Variety (May 1946)

•VABIETPS* LONDON OnTOK • Si. Martla'a Flare, TntfulMr Sahara Belgians' Fix Theatre Biz 20-25% Over Pre-War; U. S. Films Top Field Sullivan's Argentine Post William W, Sullivan was appoint- ed managing director for 20th-Fox ifi Argentina by. Murray Silverstone, 20th-Interhational p'rexy, last week. Sullivan had been manager in Mex- ico, and succeeds Sidney Horen, re- signed. Appointment was made on the rec- ommendation of Edward D. Cohen, company's supervisor, for South America, First hand account of terrific show ♦ business activity now in Belgium, and how American screen fare is {lie great favorite with Belgian, au- diences, was brought to N. Y.. last week by Joe van Cottom, secretary general of the Professional Assn. or Belgian Film Press. He is in N. Y. at request of the Belgian govern- Lent' to survey film conditions and learn . what makes the American crecn vehicle so much better than ny other in the world. - Van Cottom left for the Coast over the weekend to check on production methods, and talk to stars, producers and' directors.' While in Hollywood he will award "Oscars" to Clark 6able and Greer Garson, voted most popular among readers of Cine-Re- vue, of which he is editor, tic will also give "Oscars" to Veronica Lake and Thomas Mitchell, who were rated top actors by Belgian film critics. Belgium film theatre revenue is running 20-25% higher than it was before the war, he said. There are jbout 250 features imported into Belgium annually at. pressent, with 60-70?!. of theni American-made. Van Cottom stated that. Belgium prerers the open market, and is less harsh, than France and- Holland towards imports because not having much native production. He ex- plained that Belgian screen produc- tion was just getting started. There are no restrictions on tak- j "More than 40 companies," says lug coin out of Belgium, he said, ! H'« Commerce report, "are planning and that the number of imports j 10 produce Arabic pictures.in Egypt, depended largely on what the thc;i- Oilier companies have films which tries could handle. Only difficulty. ; have'not been exhibited, because.the ■ nd.a minor one, j list now- is- that -' loea '. cinejtias have no free booking there is a big backlog of American i time - Although some of these com- Sees Upbeat For Egyptian Films Washington, May 14. The Egyptian film industry is set for a terrific postwar expansion and for a drive to grab the bdxoffice lead in the entire Arabic-speaking world, ; Department of Commerce warns. Survey of the situatipn just released discloses that Egyptian- made pictures run well ahead of Hollywood's product in the theatres and that' production is hampered only by shortage of raw stock and lack of studio space. .'■'.' screen fare that piled up during the >var, aiid some of the lesser quality . Alms may find it difficult to'obtain bookings.' Belgian audiences prefer original Amcricaiirmadcs with titles . in French or Flemish. Bulk of thorn has French titles. Very lew of thorn )iave dubbed in dialogue. In the Flemish section of Belgium, eight panies. have ample finances, they, do not have trained personnel nor are Ihey well managed. "The admission prices oh first and subsequent runs at theatres showing Arabic films are double arid triple that charged for American films. In addition, <he copies of prints ex- ported bring fantastic prices, one film recently being sold at a price INTERNATIONAL IT Current London Shows London, May 14. "Arsenic * Old Lace," Strand. "Better Late," Garrick. Ballet Elysees, Adelpliia. "Can Can," Adelphi. "Oaet for Two," Lyric. . "Arsenic, Old Lace," Cambridge, "Fifty-Fifty." Strand. "Fine Feathers," Wales. "First Gentleman," Savoy. "Follow the Girls," Majesty's. "Frieda," Embassy. "Ganr Show," Stoll. "Guinea Pig," Criterion. . "Hasly Heart," Aldwych. "Here Come the Boys," Savllle. "High Time," Palladium. - : "Honeymoon," York's. . . "Lady . Edinburgh,". Playhouse. "Make It a Date,". Duchess. "Man About House," Piccadilly. "Merrle England," Princes. "Night and Music," Coliseum. "No Medals," Vaudeville. "No Room At Inn," Winter Garden. "Perchance to Dream," Hipp. "Private Lives," Apollo. "See How They . Bun"—"Sacred Flame." Comedy. "Shop. Sly Corner," St. Martins. . "Sleeping Beauty," Covent. "Song of Norway," Palace. "Sweetest and Lowest," Ambass. "Under the Counter," Phoenix. "While Sun Shines," Globe. "Wind Is Ninety," Apollo. "Windermere's Fan," Haymarket. "Worm's View," Whitehall. "Years Between," Wyndhams. out bt 10 features are American-I which excelled the total annual (nade films. Van Cottom