The Exhibitor (1966)

Walter Reade Highly Optimistic About Financial Future 0 f Firm Jane Fonda Sues Playboy Over Unauthorized Photos NEW YORK — Actress Jane Fonda has an¬ nounced that she is suing Playboy Magazine for damages in connection with photographs taken without her knowledge or permission. The photographs were taken on the set of the film “La Curee” (“The Quarry”), without the agreement or awareness of Miss Fonda, director Roger Vadim, or co-producer Ed¬ mond Tenoudji. Playboy Magazine, although advised beforehand that the photographs were unauthorized, nevertheless printed them. Roger Vadim, also Miss Fonda’s husband, recently won an injunction in the French courts preventing the distribution of this issue of the magazine in France. He and Tenoudji are also suing the magazine, the photographer, and the photographic agency that sold the photos for damages in the French courts. Miss Fonda states that the set of the motion picture “La Curee” was purposely closed dur¬ ing filming of this particular scene of the film, and that no photographers were allowed on the set. In the film Miss Fonda is wearing a monokini, but with her back to the camera; the photographer who took the still photo¬ graphs supposedly hid in the studio to get front views of the actress. Neither she, nor the di¬ rector, nor the producer was aware that any photographer had gained access to the set without sanction. When she and her husband later learned of the existence of the photo¬ graphs and that Playboy was planning to pub¬ lish them, she advised the magazine through her attorney, Albert Da Silva, that the photo¬ graphs had been taken without permission and, if used, the magazine would be held liable for damages. Last year, Miss Fonda won an injunction against a motion picture distributor to stop a planned display of a nude, painted portrait of her on Times Square in New York City. Producers Pact Pollack LOS ANGELES — Producers Jerry Gersh¬ win and Elliott Kastner completed a unique five-picture deal calling for the non-exclusive services of director Sidney Pollack and giving him participating rights in the pictures he directs for the pair. Deal was agented by Joe Wizan, William Morris Agency. Another unusual aspect of the newly-signed pact is the lack of a time limit in fulfilling the contractual agreements. Pollack’s first for Gershwin-Kastner will be “Boys and Girls Together” based on the best-seller by William Goldman from a screen¬ play by David Rayfel. Pollack currently is at 20th Century-Fox where he is scheduled to direct “The Achilles Force.” Writers Aid Relief Fund HOLLYWOOD — Writers Guild of Amer¬ ica, West, has just donated $2,000 to the Motion Picture Relief Fund, it was announced by William T. Kirk, executive director of the Fund, and Gregory Peck, chairman of the MPRF 15-year $40,000,000 endowment and building campaign. WGAw has specifically requested that their contribution be used to furnish one of the 16 new cottages in Samuel Goldwyn Plaza, the first completed increment in MPRF’s over-all expansion plan. In acknowledging the gift, Peck advised WGAw the money would be used accordingly. Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble recently met Marty Richardson and Jim Hicks of the Indianapolis Indians, during a visit to Victory Field in connection with the area opening of Columbia's "The Man Called Flintstone" in Indianapolis. Louisiana Goes All-Out For "Alvarez Kelly" Bow NEW YORK — Columbia Pictures’ “Alvarez Kelly” will have its gala invitational world premiere launching at the Broadmoor Theatre in Baton Rouge on Oct. 5, backed by an allout promotional campaign involving the entire state of Louisiana, which is sponsoring a weeklong salute in behalf of the Willian HoldenRichard Widmark starrer. Participating in the high-powered promo¬ tional campaign will be personalities from the film, state and local officials and social lead¬ ers, and a host of regional radio, tv and press representatives who will be junketed into Baton Rouge for world premiere opening. Following the Baton Rouge promotional activities and premiere, the media representa¬ tives will be junketed to New Orleans via a Mississippi steamboat, prior to a second gala premiere of “Alvarez Kelly” at the Saenger Theatre in New Orleans on Oct. 7. In addi¬ tion to stage appearances at both premieres, the stars will make personal appearances at the Louisiana State Fair and conduct a com¬ prehensive round of interviews and local ap¬ pearances. The Columbia release will also go into saturation territorial release throughout the New Orleans area beginning on Oct. 7, with more than 50 theatres throughout the state set to open the film within the two weeks that follow. Elektra Promotes Caldwell NEW YORK — Jordan Caldwell, formerly a producer, has been named executive pro¬ ducer for Elektra Films, it was announced by Sam Magdoff, president. Caldwell, who joined Elektra eight years ago, will work with Magdoff in every phase of production on all company projects. He will be responsible for such pre-production ac¬ tivities as preparation of a project’s budget and filming assignments, and will oversee the creative development and completion of all projects. By MARK GIBBONS HOLLYWOOD — Unique and prospering in the motion picture industry is the description for Walter Reade-Sterling, Inc., and you can take the word for that from Walter Reade, Jr., who is board chairman and president of the relatively small but hustling company. He was here in Lotusville preparatory to the up¬ coming opening of the firm’s first theatre here, to be called the “Cinema 9000” because of its location in the 9000 Sunset Boulevard build¬ ing. “As far as I know, our company is the only one in the United States that is involved in making movies, distributing them, and showing them in our own chain,” Reade said. In addition to this unique modus operandi, Reade pointed out his organization restricts its moviemaking to the moderate budget plateau as opposed to the multi-million dollar blockbuster production effort. Currently, the theatre business is contributing approximately 50 per cent of WR-S’ gross revenue. Reade calls this the “bread and butter” facet of the business, but he feels eventually that his firm’s growth will come from televi¬ sion and educational films. The company at the moment distributes its product to its own and other circuits, and when that well has run dry, the pictures are turned over to tele¬ vision. As of now, Reade said the firm has more than 1,000 titles in its library which are available to tv, and it has another 90 which have never been released to the boob tube. In the education field, the company is pushing the secondary school market. It has been in the business about four years, and the gross from education has doubled each year, Reade said. For this year, the company will do about $600,000 in educational film, and although this is not large in the company’s over-all situation, it isn’t exactly hay. Reade looks upon the future as “highly encouraging.” “This year,” Reade declared, “the company will do more than $18.5 million in gross busi¬ ness, which is up from $16.2 million last year and $13.5 million in 1964.” Reade continued: “We have been several years establishing just where we would fit into the motion picture industry, and we think we now know where we are going and how we are going to get there.” From an earnings point of view, the com¬ pany reported 33 cents per share last year, which reversed a loss for the previous year. Taking a look at the net this year, Reade said that because the business is so volatile, he hesi¬ tates to venture an estimate, “but from the way things look now it will be substantially im¬ proved.” The company has 1 ,583,07 1 shares outstanding, but of this number, Reade and his family own 1,050,000. “I have put my money where my mouth is,” he chuckled by way of qualifying his unbound optimism for the company’s future. An intriguing aspect of the company is the fact, Reade averred, that the firm has a net worth of more than $2 million and that the gross business this year will be nine times the net worth and earnings on net wmrth will be better than 25 per cent. The firm uses consid¬ erable amounts of bank money which positions the “leverage” on the company. Although, be¬ cause of the short capital situation, dividends are not in the foreseeable future, Reade is confident capital gains are. August 24, 1966 MOTION PICTURE EXHIBITOR 9