Variety (Dec 1946)

WeOnesday, December 4, 1946 PICTinlBS TECHNISIME HITS FOREIGN B. 0. Better Playdates for British Pix in U. S. Best Antidote to English Quota Law Best possible replacement for tlie- Briti'sli QiKita law, as outlined to British legislator and film execs by Eric Johnston. Motion Picture Assn. nrexy, i« a method of getting better distriliulioii for British pix in the U s accordins to Gerald Mayer, cliiel'oL tlie MP.\ foreign division. Crux oC tlie inuttEr, Johnston con-; ceded, is that the British don't, like to see so much . exchange currency flowing out of England. Wider dis- tribution of tlu'ir pix here will give "then^ an opportunity to get returns lor the motley American Alms take ,;olit-of England: . : , - Prior to 'Johnston's , arrival in EnSlaud. Mayer said, the British, were not fnlly aware of the Ameri- can side Of the question. Johaston told them, however, that Americans weleonie free enterprise, and that if they reenacted the present quota ]a# lipon its expiration in March, 1948, there would be no guarantee against tlie new .Republican Congress passing restrieiive laws against the importation of other British prod- iicts into this country. ' ■ If the Britisli can produce good pictures, Johnston told them, then there is good reason to believe that wider distrilHition in the U. S. will be the solution to the problem. Steps ill that direction, however,, must be worked out by the prexies of (Continued on page 21) SEPT., '46, REVEALED AS RECORD B.O. MONTH Washington, Dec. 3. September was the alltime record month at the nation's boxoffices, ac- cording to figures released over the weekend by the Bureau of Internal Revenue. Uncle Sam's take during the big bonanza month was a dizKy $48,597,- 428, more hail $6,000,000 above the previous hjgli—the $42,389,371 figure for September, 1945. The September total was a .sensational $10,000,000 better than tlie excise tax bite for August, 1946, no slouch of a month ill itself. About 90% of the total is figured to come froni picture tlieatres, al- though sports played a big part. Be-, suit is that a $2,000,000,000 show business year now seems more likely than ever. . For the first nine montlis of 1946. the tax collection on admissions was a boit $343,610,954, compared With $284,702,860 for the same period Of 1945, the previous record year. Broadway rode the record-break- ing trend. Adiiiis.sions taxes for the 3rd New York Revenue District—all of Manhattan above 23rd street- was an unprecedented $7,586,270, Winch was $3,400,000 above Septem- ber, 1945, and $2,500,000 fatter than for August, 1946. In addition. Uncle Sam picked up another $34,863 in ta.v money from' tlie Broadway ticket ofliees. : ■ Not included in aily of-these N. Y. totals was a reflection of the fine business' done by Manhattan's night . spots. The 20% bite on nitery tabs hit $663,189 for September, nearly $250,000 better than the previous month and about $55,000 more than Septembei', 1945. Wliile the night- club take is very good, ft is not a record. • Unknown for 'Valentino* With George Bruce's "Valentino" Script about finished, producer Ed- ward Small is holding four unknowns ,tr-three of them foreigners—under wrap.? as potential players for the title role. Two of tlie candidates are tatiii Americans, one is French and tU? fourth a Los Angeles native. Picture, for United Artists re- lease, i.s slated to go into production Ht.