explained that during the war. a Nazi company, .called Continental Films, made, some French productions using talent from France. SPAIN'S DUTIES ON PIX MAY BE EASED • Drive of American distributors to gel rid of the heavy, duties and ini- I port license-buying plan in Spain j currently shows some hope of reach- I . Ing a successful. conclusion. There ; was intimation this week that the'; Spanish govt, would make another j counter proposal. Campaign of U. S. distribs seeks ; tho -stoppage of the old permil sy earnings of one American distribu- tor operating the Middle. East. "All but seven theatres in Egypt are exhibiting Arabic flhms almost exclusively. The Egyptian industry lias the tacit backing of the League of Arab States, one of which has re- cently shown a tendency to. support ! the industry by requiring all the- atres to exhibit Arabic films at least ' one month each year." DAVIS AND S0ML0 ON ! TWO CITIES BOARD London. May 14. ! John Davis and Josef Somlo have : been named to the board of directors ■of Two Cities Films, Ltd., (Rank). ! Somlo. a British producer, will also primarily, and reduction of ] mi n ie pos t of assistant managing duties as .merely a secondary aim. j director of Two Cities and will work Under this arrangement, a, producer | « ilh ,Filippo del Giudice. managing in Spam gets a certain mimber ot ! director on production plans, •censes to show pictures. These ; Davfci ho)ds , op executive spot in then are sold to foreign companies.., Ran|{ . s theatre organization. Rumors' tcni mainly U. S. distributors. persist, meanwhile, that del Giudice ^ This adds to the expense of (lis- ; migh | exit the Rank fold because of Ir.buling in Spam,, and helps Hie .•continued arguments with his chief native producers to partly .finance about production policy. Del Giudice wants to continue turning put cul- ! lural pix. such as "Henry V." while ! Rank, wilh his eyes on the American; ' market, is in favor of ditching such .-product for films wilh a more uni- ' versa! appeal. the cost of each new production. New Printemps, Fresnay Play Looks Paris Hit Paris, May 14. Marcel Achard's flve-act play. "De Ma Blonde," opened big at Michod- iere theatre last week. Produced by Yvonne Printemps and.'.starring-her and Pierre Fresnay, it looms as like- ly screen material. ■ ■ Play is the saga of a Parisian family, with two lovers spotlighted. %'s told in reverse cavalcade sivlo. opening [ n 1939 with the golden | wedding and followed by sequences ; ; Plane Treks Loom As Aussie Legit Help Sydney, May 3. Cyril Richard and Madge Elliott reached here iii three days from London via the air route. The two are here for a short season for Wil- liamson-Tait in three Noel Coward • Tonight at 8:30" sketches. . They in 1920. 1918, 1900, winding tip wilh ' j' ell ' vn to London for the new au- » scene back in 1889 with Ihe'mai- . ll " MM *™ on - riage. Show contrasts the love ac- Richard' said lhal Hie air route cording to different eras. Its well ; from ; London to Australia would produced and nicely: acted. Clip Mex. Bull Fights Mexico City, May 6. : definitely boost the Icgil stage here , because artists were keen to .make ! the trip. He said that Laurence Oli- : vicr and Vivien Leigh were, thinking i seriously of flying to Aussie for a j season. - Two per week is the maximum for , - ■■ . . ... bull 'fights hero set by a presidential Loca -born actor was playing with decree. Government found that ton'■■' oh « Olelgud in "Importance of Be- many blood and sand shows harmed ! Earnest" in London Only a week general biz and drove too many a So. Williamson-Tail. Tiyoli loop, and Sir Ben Fuller are keen to have Bri- tish and U. S. talent come here via plane to help the Legit upbeat. citizens to the pawn broker. City's original bull ring has been Closed, leaving the big, new City ol Sports, the lone arena. Aussie Studio Buy-in By Rank-Rydge Unit Seen As Upbeat in Pix Prod. Sydney,. May 14. Reported here that Arthur J. Rank, in association with his Aussie co-partner Norman B. Rydge, ■ pres- ently completing a plan for major upbeat of production here. It was no secret here that hydge was going to huddle with Rank in London about boosting Aussie film produc- tion. But at one time the Greater Union topper was not so keen about breaking into the production field via his company's subsidiary, Cine- sound : Studios, until high grade equipment and financial aid from the Aussie government were made available. 