenue gains. Branson and . Joseph Tushinsky demonstrated the. latter’s Super- scope widescreen system in London, Paris arid Rome; Also; Branson conducted meetings among RKO sales reps. .Screenings of new films and his reports of: deals, for future product had a highly /encouraging effect on the overseas personnel, said Branson,, According to the sales topper, theatremen abroad want, one pro- jection system Which would be compatible with the various prpe- I (Continued on page 71) * j L. A. to N. Y. Eddie Albert Richard W. Altschuler Edgar Carter ,. Chip Cleary Tom Corridine Marlene Dietrich Paul Gregory Abner j, Greshler Edward Everett Horton Morgan Hudgins Jearimaire Jess. Kimjmel Frank King Maurie King Eugenie Leontovich Bill Lyon Rouben. Mamouli.an Margo Marilyn Maxwell David Miller Phil Moore Hugh O’Brian A1 Pakula Debbie Reynolds Sheldon Reynolds. Leon! Shamroy Bobby. Short Elizabeth Taylor Franchot Tone John K. West. William B. White N. Y. to Europe Douglas Fairbanks Jr. Joseph Fields Joe Glaser • Stewart Granger Harry Kurnitz Rev. Sydney' MacEwan Jane Po\yell Ethel Linder Reiner Jerome Robbins Mrs. Charles Sanford Harold Steinmari Jacques Tati / . K . . Those ofc&galn-off-again talks for the sale of Howard Hughes’ n- tire industrial holdings, including RKO, are on agai , and; this time negotiations are said to have progressed into, a very advanced stage. Syndicate dickering io^ the. Hughes empire is composed of William Zeckendbr.f, Lawrence Rockefeller arid Aristotle Onassis, the Greek shipping tycoon. Spyros P, Skouras, 2Qth-Fox prexy, is act- ing as intermediary briTiging the parties together. Combine’s negotiations w i t h Hughes are understood to be very, “hot,” with memos of agreernerit on about 90% of the deal already initialed.. While details of the talks hay^never been obtainable, it's understood that the discussions cover Hughes’ holdings . in . the 'film, tool manufacturing, brewery, airline and aircraft production fields. Price, of some $400,600,000 for the entire works has been bandied around, Both in Paris Skouras, although not feeling well,, left NY Y. for Paris over the Weekend. Also in Paris at the monient is Onassis;'. ostensibly , on a shipping deal. Observers feel the presence; of the two riien in the French capital might be more than mere coincidence. Insiders say that Skquras’ “com- mission” in the event of a deal would run! to over $2,500,000 rather than the $5,000,000' origin- ally reported. Last October, Skouras ^spent several days in Las Vegas in meets with Hughes. Back in N. Y., he would say; no more than that* he had discussed “industry matters” with, the RKO head. . Zeckendorf arrived on the Coast last, night (Tues.) from N. Y., fok lowing a Denver stopover. It’s assumed that he’ll huddle with Hughes for further discussions of the . deal. : Last time Zeckendorf was queried on the status of the Hughes empire purchase—that was a wee.k ago—he said lie had been active, but was now "completely cold,” Monday he agairi struck the “there’s nothing doing” note on the deal. However, his associates in N. Y. said that, to their knowledge, the talks were “very active.” Europe to N, Y Claudio Arrau . Arthur Askey Irving Berlin Henry Berman Ferdinand Pecci-Blunt Val Buttignol John By ram Marian Byram Elaine Chenuil Clifford Curzott Harry Foster Guy Gachon Paulette Goddard Hilde Gueden Tyrone Guthrie Bill Johnson Frankie Lai Jerome Lawrence LeCrayon Robert E. Lee John Mackwood Joseph Marais The Moreos Robert Moretoii Parity C. C. Philippe Riccardo Pontremoll Erich Maria. Remarque Prudence Rennick June Richnrtfbnd David Rose B^bara Stanwyck Archie Thomson Max Thorpe Charles: Trenet Sarah Vaughan Brueie Weil Jerorrie Whyte. N. Y. ty L. A. John Aaron June Allyson Henry Berrilan H. William Fitelson Charles N. Hill Danny Kaye Howard Keel Jess Kimmel Edward Morey Dick Powell Edmund Purdom Norton, V. Ritchey Arthur Rosen Richard Skinner Carleton Smith.