Canadian Film Weekly (Feb 27, 1970)

~ Vol. 35, No. 7 PUBLISHED BY THE MOTION PICTURE INSTITUTE OF CANADA Toronto, February 27, 1970 No Budgets —No Stars | No Way © There is great stress in our business today to reduce costs in production and distribution — and in advertising, for that matter. Some exhibitors or circuits may have made uneconomical leases in recent years, but generally operating costs have been kept under reasonable control. Until now, distribution has continued in a pattern which in many cases was antiquated and _ outmoded 20 years ago. But there have been many cases of horren_dous waste in production. Primarily, therefore, the belt tightening must start in that area. This means less pay for stars, producers, directors and writers. Even the unions in Hollywood are today taking a hard look and preparing to discuss the elimination of feather-bedding and unreasonable rates in order to either stop “runaway” production or increase it in Hollywood. However, when one talks about producing the hundreds of films a year which are required to keep the theatres of United States and Canada operating in a viable manner, one cannot think in terms of all these films being made with unknowns. There must be a handle to sell any film. Sometimes it is an established property such as a play or book, perhaps even a classic. Sometimes it is the very subject such as some of the sex pictures we have been playing recently. A controversial subject based on current events may spark a box office attraction. However, in the long run, established stars, to whom the public has taken a fancy, will sell more tickets than anything else. Thus, with rare exception, Jane Fonda in a new film will sell more tickets than Lizzie Glutz in the same vehicle. There are a great many players whose names may (Continued on Page 2) CANADIAN PICTURE PIONEERS 1970 EXECUTIVE — Left to right, back row: Jack Fitzgibbons (fund raising committee, membership co-chairman), Zeke Sheine (golf chairman), Morris Appleby (golf committee, entertainment committee), Myer Axler (fund raising committee), Dave Ongley (honorary solicitor). Middle row: Harold Pfaff (welfare committee), Bob Myers (award dinner committee), Art Bahen (fund raising co-chairman, annua! meeting committee), Andy Rouse (golf committee). Front row: Don Watts (public relations), Leonard Bernstein (secretary treasurer, membership co-chairman), A. L. (Pat) Travers (president), Lloyd Pearson (vice-president, award dinner chairman). Absent when photo was taken were Lionel Lester (award dinner committee, annual meeting committee), Harvey Harnick (fund raising co-chairman). —Photo by Len Bishop (public relations, entertainment committee) Universities see controversial movie Canadian universities are havying the rare opportunity to screen Jean-Luc Godard’s controversial film, Sympathy For The Devil (formerly entitled One Plus One). The film, which features the British rock band, The Rolling Stones, has only been seen internationally at a few universities, festivals and clubs since its completion in 1968. Sympathy For The Devil is a series of inspirations, immediate and improvised, and like many of the French director’s previous movies, it is a plea for social change. Godard discusses class struggle and the various attitudes of our society. Physically, the film is made up of several short, interchangeable scenes. Throughout, we watch The Rolling Stones (the voice of dissatisfied youth!) in a _ recording studio, working out (from an idea to the finished product) their song for change, Sympathy For The Devil. In other episodes, we are introduced to the ideals of Black Power, liberal democracy and the consumer society. The film has not yet been released commercially, in 35 mm., because the distributors seem to have been frightened by the generally poor critical acclaim and because of the content, politically. Nevertheless, Godard devotees may feel that Sympathy For The Devil is one of the more interesting movies of this year, one of Godard’s greatest triumphs in the theatre/ politics of cinema, and one which might have audience drawing power because of the ever-popular ever-relevant Rolling Stones. The film is being distributed in this country by New Cinema of Canada, based in Toronto and Montreal. Toronto film company in mammoth program Halewyn Films, a Toronto-based film production company manufacturing educational and documentary motion pictures, is presently engaged in one of the largest motion picture productions ever undertaken in Canada. Its over 100 Careers Series of career counselling and vocational guidance films for the education market is a $2,000,000 two-year programme. The Careers Series is being distributed internationally. The company has national distribution networks in Canada and the U.S. and has made export arrangements with 26 foreign countries where its films are sold. The company has already had purchase offers from American conglomerates. One of these was a major U.S. film studio entering the educational market. No such offer has been accepted. NFB feels that more money is needed Last week, film-makers from the National Film Board told the Commons broadcasting committee that they had lost faith in the ability of the board’s management “to act tough with anybody but us. Internally, it’s an autocratic management. The film-makers spend much of their time fighting with the management rather than making films.” The NFB union delegation felt that because of the government’s austerity program, the film board was falling behind the rest of the film communications industry and was losing several of its best people. Famous Players appoints 2 new VPs George P. Destounis, president and managing director of Famous Players Canadian Corporation, has announced the appointment of Clare S. Doidge, treasurer, and William N. Murray, general manager, as senior vice-presidents of the company. The appointments were approved at a company directors’ meeting, Feb. 20.