Canadian Film Weekly (May 15, 1957)

Page 10 News Clips Separate payment for all story material used in toll TV programs will be demanded by The Writers Guild of America . . . Mr. and Mrs. Robert Gill, operators of the Royal Theatre, Bowmanville, entertained the older folk of that town at a matinee of AA’s Friendly Persuasion . . . Canadian Home Journal is running a Win an Island contest in connection with MGM’s The Little Hut. Top prize, a 757 Austin, is on display in the lobby of Loew’s Yonge Street, Toronto. Other prizes include a Caribbean holiday and two sets of 1847 Rogers Bros. silverplate for each province. Combination indoor-outdoor theatre opened near Detroit recently has a 400-seat indoor section in the centre of a 1,000-car area. The indoor patrons see the _ picture through a plate glass wall. ..A live demonstration of big-screen closed-circuit color television was demonstrated in Chicago by ClosedCircuit Telecasting System of New York . . . A Calgary drive-in is playing four full-length features plus free coffee and doughnuts. Grant Mitchell, 82, a leading stage and screen actor, died in Los Angeles last week. Prior to his theatre career he had been a lawyer and a reporter... J. C. Preston, general manager of The Expositor, Brantford, was elected president of the Canadian Daily Newspaper Publishers Association last week . . . Pay-As-You-See television may make its Canadian debut in the Fall of this year or the Spring of 1958, said E. E. Fitzgibbons, head of Trans-Canada Telemeter, a Famous Players subsidiary. Judith Evelyn of Toronto and Wm. Shatner of Montreal have been cast in MGM’s The Brothers Karamazov. And Joy La Fleur, also from Montreal, has impressed Hollywood with her talents. She’s known as Victoria Ward there... Andy Griffith, star of Warners’ A Face in the Crowd, which Elia Kazan directed, will be in Toronto on May 21 for press, TV and radio interviews. Also in the picture are Patricia Neal as co-star and Anthony Franciosa, Lee Remick and Walter Mathau as featured players. Cast In AA's ‘Violent Rebels’ Scott Marlowe and Fay Wray will head the cast of Violent People, which Bernice Block and Dale Ireland will produce as an Independent film for Allied Artists. WB's 'The Left Handed Gun' Lita Milan has been signed by Warners to star opposite Paul Newman in The Left Handed Gun, previously known as The Saga of Billy the Kid. CANADIAN FILM WEEKLY The NFB and the CBC Should the Canadian Broadcasting Act, under which the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation inherits power over television, and the National Film Act be rewritten so that the National Film Board, which is governed by the latter, can share that power? Should they be placed under a single economic umbrella because of a similarity of functions in a large area? The Royal Commission on Broadcasting hasn’t thought about the CBC and the NFB in that way. But it suggests a six-man “official continuing committee’ as “a recognized channel of communication’ between the two, thereby recognizing that they are in an important way partners. ‘Since both organizations are Federal Crown agencies, since their objectives are so similar and since neither is ever likely to be commercially profitable, it is of little consequence to the taxpayer as to who pays how much,” says the Commission's report. Since both have similar objects, why should one be subservient to the other? There are some mighty good brains in the NFB too. And it may be of little consequence to the taxpayer as to who pays how much—but it is of considerable consequence that the most be gotten for the money, which perhaps could be a lesser amount than is required now. Here is what the Commission said about the relationship of the CBC and the NFB: HERE can be no doubt that i the National Film Board looms large in the Canadian film industry. It’s volume of production for 1955 was valued at nearly $2.25 million while that of all commercial producers combined was about $2.5 million. Whether the place occupied by the Board is too large or too small or whether the nature of its output ought to be altered in any way are not matters which come within our terms of reference. However, film is called upon to play such an important part in television that we feel it is not irrelevant to our mandate to say something about the relationship of the Board to the CBC. One of the Board’s main objectives, as set out in the National Film Act, is ‘‘to produce and distribute and to promote the production and distribution of films designed to interpret Canada to Canadians . . .”’ The CBC is endeavouring, quite properly we believe, to do precisely the same thing through the media of radio and television. That being the case, it is the duty of both bodies to ensure that the vast television audience is given every opportunity to see at least that portion of the Board’s product which is designed to fulfil the objective cited above. Much has already been done by the CBC and the National Film Board to achieve this end. A number of NFB documentaries are shown on the television networks regularly and in both languages. Although we believe that the closest cooperation exists between the two organizations in the furtherance of their common objectives, we suggest that consideration be given to the establishment of an_ official continuing committee comprising three CBC and three NFB officials who might be drawn from the production and financial branches of their respective organizations. Not only would such a committee provide a recognized channel of communication which should remain open at all times, but it would be of much value in preparing long-range plans for consideration and approval of management and also in ensuring that the needs and wishes of one organization are at all times known to the other. ERE is one area in which there has been some disagreement in the past, and that is the amount of money the CBC should pay for NFB films. Since both organizations are Federal Crown agencies, since their objectives are so similar and since neither is ever likely to be commercially profitable, it is of little consequence to the taxpayer as to who pays how much. However, in the interests of good order, we suggest that in cases where the National Film Board wishes to avail itself of television to reach the greatest possible number of Canadians with films which are specifically designed to carry out the objectives of the National Film Act, then the Board ought to bear the greater share of the cost, particularly when the film can be put to other uses. On the other hand, whenever the Board is commissioned by the CBC to make films for the latter’s television purposes, we think it is only fair that the Corporation should either purchase the film outright or at least pay full Canadian television rights at whatever commercial rates are then applicable. We would not wish anyone to infer from the above that the Commission is of the opinion that the National Film Board should be the only source of supply for CBC film requirements. Even in the documentary field, which is the Board’s specialty, we believe that a healthier situation and_ better films will result if private film producers are not only allowed but encouraged to compete, than if the Board virtually corners the market for television’s documentary needs. Non-government producers have an almost clear field in pure entertainment films which — unless we misinterpret the intent of the National Film Act — do not come within the Board’s purview. ie is, then, cur suggestion that the CBC should not itself engage in large-scale film production but that it should encourage with judicious vigour, and in some cases finance, Canadian producers to make films which may prove to be not only enjoyable to our television viewers but also profitable to the CBC and beneficial to our young and imaginative film industry, May 15, 1957 CHARLES JENNINGS (Continued from Page 1) officers with private corporations of comparable size and complexity’’ when it comes to salaries. “‘It is true that the general manager has several senior assistants to whom he has been able to delegate some part of his responsibilities, but we believe that provision should be made for more executive assistance immediately _below the general manager,’ the report says. Born in Toronto, Jennings graduated from the University of Toronto and began a radio career in 1928 as an announcer for Station CKGW in that city. While at CKGW he announced the first commercial network broadcast in Canada. Leaving CKGW to freelance, he subsequently became known for his coast to coast programs for Canadian Pacific Railways. In 1935 he joined the Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission as an announcer. The following year he was appointed chief announcer for the newly-formed Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. In 1938 he entered the field of program administration for the CBC and become supervisor of program planning the following year. In 1943 he was named assistant supervisor of programs, and two years later was promoted to the post of general supervisor of programs. Jennings was named director of programs in 1953. In 1955 he was given the additional responsibilities of assistant controller of broadcasting. As a broadcaster Jennings is remembered for the historic events he described to the Canadian people. He covered the arrival of the R-100 in Montreal in a 12-hour broadcast. Some of his other special assignments maiden voyage of the first Empress of Britain, the first broadcast of an opening of Parliament at Ottawa, the introduction of President Roosevelt from Hyde Park and the Royal Tour of Canada in 1939. Lana Turner In 'Peyton Place’ Lana Turner will star with Lloyd Nolan and Lee Phillips in Jerry Wald’s CinemaScope production for 20th-Fox, Peyton Place. Plan Two For MGM Cy Feur and Ernest H. Martin, noted producing team, will make Stay Away Joe and The Boy Friend for MGM release. Bel-Air's "Dalton Girls’ John Russell will star in BelAir’s UA film, The Dalton Girls. Cast In ‘Bitter Victory’ Ruth Roman has been signed to co-star with Richard Burton, Kurd Jurgens and Raymond Pellegrin in Transcontinental Films’ Bitter Victory. included the .