The Exhibitor (1952)

10 EXHIBITOR New York News Letter By Mel Konecoii WHEN Darryl F. Zanuck, 20th-Fox vice-president in charge of production, returned from a five-week business trip to Europe, he had some new production policy plans to announce, and also that the com¬ pany was out to make only important, big budgeted films aimed at world¬ wide audiences. Zanuck said that the studio policy will change radically after coming to the conclusion that the only way to de¬ feat the downward trend of attendance is by concentrating on important subjects. There’s nothing new in this theory, except that this time we mean it, he said, con¬ vinced that low budget films made as such can add nothing to the future of this industry. He was also convinced that a large international audience awaits pic¬ tures that deserve such an audience. For the balance of this year as well as for 1953, a larger percentage of important pic¬ tures will be undertaken than ever before. Zanuck also opined that great motion pictures can be made at a cost without sacrificing the qualities of entertainment, and that the price factor today is as im¬ portant as the subject matter itself. Said he, “We are in business to stay in busi¬ ness, and we can only stay in business successfully if we can make a program of pictures of the type that I have in mind, and if they can be made at a sensible price.” He predicted no wholesale changes at the studio outside of the normal, routine adjustments. The future will probably see more personalities going in on partici¬ pating deals. Future expenditures will be arranged so that as much of the money spent will be visible, with the invisible expenses being kept to a minimum. The year 1952 will see 29 or 30 features produced as compared to 37 made in 1951. It was emphasized that this is a production number, and not the release number of the company for the year. Story material on hand will be resurveyed for classification under the new program. Zanuck didn’t expect to produce any films personally. Rather, he will supervise all the production activities on a more active basis. He attached great importance to the foreign market, stating that there wouldn’t be a company in existence today were it not for the foreign market. Producers have to understand it in order to survive, and he urged others to go abroad to find out first hand what overseas tastes are like. Most of the films that are popular here are also pleasing abroad, with the possible exception of some musicals. In the works, completed, editing, or preparing are: “The Robe”, “Snows Of Kilimanjaro”, “My Cousin Rachel,” “Man Columbia Making New York — A precedent-shattering con¬ tract, the first ever signed between a national advertiser and a major Holly¬ wood studio for the production of motion pictures specifically for television, was announced last week by the Ford Motor Company, Columbia, and the National Broadcasting Company. The contract, negotiated with Columbia and NBC by the J. Walter Thompson Agency representing Ford, calls for the immediate start of production of 39 halfhour plays, to be presented for 39 con¬ secutive weeks commencing on Oct. 2, On The Tight Rope”, “There’s No Busi¬ ness Like Show Business”, “Call Me Madam”, “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes”, “Stars And Stripes Forever”, “Tonight We Sing”, “The President’s Lady”, “The Way Of A Gaucho”, “What Price Glory”, “Les Miserables”, “Monkey Business”, “Lure Of The Wilderness”, “Pony Soldier”, and O’Henry’s “Bagdad On The Subway”. Among those to be made abroad are: “White Witch Doctor”, most of which will be filmed in the Belgian Congo, and “Singlehanded”, a C. F. Forester yam, to be filmed in the Mediterranean. THE FOREIGN SITUATION: At a lunch for U-I foreign supervisors and managers now in this country for con¬ ferences hosted by A1 Daff, U-I, vicepresident in charge of world sales, it was established that American films were still doing well in most areas, and that the future looked fairly good. Here McIntyre, managing director for Australia, reported that the company ex¬ pected to gross close to $1,125,000 more than the peak year of 1947, and that ex¬ hibitors are doing very well generally with a top 80-cent admission, a minimum of 20 cents, and no Sunday shows. There is no television nor is there any upblic desire for it at present. Motion pictures secure 90 per cent of the amusement dol¬ lar, and the primary competition comes from outdoor sports. He paid tribute to the public relations jobs done by ex¬ hibitors there, who aid charities in many Boys Like Wayne, Day, "Sailor Beware" _ NEW YORK — A study to determine the movie-going habits and motion picture preferences of American boys was completed last week by Boys’ Life, official magazine of the Boy Scouts of America. It was revealed that 85 per cent of the boys attended the movies at least once during a fourweek period, 70 per cent at least twice, 50 per cent three times or more. The representative group of the more than 2,000,000 readers, 10-17, selected “Sailor Beware” as the pic¬ ture seen by the most boys. In all, 310 different movies were seen during this time. John Wayne was chosen most popular male star, with Martin and Lewis and Randolph Scott holding down the second and third slots. Doris Day nosed out Jane Russell and June Allyson for top position as fav¬ orite female star. Konecoff TV Films For Ford over 51 NBC television outlets. The title of the program will be “The Ford The¬ atre,” and the sponsor will be the Ford Dealers of America. The plays are to be made by Columbia’s television subsidiary, Screen Gems, Inc., and will employ top-name stars, male and female, plus big-name film directors and screen writers. All will be produced by Jules Bricken, Screen Gems, and will be filmed at Columbia’s studio in Hollywood. The 39 plays will not be a connected series, but each will be an entity of its own. ways. McIntyre also reported the the¬ atres well-equipped and well run, while the population seems to be crazy about films. About 37 per cent of the populace attends films regularly. Saul Jacobs, Central America manager, noted that theatre attendance in Guate¬ mala was affected by Communist street demonstrations while elsewhere, perhaps with the exception of Panama, where the absence of American army personnel has cut grosses, business is generally about the same as last year. American films still dominate the scene except in the interior, where no English is understood, and Mexican and Spanish films are viewed. There is a heavy importation of Euro¬ pean films in the area. Bert Tonks, Eastern Asia and Far East supervisor, reported little new construc¬ tion except for a million dollar, modern theatre with 1500 seats which has been erected in Kurachi, Pakistan, the Rex. In India, he reported, local product has made inroads on American playing time, a situation which wasn’t improved any with the withdrawal of British troops from the country. Gross returns have dropped mod¬ erately over the last few years. He esti¬ mated that the country consumes about 300 American films annually. Of the 1250 theatres, 150 play American product ex¬ clusively, 750 play mixed product, and the balance play local product and an occa¬ sional American film in the off-morning hours. Russian product is getting limited playing time in India and elsewhere, with exhibitors being subsidized against losses to play them. Ben M. Cohn, assistant foreign sales manager, reported a theatre building boom in South America, with millions ear¬ marked for new houses. In Caracas, five million dollar houses have been opened recently, and six other deluxe theatres are scheduled to open in the next few months. In Sao Paulo, Brazil, where there are presently 130 theatres, it is expected that 50 new theatres will open in the next two years. He reported increased admis¬ sion in Rio, which should help the indus¬ try and encourage theatre building and renovations. Also present were Marion Jordan, be¬ ing transferred to Europe: Americo Aboaf, foreign operations head, and A1 Lowe, new Latin American supervisor. PRODUCTION NOTES: If independent producers are able to follow the lead set by producerwriter Sid Kuller, production on the coast, at least for the less expen( Continued on page 14) June 18, 1952