Variety (December 1954)

12 INTERNATIONAL •VARIITV'r LONDON OPPICI I >t. ymin'i flaw, Trililiir Huif Tories-Labor Wind Up Debate; British Due for Corn! TV Neext Fall London, Nov. 30. < Tlie Labor opposition has had its say, the Tory government has stood firmly by its policy and there now Is no practical obstacle to the in- troduction of commercial tele in Britaiil next fall. Only a Socialist victory in a general election could upset thd calculations, but Con- servative ministers in last week’s House of fommuns debate inti- mated they would be happy to fight an election on this issue in view of the fact that more than a million multi-channel receivers* will have been sold by next year. A Labor motion requesting the government to amend or repeal the recently adopted Television Act was defeated by 300 votes to 268, after David Gammans. the Assis- tant Postmaster-General had de- scribed it as an attempt to fight the battle of the act over again. Main spokesman for the opposi- tion was Herbert Morrison, deputy leader of the Labor Party, who challenged the inclusion of press lords among the first batch of pro- gram contractors, and felt that this might restrict objective criticism. He also argued that formation of the new network was leading to an unholy scramble between the BBC and others for artists and staffs. After assuring the House that Lord Rothermere and Lord Kern sley 'two of the press barons) would no more be able to influence their programs to the right than Sidney Bernstein, who was a fully paid-up member of the Labor Party, would be able to influence his programs to the ldft, the As- sistant PMG charged Morrison with assuming the role of Sir Gala- had with a mission to save the Brit- ish people from a fate worse than death. Harrv Crookshank. Lord Privy Seal, winding the debate for the government, outlined the plans for llie news service of the commercial web. it was likely, he said, that there would be a news company, a federation of the four program contractors, and the Independent Television Authority would be re- sponsible for the objectivity and Impartiality of the service. MEX FILM BIZ SEEKS PLAYDATES IN CUBA Mexico City, Nov. 3(k. Cuba is the newest intensified foreign market target for Mexican pix which the trade’s bank. Banco National Cinematografico. has cho- sen. The bank launched the Cuban drive with an investment of $550.- 000 '$300,000 to establish an ex- change in Uavana and $250,000 for a long-lease on four cinemas). Lat- ter will be showcases in the Cuban capital for Mexican pix. Bank hopes to erase friction which some Mexican pix provoked in Cuba, particularly Havana, through the exchange there and channelling only true Cuban-taste films there. Aussie Singer Preems In ‘Whittington’ Role. Manchester, Nov. 30. Tom Arnold is presenting Joy Nichols, Australian singer, in the title role of ‘ Dick Whittington” j at the Palace Theatre, here. Son-j nie Hale is playing Dame and Brian Reece Idle Jack. Arnold, a leading British showman, has five major provincial pantomimes op- j erating. Vic Oliver is his ‘‘Old King Cole” at the Grand Theatre, Leeds, and A1 Read, north-of-Eng- lind comedian, is Buttons in "Cinderella” at the Empire, Liver- pool. At the Theatre Royal, Birming- ham, Arnold has joined forces wiih Emile Littler to present "Puss In Boots,” with Jewel & Warriss as comedians. He is fea- ; luring Norman Evans and Betty ! Jumcl in “Humpty Dumpty” at , the Theatre Royal, Nottingham. j For first time in years. Tom Arn- • old has not put a pantomime into Scotland. East-West Reich Renew Pic Trade Bonn, Nov. 30. The Bonn government has given its official sanction to the Interna- 1 tional Film Handling Corp. of Bonn to deal in films between East Germany and West Germany. It has asked all West German pro- ducers and distributors to work through this organization in mak- ing arrangements for showings in East Germany. The government has specifically told the West Ger- man companies not to work direct- ly with the Red agencies DEFA and Sovexport. It is presently illegal to deal with the Easterners without a permit from Bonn, which has kept the | crossover of pix down to a mini- mum. But in view of the increased interest of people in East Germany to see the products from the other side, the government has decided to change its method of operation. IFHC is permitted both to do ex- change deals for films and to buy films outright for showing to East Germany since there is a far greater demand there for West pix than there is in West Germany for the Iron Curtained products. NUMBER OF MEX PIX IN PROD. UP SHARPLY Mexico City, Dec. 7. Marked volume comeback in film production in Mexic* by Mexi- cans and foreigners, latter mostly ! Nathan D. Golden (Director of the Motion Picture Division of the U.5. Oepf. of Commerce) recaps tho film bis abroad in a comprehensive pitco U . S. Overseas Pix Earnings Set New Mark * * * an tditorial feature in the forthcoming 49th Anniversary Number of P'fcfllETY * * . - British Equity Would Launch Rep Companies To Solve Unemployment London, Nov. 30. A plan to regulate entry into the profession, with the main ob- jective of solving unemployment among actors, was debated at a special session of British Actors Equity. It was decided to make a start with repertory < stock > com- panies. A motion to this effect was adopted by 163 votes to 102. At the same meeting. Equity launched its campaign for stand- ard contract for television, includ- ing live performances and tele- films. An instruction would