Boxoffice barometer (1961)

By IVAN SPEAR W HEN, back in 1933, the late, great Franklin D. Roosevelt as- cended to the presidency of a depressed United States, he assured a frightened and harassed citizenry that it had nothing to fear but fear itself. A somewhat comparable admonition might be directed at a slightly confused motion picture industry as concerns its 1961 prospects, if—and it is a signifi- cantly big IF—those who produce, dis- tribute and exhibit film fare remember and dedicate themselves anew to the proposition that the theatrical screen is still the backbone of the trade. Ob- viously the immediate problem bearing on this remembrance and dedication is for the manufacturers of features to in- tensify their efforts to supply the na- tion’s movie theatres with material that cannot be pirated or imitated by tele- vision. MANY FACTORS TO CONSIDER There are so many factors that enter into the makeup of the aforementioned “if” that it renders more difficult than usual the annual chore of trying to prognosticate, with a reasonable degree of accuracy, what is to be available by way of product to run-o’-mill theatre operators. One indication probably can be embraced from scratch, namely, the assumption that Hollywood will produce few, if any, more pictures for conven- tional distribution during 1961 than it did in 1960. An entire article of this type could be devoted to the wind- straws—all of which have been pre- viously reported—that justify such an assumption. A BREAK FOR EXHIBITORS Despite which probable status quo of film fabrication, theatre operators are in line for at least one break. Many of the most costly productions of the past two—in some cases three—years should be available for regular bookings and runs during the year just getting un- derway. These are the mastodons of budgets and casts that spent varied portions of 1960 and early 1961 as roadshow attractions and, resultantly, have been available to theatres in com- paratively few cities. Many, if not all, of them will hit the conventional ex- hibition trail some time during 1961 and their universal availability could well prove a substantial element in alleviating the product shortage that bedeviled many showmen during 1960. Moreover, they are articles of proven money-gamering potentialities, inten- sively publicized and automatically on the long-standing, must-see lists of mil- lions of theatre patrons who, for geo- graphical or economic limitations, were unable to patronize them while they were on two-a-day, metropolitan dis- play. They include such titans of enter- tainment as John Wayne’s “The Ala- mo,” Otto Preminger’s “Exodus,” both being distributed by United Artists; George Sidney’s “Pepe,” which bears the Columbia x-eleasing label; Dore Schax-y’s “Sunrise at Campobello,” a Warner Bros.’s picture; Kirk Douglas’ “Spar- tacus,” being distxibuted by Universal- International; and “Can-Can,” being released by 20th Century-Fox. There is even a possibility—pei-haps a remote one — that Metro - Goldwyn - Mayer’s mighty “Ben-Hur” may be available in a few selected regular-run situations ex-e ’61 comes to an end. And to magnify the average exhibi- tor’s good break is the certainty that thei'e ai - e to be fewer roadshow attrac- tions rolling off of Hollywood’s assembly lines during 1961. Several blueprinted pictures give every promise of being as good and as big as some that wei’e given the hard-ticket treatment, but the rash of roadshows is undisputedly on the de- cline. That’s probably because some producers and distributors were finan- cially damaged by their eagerness to get aboard the reserved-seat, increased- taxiffs bandwagon which was permitted to roll at a precedential and overall- revenue-threatening speed during 1960. HARD-TICKET PICTURES True, there will be some hard-ticket entries in the 1961 pi’oduct lineup, but they will be relatively limited. Candi- dates for the exalted approach include remakes by MGM of a pair of memor- able and highly-profitable hit of yester- year. They are “Mutiny on the Bounty” and “Four Horsemen of the Apoca- lypse.” The former will star Marlon Brando, Trevor Howard and Hugh Griffith, and is being produced by Aaron Rosenberg in color and Ultra- Panavision, directed by Sir Caxol Reed and written by Eric Ambler and Charles Lederer for the screen from the novel by James Norman Hall and Charles Nordhoff. “Horsemen,” in Cinemascope and color, stars Glenn Ford, Ingrid Thulin, Charles Boyer, Paul Lukas, Yvette Mimieux and Paul Henreid. Julian Blaustein will produce and Vin- cente Minnelli direct from a scx-een- play by Robert Ardrey and John Gay, based on the famous classic by Vincent Blasco Ibanez. At Allied Artists there is much talk about the possibility of having “El Cid” debut on a roadshow basis. If this be- comes an actuality, it will be the first time that an AA picture will be so gloxified; and it might be reported, parenthetically, that AA will distribute “El Cid” only in the Western Hemis- phei-e. It was produced in Spain by Samuel Bi'onston for his own produc- tion company, starring Charlton Hes- ton, Sophia Loren and helmed by Anthony Mann. Photographed in Tech- nicolor and Super Technirama 70, the screenplay was penned by Philip Yor- dan. OTHER HARD-TICKET ENTRIES Other forthcoming features that might conceivably be slated for hard- ticket treatment for 20th Century-Fox’s “Cleopatra,” which Walter Wanger is set to produce abroad in DeLuxe Color and Todd-AO, with Joseph Mankiewicz handling megaphone chores, and Eliza- beth Taylor, Stephen Boyd and Peter Finch toplined; Columbia’s “The Guns of Navarone,” in Eastman Color lensed in Greece by producer Carl Foreman, who also wrote the screenplay based on the novel by Alistair MacLean. J. Lee Thompson directed actors Gregox-y Peck, David Niven and Anthony Quinn. While it cei’tainly will not be com- pleted — much less released — during 1961, no roundup of forthcoming road- shows would be complete without men- tion of producer - director George Stevens’ “The Greatest Story Ever Told,” which celluloid version of the life of Christ is still in its fonnative stages but about which 20th Century- Fox, which will distribute the pi’omised colossus, is already beating the tocsin. Stevens will produce and direct the mastodon in color, possibly in the Todd-AO process, from a screenplay by Ivan Moffat. MORE RELIGIOUS FILMS There will be a sprinkling of other religious pictures. Among them Mighty Metro’s “King of Kings,” another Sam- uel Bi'onston Productions, three years in preparation and filming. The spectacle stars Jeffrey Hunter, Siobhan McKen- na, Hurd Hatfield, Viveca Lindfors, Rita Gam and Robert Ryan in a screenplay written by Philip Yoi'dan, dii'ected by Nicholas Ray and produced by Bronston in Technirama 70 process and color. Pax-amount has “Dear and Glorious Physician” (the inspiring story of St. Luke), which Henry Blanke will pro- duce. Eugene Vale has wxitten the (Continued on page 12) 10 BAROMETER Section