Motion Picture Daily (Oct-Dec 1959)

Wednesday, October 21, 1959 Motion Picture Daily 3 See Hope for End of UK Conversion Curbs From THE DAILY Bureau LONDON, Oct. 20. The removal as of Nov. 1 of restrictions on the amount of foreign currency which may be bought by British travelers leaving the country is expected in some quarters here to mark a new series of 'Treasury moves toward currency freedom which may end the remittance regulations applicable to earnings of ' American motion picture companies here. Believed likely is a further easing of restrictions on imports from dollar areas, a move that has the support of many economic experts here. The _]last major relaxation of curbs on dol"|lar imports was made effective last ,!june 8 but did not include motion [pictures in the long list certified at (that time. Would Make Pact Unnecessary A Treasury move granting free convertibility of the film companies' sterling here would do away with the need for the remittance agreement which was renewed for another year several weeks ago. Efforts to achieve full convertibility have been a part |of the renewal discussions in several (recent years, but were not successful. However, the conversion limitations have not been burdensome inasmuch as the American film companies have managed to use up sterling balances blocked in England in a variety of permitted uses. The basic agreement provides free convertibility of $17,000,000 of earnings, plus one-third of American companies' investments in production in Britain. On the changing exchange situ..tion, last Saturday's issue of The Economist said: "Another overdue freeing is of imports from the dollar area. Britain should lose no time in ending discrimination and indeed in freeing virtually all its imports from quantitative restrictions." Treasury Spokesman Quoted A spokesman for the Treasury said it "was the intention of the United Kingdom and other European countries to remove restrictions as quickly as possible." Under the restrictions on foreign currency available to British travelers, now being ended, the average person was limited to £100 ($280) a year. Under the new regulations there will he, in effect, no limit on the amount of cash the traveler can take abroad with him. Tour for 'Ben-Mur' Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer has completed arrangements for a tour that will send Charlton Heston and Haya Harass reet to every city which will open "Ben-Hur" in 1959. They will take off from Los Angeles on Nov. 1 for the start of a two-month tour that will include their appearance at the world premiere at Loew's State in New York on Nov. 18, the Los Angeles premiere at the Egyptian Theatre Nov. 24, and the London premiere at the Empire Theatre on Dec. 16. Columbia Lists 39 Releases For 13 Months; 19 for Filming FOLLOWING is Columbia's 13-month schedule of 39 productions set for release from January, 1960, through January, 1961, and titles of the first 19 pictures to be definitely set by the company to go before the cameras in 1960. The line-up of completed and planned Col. Into Field product will be discussed with exhibitors in every film exchange city by top company executives, in the coming weeks. January, 1960: George Sidney-Norman Krasna's "Who Was That Lady?," Tony Curtis, Dean Martin and Janet Leigh; Sam Spiegel's "Suddenly, Last Summer," Elizabeth Taylor, Montgomery Clift, and Katharine Hepburn; Philip Waxman's "The Gene Krupa Story," Sal Mineo, James Darren and Susan Kohner. February: Carol Beed's 'Our Man in Havana," Alec Guinness, Burl Ives, Maureen O'Hara, Ernie Kov.ics, Noel Coward, Ralph Richardson and Jo Morrow; Louis de Rochemont's "Man on a String," Ernest Borgnine and Kerwin Mathews; Raoul Levy's "Babette Goes to War," Brigitte Bardot. March: Stanley Donen's "Once More, With Feeling," Yul Brynner, Kay Kendall and Gregory Ratoff; Warwick's "The Killers of Kilimanjaro," Robert Taylor; Harry Joe Brown's "Comanche Station," Randolph Scott. April: William Goetz' "The Mountain Road," James Stewart, Lisa Lu and Glenn Corbett; Drexel's "Because They're Young," Dick Clark, Victoria Shaw, Tuesday Weld and Michael Callan; S. Szkoll's "Search for Cherefto," Maria Schell and Cliff Robertson. May: Hall Bartlett's "All the Young Men," Alan Ladd, Sidney Poitier, Mort Sahl, James Darren and Ingemar Johansson; Sam Katzman's "The Enemy General," Van Johnson, Jean Pierre Aumont, and Dany Carrel; Hammer's "The Stranglers of Bombay," Guy Rolfe. Special Release: William Goetz's "Crescendo, the Story of Franz Liszt," Dirk Bogarde and Capucine. June: Charles Schneer's "Gulliver's Travels," Dynamation, Kerwin Mathews and Jo Morrow; Boris Kaplan's "Let No Man Write My Epitaph," Burl Ives, Shelley Winters, James Darren and Jean Seberg; Samuel Fuller's "Underworld U.S.A." July: Richard Quine's "Strangers When We Meet," Kirk Douglas, Kim Novak and Ernie Kovacs; Herbert B. Leonard's "Rin Tin Tin Story," Rinty; "Lucretia Borgia," Belinda Lee. August: Stanley Donen's "Surprise Package," Yul Brynner and Mitzi Gaynor; Cornel Wilde's "Caves of Night," Cornel Wilde and Jean Wallace; Charles H. Schneer's "I Aim At The Stars," Curt Jurgens and Victoria Shaw. September: George Sidney's "Pepe," Cantinflas, Dan Dailey and all-star cameos; Hammer's "Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll"; Philip Yordan's "The Kingdom of Man," Richard Widmark and Maria Schell. October: Corona-Arwin's "Who Is Sylvia?," Doris Day; Bryan Foy's "Brink's Bank Robbery"; William Goetz' "Cry For Happy," Jack Lemmon and Ernie Kovacs. November: Fred Kohlmar's "The Devil At Four O'clock," Spencer Tracy and Sidney Poitier; Charles Feldman's "Fair Game"; Warwick's "Jazz Boat." December: Arthur Hornblow, Jr.'s "The Captive," Kim Novak; Fred Kohlmar's "The Wackiest Ship in the Army"; Jerry Bresler's "Gidget Goes Hawaiian," Sandra Dee and James Darren. January, 1961: Carl Foreman's "The Guns of Navarone," Gregory Peck and Anthony Quinn; Hammer's "Never Take Candy From A Stranger"; Raoul Levy— Henri G. Clouzot's "The Truth," Brigitte Bardot. The productions announced by Jaffe for 1960 filming include: Richard Quine's "The Image Makers," Glenn Ford; Sam Spiegel's "The Chase"; Otto Preminger's "The Other Side of the Coin" and "Bunny Lake Is Missing"; George Sidney's "Here Comes the Brides," Burt Lancaster; David Susskind's "A Raisin in the Sun," Sidney Poitier and Broadway cast; Frank Capra's "The Jimmy Durante Story," Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. Jules Verne Story Included Also, Kirk Douglas' "The Beach Boys," Kirk Douglas; David Susskind's "Revival"; Martin Melcher's "Roar Like a Dove," Alec Guinness and Doris Day; Budd Schulberg's "The Bridge at Remagen"; Charles Schneer's "Mysterious Island," Jules Verne classic in Super-Dynamation; William Goetz' "Time of the Dragons." Also, Dorothy Kingsley-Mel Ferrer's "Nine Coaches Waiting"; Ray Stark's "The Fanny Brice Story"; Sam Speigel -David Lean's "Lawrence of Arabia"; George Sidney's "Beturn Fare"; Fred Kohlmar's "Baa, Baa Black Sheep" or "That Hill Girl." 'Andersonville' Planned Jaffe said arrangements for a producer and stars for "Andersonville." Pulitzer Prize novel, to be the most expensive production in Columbia history, are being completed and will be announced shortly. ( Continued from page 1 ) city, with participation by A. Montague, executive vice-president; Samuel J. Briskin, vice-president in charge of West Coast activities; Paul N. Lazarus, Jr., vice-president; and Jonas Rosenfield, Jr., executive in charge of advertising and publicity. Optimistic Regarding Future Expressing Columbia's unbounded confidence in the future of the film business at yesterday's luncheon, Jaffe said the company is backing its words with film that has been shot and is being shot. The product he discussed represents the results of the "Columbia formula" policy enuniciated last year by president A. Schneider, which calls for the production of multi-million dollar films by independent units able to draw upon Columbia's production facilities and staffs here and abroad. The "Columbia formula" has established a working climate in which some two score independent producers are now flourishing, Jaffe said. In enumerating the 39 films for 1960 and January, 1961, and the 19 others to be made, Jaffe pointed out that there possibly would be more films available for release in 1960 and there would most certainly be additional production in 1960. Leading Exhibitors Present The release schedule of three films a month as announced by Jaffe and the pictures for 1960 filming are listed in adjacent news columns. The exhibitors who attended the luncheon were: Harry Brandt, William Brandt, Joe Ingber and Lou Wolff, Brandt Circuit; Julius Joelson and Max Fried, Joelson Circuit; Samuel Rinzler, Harold Rinzler and Emanuel Frisch, Randforce Circuit; Walter Reade, Jr., Reade Circuit; Murray Miller, Hecht Circuit; Wilbur Snaper and Irving Dollinger, Triangle Circuit. Also, Charles Moss and Larry Morris, B. S. Moss Theatres; Larry Lightstone, Rugoff & Becker; Leslie Schwartz, Samuel Goodman and Ben Gladstone, Century Circuit; Joe Seider, Walter Higgins and Nat Harris, Prudential Circuit; Jules Liggett, Liggett Booking & Buying; Seymour Florin, Florin Booking & Buying— Max Cohen and Lou Fischler, Cinema Circuit. Top Circuits Represented Also, Lou Allerhand, Island Circuit; Leon Rosenblatt, Rosenblatt Circuit; Jack Hattem, Stanley Kolbert, Sol Straussberg, and Moe Straussber", Interboro Circuit; Eugene Picker, John Murphy and Milton Arnswalder, Loew's Theatres; Edward Hyman, AI Sicignano and Al Guyler, American Broadcasting Paramount Theatres; Leo Brecher, Walter Brecher and Norman Arenwald, Brecher Circuit; Sol Schwartz, Matty Polan, Archie Berrish and Harry Mandel, RKO Theatres; Salah Hassanein and Spyros Skouras, Jr., Skouras Circuit; Si Fabian, Charles Smakwitz, and John McKenna, Stanley Warner Theatres; Ed Fabian and Bernard Meyerson, Fabian Circuit.