Variety (December 1954)

10 PICTURES Wednesday, December 22, 1934 Panama Vexed at Canal Zone Priority fuMu tw-up Proposed Law Threatens Fine Against Pictures Shown First in Yankee-Controlled Strip Law establishing a 45%»sliding scale rental ceiling and threatening fines on pix released in the Canal Zone before they’re shown in Pan- ama has been introduced in the Panamanian legislature by Deputy Alfredo Aleman Jr. Measure, according to informa- tion received by the Motion Pic- ture Export Assn., sets the rental ceiling at 45% for the firstruns charging 60c admissions. For the second-run situations, the rental top would be 35 % on weekends and 30% in midweek. Other houses would pay 25% tops. Aleman also has proposed fixing admission prices at a 60c top, with theatres allowed to charge more only on "exceptional shows” or special films. In the past, it had been the prac- tice to release pix in the Canal Zone first and then in Panama. Calling this discrimination an in- justice, Aleman’s bill proposes that, on any film released in the Canal Zcne first, the rental ceiling be dropped an additional 10% in all categories of theatres. Large-scale fines, and a threat of license can- cellation for any outfit unwilling to abide by this regulation, are em- bodied in the Aleman measure. Unfair to Next Film! Chicago, Dec. 21. Abe Teitel, operator of World Playhouse in Chi, nixed IFE requests for two-a-day showcasing of "Aida” at ad- vanced prices. Pic, which opens for Christmas, will get six continuous shows a day with regular admish of 98c. Teitel said he felt a price boost for an individual film would tend to make patrons feel that regular price pix were inferior. Berlin and Army Fund May Reissue Soldier Pic; WB’s $7,800,000 to GIs Before turning over the negative of Irving Berlin’s "This Is the Army” to This Is the Army Inc., for the Army Emergency Relief Fund, Warner Bros., which pro- duced the World War II soldier show picture sought to purchase the negative. Warner offered $50,000, but Berlin Insisted that $200,000 would be a fairer figure, feeling that the picture was worth that much for theatrical reissue or for tv rights. The picture earned over $7,800,- 000 for the Army fund. Previously, the legit show on which the pic was based earned about $2,000,000 for the same fund. , Berlin is turning over all profits from the score of "This Is the Army” to the God Bless America Fund, an organization which al- ready has $250,000 in the till from Berlin’s "God Bless America.” Since this coin goes to the Girl and Boy Scouts of America Foun- dation, Berlin feels the Scouts should also get the "Army” song royalties since "the Scouts will make up our future Army.” In December, 1943, when the picture was released, the then Undersecretary of War, Robert Patterson, termed "This Is the Army” a notable and “effective stimulus to civilian morale” and as a "splendid contribtuion to Army Emergency Relief” by War- ners and Irving Berlin. 20th ’54 Rentals, Under Year Ago Domestic film rentals of 20th* Fox this year are expected to yield slightly over $65,000,000, a drop of about $2,000,000 from 1953 when U. S. and Canadian rentals ran to over $67,000,000. In 1952. the domestic take was $57,430,000. Accounting in part for the cut in rental collections are the reduc- tion in numerical releases (20th had 30 in all in ’54), the partial loss of the drive-in season this year, and the very strong showing of "The Robe” in the last quarter of ’53. Foreign rentals of 20th in 1953 ran to $38,353,000 and it’s consid- ered douhtful whether 1954 will see this figure exceeded or even reached. 20th is the second company to ex- perience a drop in domestic film rentals this year. Warner Bros., also with fewer pix, is in the same boat. However, the WB annual report said that an increase in foreign rentals had more than made up for the deficiencies in the domestic take compared with 1953. Last earnings report of 20th showed a net of $5,732,063 for the 39 weeks ended Sept. 25, 1954. This compared to a net of $1,433,- 000 for the corresponding period in 1953. Continued from pact S a run for his money, results in a space payoff for the film company. The mere clothing of a film star In a particular gown for a fashion magazine ad is an example of a quick space-grabbing effort. The ideal promotion is one based