The Exhibitor (1959)

Astoria, continues to draw packed audiences. The coining year holds out even greater promise, not only for United Artists, but, I believe, for the industry as a whole if it continues to supply the high calibre pictures which the public nowadays demands. My own company will release, early in the New Year, what is certainly one of the most eager¬ ly awaited and widely-discussed pictures in the history of the screen, Stanley Kramer’s “On The Beach.” This is being writ¬ ten before the simultaneous world premiere, in 18 capital cities, takes place, but the evidence is unmistakable that in London we shall be able to acclaim one of the greatest pre¬ mieres this city has ever witnessed. The blockbuster dominates United Artists’ 1960 programme, as in the previous year. It is obvious that we have every reason to look forward with confidence to a record year in the history of the company. With The World In Mind NAT COHEN and STUART LEVY Our faith in the future of the British film industry is measured by the fact that in 1960 Anglo Amalgamated will have the biggest schedule of new productions in its history. We believe that in the New Year the impact of well-made British pictures will be felt more than ever before in every market in the world and we are backing that conviction with production deals in¬ volving several million pounds sterling. Anglo Amalgamated Film Distributors have signed two major production leads with Peter Rogers at Pinewood Studios and Julian Wintle and Leslie Parkyn at Beaconsfield calling for at least six first features a year for the next five years. In addition we will be producing several other major features. All these pictures will be made with overseas markets in mind: top international star casts will be assembled with the best possible producers and directors behind the cameras, and the subjects will be chosen for mass entertainment appeal to audiences in every part of the world. Now at Pinewood under producer/director Michael Powell is the brilliantly scripted thriller “Peeping Tom.” In Eastman Colour, this film brings back to the screen exquisite ex-balle¬ rina Moira Shearer in her first highly dramatic role. Co-starring is that fine Austrian actor Carl Boehm, Canadian Anna Mas¬ sey, and Maxine Audley. Also aimed at the international market is “Circus Of Horrors.” Shot in Eastman Colour against an authentic big-top back¬ ground, this big canvas horror-thriller is jam-packed with glamour, action, sex, and spectacle. The Julian Wintle/Leslie Parkyn production stars Anton Diffring, Erika Remberg, and Yvonne Monlaur. American producer Joseph Losev is di¬ recting “The Concrete Jungle,” starring Stanley Baker and Sam Wanamaker. Two Peter Rogers productions, “Please Turn Over and “Carry On Constable,” starring a host of top come¬ dians, complete the first five in Anglo’s new schedule. A budget of half a million pounds has been allocated for “Dawn Of D Day” which goes into production at Pinewood under Peter Rogers in April. This vast subject will have top international stars playing the American, British, French, and famous roles. Other properties already in an advance stage of preparation include “King Gorilla,” with American Herman Cohen as ex¬ ecutive producer; “Carry On Yank”; “The Great Spinoza Rob¬ bery”; and “Carry On Sailor.” This line-up is evidence of our firm belief that well-made British pictures can and will enjoy increasing prestige and box-office success provided that they give cinemagoers all over the world the type of entertainment they want. We at Anglo feel we are making a real contribution to that success. More Comfortable Than Home SAM BAKER, president. Associated Independent Theatres Inc. 1959 has shown a definite turn for the better insofar as a greater acceptance by the public of the fact that “Movies are better than ever.” It has also shown that the public has begun to realize that tele¬ vision is not the entertainment medium it has been and that the public is looking for good entertainment. There is nothing like a motion picture viewed in a theatre amidst comfortable surroundings and without commercial interrup¬ tions. Exhibitors must realize that to ask a patron to leave the comfortable surrounding of his home, and to pay an admission fee, the exhibitor must offer him the proper environment and the proper service. Our business for '59 will show a very comfortable increase over ’58. In fact, I can say that this will be one of the best years that we have had in the past five years. I attribute it greatly to the fact that the theatres that I operate lean back¬ wards when it comes to giving patrons service. Most of our theatres are located within shopping centers that provide plenty of parking or have parking fields immediately adjacent. Our theatres are equipped with comfortable seats with plenty of leg room, with a wide screen and good sound. The fact that the industry has also recognized that the public will buy and pay for quality entertainment has been a prime factor in getting the people to leave their homes. We, of course, make it a policy to operate our theatres on a single feature basis, surrounding the feature with the proper shorts and giving a patron two hours of entertainment, making it convenient for him to select the time most convenient. We take full advantage of the better pictures and run them for as long as we possibly can, instead of changing at a fixed time each week. What we are looking forward to in 1960: We feel that the industry, and by this we mean the producers and distributors, should recognize the fact that the success of one type of picture, as for example a “Ten Commandments,” or a “Ben Hur,” does not necessarily mean that every other producer or distributor must make a similar picture. The public is only interested in quality entertainment, not following the pattern merelv because one or two companies are successful. The producers or distributors should also recognize that the public today is looking for escapist entertainment, namely comedy, musical, comedy-mystery, and dramas which have a basically good story. The exhibitor should realize that it isn’t the quantity of seats that counts, but the quality of the seat and the comfort of the seat. The exhibitors should further recog¬ nize that the surroundings of the theatre are important, as evidenced by the changes and alterations which are being made by Loew’s and other theatre circuits, cutting down the number of seats and improving the surroundings. I am sure that 1960 will be a better year for the exhibitor ana the industry as a whole if these items are kept in mind. One other and a very important point for 1960 is the situation which has been stressed by Eddie Hyman and others, the problem of orderly release of pictures. If we can give out patrons at least one outstanding picture a month, the public will come to realize that a steady flow of good entertainment is what the motion picture industry is providing. Summing it all up, I would say that 1960 will be a good LEVY 54 MOTION PICTURE EXHIBITOR December 23, 1959