Canadian Film Weekly (Jan 25, 1956)

January 25, 1956 Vol. 21, No. 4 HYE BOSSIN, Editor January 25, 1956 Soe EGR 2 Se tase eit ae Bea Sat Assistant Editor Ben Halter Office Manager Esther Silver CANADIAN FILM WEEKLY 175 Bloor St. East, Toronto 5, Canada Authorized as Second Class Mail, Post Office Department, Ottawa Published by Film Publications of Canada, Limited 175 Bloor St. East, Toronto 5, Ontario, Canada — Phone WAlInut 4-3707 . Price $3.00 per year. BUTCHER, BAKER (Continued from Page 1) They know the farmers who come to town like to see a film on the same day as they shop. For some years Alberta and Saskatchewan passed up. the amusement tax on such operations, accepting the plea that they were of a non-profit nature. Indeed, the merchants paid the loss if any and permitted the manager to keep the profit when there was one. But operators of theatres run purely for profit objected that the absence of the amusement tax enabled the Community Enterprises, as they are called by the DBS, to charge a smaller fee and. this was unfair competition. So the Provincial treasuries imposed the tax. In 1954, according to the DBS, there were 645 such theatres in Canada and these had 144,172 seats. They took in $1,800,794 in receipts from 5,269,925 admissions, exclusive of amusement taxes, for-an average admission price of 34c. The average capacity utilized was 35 per cent and the potential possible admissions was 15,022,096. Of the 645 total 152 were 35 mm. houses and the rest 16 mm. Similar to the trend of exhibition in Canada generally in 1954, statistics for Community Enterprises were down from the year before. In 1953 there were 669 establishments, 24 more than the year following, and these had a seating capacity of 151,650, a figure 7,478 greater than that of 1954. Receipts totalled $1,851,658, $50,864 higher, from 5,647,668 admissions, which was greater by 377,743. The average capacity utilized was one per cent higher and the potential possible admissions was 769,072 greater, Only in the average admission price was 1954’s figure more than that of 1953, 34c as against 33c. Of the 645 establishments of 1954, the greatest number -—— 193 — were in Saskatchewan, where farming is the main industry and the population widely scattered over great areas, thus making the usual commercial theatre a risky investment. Quebec came next with 188 and these were predominantly parish halls, many of them set up so that children under 16, banned from regular theatres by law, could see movies. CANADIAN FILM WEEKLY AA Offers 38 In ‘56 (Continued from Page 1) and starring Audrey Hepburn and Gary Cooper; Walter Wanger’s Underworld USA, in SuperScope and starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall; and The Hunchback of Notre Dame, in CinemaScope and Technicolor, with Gina Lollobrigida and° Anthony Quinn heading the cast. On the way are At Gunpoint, in CinemaScope and _ Technicolor, with Fred MacMurray, Dorothy Malone, Walter Brennan, Tommy Rettig and Skip Homeier; Jeannie, in Technicolor, with Van Johnson and Vera Ralston in the leads; The First Texan, in CinemaScope and Technicolor, starring Joel McCrea, Jeff Morrow, Felicia Farr and Wallace Ford; World Without End, in CinemaScope and Technicolor, starring Hugh Marlowe and Nancy Gates; and Cattle King, in CinemaScope and Technicolor, with George Montgomery and John Ericson in the leads. Also The Four Seasons, in Technicolor and starring David Wayne, Keenan Wynn and Marcia Henderson; The Long Walk, in CinemaScope and Technicolor, starring Fred MacMurray; Walter Wanger’s Invasion of the Body Snatchers, in SuperScope and starring Kevin McCarthy and Dana Wynter; Walter Wanger’s Mother-Sir, with Joan Bennett, Gary Merrill and Shirley Yamaguchi; Three for Jamie Dawn, in SuperScope and with Laraine Day, Richard Carlson and Ricardo Montalban; and No Place to Hide, in DeLuxe color, starring David Brian and Marsha Hunt in the leads. Also Massacre at Dragoon Wells, in SuperScope and starring Barry Sullivan; Magnificent Roughnecks, starring Jack Carson, Mickey Rooney, Jeff Don nell and Nancy Gates; The Come On, in SuperScope, starring Anne Baxter and Sterling Hayden; Crime in the Streets, with John Cassavetes, Sal Mineo, James Whitmore and Mark Rydell; Paris Follies of 1956, in Technicolor, with the Whiting Sisters, Forrest © Tucker, Martha Hyer, Frank Parker, Dick Wesson, The Sportsmen and the Moulin Rouge Girls; and Shack Out on 101, with Terry Moore, Frank Lovejoy, Keenan Wynn and Lee Marvin. Also Screaming Eagles, by the producers of The Phenix City Story; Hold Back the Night, starring John Payne; Wicked