Variety (Apr 1947)

■14 Uf.WMNATI^INAf- hsk Takes to Sadde in LMgterm Anglo-JbsaePlan m Horse-^eras London, April 15. + . Britain is going into the horse- opera film business. J. Artliur Bank is planning a series ol large and smjall scaie in-the-saddle pictures produced in Australia and Canada. Siiccess of the Harry .Watt AustraUa- i^jade "The Overlanders"' ha?i started the ball rolling- : : ' A longterm plan for ■ArigloiAus- laralian film production has been de- . cided'following conferences in Lon- don between Rank and John Bavis, Of Rank office, and Maj. H. P. Baker and. Michael Balcon for Ealing Stu- dios, wliich made "Overlanders." Australian link sf the conferences xvas Keti Hall, acting for ; Norman IB^dge of Australia.; S'irst step' is the irnmediate re- •eduipinetjt of the t'agewpo'ii and Clniesound, Studios in Sydney, at cost of, over $326,000. Wheii prodviction gets well under- -way, modern 'studios and laboratories to. -whieh the new .equipment will be trans-, fecred will be built. Production ac- tivities \yill be based on a tripartite arrangement between the interests mentioned. ■ ' ;■ But RanKs horseropera j^lans are jnauch further advanced than "he has revealed. Ralph Smart., lyho, was associated with Harry Watt in the ihaking of "Overlanders," is already at work in Australia as independ- ent producer with Rank" backing. He went into action quietly and with- out any 'publicity. , ' \ ■ : - His first solo product is already ■■ In the can awaiting sho^inig.- It's titled "Bus"h Chrjstmas" ; and fea- tures some of th^ iOverlahd star team including Chips aaflerty. This picture Is at present due'for' a late fall release. Smart was in London recently and flew back to Australia •with a contract for at least four more pix in his p6cket. He'll work ' in cooperation with Harry Watt out- fit lea.ving Britain this weekend. To Train Key Men .Eric Williams recently left for Australia as general manager,: to plan production. 'Hie Watt ujiit will consist of a jiudeus of key tech- nicians from this country who, dur- ing the first year's; prograni, will wpric .with Aussie technicians and train them before returning, to this country. Some, of course, may stay in Australia. Among those going are Leslie Norman, as associate producer; ,Wal- ter Qreenwood, author of record- .breaking play, "Love on the Dole," jand other novels and scenarios; Julian Spiro, at present directing a film'in the West Indies; Charles Woolveridge, Ealing art director, and Ton Shenton, make-up expert. ■ First Watt assignment is "Eureka Stockade," story of Australian gold : rush of 1850's, with Chips Rafferty starring, and Gordon • Jackson and Jack Lambert going put from this country. This Will be followed by ■ "Robbery Under Arms," Some of the Australian products will be made specially for the Rank children's cinema clubs, but wher- ever suitable, they will fee marketed generally as well. Rank also has his eyes on Canada as good in-the-saddle film produc- tion ground, and negotiations are well ahead for^action stories set in that Dominion." 'This is his big bid to overcome Britain's climate limi- tations, and get in on the outdoor fiction fllto market. Pomeroy Pays $1,000,000 For London's Cambridge London, April 15. Jay Pomeroy, Who jumped into showbiz .from the liquor trade, has just clo.sed deal with. Associated Theatre Propertie.s, of which Prince Littler is the chairman,, for pur- chase of the Cambridge theatre, which he how has on lease. Deal involves $1,000,000. ^ Pomeroy has also acquired Empire. HoUoway, suburban spot, previous- ly owned by Moss Empires, for around $160,000. Theatre was ,ex* tensively damaged by bombs during the 'war a;i|d will take ?ome time before given, permit to rebuild by the " Ministry of Works. Wolf Call Halts AustrialkJad Queueing up . for ciijemaisf''Iti bad weather is a menace to health, according to a group of Irish doctors who are now con- ducting research on the "men- ace.". . -..V ■: Dootorg, wh<»!. ar« not named, say their inquiries are "private, and unofficial," but if the' re- sults confirm their opinion that queueing is a caus6 of phthisis (tuberculosis), they will submit a. report to the government's ,Dept. of Health, : , Vienna, April 7. ° Concerted action by all local film distribs , (ejccept Russians) under inStigati'oiii of Wolfgang, Wolf, Aus- trian-Motion Picture Export Assn. boss, has apparently nixe.d atterripts to jack admission taxes in Austrian provinces as high as 40%. Taxes re- raaiil at present figures ranging fro,m 10 to 20%, '*hich" sU concerned with industry feel are high enough. Procession