Variety (Jan 1949)

tr^edne8ciigr, January 5, \949 Forly-third U^SrIETT AnniverMoy PICTinlBS 11 SEE 1949 PRODUCTION HYPO Quick Deal '. Screenwriter marched into Dexter's office typewritten pages ' Martin Field woman without a By MARTIN FIELD : Hollywood. Earl Squinch producer Harold and tossed two on his desk; "Here it is," he said, '^a quick deal." Pro d uc e r Dexter picked up the master-^ piece. "Heart-i less," lie read, He looked up, "Good title." "Terrific title!" c r i e d Earl. "'Heapt- less'! The story of a beautiful heart, wanton, and captivating. STUDIOS PREP By MIKE CONNOLLY -'Hbllywood.; - Slight: jump in, produ ctibn oyer l948v.iSi in .tfte cards '.for. .the- ji^eW yeatj aithovigh tale f&r that pot of . gold just because the lots' are yimping; The economy | many proB}«itos as -tliey-Ve fiin up campaign, still in full swing, has against in the history of :the itidus- dashed all hdpes of a killing in V^X-' a',^'^ ^ sticklers - - , , , " , *^ . * I and still end the year on a note of of important motivation, could, be [ the take-home' pay department for , profit will test the ingenuity of the .Let's do it up I any save the creme-de-la-creme. of | entire industry. Hobin to read. The next day he was in Robin's office, discussing the story with him. "Love that storyv" said Robin admiringly. "Swell," said-Earl. "Let's make it a quick deal." Robin held up a hand. "Not yet," he enjoined. "You know how t|^e front office is these days.vGive 'em pages, pages. 52 isn't enough.: How about some more detail? For instancei the night Juanita sings at the General's party and flim- flams liim into marrying her. Lot Will Divorcement Tilt Scales In Distribs' Favor In '49 By BOB STAHL Film company sales managers look to 1949 as the year of the big testi With divorcement inevitable, the foreign market still tied up in knots, and with both production and distribution costs on the home front remaining at peak levels, the sales chiefs are confronted with as I established there. I brown, huh? Grimly Earl expanded the story once more. Two months later h0 dropped vl63-page treatment on Robin Towne's desk, but Robin fllmdom: I While distribution toppers are Lensing' hypo is indicated by i fa'rly optimistic about the future, product announcements, plus num- variety's yearrend survey, for the ber of pictures that have received I ^''st time in seasons, finds them , the Production Code Administra-^hedging on their predictions. Most didn't even bother to pick it up. I tio^.g ^^^^ so far this year It's t^em find the crystal ball slight- "Haven't you heard?" he said a total of 330 for the latter, com- !>' hazy, as evidenced by Metro ruthless, deadly Read it!" Thus commanded, producer Dex- ter read the two pages while Earl ^ ^ ^ shakily smoked a cigaret; the ' just came through from the front! cember' last yearr'That's"a"good'in-' ^^l^" declares, "I haven't the slight scribe had been uP' all night 1 office this »vir.i.tii*«rT mv^i-o i .. . ....... ^ .. \ \a^^ «p v...... k..t>{v.#iH.. ...m v.. getting his inspiration down on paper. Dexter finished the story. "It's a hell of a yarn," he admitted. Squinch leaped aboyt the pro- ducer'!! office with the abandon of a Nijinsky. "Just picture it on the screen," he exhorted. "We estab- lish that it's, a South American ■country. Bang! we start with a Musing fist fight between, the hero and Juanita's brother. The hero goes to the U.S. to study medicine to help his people; She says she'll wait for him. He comes back to find • that his sweetheart, little Juanita, has become the wife of the hated General who is now the President of the whole country. The twO'bit cafe singer is the First Lady of the land! And then at the end Juanita kills the General while the people storm the presidential palace. It's her final bid to escape punishment but the hero says no dice so she shoots herself and dies in his. arms. . Fade out!" Squinch ' fixed an imperious eye on Dexter. "It's a natural for Hay worth. Hay- ward, Crawford, Goddard, Lamarr, Turner and Jones. What . do you say, Harold?" "I love it," said producer Dexter. "But two pages! The front office wants more than that for its money. How long would it take you to whip up a little fuller treatment, say 40, 50 pages. Give them some more stulf on how Juanita offers Jaime a big job with