Motion Picture Daily (Oct-Dec 1954)

Friday, December 10, 1954 Motion Picture Daily 3 Louis Nizer Subject Of 'Esquire' Story Louis Nizer of the industry law firm of Phillips, Nizer, Benjamin & Krim is included among the "four or five" rarest kinds of lawyers in the country, discussed in an article by Allen Churchill in the January issue of Esquire. Churchill quotes Nizer as saying that there are two types of prominent attorney: the scholar and brief writer, the other, the skilled trial lawyer." Rarely are these two types combined in one man, but when they are the combination is irresistible," Nizer is quoted as saying. "One thing Nizer did not say," Churchill writes, "but which everyone else in the profession knows, is that these four or five rare attorneys would readily include in their select company Nizer himself." Louis Nizer Toll-TV {Continued from page 1) America general counsel, who along with other members of the joint committee attended the Rembusch press conference at TOA headquarters, announced that the Washington law firm of Cohn and Marks had been retained to prepare the FCC petition. The petition, Levy continued, will ask the FCC to withhold any decision on Zenith's bid for relief without a hearing. In addition, Levy added, it will ask the FCC that when it does schedule hearings on the toll TV issue to grant the exhibitors group an opportunity to be heard. The petition, now in preparation, should be ready to be filed with the FCC in a week or ten days, Levy stated. Also attending the press conference were WilHam Namenson, representing the Independent Theatre Owners Association ; Wilbur Snaper, of Allied States Association, and Phillip Harling, treasurer of the joint group and representing the Metropolitan Motion Picture Theatres Association of New York. Sees TV Owners Duped Namenson, in a prepared statement, declared "toll TV is against the interests of the public because it will foist on the public a charge for entertainment over the airwaves which they were assured they would enjoy upon the purchase of a television set. Also once one TV broadcasting company gets the right to charge for a program it then becomes a matter of time before all programs will be subject to charge." Similar arguments against toll TV were used by Rembusch. Opening the press conference, Rembusch charged that Zenith in its FCC petition made "erroneous" claims, basing its arguments on what Zenith called the "success" of its Chicago tests when telephone facilities were utilized. Today, MEET DISTRIBUTORS HALF WAY ON FLAT RENTALS, McGEE ASKS SIOUX FALLS, S. D., Dec. 9. — Commenting on the announced willingness of some distributors to sell smaller theatres on a flat rental basis, Pat McGee said here today that "if we close our exhibitor ranks and try to meet these distributors half way and on a workable plan, we can get something accomplished quick enough to serve the purpose." Speaking at the convention of the South Dakota Exhibitors Association, the general manager ol the Cooper Foundation Theatres of Denver cited 20th Century-Fox and M-G-M as having expressed a willingness to sell on a flat rental basis, and also Columbia and other companies although, he added, they "are not taking very rapid steps to put them into operation." Quotes Producers In regard to the apparent shortage of product, McGee asserted that the producers say that they are not solely responsible for making fewer pictures. "They say," he said, "that television and other factors cause them to lose money on the B pictures and forced them to be eliminated. They cite the lack of good story ideas, the lack of sufficient stars, the fact that only the big picture makes money, and that there isn't room for any other type. I don't doubt there exists a shortage of stars and good technicians. It was recently reported that a number of good story ideas were waiting until the right male star became available. In that very admission you must clearly see that no film company now in production has a continuing program for the development of new personalities. They wait for someone else to take the chance on the young personality in the hope that when he has been developed, they can borrow him when they have a suitable role. There are dozens of youngsters in California who could be developed into stars if producers would only make the effort." McGee said that in the meanwhile, this policy of fewer but bigger pictures, with no willingness to risk featuring a young but capable player, "makes the producers themselves victims of the policy of which they have made exhibitors the victim." As the stars get older and retire, he continued, without suitable replacements being trained, the salaries of those who remain are naturally forced up by the spirited bidding for their services, in which the agents for the stars take full advantage. The higher the salaries, the less the stars want to work, McGee said, because of high income taxes, and "thus you see the result of the fewer but bigger picture policy, all of which raises costs which in turn force higher film rentals." Yet, despite all this, McGee said, "we see a few newcomers rising to stardom. You see Grace Kelly, Tony Curtis, Rock Hudson, and others like them coming to the fore. Just think what would happen if a determined eft'ort were made to develop new personalities, thus