Variety (November 1961)

Publistied: Weekly at 154 West sth Street, New York 36,. N. ¥., by Variety, Inc. Annual subscription, 615. ‘Single copies, 35 cents. Second Class Postage at-New York, N. Y. © COPYRIGHT 1961 BY VARIETY, INC. ALL. RIGHTS RESERVED _NEW 3 YORK, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 1961 88 PAGES j UPSWINC ith Tl STATIONS (On S15 O00 Negative Cost, Foresee ON TINT ROSTER|_ Never On Sunday’ Rentals of $8-Mil. * Never underestimate the power No. 10 Vol: | 224 Capital ies, With $00.00 Las, Drops Option on Fichmann Verdi ct} Tel ‘Aviy, Oct. 31. + Capital Cities Broadcasting Co. . ‘of; New York pulled .out of the |: Eichmann trial.. The company had; the exclusive rights to put cameras in the court during the trial, to'/: make. videotape and newsreels of : the proceedings and to distribute |’. them around the world.. Producer. Miiton Fruchtman set up a fully | equipped ty studio near the courthouse and made, with director Leo } 'Hurwitz,.more ‘than 1,000: miles of: tape.. According with the Israel! ‘Government, the |}. company took ,up the task on a. non-profit ' “basis... But apparently | it didn’t anticipate how. non-profit it would be. According to. estimates, Capital Cities lost about $500,000 ‘on. the deal.: “At least part of the. loss was.good investment in terms ‘of publicity and goodwill that the | “company gained, especially. in Jew-. . ish circles. According. to ‘the ‘contract; the |. company. subscribed to tape | every Moment of the trial, until the very: }. end.. But there was a time-limit _ paragraph in the ‘contract and. this | “time-limit.was now reached, while ‘the: judges: are still preparing. the ‘yverdict.. Judgment -will be .an-. nounced around December. ‘Capital (Continued on. page 86}. West Indies to‘Culturefy’. Calypso as Part of Drive. To Achieve Independence Washington; Oct. 31. ~ Calypso, the homegrown -folk style of the. West Indies, 1s the ‘target: of “music “reformers’’ who regard it as.the ‘rough to be woven |. into the “cultural fabric’. of the ‘islands. George Sampson, director. -of the | “Broadcasting ‘School: at. Trinidad: and ‘leading educational broadeast|: {ng light there, said the effort to]: “culturefy” calypso. -is part of. an. overall campaign prepping -.-the dslands for independent status in a year or so.. Sampson, here to learn teach-vee techniques, told a-luncheon. of the American':Women’ in Radio &{ Television that the-Trinidad edu-]. cational radio and others are working “to. improve calypso. So that it. becomes part of ‘the ‘oulture of the West Indies.” ' Conceding that calypso {s. popular, he added: ‘We're trying: to! . make a popular thing” ‘something. good. oe : . .to, ‘the “agreement .. {the active negotiation stage. | one.of several. “talks” with various } -sources during the past..year con-. Ad Lib | Hydra, Greece, . Oct.. 31. Lloyd ‘Shearer, interviewing Melina Mercourl here for “Parade, _asked.-if she would. , identify: ‘the “most fascinating man in her life.” With director Jules ‘Dassin standing beside her—she expects to marry him before-the year. is out—. actress took Shearer's hand looking © into. , his eyes, “You,” darling, you.” | Said -Shearer.:to ~Dassin: "You're right, no doubt about. it.. She’s the greatest: actress: in the world.” Allied Artists As Youngstein Syndicate’s Goal ‘Hollywood, Oct. 31. Importance .of. discussions for a syndicate. to purchase Allied Art ists as. aproduction-distribution. company to be operated by Max E.. . Youngstein. upon his retirement at .| Year's end as United Artists. veepée are. discounted by AA prexy Steve Broidy as’ never having reached ‘Only. templated acquisition ‘of ‘his com ‘pany.. It’s known, however,.that a’ buyout: of AA: figures prominently ‘in plans of. exhibitor syndicate: organ (Continued On. page. 87) Casals Plays White House Though U.S. Accepts Franco, : Washington, ‘Oct. ‘31. ‘Pabla Casals, who has ‘prev iously refused to play in the capital city | of any nation which:recognizes the | Francisco. Franco. government. of Spain, has consented ‘to -play.: ‘White House concert here Nov. 13. ‘Casals; now 84, ‘went into exile : cafter: the’ ‘Spanish Civil War and: has recently made ‘his home in: “Puerto Rico. President. Kennedy invited Casals to perform: follow| ing a. white tie dinner honoring. the governor. of Puerto Rico.. Luis. Munoz-Marin. The exchange of. correspondence between the President. and the (Continued on. page 86) Number of stations in the U.S. equipped to originate local color in’ some form—“live,”. film or vidtape | —now stands at 115, according to an industry survey. | More. significant, mates that-the number of hours per week devoted to colorcasting on ‘the local level runs close to 400. That 400 hours per week’ of color|. casting is exclusive of .the color feed of. the NBC network and is confined. to the 54 color equipped | stations having regularly scheduled Excluded: in the 400] color¢casts. hours estimate. are stations occasionally c olorcasting, local specials and sports, v 4 The rise in the number of local colorcasting hours is being watched closely by syndicators in the ser‘ies, features and’ cartoon fields. Factor of: color in today’s syndie . market is variously brushed off as |insignificant or underscored as a definite plus. Whatever today’s analysis for the syndie field might be, there’s little question that most ‘syndie houses’ feel that in the uture having color negatives will | prove out to be a definite plus. ‘survey’ esti| ' Many stations, for example, buy ‘ing the Warner Bros. “Films of the 50's s* packages have scheduled (Continued on ontinued on page 4! 