toward higher impost was started in T-fpper Austria where municipalitieg, under enabling law passed by provincial parliament an- nounced raises effective April 1 which in case of Linz, Austria's, sec- ond city, would have made figure 40%. Styria and Garinthia followed suit •with raises to 20 and 30% re- specljively. Since film tentals here are assessed on gross b.o. pifice in- cluding tax, these moves looked serious to exhibitors. Wolf , called meeting of all distrib- utors, including semi-official Rus- sian, French and British agencies, and won agreement that all would stall distribution starting April 4 if tax raise went into effect. However when copy of -agreement wa8 sent next day to, Sovexportfilm for sig- nature,- Russians changed their minds and didn't go .along. But Mos- cow's product doesn't cawy enough weight outside of Russian ocqupa- tio.n zone to count. Status remained quo until very eve of AprU 4 with exhibitors pressuring their munici- palities. Final result was decision to hold new tax law "in suspension" and not impose the higher figures. In the end' no playing time was ao fually lost, Looal economic expeirts figure" higher taXes would have been merest drop in the bucket fo" municipalities while ruinous to tlie - atres. They would have meant higher income to exchanges, but Wolf felt longrun effect wouIS be adverse to industry in general. Famows PlayerS' . CaE Hit Profit ^^^^^^^ 1^^^^^^^ Toronto, April 16. Reflecting, excellent business of the film Ittdustry in lOtt, nfet profits of feihoUs Players Canadian Corp. for Jast year reached - the highest point in the company's history, showing . $2,834,958 after provision for $2,138,000 in Income and excess' profits taxes, according to J. J. Pitz- gibbons, FPC president, , On dividends, this was $1,63 a sharp, on 1,73'7,072 shares of common stock outstanding, as compared with the previous, year's net profit of $1,- 594,973 •*/hich paid 91c ti share. Early Ui 1946,^ a new capitalization plail saw <FPC subdividing the oorh- mon stock on a- basis oi three new shares for one old, Of^ this issue, 750,000 shares w.ere taken lup on the market and a further 70,500 sharps acquired by certain officers of the CQpipany: This debt, amounting to over $5,500,000 as of Dec. 31} has been entirely paid off. Fitzgibbons announced at the an- nual meeting that FPC has 10 new theatres in construction and , that further, erection of other houses across Canada would be started as soon as building materials'are avail- able, this in addition - to plans for substantial alterations and Improve- ments to a number of existing houses. The 1946 operating profit was $5,- 599,284 as compared with the pre- vious year's $5,123,790; dividends re- ceived wete $330,968 against $238,- 906. Depreciation writeoflts for 1946 totalled $680,252 as against $699,605. Income and excess profl|s t«xes were $2,135,000 against $2,713,000. After dividends of $1,138,550, earned surplus as of Dec. 28, '46 totalled $11,362,113 as against $7,- 798,266 for the previous year. Cur- rent assets on Dec. 28, '46 were $8,- 456,242, current liabilities were $471,814, this indicating net working capital of $7,884,428 as against $2,- 544,192 as of Dec. 29, '45. Mex Pix Building Is , Slowed Down to Siesta Mexico City, April 15. Depression has dipped general biz about 40% from what it was this time last year. Cinema construction, prominent feature of the building boom in Mexico that began in 1935, soon after the leftist Cardenas, gov- ernment took - over, and bounded during the six lush war years", has slowed down to almost a ."itandstill. Pix, most popular public diversion in lyiexico, are feeling the depres- sion, and cinema builderis are study- ing situation befot^.' going :ahead with their program fdr more cine- mas, >Large private banks are now laying off-loans for building cine- mas, .vijaiting resultis of the bigtime builders' survey. ' ^ First Theatre Ckl To • Sponsor Revae Tryouts Set Up liy Londoners London, April 10. London has many theatre clubs where new plays are tried out, with most .successful of these being the Lindsey, which already had four shows in the We.st End to its credit, inchiding Elsa : Shelley's "Pick-Up Girl'? as the most successful. B ut none of the^e elvibs has ever catered to the lighter form of entertainment sucli as revue. First club to take a hf.nd in thi.s type of show is the newly-formed Cabin Club, run in association with the Twentieth Century theatre.. Sponsors of this venture are Claude Hiilbert and his wife, Enid Trevor; Annette Mills, former dancer, now. successful songwriter