Variety (September 1961)

” Sound-of. English Pays Of Latin Americanos obviously are not purists. in. their ‘aversion. to. dubbed product. While American major company distribs have Tong ‘known that the audiences in Central and South America ipbtefer their Hollywood. films with Spanish or: Portuguese sub‘titles, rather than with. appropriately dubbed soundtracks, the. execs are now finding that these audiences also prefer ‘their. Ttallan . and French films with dubbed English soundtracks, and with Span|” 7 uese . P 1: Action taken by the 20th-Fox . board of directors in .New. York|_ |last week in passing up a cash]. ish or Portuguese subtitles. Apparently, New York execs reason, the. Latin American aidi ences prefer the “sound” of English, whether. they’ understand it 8r not: Of course, they also point out, English is the “second — language” in most L.A. countries and thus a lot of people in. ‘the @udience actually understand the English soundtracks: . ; _ This fact: has. become increasingly 4dmportant in recent. years ~~ as U. S. majors have found that there’s a very lucrative market in many: Latin American countries for Italo and French films. Thus, if,a U. S. major: picks up: one. of -these’ European pix for both the U. S. ‘and -Latin ‘English version; rather than the original, which they eventually ‘gubtitle and send south of the border.:They.:don't, however, dub such product into English when it’s not-also set. for v. 5. release _as well as ‘Latin America. oo American market, it’s the dubbed-in Stevens Will Prod. Greatest Story’ By Jan. 1: Recoups Rights From 2h Holtywood,. Sept.. 8: Producer-director ‘George Stevens has. concluded. arrangements with 20th-Fox to acquire film rights to “The Greatest Story Ever Told’: and plans to hold to his -original |’ ‘schedule for a shooting start in|} January. Stevens’ decision here-to|. ‘day (Tues.) followed by four days the announcement.that the project had been -cancelled by ‘the 20th) board, ‘The: director: said that he. may. be able to announce an affiliation with a new studio within. a week and that. “first offers" already are in hand and are being studied. Agent ‘Charles .K.. Feldman is in charge of these negotiations, which inelude three unnamed majors; Magna Pictures and two European outfits. . Stevens said that deal for his ac-. quisition of the property Includes. a provision whereby. 20th will be“close toa couple of -million dollars” ‘advanced’ by’ reimbursed for ‘ 20th: in’ preparation of the. film. These monies will be paid to 20th after the film has paid: off its production investment. and. earned. $5, 000,000 -profit.. The. director . emphasized that this provision to ‘pay 20th. back was: “in the spirit’ of fair play.” Actually, he said, he could have held the company. to its original partnership with him in the deal, requiring them to make the film. Ag is, 20th will pay him. his origi-| nal $1, 000,000. fee, and ‘take care of. talerit fees, legal claims, . all totalling $2,300,000. Stevens also. expressed himself | ‘as “deeply disturbed” at having to -terminate his ‘longtime’ .relation-: ship with 20th ‘prexy. Spyros P. Skouras, but said he had found it (Continued on page 13). Rumors About 20th Moving Ad-Pub Dept. To the Coast. Denied| }eral’ expenses (up to $15,607,500 20th-Fox ° toppers ‘in. New ‘York last week denied rumors that. com-. ‘pany was planning. to move’. its ad-pub department ‘to studio head-. ‘quarters. They say: there have been talks in the past, but “they aren’t hot, atthe. moment. ” One top sales exte commented ; that, far from moving the ad-pub] boys to the Coast, he’d prefer to see a more major concentration |; of ad-pub people in New York, ‘working a la United Artists. which | has only a skeleton force on Coast, | principally “as _ liaison ‘with . indies. ‘Another exce said thatWarners’ |. experience in ‘a similar move to the Coast convinced him that. such a move would not be. feasible, especially today with 20th’s farflung production activities all over. | ‘Europe... Still another. exce’ suggested -the latest -rumors.: had arisen because fhe has been making some inquir-des as to payrolls, efficiency, ex ‘perience had by others who have ‘tried. to operate ad-pub from the : he said, | Coast. “Right. now.” “there's. no excitement” about the subject, . Mih's $12 205 Net For 6 Mos. Versus. Hollywood, Sept. 5. Paul Newman: is getting fancy coin. in’. MGM's “Sweet Bird of Youth,” .Pandro Bere. man production being direct-. | ed by Richard. Brooks.” Star receives $350, 000 ‘plus 10% of net. $2,628,576 Last Yr. Twentieth-Fox last week reported: net profit ‘from’: operations: for the first 26 weeks of the current. year. ‘of $12,326, compared. with $2,628, 576. for the like period last year. Adding the ‘net profit of $25,735;-|: 917 from-sale of ‘the studio: .prop erty, combined ret earning for} the first’ half of 1961..came: to $25,-| 748,243, or $10.52 a share, com pared to $1.10 for the first 1960 -half. Latter profits, .Company’s:. Fentals from ~ films, including tv, for -first half of 1961 rose: to. $57, 666; 500 ‘from $52,101, | 437 --for the like -1960 period, .In come .from dividends this. year, however, declined to © $326,412 from $1,064,432 last year. Other operating’. income this year amounted to $4.132.876,. compared with $3,205,123 .in . the.. first 1960 | half. Total. income for 1961 half was $62,125,788, compared to. $56; "1370992 ‘for the 1960 ‘half. Total expenses for the first-1961 half: were $62.113.462, against $53,| 742,416 for. last year’s half: In creases in expenses this year were’ registered in operating cand ‘genfroma $13,835.392) and .in amorti zation of film. cost; and participa|: pants’ share of rentals (up. to $44,126,446 from $36,799,295). ‘The: $25,000,000 ‘entry fcom the studio’ sale was net of. applicable Federal income taxes of ater e F UNEMPLOYED, SEE. WALD FOR ‘YOUNG MAN’ Hollywood, Sept. 5. _ ‘production: ‘of: “Young -Man”. will, have .20roles. Jerry Wald’s with top names: Pie starts. shooting in ‘Wisconsin ‘Sept. 18 on 60day sked.. Lined up so far for. parts” are Paul. ‘Newman, Dick Beymer, Ar-|. Tandy, | thur Kennedy,-. Jessica ‘Diane : ‘Baker, Dan : Dailey, ' Shelley ‘Winters, Susan Strasberg, Ricardo Montalban, Eli Wallach; Paul Ford, Jack Carson, Zaza. ‘Gabor, : Juanho Hernandez: and Michael . "Pollard: (now. -appearing in “Bye. Bye Birdie? in N. Y.). Martin’ ‘Ritt directs, .| Stevens’ long-projected (see separate | ‘| story), are understood to have been | ” -1 two: of the ‘points recommended in the operations report on the com-: _| pany ‘given the board. Aug. 8 by director Milton S. Gould. Latter | |However, of course, were. entirely from operations. ; By VINCENT CANBY dividend in favor’ of a‘stock divvy, | and the final turndown on George “Greatest Story Ever Told’ reps brokerage house of. Treves. & ‘+Co. on 20th. -board. ~ This info is Important in ylew. =lofthe fact that, following the |. *.fAug. 8. board meeting, which saw}: | the election’ of exec veep W. C. | Michael as chairman of the execu-. ‘there was a|-: tendency among tradesters to. re-. tive -committee, ‘gard that action as indicative of lessening influence on the part of | Gould and director John L. Loeb,senior partner of Carl. M. Loeb,. Newmman’s Sweet Deal ~“|Rhoades & Co., on. 20th policy. | Reinforcing this ‘Interpretation wag {fact that Gould's operations com-. ; mittee. also. was" disbanded at the. Aug. 8. meeting. interests are being -taken seriously ‘by other board members, alarmed ;}by a drastic decline.in earnings (see separate story), and continu ing ‘production losses. divvy (for the first time in many years) in favor of the stock divvy, the ‘company. | bundle. . AS ~ formerly stated following | last. week’s board. meet, the 2% stock dividend, payable ‘Oct. 3 to ‘stockholders of ‘record Sept. ‘TL, the . current — third | cov rs_ both quarter and. upcoming fourth. Two } ‘semiannual stock. ‘divvies, ‘payable in September and: March, will, in fact, be company policy from now on,.at least until the company’s “production activities are again