the General; like her brother has. And build it up more where h^ sells out his friends to work with the General and Juanita." sorrowfully to Earl. "The order 1 ^j^jj 331 at the end of De- sales veepee William F. Rodgers, *''rough from the front I cember last year That's a good in-1 who declares; "I haven't the slight- morning. No more 1 ji^ation that activity will continue j est idea of hoy business will be original story purchases. Strictly I gj an accelerated pace'in all studios | y"""- Consensus is that the printed books and nothing else. Shame, isn't it?" Earl went home and faced his wife Dorothy. "Honey, I have to- write a book nowi'"- ■ Missus Takes :B Hint . Mrs, Squinch took the hint and got a . job as secretary to a screen- writer more solvent than her husband. Earl dug in. He attended Burton Holmes lectures on South American countries and customs; he spent months of research at the library, becoming the second great- est authority on south-of-the-border music, politics and love making; he haunted ,the Mexican quarter of town in quest of colorful characters I in 1949. Number of pictures aimed for. 1949 shooting, according, to present plans, is 404. Many independent producers; ard vague about their plans, of necessity. Major lot prog- nostications, on the other handi range all the way from Republic's 54 and Columbia's 50 to Metro's 22. The Cot figure, includes indie product; in addition to the studio's own B's. Leo's is the Louis B. quality of pictures coming out of Hollywood will tell the tale. How- ever, the sales chiefs unanimously concur that they're leaving the 1949 starting gates with the strong- est product liheups they've had in years. Convinced that foreign income will contribute far less than the 40% of the total they once could count on, distributors recognize that'the domestic market must pro- vide the greater bulk of their reve- ture that will stop good pictures from earning substantial amounts of film rentals." He stresses it . will all' depend on the . quality of the pictures. Paramount sales ^ veepee Charles M. Reagan poiQts up that tire national income is higher than ever, hence "there's no reason.' .for: business not being good." ' Par releases, already set for the first jiine months of the year, "speak for themselves," he .said. , Univtfrsal sales veepee William A. Scully declared that "business will be just as good as the pictures we turn out," adding that right now they "looH pretty good." RKO sales veepee Robert Mochrie de-. clared that business will be "fine," averring that the many problems confronting the industry will keep everybody on his toes and thus "the intelligence that's always been an integral part of our industry will come forth to solve those. problems." -• As to the effect of divorcement on distribution,, most of the dis-. and speech. And mostly he wrote. | pioyment during the new year is After two years, six months and , definitely not indicated by the Cali- three weeks of unremitting toil, he | fomja State Dept. of Industrial finished a 614-page novel entitled "Heartless." A Best Seller A year later "Heartless" was published and zoomed to No. 1 beiitselleri its heroine, Juanita, be- ing-hailed as a wench who made Scarlett, Amber and Madame Pompadour look like boarding school girls and extremely shelter- ed ones, at that. Novelist Earl Squinch became a national figure Overnight. Photographs of Earl in a tattersall vest and a lock of hair down over one eye decorated book shop windows from coast to coasit. Three governors, running for re- election in three states in which Earl had once lived briefly, asked him for endorsements reading, "If I public, hungry for any sort 1 still lived In this state, I would | g^tertainment, have changed Mayer-Dore Schary figure okayed \ ^.u companies have geared in November by prexy^ ^Nicholas 1 their product to that end, hoping to hypo fllmery attendance in this country. Whether the foreign situ- ation will also entail demands for higher doroestic rentals reftiaihs to bS: seen.. Most of;;t^ chiefs stress that the pictures -cipming up will: merit upped 'rentals OB. the strength of their boxoffice per- formances. According to 20th-Fox sales chief Andy W. Smith, Jr., "There are no conditions in the foreSeeaWe fu- M. Schenck. It's a cinch Metro will release more than that number, however, in view of the several outside deals set this year. A corresponding jump in em- Relations figures on studios. Record employment for the industry was in 1940, during which year the (Continued on page 62) Now^s the Time to Really Spend to Sell Films By SIDNEY L. BERNSTEIN (British Exhibitor and Anglo-U. 