and sister of film star John Mills: Avril .'Vngers, revue st{.r: Michael Howard, radio actor, and Adrian Brunei, film director. Bi. GITS JUNIETEERS, OTISi DISTEiB CO. Buenos Aires, April 15. Arrival of Spyros P. Skouras and Murray Silverstone, 20th-Fox and 20th-Fox Int'l prexies, in Buenos Aires last week, will be followed by other junketeers. Dr. Renato Gua- lino, veepee o{; Lux Film of Rome, will touf Argentine distribution cen- ters with his local rep. Dr. Manlio Marino, as guide. Lux Film's Italian sound pm are sub-titled in Buenos Aires. Lux's picture, "The Bandit," had a good run at the Metropolitan early in the year. another British distribution setup is coming into the market, Nioolas Di Fiore and associates haiv- ing formed British Films Selections is distribute for Pathe Pictures and Anglo-American. Their first release will Be "Piccadilly," directed by Herbert Wilcox with Anna Neegle and Michael Wilding in (he leads, British Films will eventuiilly go into production as well as distribution in th*e Argentine market. Crown's Lutin Swingeroo Alfred Crown, foreign salesman- ager for Samuel Goldw.vn, left New York Monday (14) for a month's, swing through South America. First stop is Rio de Janeiro, going from there to Buenos Aires April 27. Route home will be via stopovers in Santiago and Lima. Guitry, lifar, Cortol Get2dMsian().0. And Come Off Better Paris, April 8. Contrary to what might be thought, many Parisians don't con- sider either Sacha Guitry nor Serge Lifar as definitely tabu because of Nazi-collaboration taints. Trouble about Guitry is that he is no more young and may be too old before people have forgotten about, him, even if they forget fast. Also he doesn't thrive in an atmosphere where he can't feel himself adulated, which he currently lacks. Guitry really never did anything very bad; never gave anybody away; just thought the easiest way to re- tain his* easy iiving was to play pretty to the Germans. He certainly is no hero, and never was a strong character, even if a very talented one. He certainly lost all personal pride to iasure his comfort, but if all those who did that, and worse, were to be dealt with severely, tliere would be plenty apartments free here. What Guitry has most against him, and which damned him, is first that many people were jealous of his success wl}ich turned him from an interestiii,g guy into a conceited one who had to be sal upon now and then; and secondly that he gave loo much publicity to hi.s various mar- riages when everybody know.s that (Continued from page 16) Britisb Exhibs Jh Stew (Ml T^ms London, April 15, British exhibs are at odds with Teddy Carr, managing director of General Film fiistribiitijr's and chief" of renting department, JThey claim" Carr is asking exorbitant tprms for British pictures, and threaten to ask Sir Stafford Cripps, president of the. Board of Trade, for an investigation. Grievance began some months ago, and while Carr ■was absent in "if. S. at the beginning «f year, ex- hibs saw his chief, J. Arthur Rank, who compromised by introducing sliding scale clauses in . contracts. Not satisfied with the working of this- scheme, exhibs allege harsh and unfair treatment and plan to seek Government Interventipn^ • Carr says he's only asking terms that pictures deserve, fife maintains exhibs are still living in • the past when it was impossible to give a British picture away on any terms. Now an average British film is gross- ing twice the average of an Ameri- can film and Carr is denaanding what he says exhibs would have paid American companies If position was reversed. He cites ease of one im- portant exhih who, in the past, paid five times as rnuch for American product as for British, and would still like the same terms today.. 500G BRITISH MAL ON FOR 90 t REISSUES London. April 10. Percentage d^al for 90 reissues of Universal Pictures product started by Jpe .Seidelman while here re- cently has caused stampede of bidding. First to make offer was Arthur Dent, former director of Associated British Picture Corp. in the ' John MaxwelV regime. He has been closely followed by Hyams Bros., "indie pix theatre owners, who re- cently sold out to J. Arthur Rank. Involved in this deal is also the acquiring of the Anglo-American Pictures exchanges in London and key cities. A. A. exchanges are for disposal due to company twhich was recently acquired by A. B. P. C. from Lou Jackson for around $750,- 000) being absorbed by Pathe Pic- tures, an A. B. P. C. subsidiary, with buyers of U. P. reissues in need of exhanges to handle the physical distribution. Deal, which