Variety (Aug 1946)

•TABIETT'S' LONDON OVtlOB « St. Martln'a VltiHi, Xi%taljc'al> Bqldart INTERNATIOBfAL 23 U^. Fix Take Over Nip Market But Frozen Cm, Shrinking Yen, Hamper Tokyo, Aug. 13. One of the few foreign businesses allowed to establish itself in Japan because ruled essential to help in carrying on the occupation, U. S. pictures have cAptured about a third of the Nip market. It probably could take over twice that much. Film companies aren't permitted to take their distribution revenue out of the country and it's anybody's guess as to when the American dis- tribs can take out their coin. Hence earnings now are - strictly paper profits, Ony bad feature of this frozen rental revenue in Japan is that the Jap currency may be so. devalued before the . money can be remitted that ■ present paper profits may shrink to the vanishing point. De- spite this, U. S. film executives here look to a huge future market. It's estimated that if enough American films were- okayed for export, the potential Nip boxoffice for Yank pictures might go as high as 250 million yen in the next year, or about $17,000,000. Theoretically, American film companies would re- . ceive about half of this total ($8,- SOOiOOO). But if the present official yen rate is changed from 15 to 70 yen to the dollar, this would shrink to less than-$2,000,000. U. S. film odicials figure that the Jap market will be able to absorb 150 American pix in the year which started July 1. Trouble is that no- body knows exactly how many films will be approved by the military, only 24 having been okayed for dis- tribution up to Aug, 5, with 24 others tentatively approved. . So far competition for U. S, prod- uct has been almost nil. The Rus- sians have shown two films to small groups; the British one picture, while the Nip film industry is in the doldrums. U. S.-Backed Aussie Pic Runs Into Trouble With Indies Over High Terms Sydney, Aug. 13: Columbia's Aussie - made film "Smithy'' is reported likely to run afoul of the powerful Aussie indie exhibs' association unless Columbia execs here drop plans to ask 50% for general release of film. Film currently is spotted in the keys by Greater Union, but is being booked out of the key spots soon. Aussie exhibs association can't see any film at 50% rental, and will continue to taboo pictures quoted at that figure. They rate 40% as tops. Whether Columbia will set new rental figure remains to be seen. Nic Pery, who heads the Columbia here, is now ■ in U. S. for huddles ■with N. Y. officials. Decision on' "Smithy" likely will be finally reached in N. Y. It's not so long ago that Paramount ran into trouble with the exhibs' assn. on the price for "Going My Way," listed above the 50% mark. Matter was taken up with the Prices Commissioner but no nix ruling was made, Para- mount said "Way" would be with- drawn from Australia if rental dis- pute became overheated. Metro hit the high mark of rental disputes: with_ ''Gone With Wind" which still hasn't had a complete Aussie cover- age in the nabcs. . , Korda Gets Rialto, London London, Aug. 20. Alexander Korda has leased the Rialto theatre from A. J. CrOmbie, local arclJitect, and understood tOvbe paying $800 weekly on a long-term conlract. House, a 700-seater, was operated by Universal Pictures for some years.-. Then it was taken over by the late John Maxwell, More re- cently, it was operated by Albert Clavering and Lou Morris. Property is part of millionaire S. Wolfe's estate, which is now con- trolled by the Wolfe Trust. 500GHeldforU.S. Fihns in Austria ■. Vienna, Aug. 20. U. S. Army's ISB Films, operated by Information Services Branch, now holds ove» $500,000 in Austrian schillings for eventual distribution to American companies whose prod- uct's been released in Austria in tlie last year. Latest -releases include titles which, in opinion of local edu- cation officers, present a generally better view of American people and life than most of last year's exporta- tiohs. ■ Doing biggest business currently is "Going My Way." The Crosby- Fitzgerald opus pulled rave reviews and extended dates wherever shown but probably won't outgross-Deanna Durbin's "Started With Eve" and "Hundred Men and a Girl,;' which f.lill represent top b.o. here, "Kitty Foyle" has also done exceptionally well but reception to "Corn Is Green" was mixed and business only fair. Same applies