The Exhibitor (1959)

The NEW YORK Scene By Mel Konecoff JERRY WALD SPEAKS: Producer Jerry Wald was in town last week for the premiere of “The Best of Everything’’ as well as to discuss the release of “Beloved Infidel.” He revealed that he has completed or has in works 10 features this year: “Sound of Fury,” “Best of Everything,” “Sons And Lovers,” “Return to Peyton Place,” “The Hell Raisers,” “Wild in the Country,” “Beloved Infidel,” “Story on Page One,” and “The Billionaire.” The self-termed “independent dependent” has another 15 scripts completed and awaiting casting, and since 20th Century-Fox believes in making pictures and he likes making pictures, he sees no reason why most of these shouldn’t see the light of screen in the near future. The company’s talent pool of some 65 people makes the casting of many of the films that much easier. He termed the atmosphere at the studio one of aggression and enthusiasm and said that the industry needed excitement as well. On the subject of TV, he thought that that industry is in the same position today that we were in 25 years ago, and that many of the big stars were grabbing the huge fees that TV was offering them and running fast after their one-shot stints on the so-called spectaculars. Opined he, TV can’t duplicate what it takes us months to make from an entertainment view¬ point. Wald recalled that he has made approximately 16 pictures in the three years he has been at 20th-Fox, and he expects to do between eight and 10 in 1960, although his contract speci¬ fies he must turn out a minimum of two per year. A new contract is presently being ne¬ gotiated. Questioned about the possibility of classifying features as suitable for general consump¬ tion or adults only, he thought that this wouldn’t work very well. Most of today’s youngsters have other areas of exposure available to them before they ever see any questionable films. He claims he has never turned out a feature that he has been ashamed to show to his own youngsters. HIGH FINANCE NOTE: Wanna make a million dollars in cash? Come closer chillun and read on. If you can put your hand through a solid piece of wood without damaging hand or wood, apply for the million to producer Jack Harris, c/o Universal Pictures. A bond has been posted with a prominent insurance company, we were told the other day across the luncheon table by Harris, which makes the offer legitimate. This will he the gim¬ mick that will be used to plug his latest picture, “The 4-D Man,” a U-I release. The afore¬ mentioned stunt, incidentally, appears in the picture. The science fiction release, his second picture, opens in a number of situations down south in the next couple of weeks, and helping to launch same will he former beauty contest win¬ ner Lee Meriwether, who also stars in the film. Harris will actively help sell the picture by making TV and radio spots announcing the offer. Incidentally, a print of the film will go to Russia, he said, and the offer will be made there as well to see if the scientists there can come up with the answer. The first to do so will become a capitalist, but good. Exhibitors will remember Harris for turning out “The Blob,” which Paramount released and which has taken in two millions in film rental world-wide to date. His next will be “Dinosauris,” to be shot the end of the year in CinemaScope and color, which will see re¬ lease next July possibly through U-I. Also on his schedule is a Biblical spectacle “Jonah And The Whale,” which will go January, 1961. EXPLOITATION NOTE: Ed Solomon, exploitation manager at 20th Century-Fox, an¬ nounced last week at a luncheon conference with department store promotion officials that his company was intensifying its promotions and tie-ups. Meanwhile, at hand were details about the plugging that will be done on behalf of “The Best of Everything” by Sterns, Gertz, and the Allied Stores. The stores were appealing to business gals and career women with special promotions, windows, contests, fashion shows, etc. The film deals with the romantic adventures of the working girl in the city of New York. "Ben-Hur" is 217 Min. NEW YORK— “Ben-Hur,” with filming and editing now completed, has been turned over by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to the Technicolor laboratories in Hollywood. The spectacular film, which runs three hours and 37 minutes, thus enters the final stage of its long pre-release history. Joseph R. Vogel, president of Loew’s, Inc.; Sol C. Siegel, MGM studio head; and di¬ rector