Canadian Film Weekly (Jun 1, 1955)

June 1, 1955 Vol. 20, No. 22 HYE BOSSIN, Managing Editor Assistant Editor Ben Halter Office Manager = = Esther Silver 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 WAlnut 4-3707 Price $3.00 per year. NFB OUTLETS (Continued from Page 1) venue for 35 mm. films in 1954 was $33,516.31 and for 16 mm. $116,729.81. Scope of the NFB’s distribution was indicated by the following firms, which acted as 35 mm. distributors for the Board’s product: African Consolidated Films, Archway Films, UK; Art Films, Brazil; Astral ‘Films, Canada; Atos Films, Belgium; British Film Institute, UK; British Overseas Film Sales, UK; Cardinal Films, Canada; Columbia Filmbooking, Holland; Continental Distributing Inc., USA; Columbia Pictures of Canada; lExclusivos Trienfo Lta., Portugal; A. B. Europa, Sweden; Favorite Films, USA; Films Dismages, France; Filmsonor, Belgium; Filmudlejning, Denmark; General Film Distributors, England; International Film Distributors, New Zealand; International Film Distributors, England; Janco, Sweden; Kingsly International Picture Corp., USA; Kommunenes Filmcentral, Norway; Manor Films, USA; Metro Goldwyn Mayer, England; New Realm Films, UK; Neue Filmkunst, Germany; Nordisk Film Junior, Denmark; J. Arthur Rank Overseas, England; RKO, Pathe, USA; Regent Film Distributors, England; Selznick Releasing Organization, Belgium; Boris Seltzer (Elanfilms), Belgium; Schweizer Schul und Volskino, Switzerland; Stereo Techniques, UK; E. J. Smiddy, USA; Societe Belge, Belgium; UITKIJK Cinema, Holland; United Artists Corp., England; United Artists Corp., USA; Universal Pictures, USA; Victor Films, Switzerland; Vita Films, Switzerland; Victory Films, France; Warner Bros. Pictures, England; Warner Bros., USA; Woodrow Corporation, Australia. Jan Sterling In 1984’ Jan Sterling, an Academy Award nominee last year, will join Oscar winner Edmond O’Brien in the film, 1984. She will have the feminine lead in the picturization of the bestseller by George Orwell, which N. Peter Rathyon will produce in London and which is scheduled for Columbia release. South Africa; CANADIAN FILM WEEKLY JARO’'s First Decade (Continued from Page 1) very little at the time. Another evidence of the JARO firm's high standing is in the quality of the Canadian distribution executives it attracted. Frank H. Fisher, vice-president and general manager, and Frank Vaughan, general sales manager, are both popular industry veterans of broad capabilities, having held top positions in the West, their home, and the Fast, where head: offices of the important companies are located. The JARO roster of branch managers is also impressive, for on it are highly-regarded oldtimers and very promising young-timers. Few in the industry don’t know Graydon Matthews of Saint John, Bob Johnson of Montreal and Jack Reid of Vancouver. Calgary’s Frank Scott, like Toronto’s . Irving Stern, is very well liked, as is Stew McQuay, just promoted to the management of the Winnipeg branch. Others with a special interest in JARO distribution who have made their own type of contribution to the company’s rise are L. W. Brockington, CMG, QC, the president, and C. R. B. Salmon, vice-president and_ secretarytreasurer. And of course there's Tom Knight, JARO’s director of publicity, whose work reflects JARO's great conviction, also expressed through advertising in top national magazines, that continual contact with the public on the subject of its films is as fine a gift as the theatre operator can get. Here are the films being offered currently by JARO: The Purple Plain, in Technicolor and starring Gregory Peck and Win Min Than; The Beachcomber, in Technicolor and starring Robert Newton and Glynis Johns; The Sea Shall Not Have Them, with Michael Redgrave, Dirk Bogarde, Nigel Patrick, Bonar Colleano and Anthony Steel; The Ship That Died of Shame, starring Richard Attenborough and George Baker; Above Us the Waves, with John Mills, Donald Sinden and John Gregson; Lease of Life, in Hastman Color and starring Robert Donat and Kay Walsh; Chance Meeting, with Odile Versois and David Knight. Also The Divided Heart, starring Yvonne Mitchell, Armin Dahlen and Cornell Borchers; Out of the Clouds, in Eastman Color and starring Robert Beatty, Margo Lorenz and David Knight; One Good Turn, with Norman Wisdom; Passage Home, starring Peter Finch, Diane Cilento and Anthony Steel; Simba —Mark of the Mau Mau, in Eastman Color