profitable.” How It ‘Figures The actior means that 20th holders will get two shares. of: common for every 100 shares now held. On the basis of the 2,446,986 shares. outstanding, . this. Indicates. ‘that total’ shares outstanding will: be increased by approximately 48,938 semi-annually from now until fur|. ther notice. Ironically, at: the special. stockholders meeting called last October to approve the sale of the studio to Webb & Knapp, prexy Spyros P. Skouras had ex-. ‘pressed the ‘possibility: of using} ‘some of:the studio sale proceeds. |to reduce capitalization. That ‘pian, of course. is. now in limbo. _ Purpose. of ‘making the 2%. stock divvy semi-annually, rather ‘than. 1%. quarterly, is prompted by Savings -in bookkeeping and trans-. fer expenses. ‘Each ..time such a stock divvy is declared, it costs in‘ the. neighborhood of $20, 000 for all the paperwork. “ Insiders say that the: decision to pass up the cash divvy ‘in favor of the stock divvyy was “entirely: fat the. discretion. of the board,” | and was-not forced. on the-company by provisions in its Metropolitan Life loan agreement, which Hmit .| payment of cash divvies. under cer-. ; tain. conditions. Insiders also decline to predict 7 what effect the passup of cash in favor of. stoek. will have on the longrange market price of 20th shares. It could depress the trading price, but then it’s thought that perhaps the market in recent weeks-had anticipated no divvy. of | ‘any kind, explaining recent de-. clines:in price, and thus last week's action maywell bolster the: price. Allied Ups Revoir ... Hollywood, Sept. 3. Earl Revoir steps up. from as ‘sistant to treasurer of: Allied Art-| ists; -succeeding George D. Burrows, who continues as exec vp. -Jack’ M.' Sattinger, assistant: seC retary, was named assistant v.p. at fast week’ 's board meeting at studio. it. new appears quite | _|elear that reforms and fiscal -poli-| Jefes outlined by the Wall Street By passing | |up the regular 40c-a-share cash} obviously saves a] Yordan.. Subsidies & K.0. THEIR HANDIWORK) _°®Sites © The Critical Angle Practice of showing a picture.on a one-shot ‘basis in theatres at regular admissions, as. Warners is doing with “Splendor in the Grass,” “brings: up the question of néwspaper reviews. The angle .is that the single showings are scheduled for up to two months in advance of regular runs. WB has its own philosophy about this. If the critics want 1° to appraise the picture on the basis of the early showing, it’s . Okay. If the reviews are bad they probably will have been -forgatten at the time of the regular runs. However, if the notices’ are good, they can be reprised in ads. Gist Long Haul Pll $7,000,000 -. Arthur | (U.S. and ada) rentals. This is fancy eoin+under any circumstances but particularly ; ‘interesting in that the film held up over such a long marketing aul, The Metro release went out in 1958, The Oscar spotlighting in 1959 naturally was a hypo. Picture ran a year in.New York on first' run, first at the Royale and then at the Sutton. Net income from the Royale was nil because of the} ad and other expenses, but the | Sutton: run was plenty profitable. Ié ran a year also in San Francisco and: just short of a year in -Los Angeles. Engagements were relatively ‘long in many other spots around: ‘the country. Interest in the pic ‘ture continued after what ap peared a full market playoft. Bookings kept coming in. Result: is that distribution gross of nearly $7,000,000. BRONSTON ON EPIC KICK; MAKING 3 IN 1962-63 London, Sept. 5. Before planing out to the U. S. /to sew up-arrangements for global ‘trek in connection with “King of Kings”. and ‘El Cid,” Sam Bronston unveiled his 1962-63 program, here. He will make three epics, “55 Days At Peking”; “The Fall of the. Reman Empire’ and “The -Freneh Revolution,” the first being shot mainly in the U. K. (probably at Shepperton). All three pix will have a budget of at least $5,000,000, says Bronston’s scripter associate Philip And the other two will be made in Bronton’s newly-enlarged studio