to "So Proudly We^ Hailedi." "Fighting Lady," like other war numbers tried here, is an outright flop, with krauts definitely uninterested in seeing glori^fted fight- ing forces that blasted . their cities while they cowered in shelters. Next major release is old "Tales of " Manhattan," starring Boyer, Laughton, etc., set to be shown'soon for one of Vienna's first-run houses. Reisman to Europe On Production Setups Phil Reisman, RKO veepee in charge of foreign operations, shoves off for Europe Sept. 4. He goes to London first, but will visit Paris, Brus.sels, Rome and several other key European cities before return- ing to the U. S. Stated it's a routine business trip, but understood that he'll devote part of his time to the production setup of the company in England and the new producing ar- rangement in Paris. Reisman expeqts to be abroad about six weeks. Pay Boost for Irish Film Theatre Worlters Dublin, Aug. 20. •, Salaries of workers in picture .. theatres of Northern. Ireland will be upped by an average of 12>/4% as a result of a Conciliation Board agree- ment between the local Cinema Ex- hibitors' Assn. and worker unions. Increases become operative at once, but conditions of employment will remain unchanged from 1939 Standards for two more years, Manila Actress Asks Splice From Jap Mate Manila, Aug. 13. Sigrid Von Giese, one-time Ma- nila film actress, has filed divorce suit seeking annulment of her mar- riage to. Y. Abe, her Japanese hus- band, now .at ■N'agata, Japan:. -They were married here in 1942. Com- plaint charges Miss Von Giese was -fdreed to marry . Jap, then a. lie.uten- ant in the Jap propaganda corps. He threatened to arrest the actress' mother and three brpthefs for guer- 1 rilla activities, the divorce .allega- tion charges, if she did not- marry him. ,■ One of her brothers; Manly Von Giese, was arrested and executed, Miss Vori Giese claims. Couple has a tWo-year old child who is in cus-; tody of the defendant'is .mother. , ■,■ Garbo, Gishes Back to U.S. - Stockholm, Aug. 20. Greta Garbo, Lillian and Dorothy Gish, who came in from London by plane, are due to sail back to the U. S. on the Gripsholm. Latter were accompanied here by Miss Phyllis Moir, formerly secretary to Winston Churchill. The Gish sisters had been in Lon- don about three weeks before corn- tag here. Dublin Boys for U. S. Toiir Dublin, Aug. 20. ' Two boys heard by Boys' Town's Monsignor Edward Flanagan during ■ his recent visit, here, have been" booked as guest artists for eastern U. S, tour of the Boys' Town choir opening in September. They are Jimmy O'Neill and Harry McVeigh, both of the Clonard Church Choir, Belfast. Acceptance of the offer, • received through Columbia Concerts, N, Y., has been cabled and the boys leave for U. S. by 'lane next month after a BBC *"ce with the Cionard Cholv 2 Killed in French Crash Paris, Aug, 20. A motor car with five players touring the provinces on one night legit performances crashed near Grenoble, causing the death of Odetta Coeno, of the Odeon Com- pany and the chauffeur. Three others weer slightly injured. CUna Pix Coin Freeze Surprise Action of the Central Bank of China in refusing to permit U. S. distributors to take their rental coin out of China may result in all ma- jor companies refusing to service accounts there. This was learned in N.Y. this week, the Film Board »of Trade in China notifying the bank that all major distribs may withdraw servicing of accounts if coin remains frozen there. The Central Bank of China's ac- tion is viewed as directly repudiat- ing the pact made between the U.S. Government and Chinese Central Government whereby a substantial loan was granted the latter. Such action in refusing remittances is di- rectly in contrast to terms of this agreement, film officials said in N.Y, De Rochemont to Europe For MOT Distrib Survey Overseas* distribution for March of Time will be studied by Richard de Rochemont, short subject's pro- ducer, during the next three or four weeks while he is in Europe. He left N. Y. Sunday (25), making trip by plane. Besides his customary visit to Paris and London offices of company, de Rochement -plans visit- ing Germany and Czechoslovakia. He told Variett before leaving that he will attempt to size up the whole distribution picture for MOT, explaining that Europe has devel- oped into a real problem as to ex- actly what countries the short .sub- ject could be 'distributed in. MOT now goes into France, Switzerland, Belgium and, of course, Great Brit- ain. It handed over some prints to the Army for release in Germany, he said, but it's not known if these actually have been distributed. This, of course, means the MOT now has added German to the language spieled by the narrator. Also, while- in Europe, de Roche- mont will confer with 20th-Fox executives currently there as to new distribution angles. MOT is distributed by- 20th. De Rochemont will return, to N, Y. late in Septem- ber.