'S. Film Producer) London. of us have, maybe, forgotten how. The boom has boomeranged all right. The days of a money flush Indian Sign? Universal sales veepee Wil- liam: A. Scully, questioned as .'to how the new year's business would shape up, declared that "it can only be as good as the pictures." As for the pictures, Scully said, "They always look pretty good when we see them at the ' studio^but when they get into the theatres, it's another; question. Maybe something happens to them coming througli Albuquerque." trib toppers begged off with the plea that it's still anybody's guess. General belief, however, was that divorcement will benefit distribu-: tion more than it will exhibition, despite its depriving the major companies from insured outlets for their product. One sales manager, who declined to. be quoted, put it this way: Competitive Markets "All right," said Earl, who had been unemployed for seven months. "I'll make a quick deal to go on payroll to develop thei,slory." "Payroll?" cried Dexter, horri-i on billboards advertising cigarets. fied. "That's the trouble with you I At one of the numerous cocktail writers, always trying to get on a I parties given to exscreenwriter payrolJ. Take my word, you de- Squinch, he met an interesting man velop that story on your own and I who turned out Jo be Ed Ingan It may seem artificial respiration to put the last process of film busi- ness—the selling to the public-— first, but surely the immediate need is to keep the patient's in- vote for so-and-so • For the first ^ hard-pressed peoples who terest ticking until full, healthy time, a literary* figure was con- , \f„^ fu^:!^ I production can be regained, sidered important enough to appear ' "i-ntv nf for the.r monev. I you'll jnake more than on any pay ■roll." - At this point, a messenger girl entered with producer 6exter's weekly pay check. "Excuse' me," he said, as he signed the voucher and pocketed his check. Squelched, Squinch went home to work on "Heartless:" A month of hard work later, he brought in a 52-page treatment to producer Ed Dexter, who smacked his desk and I ^aid, '-'This is it. Beautifully writ- ■ ten. I'll take it up with the front office tomorrow. It'll be a quick . deal." L 'Daily VaritetyV Tips Him | ■ Happily, Earl went home to tell his wife Dorothy that In a matter of daiys she would be able to re- sume her painting lessons. How- ever, the next morning he read in 'Daily Variety: "Dexter Out of Studio." He phoned Dexter at home. /'They let me but before I could show them your story," the ex-producer mourned. '"'Tough luck for both of us." Two months later Earl got Into an Interesting golf game at Hill- crest with an interesting man who turned o;ut to be a producer named. Robin Towne.. After' the game, Earl pulled a copy of "Heartless" out of his lockei: and gave It to head man of Stupendous Pictures, Who had come to the party espe- cially to meet Earl. "This is fi great book you wrote," Ed told Earl. "Everybody tells me that. 1 >vaijt to buy it; personallyi" Earl's heart leaped. "All right." he said. "How much do you want to pay?" named a stupendous sum. "But," he added, "I'd like to know what I'm buying. I never read the book, haven't got the time, you t want plenty of jam for their money- This condition, the same in Europe as in the States, is surely the natu- ral, to-be-expected . reversion to peace-time values in the equally expected postwar economic ebb, The jitters in production and distribution circles alike have not, however, been mitigated by fore- sight. As somebody recently re- marked,"Now we can see the dif- ference between inflation and Those Only Occasionals We have to remember, too, that even now, in the 30th year of our existence as a major entertainment industry, it is calculated that at least 20% of the adult public in the States and Britain see films He likened distribution and ex- hibition to the sc^le, declaring that exhibitors have always tipped the scale in their