Variety (Mar 1945)

Wednesday, Marrh 91, 1941 'GWTW Still Tops With 9 Academy Awards But Bing s Pk Got 7 Oscars M«x. Governor Plaost 13c Ceiling on Cinemas Mexico City, March 8, j The two film theatres in- OaHaua City, capital of Oaxaca state, have j been forced to place a ceiling of 13a, OPA Threat of Ceiling Hollywood. March 20. When seven Academy awards were given to Paramount's ' "Goinft My Way." the score seemed impressive. Bui actually. "Gone-With the Wind" is the top citation-gatherer to date, having received nine. Close runners- up were "Mrs. Miniver." 7 Oscars: "How Green Was My Valley," 6. and "It Happened One Night." 5 awards. ■GWTW" drew the Thalberg Award, sot the nod fo.r Vivien Leigh as top. actress, earned the best sup- porlinK talent mark for Hattie Mc- Danicl. and included citations for di- rector Victor Fleming, writer Sidney Howard, art director Lyle Wheeler, film editors Hal Kern and- James Newcome. color cinemalographers Ernesl Haller and Ray Rennahan. ■'Mrs. Miniver"was recognized for production, the top acting of Greer. Garson. supporting acting of Teresa Wright, directing of. William Wyler. screonplaywriting of Arthur Wim- peris. George Fi'oeschel, James Hil- ton and Claudine West, camera work of Joseph Ruttenberg. Sidney Frank- lin got the Thalberg award for "Mrs. Miniver." as also for "Random Har- "How Green Was My Valley" drew the Academy awards for production, the best supporting actor recognition for Donald Crisp, and citations in their classifications for director John Ford, art directors Richard Day and Nathan Jinan, cinemalographer Ar- thur Miller, i n t e r i o r decorator Thomas Little. Production honors were given to •'It Happened One Night." and to the following connected with it: Clau- delle Colbert. Clark Gable, director Frank Cupra-. screenplay writer Rob- ert Riskin. "Going My Way" All the Way It was "Going My Way" for Para-r mount in. the 17th annual distribu- tion of awards by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts-'and Sciences,- held in Grauman's Chinese theatre with'a'houseful of Hollywood's aris- tocracy and a streetful of plebeians, 2.500 of whom perched in temporary bleachers across the way. Paramount led hi 11 classifications, chiefly, by virtue of its one outstanding picture; the 20lh.-Fox (ini.<hed,_sg£flnd. with a score of 10, largely-because of "Wil- son." In the main events, the Oscar Derby was a two-horse race, Bing Crosby, as top actor: Barry Fitzgerald as supporting Ihesp; Leo McCarey as director and original story writer: B. G. DeSylva for pro duct ion; Frank Butler and Frank Cavelt for the screenplay, and Jim my Van-Heusen and-J.oi)nny Burke for the "Swinging on a Star" song, nil scored through their participa- tion in "Going My Way." Par also got four other awards. Darryl F. Zanuck won the Irving Thalberg Memorial Award for the second time, chiefly because of his fortitude in bringing about l!ie pio- diicriCTT ul "'.'. V.U ' . i i.' —e.--i!>ffi . .' ill - r presentation, the aandidaies were introduced by sequences from pic- tures they had played or directed or. scripted or tuned, giving the show a distinct cinematic tang. Credit for the innovation belongs .to the late' Mark Sandrioh, who died before he could see . the results of his work. He was eulogized by John Crom- well, who functioned as master of ceremonies at the opening of the program. Following' Cromwell as emcee, Ed Gardner breezed in f rorn Duffy's Tavern and' told' the story of the two-headed baseball pitcher and in- troduced a short non-radio enter- tainment program.' The Andrews Sisters, warbled "Don't Fence Me In" and. "Rum and-Coca-Cola." and. Danny Kaye put. on a one-man show n song and double-talk, explaining how motion -pictures are produced in Russia. .Boffe Production . Financially the show was a sell- out, with' 2,024 dustomers iii the house and seats selling at $10. plus $2 Federal tax. In oases, where studios'bought blocks of seats, they paid $15 apiece, to. help defray the Academy's expenses. Deducted from the total lake were several-hundred tickets handed free to Derby candi- dates, press and distinguished guest-!: In. the shorts field, the one-reel award went to "Who's Who In Ani- mal Land,'' produced by Jerry.Fair- banks'for Paramount. Winning two- reeler was "I Won't' Play," pro- duced by Gordon Hollingshe'ad for Warners. "Mouse Trouble." made by Frederick Quimby for Metro, was on all admissions for every day in the Week, The first cinema aeiling of "its kind in Mexico, it was ordered by the. slate's governor. Result is that both houses are showing oldies, including some Mex- ican-made pictures produced in 1933. exhibitors claiming they can't afford Continued from page 1 to buy more expensive product."This - compares with $4 <Mex,i charged'at .