-: Egberts Upped by Loew's Arthur Egberts, vet Loew's house manager and exploiteer, . named chief of theatre operations for Loew's International this week. Eg- berts will work under William Mel- niker, theatre department i chief, in his new job. Egberts, manager of Loew's Ohio theatre in Columbus at the time of his promotion, succeeds Ben Cohn, now with Universal. He'll assist Melniker in booking and other'non- administrative tasks for all Loew's International theatres.- Current London Shows 'London, Aug. 27. "Better Late," Garrick.' "Ballet Theatre," Go vent Garden. "Glutterbuck," Wyndham. "Crime & Punishment," New/ "Dear Murderer," Aldwych. "Fifty-Fifty," Strand. "First Gentleman," Savoy. "Follow the Girls," Majesty's. "Gang Show," Stoll. "Grand National Night," Apollo. "Guinea Pig," Criterion. "Here . Come the Boys," Saville. " "High Time," Palladium. "Honeymoon," York's. "No Room at IBM," Winter Garden. "Perchance to Dream," Hipp. "Pickup Girl," Wales. ^'Poltergeist,", Vaudevill,;. "Portrait in Black," Piccadilly. "Shop Sly Corner," St. Martins. "Soldier's Wife," Duchess. "Song of Norway," Palace. "Sweetheart Mine," Vic Palace. "Sweetest and Lowest," Ambass. "The Other Side," Comedy. "Under the Counter/' Phoenix. "While Sun Shines," Globe. "Windermere's Fan," Haymarket. "Winslow Boy," Lyric. "Worm's View," WhitehalL French Exhibs May Need More U. S. Pix Than mVofaffltaryMFA Quota $6,000 Mex Circiis Wreck Mexico City, Aug. 27. First train accident involving a circus in Mexico for ; many years proved costly for the Clrco Atayde, Mexican outfit. Flat car on which the show's prize elephant was being moved was derailed. Bull was so badly hurt that he had to be de- stroyed with a loss of $6,000. But the show goes on. Five Atayde brothers and one sister operate the circus, several also appearing in the show. U.S. Pix Bookings Boom in Mexico Mexico City, Aug. 20. Just how big the current boom in the film theatre business has become is revealed in figures obtained from government sources showing more than $3,000,000 revenue collected by the eight U. S: major companies during the first seven months this year. This comes, from 6,011 ' play- dates recorded in that period. This is the highest figure reached by the American . major distributors in a like period.; Metro leads the list with 1,484 bookings. Warner Bros, was second with 890 playdates but finished third in total revenue. RKO had 763 b6ok- ings which put it second in amount of coin. In actual bookings. Univer- sal has a close third with 810 but fourth in revenue, Amount of coin is what was left after deducting the 15% govern- ment tax on cinema admittances. Tax is paid daily. Exhibitors still have to. pay the wages of Treasury depart-, ment inspectors to look over their boxoffice receipts. They have lost several court fights to be relieved of this added drain on their revenue. Pons Gets Ovation In Rarefied Comeback Mexico City, Aug; 27. Lily Pons scored one of greatest ovations accorded any singer when she appeared in "Lucia" at the Pal- ace Fine Arts theatre here Aug. 24. She returned to play in this opera after an indisposition, caused by the high altitude of T,500 feet, had forced her cancellation of National Opera Company's original perform- ance. Miss 'Pons donated $4,000 ($20,000 Mex) she received from a local de- partment store for her radio broad- cast to a children's hospital ward. She denied any friction with* other members of the company which had been reported here. British Film Unit On So. American Location London, Aug. 20. Archer . Films' .unit planing to America for first stage of their itin- etary covering Paraguay and Brazil. It will. be away 14 weeks on location for- Michael Powell & Emeric Prefes- burger's picture "Green Days and Blue Days,". based