favor. Divorcement, he pointed out, will open up com- petitive markets, and as a result there will be a shift in the scale's emphasis in favor; of distribution. Scully, whose company owns no theatres and thus won't be subject to divorcement, found another rea- son for welcoming it. He pointed out that distribs, too, will be bid- ding for the best markets. • Conse- quently, he. said,'for the first time "the little distributor will get a chance at some of those holiday playdates." Majority of the sales chiefs had no fault to find with competitive bidding. Playing down reports of collusion among exhibs, they de- dq riot go because they have neVer been encouraged to form the habit. Cross-examine your own out-of- genius." we may all have known ! town friends. Check with them that business could not go on be-' the number of films they have , u I. - seen, Ask them why they do not ing as good as it was but. wise as, regularly to the movies. If you only occa.sionally» A great num-1 i-oiiusion among exnios, mey ae- ber of these potential film-goers . clared the system has worked out are within reach of theatres, but well in clearing the air around monlteys, we.did little'about. It; touchy competitive situations. Rea- gan said he's found bidding 'in some instances provides higher rentals than the old system of sell- ing, but declared he was unsure about wliether to continue bids if the final anti-trust decree doesn't know, so could you maybe'da'sh ofl: Success is such an easy habit and a two-page outline for me?" | so soon becomes-to seem a natural Two days later. Earl was in Ed , concession. Ingan's office, picking up his check i elated illogic went even for the story "That tvvo-page out-I j^^^^ ^^^^ planning for line vou wrote did tlie trick, tne i ... . , . , i head man chuckled- "It told tlie j this inevitable waning of business, whole story just like it would look-1 At the crest of the sellers' market, on the screen." , 1 you will remember, when the pub- get the ^answers I .did crossing the j make it mandatory. Rodgers, con- United States (and also from a sur- ■ ceding that competitive sales has vey in England) you will realize 1 "solved many problems," said it's that, as yet. we still appeal only to the habitual audience. WeTnay put over a few special attractions: to the man or woman who does not go to movies, we offer little allure. One more thought- How can we bring about a resurgence of the „. , , ,,- r „ ' - . , . , spirit of the industry's young days, "I wrote that outline four years,, was queueing up to come.m at-; when the boss was nearer the job ;o," Earl said, "before I wrote the any price, publicity budgets were and the workers were nearer the at their biggest;, noyiii ■when the i boss. (This suggestion^ doesn't mood is to say movies or food and; mean I advocate a return to those rent, we cut down on the window-, bad practices from the effects of dressing. Things aren't so good, [ which we still suffer). Can we, on ago book." "Too bad I didn't see it then," the head man said regretfully. "I sure Would, have grabbed it." Earl nodded silently and out he went to try to. persuade his wife Dorothy to come back to'live with hiffl now that, four years, two months, three 'weeks and six days later, 'he bad made hiii quick deal. we say, so the first thing to do is to cut down on publicity and ad- vertising. It doesn't seem - to me to make sense. , Nowi surely, Is the- time to go out and sell pictures again. Some ditions. both sides of the Atlantic, get back confidence , and refuse to be scared by symptoms? Surely we have the necessary capacity for adapting ourselves to chanfled con:' too early to tell whether it's; more lucrative. . According to Mochrie, "bidding hasn't worked out unfavr orably,v and. he declared RKO would probably continue the sys- tem to avoid the tlireat of more, lawsuits. Smith, too, declared the likelihood that; bidding is here..to stay, pointing out that it's "neces- sary to. meet.our problems." Smith, who's been the driving force behind the-establishment of an industry--wide conciliation plan, through the system he inaugurated in conjunction with; North Central Allied chief Bennie ■ Berger, found encouragement in'-the tact that, some form of conciliation has beeu- adopted by exhib groups in many: sections of the country.