and with Dirk Bogarde and Virginia McKenna; The Night My Number. Came Up, the true story of Air Marshall Goddard, starring Michael Redgrave and Sheila Sim. Also To Paris with Love, in Technicolor and starring Alec Guinness and Odile Versois; As Long as They’re Happy, in Eastman Color, with Jack Buchanan, Jean Carson and Jerry Wayne; Mr. Hulot’s Holiday, with Jacques Tati; The Little World of Don Camillo, starring Fernandel; Wages of Fear, -the Academy Award-winning film with Yves Montand; Monte Carlo Baby, starring Audrey Hepburn; and Forbidden Games, the Oscar-winning film. Cast In "Bengazi' Mala Powers has joined Richard Conte, Victor McLaglen and Richard Carlson in the Panamint production, Bengazi, which began filming recently for RKO distribution. Locale of the picture, which will be filmed in Superscope and Technicolor, is the north African city. ONLY 20% SCHOOL PIX MADE HERE Less than 20 per cent of films shown in Canadian schools are made in this country, Dr. A. W. Trueman, chairman, National Film Board, told the Canadian Club in Montreal recently. This condition existed, he said, despite the fact that the NFB makes films for school purposes whenever requested by the Canadian Education Association. “Our children see films intended for children in other lands and made by film-makers other than Canadians.” Most of the non-Canadian educational films shown here are manufactured in the United States. “The NFB,” the chairman said, “recognizes and respects completely the fact that education is a provincial--matter. We feel, however, that the resources of the NFB should be available for making of school films if the provinces want them... “But we will not make films designed for.school use unless these provincial representatives ask for it.’ Dr, Trueman said he was not over-estimating the value of films in the school. But he saw them as the complement to the spoken word, the Jearned journal and the hard-working professor. Films, he said, were capable of showing information and ideas in action, they demonstrated th of principles. 5 e validity of ideas, the actual use June 1, 1955 HE admission price problem is always with us. With basic overhead continually rising and with distributor demands for higher terms on top attractions, the exhibitor finds it difficult to reach a proper and lasting solution. How high is up and at what point is he able to garner the greatest number of dollars? In many cases the profit cushion formerly enjoyed is no longer there and experimentation is hazardous and costly. In key cities, the number of so-called roadshow pictures in the last two years has made the scale of admission prices look like a temperature chart. Eventually, the theatre operators were forced to the conclusion that pictures shown at less than the higher prices were deemed by the publice to be of inferior quality and therefore they attended in fewer numbers than normally. It was decided, in many instances, to peg the admission prices at, or close to, the top. Undoubtedly, in future years another round of special price increases will start from these new higher prices. x * ™ All first run theatres in Toronto showing important attractions are presently charging a dollar for everything. The public now accepts this price scale and patronizes in good number but anything which is less than first-class entertainment does very poorly. When one considers that, prewar, the admission price in these houses was approximately sixty cents and that the value of a dolJar is now less than half what it was then, such admission prices seem fairly reasonable. In small towns the patronage has shown the same resentment to an up-and-down price policy. It is a matter of great importance and readily becomes a matter of discussion between people when they meet in the streets or in the stores. A few agitators can easily spearhead an anti-movie campaign. With present day conditions, the small town theatre operator cannot afford to antagonize any segment of the public because he requires every possible admission at his boxoffice. Actually, the average distributor doesn’t care too much what admission price is charged, provided he can get increased terms for his pictures. He is striving for greater film rentals but he should be aware that attendance can drop to the point where lesser film rentals will result if admission prices are higher than the public cares to pay. Somehow, a (Continued on Page 3)