Independent Exhibitors Film Bulletin (1962)

Festivals, Haircuts & Salaries What about this film festival business? Among a number of items which have gotten out of hand in the movie business, which we will come to later, nothing tops — or bottoms — the film festival madness. And it's about time we recognized the fact. At this point perhaps some few embattled readers who are aware of a particularly successful film festival will rise in high dudgeon and complain that I am indicting a whole institution when I should be aiming my fire only at the badly run festivals. The trouble is that there seem to be so many. Let's be realistic. What may once have been a sincere effort to encourage film-making art has now become a standard tourist attraction and promotion stunt. If less starlets have lost their bras in recent years at Cannes that does not necessarily make the film festival a triumphant marriage of art and commerce. No matter where you turn this summer, you are apt to run into a film festival. As often as not, what is called a festival is nothing more than a parade of standard films from the standard array of foreign countries. I have no idea what good this does any of the producers or distributors (unless they happen to be the winning entries), but it may help the local tourist trade. It has been my observation that the American companies are rarely if ever thanked for entering these festivals, but always roundly abused if they don't. Maybe this would come under the heading of foreign aid. Whatever its heading, I seriously question whether it is to be encouraged. 0 Speaking of film festivals and whether or not they are to be encouraged, I am reminded of a number of other movie institutions about which the same questions can be raised. As a starter, I raise the question of hair. Men's hair, to be exact. You may well wonder how men's hair got into this column. Have you seen any of our actors off-screen these days? If you have, you probably know that too many of them wear their hair long. I was at an affair in an Eastern city recently where actors from Hollywood and New York were among the guests. You could pick out the Hollywood representatives from the rear, just by looking at the napes of the necks. If there were signs of a reasonably recent haircut, New York. If long wavy locks were flowing onto the collar, Hollywood. The explanation is usually offered that Hollywood Western stars must wear their hair long. But only one of the crop of Hollywood performers I saw at this affair was a Western hero (I will admit his hair was definitely the longest). And when Elvis Presley was wearing his lovely locks at pre-Army length I do not recall that he was herding cattle or gunning for the rustlers at the pass. In brief, except in a cosmopolitan city where this kind of thing is just too much, today's male performer seems to be a long-hair on the surface, wearing the hirsute badge of his trade and looking like the dickens. Even if I weren't balding, I would condemn this trend. We turn next to the question of how the stars get pai This admittedly is in quite a different league from the way th don't get their hair cut, but as long as I am on the subject stars I might as well run the full course. Max Youngstein, w knows his way around the film business and is not one to suff in silence, recently let loose with a telling blast. Among tl items he characterized as the "economic idiocy" was the id of paying a million dollars to a performer while in any oth medium the same performer would be paid on the basis of tl success of the vehicle (A Broadway salary lasts as long as tl run; ditto a television fee; but a movie salary is a guarante often with the added inducement of a percentage of the profit As Youngstein points out, the million dollar salary com< out of the picture budget, but it doesn't necessarily go into tr star's pocket — not if the performer is paying taxes to Unc Sam. It is merely a prestige symbol — a senseless and expensh one, which accomplishes nothing except fattening an actor's eg As long as this column seems to be devoted to the performer bless 'em, I would also like to inquire why so many of th non-singers become recording "stars" instead of sticking to the; own trade. The same applies to the serious actor who will 1< himself be used as a comedy foil on a television program i hope of getting a plug (although I am happyy to note that z least one network has been avoiding this sort of thing in recer times.) And I will try to pass mercifully over the shamble that ensued when a parade of Hollywood performers tryin desperately to "be themselves" recently appeared on a midnigh network show. They should have brought their writers. Bette still, they should have watched themselves on the Late Lat; Show. But hold on. I am being carried away by peeve. Th fact is that at their own trade most of the actors are pretty gooc Their own trade is acting — from a script, on a sound stage where you play to a director and a camera and the film edito is your very good friend. It is unfair of the distributors and the producers to expec actors to be expert at other jobs. It is unfair to send a youn; kid out on a press tour without scripting and preparing hin to cope with the questions of fairly prescient newspapermen It is unfair also to rig the tax laws so that he has to ask ai astronomical salary in order to get to keep an adequate amoun when Uncle Sam gets through taking. It is also unfair, in nr, book, to use actors' private lives callously as publicity material It is unfair, but if the publicity men don't do it there are alway a few journalistic vultures around to handle the assignment. 0 We are riled up today, aren't we? But let's not end thi column on a nasty note. Let's make pointed note, rather, o the fact that despite the idiocy of multiple film festivals, lonj haired actors, overpaid actors, amateur singers and the like, im other entertainment medium has yet been able to equal thi American motion picture in the lasting impact of a singli vehicle. No star in any other medium has topped Elizabetl Taylor in impact, either — and that was before the new invasior of Rome by the barbarians. While we are heaping praise on the movies, let us also noti that our technical geniuses have not been lagging. I have higr hopes for the excitement which will be generated by the new Cinerama and the new concepts in theatre design; I still cling tc the idea that 3-D will be back before too long in practical form I even think more of the actors will be getting haircuts. As foi the film festivals, I suppose they will always be with us. Maybe the basic question is whether we should always be with them Now if we can only do something about the income tax this column will not have been in vain. Page 8 Film BULLETIN May 14, 1942