Canadian Film Weekly (Dec 27, 1961)

Christmas Number CANADIAN FILM WEEKLY Page 5 leg User, Incorporating the Canadian Moving Picture Digest (Founded 1915) Vol. 26, No. 50 Christmas Number HYE BOSSIN, Editor Assistant Editor . . .. .© Ben Halter Office Manager . . . . Esther Silver CANADIAN FILM WEEKLY 175 Bloor St. East, Toronto 5, Ontario Authorized as Second Class Mail by the Post Office Department, Ottawa, and for payment of postage in cash Published by Film Publications of Canada, Limited 175 Bloor St. East, Toronto 5, Ontario Canada e Phone 924-1757 Price $5.00 per year Yordan, Ray To Produce Circus Film For Para Phil Yordan and Nicholas Ray have started production preparations on an untitled circus film spectacular for Security Pictures which they will produce, direct and write for Paramount release. The picture, which will be the mozt comprehensive story of Big-Top lif ever made, will be filmed by Yordan and Ray around the world. With Yordan producing and Ray directing the mammoth venture, the film will be made in the capitals of Europe where the circus originated and in the near and far East. Janet Leigh Signed For UA-Essex Production Janet Leigh has been signed to co-star with Frank Sinatra and Laurence Harvey in The Manchurian Candidate. The film, which will go before the cameras early in the new year, will be produced by George Axelrod and John’ Frankenheimer in association with Sinatra’s Essex Production. Howard W. Koch will function as executive producer of the top-budgeted picture, which will be released by United Artists. Para's ‘Girl Named Tamiko' Michael Wilding has been signed by Hal Wallis to star with Laurence Harvey, Frances Nuyen, Martha Hyer, Miyoshi Umeki and Gary Merrill in his Paramount production, A Girl Named Tamiko, now before the cameras. British Actor Pacted For WB's "Act Of Mercy’ James Robertson Justice, the burly Scottish character actor, has been signed for an important role with Leslie Caron, David Niven and David Opatoshu in the Warner Bros. motion picture drama based on Francis Clifford’s novel, Act of Mercy. The film is now before the cameras on location at Malaga, Spain, with Anthony Asquith directing from John Mortimer’s screenplay. Ben Kadish and Thomas Clyde are co-producing the adventure drama for Warner Bros, and the Associated British Picture Corporation. Unjust Amusement Tax (Continued from Page 3) theatres have been subjected to by television — which is largely subsidized in this country by the taxpayers — the United’ States two years ago eliminated the tax up to $1.00 and the government of the United Kingdom completely eliminated the tax about 18 months ago. It is a well-known fact that a great many theatres in Ontario towns and cities have given up the ghost in the last few years. The competition against TY, which as stated before, is ata subsidized by the state, has proven too much for many of them. Here, in Lanark County alone two of the towns, Carleton Place and Perth, have lost their moving picture houses. It is a fine state of affairs when theatres should be taxed to help TY which is putting them out of business. That is the kind of reasoning that brings popular contempt on a government's methods of doing business. If the Ontario Government continues to maintain this amusement tax more theatres will close and a theatre that is closed stops paying taxes of any kind including those on real estate and business, which is an important consideration in a municipality. Isn't it about time the Ontario Government dropped this outdated impost? Many people still enjoy the movies. The writer, for one, likes to go to the show and see something decent when he feels himself slowly going off his head watching the bilge that masquerades as entertainment on TV. If the Government insists on:collecting this pound of flesh why doesn't it make the tax more uniform by charging amateur entertainments such as those put on by schools and churches? They are run for the mighty dollar and in most cases they are conducted in places that pay no municipal taxes of any kind. The whole thing is wrong. It is just another sample of a Government getting its paw into the pork barrel under some pretext that seems logical at the time and keeping it there as any blackmailer or labor racket boss might do. What is the difference? POPULATION UP, IMMIGRATION DOWN Canada’s population has reached a new high as of last June 1 but immigration is now at an ll-year low. At 18,200,000 last June, the population went from 14,009,429 to 16,080,791 between 1951 and 1956, an increase of 2,071,362, and the most recent census figure indicates a gain of 2,119,000 since. The number of immigrants from Jan. to Sept. fell to 56,168 from 83,843 in 1960, a decrease of 27,675. British arrivals totalled 10,735, down from 17,468 last year. Italians, at 11,202 against 16,496 a year ago, were first, the British next and the USA, with 8,500, third. Of the 56,168 arrivals 27,872 were for the labor force and 28,296 were dependents or students. Over 17,000 of those for the labor force had professional training, were in service occupations or had crafts or skills. Ontario got 28,802 of the immigrants, Quebec 13,069 and BC 5,796. Canada’s population has gone up about 25 per cent since the end of the war, while admissions to theatres has gone down about 50 per cent. The increased population has no doubt helped the decline in attendance maintain a slower pace. RACKMIL: 'NO FEARS FOR THE FUTURE’ At the private reception for Milton R. Rackmil, president of Universal Pictures, during his recent visit to Toronto, he proved himself a forthright and engaging conversationalist on industry matters. He emphasized that Universal would not commit itself to deliver a specified number of features, the policy being to have a project thought out as far as possible and to begin it only when preparations are complete. “We don’t care if preparations take three months or three years,” he said. Rackmil has no fears for the future of the motion picture industry. “The desire for entertainment dates back to the Year One and it will always be with us,” he declared. “As long as it’s there our market is still with us.” However, it remains for film companies to interpret the public’s wishes and meet them, as well as to adapt themselves to the changes in the living habits of the people; this is absolutely essential. 1a) WE are reaching the end of a year in which there seems to have been more change than in any of the past decade, in itself a period of general upheaval. One has only to read the news roundup on other b| pages of this _ publication to realize it. Notwithstanding, | we are still a —*44->-— long way from having completed our period of transition. However, we may now hope that for many theatres there will be a levelling off in the drop of the attendance charts and that, while our business will never be the same as it was in the “sprocket filler’ era, it will from now on enjoy a greater measure of stability and a lesser degree of uncertainty than we have experienced in recent years. It is customary to welcome the New Year with a note of hope and expectancy. Many in our business, at this time, have that feeling. We are happy to count among our friends in this business many people who live across the breadth of our wide land, as well as others in distant places in other parts of the world. To all of these we offer our very sincere compliments of the season and best wishes for all good things in the New Year. | Season's Lreetings PSTD PARA PAPA PSPSPS PS PS PAS PS PRA from ‘Calfmore Feeat Theatres SLT ET ETE EEN NEES ENE VEPE PA PAID IAIS PE IS IS IL IS ISIS %