on Desmond Holdridge's novel "The' End • of the starring in film are, Sabu and Bibi Ferreira, whorri. Derek Twist,-the di- rector, is credited as discoverer in Rio. '■ Company expects to be back in England jn December to do the en- terior shots in -PineWood Studios, which is expected'to take about three months. -., >.. •.' ".' ■ - Paris, Aug. 20. The Controle des Films (films ad« mittance board) has been instructed by the Information Ministry that it is not to bar pictures over two years old when they can be shown to have exceptional val.ue. This means that the board is to be broad minded and must permit American distribs to use their war backlog without quib- bling about administrative details. The instructions of the Ministry ex- plain that the Washington pact pro- vides for the unhampered distribu- tion here of American pictures ex- cept for the screen quota of lour weeks per quarter, kept open for French product. One reason for this impartial at- titude may be that the French are likely to be short of product unless more imports are screened than were considered indispensible when the anti-American feeling was fostered by local producers. Local film con- sumption is about 250 features an- nually. The French can produce about 60 and about 20 can be expected from foreign sources other than Ajner- can. This means that U.S. distribs would be . welcome to bring in about 50 pictures more than the 124 which the Motion Picture Assn. of America ' has laid down as a maximum per year. The long postponed decree, mak- ing operative the Washington film agreement, contains two noteworthy sections. One covers block book- ing, stating that no distrib can sell more than six pictures to any ex- hibitor during any half yearly period. The other prohibits class A theatres (first-run houses) from showing pictures that passed the censor more than a year before. This does not affect the American, backlog since' it has not yet been passed by the French censor^ Par's Nathan, Perkins, Kudosed at Luncheon, Take Off for Europe * John B. Nathan, Paramount's new managing director for Europe, left N. Y. for Paris yesterday (Tues.) to take over his neW post. J. E. Per- kins, recently made managing .di- rector for Great Britain, leaves for London today (Wed.). Latter fills the spot vacated by David Rose, who is due in N, Y. this week, having left London yesterday. Rose, who left Par to become an independent producer, is making the N. Y. trip to arrange final details of his pro- duction setup. He plans making two features annually but may ex- pand the program if he finds facili- ties are available. Both Perkins and Nathan were honored at a luncheon at the Astor hotel last week which was attended by top Paramount execs, including Barney Balaban, company prexy; George Weltner, Par International prexy; Adolph Zukor, chairman of the board; Paul Raibourn, and Y. Frank Freeman. : Perkins' trip to London is in the nature of a quick exploratory visit since he will return to N. Y. early next month, going back to England' with his family later. Nathan will spend a couple of weeks in Paris conferring. with Robert. Schless, who recently resigned as European chief. Then he goes direct to Buenos Aires, where he headquartered as Argen- tine boss, returning later to Paris with his family. Rose, Lawrence Due in N.Y. London, Aug. 27. David Rose, Paramount's recently resigned managing director in Great Britain and, now independent, producer, : leavds for N,' -Y. today (Tues.). Col. Jock Lawrence, who heads the J. Arthur Rank Organization publicity setup in U. S., is flying to N. Y., Sept, 1,. accompanied'by his wife. ■ ■■ ■" Rank Chain Plugs Only British Stars in Ireland Dublin, Aug 13. Eflorts to plug names of Briti.sh film players in Iraland are being in- tensified. Blow-up portraits of actors and actresses working With J.'Arthur Rank producing units in England are now being exhibited In cinemas of the Rank circuit, replacing U. S. players. Distribution of stills to news- papers also has been stepped up.. Mer's Wife' to Stage . Paris, Aug. 20. Reversing the usual stagerto- screen procedure. Marcel Pagnol, playwright and screen producer, is prepping his "Baker's Wife,"-picture for stage production in the fall. Raimu, cast for the lead,' is re- cuperating from a motor:, crash and: is expected to be well enough to resume acting.