Canadian Film Weekly (Jun 22, 1955)

June 22, 1955 AA PRODUCTION (Continued from Page 1) ing to Walter Mirisch, executive producer. With a mid-August starting date already set for his film, William Wyler now is at work preparing Friendly Persuasion, much of which will be made on location in the east. The script is by Robert Wyler and Jessamyn West. Gary Cooper will star. Those to be done in CinemaScope include The First Texan, which Mirisch will produce with Joel McCrea in the star role. The script for this film dealing with the life of Sam Houston is now being completed by Daniel B. Ullman. It will roll late in the year. With Richard Heermance producing, Legionnaire, dealing with the French Foreign Legion, also will be a CinemaScope production. It goes before the cameras in October. Also to be in CinemaScope is The Lady From Helltown, a Scott R. Dunlap production, scheduled to be launched this summer. Mother-Sir, to be made in Japan, is now being prepared by Walter Wanger. Plans call for putting the screenplay by Kay Leonard before the cameras be fore the summer’s end. Late in the year, in Vienna, producer-director Ernst Marischka will begin shooting an English version of The Girlhood of a Queen with Romy Schneider, who scored so heavily in the German version, in the star role. The story deals with a romantic period in the life of Queen Victoria. At work now on the script for Ariane, which Billy Wilder will do as his first for Allied Artists, is I. |A. L. Diamond, who is basing it on the Claude Anet classic. Late in the summer, Lindsley Parsons and his associate, John H. Burrows, will launch filming of The Come On, prepared for the screen by Whitman Chambers from his novel of the same title. To star Barry Sullivan, the film will be made in large part in Mexico. Censorship Argument By Women's Group The St. Boniface diocesan council of the Catholic Women’s League, Manitoba, criticized the provincial censor board for passing a French film, IF'D’s Children of Love, and stopping another from the same company, We Want a Child, which was made in Sweden. Soon after the latter film was passed by the appeal board. The resolution of protest also demanded that the censor board be transferred from the Department of Public Utilities to the Health and Welfare Department. CANADIAN FILM WEEKLY Winnipeg's Joe Huber Honored By Industry Friends The retirement of Joe Huber as Winnipeg branch manager of Twentieth Century-Fox brought about a testimonial dinner, held in the Marlborough Hotel, as an open declaration of the affection and admiration he commands from all who know him. About a hundred well-wishers came from different places in the province and many wires were received. Joe was presented with a 16 mm. projector. The above pictures show some of the head table group. The top one, left to right, has John Ferguson, Famous Players’ Western chief; Bob Cringan, 20th-Fox Calgary manager; Phil Geller, successor to Huber; Peter S. Myers, 20th-Fox, Canadian general manager; and Joe Huber. The bottom photo shows Harry Gray, manager of the Lyceum Theatre, who acted as toastmaster; S. Richard Miles, general manager of Western Theatres Limited; Haskell Masters, Warner Bros. Canadian general manager; and Harry W. Hurwitz, general manager of the Odeon-Morton Theatres. OUR BUSINESS (Continued from Page 3) to emerge as stinkers, in which case it is a total loss both for the producer and exhibitor. These films do not receive the same number of runs as more important pictures and are not likely to receive playing time in subsequent-run situations. However, good returns are possible for both the producer and exhibitor involved. It would appear reasonable to assume that there is still a market for two types of pictures in our business: the so-called big picture and the action or gimmicktype picture. When our business has been “de-seated” to a practical and tenable level we shall find theatres geared to presenting this latter type of entertainment operating on a financiallysound basis. However, no matter what type of entertainment a theatre provides, it will have to be modern and comfortable. This is a necessary prerequisite under any circumstances. In order for our business to be prosperous it is necessary for the producer and distributor to deliver to the BC ASSOCIATION (Continued from Page 1) Vancouver, vice-president, and G. A. Sutherland of Vancouver, secretary. Other matters that were discussed at the general and executive meetings were the amusement tax, bingo, unfair 16 mm. competition, exhorbitant rentals, Capac fees, creation of a booking and buying committee to discuss abuses with the distributors and the MPICC public relations institute proposal. The new president is Owen Bird, the vice-president Max Chechik, the secretary G. A. Sutherland and the _ treasurer K. E. Hayter, also of Vancouver. Other members of the executive board are P. Gauthier, Quesnel; M. McLeod, Powell River; F. Walsh, Vancouver; F. Soltice, Penticton; and F. Gow, Vancouver. exhibitor a continuous flow of all types of films and it is equally necessary for the exhibitor to have the proper premises for the showing of such films and do a first-class job of selling them. Page 7 FILM DAILY ANNUAL (Continued from Page 1) The Film Daily Year Book. The revenue from Canada reflected a 100 per cent return, less the usual expenses, but that from Great Britain, because of restrictions, was only 60 per cent of the $40,000,000 earned. The 37th edition of the Film Daily Year Book is now available. It is again a masterpiece of factual reports and statistics, containing 1,264 pages of important information in a handsome green-and-gold binding. Jack Alicoate is editor-in-chief. Leading off the subject matter is a review of 1954 by Chester B. Bahn, editor of The Film Daily. Included in it are such chapters as On Centre Stage: CinemaScope, The International Scene, Exhibition: Growing Unrest, COMPO’s Accomplishments, Tax Victory and Defeat, On the Censorship Front, Video: Strange Paradox, Labor: First Pension Plan and In Memoriam, among others. This is followed by important LA and NY telephone numbers and then comes Industry Statistics, compiled by Winfield Andrus, managing editor of The Film Daily. Another set of interesting figures estimates the world gross of American motion pictures at $2,210,000,000 in 1954, up $35,000,000 from the previous year, when it was $2,175,000,000. Since 1948’s record gross of $2,445,000,000 there was a steady decline until 1953, which was up $55,000,000 over 1952. And 1954 seems to indicate that the upward trend will continue. Total of theatres in the world, figured by the Year Book at 108,978 in 1954, is an increase of 12,304 over the year previous, which also showed a gain of 6,000 over 1952. The latter year showed a drop of 5,400 over the previous 12 months. Among the many contributing editors to the Year Book, which includes such outstanding personalities as Eric Johnston, Ellis G. Arnall, Nathan D. Golden, George C. Hoover and George Murphy, is Clare J. Appel, executive director of the Canadian Motion Picture Distributors Association, who is responsible for the Canada in 1954 section. Hal Horne Passes; . Had Heart Attack Hal Horne, veteran motion picture executive, died in New York last week of a heart attack. He was 58. Active for more than three decades in the film industry, Horne held posts with United Artists, 20th Century-Fox and Walt Disney Productions before forming a public relations organization.