Boxoffice barometer (1960)

Foreign Films Continue Uptrend in U.S. (Continued from page 46) ket.” The outstanding German films of 1959 in the U. S. were: “Aren’t We Wonderful?” distributed by Film Alliance; “Embezzled Heaven,” dubbed into English and released by Louis de Rochemont; “The Eighth Day of the Week,” a German-Polish coproduction, released by Continental; “The Third Sex,” distributed by D. & P. and later dubbed into English, and others starring Lilli Palmer, Peter Van Eyck, Horst Buchholz, Lilo Pulver, who have some marquee value in the U. S. For 1960, the sensational German “Rosemary,” distributed by Films-Around-the-World, is cm-rently playing at the Beekman Theatre in New York and “The Devil in Silk,” starring Curt Jurgens and Lilli Palmer; “Crime After School,” with Peter Van Eyck; “Madeleine,” starring Eva Bartok, and “The Three-Penny Opera,” from the worldfamous musical, starring Rudolph Forster, are already set for showing in the U. S. early in the year, according to Podhorzer. The latter also mentioned that 52 German films without English subtitles are shown each year in 20 houses in a few key cities with large German populations and that the annual Berlin Film Festival is beginning to attract distributors and exhibitors from the U. S. The current U. S. interest in Swedish language films started with “Wild Strawberries,” Ingmar Bergman’s picture which opened in New York in July 1959 and was soon followed by Bergman’s “The Magician.” The tremendous success of these two in New York and other key cities resulted in return engagements for Bergman’s earlier films, “Smiles of a Summer Night,” “The Seventh Seal” and “Story of Three Loves,” all distributed by Janus Films. Cyrus Harvey jr., president of Janus, reports he will release five other earlier Bergman films in 1960, starting with “Lessons in Love,” which will open at the Murray Hill Theatre, Manhattan, early in February. Except for the Bergman pictures, the only other Scandinavian pictures shown in the U. S. in 1960 were “The Young Have No Time,” a Danish picture, and “Of Love and Lust,” a Swedish episode film released by Films-Around-the-World. Except for the many English-dubbed Italian films distributed by the majors, and De Sica’s “The Roof,” another De Sica film, “The Tailor’s Maid,” both released by Trans-Lux, “Anatomy of Love,” handled by Kassler Films, “The Most Wonderful Moment,” distributed by Ellis Films, the only Italian-language pictures shown were return runs of earlier releases. For 1960, one of the few new Italian-language films set for release is “The Lady Doctor,” starring De Sica, Toto and America’s Abbe Lane, be released by Governor Films. Thus, in the foreign film field for 1960, the race again looks to be be tween Prance and Sweden, with Germany a close third and the other countries trailing behind. Featurettes Add Zest To Shorts Output (Continued from page 44) Buena Vista, which is now releasing all the Walt Disney product, features live-action featurettes and the cartoons originally released by RKO Radio. The three-reel subjects for late 1959 and February, March and later 1960 release include “Gala Day at Disneyland,” “Noah’s Ark,” “Mysteries of the Deep,” “Islands of the Sea” and “Eyes in Outer Space.” The only new one-reel cartoon is “How to Have An Accident at Work” but the rereleases include cartoons starring Donald Duck, Pluto, Chip an’ Dale and two with old-timer Mickey Mouse. Lester Schoenfeld, who took over the product of the British Information Service, has 15 two-reel subjects and nine one-reelers for the 1959-60 season, most of them fine travel shorts in color. George K. Arthur is also releasing many British subjects, both live-action and cartoons. As in the feature film field, the trend seems to be toward fewer and better shorts. Although live-action two-reelers are missed by some exhibitors, many of the better travel or foreign-made shorts are considered worthy of marquee billing. SHATTERING! ALAN LADD -SIDNEY POITIER Starring in “ALL THE YOUNG MEN” Co-starring JAMES DARREN GLENN CORBETT MORT SAHL and Introducing INGEMAR JOHANSSON ANA ST. CLAIR Written, Produced and Directed by HALL BARTLETT A Hall Bartlett Production for Columbia Release 48 BAROMETER Section