^nevally regarded as an attempt at K city. regulation by a novice. Obviously presented no evldenoe to Justify his request.) VoUttle CrIUcUm Meantime, Bowies' naive statement that the prooedure of putting amuse- ment charges under price control would- be "comparatively simple/' stirred britiolsm from both- the lay preas and professional somoes. Film industry reps reiented what was t first-run theatres in Mexico N. Y. Dailies Blast Bowies' Pro the winning.cartoon. Documentary awards were won by Fighting Lady," a feature filmed by 20th-Fox and the U. S. Navy, and With the Marines at Tawara.". 9 short by the U.'S. Marine Corps. In cinematography, the.black-and- white prize.went to Joseph LaShelle for his lensing of "Laura" for 20th- Fox. In color, Leon Shamroy reg- istered again for 25th-Fox in "Wil- son," Best Effect* Metro's ''30 Seconds Over Tokyo" was voted best in., special effects, with photographic effects by Donald Jahraus, A. Arnold Gillespie, and Warren Newcombe, and sound ef- fects by Douglas Shearer. Best music score award for a dramatic or comedy production went to Max Sleiner for "Since You Went Away," produced by David O. Selz- nidk, Morris Stolon* and Carmen Dragon turned in the best score for a' musical feature, Columbia's "Cover Girl." V Cedric Gibbons and William Fer- rari were ' Osoared for black-and- white Bit direction in Metro's "Gas- - Violent . daily press opposition greeted the OPA proposal last week for a celling on theatre prices and film rentals. Most slashing.attacks on the Chester M. Bowles plan, sched- uled to be explained to the Senate Banking and Currency Committee in Washington yesterday (Tiies.l, ap- peared in the N.-Y. Daily'Mirror and N. Y. Daily Itews editorial columns. Jack Lait, editor of . the Mirror; wrote: "Hollywood has been the patsy for' every chiseling tax and restric- tive regulation' that the bright boys in Washington could conceive. "Though the industry has come through phenomenally. for evevy pa- triotic cause—money and morale—it has been harassed by anti-trust suits, adverse labor rulings, limitations on supply, irresponsible Congressional .investigations.' tremendous wartime Government demands., with no man- power, travel or shipping privileges. '. . ..- Gripes of almost every nature, some of them preposterous, many of them .well grounded, are' written to the editor of every large "metropoli- tan newspaper. This editor does not recall one squawk about theatre ad- mission prices. "Yet. Administrator Bowles feels the Bowlei proposal indicated a complete laok of knowledge of the ramifications of motion picture thea- tre scales in particular—scales based on prqduet which varies widely iii quality and cost: fluctuating values predicated on drawing power , of a. given vehicle or star in different parts of the country. It was pointed out also that 1941 could not fairly be used as a base year from which to compute price increases. In many, parte of the U. S. there had been, no increase in admissions for many years because of indifferent b>o. conditions prior to the war. In many'sectors prices have soarcely moved upward be- cause of shifting population trends. In those areas . where b.o. prices moved upward, operators pointed to greatly increased costs of operation owing to higher salaries because of shortage of manpower. Costs Dp All Over the Map Increased bost of film production since 1940, another factor in higher admission scales, had also, been ignored by Bowles. Production slow- down due to less experienced man- power and the big jump in both tal- ent and story costs were apparently of no-significance in the OPA plan. ■ ■, ■Any freeze on b;o. scales would imply a ceiling on story, talent and labor co,s*s. With prices for screen rights to plays suoh as "Voice of the Turtle." "Life With Father" and "•Dear Ruth" soaring to $450,000 and $800,000 plus 1 profit-participation, a freeze on scales would . also imply. over pre-war - and that Technicolor production! oannot be made for much less than $2,000,000 as com- pared with around $1,000,000 five years ago. He also believes that la- bor will not be paid less after the war. Goldwyn stated that U. S. film In- dustry should support J. Arthur Rank's idea of promoting Interna* lional goodwill through exhibition pi British pictures in America but. stressed that British films must have an international flavor. He also told a press, group that ' U.. S. exhibs would be glad to show British pic* lures when they have the same «o« lertainment Values* as American product. He noted that not all U. Si pictures '•■ are offered for exhibition: abroad. 