Variety (November 1954)

PICTURES PfifilETY Wednesday, November 10, 1954 JOHNSTON TO FAR EAST Wants to Thaw Filipino Chin v—Head Off Jap. Jokers Smallness of Home Sets Rob Film Scenes of Their Grandeur in This Widescreen Era Extent to which use of tv helps in launching a film; in N. Y. still has tlie film company admen puzzled. They’re: experimenting in various Mays, but haven’t been, able to ar- rive at any hard and fast rules for. playing -the tv game; ; Experiences with punching up a preem via tv vary to sucliari extent that any sensible conclusions are. difficult to come by.. One outfit, for instance, used tv generously to launch an action pic, and did very -'\v.elt with it. Then it tried a mys- tery, and tv didn't seem to make any difference at all. Up came a musical, and the' outfit .skipped the tv plugs, altogether. Film opened very strong anyway arid has main- tained that pace since,: ■ Opinion is that a lot more experi- ence with various forms of tv .ad- vertising is necessary l^efore a defi- nite pattern emerges; A ■ United Paramount Theatres committee re- cently . explored the .wriys ’arid wherefores of the companies’ fail- ure to plug romantic; stories oh the One of the considerations about tv promotion is that the screens aren’t big enough to do justice to the scale and the color of Holly- wood’s current output. Thus a scerie ■ that’s over whelming on the M.ide screen, emerges, unclear and with limited scope on the tv set. What frustrates film execs is the lack of consistency, in the pull of tv, as far as it can be measured M lien applied to a pic opening, Out- fits still, may spend any where be- tween $10,00.0 and $15‘,0pQ for tv on the N, Y; run ' without knowing whether they’ll get their money back. “It’s still very much of a gamble,’,* 'as one' niment this " week. STAY AWAY FROM MY DOOR Anti-Red Plot Has River Shift As. Politicial Nemesis Hollywood, Nov, 9, ,Owen Crump, currently in Europe, closed a deal to release his indie feature,- "The River Changes,” through . Warners. Pic- ture, filmed neat the Communist border, shows, the plight of the vil- lagers when a flood alters the river’s course arid puts them be- hind the Iron Curtain. Cast of the .fill , which will be completed in Hollywood, is headed by Rosanne Rory of. Italy and Har- old Marisch of Gerrii.any, with vil- lagers playing, minor roles. Motion Picture Export Assn, prexy Eric Johnston leaves N. Y. today tJVedV) for a. month’s, tour of Australia and the Far - East,. He expects to return hoi around pec. 15. While Johnston’s Australian visit is more in the nature of a goodwill mission than anything else- his stopovers in Manila, the Philip- pines, arid in Japan have specific film biz. import. In the Philippines about $3,000,000 is froaen and Johnston will attempt to unthaw that coin. In Japan, where import restric- tions are looming for next year, Johnston will discuss the situa- tions with Japanese industry and government' officials, priori to the start of official n e g o t i a t i o ri s. The; MPEA prexy originally had planned to stop off at Hong-Kong arid Singapore, but these places have now been: stricken from his 'itinerary. ON GEAR, EXH1BS TOLD: St. Louis, Nov. .9. , Smalltown theatres were warned, to consider many, .factors, before deciding,, on large; screen projec- tion and- new types of equipment. Advice on these matters vvas given; by Albert M, Pickus, vip, of The- atre Owners of America,' to the. Missouri - Illinois Theatre Owners Assn, at its annual convention at the Chase Hotel here yesterday (Mon.), Pickus declared, that "there, is no necessity to change from the so-called small screen to a larger picture ralib,. provided,, however, that 2 : D prints of Cinemascope, and of the. other new processes pictures, are made available.” He pointed out that. A1 Lichl man, 2()th-Fox sales chief, said at the’ TOA Chicago convention last week "that, his company’s CinciriaScope pictures were riot yet available in 2-D; that he., hoped they never would be, even though his : pany still .intended to- keep it? promise to release them.” Pickus said that exhibs willing to 'wait for that day have, ho prob- lem, but for those who could not Mail because of a product short- age or coihp.elilion, he suggested, the installation of iarge screen at. a cost of not more, than $1,000 ..arid the