complex in Madrid. Says. the producer: “I will always zo to the country which. lends itself best to a production. My motto. {s:.geography and economy.” No stars have been fixed for “55 Davs,” skedded to start next spring, neither has the director who, according. to Bronston, will be . British. Goldwyn’s Rare Award Hollywood, Sept. 5. ‘Samuel Goldwyn will be _presented. the rarely-presented Indus try Founders’ Award by the Holly wood Advertising Club. Honor, to be tendered Sept. 11 at a HAC luncheon, is being made because of his “decades of service to filmdown and to the greater Hollywood community,” according to. club prexy George Allen. Freed’s production of } “Gigi” is now near the $7,000,000 ; in’ domestic ote TAM MOVES. =. Paramount s Rackin on Foreign Film of U.S. Admish Tax Hollywood,” Sept. 5. Sure-shot European producers, all playing with government chips, have a guaranteed profit before -they even start to shoot a picture, ‘Paramount production head Mare tin Rackin said following his return from a tour of European capitals. ‘“We,“4in Hollywood, are no longer fighting Italy, Pypace. England and Germany for the screens of the world,” Rackin said. “We are fighting a fantastic network of subsidies. In Italy, a producer is guaranteed 16% of the _ gross which is tantamount to 40% of film rental. Some pictures get .as many as three subsidies from three separate governments. As a result, many producers don’t cara if they make the picture backwards.” Taking a swipe at Dino ‘De Laurentiis, Rackin said, “With ali the noise De Laurentiis makes about Hollywood, he can’t make a picture without coming here for Stars, writers, technicians and financing. A De Laurentiis production is actually a Hollywood unit on location in’ Rome.” “All of which,” Rackin said goes to prove that the American hh U. S. & Can. wav is the best way. Our pictures still set the standard for quality in the world.” Asked about Paramount's’ ac{ ceptance of subsidies, Rackin said, “We have to compete and when ‘the situation has presented itself ; we have taken advantage of ex‘isting subsidies.” Commenting further on the sub(Continued on page 16) Youngstein, Finally Exiting UA,. Positive Only on ‘No’ Rumors With last week’s official confirmation of what Max E. Youngstein calls “one of the worst kept secrets in film history” (ie,, that he is resigning from United Artists Jan. 1), there’s almost nothing else about which to speculate ex cept, perhaps, what his new affiliation will be. -The UA veep Is about to firm up. a deal with a “major” company and says it won't be 20th-Fox for the. simple reason that “nobody asked n.e.” Apparently the exec has more than one possibility in the offing, and thus cannot talic more specifically, even off-the-record. However, he does know pretty well that the new affiliation will. not be. In addition to 20th-Fox, it won’t be a job as a “oneor twopicture independent producer.” Allied Artists has been mentioned as 2 possible connection, including stock ownership. As of last week he said there were no negotiations going on, but the way he said it did not rule out the pos* sibility of some taking place in the future. Cinerama, Magna Pictures (Todd-AO) and other “potentials” have been mentioned and not denied by Youngstein, but also ‘not confirmed. He does note that these processes could eall for mass production rather than their presently limited number of pix. The American Congress of Exhibitors (ACE) also looms importantly ig the production scheme of things in the Youngstein agenda. Commenting on ACE’s comparae tively limited bankroll of between $3,000,000 and $4,000,000, he says “that can be the springboard for a lot of things,” especially in a climate “when they’re hungry for product.” The “fact that Youngstein ad-dressed the Allied Artists convention in Cape Cod last week has given credence to the AA thing. Youngstein’s approximatelx. 50,000 shares of UA stock, currently selling between $33 and $34 a Share, will be bought in by the company treasury af a graduating price.