Canadian Film Weekly (Jun 9, 1954)

June 9, 1954 CANADIAN FILM WEEKLY Page 3 Vol, 19, No. 23 HYE BOSSIN, Managing Editor BEN HALTER, Production Editor Address all communications— The Managing Editor, CANADIAN FILM WEEKLY 175 Bloor St. East, Toronto 5, Canada Entered as Second Class Matter Published by Film Publications of Canada, Limited 175 Bloor St. East, Toronto 5, Ontario, Canada — Phone WAlInut 4-3707 Price $3.00 per year. 1-TRACK CSCOPE (Continued from Page 1) 20th-Fox general manager, in commenting on a NY announcement by Al Lichtman, director of distribution. The first of these features will be available late in June and the last late in July. The productions to come are The Robe, How to Marry a Millionaire, Night People, Prince Valiant, Hell and High Water, Three Coins in the Fountain, River of No Return, King of the Khyber Rifles, Garden of Evil, Beneath the 12-Mile Reef, Demetrius and the Gladiators, and New Faces. Delivery of single-track prints, in addition to the full four-track magnetic directional stereophonic sound prints, has been effected by the full mobilization of studio resources and facilities of Technicolor and De Luxe laboratories in Hollywood and New York on an _ around-the-clock program. Advertising accessories and four trailers will support the release of the new prints. The company announced that starting in July it would service four types of trailers on each CinemaScope production. The trailers will include one in CinemaScope with full four-track magnetic directional stereophonic sound; one in 2-D, with regular optical sound, selling CinemaScope and stereophonic sound; one in CinemaScope, with regular optical sound, for use in theatres equipped for one-track magnetic or for regular optical sound; and one in 2-D, with regular optical sound, for use in theatres equipped for either one-track magnetic or regular optical sound. The increased output, Lichtman said, will cover the hundreds of conventional and drivein theatres currently equipping for CinemaScope, joining the more than 4,000 theatres in the United States and Canada which have already exhibited CinemaScope pictures to the best business in years. Western To UA The Lawless Rider, Western starring Johnny Carpenter, will be released by United Artists. Carpenter wrote and produced the film. June 9, 1954 Canada Feature Films (Continued from Page 1) provided by Canada. Many Italian films don’t pay for themselves in Italy. The idea is taking hold that Canadian features would stand an even _ better chance to make money than those of other small countries, for they wouldn’t need language dubbing to prepare them for the most profitable section of the world film market today—those countries in which English is the language. It would be like being allowed into a $1,000 crap game with a one dollar bill. “The growing competition from foreign films is a healthy development,” says the Johnston report. “It serves as a further spur to Hollywood to continue to provide the type of films which have enabled it to achieve a position of world leadership.” The MPAA goes further than good will. It maintains “the Advisory Unit for Foreign Films, an activity of the Motion Picture expressly created to help foreign producers who seek outlets for their films in the U.S.A.” The tremendous rise of the Italian film is partly due to this phase of MPAA activity — to the extent that non-MPAA distributors have taken court action to hinder Italian Films Export activities, charging unfair competition. Ellis Arnall, president of the Society of Independent Motion Picture Producers, suggested to the Motion Picture Industry Council in Hollywood recently that the subsidy provision in Italian-American agreement is “the most dangerous cloud on the horizon today.’ The AFL Film Council, which opposes Hollywood production abroad, just extended this position to include films for TV. Study Picture The means by which the Italian film industry was revived and developed into a major competitor of the USA and the United Kingdom is being studied by Canadians. In Rome Dr. Renato Gualino, president of the International Federation of Associations of Film Producers, told a domestic group that “in our opinion, the development of the Italian cinema has been made possible only through the aid granted under the subsidy law, and in order for the expansion of the Italian cinema throughout the world to continue, the extension of this law is absolutely indispensable.” Italy, having restricted USA film remittances and allowed the use of American film earnings in ways that would aid domestic production, then spurred its USA distribution through MPAA. There is now in New York a plant owned by Italian Films Export, in which English sound tracks are added, Canada, pe pene the Italian pattern after its production facilities had expanded, could probably match the Italian success—or better it. No dubbing plant would be needed. Co-production here would be comparatively easy, since transportation and communication aren’t as difficult. The fact that the MPAA report calls the sixth year of the Canadian Co-operation Project, a tourist-boosting plan originated during our dollar difficulties to make unnecessary our following the rest of the world in freezing USA film earnings, “a highly gratifying one” shows how easy joint activity between the United States and Canada can be. Of course, other things must happen too. Some of our film makers must become a little more adventurous and gamble their futures. The Industrial Development Bank, a government loan setup, must include films in its risks. Banks must learn about film economics. Official support may help bring this about. Canada Major Market The MPAA report, in dealing with the CCP, says: “Today, Canada is the second largest market for American films outside the United States, and happily for both countries, she has chosen the path of co-operation and the open door in trade policies.” Those now discussing the possibilities of Canadian feature production have made the point that the USA, since it feels closer to Canada in many ways, could certainly do more to aid our aspirations than what is being done for countries not so close. American screens have been quietly boosting tourism in Canada for six years—but Canadian screens have been boosting USA tourism since the birth of the cinema—almost all films shown here for years were made across the border. In 1953 Americans spent a record $282,000,000 in Canada—but Canadians, from a country one-tenth the size of the USA, spent $307,000,000 while visiting there! The idea of Canadian theatrical production of features for domestic and foreign exhibition Just won’t die. In the Montreal Gazette Harold Whitehead, commenting on the Canadian Film Awards, wrote: ‘““‘We saw the top five and have reached the conclusion that Canadian production is in the same state as the British before the Second World War when as far as the documentary material was concerned they couldn’t be beaten but were weak on the theatrical side.” One hears discussion after discussion of the subject. Our Business NA Taylor K,UROPEAN exhibitors have .« been slow to adopt the new exhibition devices which recently burst through in the United States. Very few installed 3-D and those that did met with resistance from the public in paying for glasses and for other reasons. There have been comparatively few installations of CinemaScope and generally very few exhibitors are excited about this new method of presentation. The reasons are economic and basic. In the first place TV has not been the virulent new form of competition it is in the United States. The average working man in Europe cannot afford to buy a TV set and even if he should somehow find the money for such a purchase he rapidly finds that the level of entertainment is not nearly comparable to that of movies. In addition, the variety of programs is so very limited. For example, there is still only one TV channel in England, although they are now talking about another one, Secondly, there is an economic problem for the exhibitor. Taxes are high, admission prices are comparatively low, and in some cases there is a “ceiling.” He therefore operates on a _ close margin and can’t afford to buy new equipment unless it is absolutely vital to his continuance in business. In some instances where he can afford to buy he cannot get import permits to bring it into his country. This is good and sufficient reason for a long and careful appraisal. There is no panic, therefore no “cure-all” methods are sought. The European exhibitor can't afford and doesn’t want to experiment, so that a “wait and see” attitude prevails. In the meantime the producer continues to make pictures as_ heretofore and the exhibitor to show them. Only color has started to take a permanent hold. After all these years color is consistently becoming a part of the producers’ plans. Notwithstanding these facts both producer and exhibitor are keenly aware of the changes taking place in our business and in the final analysis will not take an adamant stand, They will adopt these new _ presentation methods in good time when it has been proven that they are economically sound. For example, they see a good future in wide screen and it is altogether likely that the Italian motion picture producers will soon propose to the other producers of the world that therebe adopted an (Continued on Page 5) .