on the fashions in the picture. At the inception of production, a manu- facturer is contacted with the sug- gestion that a line of women’s fashions inspired by a particular picture could be merchandised ef- fectively by combining the vast bally activities of the film company with the manufacturer’s own pro- motional efforts. The fashion "inspiration” can be copying modern clothes on a Hol- lywood fashion designer or adapt- ing the wardrobe of a costume pic- ture for modern usage. When agreement on the "line,” is set, the promotional machinery is oiled. The fashion mags, a potent force in setting styles, play a key role in advancing the new designs. Special advertising and editorial matter is arranged. In addition, the mags, such as Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Mademoiselle, etc., lend their merchandising knowhow to the effort. The nation’s department stores then enter the picture. Special windows are planned, fashion- shows may be arranged, and spe- cial local advertising is set. In all activities, of course, the film gets its plug. Frequently, the local theatre may use its lobby or stage to cross plug the manufac- turer’s wares and the department store where they are sold. The film company fieldmen -are often the liaison men responsible for setting up the multi-pltig promo- tion. Metro has been one of the lead- ers in fashion promotion. It is one of the few companies that re- tains a full-time fashion coordi- nator on its staff. She’s Frances Lane, w hose sole duty is to dream up and arrange the deals with man- ufacturers, fashion magazines, and department stores. As a result of Miss Lane’s efforts and those of the gals at other film companies, manufacturers have frequently made a "killing” with a line in- spired by a film. Recently, for example, Metro’s "Brigadoon” re- sulted in a new wave of Scotch plaid garments. I New York Sound Track I 800 NEW ENGLANDERS TRAIN TO MUSIC HALL Nearly 800 New Englanders traveled to N. Y. last Friday (17) night on the special New Haven Railroad Show Train to see the Radio City Music Hall’s annual Christmas stageshow and "Deep in My Heart.” The New Haven’s show train has been a semi-annual affair ever since 1951, New England pa- trons coming both for the Easter show and the Xmas program. The railroad puts together a special train, appropriately decorated, with a public address system and two cars having buffet service. Besides railroad reps on the train, it carries a Music Hall rep- resentative, some of the Rockettes and members of the ballet. This year it was sold out to capacity (all reserved mezzanine seats) weeks ago. The next train will be for the Hall’s Easter show, and comes into N. Y. April 15. The CONSULTANT SAYS HE’S ‘WATERFRONT’ CARBON "On the Waterfront,” isn’t a fic- tional dramatization of life on the Jersey docks but is based upon his own personal experiences, Anthony De Vincinzo charged yesterday (Tues.) in a $1,000,000 damage suit brought in N. Y. Federal Court Action, which claims his right of privacy was Invaded, names pro- ducer Sam Spiegel and Columbia Pictures, the film’s distributor, as defendants. A former waterfront hiring boss Lutherans’ Back Continued from pace 5 pected to rack up another 1,000 engagements in the U. S. Mean- while it has opened abroad with success ranging from good to ex- cellent. Oddly enough, it did poor- ly in some of the urban centers in Scandinavia, where, theoretically, it should have earned big coin. In other places, such as Switzer- land and Australia, it started slow but built up to sock b.o. Film so far hasn’t been shown in Catholic countries, such as Spain, France and Italy and, Lee said, "we’re not rushing it there.” Under the setup with 20th-Fox, which Is handling "Luther” in most places abroad, Lutheran Church Productions via its European affil- Mark Robson came in on the lie de France yesterday (Tues.) after directing "Prize of Gold,” Columbia pic, in England and Germany . . , Barney Balaban, president of Paramount, named chairman of the Jan. 13 Waldorf-Astoria dinner which launches Brotherhood Week . . , Harold Hecht and James Hill are due in N.Y. from the Coast Sunday (26) and head for London after a 10-day stay . . . Hill is to produce "Trapeze” for Hecht-Lancaster Productions in England next September and the two are abroading to set