Variety (May 1946)

18 i:\"TEnXATIO.\AL •VARIETY'S* LONDON OFFICE S(. Mxrllii'K rUf», TruCalfur tfcioar* Kurtz Finds Mounting Mexican Pix Costs Chasing Prods to H'wood or Arg. tneroasiiig expense of making pic- ♦ tint's In Mexico is driving producers 1 and ticlors to Hollywood or Argen- tina, according to Efrcm Kurtz. ; Mexican pix producers are complain- j ing thai a 111 in which cost $250,000: lo make five years ago, today costs: '$750,000: that increased union ac- | liyiLics un all fronts, with steadily i hiked salaries, were the cause. ' Perkins, Vcj-dayne j Leave for Far East I J. E. Perkins, Paramount Interna- \ lional managing director for the Orient, to Suit Francisco for the trip hpme. Paul Verdayne. company's, mana- ger in Singapore, hopped off for ; on his way to Singapore. Kurt/, .conductor of the Kansas . L ondon by plane over the weekend Cily Philharmonic., was in N, V. last ' week after three weeks in Mexico Cily as guest conductor of the Or- I qiicstra SinTonica. Kuiiz. whoj hadn't visited Mexico since '34. when '. he led the Ballet Russe. found a ureal improvement in Mexican music lilr. Mexico City seems three times ' as prosperous, is much larger, its women boiler dressed, its pockets open lo :;ll kinds of entertainment, j Improved economic conditions have • had llieir elTeet on the quality of symphonic music and at the box office. The wealthy Mexicans, says, are very cultural minded. Many Troubles For French Prod. French producers now face plenty t of trouble in turning out films ac- l', r . cording lo George Lucachevitch. French producer, who arrived last Current London Shows London, May 28. ".lisrnic A Old Lace," Strand. "Better Ule," Garrick. "Can Can." Adelphi. 'Tltly-Fifty," Strand, '•tine FcRtliei's," Walea. "first Gentleman," Savoy. "Follow Hie Girls," Majesty a. , ••Frieda," Embassy. "Gaiif Show," Stoll. "Guinea PI*." Criterion. "Hasty Heart," Aldwych. "Here Come the Boys," Saville. "Ilish Time," Palladium. "Honeymoon," York's. "Lady Edinburgh," Playhouse. "Make.It a Dale," Duchess. "Merrie ttigland," Princes. "Nijfht and Music." Coliseum. "No Medals." Vaudeville. "No Room Al inn." Winter Garden. ••Perchance lo Dream," Hipp. "Private Lives," Apollo. "Shop Sly Corner," St. Marling. "Son* of Norway," Palace. ."Sweetest and Lowest,"' Ambass. "The Kingmaker," St. James. "Under the Counter," Phoenix.; "While Sun Shines." Globe. "Wind Is Ninety," Apollo. "Windermere's Fan," Ilaymarkel. "Winslow Boy," Lyric. "Worm's View," Whitehall. Paris Preps for Summer Tourists With Legit Revue Houses Main Draw week in N'. Y. from Paris. ! All seven studios in France are Concert-going! since '34. has be come more democratic and simple. Kurtz added. The change has been j 0l . cupied but j t ukes almost twice as drastic, audiences switching to street : , , . ... . , dollu s. oven for evening concerls. I ong lo produce a picture loday as Even ihoiiKh weekend concerts start j" <"d pw-w»r because of the acute al 9 p.m.. most popular concerts are tho>t beginning at 11 a.m. Mexicans . hear and like modern American com- posers, like Copland and Schuiuaii. . says Kuris. with Gershwin being (he ■ iiiosi popular. Symphonic lop in Mexico Cily is : $2.50. similar lo U. S. Players aver- • age S150 inonlh. as against a N. Y. , symphonisl's $350-a-month average. | bul the Mex musican doubles his j $l."»0 by radio work. There, is a j dearth of good musicians, so that the players are busy. Most sym- phonisls must be citizens, which makes it lough for the outlandcr. although a few Spanish refugees have been ;aken into the union. Kurtz, whose salary was paid in pesos, said hr had no trouble gelling his money out of the country, al- though government permission had lo be