^l'ebruary. One of the Latin Americans con- sidered for the role is Hugo del *-avril, j^j[-gentine vocalist and film ?iar, now in Buenos Aires for fllm- «ig of "La Cumparsita." Ofl:er, Jiade through Melville ShaUer, is loi- $100,000 for 12 weeks, With an Oftiou for additional pix. Jim Cain frovn H« It Abl* to ''Raise Some. Caiit" By THIODORC MATT in whtoh k* diteussat fht much ditcHuad AAA •n tditorlol fcMur* «f 41stt A nniversary Number French Antipathy To U. S. Film Biz Stirred By Commies—Mayer Complaints by French producers against the-Leon Blum quota act are gradually subsiding, according to Gerald Mayer, chief of the foreign division of the Motion Picture Assn. of America. Just returned from a trip to England and France in com- pany with MPA prexy Eric Johns- ton, Mayer- said the French produ- cers had evidently, discovered they were getting plenty of plaj'ing time for their own product and have de- cided to get back to work and not worry too much about a problem that doesn't exist. Most of the complaints against the pact Avere stirred up by the Com- munist press in France, according to Mayer. Communists, he claimed, de- liberately distorted the facts by re- porting that terins of tlie pact meant the French were to be cut off com- pletely from their own screens nine weeks out of every 13. What the pact actually says, he pointed out, is that French producers are to be guaranteed four weeks playing time out ot each 13, With all product com- peting for the other nine weeks. Communist 'I attacks against the U. S. film industry are still going on, Mayer said.- They were e.^ipe- cially abusive, he added, when they learned that Johnston was to visit France,, carrying on a severe attack against him; SEC REVEALS U'S DEALS WITH WORK, GOMERSALL Philadelphia, Dec. 3 Universal filed a post-effective amendment with the. Securities .& Exchange Commission which re veals the arraiigenient betvVee.ii two of its top executives,.Ciift Work and E, T. Goniersall, Deal with Work, a.s producer and in charge, of distribution in an ad- visory and. consultative Capacity says, "Work .shall receive compen- satibir based on the consolidated 'fi^t profits.ot Universal which he would have been entitled in respect to the, fiscal years of 1946-1947. He shall also receive .$50.()00. for the, calehdar year.? of 1949-1952 inclusive;" Gomersall., who'.s on the board of directors, gets $1,000 weekly and warrants on Universal-International stock. ■ ■ SEC registration was . filed W'ith merger of Universal .with Interna- lionill Pictures. C.'. - Ai imim , , At the short end of the stick be- cause of the continued Technicolor plant walkout,' Ajtierican film com- panies have already suffered losses in foreign revenues variously esti- mated from $3,000,000 to $5,000,000. With failure in delivery of tinted prints to the majors in the past eight weeks adding on to a pre-exisiiiig time lag. niimber of the companies are currently complaining of an 18- month delay in releasing schedules of Techni-^films in the foreign mar- ket. Damage to profits has been particularly heavy .in Latiii America, indiustry biggies say; because backldK of other pix. has not accumulated there as in Europe. . Pile-up; of chrohies for the majors is figured at .some, 24 .for the ma.jors; Blow because of tliis is particularly hard,: film execs .say,' because the tinters. have always exercised the strongest b.o.. pull in foreign thea- tres. Generally spectacular, costly productions which find no competi- tion from sources other than Hoily- wbod, overseas,revenues have meant some 40% of the entire take of tlie.'^e pix and that's been almost entirely missing for the past few months. , Initial lag, caused by limited ca- pacity of the Technicolor plant dur- ing war days, was aggravated by the fact that foreign Versions were com- pleted by the studios considerably later than the original domestic film. (Continued on page 21) KLINE, LEVIN COMPLETE FIRST PALESTINE FILM Jerusalem, Nov. 21. Palestine's first' featiu-e film, "My Father's .House," has beeui completed and sent to America for cutting and editing. Production, which began in February, has taken twice as toiiff as it .should, due in part to curfew restrictions and the need for train- ing local actor.