the preliminaries. Italy’s Ponte di Laurentlis, producing team starts lensing its version of "War and Peace” March 1. They’ve got a script all ready . . . Uni- versal has 20 fiehl men out exploiting key city openings of "Sign of the Pagan” and "So This Is Paris” and the New England territorial preems or "Six Bridges To Cross” . . . Mike Todd may get Carol Reed to direct "Around the World in 80 Days” . . . U.S. distribs are appar- ently helpless in the face of the continuing Indian practice of copy- catting Hollywood pix and embellishing them with native treatments. India doesn’t have a law to stop this "custom” . . . After trying its hand at optical subtitling of its CinemaScopers, Metro has given up the experiment and has again signed up with the Titra titling outfit in N.Y. which puts ’em on the mechanical way . . . Ted Grohnich, Motion Picture Export Assn, rep in Germany,^in N.Y. following his brother’s death . . . "Co-existence” gets a new meaning—this one outside the political sphere—in the year-end message to the field from A1 Lichtman, 20th-Fox director of sales. He uses it to describe a happy relationship between 20th and its exhib customers. John Hennegan of the Cincinnati lithography house of the same name, adopted Variety as format for his, and wife Helen’s, Christmas greeting . . . it’s a 12-page bit of Yuletide spoofing with the neatest touch of all a simulated letter from Robert K. Shapiro of the Para- mount Theatre, the kind the managing director writes to actors and they use on the backcover . . . Inez Robb of the N.Y. World-Tele was not upset about the remaking of "Birth of A Nation” for the reasons others expressed—possible spreading of Ku Klux Klan apologetics— but because she resented impertinence of the new Phil Ryan syndicate in thinking it could tamper with the art of D. W. Griffith. She de- scribed her enthusiasm as imbibed from her grandmother, an unre- constructed Southerner. «^Iore than 1,000 exhibitors from all parts of Spain attended the Perspecta Sound demonstration at the Windsor Palace Theatre in Bar- celona last week . . . Robert Clark, production chief of Associated British Pictures Corp., conferring with Jack L. Warner on the Coast before returning to London over the weekend . . . Carl Schaefer, for- eign publicity chief at the Warner studio, in New York after a trip to London, Paris, Rome, Madrid, Lisbon, and Cacablanca. He Coasts over the weekend . . . Four experimental films of the Twenties, including early works of Rene Clair and Fernand Lecer, inaugurated the new series of 10 lectures and film showings at the New School of Research last Thursday (16). Course is being conducted by Arthur Knight, film critic of the Saturday Review of Literature . . . Henry Fonda in N. Y. from the Coast to spend the holidays with his family after completing "Mr. Roberts” for Warner Bros. Karl Hoblitxelle, Interstate Circuit prez, has been Awarded a papal decoration, the Medal of. Good Merit, although not a Catholic. He donated $100,000 toward the $250,000 building fund for 'the new St. Peter’s Academy school building in Dallas . . . Harry Cohn is spend- ing more and more time in N.Y. on the prowl for legit properties. Friday’s (17) meeting of Columbia stockholders was the first he pre- sided over in six years . . . “Country Girl” the first release since "On the Waterfront” to receive unanimously excellent notices in the Gotham dailies. Frank Milton switched from the legit field to Distributors Corp. of America. He’ll head the outfit’s casting department in the east . . . RKO Theatres moves its homeoffice from Rockefeller Center to 1740 Broadway . . . Alex Harris in Toronto Globe and Mail wonders if “Beau James,” the Jimmy Walker biopic which will star Bob Hope, will be called "The Road to Ruin.” Metro has set world premieres for two upcoming productions. "Bad Day at Black Rock,” Dore Schary’s personal production, will be launched in five Texas cities betiveen Jan. 13 and Jan. 15. Anne Francis, who appears in the film, will make personal appearances . . . "Many Rivers to Cross,” starring Robert Taylor, goes to New Haven and Taylor w'ill appear in person . . . Dana Andrews in from the Coast to appear at an Israeli bond drive at Madison Square Garden tomorrow (Thurs.) I— _ t _ i _ _ __ in— 2 a | * ivuuvuviio via na uui uucaii dim- A as f, ert . s i iation is responsible for obtaining letam ® j d him ln August, t h e necessary import permits. 