48) Chi Footnote To Noxon TV Makeup Chicago, Oct. 31. Local 849 of the Makeup & Hair Stylists. Union was ruled guilty .of cen a ./illegal praetices -by the National. {Labor Relations Boardlast week in a. matter: surrounding an ABC-TV appearance by former ‘Vice President Richard M.. Nixon earlier this year, after. he had lost he election. (The case is not te Ibe confused with allegations after the first of the Great Debates that : Nixon’s. cause had -been sabotaged iby’ a makeup artist. Coincidental‘ly,. both telecasts had originated ‘from Chicago.) | “The case with which NLRB was concerned rose from ‘charges by iRose. Marie Gardner, the only feimale member of the. makeup -artists local, that she had been prevented from doing a makeup job on. Nixon -because the’ union’s business agent, Jack Dumont, felt there’ was ‘something immoral about women doing makeup jobs on men. She had “been hired by (Continued on page 60) Critics Are Important Wall Streeters obviously follow New York’s newspaper critics as closely—or perhaps even’ more closely—as the average film patron. On the day the $6,000,000plus “West Side Story” opened at the Rivoli Theatre on Broadway, United Artists’ stock closed at 32. Tha next after noon, followi ing the publication of the first reviews of the pic, the UA stock jumped 2194 points to close at 3414. Murrow’s H'wood Quest: Footage To Help USIA Abroad Washington, Oct. 31. U.S. Information Agency Direc| tor Edward BR. Murrow will be chief speaker and guest of honor at a special forum-dinner Nov. 5 hosted -by Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. ‘Idea is for Murrow and the . “creative side” of the film industry to get aequainted, according to USIA. Eric Johnston, MPAA prexy and reps of the studios and talent guilds will be invited. Murrow, just back from Europe and Latin America, will talk about ‘his agency's role in boosting Uncle Sam abroad and how the industry ‘can help materially by donating film footage usable in the overseas propaganda effort. The Hollywood session.is a natural followup to Murrow’'sconfab with the network heads at a White (Continued on page 87) Academy of Achievement Honor Reaches Hope! ‘London, Oct. 31. Ata ceremony at the American , Embassy in Grosvenor Square last : night (Mon.) Bob Hope received: the Golden Plate Award from US. : 1000. 4 an of a woman, or, in this case, of a goodnatured prostie. Jules Dasesin’s “Never on Sunday,” which details in comic fashion the efforts | of a stuffy American tourist to re form a happy Athenian joy girl, looks to become one of the most profitable motion pictures in the history of the industry, in terms of profits on original investment. The picture, according to a Lopert exec, was brought in at a cost of approximately $151,099. Exec estimates the savs “conservatively”: that the film will do at least $8.000,000 worldwide, which would mean a return of 5,200) on the investment. What that means can be graphically illustrated by the supposition that if C. B. DeMille’s “Ten Commandments” did comparably well on its $13.000,000 production outlay, it would have to realize a return of $67,600,000,Similarly, Metro's _ stillshooting “Mutiny on the Bounty,” whose budget is now about $17, 000,000. would have to bring in $88.400,690,000. “Sunday,” incidentally, is now in its 55th week at the artie Plaza in New York and still going strong. Tradesters also note that the pieture’s domestic take does not appear to have been drastically hurt by the Legion of Dectency’s condemnation. In this respect too, the film seems to be an exception to the rule. ‘Deny Screen Actors Guild Rap Against ‘Lebbyists’s Runaway Issue Pends Washington, Oct. 31. Nobody from the Motion Picture Assn. of America is leaning on lawmakers in an effort to bury investigation into “runaway” film production, according to Assn. v.p. Kenneth Clark. Clark flatly denied charges that his boss. Eric Johnston, or any other MPAA spokesman is wielding “extreme pressure” to nix the runaway prebe under considera‘ Gon by Rep. John Dent .D.-Pa.}. “Screen Actor,” organ of the ; Screen Actors Guild, makes the Ambassador David K. Bruce on{ accusation of heavy lobbying tac behalf of the Academy of Achteve{tics in its current ‘issue. ment:-for “his magnificent contribution in the field of entertain-/. ment.” The award to the comedian was one of 50 presented to international men of achievement, Frep Asked about the allegation, Clark said that as far as he knows ‘the only “pressure” brought to bear on Dent was strictly out in open when Dent. head of a special resenting the many who have ex-| House Labor Subcommittee, heard (Continued on page 74) BBCTV 25th ANNIVERSARY (ON PAGES 26 TO 46) (Continued on page 17)