^ and actresses. One scene was shot on the Dead Sea. To male? a "composite" settlement, producers took scenes in over 15 Jewish villages. Meyer Levin, writer of "House" !jnd joint pro- ducer with Herbert Kline, who re- turned to U. S. A., said the coop- eration of the settlements was won- derful. . Telling the story of a child refugee so obsessed with the search for liis parents that he becomes a psychological c|fe, the pic covers the whole of Palestine. Star is a 13-year-old Jerusalem schoolboy. Ronny Cohen, wlio was chosen after hundreds of children had been seen and interviewed in schools. Floyd Crosby. American camcruman, and David Scott, Metro .■iound engineer, had aid,of a number of Palestinian technicians on the pic. Must Educate Pnkhc'Pix Best Bay. Despite Upped Prices-A. J. Balaban Harry M. Warner dttaili Kow • "Ambition Huns Its Course'* . on iediterlol faoTurc of 41 si Anniversary^ Number Wanger's'Canyon'Add Hellinger's'Killers'Top 2 Universal €ros$ers Top grosser in Universal's modern history is Walter Wanger's "Canyon Passage" which in 18 weeks has- al- ready surged well above the ,$2,000.- 000 mark in rentals. With continued strong returns from second and sub- sequent-run houses, pic bids fair to fatten U's coffers by some $3,000,000 to $3,500,000 domestically before its first half-year has ticked off. U now figures "Canyon" should be good for $5,000,000 on a worldwide basis. Runner-up in the 1946-47 season,' and possible second all-time high, is another currently distributed film, "The Killersi" Mark HeHinger's epi- tome on gangster warfare. Film has grossed some $975,000 nationally in (Continued on page 20) METRO SEEKS GARFIELD FOR LANA'S 'COQUEHE' Hollywood, Dec. 3. Metro is pitching for John Gar- field to co-star with Lana Turner next year in remake of "Coquette." Pair made "Postman Always Rings Tw ice" for boxaf flee bellringer. "Coquette" was released by United Artists in 1929. Garfield would do film immedi- ately after finishing "Burning Jour- ney" for Enterprise. Hope's Teepee Party Hollywood, Dec. 3. "The Paleface" will follow "Road to Rio" on Bob Hope's slate.at -Para- mount. . ! Comedian will start in latter in late spring, with Robert Weleh pro- ducing. National Boxoffice Survey Thanksgiving Week Ups Biz—'Undercurrent,"Skie«,' 'Margie,' 'Deception/ 'Mast' the Big Five Joe Breen Recupes Hollywood. Dec. 3. Joseph I. Breen, hospitalised for two months because Of Wiajdr surgery, is up and aroUnd again. Understood he will resume his chores this week as Code adminis- trator for tlie Assn. of Motion iPic- ture Producers.; Exhibitors are^ happy this~.session, brownouts, coal strike and cold ,Weather to; the contrary, because Thanksgiving Day. and lipliday v,;eek- end crowds boomed trade. New box- office champion is '^Undercurrent" ,(:M-Gr), ,the,'itre patrons going to see Robert ■Taylor back on the ■ Screen teamed with Katharine .Hepburn. Metro eiitry teed off during xveek in 14 keys and .,18. theatres! covered by Not far behind is "Blue Skies" (Par.), proving as smash where opened as it is ..currently at N. Y. Paramount. Irving Berlin - Binsi Crosby opus is sock in St. Louis,. big in Detroit, wham in Boston, leading San' Francisco, terrific in'Philadel- phia to pace city arid smash'in Seat- tle. It's gre.nt $90,001) in seventh week in n; y. Others in the B|Ig Five are "Alargie" (20t'h), "Deception" (WB) ■ aiid "Two Years Before iMiist" iVnxl. each of five doing $200,000. or better in Icey spots. ■ Others in the first 12, rated in or- der ot monev obtained, are "Jolson Story" (Col>. "Ray.or's Edge" (20th». "Dark Mirror" (U), "Never Say Goodbye" tWB), "Nocturne'' tKKO;, , With' .custoroers of both first, run and riabe theatres squawking about upped admission prices, and run-of- the-mill exhibs complaining about the present high terms for pictures, it's time, for the industry to launch a concerted