granted for it. Kurtz, conduc- tor al Kansas City last three years, and leader of Ballet Russe (or nine years previous, is celebrating his 2. r uh aimi as conductor this year. Be fore going lo Mexico he made sc\ ( > al recordings with. Die N. Y. Phil'Miinonic-Symphony for Colum- bia., He'll conduct four times at N. Y.'s Lcwisohn Stadium this sum- mer. MG's 1st Postwar Foreign Sales Meet June 3, N.Y. Iceland Books 3 British Bands; Travel by Plane London, May 21. For the tlrst time in the history of .show biz, Iceland is booking big vaudeville names for concert lours. First to go over is Joe Daniels and his Hot Shots. He will be followed by Nat Gonella and his Georgians, and then Jack Wallace and his Em- bassy band. Companies will travel by plane. Arrangements were made by Harry Dawson, who was sent ahead by booker Gino Arbib. shortage of technical equipment and the poor health of many workers. I Several producers arc making lllnis j in Switzerland. Lucachevitch said. and the industry should turn out about 40 dims this year. Lncaehevilch came lo (lie U. S. lo . line up sludio space for an all- ,, . . „ ^ . (•„..„.„.„ . ■ ,., ,, . , , . ,, , Metros first postwar conference of American dim lhat he hopes to start \ v in January. His latest French re- . foreign managers is scheduled for lease. "Stormy Waters." will .be dis- ! the h.o. on June 3, when directors of iributed in Ihc U. S. by Metro,- His.' u Lalill American countries con- proposed American-made picture ' „ r . ... ,. will be directed by Jacques Becker. | ve, « e on for lu,dd,es 011 lhe Tilled "The Hawk." it will be turned .projected expansion of Loews In- Out on an indie production deal, with Metro probably gelling first call on its release in America. Lucachevitch is slated to remain on the Coast for two months before returning to France. He'll come back- to this lernalional throughout Sou Hi and Central America. Foreign reps, after a week of con- fabs with h.o. execs, will head for the Coast for another two weeks of 2 LONDON REVUES Yank Distribs Still Styuied by Denmark Over 30% Top Rental Copenhagen, May 17. 1 American dim companies in Den- mark are slill laying low because of ' the government's refusal lo okay American demands on new Holly- ; wood product. Denmark slill wants '. a 30'; maximum. Newspapers here claim that American films will soon be shown. Preben Philipsen, independent film buyer, has bought 16 Hollywood realities from Nat Wachsberger. of the U. S. Film Export Association. Deal covers pictures by Waller Wanger. Hal Roach, Sdl Lesser and others, many of them being oldies. U. S. distribs refuse to bring in new product at such a low maximum rental figure. Philipsen bought lhe pictures ai a fixed price. country in January with Becker to ' pai | 0VK wiln studio officials. Al Cul- ! begin casting the p.cture. ; vcr ei)y they ., 1 „| so K , yc tne „„ lo I 'forthcoming Metro product, llomc- ! office discussions are lo be given . ove/ lo familiarizing lhe S.A. reps nr>ai\irn PAI> Pill i u '' n recent innovations in dislribu- KLAUlfcU tUK r ALL : , lion and exploitation in the U. S.. for . . . ' use in their own territories. London, May 21. j ,, _ .. T ..,, ,. I N. Y. schedule includes confer- Emile Littler is getting ready for enccs witn A ,. |hul . M L his revue for the London Coliseum, with Bud Flanagan to be star comic. Flanagan, who planed lo New York this week, will take in some Broad- way shows to get ideas, and also will confer with his buddies. Olsen and Johnson. He will also look around for a leading ferome. and is reported especially interested in Cynda Glenn. Next Prince of Wales show will be staged by Val Parnell in association with Alfred and George Black, with Sid Field as star. Both shows will be Paris, May 21. Paris "is prepping In anticipation <.f the summer tourist trade. 