Independent Exhibitors Film Bulletin (1963)

CAST AND CREDITS CAMPAIGN FOR 'DAY' BREAK (Continued from P<ige 4) F. Zanuck's war epic, "The Longest Day." A budget of $100,000 has been allotted for advertising "Day" in its 32theatre New York area break, it was revealed to representatives of the participating theatres at a meeting in the 20th-Fox home office last Thursday. The campaign was kicked off with a full page advertisement on the back page of the New York Times that morning, and 20th-Fox vice president Jonas Rosenfield, Jr., head of promotion, disclosed that a substantial portion of the huge expenditure will go for television advertising. Two of the film's stars, Rosenfield told the theatremen. Red Buttons and Irina Demich, will make appearances at a number of the theatres. ROSENFIELD & ZANUCK President Zanuck dropped in on the meeting to report that "The Longest Day" is likely to be the largest domestic grosser in Fox history to date, and to note that the picture is drawing a high percentage of repeat attendance. Harold Rand, director of world publicity, spoke on the vast publicity coverage given the Zanuck production in all media, especially the syndicated columns and in the financial press. Joseph M. Sugar, vice president in charge of domestic sales, expressed the view that "Day" is "one of the greatest pieces of merchandise in the history of the business." Advertising director Abe Goodman and exploitation director Rodney Bush were also at the session. Joe Levine: Will He Fill DeMille Shoes? The enthusiastic reception accorded Joseph E. Levine at the Paramount stockholders meeting last week left no doubt that the company's executives and the shareholders envision dynamic Levine as a pos levine sible successor to Cecil B. DeMille. Paramount president Barney Balaban introduced him as "our industry's greatest showman", and Paramount undoubtedly is counting heavily on the three films Levine's Embassy Pictures has committed to the distribution company. Throughout his lengthy and enormously successful career the late De Mille was Paramount's bulwark, and in his final production, "The Ten Commandments", he left the company a monetary heritage which it is still enjoying. If Joe Levine matches his showmanship talent in producing epic films, the Paramount management sees itself regaining its former formidable position in the industry. The three Embassy productions being made for Paramount are: "Zulu", (Stanley Baker, Jack Hawkins), currently shooting in South Africa in Technirama 70 and Technicolor; "The Carpetbaggers" (George Peppard, Carol Baker, Alan Ladd, Martha Hyer) in 70mm Super Panavision and Technicolor, scheduled to start shooting in July, and "Nevada Smith", a continuation of the "Carpetbaggers" saga. Levine last week announced the appointment of William S. Zimmerman as vice-president and production supervisor of Embassy. He will be in charge of the company's burgeoning production activities in the U. S. and abroad. Cinerama Seams Go In One-Lens System Cinerama, always plagued by those seams and the high cost of the three projectors, seems to have found the solution. A new single-lens system was revealed in Hollywood last Thursday (6th) before an audience of film executives, exhibitors, and the press. Production and exhibition costs will be cut approximately 30 percent, Ciner REISINI ama president Nicolas Reisini told the gathering. Theatres that presently have the three Cinerama projectors will be able to employ two of them for the usual changeover procedure. Single-lens cameras and projectors are to be available shortly after the new year, he said. Present Cinerama product will be adaptable to the new single-lens system. The audience at the Cinerama studio was regaled by some 16 minutes of scenes from Stanley Kramer's "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" which was shown in the new projection system. Arthur Krim president of United Artists which will release the film was highly enthusiastic. He said, "This event is a landmark in the history of the film industry." Turning to producer Kramer, he expressed the view that "this picture will gross more than any in the history of the motion picture industry." Viewpoints (Continued from Page 5) often heaped upon it as a great showplace. Much as we appreciate the distress felt by Warner Brothers over the harsh treatment of "Spencer's Mountain" (which likely will be a big money-maker, Mrs. Crist to the contrary notwithstanding) and the chagrin suffered by theatreman Russell V. Downing's fine reputation, we cannot escape the conclusion that a more sophisticated approach should have been adopted in response to Mrs. Crist's critique. The fact that the august Herald Tribune was prompted to express itself editorially that it feels "sorry for film producers who consider themselves above criticism" reflects a poor image of our industry. After all, how do we appear in our constant fight against censorship if we, ourselves, would censor a critic who doesn't like the contents of a movie or the manner in which a theatre is operated ? The press is here to stay. Our industry must learn to live with it and to strive always for the most amenable relationship with it. Let's stop trying to "cure" the critics. Film BULLETIN June 10. 1963 Page 19