0 Goldwyn foresees shortening runs inn'Ormal .times and smaller back* logs of features due to the raw film ., and other stringencies: He revealed no details of his secret mission over- seas following hjs report to Leo Crowley, head of the. Foreign Eco- nomic Administration. Goldwyn denied the report. In circulation during the' past two months both in New York and Lon- don. that he's planning his own dis- tribution organization. He stated that he was satisfied with RKO. He Is scheduled to start production of "Kid From Brooklyn, next Danny Kaye starrer, in May. that he should get his clumsy hand i P l lce control of story properties'. Stellar names have also ' Jumped | 100% to 200% in value. into this finely adjusted, intricate and intensively specialized combina- tion of ail and industry so that it can be dislocated and disjointed." N. Y. New* "Brushoff". N. Y, Daily News\ under editorial Most of the increases in. film pro- duction and subsequently b.o. scales, are based oh' costs of operation and production, where no rollback is re- ii, .s, ■ A>f on j nvn>i| iiuuti (miivi iai . , . ■■■ heading, 'Bowles Grabs for More! * arded . as feasible ^either currently Power." staled: "Chester Bowles, chief of the OPA. has been overcome with the Washington itch for power to the extent of asking Congress to give him authority to put ceilings on i - . —, ----- admission charges to movie theatres. !f e , neral P rlce avel »ge In other Indus or for some time after the war, 1941 a Below-Par Year It is pointed. out. also, that many theatres .were operating at low scales legitimate theatres and other places of amusement. "Senator .Robert F: Wagner, chair- man of the Seriate Banking Com- mittee, says the committee up to now is cool toward the Bowles" proposal. .' tries. Even at current scales, it is pointed out by production and' distribution heads, many a top film whioh in for- mer years would have been road- shown at $2.20 Is now being released DC Cool lo Bowie*' Idea* . Washington, March 10. - Washington only has a \\% In- crease in film, admission prices,' so OPA Administrator Chester Bowles couldn't have based his plea for a ceiling On admissions no Hie box- office in this\ jurisdiction. .Ki some of the larger cities admission prides have, gone sky-high, an Increase oi 38';-. : according to the OPA survey. Senators and representatives were cold to the plan that there be a roof on admissions, and with a tendency to restrict any more regulation oh prices it looks from here as though OPA Administrator Bowles, will be coolly turned down. ' Bob O'Donnell's Protest Dallas, March 20. R. J. O'Donnell, v.p. and gejieral manager for Interstate and Texas; Consolidated Theatres, stales that prices have been sustained at pres- ent levels for 12 seasons. The only changes have been a few cents ad- dition or decrease to permit simpler handling of the changing -amuse- ment taxes. Some prices .were 27c admission and 3c tax before the federal rata was increased to 20%., Then the prices were changed to 29c admis- sion and 8c tax to arrive at a 88o We should hope so. The best thing light:" Wiard lhnen di^'w the .nod Congress could do about this, we for art direction on color film in think.- would be to give it the com- 'Wilson." Jntei-ior decoration awards i P |pte fiee/eout went to Edwin B. Willis and Paul I "Stage shows and movies are not at standBrd jP rices, despite the higher | tol!l i Top downtown prices were cost of production. Also to be taken into consideration are cases where film companies have completely revised production policy terprkse. The award for the first time was made by Irving Thalberg's widow. Norma Shearer, a well re- ceived touch of. sentiment. Distaff Toppers Ingrid Bergman was Oscared as outstanding feminine player for her performance in "Gaslight," a Metro picture whioh also registered in art direction and set decoration. Ethel Barr'yjriore.' currently in New York, was acclaimed best-supporting act- ress for her-work in the RKO pro- duction. "None But the Lonely Heart." In her absence..the statuette was accepted by Charles W. Koeiv ner, RKO executive producer. Little Margaret O'Brien, who had to be hoisted up to the microphone by Bob Hope, was awarded an Os- carette as the outstanding moppet of 1944. It was the second Oscar Derby without a feedbag and a livelier show than the one last year. There were no ' long orations . and Bob Hope, as emcee of the .second section of the program, accentuated the lev- ity lather than the solemnity of the occasion and kept flic show running in high gear for a solid hour. It was broadcast, nationwide, over the Blue Network, by long odds the best job ever done by: the ether boys on an Academy blowout. Hope got away to a flying, start when he was pro- claimed an Academician for the rest ©f his natural lire. Future Blueprint The format for this year's pro- gram is likely to be used in future years. Befitting a film industry ex- hibition, it made use of films for the Urst time. As a buildup for 'each Huldschinsky in "Gaslight," 'filyll.o!,' L'il 1 .hrhT- lv '.Vrteor.:'--- I d 'necessities, like food and clothing; I In 1941 '20th-Fox spent $18,000,000 on ""■heaties will use nn mnjeHght. heat! Production. Budget is now around sustained at pre-war levels. Selaaich'i Fourth Hollywood. March 20. Winning of a fern me Oscar by In- grid Bergman made a total of four in six years for the David O. Selz- nick stable. Others, were Vivien Leigh. 