purchase of a pair of anamorphic lenses at $750, He stressed that there was no need to make any: investment ’ .slerco- .plionic sound, He : advised exhibs to "rnake these 'decisions after 1 due irivesti- gali " and pot to “get high pres : ’sufed. irito things you do riot \yaiit or do not need.” He suggested they consider these factors: ( 1 ) “VVhat. is your coiopetitive po- sition? Are you being hurt be-' cause you have not modernized jour projection, equipment? What are your neighbors doing? (2) "What amount of product is avail- able to you if you do nothing, or, if you do part; if you do all?” Chicago, Nov.. 10. First Operation of subscription television, inay take place in Ays-, trialia arid New Zealand. Rola Co. of Melbourne, and Zenith . Radio Corp. have entered a deal whereby Rola, which .'manufactures radio and tv components,, has the rights, to Zenith’s Phorievision toll, ty sys- tem. Company intends to. seek early governmental green-lighting and indications are the, down-under countries will: experience this new commercial adaptation, of tv ahead of the U. S. ' I ,. Leonard C. Webb, managing di-} >rector of Rola, via a press state- 1 ment, said that neither-government sponsorship nor advertising have been able to solve the major tv costs problems in many countries (Australia doesn’t have video yet)’ and. he figures Phoneyisiori might Well be 1 the answer.. It will make “television broadcasting in Austra- lia commercially profitable arid cul- turally outstanding without danger of .over-cqmmercialization," !he opines. Eugene McDonald, Zenith presi- dent,. said. his. company is "well advanced” in working out licensing agreements in other countries. Studio Overhead! Wife Goes Along Washington,.Nov. 9. Eric Johnston who took off today for San Francisco on the first- leg of a trip to the Far East is accom- panied by. Mrs. ' Johnston, secre- tary Merri Siriith and: ide Leo Hockstetter/ Schedule calls for their departure from .Frisco to- morrow (Wed.)'- direct: to Sydney, Australia. Johnston called on President Eisenhower Friday. (5) to invite him to speak at a" conference in New Orleans in February to pro- mote private investment in Latin Ariierica. v He made the visit in his. capacity, as chairman : of the Inter- national Development , Advisory. Board and, was accompanied by Life-Time exric C.. p. Jackson, former White House aide. Subscription-tv holds "enormous possibilities” for Hollywood, 20tli-Fox producer Julian Blaustein opined in N.Y. last weeld The most recent of a long string of Hollywood names to express interest in toll-tv, Blaustein said .it was his impression that 85% of the Screen Producers Guild members agreed with, him on that point. L He , added that he wasnt familiar with the technical, details and difficulties, but that, he was impressed with the theoretical earn- ings potential of films via pay-as-you^see* "They’re throwing around figures, like $20,000,000 and $30,000,000,” he said., "1*4 be quite happy- if it runs to no more than a paltry $10,000,000 peri film.” There’s one thing Blaustein objects to* re the -showing Of pix, on video: Those tv screens aren’t big enough! DINNER CONCERT Music and Ballet Cultural Salute To Spyros Skouras ’ O'. A special dinner-concert honor- ing Spyros Skouras "for. his many years, of active support of cultural and educational institutions In Is- rael” will be held Jari; 5 at the Waldorf-Astoria, S. H. (Si) Fabian is. chairman of the sponsoring com- mittee. Program of music and, ballet al- ready .includes Robert Merrill, Rise Stevens, and Pierre Monteux with either-the NBC or N. Y. Philhar- monic Orchestra., Ballet stars'■will be added. Drive-In Share ; Continued: from page: 7■; Conti ued- frdiri page .7'; becoine particularly pressing when scripts are skedded faster than an- ticipated, he said. The 20lh producer said Holly- wpod was; no .different from any- one else in looking high and low for proper subject material and ad libbed that it Was important for the studios to turn 'out pix that ..are good as M’ell as commercial. Latter tag alone, he thought, increased the chances of failure. Future projects on the Blaustein docket include "A Many Spleri- clored Thing,” which John Packard is scripting; "Good Morning Miss Dove,” for Wliidh no writer has been assigned, and Hamilton; Bas- so’s,“View. From