Hollywood Studio Magazine (November 1972)

TAKE IT FROM THE TOP By Zelda Cini Something new in TV With everybody evaluating this fall’s television fare and deeming it not much better than usual, out there in the wilderness of education comes the announcement of a grant for special research in the realm of closed Circuit television and how it might be used to benefit institutionalized old folks. Recipients of this oddball government contribution are Drs. Richard H. Davis of USC and Allan E. Edwards of the Veterans Administration. The money, a nameless sum, comes from the National Institute of Mental Health. Allocated for a three-year period, the project will gear up immediately to explore the actual viewing habits of the aged, with special emphasis on the technical needs of patients with impaired sight or hearing. All that sounds great, until you get into the “fine print.” There, it all comes out. The idea is to determine what kinds of information doctors would like to transmit to patients. Somehow it all sounds like a very expensive way to say “there, there” or “take two aspirin, drink juices, stay in bed.” Are you prepared for the announcer who sets the scene with “And now, all you lovely Medicare patients out there, here’s today’s word from your personal physician!” On the brighter side Despite the gloom surrounding the “old” major film studios and film-makers, there’s at least one place in the world where young film-makers are being encouraged to enter the business, professionally, if they care to. That place is Southern California’s PBS television outlet, KCET, Channel 28. Here, at least, movie makers from age 6 to 18 who have not yet been graduated from high school may enter their films in the 3rd annual Young People’s Film Festival. The competition is set up in three categories: ages 6-11, 12-15, and 16to 18, with prizes offered in several categories for each division. Films may be live action or animation, black and white or color, silent or sound, 8mm, Super 8, or 16mm. Furthermore, winning films will be shown in a special broadcast which KCET will present next spring. Entry deadline is February 1, 1973. Meanwhile, Tuesdays and Thursdays at 11:45 a.m., you may be able to take a look at 1971 and 1972 entries in 15-minute segments, on Channel 28. Tune in and see for yourself. The film industry started on the talents of young people who didn’t know what they were doing when they began. Who knows. Maybe today’s young people have a thing or two to say about their world — and have the talent to capture it on film the way they see it. The $44,000 Extra Caper Are you ready for this? H. O’Neil Shanks, national executive secretary of the AFL-CIO Screen Extras Guild, has been ordered to refund 14 months of salary ($24,000) and an estimated $20,000 in legal fees the union paid attorneys to defend him from an accusation of “incompetence” by Ed Kerr, Shanks union rival. All this because Kerr first asked for Shanks dismissal as appointed executive head of the union and failed to get it. Then he sought a membership referendum, which Shanks held up for 14 months. When the case did come to trial before the Court of Appeals, Shanks was found not guilty of malfeasance in Office and he can continue serving as national executive secretary because he won the membership referendum vote. However, he was ordered to refund the salary he collected for the 14 months the case was in limbo, but the court has reasons to expect him to sue for a $24,000 fee “for Services rendered.” That way he gets the money back, but perish forbid it should be considered “salary” while his job was in contest. Meanwhile, the court also ordered the union to pay Kerr’s legal fees, which turn out to be an estimated $20,000. Who, would you guess, is on first? Especially for buffs A couple of years ago, a chap named Martin Levin edited a book entitled “Hollywood and the Great Fan Magazines” in which he reproduced selected stories from such favorite film publications of the 1930’s as Motion Picture, Screen Book, Silver Screen, Modern Screen, Photoplay, etc. Leafing through his hard cover book is a revelation, even to people who remember the star system and the public hunger to share, however vicariously, the glamorous lives of these happy, happy people. Where eise are you to find such literary gems as “The First True Story of Garbo’s Childhood,” “Motherhood - What it Me ans to Helen Twelvetrees!” or “Shirley Temple’s Letter to Santa”? Today, Hollywood’s Daily Variety prints an up-to-date crossword puzzle based on the industry. But away back there in the 30’s there were the Movie Fan’s Crossword Puzzles, and “Here We Go For The Basic Step of La Conga”! as additional enticements to squander a whole dime to purchase your monthly copy of any one of these hefty photo-laden fan books. Just to give you an idea of what the crossword puzzle’s about, try this on your memory: a 4-letter word for the villain in “The Buccaneer”; in 7-letters, sea captain in “Ebb Tide”; in 4 letters, Ronnie Bowers in “Hollywood Hotel,” and, just for kicks, in nine letters, who was the rieh Indian in “Life Begins in College?” Furthermore, did you know that Joan Crawford, at 26, was already divorced from Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., played the piano and the harp, adored mustard on saltines, made hooked rugs as a hobby, slept in pajamas and confessed that her best friend was an actor named Franchot Tone? She was 5’4” tall, weighed 115 lbs., wore a size 4C shoe, preferred carmine lipstick and deep rose nail polish, lived in a house with three servants and she owned two cars. Ah, those were the days, my friend. We thought they’d never end, etc. Warners does $3 million in billing Hollywood — The second record-breaking $3,000,000 domestic billing week in the history of Warner Bros, has been revealed by Leo Greenfield, vice-president and general sales manager. This marks, he declared, another big step toward an all-time record year for the Company. “In a recent week,” Greenfield explained, “we billed over $3,000,000, and the same kind of thing had occurred just three weeks previously. 4