'Henri Varna plans to produce a new 1 revue at the Casino de Park after "Charm, ing Paris" current there folds'. His revival of "No, No, Nanette" is a click at the Mogador. The. Foiies Bergere also is doing well. Bidding for transient trade and intending to dsn in on olVerings with well-known titles, several houses, such as the Sarah Bern- hardt and Clialelct, plan to turn rep by reviving old hits, playing thc:,t alternately. Louis Joiivct soon will produce the old Jules Romains com- edy. "Knock." playing it alternat. !y with the current Giraudoux, "Folic de Chaillol." Latter is play inc. lo rapacity. Bul the Verlaine will in.se Claude Dauphin in "Bal des l'..m- picrs" if ho goes to the U. S. lor a production in English of. "Iluis I'lo.-.'' by J. P. Sartre. Strangely cn'iiugh, Henry Bernstein, owner of the An.- bassadeurs. has not yet received ;lie necessary manager's license. ' Where' tourists will stay is an- other question. Hotels are jammed. But il is reported that food restric- tions will be winked Hi as lar as tourists are concerned. Nileries are not doing so well comparatively. Though aulli.nil.es finally have given lhe green light lo 5.000 taxis, now plying Ihoir trade, Paris lhealrcgoers have almost lost lhe midnight supper habit, which sen I them to clubs after the theatre. In most cases the bonlfaccs depend largely on dinner dances, beginning about 9 o'clock. Some feature en- tertainers but patrons mainly are interested in food. I Of course, this docs not apply to standard spots like Taharin, ! where the show still is lhe lliing. Bul Sandriiu and Duboul have their own worries. Can-Can girls are be- ' coming harder lo find, ami retain. Out of the present eight used, one is a Pole, aiiolher i.s an Austrian, little tion. The small amount of money ' Mona is only IS and most of them Mex ProA Faces Heavy 1 Trim Mexico City, May 28. | Long-expected clampdown on the > splurge in Mexican film production. ■ threatened for months, has arrived . full force with private banks turn- | ling a cold shoulder to many pro-. ! posed new pictures. Film producers 'admit thai it's .tougher lo gel coin . . for new production than at any time . they can remember. Private hanks i • which went overboard a few years' ago in providing financing coin have . been slowly souring- on Mexican film-making for months, but now it's virtually a stalemate. Those in the trade, familiar w'illi conditions, the world market for ; Mexican-made pictures and the way qualily has been running, have ex- : peeled this reaction for at least six i months. Net result is lhat instead : of 60 to 85 pictures, as had been ex- pected, the industry will .be for- lunale if it is able lo turn out half thai number of features this year. The flop of several films that cost plenty and failure of other produc- tions to measure up 10 Ihoir advance promi.se is back of the whole situa- prexy of. Loew's International: Sam N. ; Burger, regional director for S. A., land Richard Brenner, 'fsst. reitional director. In addition, Orton H. - Hicks will fill in lhe delegates on : the Kim program; Dave Blum will , huddle with them on international ad-publicity, and William Melniker (in foreign lliealre operations, i Foreign managers slated for the I trip include Elias Barberis. Chile? .Stuart Dunlap. Ai'KCiilina: Dean produced this fall wilh Robert Ncs- Ba,lkci - Colombia: Carlos E. Niebla. bill lo do both productions. Mexico: W. L. Simpson. Panama; - | Luis A. Sarmiehto. Peru:' Adolf Wallflsch. Uruguay: Eugene Coen, recently promoted lo Porto Rico from the Brilish West Indies: Carl Hcumann. recently moved lo Vene- zuela from Colombia, and