Wife, with Nigel Patrick, Beatrice Campbell and Moira Lister; Thunderstorm, with Linda Christian, Carlos Thompson and Charles Korvin; Medic and Racket Squad, both to be based on the top-rated TV shows carrying those titles; and a highly-exploitable showmanship ‘‘combination package’’—The Atomic Man and The Indestructible Man, featuring Gene Nelson, Faith Domergue and Lon Chaney, Jr. The Allied Artists release schedule will also be augmented with, in addition to the productions listed above, eight William Broidy films and four more in the Bowery Boys series, starring Leo Gorcey. Following the recent. sales meeting in New York, Rosen and Bernstein expressed great enthusiasm with the company’s lineup of outstanding boxoffice attractions. Allied Artists Pictures of Canada Limited will back up these major releases with elaborate and comprehensive countrywide advertising, exploitation and publicity campaigns set at national and point-of-sales levels. STRATFORD PLANS INCLUDE FILMS Premier Operating’s Avon Theatre in Stratford, a. one-time opera house with 1,000 seats, will offer two stage companies from Quebec in the afternoons, judging by an announcement in Toronto by Michael Langham, artistic director of the Festival. These will alternate with showings of representative films. There will be five alternating programs. The only films at the Festival up to now were National Film Board subjects and these weren’t shown in a regular theatre building. Langham said that “the greatest film successes of the past 50 years would be shown.” These include “both documentary and entertainment films from Spain, France, Sweden, Russia, Britain, Canada and the United States.” Gratien Gelinas will again become Fridolin for one of his famed satirical revues, this one played in English, while Le Theatre Du Nouveau Monde will offer Moliere selections in French. The leading Quebec players will also appear in Henry V, since there will be no conflict of matinees. The Shakespearean plays to be presented in the new permanent theatre are Henry V, with Christopher Plummer in the title role, and The Merry Wives of Windsor. Louis Applebaum, who is well known as a film composer, will provide a score for Henry V and John Cook the one for The Merry Wives of Windsor. Stratford has three theatres but one is closed. Premier Operating has the other two. The regular evening film performances will not be affected. Page 3 Our Business O part of Show Business has ever travelled too Johg in continuing prosperity as one would on a smooth road. The course of prosperity for the motion picture segment has certainly been a bumpy one and at times very hilly. This is forcefully —highlighted in the recently published 50th Anniversary “= Edition of Variety. In its pages one can find an outline of the history of our business from the time of the opening of the first Nickleodeon some 50 years ago to the present. Much is to be learned from it and there is much food for thought. When one realizes fully the extent to which our business has had a turbulent and rocky record one may the more easily face the problems of the day and try to anticipate the course of the future. We sometimes fear to face the truth, but the inevitability of circumstances forces us to realize that today there are many theatres in the country which are due to be closed this year. In some cases, the owners are hanging on and even going into debt in the vain hove that a miracle will occur which will help them swing into the black. It would be facetious to quote that the age of miracles is past, but it might be helpful to reiterate the basic facts as we know them today. There are many theatres in this country which are dilapidated and antiquated and which do not lend themselves to the new screen techniques. No amount of expenditure can set these theatres right to compete under present-day conditions. There are some in sub-sub run locations which cannot hope to draw sufficient patronage to meet the overhead when faced with strong TY competition. The pinch of TV has been felt by many businesses which cater to man’s leisure hours. For example, the book publishing business, spectator sports and taverns, to mention a few. Most motion picture theatres in TV areas have felt the pinch, but some are really being squeezed. The owners of these must take stock and decide their future course. The motion picture theatre is a part of our way of life and will continue to show remarkable vitality despite the pronouncements of some would-be gravediggers. However, some theatres in certain categories are definitely (Continued on Page 9)