The Independent Film Journal (1954)

FCC Stretches Entry Deadline ( Continued from page 7) meter Corp., a pay-TV proponent, wired Alfred Starr, Nashville exhibitor who has been an articulate spokesman against payvideo, and asked him whether this deal wouldn’t put him in an “embarassing posi¬ tion.” If the practice of showing first-run films on a free basis before theatrical presentation were to continue even on an occasional basis, he asked, isn’t it possible that you will be coming out in favor of payas-you-see TV1? Starr replied that the reported arrange¬ ment only made his position stronger, rein¬ forcing his belief that pay-TV would give the public nothing they could not presently get without charge. Furthermore, he said, first-run films on TV cannot compete with first-run films in theatres unless the means can be found of “degrading the quality and minimizing the quantity of first-run motion pictures available for theatres.” “It is obvious, “Starr said, “that the setowner is not going to pay to see his first-run movies on a small flickering TV tube when he can pay the same price and see his motion picture in all the clarity and width and color definition of VistaVision or CinemaScope or Todd-AO. Starr, together with Trueman T. Rembusch, who is the other co-chairman of The Committee Against Pay-As-You-See TV, also announced that ways and means will be ex¬ plored to have the subscription television is¬ sue included on ballots in regular elections. Petitions Proposed “If petitions are necessary to gain a posi¬ tion on ballots,” they said, “it may be that we will take steps to have petitions cir¬ culated on the municipal, county or state level, if such a step is deemed feasible.” On another front, the National Associa¬ tion of Radio & Television Broadcasters, which has already taken a modified stand against subscription TV, has established a special three-man committee to get across its position to Congress and the American public. The television board of the NARTB, at a meeting in Hot Springs, Va., approved a resolution reaffirming the Association’s stand against any subscription plan using chan¬ nels now assigned for free TV. The NARTB, like the Committee Against Pay-As-You-See TV, is not opposed to fee-video on closedcircuit channels. Meanwhile, Benjamin Abrams, president of Emerson Radio & Phonograph, Corp., warned radio and TV dealers that FCC ap¬ proval of toll-TV would “kill the goose that laid the golden egg.” Speaking at a dis¬ tributors meeting, Abrams predicted that the top TV programs eventually would "go over to pay-TV. Then, he said, “television would no longer have the same appeal, and that would be “definitely detrimental to sales.” He suggested that dealers express themselves to their Congressmen “to see that the air remains free and in the public domain as it should be.” Technicolor Pays 25/ The board of Technicolor Inc. declared a dividend of 25 cents per share on the new $1 par common stock and a 50-cent dividend on the no par common, not exchanged, pay¬ able on July 22. Raps Resistance To Foreign Pix Seymour Poe, recently appointed executive vice-president of I.F.E. Releasing Corp., outlined I.F.E.'s new program to the Italian and foreign press during a visit to Rome. Poe is shown flanked by Eitel Monaco, president, Italian Films Export (left) and Dr. Renato Gualino, president of I.F.E. Releasing Corp. Seymour Poe, executive vice-president of I.F.E. Releasing Corp., who has just returned from a visit with his company’s board of directors in Rome, had some direct things to say about foreign films and exhibitors dur¬ ing his stay there. Agreeing that the foreign film generally has had a “difficult” if not “impossible” time in the U. S., Poe said the remarkable fact is that it is exhibitor resist¬ ance, not audience resistance, that gives for¬ eign films a hard time. Poe thinks exhibitors resist foreign films because they are so far off the beaten track, that they take difficult effort to launch them. I.F.E. he said, has accomplished “some¬ thing which is far beyond the actual results Independent TradeReviews _ ( Continued from page 13) _ “Mad At The World” (Filmakers) 75 Min. Cast: Frank Lovejoy, Keefe Brasselle, Cathy O'Don¬ nell, Karen Sharpe, Stanley Clements. Credits: Produced by Collier Young; Directed and written