The Independent Film Journal (1955)

Plan For Top Quality Films To End “Orphan Period” Ills Incubate These Stars!, Says Gollensoii ‘‘You need minor leagues in baseball, and you need incubators for chickens.” That’s how AB-PT president Leonard Goldenson illustrated the need for young stars in movies at the meeting where his company’s tenpoint plan was announced. New young stars will help to build new young audiences, Goldenson insists. Four and a half million children reach the age of 12 every year, and become potential customers, he said. They must have stars they can grow uj> with. Among the “chickens” Goldenson has been “gratified” to see on the screen are Kim No¬ vak and Jack Lemmon from Columbia, and Tab Hunter and the late James Dean from Warners. AB-PT Suggests Broad Program Nine other points followed the AB-PT proposal for a more orderly distribution of quality product, as revealed by AB-PT vice president Edward L. Hyman. They are : 1. The need to equalize advertising rates and contracts between TV and theatres. (“ ... in 1955 TV adveiTisers have be¬ come much more aggressive , . . check the TV advertising rates ... to see how they compare with the theatre lineage rate ... it is important we make certain our advertis¬ ing is equally effective and not overshad¬ owed by TV.” 2. The need for effective trailers. (“Some trailers are too long— some reveal too much — some do not reveal the proper ingredients. . . . United Artists seems to be doing some¬ thing about trailers that we think should be greatly enlarged, not only for TV pre¬ sentation, but also for theatres.”) 3. The need to recapture the women audience through better public relations. (“This plan, which was proposed by Leon¬ ard H. Goldenson, has won the enthusiastic support of COMPO. ... As soon as complete information ... is available, it will receive the widest possible circulation. . . .”) 4. The need to concentrate on increasing attendance. (“With a more orderly distri¬ bution of quality product . . . we should redouble our efforts to attract the yovangsters.”) 5. The need for developing new faces and talent. (“It can eliminate the shortage of boxoffiee names . . . can enhance the movie interest of teenagers. . . , The current situa¬ tion wherein about a dozen stars practically are in control of the industry . . . would be considerably alleviated by the appearance and development of fresh personalities on theatre screens.”) 6. The need for better publicity coverage for Hollywood and theatres. (“. . . in the last six months, the most insignificant event in TV is heralded, whereas important events that take place in our industry are men¬ tioned insignificantly. ... We believe much can be done ... to correct this. . . .”) 7. The need to keep Audience Awards (Contin/ued on page 21) For the fir.st time since tho consent de¬ crees were passed, theatre owners should be as.sured of an orderly distribution of quality product next year. The scheduling of new films, if the plans of the major distributing companies are realized, should make toj) quality pictures available through the “or¬ phan periods” of MayJune, post Labor Day, and Thanksgiving-Christmas. This important announcement — one of the most encouraging for industry welfare in many months — was made as part of a 10point program by AB-PT president Leonard Goldenson and AB-PT vice president Ed¬ ward L. Hyman. Hvman, who had ap¬ proached 11 major companies with a request for more orderly distribution next year, has compiled answers from the distribution execu¬ tives, and a 20-page document, containing Hj^man’s findings and other AB-PT sugges¬ tions for “the good of the industry,” has now been released to the trade press. While attacking the traditional practice of directing quality pictures toward the major holidays of Easter, July 4th and Christmas, while by-passing other i^eriods, Hyman made it clear that the blame for “lull” periods — or other industry problems— could not be placed on distribution or production or ex¬ hibition alone. Exhibition, “if given a quality picture with ‘legs,’ should gnarantee the maximum playing time and the best film terms so that the return to the distributor would warrant the release of such a quality picture during such a period, Hyman said. He also called for outstanding advertising and exi^loitation campaigns. The industry today has a tremendous op¬ portunity to become as prosperous as at any time in the j^ast, Goldenson said. Plenty of quality pictures will be available in 1956. The “lull” periods, however, when nothing is available, have caused the movie-going habit to be broken, and even good pictures that play thereafter suffer. Orderly distribu¬ tion, Goldenson said, is one way to recapture the audience. Eleven producers have “subscribed in in¬ tent” to the AB-PT request, according to Hyman. Here’s what AB-PT’s Edman L. Hyman thinks of the “oi-phan periods” of 1955 and what might be made of them next year: May-Jtine: “. . . the veiy time to come forward with quality rather than . . . withhold them. Here is a season . . . when the big TV programs have just gone off the air. . . . May-June is one of the Drive periods for exhibition and this woiild be of extreme help to the release of quality pictures.” Post Labor Day: “. . . right after Labor Day, we saw quite a lull in business . . . the most effective factor was the reaction . . . which set in fol¬ lowing the tremendous pictures which were released in July and August. On top of this big TV programs came back on the air this year with a tremendous fanfare of advertis¬ ing and exploitation. . . . Department stores Warner Bros, has .set The Spirit of St. Louis with James Stewart for release on June 2, and The Searchers (John Wayne) or Giant (Elizabeth TaylorJames Dean) in September and will make availal)le for Thanksgiving a picture from the following list: GOLDENSON HYMA.N Elia Kazan’s Baby Doll; The Big Brass (Bogart-Bacall) ; Hitchcock’s The Wrong Man (Fonda); Totvard The Unknown (Hol¬ den) ; Fred Zinnemann’s The Old Man and The Sea (Spencer Tracy) ; The Bad Seed, Band of Angels, Pajama Game, No Time For Sergeants. From Paramount, approval has already been obtained on an “outstanding” release for Thanksgiving. “We are advocating Hitch¬ cock’s The Man Who Knew Too Much, Hy¬ man said, noting that when George Weltner returns from the Coast after viewing the new product, definite infonnation would be obtained as to releas&s set for other oi’phan periods. Charles Reagan has infonned Hyman and Goldenson that in the first week in February, after he has viewed all of Metro’s new prod¬ uct, he will advise them of specific pictures and release dates for the Summer and Fall months. Twentieth-Fox, Hyman said, is endeavor¬ ing to offer Bus, Stop and/or Anastasia (In¬ grid Bergman) to theatres during the MayJune peilod. The King And 1 will be re(Continued on page 21) . . . do not rest after the big Christmas rush but follow it with their big January White Sales. We must also follow our big¬ gest seasons with our own “White Sales.” We should not have been caught without good product following Labor Day.” Thanksgiving-Christmas : “We are convinced that, if the biggest picture of the year were released at Thanksgiving, we in exhibition could assure distributors of greater playing time and top tenns in oi^r best and most imjmrtant theatres. It does not take any great im¬ agination to realize that a quality picture with ‘legs’ and with the proper advertising and exploitation can, in many instances, play from Thanksgiving until the year-end attraction is available. What a difference this would make in the month of Decem¬ ber!” Quality SVill Beat the Lull: Hyman THE INDEPENDENT FILM JOURNAL— January 21. 1956 11