Robert Schoham. who moved up lo Cuba from Porto Rico. obtained from, distribution by many of these features also has prevented producers from repaying big loans, amount owing to the banks being around $25,000,000 (Mex). Some conception of how this tough altitude towards producers has hit the film business can be gleaned from the fact lhat some producers, who had penciled in 24 i features for 1946. now think n max- , are marriage-minded. iniurri of five will be all they can turn out. British Lion Profits Off; Plan New Issue London, May 21. At the British Lion Film Corp. meeting oil May 20, presided over bv Hugh QuenneJI, lhe chairman, last years profits were reported lo be $237,972. or $64,000 Jess than last year. Higher operating costs arc blamed. Chairman also confirmed Thai the company has acquired 75'i con- trolling interest in Sound Cilv 'Films i. 1.Id: and has made arrange- ments with Herbert Wilcox. Leslie . Harliss. Edward Black and Anthony '■ Kimmins to produce .pictures. Sir ' Alexander Korda will contribute his quota ol films through London Film ; Productions. Ltd. Meeting agreed to the sugge.-ti'on of chairman and directors lo raise ad- ditional capital of $4,000,000 in new | shares for future activities. $4 (Mex) Ceiling For Mex City Film Theatres Mexico City, May 28. Civic fathers have put a $4 < Mex i . ceiling on first-rim cinemas here.' They made that plain when they fined Iwo deluxcrs. Ones Metropolitan and Palacio Chino. $1,000 (Mcxl a day- each ror charging $5 iMexi without their authorization. Fine was for ;.s long as lhe cinemas charged that ! price, highest ever charged by local cinemas. Javier Rojo Gome/., regent of the • Federal Di.-lricl. announced t li a I cinemas will bt- allowed lo charge S5 only when they have an "extra- ordinary" program. Fines impused upon the Metropolitan and Palacio Chino are the highest of their kind ever, levied here. Blackmarket in Music, Books Worries Austria Tli<» WiiiNlOtv Loiidon 11. M. *l','...i.'.it. I.til.. :....l 1,1)1..^. A I...M- .•ifri^i.) ill l,m .,1 ...e%r (.'...v n, . « .. l::iliix:<>>. I)i(v<-?".i 1,. lU^n Hoy May 24. i.ni., I.v T 11,-i.s ..v *r>".'i.iH l:y;i... Slciw. A. I honi.ir Wi.islow . .. VimI.-i .. I ;i«'.* Win,.low A rl It...' \\ int.lt,w . . . <';,) I.,*, in.. W i.t> low lli, I,.* U i.lhlotv. . . .loin. Wii i li.Tsi • ni,* Sir Kolo-.'l Aho't.i.i I ft mi. on,I . "urry . . . M is* I tit i np> I- Ili: "II lli-..lr.\ .\l.il.:i..| N.u . IsI l>l»'«-»< llf.iii- .\l:i.|^;t < '(•.,.iiio.i , I'Yn.k <V|li»-l' . . . . Ai.Krlfl i::.,|,|t.|f.y '■ l;ok Wt.lh.ic A l:i>.'. II' I!., lilt, i'ii>:. n ' .... Ifc..ly» W illci.i.M I Cllt'p. Mi..11,.li ; . . Mo..:. W:<*l.lio>jn>i' Ill'ion llli.<li..|; The theme of this play is some- ■ thing Broadway might fall for like a ' : ton of bricks, for Alexander Wooll- ' Vienna. Mav 14. coll celebrated it in one of his most ! A blackmarkel in book and music < ^'V 01 ?. &1 say! \ ", is S as ^' T/' la - w I publishing is flourishing in Austria. [ tt^S'Xl mainly ,„ the western /.ones. The of-1 advocate. Sid Edward Carson i ; . fie" lieial organ of the publishers guild ! wards Lord Carson Mo the courts in- blames lhe provincial authorities ! yolved the rulings of Sir Rufus PAR INT'L REPS REPORT UPPED LATIN-AM. BIZ Paramount International brought its representatives in Mexico. Peru, Cuba and Brazil lo N. Y. lust week ror talks and study of the corpora- tion's expanding world-wide opera- i lions under George Wellner, Par In- ternational prcx.v. All reported in- creased biz in their territories. For instance. Pedro Gormano, assistant general manager in Brazil, explained that Brazil's film theatre audience | has doubled in the last 10 years. He said the public sought new