'Purchase of Pagewood studio by Rank-Rydge just outside of Sydney this week means that a revival of production on a big scale may get under way next year. It went for about $60,000 but the studios will take some time for re-equipment. Pagewood has not been a success as a film studio. Owned by the Deni- son newspaper group, manufac- turers here financed the film "Fly- ing Doctor'' starring former U.S. star Charles Farrell. Picture never made any money. Columbia then had a shot with ''Rangle River," bring- ing out Victor Jory. This one was so-so. In recent years, the studio has been occupied by the Australian Army entertainment unit. Cinesound. under the management of Ken G. Hall, and the only studio here 16 make much of film produc- tion, will go over to the. Pagewood setup, including film processing lab- oratory and the weekly newsrecl. Aussie government likely will as- sist. Rank-Rydge on production up- beat down here. Agreement, due for signature in London, will probably mean the csit of any plan the Gov- ernment had for establishing a film industry in Canberra, seat of the federal government. Now reported that Prime Minister Cliirley and Foreign Minister Dr. E-vall will aid production upbeat since it means an assured outlet for labor. Understood also that special tax concessions, will be made to ex- pedite swift return to production. Algrant, Attas Off To Italy, Egypt for M-G Leon Algrant sailed for Italy last week to lake over as comptroller of the newly-formed Metro company in that country. He went on the Vul- cania. Algrant will work' with Ar- mando Massimelli. company's terri- torial manager for Italy. Algrant moves out of the homcoffico. where he prepared superimposed: title veiv sions of company/product. . Maccabi Alias, company's lGm representative, went on the same boat. He is going back to-Cairo to start the Metro 10m program rolling in Egypt and the Middle East. He had been in' N. Y. studying all phases ot l'Gm operations for the last three months. Russ Shadow, Crises, Monopoly Darken European Film Outlook Cohen on Coast . Wolfe Cohen, Warner Internation- al veepee, arrived on the Coast over the weekend from a three-month survey of the Far East. Cohen want- ed to check the entire'setup so that full-scale operations could be re- sumed early. Cohen huddles with Jack L. War- ner at the studio before coming back to his N. Y. office. Mono Execs like European Setup Expressing an optimism oyer for- eign distribution possibilities that runs counter to opinions held by most of the film . industry, Steve Broidy, president of Monogram, and Norton. V. Rilchey, president of Monogram International, said in an interview Monday (13) upon their return from Europe that they were looking forward to a 100% increase during the coming year in their overseas business. "Picture busi- ness in Europe; is terrific," Broidy said, "with everything : being screened except.. American films." While overseas,, the Monogram ex- ecutives negotiated distribution deals in eight European countries, includ- ing Czechoslovakia, Italy, Portugal, Belgium.. Holland, Sweden, Norway and Denmark. On the .question of joining up with the Motion Picture Export Assn., Broidy stated that Monogram knew what it could do by itself, and would like to investigate further the advan- tages of the MPEA. Monogram, how- ever, both executives declared, will cooperate in the global survey of in- dustry conditions to be undertaken soon by the Motion Picture Assn. In a move to strengthen their po- sition in England, Broidy and Ritchey extended their deal with Pathe, Ltd., due to expire in 1948, until 1954. Pathe. Ltd.. a Rank competitor, is owned by the Associated British Pic- tures Corp.. which operates a circuit of 500 theatres in England and owns several studios. In 1947, Broidy said, contingent upon studio space to be provided by Pathe, the King Bros, will produce a film in England star- ring Belita. Declaring that a "give- and-take" spirit was necessary, Broidy said that Pathe films suitable for America would be distributed through Mono facilities here. „ Nippon's Film and Radio Prod. Detailed to D.C. Washington, May 14. Two new film companies began production in Japan during March, latest report of General Douglas MacArthur discloses. "Newsreel coverage improved and two documentary shorts were re- leased dealing with topics of the day.'' report continues. "American feature -pictures were being shown in 13 cities. Of 50 theatre scripts and. synopses submitted during the month, not one was of the old Kabuki type and all dealt with problems or current Japan, reflect- ing the general effort to turn away from the past and face the realities ot Ihc present