Paramount World (1955)

9 GERMANY ALSO HAS A STIRRING CONVENTION Spirit of the Paris Conclave Flames Anew in Berlin Inspired by the wealth of news and informat¬ ion garnered at the Paris convention, and to satisfy the hunger of the traditionally energyplus German Paramount organization, a convention was held in Berlin’s Hilton Hotel late in April. With Erich Wania, general manager for Ger¬ many at the helm, and with Continental sales manager Hugo Stramer in attendance, there was held a meeuing which can best be described In the v/ords of Mr. Wania himself, as follows: The days of our Berlin convention are over and we are all back at our desks. But the spirit of our days in Berlin is not over and will continue for weeks and months to come, since nobody could forget what he had heard and seen. In particular, I want to mention the product film, which everyone saw with the greatest pleasure and which made every¬ one more enthusiastic than ever. Of course never before had we seen at one time so many pictures, and portions of pictures, and it was an outstanding accomplishment on the part of our studio to prepare this wonderful production. We discussed the importance of "Is Paris Burning?", the sales of which started weeks ago. We met the Harry Saltzman "Funeral In Berlin" crew and had the pleasure of seeing Micteel Caine in person the star of two of our greatest pictures in the second half of this year, "Alfie" and "Funeral In Berlin." For the members of our Berlin Convention, the dubbing studio Berliner Synchron Wenzel Ludecke, Berlin, gave a recep¬ tion, as did also our laboratory, Mosaik Film Manfred Wolf, Berlin. So throughout all of the meeting days we were in con¬ tact with the industry and a lot of work was done and many valuable discussions participated in. It was a great pleasure, and honour, for all of us that our European sales manager, Mr. Hugo Stramer, was with us, and he deeply impressed the delegates with the news and information that he had the product to come. I do wish that mere words could tell of the wonderfiil spirit which existed during every moment of our meeting. We are all very confident that the great list of productions that we have for the exhibitors of Germany will keep our enthusiasm aflame. It is certainly a fact that the Year of the Harvest has come bountifully true. Some of the Paramount delegates join with members of the "Funeral In Berlin" production company at the reception given by Mr. Wenzel Ludecke of Berliner Syn¬ chron. From left to right; Werner Rochau, Wenzel Ludecke, Hugo Stramer, Erich Wania, Paul Hubschmid ( star of "Funeral in Berlin"), unidentified member of film unit, Michael Caine (star of the film), Charles Kasher (producer of the film), Mrs. Guy Hamilton (the former film star Kerima), and Guy Hamilton (director of "Fune¬ ral in Berlin"). PARTICIPANTS IN THE BERLIN CONVENTION Standing, left to right: Hans Spoerer, Duesseldorf publicity manager; Dieter Jung, Hamburg branch manager; Heinz Himmel, Frankfurt branch manager; Hugo Rakete, 16mm dept.; Wilhelm Benninger, Munich branch manager; Hugo Stramer, European sales manager; Erich Wania. gen¬ eral manager for Germany; Artemijs Stabins. administra¬ tion chief; Rudolf Sieben, Hamburg publicity manager; Fried Hintz, assistant to the publicity director; Hans Fischer, Berlin branch manager. Seated, left to right: Sieefrled Kobosil, sales manager; Mrs. Carola Werners, Duesseldorf branch, managerj Mrs* Ingeborg Harder, technical dept.; Miss Heidelies Nickmann. secretary tc the general manager; Werner Rochau, publicity director for Germany. After the serious business of the convent¬ ion, gaiety at the fine reception offered the delegates by Mosaik Film, Berlin. Reading from left: Frankfurt branch manager Heinz Himmel, sales manager for Germany Siegfried Kobosil; Erich Wania, general manager for Germany; Mrs. Carola Werners, Duesseldorf branch manager; Hamburg branch manager Dieter Jung; Munich branch manager Wilhelm Benninger; Mrs. Mach of Mosaik Film.