Canadian Film Digest (Oct 1973)

—_— 7 Page Ten October 1973 FOUR FALL BOX OFFICE WINNERS from yf LA GRANDE BOUFFE (The Great Feed) (FRENCH—COLOR) VARIETY Andrea Ferreol. D Screenplay, Ferreri, Ascona; camera (Eastmancolor), Mario Vulpiani; editor, Claudine Merlin; art director,, Michel ‘De Broin; music, Philippe Sarde. Reviewed at Cannes Film Fest (competing) May 13,'73. Running Time 130 M “ Marcello .......-.Marcello Mastroianni Sdtpatals Welptestersip pivteneies ogn Michel aleve eaikinereere hw oaie lero Michel Piccoli Philippe ....5.........05. Philippe Noiret ANGrOR ...dcescserensscces Andrea Ferreol Says ‘An extremely provocative film that will enrage some, delight others and create interest no matter what the attitudes it engenders. It thus makes a film that could well have both specialized and highly exploitable interest everywhere. On the surface it is about four men who inexplicably decide to hole up in a villa in Paris and eat themselves to death, not to for. get sex. ? THE SAVAGE PLANET An animated science fiction movie for all ages over L ke & & Y% , ., SHEER AND UNEXPECTED TERROR! A TOUGH, BITTER LITTLE SLEEPER OF A MOVIE ABOUT FOUR TIMES AS GOOD AS YOU'D EXPECT! UNBEARABLE TENSION!” — Chicago Sun Times MARI, TOVAVOID ERS SEVENTEEN,IS VWat\“}i((Geg7 | ACROSS THE yy STREET FROM sy ONLY A MOVIE fee end ONLY A. MOVIE a ..OWLY A MOVE f OMY A MOVE ame) Om A MOVE WORLD WAR II WAS THE SUBJECT OF MANY GREAT ONES: NAVARONE GREAT ESCAPE LONGEST DAY DIRTY DOZEN BATTLE OF THE BULGE AND NOw: EAGLES over LONDON WITH: FRED STAFFORD VAN JOHNSON EVELYN STEWART Didernationel Fil, Diesteibuters wn TORONTO SALES OFF 20 BLOOR ST. WEST, TORONTO MONTREAL CALGARY ICE 9, ONT. PHONE (416) 962-4061 TELEX 06-219-846 CABLE: INTERFILM CHAS. S. GHAPLIN Executive Vice-President MORLEY MOGUL Theatrical Sales Manager The Canadian Film Digest A new West Coast producer makes his first feature By LES WEDMAN Newest and youngest film-maker on the West Coast is Bob Elliott, who’s been at it full time for just a few months and working at a new career part-time for a couple of years. Elliott, president of Bob Elliott Film Productions Ltd.py has wrapped up his first feature, The Inbreaker, a $400,000 fishing drama, co-staring Hollywood actors Johnny Crawford and Christopher George. Produced with help from the CFDC, Famous Players, and private investors in Vancouver, the picture was directed by Canadian George McCowan, Mike Lente of Toronto was director of cinematography. Producing with Elliott was Jim Margellos, back from the east, a working arrangement _. with John Bassett jr. gone overboard since E Bassett has eased out of films and into hockey. Bob Elliott, who’s 26, was manager of a twins” Famous Players’ theatre in West Vancouver = and in various managerial posts with thes company for seven years. im He caught the movie bug during one of his £ Saturday matinees for the local kids when hea. decided he could make short films better than those he was showing. So in spare. time and with his own money, Elliott made Up the Mountain, Quack and Four on the Road. .He showed them in his own theatres and they’re now making the rounds of commercial houses in Canada and in Australia He also produced TV commercials and industrial films ‘while still managing two FP theatres and then decided features made in B.C. were-next. He formed his own company with Werner Franz, European-trained film expert, as vicepresident incharge of production. Franz is doing the editing on The Inbreaker and also handled second unit film work. At the same time, with best wishes as well as financial interest in his future, Famous Players and Bob Elliott severed connections as employer and employee. That wasn’t just because Elliott was finding that putting a feature film together was a timeconsuming job, but also because he had built a twin 16mm theatre of his own in Langley just ‘outside Vancouver. With that 16 mm house going well under another Elliott branch —. Northwest Cinemas Ltd., he linked up with a developing company, Van Dorne & Company, which was building a ‘new 177-seat movie house in downtown Van as “a * 7 ot tg SS ae i New distrib There’s a new distribution company, located in Toronto but operating on a national and even international basis, and they’re looking for films to add to their library. What kind of films? Any kind, says Jean Ritter, who handles publicity for George Ritter Films, ‘‘as long as they’re good and can find a place in the market.”’ Not just technically good, she emphasises, but interesting to someone out there. The company already has a strong Catalogue of non-theatrical product, for television, audio-visual needs and one 35 mm feature, Pink Floyd at Pompeii. For a company just one year old this month, the addition of exclusive rights to Thames Television product in Canada is a solid basis for success. ‘We're expanding so fast,’’ says Ms. Ritter, “‘that our catalogue is in a looseleaf book, and we keep adding pages one at a time.” The company started as an offshoot of Bob Elliott couver. Elliott’s Cinema Management branch of his multi-operation is running The Rembrandt and there are plans for another theatre a few blocks away. Elliott also is booking his own theatres and is distributing films for competitors. He had made a trip east and returned as sole distributor here for Mutual Films, Crawley Films, Ken Films and Frontier Films, all located in eastern Canada. Mutual will be distributing The Inbreaker when it’s ready for release late this year. Raising the money for this project was Elliott’s toughest and most frustrating period. Since cameras started rolling things have gone unusually smoothly, so much so that Elliott already is into pre-production planning for his ~ second feature, Night of the Black Summer. Writers Jacob Zilber and W.J. Sigurgeirson, who scripted the original The Inbreaker, have been on location for consultation but have spent hours collaborating on an adaptation for the next movie. i The Inbreaker, shot mainly in the Vancouver Island fishing towns of Alert Bay and Port Hardy, also has in it well-known Canadian performer Johnny Yesno and Vancouver actors Lenny George, Wendy Sparrow, Al Koslik and Andy Nattrall. photo: Elliott Film Prod. Producer Jim Marg ellos (left) and director George McCowan on the set. seeks films Raymond-Taffner TV, and continues its affiliation, even to sharing the same office premises. ‘‘We handle a lot of the same product, plus, as an added attraction, through Raymond-Taffner’s partners in other countries, we can offer a filmmaker with any rights free good representation everywhere.” Current product ranges from Spiderman and Max the Mouse to profound discussions with Margaret Mead and projects on Women’s Lib. Plans are for a major link-up with a U.S. company, but that is not finalised yet. Hub of the company is George Ritter, who has worked with Cinepix and American National Enterprises in Salt Lake City, mairfly in theatrical distribution. David Sherr oversees nontheatrical distribution while Ritter acquires the product. And Jean Ritter handles publicity. They're located at 38 Yorkville Avenue in Toronto. Phone 964-6927.