Harrison's Reports (1962)

84 HARRISON'S REPORTS June 2, 1962 Kig Films.., (Continued from Front Page) ingly inspiring story, and they'll tell you plenty of the endless troubles that beset Zanuck and his dedicated production forces. Yes, the big ones arc those with the big troubles! Over at Metro-Goldwyn Mayer the decision male ers are tossing in their sleep as their "Mutiny on the Bounty" is tossed around by overridden production budgets and over-lapping shooting schedules. The original nine-million dollar cost has already more than doubled itself. Meaning, that the date of completion is 'way beyond a year overtime. There are other big ones before the cameras that aren't sailing along according to schedule of shooting time or budgeting of production. You've got to be completely unconcerned about the destinies of our great motion picture industry not to feel some sense of sympathy for those responsible for the blockbusters who in finally delivering them have not also delivered of themselves some portion of their life-span to the fates and their alloted swing of time's pendulum considering the strains, the stresses, the tensions they had to endure in the making of the big ones. Picture Speak* international Tongue No matter what may be some of the ailments of the ordinary motion picture, its language of outstanding greatness is never so loud, and never reaches such outer terrains into which is vortexed millions more movie-goers as when it speaks through the medium of a truly big blockbuster. In terms that make their appeal to the young and the old, the big films are the powerful trumpeters that proclaim the almost unscalable heights to which motion picture entertainment can climb. A big one achieves a grandeur that plumbs the emotions of people in all walks of life. Though box office achievement is the paramount objective, let us not dismiss the spasms of worry, the pressures of grief, the jittery waves of alarm that are upon the bossmen until the hopeful signs of encouraging return are upon the horizon. Before that comes along they must endure the endless tortures that is part of this business: A strangely vindictive press; harpooning syndicated columnists; malicious gossipers; the biting bleating of those ivory-towered idealogists who always seem to get a hearing in the public prints or a Susskind ride on the far-reaching megacycles. That such treacherous travail should be upon our film makers, as is to be witnessed every time a big blockbuster falls behind in schedule or runs ahead of its budget, is proof that Hollywood continues to be one of the more dramatic kind of whipping-boys when a grandstander, -especially in the fields of mass communication,--wants to whip up for himself a tasty dish of character destruction. But, all this frightening kind of reaction is proof that we too, are looking in the wrong direction for proper guidance, sustenance, courage. We should set our sights on the screen itself. From that will come our bearings, our satisfaction, our justification. We say this, because nearly all of our multi-million dollar block-busters are salutes in themselves to the greatness of the motion picture. There is no other story-telling medium that means so much to the masses. There is no greater force in moulding better pubblic relations than that which the public sees on the Mind Bidding Evil... (Continued from Front Page) the troublesome matter. Fine expects the companies to make, every effort to eliminate this problem completely once and for all." Itlind Kidding Evil Sot Kreryuhere Fine did say that this irregularity of practice, - the evil of blind bidding, may not hold in all territories. But, he did seek the full cooperation of all the sales heads, so that, "I can assure exhibition that in the future no bids will be due on any of your company's product until prints for screenings have been made available and thus help solve this costly headache overnight." Raz? Goldstein of Allied Artists Corp., Robert Mochrie, M-G-M; Rube Jackter, Columbia Pictures; Irving Ludwig, Buena Vista; Jerome Pickman, Paramount; Glenn Norns of 20th-Fox; James R. Velde, United Artists; Henry H. Martin, Universal; and Charles Boasberg of Warner Bros, were the recipients of the Fine letter of protest and complaint. The first distributor to make reply to Fine, was Allied Artists. Said M. H. Goldstein: "I have always been opposed to a policy of blind bidding and, to the best of my knowledge, Allied Artists has never instituted or pursued such a policy." screen. There is no more hopeful way upon welcoming the unborn tomorrow, especially in these trying times, than what we put on the screen. -and, the big releases are the bigger, better, stronger moulders of these life-giving forces of the motion picture. Ilig film* Ilia Prestige Uuilder* Right now, it's the Academy Award winning "West Side Story," "Judgment at Nuremberg," "El Cid," "King of Kings." Soon these will be joined by "Cleopatra," "Mutiny on the Bounty," "The Longest Day" and others. These are the big ones. If we've spoken of them only, at this time, it's because the bigger they are, the bigger the trouble they make for their producers, creators, backers, mothering-hens. These men have been taken plenty to task of late because of budgets running over, production completion falling behind. In a way, these pictorial Parnassians are still pioneering. When next time we seek reason for derision,-even in an innocent sort-of way, let's give their plight, their courage, their dedication and faith some conscienceplumbed consideration. Let's give these men themselves a compassionately sympathetic thought or two. As for their own philosophies and their outlook upon the unborn tomorrow, they well know how carefully they must watch their every step. For ours is a prophetically heartless business that draws a very narrow, almost unseen, line of undecipherable demarcation between the big success of yesterday and the unavoidable failure of tomorrow. The inundation of the applause and praise that came with the last release can turn out to be like so much small spray compared to the great waves of critical onslaught that thunders over a man of courage who sets sail on a new, big blockbuster voyage but fails to reach port all the way. That is one of the bitter ironies of our business. and, it will ever be thus! But, not for the men of courage.