by Harry Essex. Filmakers has an exploitation film here that will require careful selling and which will be aided and abetted by the current emphasis on juvenile delinquency. Film has Senator Kefuver, currently dealing with the juvenile problem, in its prologue. The cast delivers good perform¬ ances in a screen play that has some very moving and unique ingredients, plus good direc¬ tion. In the general market, with the afore¬ mentioned selling, the film should do okay. Production is excellent and has captured the flavor of Chicago and its slums. Naturally, the film’s title will be a big box office help, being catchy and interesting. A juvenile rat pack, composed of Paul Du¬ bov, Stanley Clements, Joseph Turkel and James Delgado, gets drunk, steals a car and go on the town, and accidentally kills Keefe Brasselle ’s baby. Brasselle co-operates with the police, but when he feels their methods are too slow, beats up a released suspect. After this, he sets out to get the gang himself using Karen Sharpe, a waitress, as his entry. Dubov, head of the gang, decides to kill Brasselle. Inspector Frank Lovejoy tracks down Dubov and Delgado, who are driving Brasselle to his death. Delgado is killed by Dubov; Brasselle has a brutal fight with Dubov, who falls off a building. Lovejoy arrives just as Brasselle is about to shoot the dying Dubov. “The Living Swamp” (20th-Fox) CinemaScope-De Luxe Color 33 Min. Credits: Produced by Jeffrey Hunter and Herbert Hayes; Directed and written by David DaLie; Narra¬ tion written by Wanda Tuchock; Narrated by Dale Robertson. of the pictures in the American market,” primarily because the films “have been launched in a highly professional manner.” He praised I.F.E.’s advertising, publicity and promotion which have made “a com¬ pletely unpronouncable name” like Gina Lollobrigida a household word. The I. F. E. board of directors granted Poe’s organization full autonomy and ad¬ hered to his requests to release fewer pic¬ tures next year, and to streamline the organ¬ ization. The board also will permit I.F.E. Releasing Corp. to distribute non-Italian pictures. Poe expressed his hope that I.F.E. will release between eight and 12 films in 1956. This entertaining excursion into Georgia’s Okefenokee swamp, where alligators and snakes abound, is well-photographed and clearly nar¬ rated. It should do justice to any program as a supporting featurette. Photographed in Cin¬ emaScope and color, the film presents an assort¬ ment of footage that concentrates mainly on the behavior of the swamp denizens. The first portions show such creatures as the raccoon, the bear, the alligator — either at peace or in conflict with one another. Final portion is con¬ cerned with a trip via small boat through one of the many swamp rivers in search of poison¬ ous snakes. Here David DaLie, caretaker of the swamp, which is a national wildlife preserve, snares several monstrous reptiles. The venom will be used for scientific purposes. Climax of the episode is an exciting contest between man and alligator. Dale Robertson narrates. “The Bed” (Getz-Kingsley) 101 Min. Cast: Richard Todd, Martine Carol, Vittorio de Sica, Dawn Addams, Bernard Blier. Credits: A Cormoran-Terra Film Production; Pro¬ duced by Niccolo Theodoli; Sequences directed by Henry Decoin, Jean Delannoy, Ralph Habib and Gianni Franciolini. A suitable exploitation entry for special sit¬ uations is to be found in this collection of four unrelated French and Italian tales having in common more or less risque situations revolving around the title piece of furniture. General audience marquee allure is to be found in the names of Richard Todd and Dawn Addams while for art houses, the names of Martine Carol, Vittorio de Sica and Bernard Blier should help. Tales range from the fair to the mild in humor, the best one recounting a roman¬ tic adventure between a truck driver and a society girl. Close behind is a fable about a Gay Nineties courtesan of Paris who re¬ ceives Madame Pompadour’s historic bed for a gift. Item involving Richard Todd shows how a sleepy soldier delivers a baby while the short with Dawn Addams finds the actress playing a professional correspondent in a divorce racket. English titles and dubbing help bridge the language differences. 22 THE INDEPENDENT FILM JOURNAL— July 9. 1955