and future." Report adds that a unioh of mo- tion picture industry workers was organized in March on a nationwide basis. The radio workers union, an- other recent development, is already publishing its own trade paper. Comedie Francaise Ups Wages to Halt 'Walkout' Paris, May 2. Attempting to prevent the many resignations, announced by Comedie Francaise players, a new scale of payment has been made offical by decree. The Societaires, the full- fledged members of the company, are. to receive 300,000 francs,;yearly ($2,500) plus a bonus from 600 to .1.000 francs for each performance. Order was made" when several players bcyan to consider forming an opposition company which would have hurt the offical spot. Nathan D. Golden, chief of the Department of Commerce's film di- vision, declares that American pic- ture producers are going to have ex- tremely tough sailing in trying to crack the European market. Golden, recently returned from a survey of the .German scene, said three factors were militating against the restora- tion of Europe as a profitable outlet for Hollywood: the deepgoing and continent-wide social crisis, the tendency towards state monopoliza- tion,'and Russia's exclusive influ- ence over the eastern European area. In commenting upon the pro- jected loans to France and England, Golden denied that the Government was using the negotiations as a club with which to force countries to open their doors to American films or, other products. However, he' de- clared, the Dept. of Commerce and the State Dept. recognize the im- pact of films in disseminating Amer- ican culture and political policies, and both agencies are doing every- thing to protect film distributors in their efforts to penetrate Europe. Congress, too, is beginning to show awareness of the significance of .film exports in America's role as a world power . Despite initial hos- tility displayed towards appropria- tions for the. State Dept.'s overseas information. service. Golden de- clared that the Congressional mood was now veering in the other direc-. tion; But even the sum to be appro- priated for this purpose, he said, is dwarfed by what is needed and- by what either Russia or England are spending on self-advertisemeht. European Situation In a roundup .'description of the situation in the various countries, Golden said that in Germany, film distribution is taking place only in the American zone. In Italy, fear- ing a market glut, U. S. film pro- ducers were limiting themselves to' distribution of no . more than 18 films annually apiece. In the Neth- erlands, the immediate problem is to come to a satisfactory deal with the officially sponsored exhibitors ' organization, the Bioscop Bond, oh easing-up of rental terms. In speaking before the 59th semi- annual conference pf the Society, of Motion Picture Engineers last week, Golden said that Hollywood may expect serious competition from Russia in the film markets of Eu- rope, Asia, and perhaps in South America. Top picture technicians in Germany are receiving fancy offers from the Soviets to use their skills in Moscow, and Golden adds, "many of them will go willingly or un- ' willingly.". A substantial amount of technical equipment has. also been obtained - by the Russians. from those areas' of Europe under Soviet control. At UFA's Templehof studios and their new Bat»?lsberg Studios, both in Berlin, and at the Rosenhugel and Sievering studios of the Wcin Film Co., in Vienna, Golden said "the Russians left nothing but the knobs on the door." 'Sweetest & lowest' Looks London Legit's Hottest London, May 14. "Sweetest and Lowest," which opened May 9 at the Ambassadors, is the best in this scries of musical shows. It. was acclaimed by all crit- ics and< appears assured of a long run. "Can Can." which came into the Adelphi May 8. received mixed re- action, However, this costly operetta with Offenbach music should enjoy a nice run. Reputed to be the cost- liest production ever staged by^Jack Hyllon, show is said to have'cost $85,000. . "Gang Show," which started May 10 at the Stoll, is below West. End standard and unlikely to remain long. This is Ralph Reader's RAF show which toured for 12 weeks to capacity biz. Seek New Aussie Ballad Sydney, May .3. Ealing Studios is looking for an Aussie composer to. write a song for/- "Ovcrlander.i-." major opus directed here last year by Harry Watt, due for release this summer- over the Great- er Union circuit. Ealing is offering prize of $200 for the best musical number turned in by locals,' Song has, to be in keeping with film's outdoor theme.