institutional adverti.sing campaign to explain why such prices are necessars', according to A. J. Balaban, general manager of the Rosy. N. Y. Campaign should em- phasize thefact, he thinks, that pic- tures still offer ,the faes't entertain-, nient buy for the money. Balaban cited the case of a New York ipabdriver as typical of the' way the avCra.c;e. theatre patron thinks on the subject. Cabbie recog- nized him in front of the Roxj*..and a.sked jBalabpn. "When are the price of niovics coming down?.'': ' "Priceswill come down," :BaU ban answered, "as .Soon as wo find it possible to build a new theatre or turn out a picture for less than the $700,000 to $7,000,000 it presently costs, or when we can oiierale a theatre for less than the $1,000 to $60,000-$70,000 it now coKt.s." Tlie Roxy manager pointed out to the cabbie that any sides'reet saloon now charges from 30-80c for a sin- gle shot of liquor, that' the corner drugstore gets 2Sc for the same soda (Continued on page 20 > COLOMBIA PICS' FANCY EARNINGS IMPRESSIVE Although Columbit' Pictures bene- fited by the elimination of the ex- cess profits tax in only; the last half ( its fiscal year, since this ended last June 30, financial observers not only were impressed by the virtual doubling of gross earning.s, but by the addition of .$3,500,000 to the working capital via a recapitaliza- tion plan dming the year. Columbia showed an increase of $4,100,000 in working capital, rising to $25,600,Q00« Net income rose io $8,500,000 as against .$1,900,000 a year ago, amounting to $5.25 per common share as against $2.iJi; a year ago. Columbia looked after common shareholders during the year via a 50% stock dividend, a cash divvy ot 50c. per share and a 2%% stock dividend. The recap.pl?n carriei. out resulted in the $2.75 .preferred being called in and replaiied by $'' 25 preference issue. ■ "No Leave" (M-G) and .''Nobody Lives Forever" (WB). Surprisingly strong, coiisidering the small emphasis placed on it, is "Nocturne" which will better $100,- 000 in the si-K cities. After opening big in Atlanta and several other southern keys; "Song of South" (RKO) is measuring up to fondest hopes in N. Y. where it may break the Palace record opening week if it tops $52,000. ''Edge" i.s doing $106.000or over to beat its opening week's all-time, all-theatre high: at the Roxy, N. Y.. second week. ■ Among new entries, ''Wake "Up and Dream'' (20lh) shows some promijiej with Over. $60^000 done in L,A. opening week. "Best Years of Lives'' (RKO), getting around $62,- 000 for second week at N. Y. Astor. obviously is sUfl'ering from being too iohgthy. "Notorious Gentteroan" (U» fcon- tinues nicelv on extended runs in N. Y. and Philadelphia, "G.I. War Brides" (Rep't is'getting huge $34,- 000 in Detroit, aided by stage layout. (dmiifeie. Boxoffice Reports oh Pages 10-11.) > Trade M<irh neelstercd PODMDBJ) BY SIME SILVERMAN rultllDliftil Vreekl} b7 VAKIKTS. Inc. Sia Silverman. Presldenl 151 Wfdl 4Cth St., N«w lorU 1», N. T. BUBSCllIPTION AnnnH..... .110 Forel«n..... .Ill 8lii(tr» Oople i,...2B Cent» Vol. 16* No. 13 INDEX Berle Milton Bills .v^v.:;;"^ Chatter,:.....:...:,..:.. Film Reviews.:, ,. ;,... Football-Harry Wi'smer, Foreign ,. ........... CJeorge Frazier,.. . . House Reviews....... Inside .: Music ...., 7',.; <. Inside Legit ., Inside Pictures'...' '.. Inside Radio... .. ... Legitimaiev ,.,.. ,. . ,:.., Literati : ■.-. .: . .V. . . : -.' ivfusic .,....,'....,.'.:.: ■ New Acts :. .: . .... Night Club Reviews. . . .Obituary. ...:.,.■:......■ Orchestras Pictures .. ; , i -. / .■ Pre-Prot'iiclion. News., Radio ^,. Radio 'Reviews... I. .v. .': Fraiik Scully ,Televisien , :....»,>i; Vaudeville:. ^,■v.. 2 47 55 13 2 16' 38 48 40 50 24 34 49 38 48 46 54 33 3 , 7 20 30 5" •31' 44 l»AII.¥ V.'VKIET'V (PubiiKbeO In iioiiyv/p.in Mj TOll.v Viiriny. Irtil.i lift « r»ar~*l! ForelBii