widening production possibilities." This, he explained, gets back to that "lack of statesmanship" which he mentioned in Qiicago. "I mentioned it in accusing the men who have made fortunes in this business but who still refuse to take the business risks without which they would never have made their fortunes in the first place," McGee stated. "It doesn't matter to them that the policy of bigger and better pictures is the underlying basic cause of the declining attendance at our box offices, even though some few pictures show to more people and gross more dollars than ever before in the history of our industry." Warns of Decline in Gross McGee said that if production shrinks so that only 250 features are available, "our national gross will decline from our present $1,200,000,000 annually to about $750,000,000," adding that if production is increased to about 350 features annually or slightly more, "our national gross will increase to almost $1,500,000,000 annually, and all this comes about because of the public's reliance on its opportunity to attend." There must be enough product available for the public to make its selection so they can average 17 annual visits per capita. McGee said. This is a decision that the producers ought to make, relying on the full support of exhibition to do its utmost to sell every possible ticket, he concluded. Rembusch went on. Zenith plans to use alternative methods, untried and untested. The anti-toll TV program mapped by the two-day meeting of exhibitors, according to Levy, includes : the FCC petition, an educational program to the public to correct "misleading" toll TV claims, the raising of money to finance the joint committee's work and winning the cooperation of allied industry groups and others in the campaign. To Meet Again Shortly In response to a question, Levy said the method of financing and how much money is to be raised have not been decided upon yet. Rembusch, in response to another question, said the full joint committee will meet again soon after the first of the year. The educational program may include newspaper advertising and even the use of theatre screens. Levy acknowledged. Leppert Seeks Crew For DPF Spain Film HOLLYWOOD, Dec. 9. — George M. Leppert, president of the recentlyformed Draw Poker Films of Texas, Inc., of Houston, is here for negotiations with cameramen and technicians for the production of the company's first picture, which will be filmed in Spain. The picture will be based on the novel "Accent Spain," a work of Ed Ainsworth, feature writer of the "Los Angeles Times." Leppert will leave here on Dec. 27 for New York, where he will spend four days before leaving for Madrid. Members of the DPF board of directors, in addition to Leppert, are : George Tessier, chairman ; John T. Charbonnet, Oliver S. Livaudais, Bentley G. Byrnes, Max Tobias, William G. Zetzman and Jack Auslet, all of New Orleans. I McGee May Book TV Films for Kid Shows SIOUX FALLS, S. D., Dec.9. — Pat McGee, general manager of the Cooper Foundation Theatres, told the South Dakota Exhibitors Association convention today that he was contemplating the booking of some television programs for Saturday kiddie shows because of the lack of suitable product. He mentioned the Mickey Rooney and "My Little Margie" TV programs as possibilities. "Surely producers could make worthwhile kiddie programs on which they could at least break even," McGee said. "If they can be made for television, why can't they be made for this especial purpose?" No Auxiliary Camera For MGM in Filming C'Scope in Future From THE DAILY Bureau HOLLYWOOD, Dec. 9.— M-G-M will dispense with auxiliary cameras on CinemaScope productions henceforth, and will rely on the Gottschalk micro-panatar laboratory equipment to derive from anamorphic prints all "flat" prints required for theatres not equipped for CinemaScope and using aspect ratios from 1.85-1 down to Academy proportions. Until now, M-G-M has been filming CinemaScope productions with both anamorphic and standard cameras, so that exhibitors could be offered unhanipered choice in film dimensions. However, following extended tests by the studio's Douglas Shearer, with the mirco-panatar system, first installed in the Technicolor laboratory and later in Columbia and Universal-International, M-G-M has decided all necessary prints of any aspect ratio can be taken from CinemaScope negatives. Scribe, Hope in Deal For 3 Biographies HOLLYWOOD, Dec. 9. — Bob Hope Enterprises and Scribe Productions, now associated in the filming of "Eddy Foy and the Seven Little Foys," today signed a new equalpartnership deal by which Scribe (Melville Shavelson and Jack Rose) will produce three biographies starring Hope in the next five years. The first under the Scribe-Hope deal will be a biography of the late Mayor James Walker of New York. Utah Theatre Burned SALT LAKE CITY, Dec. 9.— Fire today completely razed the Ritz Theatre at Layton, Utah. Damage is estimated at between $75,000 and $90,000. The house is operated and owned by the Hawk Theatre Circuit of this city. No one was in building at the time of the fire. Burrows Buys More AA George D. Burrows, executive vicepresident of Allied Artists Corp., purchased 24,750 shares of the company's common stock during October, according to figures reported to the Securities and Exchange Commission.