Variety (November 1963)

“Wednesday, November 27, 1963. *. By ROBERT J. LANDRY y 6) oe From time to time film trade savants have. deplored the failure || o hey A re} Not training of young men as executives. and/or for. oe nade suc me a ey cession when death or retirement removes the aging leaders a GENE ‘AENEES, ° : Put re lor’ j in Title. + Levine last week purchased a block: this problem is taken by: American corporations in general comes: ; y 3 0 {of 5,000 shares of Paramount. ds, tmerita an: _ Clear in a recent book by Edith.Sands, a departme yesterday (Tues.) ‘and turned to| Theatre-Vision. Color™ ‘Corp. a ‘made: in-recent months. It brings tive Personnel, ” is just out via: Reinhold. ‘at $9. 15. £ 98-084: : almost uniformly’ strong ‘by noon.-| ‘a. Delaware “company,.:-has. | the total holdings by Embassy ia . ae. ‘ ‘Mrs. Sands painstakingly investigated policy a comp ‘atre. Color-Vision: Corp ing: ‘Embassy | one’ of Par’ < ‘maj or same position or are equally anxious, the importance of qualified |. trading hiatus from the early. FriHarold . Lipton of : “National, stockholders. i 1. os, manpower is generally recognized. The book ‘is fascinating in its | the: seit own a Mona cae |: Hills, filed the. certificate ‘with: taking over Embasgy via some” to sift promising from impossible applicants. 5 bang. Partnership arrangement, a. move ‘Importance of college degrees is generally emphasized. ne | suffitient ‘time -to reevaluate and | = ‘the foreseeable future, his latest its payroll. And so on. Mrs; Sands points out that two generations’ | this was healthy.” It: appears . to. by Me vs Rap. stock: buy ‘prompted one trade obago the high school. diploma alone. sufficed but today the college . fash st teagt tat toe time tele Stag by y. usician’s p, o to figure who is taking over who.” length the talent-scouting of the leading schools by the big cor-.. | “0 east for'the. ng. Levine's dealings with: . Para-. Motion picture stock: dropped. in |: of the big producing-distributing companies to. provide for. the A ay! | Embassy. Pictures prez Joseph. E: the film industry, (Problem is same ‘in television). How serious — ‘The market opened mixed-strong | © Albany, Nov:.26.stock, the second such buy he has” at Long Island U. whose fascinating text, “How To: Select. Execu.-made a-Name change ‘to. The_ -Paramount to 10,000 shares, mak| nies of largest. business volume. While not all.of these take the .. The downtown ‘insiders, believe. the’ “General: “Corp. at. Beverly... |. With all the rumors about Par revelation of American big biz's attempts to use scientific testing. “the Secretary « of. State in ‘AI. , the. ‘public and: professional: buyers. | — ''dwhich Levine. denies is likely. in company, General Electric, has some 30,000 college graduates on j have ‘resulted in a ‘rebirth of con[server'to quip: “It's getting hard. sheepskin is almost a. routine requirement.. She details at some | | ‘Absentee Music Scorer $ | mouintbegan: several months ago’ porations—again, in marked ° contrast to. film. companies total ac tivity, The value of this book lies in its research and balanced conclu-" sions. For example the author warns against the danger of recruit= ing too ‘many. executives from the same. university. Such men tend to combine into cliques.. As almost any corporation knows; ~ ‘and... some to their. sorrow, breaking. up a clique of high executives: is next to impossible short of a-general putsch.. Prejudice excludes. many from. executive position’ ‘in. big.corporations and the lady author makes extended. mention ‘of one widespread. prejudice, namely, that against her. sex. : : There is a good deal of allusion to nepotism and how: it often | kills executive morale. No matter what kind of business. it is, all the men. earning more than 10, 000 closely study executive promo tidns. ‘These, says Mrs. Sands, ‘must make sense and relate. ‘ton. merit: or cynicism undermines morale. 