theatres ' there. I Cuba's biz is up 30% over 1945, : according to Americo Rosenberger, I general manager for that country. L. A. Constanline, Mexico manager for Par. reported a general 32'. hike in film business over a year ago. He said lhat five new"theatres are now building in Mexico City and four or five others are under construction elsewhere in the country. Osvaldo Urrulia, manager in Peru, said film biz was up 20% from 12 months ago. Robt. Wolff to N. Y. .London. May 28. Robert Wollf. rtKO'y. niai.'aging di- rector in Great Britain. hop> t,tt ny plane for the L\ S. Mav ;;) He will huddle v. itri {•':,.< ft.-. foreign ehiej. :.i,-t.fi,;i.i «• officials. :n N\ y. B0LLE IN N. Y. Otto W. Boli*. 20tri-Intff(!fet.or;»: MiperviMir for Awiii.'.i. y„, and South Africa. ai/;s«-i| .'•>' V la.s| week fio>u rif-adq-iar'.<■:• :;. fjy<J- ney. Australia. He is here for confab will, Mur- ray SilverMone, corfirmoy pif/.y. •a. th not watching the operation : closely enough. Revealed lhat the ocnipving powers (in Western A us-, iria. Americans. Brilish and French) gave permits to new firms, hut these pM'mils are not valid unless okayed by t.'.e Au.slrian authorities. A i.uge quantity of books and music has thus ber:ii published and is being distributed, bul qualily is bad. Isaacs, solicitor-general, and a-i ap- peal to lhe King through the ancient Petition of Right. And it was all because a voting naval cadet from the Roval Naval. College. Osborne. Isle of Wight 'where Queen Victoria lived i had been wrongfully accused or stealing a dollar from another boy's locker After iwo years his father saw his hoy s ease debated in the House ol s ease KuU. m ,ir.„.i. ■ ■ , Commons and the Admiralty npolo- .Vile on KlreetH ano in di ug.-iiii es is • gizing reported. ./m.Mlm.g uoLKud or iu : This was in 1908. Nearly 40 years K "' - ' li 1 '-.'! i - k'I a »iern. laler. Terence. Rattigan digs' it up : ■-.< ,i:g :/i it> inenibi-iy to !: e I p from 'musty records and newspaper • iaiiifj out ii.i ? ti.niy.!ti:uV.f\. Hies.- and uses il as a big slick lo , - s,t A ' n l>l i>„,.■ |,y ,-;,„( i^uiecl i,y Emly.) William* ai , "' Sailo,: /i, Hie legal grandee; Frank C'ellier »'« \r„ ti„ n ,t n ,^..\f. Y.i 7.;i. M..|. : Hie boy s rather; Angela Baddeley .»■'- /' <(/,'. "//k.(; „i,.i,p i,t,i, nr. il,/. | Kathleen Harrison and Madge Comp- >,!.%.u-a\ of Hit: y„irni im .ni,u\ ot >'"" "' ''"cclli'iit acting roles, it is far !ir'»n-it.i.t ^Mnt.f, li„,H-n H .Ui v '"'!" '-""Kfactory as a piece of play- * *•< '!,<■ Win.-.low hoy in his sliillv 7,' 'm. ai. i,r,ti:e|ioUj noi during .In leil I i J .*.<< his father that the -Admiralty has ordered his dismissal.' We see the consternation of the family and the ruthless grilling of the boy by par- ent and lawyer. These scenes are done wilh all Hi* author's skill in character, imd a per- fect balance of Ihc dramatic. At the end of this act the great legal brain, who has mercilessly bullied lhe boy, unbends to announce that he is inno- cent. This act runs 75 minnlc. The sequel is less satisfactory. Rat- tigan evidently ran short of material and has lo patch up the (oiuce of justice with roguish love allairs and his own native wit. The result is a great theme in a small play. The ■-«''.- rifice of money-, of sdfcial posilion and ot the elder son and daughters pros- pects seem a trifle in the scale. One if Raltigan really (hived into the terrific implications "f n >e case. These criticisms did nol worry th* audience, which cheered luslih-. LM'; spile ils faults, the play will no "<'""} have a run, and is flrst-clast ma!* 1 '•" ror filming. It is booked < 1 > "". three months. Sometime ago " v *" olY< red lo a leading British dim''■•■ni- pany, bul was turned down, bi'tt.