go out to members to refuse engagements starting March 1 unless satisfactory terms had been negotiated in the meantime. The special Equity session, con- vened primarily to consider the unemployment situation, was told that statistics showed 1.300 union members were claiming the dole each week. On average, an actor worked 33 weeks each year and one-third of the members earned an average of less than $14 a week. The union, it was reported, was now negotiating a series of im- ported wage scales including a London minimum of $28 a week, a touring minimum of $14 and $19.60 in repertory. Increased rates are demanded for twice-nightly pro- ductions. MAGICO KALANAG SET FOR ’55 EUROPE TOUR Edinburgh, Nov. 30. Kalanag (Charles Kwald», cur- rently at the Empire Theatre here with his musical-magico show, has a European tour lined up for 1955. After a Christmas season at Shrewsbury. Eng., he has dates at Lyons, Paris and Marseilles, and will then take his production to Vienna. He is set to open a new vaude house, the Torgoot, in Is- tanbul, Turkey. In 1956 Kalanag plans to visit Australia after a re- turn trek to South Africa. He carries a 35-strong company of various nationalities, plus 20 tons of equipment in four contain- er-vans. His leading lady is Gloria de Vos, a Swedish actress. Italo Film Weeks Now Expand Into Far East Rome, Dec. 7. Unitalia Film, local organization for the promotion of Italian pix abroad, is following* up its recent successful film week in London with a series of film weeks in the Far East. Promotional weeks, with cultural ticins and aid from Italian embassies for prestige purposes, are scheduled for Djakarta iMarch 1-7 1 . Sydney. Australia (March 15- 21'. Manila 'March 27-30>, with a gala event winding up the tour in Tokyo. April 8-14. A delegation of stars, directors, and producers will attend the last- named. which fits into the Italian industry’s new Nippo-Italian co- production setup. Hollywood pix. looms for 1954, with the film btz now figuring that the year’s total will be 110. This | is good but below the 126 turned out in 1951. However, rnojit of the '51 crop were boxoflice duds here and abroad. i Trade estimate is based upon the completion of 103 up to Nov. 24, of which Americans made seven. The Mexican productions include 15 ‘ quickies,” mostly made in two weeks. Brit. Singer’s Aussie Tour London, Nov. 30. David Hughes, young British singer, planes to Australia Dec. 20 to top the vaude at the Tivoli. Syd- ney. opening Dec. 26. He lias signed a five-week contract with David N. Martin. Hughes goes on to America early next year. He is mulling cabaret and tv dates in California and Las Vegas. To make the Aussie trip he has had to bow’ out of the current ‘‘Forces Show” on the BBC. 3 Mex City Cinemas Fold Mexico City, Dec. 7. High costs and increasingly low J grosses forced the shuttering of three local subsequent-run cine- mas—the Cines Bravo and Diaz do Leon, owned by Miguel Bravo Mata, and the Condesa. which Edu- ( ardo Chavez Garcia owns. They explained that wages to unionists, members of the National Cinema- tographic Industry Workers Union • STIC), and low admittance prices that the local city amusements su- pervision department ceilinged late in 1952 made it impossible for ; them io stay in business. j Shutterings were decided upon when STIC demanded revision of labor contracts, featuring another lj>ay hike. See-Hear System Continued from page 2 tern. Idea may spread now to all straight-play houses. Desmond Clements-Finncrty is pioneer in this new field and does both adaptation and readings. The device, known as the Sono- phone, is the creation of the So- ciete Industrielle d’Acoustique. Present guinea-pig Sonophone is Claude Accursi-Jean Ferry comedy- farce, "La Machine a Coudre” (The Sewing Machine). Play is neatly acted by Maxime- Fabert, Dominique Page and Yves Massard. While dialog is often bright, some rate the broadcast adaptation as better than actual original text. This should be of great use to many U. S. and Brit- ish producers who come to the city to see plays. Finnerty is now at work on the Comedie-Francaise show. Another legit experiment was the opening of the P. Tiglio-E. Morel comedy, "Ce Cher Abel” (That Dear Abel), which opened without ! inviting critics. Plan is to see if , the play can gain patronage with- joul any reviews. British Film Biz Mulls New Plan For Picking Future Royal Films . U. S. Vande Names Set For ’55 Scot Teeoffs Glasgow', Dec. 7. Glasgow will be the teeing-oflf point for most of the 1955 crop of American disk singers and vaude stars. The Empire Theatre is regarded as a good showcase to test patron and crix’ reaction. The Four Aces are set to open here March 28 for one week, later visit- ing Edinburgh, Birmingham, New- castle, Liverpool and Leeds. They will follow Don Cornell, who is due at the Empire, Glas- gow', for the week' of March 21. Kitty Kallen is pacted for a vaude week here in late April. She will make a four-week tour of key Brit- ish vauderies. Sports TV Hurts’ B.O., Say Exhibs London, Nov. 30. British exhibitors are becoming increasingly concerned at the ef- ! feet on the boxoffice of telecasts of major sporting events. Twice within a fortnight the b.o. took a countrywide dive when live trans- missions of international football matches between Russian and English t^ams were featured on the BBC-TV night programs. In each case, tele cameras cov- ered the second-half of the game only for direct transmissions, but made a complete film record for ; airing -■ night later. It was the simultaneous program that took its toll of the boxoffice. Extent to which film theatres suffered varied in different parts of the country. ! Some exhibs said biz was down by i as much as 70 r c. Theatre owners are concerned at the increasing tendency to televise international matches. Tomorrow’ afternoon (Wed.). BBC-TV will be covering the England-tv Berlin match. As an experiment, the transmission is being picked up by eight theatres. A week later (7) the inter-varsity contest between Oxford and Cambridge will be cov- ered by a live telecast. Paal Returns to U. S. to Set Distrib-Prod. Deals London, Dec. 7. Alexander Paal, who recently arrived from Hamburg to set a I deal for United Kingdom release of his "Columbus Discovers Krah- j winkel,” returns to the U S. to- morrow' tWed.) on the Queen Elizabeth. He produced and di- rected the film in Germany. While in New York, Paal will also arrange a U. S. distribution deal for "Columbus.” Then he heads for the Coast to ready his next venture, "The Garden of Love.” A biopic on painter Rubens, it will star Jose Ferrer, who'll also direct. FRIENDLY WARNINGS Washington Dailies Chide Film Men for Recent ‘Art’ Washington, Dec. 7. Midtown exhibitors have re- 1 ceived warnings from city’s two largest dailies—Evening Star and Post-Times-Herald—to clean ufr their film ads. Both papers sent reps to explain to the theatre men ! about reader complaints on art in recent display advertising. Though no films were specifically i mentioned, it is understood prin- cipal offenders were "Barefoot Contessa ’ and the Gina Lolio- brigida import. "Bread. Love and Dreams.” Large opening display copy is generally provided by the distributors. Warning here was entirely on a j friendly basis with no advertising dropped and no changes demanded in copy already accepted by the papers. Exhibitors expressed will- ingness to cooperate and said they would notify main offices. Last time such warnings were dropped by the papers was about l.tjiree years ago. , ^ . ’ London, Dec. 7. A special session of the execu- tive committee of the Cinemato- graph Trade Benevolent Fund has been called for this week to de- cide what steps should be taken to counter the outcry against the selection of "Beau Brummell” for this year’s Royal film gala. The confab is expected to be more than a mere inquest; it will map a new oolicy to be tried out next year. Reports that the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh have protested against the choice of “Brummell” have added to the concern within the industry, and have given a sense of urgency to this week's meeting. Leading industry executives are convinced that radical changes in the method of selection will be in- troduced next year and that either a representative of the Lord Cham- berlain’s office or an official of Buckingham Palace will be invited to join the panel to insure that the chosen film is suitable for a royal occasion. # A proposal on these lines already has been advocated by Sir Alex- andre Korda, who also suggested the inclusion of the chairman of the Critics Circle on the selection committee. Tom O’Brien, M.P., calling for the resignation of the selection committee, has suggested that the "delicate function” of picking the royal film should be left to a small body of members of the Queen’s Household. ‘LOVE’ LOOKS LEAN FOR LONDON; AABEL CLICKS London. Dec. 7. Margaret Hew’es made her bow in local management (in associa- tion with S. T. P. (Theatres) Ltd.), with the presentation of Account- ing For Love,” adapted from the French by her son. Henry Hewes, at the Saville Theatre Dec. 1. Production is notable for intro- ducing the star of the Oslo Nation- al Theatre, Per Aabel, who scored a major personal triumph. The farcical plot, however, is too dated for present-day tastes and has slender hopes of survival. John Clements Plays Ltd. pre- sented "The Little Glass Clock ’ by Hugh Mills at the Aldwych last Saturday <3) after a provincial tryout. Witty, sexy 18th Century comedy, starring John Clements and Kay Hammond, may succeed on the stars’ popularity. Directed by John Clements, this artistic production glamorizes a thin story. U. S. Cartoons Get Tax Break in W. Germany Frankfurt, Nov. 30. Hollywood cartoons, which for- merly were not allowable for re- ductions in the German amuse- ment tax when shown with a film here, have just been included in for tax reduction, according to a the group eligible to be classified new German ruling. Minister Erhart Maurher. speaking for all West German Ministers of Culture, announced that the new minimum length for shorts eligible for "spe- cial sanction” (a reduction in the amusement tax from 20 % to 25 r o of theatre ticket price) has been lowered from 250 meters to 150 meters. Shorts of a minimum 150 meters, instead of the former 250,' are seen by a special German board which classifies them according to value for the viewers. • Those deemed worthy can be shown with I a reduced amusement tax. Hoyts Rallying Anni Of C’Scope in Aussie Sydney, Nov. 30. Hoyts loop will stage first birth- day of CinemaScope here next month. "The Robe” initially lifted the drapes C’Scope at the Sydney Regent last Dec. 9. Hoyts, with its partner, 20th- Fox, will spend freely to bally the birthday theme, and has lined up some strong pix. The 20th-Fox pix already selected for Sydney are “Three Coins in Fountain” at the Regent, "Long John Silver” at the Plaza, "Woman’s World” ft i the Mayfair and "Hajji Baba” play- ing the Esquire. .