7 Jack L. Warner : In the Neighborhood of $100-Mil. of $100-Mil. About ‘Ni ice,’ As He |: Conjures Gross, For: ‘My Fair. Lady’ | How vast is the motion picture | potential in terms of global gross, and to what: extent is. the invest ment risk worth it? Jack L. War| ner states he’s fully confident that | his personally-produced screen version of “My Fair Lady” will | take in -$100,000,000. The president of WB is thus on. record with a prognostication such as he’s never before made. This occurred at a‘ press conference at! New York’s “21” last week. Film, starring Rex Harrison and Audrey Hepburn, he said, is now 70% completed, will wind up on. a'| pe $17,000,000 budget and will require | OVhig will be the cheapest picture Warners has ever produced,” com $34,000,000 to break even. IMmented Warner. Cost of the screen rights. itself | was a new high, being: $5,500,000 at the minimum. Another tidy item, Warner reported; was Miss | Hepburn’s fee, which amounts to a flat $1,000,000. Only last issue, O'Brien, president of Metro, was quoted in Variety as saying the | days of the $14,000,00 ‘budgets | (and over) are to be no more. MGM took a fiscal clodbbering with the $19,000,000 -the pre-O’Brien era. Jack Warner obviously has no such hedge on this musical of his. | He confined his press meeting to.| {i}. talk only about “Fair Lady’ and | rejected any negative thinking, He |' expects, he demands a $100,000,000 }. gross. It was the exec’s first Manhattan press conference in the. Memory of vet observers. When | asked about this, Warner conceded, jocularly, he had held one in the Rin Tin Tin era: “My Fair Lady” will’ run over ‘three hours. Legiter ran two hours and 55 minutes with intermission.World premiere is set for next Oct. 21 at N.Y.’s Criterion Theatre and-this Charles Moss-operated exhibition. outlet is paying up, in advance, $1,250,000 as rental | Hi guarantee. To follow on Oct. 28/8} will be the Egyptian Theatre, in Hollywood, with the same advance ante. performances legit style. “ Admissicn prices will be just | about what 20th-Fox is ‘getting with “Cleopatra.” 4 4 Lady” release at the New York _. Press. conference. last week. | Jack L,.Warner on my left .. ‘and Ben Kalmenson on my Robert H.. “Mutiny on the Bounty” which got underway. in |. Following will ‘be 50 other key situations all putting up the money in advance and’ playing 10-a-week z ‘paper. value “by over “$100,000,000° | last : Friday. (22) “upon. the news. ‘of || President Kennedy’s assasination. Hollywood, Nov. 26 | The entire stock market. was: substantially’ off, almost 4o the extent: | it: had fallen ‘on the: Black ‘Mon| day of May 28, 1962. . |. All trading ‘was. ‘halted on the. biz board .at 2:07 p.m.: and it was ‘not. | until 2:49 that the final transaction | | Was: ‘shown, ‘on the over-burdened |. ‘ticker... ‘According ¢o. the. down’ | town ‘statisticians © values on~ the ——as 7 | overall board fell by $11,000,000,Positively house organ, “Overture, 000. on: a volume. ~of 6,630,000 shares. _’. Prices: ‘at.. the . close of yester| day's (Tues.). trading. are. sted -in | the accompanying chart... | be-done ‘here. :-Motion picture executives: close | \to. ‘the: Wall. Street. scene :said the |-sent the. union chief. . .|matket had been “nervous” to: be-|. Tiomkin. responded in gin with,: andthe first. word that | the: President had been shot set off Better Flip Straight ja mammoth wave. of sell orders. |-jetter denies ‘Tranchitella’s. charge M R | Film: issues particularly were .hard | that. Tiomkin. ever ‘said “running. orey (Razz) Goldstein, [hit because they are regarded in’ away to Europe to score films is |. president of the Warner dis‘| the. “sensitive” area—that is, not: nothing ‘more than: a matter ‘of | called upon a ee a “ques _ reflective of the confidence which ‘economics.” . Letter _ also. ‘denies.| , cs-. . = | 66 . tion or two about the “My Fair ayastots Show in the major indus| Tiomkin. “ever. ‘laughed . at ate. trials. . ; MCA, Paramount: and. 20th-Fox .| were. the heaviest losers, .” Commented Goldstein: “With ‘| MCA. dropped 6% points. ‘and |: Par and: 20th were: off five and. | fractions.. This. kind of ‘skid. ob|| viously is rare. -Cinerama, on the} J American. Stock Exchange, closed: ; the day at 10%, losing 16. local. ‘musicians eee: right, ona wrong answer and I'll be the Omaha branch 3 manager. 7 (Continued on: “page 10) [SA CRIME AGAINST YOUR STATUS... ‘Speak Up: Give ‘Your Name. Publish Your License to. ‘Prosper. ‘ Say Right Out You Were A Hit. . Admit You. were Going at High ‘Professional Speed. Put Yourself In the Class Marathon. Advertise in’ The 58th Anniversary Edition of One Big Season. Deserves. Another. Your Prestige shoul | ie Lovingly Warmed. And Watered. If You Don’t Plan For. Continuing ‘ Credit, lf You Don't Attend To the Record; ‘Achievement. Can: Wither fe ‘On The Vine. Stay As Bright As you: are... | | Deny Inventing ‘Runaway’ ; Tranchitella’s: subject: was’ “puns away” ‘film production and he sin-. -gled: out Tiomkin ‘and ‘Rozsa as: among... Hollywood-developed film. {tuners who, he charged, “score any . place they can ‘as. long as ‘it is not |-in, ‘Hollywood: Ténor ‘of: editorial: was that: the two tuners are: costing | Jocal tooters much: work. that. could. 