Motion Picture Daily (Oct-Dec 1960)

MOTION PICTURE DAILY VOL. 88, NO. 69 NEW YORK, U.S.A., FRIDAY, OCTORER 7, 1960 TEN CENTS File with FCC [TV Alliance Asks Relief In ' P a y o 1 a ' Seeks Interim Rulings In Tivo Specific Areas REVIEW:. By E. H. KAHN WASHINGTON, Oct. 6.-The Alliance of Television Film Producers, Inc., today filed with the Federal Communications Commission a petition for relief from section 317(D) of the Communications Act— specifically some of the provisions of the new "anti-payola" bill. Harry M. Plotkin, counsel for ATFP, says the industry needs relief which can be obtained by issuance of interim rulings in two areas. They are : ( 1 ) Applicability of the new law to filmed television programs produced prior to Sept. 13, 1960; and (2) Applicability of the new law to filmed (Continued on page 3) Political Fund Data Delivery Ends Oct. 14 Spearheaded by Eric Johnston, the I president of the Motion Picture Assn. industry's non-partisan campaign to fj get out the vote and raise funds for the candidates will have completed the first organizational leg on next Friday, Oct. 14. On that day thousands of pieces of literature will be delivered to all company campaign directors, top executives who represent their company presidents. These directors, according to the campaign's plans, have already ap( Continued on page 3 ) NT&T Will Distribute 'NT A Stock November 10 From THE DAILY Bureau HOLLYWOOD, Oct. 6. Distribution by National Theatres & Television, Inc. of 844,875 shares of common stock of National Telefilm Associates, Inc. will be made Novem(Continued on page 2) TELEVISION TODAY— page 6 SPARTACUS Bryna — Universal-International ^riPARTACUS" is for the millions who like their screen adventures % and romance robust, lachrymose and prolonged. It is tailored for VJ a very large clientele, boasting an all-star cast headed by Kirk Douglas, Laurence Olivier, Jean Simmons, Charles Laughton, Peter Ustinov, John Gavin and Tony Curtis. It has the benefits of a wide range of top cinematic skills and techniques, including the Super Technirama 70 process, and color by Technicolor. And on it no effort was made to spare the budget. It ranks as Universal's highest budgeted production and also is claimed to be the most expensive picture ever made in Hollywood. "Spartacus" is the story of the Roman gladiator of that name who led a rebellion of, first, other gladiators, then a large part of the huge slave population of pagan Rome in the last century before the Christian era. As such, it is the story of civilized man's unending struggle for freedom and dignity. To it has been added, in this Dalton Trumbo screen play, based on the widely read Howard Fast novel of the same title, a tortured romance between the gladiator, Spartacus, played by Douglas, and the slave girl, Varinia, played by Miss Simmons. It is a love that was born in the inhuman atmosphere of slave quarters and gladiators' cells, subjected to frustration except during the brief years of their rebellion won freedom, and doomed to a tragic end as the Roman rulers, stung by defeats administered by their slaves, set about in earnest to put down the uprising by every means at their command. It is a romance that has its moving moments and one whose torments many women will gladly cry over. The story has been told against a background that is exceptionally varied even in these years of three-hour Biblical dramas and spectacles of fabled ages. It is quite apparent that no expense was too great to achieve the ultimate in sets of Roman apartments, baths, senate chambers and gladiators' arenas, among others, nor in panoramas of vast battle scenes, and the marches and camps of the teeming slave hordes after they have thrown off their yoke. Costumes, color and the impressive fidelity of the Super Technirama 70 process are a visual treat over the impressive 190 minutes of running time (exclusive of intermission time which will be a standard fixture of this picture's road show policy). The Edward Lewis production, for which Douglas was executive producer, is uniquely impressive for its trappings alone. Ustinov, as the owner of a stable of gladiators, finds Douglas, the slave, in the desert inferno of African salt mines, where the former has gone in search of likely material to be trained for the arena. Rrought to Italy and schooled as a gladiator, the cruelty and indignities heaped on the men by their Roman masters festers in Douglas, who has fallen in love with the training camp's slave serving maid, Miss Simmons. Forced to fight a slave companion to the death for the amusement of {Continued on page 3) A pproved Academy Sets New Rules on Documentaries Will be Eligible if Shown Abroad; New Shorts Rule From THE DAILY Bureau HOLLYWOOD, Oct. 6. Two rules changes affecting the 33rd annual Academy Awards next April 17 have been approved by the Academy board of governors. The first, designed to stimulate entries from abroad, provides that showing of documentary films no longer be limited to the United States to be eligible for a documentary award, but can have their first showing in any country during the (Continued on page 2) ia to Leave U.A. European Prod. Post Charles Smadja will retire as vicepresident of United Artists in charge of European production for reasons of health, it was announced yesterday by Arthur B. Krim, president. His retirement will be effective Dec. 31, but he will continue to act for the company in an advisory capacity. In announcing the resignation of Smadja, Krim said: "Charles Smadja (Continued on page 2) URany' Producers Lonely Between Films By WILLIAM WERNETH "It gets lonely between pictures," producer Richard Shepherd said here yesterday in commenting on the intense schedule of motion picture making planned by him and Martin Jurow, his partner in Jurow-Shepherd Productions. Speaking at a Greenwich Village location of their upcoming "Breakfast at Tiffany's," Shepherd recalled that Jurow-Shepherd had its beginning when the talent agency pair convinced Gary Cooper of the film pos(Continued on page 3)