is being held up till arrival of Seidelman from Paris, in- volves over $500,000, London, April is. Indicating the strides British films have made In the"homeland are the results of two picture polls revealed last week. In an anmysis of audi- ence likes undertaken by Sidney Bernstein's (Jranada Circuit only one American picture, ^'Tbe Lost Weekend," placed among the fea- tures voted as - the six best films while a reader survey carried out Ijy the Daily Mail failed to place any U. S. pix in the top bracket. (j-ranada jjatrons termed "The Way to the Stairs" (UA-Two Cities) "The 'Seventh Veil" (GFD-Sydney ■ Box), "The Captive Heart'' ("Eagle Lion-Michael Balcon). "The Wicked Lad-y" (Eagle. Lion-Gainsbovough), "The Rake's Progress" (Eagle Lion- Individual) and "The Lo.st Week- end" (Par) as among the year'.s best. Daily Mail's jNatioha], Film Award for the secphd year bi-oifght laurels in that "order to Herbert Wilcox's "Pictiadilly Incident," "Wicked. Lady," "Seventh Veil," "Captive Heart," "Brief Encounter" (Cine- gUild),."Rake's Progress," "Cavavifn" (Ostrer-Gainsborough), "Theirs Is the (Slory,", documentary produced and released by General Film Di,s- trlbutors; "Magic Bow" tOsilrer- Gainsborough), and "The Over- landers," Michael Balcon - Ealing Studios Aussie-made film. . Based on 3,200,000 entries, four times' as large as last year's. Daily Mail's balloting voted James Mason as the top British actor for the sec- ond successive year, Runners-up were Michael Wilding, Stext'iirt Granger, Rex Harrison, Michael Red- grave,-Eric Portman, Trevor How- ard, Ralph Richardson, Roger Livc- sey and Robert Donat. Heading the femmes for the second year runninij was Margaret Lockwood who was followed by Anna Neagle, Ann Todd; Phyllis Calvert, Gelia Johnson, Patricia Roc, Jean Keftt, Deborah Kerr, Vivien Leigh and LilU Palmer. In leading the male thesps. Mason polled close to 200,000 votes, gome 120,000 more than he received la.st year. Miss Locltwood racked up a hefty 180,000 ballots, three times what she garnered last year. In the poll, as a whole, more than 250.000 entries were rejected due to failure of the voters to abide by the con- ditions of the poll. Cjranada patrons voted as their favorite stars James Mason, Stewart (Sranger, British-born Ray Milland, Bing Crosby, John Mills and Lau- rence Olivier. Margaret LoeKwood led the opposite sex ■with Ingrid Bergman, Bette Davis, Greer Gar- son, Patricia Roe, Vivien Leigh and Jeanne Grain next in, order. Mcst of the runnors-up are either British or Briti.sh-born. Replying to a question .as to whether they had thought British films had improved .since prewar day.s, Granada customers em- phatically agreed they had, while only i'/o differed. Another 26';c- ex- pressed the belief that U. S. picture? had also improved. OTHER FOBEIGN NEWS m Page 1« hlladium-s 'Here, Tkere' I^ks like London Hit ' London, Ajjril 15. "Here, There and Everywhere," new musical opening at the Pal- ladium and starring Tommy Trinder, was cordially received by a capacity house. Outstanding hits were .scored by three U. S. acts, newcomers Mabel Lee, the Ma.sterkeys and Wil- son, Keppel and Betty. George Campo and the Zofis, latter a French adagio noVefty, were also well liked. Show, laVi.shly moiinted and artistically produced, looks an as.sured success. "Power and Glory," transferred from the Lindsey theatre club to the Fortune, lopks a fair bit. Rough Bucharest Fans Attest Prewar Draw Of U.S. Pix Still Paramount Attesting to the fact that U. S. lec- tures are as popular today .in Ru- mania as before the war, 8 crowd of impatient film patrons broke through a cordon of police in Buch- arest, smashed windows and un- hinged the lobhy doors of the EforiS theatre in its -eflorts to hu;^ ducats for Paramount's "Reap; the - Wild Wind." Patrons-started to form a line for tickets at 7 o'clock in tH« moi;ning, two hours before the house opened, acc03-ding to Nicjiolas Cazazis, Motion Picture Export As.'-»». manager. Strong advance bally on the pic- ture, \vhieh was climaxed by a preem the night before the regulai run, attended by members of the Rumanian ministry, is held secount- able for the widespread intere.";! in the picture. Since new American films—were allowed to enter Hu- m;inia, damage to theatre property from overflow crowds has been 150 severe that Bucharest auihoritif's re- cently passed an ordinance forbid- ding exhibitor^s to sell more 1)cl<els than the theatre's sealing capacily. George IVeltner, Paramount for- eign chief, sails from London todsiy I Wed.) for the U, S., aboard lb* Queen Elizabeth.