1939, Joan Fontaine, 1941, and Jennifer Jones, 1948. Meanwhile RKO is pointing with pride to its forthepming four-Oscar picture. "The Bells of -St. Mary's" with Bing Crosby, Ingrid Bergman and Leo McCarey, a double winner. May Soon Step Out; 900 Deals Set for Tomorrow' With George J. Schaefev stepping in as board chairman in charge of worldwide sates operations, Bcrtiic Kreisler, general manager Tor Lester Cowan Productions, may step out of that spof shortly. His contract, offi- cially; terminating in June, may be adjusted. ' -Schaefer, meantime, has okayed some 900 contracts on ''Tomorrow the World;" which now looks like n $1,700,000 grosser . in the domestic market. Film may still-be tied in. with "G.I. Joe" in some spots when fuel if the tickets cost $7 than if they ciWt 5^.50. "To keep these prices under OPA control will not slave off inflation or help to do so. Bowles' proposal goes against what has always seemed to us the sensible view of the matter; namely, that prices of luxuries in wartime should be uncontrolled. . . ." 45c ' with 5c tax until the new federal tax when they lowered to 41c with 9c tax. O'Donnell declared that most night club coyer charges have been Distribs Distraught At OPA Rental Hike Claim Los Angeles. March 20. ' Distribution heads in the. film in- dustry are doing a burn over the charges made by. Chester Bowles. OPA administrator, that higher film rentals have'-.been'.one. of the caiu-es rif boosted admission prices in .motion' picture houses. It is evi- dent, they claim, that the OPA has not made a serious investigation iiilo the; returns collected by distributors in .-idling product during recent years. '■ ■Distribs admit drawing higher returns oil percentage deals because of upperl admission prices, hut de- clare Unit percentage terms to the exhib.s have not been increased to any appreciable extent. .While most theatres . have hoisted admission rales "-they, are paying the same, or less, oh flat rentals as they did be- the latter production is ready for Tore the, war boom, while the clis- release, but this move has net yet trios, are not gelling any of the been decided on. Schaefer .is due on the Coast this week for-; huddles with Cowan on sales and exploitation plans for "To- morrow." extra box office coin. In only a few instances, they assert, have cxhibs : paid higher flat rentals while keeping their admission scales down to pre-inflation levels. Reaction to Bowles' computation j motion pictures at $L20 roadshow that theatre scales had ^advanced ■ prices would be effected by a price 38.5% since 1941 also brought sharp '■ ceiling. "We have always resisted rebuttals. the roadshow picture." O'Donnell While, in some cases, it is .believed "i* 1 - " bl " have been required to that prices have advanced approxi- i P'ay several if our key towns were mately 25°', (including taxi, this is t° * e e them within a reasonable by no means, a uniform, increase : time: We always prefer lo show all throughout the industry. According ! pictures at regular boxoffice prices, to the Motion Picture Producers & | A ceiling that would top roadshow Distributors of America, the average .exhibition of motion pictures would price is now around 27c as compared j " ol ue unwelcome to us." with 24c in 1941, an increase, of ' . ~ —■ — ——■ around 10%. Exhibitors, despite the theoretical advantages of a ceiling on rentals, opposed the OPA. proposal since many of the subseqlients, buying on a flat rental basis, have .benefited under current conditions. Both ex- hibs and distributors.' also, prefer flexible trading practices to any fixed price—even if valuation of product were possible. Samuel Goldwyn, on return to N. Y. from England, last week took issue with Chester Bowles, of the OPA, on proposed price ceiling on theatre admissions and .film rentals; staling that it is uniikely that Con- gress would lake action until a thorough, investigation is -made Goldwyn pointed out that-the screen rights to "Dead End," which cost $165,000. would not be worth $500,-, ever> tllat " SU ch a reckless and lrre- 000:. that "Whoopie," which--cost- $1.--1 sponsible' statement," coming from a 000,000 to produce, would now cost high Government official, gets the MPTOA Prez Kuykendall Brands OPA's'Estimate As'Itre^nsible'Bdly Ed L. Kuykendall, president of the Motion Picture Theatre pwriers of America, yesterday. (Tues.) branded OPA estimate of a. 88.9% increase in b.o. scales since 1941 as "arbitrary and without foundation." Kuyken- dall staled that no'body really knows, how much admission- prices have risen since 1941 because, at that time, the 10-15 .'and" .20c ; picture hjbuses i-'were-not even' reported to the Treas- ury Dept. As a result, admission tax collections can-give no indication, of- what the average admission was. MPTOA prexy pointed out. how- three or four times as much. These are two pix Goldwyn made years ago.' He .stated that film production cosls are up about 100% or more ' ists." widest publicity and certainly has a malicious effect ' upon the public's opinion of our industry. We are all branded as profiteers and gyp. artr