The Exhibitor (1959)

MOTION PICTURE EXHIBITOR 11 The NEW YORK Scene By Met Konecoff KIRK DOUGLAS was in town last week for home office confabs on “Spartacus,” so naturally a trade press luncheon at the 21 Club was in order. He rambled on haphazardly about the film. He recalled that this was the first time he liked a rough cut, and he doesn’t know whether this was good or bad. He admitted it was the most expensive picture to be made in Hollywood and that it will wind up costing 10 millions. Regarding costs, he didn’t think the public was too concerned with production expenses. They just want to know whether or not a film is good. Industryites are mostly concerned with costs, and he jokingly commented that he wouldn’t be at all surprised if the next thing that occupied their thoughts was which picture had the longest intermission. He likes working with Universal and is so happy with the cooperation and help from everybody on both coasts that he’ll probably talk several other pictures with the company. Douglas labeled independent production dramatic and exciting, as well as masochistic. You stick your neck on the block. Still the independent trend is the right one for the indus¬ try at this time. TV is getting along at present solely on the backlog of good old movies, and the only way to compete is to make something that can’t be seen on TV. If the pictures are so good, people will want to leave their home to see them, the actor-producer said. Regarding “Spartacus,” there are no plans for the actual premiere except that it will be released around Easter on a roadshow basis with the initial engagements going in 70 mm. It will run under three hours. Incidentally, there is still a big and important battle scene which will be shot shortly in Spain using 10,000 soldiers. He was satisfied that Hollywood efficiency made shooting the picture there practical, and he didn’t know if it would have cost less had it been filmed abroad. Douglas hoped that “Ben Hur,” which will open in October, will be successful, believ¬ ing that it could help his picture. His next will be a picture to be made at Columbia with Kim Novak sometime in Sep¬ tember. Present were Charles Simonalli, Stan Margulies, Jeff Livingston, Herman Kass, Paul Kamy, and Milt Livinston. OVERSEAS ROUND-UP: Jonas Rosenfield, executive in charge of advertising and pub¬ licity at Columbia Pictures, returned from a trip abroad and reported the company’s pro¬ gram looks great overseas. Picturemaking there is not a flash in the pan anymore but rather it’s big business. He jokingly said it looks as though 50 per cent of Columbia’s pro¬ duct will be made abroad to match the 50 per cent of the revenue coming in from over¬ seas these days. He also reported that the experiment of sending over specially-hired press agents to work on pictures has proven very successful from a reaction and space viewpoint. He called this internationalization of publicity most desirable, and some of the stunts and pro¬ motions are of high quality and full of showmanship — something not seen too often do¬ mestically, said he. Rosenfield said he would like to see a permanent team of a press agent and a photographer stationed permanently in Europe to be on call for production work. What the company is attempting to do is to give producers abroad the same type of servicing and packaging that Hollywood filmmakers receive. Set to roll within the next six months are “A Gift From The Boys” in Italy; “I Aim At The Stars” in Germany; “Image Makers” in Paris and North Africa; “Guns of Navarone” in and around Cyprus; “Verite” with Bardot in Paris; and “Never Take Candy From A Stranger” and “The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll” in London. THE METROPOLITAN SCENE: Russell Downing has set his bookings at the Radio City Music Hall for the balance of the year. Universal’s “Operation Petticoat,” starring Cary Grant and Tony Curtis, will be the Christmas attraction, while three Warners releases, “The FBI Story,” “A Summer Place,” and “The Miracle” will precede “Petticoat” at the world-famous showplace. . . . Jack Lavin marked the ninth anniversary of Confidential Re¬ ports. . . . This week’s communique from Loew’s Ernie Emerling is related to “Ben Hur” and introduced Miss Haya Harareet, who is Mrs. Ben Hur and a former Israeli Marine. No food or gimmicks included. . . . Bob Newton, formerly on the drama desk of the Journal American, has joined the publicity department at 20th Century-Fox. IF ONE IS GOOD, TWO ARE BETTER: One of the audience participation gimmicks tied in with showings of Columbia’s “The Tingler” is the staging of a fainting by a girl in the audience, whereupon the house lights come on and two ushers carry the “victim” out. At a recent performance at the Hippodrome in Baltimore, when the lights were turned up there were two “bodies” to be carried out, giving the stunt twice as much impact. August 26, 1959 Art Or Obscenity? Court Will Decide COLUMBUS, O. — Fox art house, operated by Jerry Knight, was turned into a court¬ room for a viewing of “Ten Days in a Nudist Camp,” the feature confiscated by the police vice squad last July 16 on an affidavit filed by Patrick Berry, local business man. After viewing the feature, Municipal Judge Horace Troop continued indefinitely the case against Joel Secoy, Fox assistant manager, charged with exhibiting an “obscene” film. Judge Troop acted on a suggestion by Troy Feibel, attorney representing Secory, that the film be viewed in its entirety at the theatre. Every word of the film’s narrative was taken down by Mrs. Suzanne Parrett, official court stenographer, on a stenographic machine. Because it was an open court hearing, spectators could have come to the theatre without charge. “The film,” reported the Ohio State Jour¬ nal, “which glorifies nudism, was filled with numerous scenes of men and women in loin¬ cloths and skimpy bathing suits. There were several closeups of unclad women. Men were pictured with their backs to the camera. There was no plot. The clothesless cast played volley ball, leapfrong, tennis and horseshoes and took endless exercises. One woman was portrayed as a ‘lover of nature offering a morning prayer to the sun’.” Police prosecutor Bernard Chupka and his assistant, Howard Lowe, viewed the film. S.F. Suits Speeded SAN FRANCISCO— Counsel for the Em¬ bassy Theatre last fortnight offered to have the retrial of the $8,000,000 anti-trust suit against the major distributors submitted on the record of evidence heard by the late Federal Judge Edward P. Murphy in the first trial. Meanwhile, the Samuel Goldwyn $2,000,000 monopoly suit against many of the same defendants, also abruptly terminated by the death of Judge Murphy is to be “tried” by Federal Judge George B. Harris, who has been assigned to study the voluminous tran¬ script of evidence heard by Judge Murphy and eventually will hand down a decision. Newton Joins 20th-Fox NEW YORK — Robert M. Newton has joined the home office publicity staff of 20th-Fox as staff writer, it was announced by Edward E. Sullivan, publicity director. Newton was formerly associated with the New York Journal -American, and for the last three years has worked on the drama desk of the paper. There's 16 PACTS of Permanent Reference Data in the PINK Section of this Aug. 26 Issue . . . SAVE IT! JUST ANOTHER SUPERIOR SERVICE FROM THE nor TRADE PAPER! j (*So our Theatre Subscribers tell us!) Cinerama Meets Aug. 27 NEW YORK — At a Cinerama Productions Corporation stockholders meeting scheduled for Aug. 27 at the Barbizon Plaza Hotel, a proposal to end its profit sharing contract with Stanley Warner Cinerama in exchange for 818,793 shares of Cinerama Productions capital stock, warrants to purchase Cinerama Productions shares, and $500,000 in cash taxfree, will be voted upon. Cinerama Productions would assign its rights in the five completed Cinerama pic¬ tures calling for 50 per cent of the profits. Cinerama Productions plans to cancel the 818,793 shares of its capital stock. The net effect will be to leave the company with 215,707 shares of stock outstanding and $500,000. The stockholders also will be asked to amend the Cinerama Productions charter to broaden the purposes of the corporation. The present board of directors is up for reelection.