Motion Picture Herald (Jan-Feb 1948)

THIS WEEK IN THE HEWS No Trouble Washington Bureau SIX STATE legislatures convened this week the vanguard of a small number of legislatures to meet this year. According to Jack Bryson, legislative specialist for the Motion Picture Association, no legislation unfavorable to the industry was scheduled to be introduced into any of these legislatures, neither Kentucky, Mississippi nor Rhode Island, which convened Monday, nor Massachusetts, New York nor Missouri, which opened Wednesday. There's a possibility that a bill may be introduced in Kentucky to repeal the state admision tax. Bright Vista J. J. FITZGIBBONS, president of Famous Players Canadian, has an anticipatory gleam in his eye, happy thoughts in his head, as witness this statement he issued Tuesday in Toronto: "We look forward with great confidence to good business during 1948 because of the anticipated high level of payrolls and steady employment which is forecast by the continued great demand for building materials and all kinds of consumer and durable g;00ds." BBC Trouble London Bureau THE BRITISH Broadcasting Company, fond of going into theatres and concert halls for '"live" broadcasts of plays and piano concertos is having some labor trouble with its artists. Just at the end of the year the Musicians' Union announced none of its members would play any performances which were relayed over BBC. January 1 British Equity, the actors' union, came out with the demand that BBC should pay more for broadcasts direct from theatres, asserting that BBC got a play out of a theatre for one-fifth the price it would cost to broadcast the play for a BBC studio. On Stage Everybody ONE WAY TO SAYE vaudeville is to have a good strong central government that's vitally interested in actors in the round. The Portuguese acrobat, dog trainer, soft shoe dancer and bird imitator may soon have reason to be proud of his government. The Commerce Department was predicting in Washington Monday that Portugal may soon require theatre operators to include in their yearly programs a number of weeks of live entertainment, thereby reducing the available film time. According to a report prepared by Nathan MOTION PICTURE HERALD for January 10, 1948 LIGHT appears on foreign horizon as new year dawns Page 13 WARNER Brothers report fiscal year net up to $22,094,000 Page 16 WARNERS announce production of 13 films In next three months Page 18 UNIVERSAL calls use of television to sell films successful Page 22 NBC Television tells public in ads 1948 to be biggest year Page 22 NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT— Notes on industry personnel across country Page 23 EAGLE LION announces plans for 60 features during the year 1948 Page 30 LOCAL 16mm newsreels pay off in goodwill at circuit theatres Page 32 DUTCH exhibitors fight plans to increase nation's admission tax Page 36 SERVICE DEPARTMENTS Hollywood Scene Page 33 In the Newsreels Page 34 Managers' Round Table Page 41 Picture Grosses Page 40 Short Product at First Runs Page 39 What the Picture Did for Me Page 38 IN PRODUCT DIGEST SECTION Showmen's Reviews Page 4009 Reissue Reviews Page 4009 Advance Synopses Page 4010 Service Data Page 401 I The Release Chart Page 4012 D. Golden, motion picture consultant to the Department, Portugal's film law of December 27, 1946, designed to encourage domestic production, has not forced distributors to withdraw from the market as a result of the aditional tax burden, nor has it stimulated interest in national films to the degree anticipated. So the guess is that if Portugal hasn't got enough of her own pictures to fill her own theatres, she'll fill those theatres with her vaudevillians. New News in Color COLOR MADE its debut in the Warner Pathe issue released Tuesday. The sequence was filmed in Cinecolor January 1, 1948, at the Pasadena Tournament of Roses. The most effective scenes were those of the flower floats in the parade. Pictures made at the Rose Bowl football game were striking, but somewhat less natural on account of the vivid colors. Color unquestionably added a dramatic impact. If subjects are carefully selected, increasing audience favor may be expected from color newsreel sequences. It may be that the challenge presented by the departure in newsreel practice directly or indirectly may result in better newsreel handling by the producers, distributors and exhibitors. The day may even come when the industry will like newsreels as well as many of the paying customers do. -M. Q., Jr. Code in Italy AN ATTACK on the Italian motion picture production code, II Codice per la Cinematografia, has been launched by the Communist newspaper L'Unita and the extreme right paper Risorgimento Liberate. The Italian production code was adopted in 1945 by Associazione Nazionale Industrie Cinematografiche ed Affini, the association of Italian producers and distributors. The idea of a film code was proposed to leaders of the Italian industry early in 1945 by Martin Qtiigley, Jr., who was then in Rome attached to the Headquarters of the Allied Commission. With the assistance of Mr. Quigley, the code was drawn up by Eitel Monaco, general counsel of the A.N.I.C.A. A number of experts contributed to the adaptation of the American Production Code for the Italian industry. The recent attacks follow an article in the Rome newspaper, II Popolo, by Giulio Andreotti, Italian Government Under-Secretary for the Entertainment Industry, in which producers and directors were urged to re-read the code so that films which would have pernicious influence, especially on vouth, would not be made. And I Quote PRESIDENT AND MRS. TRUMAN, their household guests and their staff, saw Paramount News' year-end production. "1947, Year of Division," on New Year's Eve. Contrary to the usual practice of not allowing quotes to be used, the President authorized the use of this quote : "A very fine presentation of why the Marshall Plan is necessary as a step toward world peace." MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 10, 1948