Boxoffice (Oct-Dec 1962)

RELEASES HIT NEW LOW POINT FOR AUTUMN: 52.9% ARE HITS Top Hits for Fall Quarter (September through November 1962) Almost Angels (BV) Best of Enemies, The (Col) Billy Budd (AA) Chapman Report, The (WB) Convicts 4 (AA) Girls! Girls! Girls! (Para) I Like Money (20th-Fox) If a Man Answers (U-I) Kid Galahad (UA) Legend of Lobo, The (BV) ^Longest Day, The (20th-Fox) Manchurian Candidate, The (UA) Period of Adjustment (MGM) Phantom of the Opera, The (U-I) Pigeon That Took Rome, The (Para) Requiem for a Heavyweight (Col) 300 Spartans, The (20th-Fox) tWaltz of the Toreodors (ContT) What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (WB) 4JBOXOFFICE Blue Ribbon Award Winner tPlayed primarily in art theatres ,120 139 ,122 ,122 ,125 ,122 ,121 _127 ,120 ,128 ,189 198 ,157 .159 ,251 ,149 ,163 ,149 ,193 Only 36 Pictures Move Into Key First Runs In 3-Month Period By JOAN BAER There were fewer feature releases during the autumn quarter — September through November — than at any time in the past, with only 36 pictures having sufficient playdates on the BoxoFFicE-Barometer to indicate strength. Of this total, 19 pictures, or 52.6 per cent of the total number released, I’anked in the top hit classification, scoring 120 per cent or more. LONGEST DAY’ RATES 251 Biggest single picture of the quarter was 20th Century-Fox’s war epic, “The Longest Day,’’ rating 251 per cent in its initial inns. Other top hits of the quarter were Paramount’s “Girls! Girls! Girls!” with 198 per cent, and Warner Bros.’ “What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?” with 193. Combined average of the top three equaled 214 per cent, down 14 per cent from the performance of the top trio in the same months a year ago, when “Come September,” “Blue Hawaii” and “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” scored a combined 228.1 per cent. The 36 pictures released represented the lowest autumn quarter output on record, compared with 47 features during the same quarter a year ago, and 44 — the previous low — released during the autumn months of 1960. It marked a considerable drop from the summer quarter output of 56 features. 32 AVERAGE OR BETTER Product which was available performed well, with 32 of the pictures scoring average or better business. Of the pictures released, Columbia and Metro-GoldwynMayer accounted for five pictures each during the quarter, while United Artists and Warner Bros, released four each and 20th-Fox and Universal-International had three each on which there were sufficient playdates to indicate boxoffice potential. BoxoFFicE-Barometer percentages are based on reports from first-run theatres in 20 key cities across the country. A picture is considered a hit if it does 120 per cent of average or better at the boxoffice, a figure determined by reporting exhibitors. Following is a list of the fall releases and percentages : (Average Is 1 00) ALLIED ARTISTS; Billy Budd 122 Conv cts 4 122 AMERICAN-INTERNATIONAL: White Slave Ship 103 BUENA VISTA: Almost Angels 120 Legend of Lobo, The 122 COLUMBIA; Best of Enemies, The 139 Damn the Defiant! 105 Requiem for a Heavyweight 149 War Lover, The 117 We'll Bury You! 101 METRO-GOLDWYN-MAYER: Escape From East Berlin 89 I Thank a Fool 112 Period of Adjustment 163 Savage Guns, The 89 Very Private Affair, A 113 PARAMOUNT: Girls! Girls! Girls! 198 Pigeon That Took Rome, The 127 20TH CENTURY-FOX: I Like Money 125 Longest Day, The 251 300 Spartans, The 120 UNITED ARTISTS: Kid Galahad 159 Manchurian Candidate, The 149 Pressure Point 108 Sword of the Conqueror 104 UNIVERSAL-INTERNATIONAL: If a Man Answers 157 No Man Is an Island 106 Phantom of the Opera 121 WARNER BROS.: Chapman Report, The 189 Gay Purr-ee 97 Story of the Count of Monte Cristo, The 94 What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? 193 MISCELLANEOUS: Flame in the Streets (Atlantic) 102 Horror Hotel (Trans-Lux) 102 Operation Snatch (Cont'l) 119 Tell-Tale Heart, The (Brigadier Film Associates) .. 1 1 3 Waltz of the Toreadors (Cont'l) 128 Cari Release Co. New Name for Desilu Firm NEW YORK — Cari Releasing Co. has been formed as successor to Desilu Film Distributing Co. Lewis S. Ginsburg, head of the company, said that in addition to continued distribution of Desilu’s “The Scarface Mob,” Cari shortly will release a group of features for both regular and art theatres. Set for early release is “Cross of the Living,” which will have its American premiere at the 55th St. Playhouse here. “Horror Package,” consisting of two newly titled rereleases, will be ready in January. Cari has acquired the U.S. distribution rights to “Mr. Arkadin,” the Oi'son Welles production made abroad in 1956 by Filmrosa Productions but never released in this country. Cari plans a national release in January, according to Ginsburg. Welles stars in the picture, which he produced and directed from his original story and screenplay. Featured are Patricia Medina, Michael Redgrave, Katina Paxinou, Akim Tamiroff and Mischa Auer. 'Billy Budd' First Runs NEW YORK — Allied Artists’ "Billy Budd,” which played a six-week first run at Cinema I and Cinema II in New York, opened at the Squirrel Hill, Pittsburgh, December 21 and will open at the Amherst Theatre, Buffalo, beginning December 25, according to Ernest Sands, general sales manager. 4 BOXOFFICE :: December 24, 1962