Canadian Film Weekly (May 8, 1957)

May 8, 1957 Incorporating the Canadian Moving Picture Digest (Founded 1915) Vol. 22, No. 19 May 8, 1957 HYE BOSSIN, Editor a 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 WAlnut 4-3707 Price $5.00 per year. $1,000 AWARD (Continued from Page 1) time Government Film Commissioner, handed it to Beachell at an informal ceremony in the NFB headquarters, Montreal. The Act rewards government employees for inventions of use to the public service. Dr. Trueman, incidentally, is now director of the Canada Council. Called a sprocket-tape recorder, .the machine uses sprocketed mag netic tape to insure synchronization with the motion picture camera. It is contained in two small carrying cases weighing 67 pounds, including batteries. The new recorder replaces the cumbersome 35. mm. sound-recording trucks formerly used on film locations. Use of the sprocket-tape machine began at the National Film Board about 15 months ago. It is credited with considerable saving in cost of recording sound for films and alsé in making it possible to obtain sound for films made ‘in difficult or remote locations. One recent test of the machine was made in the high Andes of Bolivia where two films about UN technical aid were made. Beachell has developed other improvements for film-making but this is the first time he has received an award. Born in Winnipeg in 1915, he attended the University of Manitoba. Before joining the NFB in 1949 he was a broadcasting engineer. His sprocket-tape machine is being marketed by a Canadian company. Team Signs To Make Six For Columbia Columbia Pictures has signed an agreement with Raoul Levy and Ray Ventura for the distribution of at least six pictures to be produced by them within the next three years. . First of the films will be Moonlight Jewelers, starring Brigitte Bardot. It will be directed bv Vadim, in Southern Spain, and distributed by Columbia throughout the world. Second to be produced will be In Case of Accident . . . based on George Simeon’s book of the sam* name, starring Miss Bardot and Jean Gabin, and directed by Claude Autant-Lara. CANADIAN FILM WEEKLY 30% ‘Foreign’ Films (Continued from Page 1) criticisms from private and public bodies. One such body, the Senate Committee of the Congress of the United States, after a study of the relationship of juvenile delinquency, rising since 1948, to communication media, saw merit in Canadian and British censorship practices. Its reports said that “the primary argument for censorship is usually the necessity for protecting young minds from contact with sights and ideas unsuited to their tender years. But many feel it is unthinkable that a medium designed for entertainment should be permanently hobbled by the mental and moral requirements of the immature.’ The report went on to say that ‘‘a realistic approach is taken by the British and Canadians, who meet the situation by classifying some pictures as unfit for juvenile patronage.” State legislature, it suggested, might find it profitable to examine the system. The practice of classifying entertainment has been followed by this Department since 1944 and the results have been satisfactory, judging by the approval from outside the motion picture industry and by progressive elements within. The advent of films aimed at the mature mind involved classification or mutilation which damaged the subject matter. Classification in Ontario is either Adult or Restricted. If Adult admission is limited to persons 14 years of age; if Restricted to 18 years of age. Ontario is the only province with the latter category. The number of full-length pictures received for censorship, 575, was greater by 90 than that of last year—a more favorable situation for the theatre operators, many of whom found themselves short of films during the previous year. The figure, however, included 28 reissued pictures. Of the total the 333 from the USA represented an increase of 28 and the 71 from Britain a gain of 11. Australia provided three films, which were includ ed in the British total. The films in languages other than English made possible the continuation in business of quite a number of motion picture theatres that might otherwise have been closed because of television. Austria provided one film, France five, West Germany 36, Greece five, Israel one, Italy 103, Japan six, Poland one and the USSR 12. Of the 333 USA films 22 were treated, 39 classified, 18 classified and treated, one restricted, one restricted and treated and one rejected. Britain’s 71 included seven treated, five classified, three classified and treated, three restricted, three restricted and treated and two rejected. Thirteen of the 171 foreign films were treated, five classified, four classified and treated, three restricted, three restricted and treated and two rejected. The foregoing figures are for 35 mm. films, the larger size, which are shown in the great majority of theatres. The Board also examined 177 16 mm. full-length films, the size used mainly in halls. Of these 139 were from the USA, three from Britain, five from Italy and 35 from other countries. Twentyeight of the USA total were classified or treated, none from Britain and two from the others. Most of the 16 mm. features were versions of the 35 mm. ones. In the last year the department received many complaints about the advertising connected with films rather than the films themselves. Advertising accompanying 104 films was rejected during the year because it portrayed crime or violence or treated sex in a salacious manner. The problem is complicated by local taste. By far the larger portion of screen advertising is unobjectionable. Shirley Jones, Boone Cast Shirley Jones and Pat Boone will star in a musical for 20th-Fox. ‘Gidget’ First For Euterpe Gidget will be the title of the newly-organized Euterpe Productions’ first film for Columbia. PRODUCERS, ARTISTS PREPARE PACT Sharp differences between the Canadian Council of Authors and Artists and domestic motion picture producers about rates and conditions are just about eliminated and an agreement is expected in the near future. The quarterly meeting of the Association of Motion Picture Producers and Laboratories of Canada, held in the Carlton Club, Toronto last week, heard the report of the joint negotiation committee of that body and the National Film Board. It was followed by a vote of confidence in the committee. The committee, headed by Arthur Chetwynd, AMPPLC president, will meet again with the CCAA committee under the leadership of Neil LeRoy, president, to arrive at the final details and prepare a pact for signature. This will be followed by a mimeographed summary for each member, giving the changes and new conditions. The AMPPLC committee had taken part in 20 meetings occupying 28 days since the first week in January. Also serving on it were Don Mulholland, National Film Board; Donald Carter, Crawley Films; Ralph Foster, Meridian Productions; Gerald Kedey, Motion Picture Centre; and John Graham, then of S. W. Caldwell Limited. An observer from the CBC was present at all meetings. } Page 3 Our Business MA Taylor N SPITE of continuouslygrowing populations in the United States and Canada, particularly in the young and teenbrackets, and notwithstanding the fact that people | have a_-— great age -_ ment, motion " picture’ theatre is not increasing. attendance Indeed, in recent weeks there has been a decline. Despite this, surveys indicate that for every person patronizing a theatre three others make inquiries or talk about going but actually do not do so. We are aware that many people have stopped watching TV as a time waster. It now appears more evident that notwithstanding a heightened interest in attending the movies many people will not risk the possibility of wasting their time and want to be assured in advance that they will enjoy what they come out to see. We know that there is more good entertainment packed into the movies than ever before, even though there are still many poor ones, and it is difficult to believe that only one out of four potential moviegoers actually attends. We may assume that people fail to attend a theatre because they are not sufficiently aware of the entertainment values of what is being advertised and that, therefore, there is a lack of “potential audience penetration.” It would appear that many people prefer to pass up a film of which they have little knowledge rather than risk the possibility of having to sit through a poor one. Established and popular star names can help attract patronage for certain films despite lack of a prior buildup. Conversely, star names cannot carry a poor film. Adaptations of established book or stage properties which ' emerge as good entertainment have an edge in attracting patrons because they feel that they are not buying their entertainment blind. Audience penetration today, based on word of mouth, takes considerably longer than formerly. This is the premise on which the sure-seater or so-called art house has been established. Low overhead permits a smal ler gross to keep a film run(Continued on Page 4)