Motion Picture Herald (May-Jun 1944)

MAJORS DEVELOP APPROACH O MARKET IN SPAIN Foreign Managers Hope for Era of Cooperation Between Governments &FI Spain is again becoming an area of activity or the foreign sales departments of the major ~ listributing companies. ai There is widespread revival of interest in Jie Spanish market among all major distrib-fjtors. The companies who have not been -epresented in that market for several ; years, as well as the few which have con. tinued to operate despite stringent controls ' and currency restrictions are all looking into : :he future of Spain's screens. '* Foreign managers who are examining again 3;diis once important, and mutually profitable, * Iberian market, have hopes of a new era of Cooperation between the Spanish Government ind the U. S. film industry, brought about under the direction of and with the assistance of ! :he United States Department of State. I American Product Still Popular in Spain " i American film entertainment has lost none l of its popularity with Spanish exhibitors and :he public, according to recent reports. There ;^has also been for some time now official anxi! tty, always unofficially expressed, to see j ^American pictures resume their place as a 'source of entertainment in Spain and as a mei -dium of commerce mutually beneficial to both s :countries. : : Interest in the Spanish situation was ' brought into focus this week with announce3 'ment by RKO that it would show to the U. S. "trade May IS the Spanish production, "Goyescas," starring Imperio Argentina. . This is the first Spanish production to come ;to the United States under major company auspices since before the Spanish Civil War, :according to Department of Commerce records. It is being imported by RKO under a purI -chase agreement with the Spanish company, • Fonofilm. A lavish musical production based on the _ 'Enrique Granados opera about Spain's great ' 'painter, Goya, the picture provides a dual role (for the leading lady, Argentina, against a 19th ,century background. The picture, according to RKO, is devoid of all contemporary politi; leal reference and has been approved by the .Production Code Administration and the Na! tional Board of Review. Made in Barcelona More Than a Year Ago | The picture was made more than a year (ago at the Chamartin studios in Barcelona, j Universal Ibero Americana de Cinematografia produced and arranged the reciprocal distribu; tion deal with Phil Reisman, vice-president in charge of RKO foreign distribution. In return for RKO distribution of "Goyescas" in the United States and Latin America the Spanish producer will use the import permits credited to the production to bring RKO releases into Spain. Distribution in the United States is aimed ] primarily at the 50-odd theatres specializing in > the exhibition of Spanish language product. Sales will be handled directly by the RKO foreign department, through J. P. Kennedy. Trade shows are to be held Monday at the MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 13, 1944 U. S. COMPANIES TO BE AT BARCELONA FAIR American companies will be represented at the annual commercial fair in Barcelona, June 10 to 30 this year, for the first time in many seasons, with 17 or more top pictures. These will be shown at the U. S. exhibit shipped last week by the Overseas Division of the Office of War Information. The 18,000square foot display covers U. S. education, life, industry, culture and recreations. Paramount will send "Going My Way" and "Lady in the Dark", in English. Five titles forwarded by Universal, from which a selection will be made locally, include "Phantom of the Opera", "Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves", "Phantom Lady", "Flesh and Fantasy" and "His Butler's Sister". RKO sent "Tom, Dick and Harry" and another will be selected from prints now in Spain. Columbia sent "You Were Never Lovelier". MGM and United Artists will not exhibit at the fair, it is reported. Twentieth CenturyFox and Republic will make selections from pictures already in Spain, and Warners have sent nine titles, from which two will be exhibited. New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco exchanges. In Latin America, where it is already in distribution, "Goyescas" is reported to be successful. It played recently for a full week at the Metro theatre in San Juan, Puerto Rico and in Caracas. Universal Buys Rights To Spanish Film Another picture, as yet untitled, is also reported on its way to the United States for RKO. Universal likewise has recently acquired rights to a Spanish production, made by Jack Forrester, titled "Te Quiero Para Me". Plans for its release here are under consideration. Current Spanish regulations on the import of films impose one of the stiffest quota ratios in the world upon American productions. Administration is under the Subcommission for the Regulation of Cinematography of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry at Madrid. Latest rules provide that import authority may be granted "solely and exclusively to those firms who produce or promise on a serious basis and with an absolute guarantee to produce an entirely national picture of decent quality." To obtain the permits pictures must be produced in Spain at a cost of not less than 750,000 pesetas each. "Under these conditions the importation of three to five foreign pictures will be authorized per each Spanish production, produced by the importer and in relation to its value, origin and quality of the picture, according to the judgment of the Sub-Commission Reguladora de la Cinematografia," the regulations state. Despite these difficult regulations several American companies, including RKO, Universal, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, United Artists and Columbia have succeeded in maintaining their sales organizations in Spain and have shipped occasional releases since 1939. This is usually done by the sale of product to Spanish producers who hold import permits. MGM Largest Operator, With 40 Films a Year These producers in turn frequently turn Spanish selling over to the American sales organizations, which handle pictures on percentage rates amounting to as high as 35 per cent of the gross. A few Spanish pictures are also distributed in Spain by exchanges set up in Barcelona and other cities by the United States majors. MGM has been probably the largest operator in Spain during the last three years, keeping U. S. product on screens with upward of 40 pictures a year. Caesar Alba, with reportted connections in the influential Spanish Alba family, is the Loew manager at Barcelona. RKO reports that it has sent about 60 pictures to Spain since the Civil War ended, including a number of 1943-44 productions from its own studios, Walt Disney and Samuel Goldwyn. "Bambi," "Pride of the Yankees" and "Saludos Amigos" are reported to have been exceptionally popular. The product flow from Universal, Columbia and United Artists has been somewhat less, with the companies exporting to Spain from 30 to 50 per cent of their output during the last two years. Warner Brothers, Paramount and Twentieth Century-Fox have sent no recent pictures to Spain, according to foreign department spokesmen. Warner and Twentieth-Fox, however, continue to sell the backlog of pictures imported before the war. Paramount's Spanish subsidiary is currently in liquidation. The company decided to withdraw from the Spanish market several years ago. John Hicks, foreign manager for the company, however, is re-examining the Spanish situation. Robert Graham, Paramount's Mexico City manager, has been in Spain recently studying company affairs. He is expected to return to New York soon. Nazis Seeking to Control Raw Stock Despite the few signs of brightening on the horizon of future Spanish operation, producers found new cause of apprehension recently in control measures proposed to the legislative Cortez. These would increase import duties from the present 25,000 paper pesetas per picture to a rate calculated on the weight of the film. At a rate of 25 gold pesetas per kilo it could amount to 130 times the current tax. With dubbing tax of 20,000 pesetas a picture, and required dubbing, in Spain ; a boost in raw stock taxes from 1.50 to 4.50 pesetas per kilo, and other fees, distributors fear that the new measure would make all Spanish operations prohibitively expensive. The bill now in the Cortez is attributed, by some observers, to efforts by friends of German film makers to reestablish the market for French and German raw stock. Currently the U. S. has approved the shipment of sufficient film to meet all needs for Spanish screen time. 17