Pompcy’s Head,”: Which - 20th acquired last, week for $75,000, and which Philip .Dunne, will adapt for the screen. Blaustein explained: that he would have liked Basso doing the job, but that the novel was a tricky subject to dra’i - atize. ; Blaustei indicated hri; had no particular preference doing bestsellers, as against originals, ' bul observed that the latter seemed to '.provide the producer with more, of a challenge. its. Cinemascope pix couldn’t be played without stereo sound. Few drive-in operators saw tlreir way clear to undertaking this expense. When 20th dropped its sound bars, however, drive-ins began convert- ing to C’Scope, with wide screens and lenses. At the moment, 1,217 drive-ins are equipped for C'Scope out. of a. total of some 4,100 ozoners in. the country. Conversion to the wider screens has been most, pronounced in the south, southwest arid far west, where the . openairers keep their doors open the year 'round. . Distribution execs say one of the Outstanding drive-in develop- ments of tlie year Has been the: trend for tlie ozOners to go first- run. This means more money for. the companies. At the same time' it makes it impossible to arrive, at an accurate comparison of 1954 drive-in revenue with 1953. Sales toppers say that, from their point of view this has been the iriost lucrative drive-in season on record, which, is due in part also to the still .growing number of ozoner installations. Feeling is that the d rive- ins, while they obvioasly drain 'oTF a certain percentage of customers from the regular houses, attract.a completely different audi- ence. Attempt is being made by some: of the ozoners to lengthen their season via special' heating devices. Latter have been installed ' >.: a couple of. drive-ins and'the results are being watched with interest. If the response of George .<3. McConriaughey,. the Federal Trade Commission chairman, before the annual meeting of the National Assn, of Educational Broadcasters in N. Y. recently could be talcen as an indication of what’s in the wind, proponents of toll-tv will have a long wait before the FCC calls a hearing on that issue: McConnaughey skipped all dis- cussion of fee-tv in his speech be- fore the educational broadcasters. Later on, answering questions, -lie neatly juggled that hot potato by Simply declaring that he wasn’t familiar with any of the problems involved. ... Observers took this to mean that, with its chairman yet to.. be briefed on such fundamentalissues. as pay-as-you-see, the' commission M'asn’t likely, to be in a rush to set a hearing date.- / Chicago,. Nov. 9. Radio and tv plugs by local com- mentators for tomorrow’s (Wed,) "Disneyland” on ABC-TV have led to a misunderstanding that has irked some .15 exhibs here Who are day-arid-dating the "A” week- of "Vanishing Rriairie:” The plugs, it’s felt, are giving the public the notion that “Prairie” is being shown in -its entirety for free on television. Exhibs, of course, had paid a good price for the pie which opened last Friday (5) arid wrire afraid of losing biz over the Weekend because of. the an- nouncements abdut television's "Disneyland.” Exhibitor, complaints led to post haste publicity work on the part of the local Disney: bureau to cor- rect the: misunderstanding in the press and on the brioadcasting media. Actually, the "Disneyland” program will show behind ,the ^scenes work the filming , of "Prairie” and. very little of the actual pic at all. In the end, thi should hypo the filrp at the thea- tres, just as the. extra corrective publicity helped this past week- end. Continued from pafte 3 Omaha, Nov. 9. Burglars -who took $800 from « safe at a 'Denver .drive-in last Meek obviously didn’t pay much atten- tion to the show playing there at the time. It was. ‘.‘Dragnet.” able from sources other than the majors, “we’ll be able to be more selective at. ..Christmas tim and can, if riecessary,. bypass the ma- jor: company offerings,” one the- alremen said. Lie asserted that it’s too bad that DCA did,not have its first production, “Long John 'Silver,” ready for Christmas dis- ■ tributipn. “If it were possible for j DCA to have the picture avail- jable.” h said, “the major com- panies m* uld learn for the first time m hat direction. exhibitors J would take if they had a choice,” Continued from pace 3 age. of the profits on each picture they make. 