William Wyler screened the picture last week and gave the okay for it to be printed and made ready for its world pre¬ miere in New York City at Loew’s State on Nov. 18. Small, Saviile Plan Three NEW YORK — Edward Small and Victor Saviile have formed a joint production topganization to produce three important topbudgeted pictures for United Artists release, “Dear Spy,” “Green Gage Summer,” and “The Mousetrap.” Coca-Cola Prepares For 60's NEW YORK — In an Oct. 6 New York con¬ vention, and at four other regional centers of the nation, 1,100 Coca-Cola bottlers are grooming their industry for what one speaker termed “the soaring, fabulous, almost un¬ believable Sixties.” Breaking with convention tradition that usually calls for charting only a one-year merchandising campaign, the bottlers are fashioning a 10-year marketing program de¬ signed to more than double their sales vol¬ ume, already the biggest in the world-wide soft drink field. Merchandising conditions in approximately 1,500,000 outlets for bottled Coca-Cola re¬ ceived close examination during a survey conducted by Lee Talley, company president. Coca-Cola bottlers in this country, who since 1947 have invested $153,596,000 in new plants and heavy equipment, are now spend¬ ing in excess of one million dollars a month for these purposes. AIP Follows Trend To More Blockbusters BY MEL KONECOFF NEW YORK — James H. Nicholson, president of American International Pictures, an¬ nounced last week at a press conference that his company was changing its modus operandi from making exploitation gimmick pictures to making blockbuster gimmick pictures. He expected 1960 will see 16 to 18 AIP releases, compared to 16 during 1959. Five will be in the blockbuster gimmick class These will be released at the rate of one every two months. January will see “Goliath and the Barbarians”; March will have “Hor¬ rors of the House of Usher,” starring Vincent Price; In May there will be “Aladdin and the Giant”; July’s release will be “Circus of Horrors”; and September will see Jules Verne’s “In The Year 2889.” All of these will be in CinemaScope and color. What started the switch in AIP thinking was the huge success of “Sign of the Gladia¬ tor.” The half-million in advertising for the film certainly paid off, was the opinion of Nicholson. This doesn’t mean that the com¬ pany has given up on all its exploitation items. They’ll still be around. He felt that there was no shortage of program pictures for exhibitors, only a scarcity of the better ones. The new policy is dictating an expansion of the company’s distribution and publicity staff. Regional sales managers in the eastern and southern territories will be supplemented by division managers to be appointed for the west coast, the central states, and the south¬ west. Each sales appointment will be sup¬ ported by a field exploiteer for his territory. National advertising campaigns of $500,000 to one million are being discussed for each major production, with radio, TV, and pic¬ ture mags to be used. Sunday supplements will also be used with the dates to coincide with regional playoffs. The entire campaign will be announced in detail before exhibitors assembled at the TOA convention in Chicago in November, with emphasis on “Goliath.” Teaser trailers will be sent to some 3,000 theatres for play¬ ing several months ahead of booking, and there will be cross plugging in many in¬ stances. He estimated the campaign may well come to twice the cost of the picture. The company is in the process of expand¬ ing their operation abroad, with a backlog of 60 to 70 pictures ready for distribution overseas. The company will hire its own ex¬ change set-up in many countries, with many former Republic employees assigned. Nicholson estimated that the company was 20 per cent ahead of last year on its film rentals on domestic returns, while the foreign market is some 200 per cent ahead. Canada shows an increase of 50 per cent over a year ago. Two Suits Dismissed NEW YORK — Anti-trust suits brought in U.S. District Court here five years ago by the Colonial and Harmer Drive-Ins, located in the Pittsburgh area, were dismissed last fortnight without having been brought to trial. The plaintiffs were warned some time ago by the court either to prosecute their case or have it face dismissal. The suit charged most national distributors with conspiracy and discrimination in favor of Loew’s, Stanley Warner, and the Shea Circuits. No specific damages were asked. 14 MOTION PICTURE EXHIBITOR October 14, 1959