Motion Picture Daily (Oct-Dec 1955)

4.195 Friday, November 4, 1955 Motion Picture Daily Ritchey (Continued from page 1) auj.he introduced Edwin J. Smith, Jr., uj vice-president and supervisor of the I 1 company's European operations to j ' the trade press, said that by next .]! July, "some 40 films will be disT,; tributed by the company through its *" ""own offices and franchise dealers in |jt!0Ef the foreign market." ls The AA executive disclosed that !u"fthe international company's net earn* irigs for the 1954-55 fiscal year "A "showed an increase of 42 per cent ;i over the previous comparable peJ riod." He said that he foresees a "100 n" per cent business increase this year in Italy, France and Germany." Ritchey stated that "within the next three or four months, our company executives will have covered every country in the world— where our films are now distributed. Our aim is to step up the distribution and marketing of our product in Europe, Latin America and the Far East and expand our overseas operations in distribution and production." Will Leave for Europe Soon Smith and Ritchey are going to Europe shortly. Smith's duties will embrace the distribution of AA product, and will have a hand in coproduction, and work closely with Associated British Pictures Corp. in the co-production of "I'll Take the High Road," Ritchey said. Ritchey also disclosed that Allied Artists International had taken an active interest in European television and might go into TV production in England. Commenting on Stratford Pictures, another wholly owned subsidiary of Allied Artists Pictures, Ritchey said that he hoped to "line up a number of European films for release in the U. S. Westrex Announces New License Pacts E. S. Gregg, president of the Westrex Corp., has announced that new motion picture recording license agreements have been completed with studios in the United States, India, Great Britain and Egypt. The studios which have installed the latest Westrex studio recording equipment are: University of Southern California, Los Angeles; Filmistan, Ltd., Bombay; Voice of London, Ltd., London, and Studio Al-Ahram, S.A.E., Cairo. UA Holds Yuletide Party for 'Heidi' More than 500 newspaper, magazine, trade press and radio-TV representatives and their children will attend a special preview of United Artists' "Heidi and Peter" tomorrow at the Little Carnegie Theatre in New York City. Following the showing of the new Lazar Wechsler Technicolor production, a Christmas-in-November luncheon party will be held in the theatre lounge. Aaron Rosenberg Production *ZJ9 May Use Fox's 55mm. Process on Ataturk Film Universale entry in the 55mm. CinemaScope field may be Aaron Rosenberg's projected film on the life of Ataturk, die founder of modern-day Turkey, it was disclosed here yesterday by producer Arthur Rosenberg. Rosenberg, enroute to Turkey to — ■ set up preliminary production plans, told a trade press conference that the 55mm. process developed by 20th Century-Fox interests him, although he has not seen it. He expressed his feeling, however, that the subject of Ataturk would lend itself to 55mm. treatment. The producer, covering a wide range of topics, strongly defended participation deals with talent. Cites Mutual Benefit Rosenberg, who claimed that his "Winchester 73" in 1949 started the trend toward participation deals with stars, expressed satisfaction with the way the formula worked out for Universal and die stars. "Bend of the River," starring Jimmy Stewart, and "The Shrike," starring Jose Ferrer, who also doubled as director, were among Rosenberg's participation deals. Fortunately, Rosenberg stated, all his participation deal films were successful at the box-office. Regarding the development of new talent, he paid tribute to Universal's talent school on the Coast. He also cited Universal's practice of nurturing younger talent by teaming upcoming personalities with seasoned stars. New York, he went on, rather than Hollywood, is becoming die training ground for new talent due to its TV activity and the demise of the program picture in Hollywood. Regarding future plans, Rosenberg Canada MPIC {Continued from page 1) Motion Picture Industry Council of Canada which terminated today. A new angle developed when the film exchanges represented by the Canadian Motion Picture Distributors Association announced a move for a strict checkup of boxoffice receipts, which in the past had been somewhat occasional. Clare J. Appel, executive director of the distributors association, asserted that the checking was necessary because some exhibitors had reported reduced grosses on percentage pictures. All branches of the Canadian industry were represented at the council meeting, when many committee reports were presented, including one on the progress of the proposed public relations committee by Nat A. Taylor, its originator. The industry convention also received reports on regional activities by seven provincial exhibitor groups. The chairman of the council sessions was Dave Grierdorf. A wellknown observer was J. J. Fitzgibbons, president of Famous Players Canadian, who came here from California. said he plans to do another film with Jose Ferrer, a film biography of Charlie Russell, starring Audie Murphy; a film based on the life of Bill Robinson, and "Apache Agent," based on a real-life character. Asked about his accent on biographical material, Rosenberg responded that he felt that factual characters seem to intrigue motion picture audiences more than other films, citing the success of "To Hell and Back" and "The Glenn Miller Story," both of which he produced. Times Publicity Drives Turning to advertising and promotion problems, Rosenberg cited die effectiveness of Universal's method of beginning the publicity campaign when the decision is made to film a certain property. David A. Lipton, vice-president in charge of advertising promotion and exploitation, who also attended the press conference, added that his department works directly with producer, a liaison which he called fruitfull. Study British (Continued from page 1) Washington over the weekend where he will attend the meeting of the International Federation of Film Producers starting Monday. He will be accompanied by Kenneth Winckles, assistant managing director of the Rank organization. Following the four-day Washington meeting the two will go to New York where the British film exhibition problems will be discussed in the light of new plans which the organization has contemplated for some time. Decca' s 9-Month Net Up Slightly Over '54 Consolidated net earnings of Decca Records, Inc. for die nine months ended Sept. 30, including the company's share of undistributed earnings of its subsidiary, Universal Pictures Co., Inc., amounted to $2,410,264, equal to $1.50 per share on 1,602,501 outstanding shares of capital stock. On Sept. 30, 1955 Decca owned 718,585 shares of Universal common, representing approximately 71 per cent of the motion picture company's outstanding common stock. In the corresponding period of 1954, Decca reported earnings of $2,272,602, equal to $1.42 per share on 1,602,501 shares of capital stock then outstanding. HAL WALLIS Puts the Indelible Mark of Greatness on the most adult love story ever filmed , more daring than his Academy Award winner, "Come Back,. Little Sheba". . .