The Exhibitor (1952)

10 EXHIBITOR New News By Mel Konecoff — MILTON R. RACKMIL, president, Decca Records, and newly-elected president, Universal Pictures, last week lunched with trade press representatives, and opined that there was room in the entertain¬ ment business for all media of expression, and theatrical exhi¬ bition will probably grow stronger in the future. Television will not bring about the downfall of the the¬ atre, he opined, any more than the record business was destroy¬ ed when radio be¬ came popular. He admitted that U-I subsidiaries will probably go in more for the production of special films for TV since it appears that TV would have to turn to film, and that the company would expand in this direction as well as in theatrical produc¬ tion. He refused to specify what the lat¬ ter move would entail. There will be no merger of Decca and U-I although their future activities should see some form of cooperation. There will be no changes at U-I either in personnel or policy since the company is now operating with a “winning team,” and he saw no reason to disturb the na¬ ture of things. He expected to remain at the helm of both companies, spending most of his time in the east. Nate Blumberg, elevated to chairman of the board, will make his headquarters on the coast, and remain active in the production end of the company Health permitting, Leo Spitz will be back at his studio executive post, and rumors regarding Leonard Goldstein’s re¬ turn had no basis. Rackmil was introduced by executive vice-president A1 Daff. Also present were Maurice A. Bergman, public relations di¬ rector; Phil Gerard, publicity manager, and Milt Livingstone, trade press contact. TURNING POINT: Exhibitors will re¬ member the Republican and Democratic conventions with kindness. These plus the high temperatures brought customers back to theatres, and showed them what they were missing. CELEBRATION: When Republic throws a cocktail party, it’s usually a good one, and the affair in honor of director John Ford was no exception. The cocktail-buf¬ fet party came off at the Essex House with Ford getting all the kudos for “The Quiet Man,” which opens at the Capitol on Aug. 21. He told us he liked making the film in Ireland, with the cast having a wonderful time, and that his next would U-I home office executives and department heads recently gathered at a luncheon in New York City to meet the company's newly elected presi¬ dent, Milton R. Rackmil, and shown at the affair are, from left, Adolph Schimel, vice-president and general counsel; Leon Goldberg, vice-president and treasurer; Rackmil; N. J. Blumberg, new chairman of the board; Alfred E. Daff, new executive vice-president; John J. O'Connor, vicepresidesit; C. J. Feldman, domestic sales man¬ ager, and David A. Lipton, vice-president in charge of advertising and publicity. In the fore¬ ground are attorneys Richard Davis and Saul Friedberg, Morris Alin, editor, Progress; Harold Rubin, and Ray Miles, assis'ant comptroller. also be for Republic, based on one of the “Judge Priest” stories made famous by Irvin Cobb. Attending the reception from Republic were James R. Grainger, Walter L. Titus, Jr., James V. O’Gara, John P. Curtin, Richard G. Yates, Richard W. Altschuler, John J. Petrauskas, Jr., Joseph McMahon, William Murphy, Steve Edwards, Dennis Carlin, Beatrice Ross, and Ed Dowden, on special assignment for the New York opening. Present from Loew’s Theatres v/ere Joseph Vogel, Oscar Doob, Eugene Picker, John Murphy, Ernest Emerling, Harry Greenman, etc., all of whom seemed to enjoy themselves. 1NDE PRODUCER: Joseph Kaufman, producer of the suspense click, “Sudden Fear,” with Joan Crawford, which RKO is releasing, was in, and said he thought that the future of production lies in de¬ centralization, small units making one picture annually. The day of mass pro¬ duction was over he said, and the future will see less but bigger and better pic¬ tures. To make a picture properly, it should take a year from script to release, he said. He stressed advance planning, aiming for a certain release date, gearing all moves accordingly, and close cordination between production, distribution, adver¬ tising, and exploitation. Kaufman started coordination between production and the other departments a year ago when the script was written, at which time many items were deliberately inserted in the script for publicity and advertising purposes. To date, there is the equivalent of five millions forthcom¬ ing in cooperative advertising-publicity. By having Joan Crawford travel coast-tocoast on a train, he was able to tie in with Western Pacific, which supplied all the railroad equipment, and WP will now plug the film via tickets, posters, 24sheets, free transportation for the Frisco premiere, etc. Special trailers have been made for TV; special attention is being paid radio in the way of coast-to-coast contests; ads were planned on the film from the script; tieups with various manufacturers were, and still are, being made; special stills were made at the production time for servicing to magazines, to hit about this time, and personal appearances by Craw¬ ford and other cast and production per¬ sonnel are helping considerably. Kaufman paid high tribute to the entire RKO organization for efforts to make this entry a top grosser. He may release his next feature, “The Lady Or The Tiger,” through this company, although there is no written contract. There is no starting date at present. STUDIO PRODUCER: Pat Duggan, producer of Paramount’s “Just For You,” the new Bing Crosby-Jane Wyman starrer, was in for conferences, and related that, although he has been in the business for some time, this was his first produc¬ tion, but it certainly won’t be his last. He hit the poor public relations job being done by the industry in relation to combatting adverse criticisms, and felt that perhaps the answer lies in the trade press, the best mouthpiece for answer¬ ing these critics. He remarked that any¬ body can attack the industry or its per¬ sonnel and get space, but one doesn’t see anyone hitting at the automobile indus¬ try, and making any headlines. He thought we were a “patsy industry” for this kind of thing. His film, he felt, reflects the new kind of thinking prevalent at Paramount, and predicted that there would be some great musicals emerging from the studio in the future, giving credit to production chief Don Hartman. Part of the new trend in musicals seems to lean towards more sub¬ stantial stories and believable characters, and all musicals will be in color. Incidentally, the film was shot in 46 days, and cost about two millions, loca¬ tion shooting having added to the cost. He estimated that the average musical shouldn’t cost more than one million-six to one million-eight. Next on his schedule is “Reaching For The Stars,” with Ginger Rogers and Wil¬ liam Holden, and possibly Walter Pidgeon, to start shooting on Oct. 1. This will be followed by a remake of “Vanity Fair,” in color, in March, and then he may produce a screen play by Philip Wylie, “Turmoil.” He thought that the day of the one picture per year for the studio list producer was over, and that at least two will be assigned each producer, if not more. PUBLICATIONS: “Italian Cinema, The Post War Years,” a lavishly illustrated publication with scenes from outstanding Italian films, is a fine work covering the Italian film field. It contains answers to many questions that Americans have been asking regarding that country, its produc¬ tion policies and plans, an analysis of the economic foundation of the industry, the comic film, the historic, the musical, and the documentary. The important subject of co-production is also treated. Italian Films Export is distributing the book to editors, exhibitors, distributors, and leaders of important national organiza¬ tions . . . MGM forwards a 24-page book¬ let entitled “Facts About MGM’s Produc 0 Continued on page 21) August 6, 1952