1953, in an advisory capacity to 1 r pick a location for the filming of "Waterfront.” Instead, he contends, Spiegel sent writer Budd Schul- berg and director Elia Kazan to chin with him and obtain informa- tion as to his life history and career as an ex-waterfront boss. The Marlpn Brando starrer, De Vincinzo charges, depicts his life when he worked as a longshore- man in Hoboken and lived as a pro- fessional boxer with a fancy for pigeons. Drawing a closer parallel between his own career and that of the Brando role, he stated that he also testified before the Senate Crime Commission in 1952 as to i waterfront corruption. These per- 1 sonal incidents, the complaint al- leges, were all Incorporated in the film without his~ consent. Shift Shoo Managers Shea Circuit has made a number of managerial shifts. A1 Kqley takes over the helm of the Lawler Theatre, Greenfield, N H. Ed Mason assuiqgs Foley’s post as assistant to Fenton Scrib- ner at Manchester, N. H. Bill Kibrige has been named manager at Amherst, Mass, with Louis Masson as his assistant. Ffolkes With Rossen David Ffolkes, currently con- ducting classes in costume design- ing and history 6f architecture at Boston U. has been inked to de- sign the costumes for "Alexander the Great,” which Robert Rossen will direct for United Artists. Ffolkes will take a leave of ab- sence from the university and is New Haven already is taking reser slated to travel to Madrid for ; vations for it. | filming of the pic. I Attornty-Author Louis Nizer Hat written a $agm piece Words to Live By * * • t m interesting byline piece in the upcoming 49ih Anniversary Number of DUE SOON Deflation Paramount recently regis- tered “My 50,000,000 Chil- dren” with the Motion Picture Assn, of America as title of a short. Film company, v presumably after more thought, felt less extravagant and submitted an- other label: "My 20,000,000 Children.” TOKO-RI’ PRIMES TALK VIA PRIVATE SHOWINGS Paramount Is set with plans to lease a theatre in all key cities for one-day screenings of "Bridges at Toko-Ri” for private audiences. They’ll atart around the second week in January. Idea is to get the word-of-mouth started on the Perlberg-Seaton pro- duction. On the invitation lists in each situation will be exhibitors, civic brass, press and radio-tv reps. Tieups with the U. S. Navy, which figuresJn the film’s story, are being worked out. Col Settles Its $4,000 Suit Vs. Evelyn Keyes Los Angeles, Dec. 21. Columbia Pictures’ $4,000 suit against Evelyn Keyes was privately settled for that amount and dropped from the Superior Court calendar. Plaintiff declared Miss Keyes signed an agreement in 1950 to pay the studio 25% of her earnings from*other sources. Complaint adds that she was paid $16,000 by Bon- Air Pictures in 1951 but refused to j turn over the $4,000. Nat’l Review Board Kudo To ‘Waterfront’ as Best; Kelly, Foch Top Women Columbia’s "On the Waterfront” has been selected as the best pic- ture of 1954 by the National Board of Review. Committee on Excep- tional Films of the Board, which 34 years ago started the practice of selecting each year’s ten best films, named the following as the year’s best after "Waterfront”: "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers” (M-G); "The Country Girl” (Par); "A Star Is Born” (WB); "Executive Suite” (M-G); "The Vanishing Prai- rie” (Disney); "Sabrina” (Par); "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” (Disney); "The Unconquered” (In- die); and "Beat the Devil” (UA). Renato Castellani was named the year’s best director for "Romeo and Juliet.” Grace Kelly was cho- sen best actress primarily for "Country Girl,” but also for her work in "Dial M for Murder” and "Rear Window.” Bing Crosby was named best actor for "Country Girl.” Nina Foch was voted best sup- porting actress for "Executive Suite,” and Jabn Williams best supporting actor for "Dial M” and "Sabrina.” The Board chose "Romeo and Juliet” as best foreign film shown in the U. S. during 1954. Nine other films on the foreign list were "Heart of the Matter,” "The Gates of Hell,” "Diary of a Country Priest,” "The Little Kidnapers,” "Genevieve,” "Beauties of the Night,” "Mr. Hulot’s Holiday,” "The Detective,” and "Bread, Love and Dreams.”