'Under "the arrangement Seaton and Perlberg, make two pix a year. On one Seaton serves: as writer- director arid Perlberg as producer. This was: the arrangement on "Country Girl.” On the. second, pic, "Toko-Ri,” for example, Seaton and Perlberg are the co-producers. .Valentine Daves wrote the screen-, f play and Mark Robson directed, j Next project on the Seaton- j Perlberg slate is the film version ■ of the Lucy. Herndon Crockett i novel, “The Magnificent Bastards,” | which is being laundered to."Dev- : ils” for, the screen; It’s a story ol a .Marine and a Red Cross girl in the Pacific. William Holden and Deborah Kerr are set for the leads, Shootirig starts next July in the South Pacific. Re-Makes Continued front page .7 original picture). "Daddy Long- legs” and “It Happened One Night” also are being re-made as tuners. More Examples Classic example, of course, is WB’s "A Star Is Born,” jilst re- leased as a musical starring Jivcly Garland. The 1937 Selznick Version of the same theme was straight drama and played Radio City Music Hall in N. Y. with considerable success. Couple of other examples are the upcoming “Ben Hul” from Metro, W'hich the studio did twice before, in 1926 arid 1931. Metro’s "Hit the Deck,” due for 195$ release, was done by RKO in 1930, and. the stu- dio’s "Beau Bruirimeil” was first made by WB. in 1924 . "Rose Marie,” the Metro CinemaScoper, also had been lenSed by the studio on two prior occasions, in 1936 and in 1028. Paramount is going in for re- makes with- a vengeance. It has Cecil B. bcMilld’s “Ten Command- ments” coming up, ’ and Michael Curtiz is skedded to haye another go at ‘‘Covered Wagon,” one of the riiost celebrated, of the early west-.' efrisri Bing Crosby is slated for “Anything Goes,” which Par made before in 1036, and Martin & Lewis will star in "Anything, Goes,” filmed in 1942 with Ginger Rogers arid Ray Millahd. There’s been talk of David O. Selznick remaking "A FarevVell to Arms” and WB is said to be con- sidering filming "One Way Pas- sage’’ .again. J. Arthur Rank has. had another g 0 at "Romeo and Juliet” arid Sir Alexander Korda is remaking his celebrated "Four Feathers,” this time: with all the widescreen trimmings. Ditto 20th with "The Rains Came” and .WB With its "Helen of Troy” - which it fast made in 1927. ST. LOUIS TOA MEETING HEARS ALEX HARRISON St. Louis, . Nov. 9, Prediction that there will jbe 10,000 theatres in the U. S. geared for CineniaScope films irt 1955 was expressed by Alex Harrison, sistant to the general sales man- ager of 20th-Century-Fox at tli opening of the two-day annual con- vention of the MissOuri-Jllinois Theatre Owners at Hotel Chase Monday, About 60.0 were in attend- ance. Harrison also declared that it is the. trade policy of his company to make Cinemascope films avail- able to all theatres on a basis of what they can afford to pay. He expressed regret that i instances- the ■ optical sound ver- sion of pictures have become avail- able before. the full stereophonic sound prints were delivered by the laboratories. Commenting upon the number of houses being readied for Cinemascope, Harrison said there are 4,900 with the opti- cal sound, versions and about 3,500 equipped for full stereophonic sound, but. the present ratio of new installations: favors full stereo- phonic sound. In 1955 there should be Cfroi all distribs) some 125 new Cinema- Scope pictures. Herman Levy, general council of TOA, stated that there is nothing wrong with ; the industry which steady flow of reasonably good pix made available at reasonable rent-, als can’t cure; He ;ma.de a,.vigorous, appeal for exhibs in this area to participate in the proposed new financing' company that is to be formed to encourage picture pro- duction by indies. Each exhib M»as asked, to invest one, week’s film rental in the new organization. Levy deplored development of a sellers’ market with a . shortage of product, a shortage of prints and filrii rentals reaching a point im- possible for most exhibs to’’meet and. make:, a profit, or to even pay themselves a week’s wages. Others who. addressed the meet- ings were Sgt. Hugh" Nelson of U. S., Air Force, Edward Arthur; Tom Bailey, Albert Pickus, George Kerasotes, Louis Ansell, Mike Si- mons, William T. Powell, Paul Krueger, Kroger Babb, Alfred StalT, E. D. Marti