The Exhibitor (1965)

.<111,11111 /lll!lHIIIIIHIIIIIIIMMIHMIIIIlHIHmilllllMlllilllllti,UIIIIIMIIIIIIMIIIItlllllllHIIII(,IIMIItlHllir,IIMIIIII»IIMIIIIIIIIIMIII I II 1 1 1 , 1 1 1 1 1 III III! 1 1 1 1 II 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Ml I II tl 1 1 1 1 If Hill I It 1 1 II I M 1 1 1 II 1 1 1 1 1 II 1 1 1 1 III 1 1 1 It 1 1 II I III I III I II 1 1 llllll 1 1 1 1 1 • 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 II 1 1 1 1 III I III I III t II I II II I . LONDON Observations § l I By Jock MacGregor BRITISH PICTURES ARE BOOMING. “GOLDFINGER,” HAVING MADE BOXOFFICE history here, is repeating its success world wide. “Shot in the Dark,” now in the West End and suburban show case houses, is not far behind. “Yellow Rolls Royce” has given the Empire its biggest hit since redevelopment, and “Carry On Cleo,” on release is prov¬ ing among the series’ most profitable. The studios are working to near capacity and have heavy bookings for months to come. One might think that such a rosy position would inspire immense confidence and have everyone satisfied. Unfortunately, production interests are divided, and there is no easier way of realizing how much than to attend the producer associations’ monthly press conferences, which usually cover much the same ground and are only separated by the lunch break. The British Film Producers Association is not unhappy about the way things are, and meetings are factual and rather staid. This month, the Rank explanation about the revised break figures on which sliding scale rentals are based was accepted, and it was anticipated that in future, producers would also be consulted before changes were made. At the Federation of British Film Makers, the press statement is likely to be punctuated with “regrets,” “reservations,” and references to monopoly, and lengthy arguments are apt to enliven the meetings. February “regrets” concerned the break figure settlement. It was not thought that the discussions constituted free negotiation as generally understood in a competitive society. During questioning, director Andrew Filson seemed more worried that the less successful would receive less than that the hits would get more. The “reservations” were about the production fund, which has been established by the National Film Finance Corporation, Rank, and the National Provincial Bank. While welcoming the additional finance for producers, the Fed deems it “very undesirable that in a period when monopolistic practices in the industry are under review, a public body should in this way strengthen the position of one of the combines.” Filson did not agree this was only a development, since NFFC had helped finance many independent movies which had Rank guaranteed distribution (or Associated British for that matter), but con¬ ceded that they had taken the initiative as any studio group could have, and still could, to set up such an arrangement. It was an invigorating session. “VARIETY CLUB AWARDS” SCREAMED THE RED AND BLACK CONTENTS BILLS for the Evening News. Nearby, those for the Evening Standard read: “Show Biz Awards.” Next morning, every national carried full details, and several hailed them as the country’s most important. Morecambe and Wise, Show Business Personalities for 1964; Richard Attenborough, movie actor for “Guns at Batasi” and “Seance on a Wet Afternoon”; Rita Tushingham and Millicent Martin, joint movie actress; Sir Laurence Olivier, stage actor, etc., will receive inscribed silver hearts at the 13th Awards Lunch on March 9. Here is further evidence of the enormous public relations job that Variety does for the industry. Now an effort is being made to bolster the British Film Academy Awards dinner, which Prince Philip will attend as president on March 30, as a booster for movies. Over the years, it has generally been a pretty uninspired evening. Regrettably, the Academy is only a pale imitation of the Hollywood original. AUBREY BUSTIN’S SPEECH AT THE LUNCH ORGANIZED BY THE FILM PUBlicity Guild to mark his retirement after 57 years in the industry was short and sweet. Later, he confessed he was so moved that his glasses steamed up, stopping him from read¬ ing his notes. It was a happy gathering, and it was nice to see his old boss, Joe Vegoda, and his secretary, Minnie Harris, now with Rex Publicity, among the guests. Doug Ewin was in the chair, and John Behr, Theo Cowan, and David Jones paid tributes. . . . Actorproducer Stanley Baker won a tussle with American interests to have an English actress to star with George Peppard in “Sands of Kalahari,” which he is making in color and Panavision with director Cy Enfield for Joe Levine and Paramount. Proudly at a Savoy press reception, he presented Susannah York, who so impressed' as Tom Janes favorite blonde. Shooting starts on location in South Africa in March. . . . Walter Shenson and director Richard Lester, having scouted locations in Austria and the Bahamas for UA s | untitled Beatle movie, had the press to their office to meet the leading lady, Eleanor Bron, who has so many sitting up late at weekends for her brilliant contributions to BBC TV'S “Not So Much A Program.” . . . Shooting in Eastman color starts Feb. 22. . . . Compton Cameo’s Michael Klinger and Tony Tenser were impressed with their reception in America and are planning a New York office. They are to revive 3-D in Luna Paik Horrors” with a 70mm process which eliminates the need for two projectors by printing the two images side by side in each frame. . . . An unusual gesture has been made by the circuits. Since ABC has brought the “Becket” release to March 7 to avoid clashing with Peter O’Toole’s other epic, “Lawrence,” at Easter, Rank has put back Betty E. Box s colorful adventure with Dirk Bogarde, George Chakiris, and Susan Strasberg, High Bright Sun/’ for a week end “Kiss Me Stupid.” This will enable those London area exhibitors who can play either circuit release to book both British pictures if they so desire. This is an orderly release of top product with a vengeance. . . . Finding that . former newspapermen George Grafton Green and Douglas Warth, producers of Ranks “Look at Life” and Associated British’s “Pathe Pic” respectively, had never met, I brought them together over lunch. . . . Cornel Wilde took time off from finalizing The Naked Prey” to address the Cambridge University Film Society cn his role as star, producer, and director of this Paramount Panavision Technicolor release. The whole visit was filmed as a tv plug for the movie. . . . Peter Woods has been promoted to succeed David Bush as head of Disney’s British merchandising and publishing activities. . . . Though neither opening dates nor theatres have been fixed, 20th-Fox placed full page advertise¬ ments in the Evening Standard selling “Magnificent Men anct Agony and Ecstasy. February 17, 1965 MOTION PICTURE EXHIBITOR 13