Independent Exhibitors Film Bulletin (1962)

Record Details:

Something wrong or inaccurate about this page? Let us Know!

Thanks for helping us continually improve the quality of the Lantern search engine for all of our users! We have millions of scanned pages, so user reports are incredibly helpful for us to identify places where we can improve and update the metadata.

Please describe the issue below, and click "Submit" to send your comments to our team! If you'd prefer, you can also send us an email to mhdl@commarts.wisc.edu with your comments.




We use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) during our scanning and processing workflow to make the content of each page searchable. You can view the automatically generated text below as well as copy and paste individual pieces of text to quote in your own work.

Text recognition is never 100% accurate. Many parts of the scanned page may not be reflected in the OCR text output, including: images, page layout, certain fonts or handwriting.

What They're Mini About □ □ □ In the Movie Business □ □ □ BALABAN RETIREMENT? Don't be surprised if Paramount Pictures has a new president by the end of the year. Barney Balaban, at age 75, and smarting under criticism of some of his policies, including the costly pay-TV adventure in Canada, is said to be considering retirement. His decision may even be prompted by a nudge from some of the company's other top officials. One report is that the sudden exit of Jerry Pickman from the post of general sales manager revealed the first internal opposition to Balaban's iron rule in the 26 years he has occupied the president's chair at Paramount. 0 'CID' IMPACT ON AA. Allied Artists will show red ink for the 4th quarter of the fiscal year ended June 30, adding to the $1,196,000 deficit for the first 39 weeks, a company official informed Film BULLETIN. However, prospects for the new year, starting July 1, are as bright as the sunny plains of Spain. The first quarter is certain to show a whopping profit as enormous returns from "El Cid" pour in. This Samuel Bronston production, it is now estimated, will gross over $40 million in this hemisphere the first time around. With the distributor's "take" averaging Dver 50%, it is clear that AA will be luxuriating in black ink throughout the current fiscal year, destined to be by far the biggest grossing period in the company's history. o GRIMM' SALE SLOW. Advance sale of eserved seats for "The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm" has been rather slow in most situations. Cinerama and Metro officials attribute ;he laggard early pace to two principal factors: :he impression of many people that it is chiefly in attraction for moppets, and the fact that x>adshows traditionally do not fare so well in :he summer months. The hope is that wrd-of-mouth and the reviews will spark the icket sale, and the anticipation is that boxoffice md group sales will start perking as soon as summer vacations are over. TELEMETER FALTERING. Reports from Toronto persist that the Telemeter adventure in the suburb of Etobicoke is drifting nowhere and faltering badly. Saddled with steady weekly losses, Paramount is said to have ordered that the personnel involved in the pay-TV operation there be cut to the bone in an effort to keep it afloat. Some key people are likely to quit soon. There is widespread disappointment among subscribers over Telemeter's failure to provide the kind of top quality programming promised in the feevee promotion campaign, and additional resentment has been stirred by the drive to extract a $15 annual "service charge" from all subscribers, Announcements that additional installation are being made in the Toronto suburbs Mimico and New Toronto probably reflect more accurately an attempt to find homes for Telemeter equipment idled by Etobicoke cancellations. o A PROFIT'S A PROFIT. The popular premise that seems to govern the policies of most independent producers and major film companies is this: shoot the works for the multi-million dollar grossing picture; anything less is a waste of time. This theory came in for some critical and rational comment from actor Melvyn Douglas, who was quoted in the New York Times recently: "Moviemakers today, whether they are independent or studios, have not yet learned how to make movies for a minority audience. They are still looking for the five-and-ten-million-dollar profits. They still want the vast audience that makes that kind of profit possible. They turn up their noses at a $500,000 profit ... If you are willing to settle for a profit of $500,000, you don't have to worry about offending special groups. You don't have to compromise with your subject for fear of limiting your audience. On the quality level, the Europeans of talent have the edge. They are not afraid of working for a limited audience. If they happen to reach a large audience, so much the better. They make a movie because they have something to say." Many of this industry's problems could be cleared up if each of the major film makers in the U. S. turned out half-a-dozen original-idea films each season at a cost that could bring a profit on a modest gross. It might be worth trying. Film BULLETIN August 6, 1962 Page 7