2 -| Suggested as a possible Embassy: “Both:have : rebutted. in ‘Iétters 1. a letter. he had. his attorney, Martin: Gang; | write .and :send::Nov. 18." Gang’s | ‘tempts of ‘American musicians: and ‘composers to. halt runaway: production; (nor) attacked our. economic system or. the » ‘skill: of our -Tiomkin left. (Friday. (22) for Madrid: to confer with Samuel Bronston on: score he hascleffed ‘| tionably . .dominates: 7" thinking, however. re Ti see oF YR al ‘and now’ involve partnership. of Embassy. and Par’ on four pietures, “The ‘Carpetbaggers,’ oF “Zu “Two. of “Hollywood's | top paid. Ju,” “where. Love Has. Gone”. and ‘and most prolific film scorers, Di-mitri Tiomkin and: Miklos ‘Rozsa, have ‘responded. with alacrity andj. -| also some. acid; to recent. editorial’ 1: AFMusicians’ ‘Local: prexy. J ohn |: -Tranchitella. authored. in‘union’ s “Nevada Smith:” All: are to be distributed world-wide by Par except for “Zulu” :which Embassy will dis‘tribute’ in. the U.S. andCanada “with Par handling elsewhere.. Additionally, ‘Embassy is about to make: a filmization :of Polly Ad | ler's: “A House Is Not..a: Home,” |-which will.be filmed at: Paraniount, It has béen: reported, but not confirmed’ by Levine;. that Embassy ‘and Par are close to a deal where-. by:Paramount:might distribute this ‘picture overseas. Embassy also has on its schedule the making of a film based ‘on ‘Pearl Buck's. ‘Im‘perial ‘Woman” and this has been Paramount coproduction. No deal ': has. yet. been. made for the project, | planned..as a multi-million dollar. epic, ‘but: a pact with. Par is not. ruled ‘out ‘as one. of the possibilities... Sophia ‘ Lorenmays play” ‘the title: character, incideiitally. -. Paramount is now. involved” in ‘most of. Levine’s major’ projects, excluding those brought’. from‘ bilities of “Home” and “Woman,” it appears that: such a partnership will continue. Levine does note, | however, that he has had talks and. made. deals: with others in the © past and that. he is continuing to talk with. others on possible. future -coproduction. deals. . Par unqueshis “Present | Hetzel-Fineshriber Lead London Talk of Staffers. | Respecting Common Mart ‘London, Nov. 26. "Phe economic problenis. facing: | the various: European motion -pic| ture industries, with particular rei} Jation .to the development. of the Common’ ‘Market, were discussed | at a three-day. session in London.” of Motion Picture. _Assn, Chairman tt ‘was MPAA acting resident Ralp 1 At the meet, in addition to ‘Het 7 -zel wereMPEAs television: “depart-. | ment’; frontman Bill -Fineshriber, : -S. Frederick’. _Gronich | from. the: 1 Paris office, Leo: ‘Hochstetter, who : . covers the. “Mediterranean area: ‘from Rome,. Stephen Beers from Frankfurt’ and.-Roland ‘Thornton, who. helms the London operation. ‘The MPA ‘execs also: discussed 1 the. growing. British film crisis, _ 4} which has led to-a démand-i in some { quarters, for a Quota increase’ to 50%: .MPA. managers in the UK... are ‘being: ‘sounded for their views on. recent’ ‘developments and no firm policy. decisions have yet been JAF taken. After: its. London. sessions, the. entire. MPA contingent headed. for: ‘Paris..to attend the meetings: of |@) the. International Federation — ‘of | Film ‘Producers ‘Associations, start {I ing. off with the Administrative . NEW YORK 10036 HOLLYWOOD 90028 eg 154 W.-A6th Se. 6404 Sense Bid. | gHICAGO 60611. LONDON, S.W.1 “PARIS. . Michigan ™ : AY St. Jomes's Street 80 Ave. te Neuilly ROME 3. Piccadilly Via Sardegna 43° de Neal Ser Seine. Council meetings at the beginning’ -of the week and the General As sembly: at. the end of-the week. : Following the lead ‘taken by ‘he ‘late Erie Johnston. during his short term as: FIAP prexy, the -MPA: team is to take the initiative in-. }ai-making the International Federa. tion a more potent force ‘in trade: it ‘affairs, ‘not.only in relation to. |-control. of film: festivals, but also’ Aa. a number of other areas, abroad on ‘coproduction. or dis-:..tribufion deals.. With. the posst