Motion Picture Herald (Mar-Apr 1947)

U.S. FIRMS ACCEPT ITALIAN PROGRAM by ARGEO SANTUCCI in Rome American producer and distributor representatives last Friday in Rome accepted a six-point conditional program governing imports for the rest of 1947. The progarm, advanced by the Government, had been in discussion for almost a month. A revised program will be drawn up for 1948. Provisions of the 1947 agreement include : Importing countries are to grant Italy reciprocal treatment. Proceeds from all imported features must be placed in a non-transferable lira account at a bank authorized to deal in foreign exchange selected by the importer. Foreign companies producing in Italy must use Italian studio facilities and participate in Italian production up to 50 per cent. Proceeds from such pictures will be shared proportionately. Funds must also be applied to the construction and rental of theatres. Foreign companies may dispose of accumulated foreign exchange by. exporting films produced in Italy in partnership. Permission for importing must be obtained from the Minister of Foreign Trade. The program is conditional for 1947 and will be revised for 1948. V Four new theatres will open in Rome within the next few months. The capacity of the houses will range from 1,200 to 3,000 seats. Rumors are much in evidence here that MGM will open a big modern theatre in Via Nazionale, which is possibly the most crowded street in Rome. The theatre, it is reported, will be established in the Palace of the Art Exhibition. It could have a capacity of 4,000 seats. A new theatre, the theatre of Masques, opened February 21 in Rome in the former clubroom belonging to employees of the Treasury Department. BELGIUM by LOUIS QUIEVREUX in Brussels Because Belgium exhibitors are now obtaining their films on a percentage rather than a flat rental system, the cry has been raised that many cinemas are now losingmoney. In a roundabout way the Germans are responsible for this. Before 1940 exhibitors obtained their films on a flat fee basis. If the feature turned out to be a hit, it meant a boom for the theatre-owner. When the Germans occupied Belgium, they imposed a new system, that of percentage, varying according to the film. The return of liberty did not mean a return to flat rentals. On the contrary, today the percentages go as high as 55 and 70 per cent. V On behalf of eight American companies, the Motion Picture Association has accepted an invitation to participate in the Brussels World Film Festival to be held June 1-30. The acceptance was made on behalf of United Artists, Columbia, MGM, Paramount, RKO, Universal, Twentieth CenturyFox and Warner Brothers. A committee of three has been formed in the States to publicize the festival. SOUTH AFRSCA by R. N. BARRETT Johannesburg Private film societies to further interest in motion pictures and to study the sociological aspects of the film are gaining ground here. Starting in Cape Town, the movement has spread to Johannesburg, where monthly showings of old features or features with educational interest are held. V All motion picture negatives of the Royal Tour of South Africa by the King and Queen of England are being handled by African Film Productions, Ltd., for newsreels all over the world. About 100,000 feet of film will pass through the company's processing machines during the 10 weeks of the tour, and a total footage of 250,000 feet will be processed. MEXICO by LUIS BECERRA CELIS in Mexico City Producers see more union trouble here because of the start of feature production by the National Cinematographic Industry Workers Union at their studios at Cuernavaca. That union's rival, the Picture Production Workers Union, charges that Cinematographic, by entering into such work, is disobeying the edict of ex-President Camacho, who ordered Cinematographic to confine itself to newsreels and shorts and to leave features to the Picture Production Workers. The union is said to be financing the feature by collecting a day's wages from each union member. y _ The theatre circuit in Monterrey once owned by the Rodriguez brothers has been purchased from them by a syndicate headed by Manuel Espinosa Iglesias. V _ A cooperative production society has been organized by Jorge Negrete, Mexico's leading romantic actor ; Alex Phillips, the Cana dian cameraman working in Mexico; .Manuel Espinosa, Jean Angelo, Felipe Montoya and Enrique Gouce. The cooperative claims a number of first rate players and technicians. CZECHOSLOVAKIA by JOSEPH B. KANTUREK in Prague Louis Kanturek, European supervisor for the Motion Picture Export Association, left Prague February 26 for an inspection tour of the Balkans. His itinerary includes Vienna, Budapest, Bucharest and Sofia. He will also go to Belgrade to work on a deal with the Jugoslav film monopoly. V Newsreel theatres have been established in the larger cities of the country. Some of the regulation theatres are now devoting half their playing time to newsreels, the other half to features. V The export branch of the Czech monopoly reports good results in exporting new prod"-' uct. Lately the monopoly sold several features to an importer in the U. S., and other product has been sold to Russia, Jugoslavia, Rumania, Greece, Poland and Palestine. V Recent MPEA releases in the country include: "Remember the Day," "Holy Matrimony," "You Were Never Lovelier," "Hold Back the Dawn," "Guadalcanal," "I Married a Witch" and "Reap the Wild Wind." PALESTINE by IBRAHIM ZEIN in Jaffa The independent motion picture importers, distributors and dealers in Palestine are planning to organize an association for mutual aid. V Aptekman Pictures, the first and only Egyptian company to set up an agency in Tel-Aviv, has purchased the rights to five French pictures which it will dub in Arabic. V The Russians are turning now to the Oriental market and are beginning to dub some of their product in Arabic. They have recently released here their "The First of May," a six-reel documentary in color. Remittances from France On Films Are Approved Remittances for more than 100 American features brought into France before July 1, 1946, by the Psychological Warfare Department of the Army and the old Office of War Information, and not released before that date, may now be made due to the "legalization" of those imports the latter part of February. These features may now receive dubbing permits. These features had posed a serious problem for the distributors since all proceeds from their release would have been blocked unless they were recognized as legal imports. MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MARCH 15, 1947 4?