Variety (Jan 1949)

Wedneadajr, Jaauary 5, 1949 Fort^.th ird p^ORU^Y Anmver*«ay INTERNATIONAL 20S Closer liaison Ur^ed on H'wood Prodnction-Distrib-Exhibition By NORMAN B. RYDGE - (Boord Chairman, Greater Union Theatres, Australia) / Sydney. Last time I wrote for Variety I took the liberty of predicting that poor films would land the industry into a mess. With business coming down the ladder all over the world, it> was obvious that only good en- tertainment would get money. ) That's just what happened. Ifr didn't talce a genius to figure that ou,t. Cold, hard \og}c and an appre- ciation' of the- facts pointed to the trend. The trouble with some people is that when they add two and'two they make it 22 instead of four. Such optimism may be in- spiring, but it is misleading, The finger in Australia is on Hollywood. It has to give us boys the product. We'll sell it^ to big money, if it's food. If it isn't most of our effot't goes xlown the drain after the picture has opened, if it ever opens. • : Perhaps I could make a construc- tive suggestion. Why not establish an intelligent liaison^ between pro^ duction, distribution and' exhibl- ■ tiott, not on the "how much c;an we make" side but on the "what will ■ make most' for us all"- angle. I Jiave the feeling that Hollywood lives in some sort of a vacuum, in- sulated from the world of real hard selling of pictures. Making pictiires should be a busi- ness, and no business can do much without, a pooling of brains to drive it along. The one-man shows ■ aren't very big. We're in world ' Class, and of world standard, and it takes a lot of people to keep us there. Nips' First Color Pic London Shopped For Its Shows In '48; Smash Hits Got The Biz, ^By CLEM HUMPHRIES: Tokyo. London. The first Japanese feature pic se- Austere Britain in 1948 tightened quence ever filmed in color was'its belt, shrouded its grime and shot at a Tokyo studio this week. ! bomb-blast in a tinselled facade Using color fllm recently developed I and prepared to welcome its big- by the Fuji Film Co., Tokyo studio recorded the last 200 fe^t of "New Wives' Conference," skedded for Release early in January. ; Cost of shooting even this small : portion was 600,000 yen ($2,200). Only imported tinters the Jap- anese have seen since the end of the war are "Henry V" and "State Fair." •;. Combine Forces We're discovering that we can't run the world single-handed. We have to- combine forces. So it should be with motion pictures. The industry is full of very intelli- gent people—^let's use them all. I'm not laying down any bluer print--.iust making the suggestion, sort of throwing a hat into the ring. Let's $ee if we can work it out. Greater Union, for instance, has not lost faith in the industry. On the contrary, we are expanding, adding units and theatres to the group. We foresee great things, even, with television, and new methods of making pictures. Some of the crop we've had lately are a sad commentary. If we lose our grip on the picture^ minded, we lose the basis of Our revenue. We get less, remit less, and the thing becomes a vicious circle. We're maintaining tip-top -tbeatres, but what use are they for ■poor product? ; Let's wake up to one big fact— our prosperity starts with what's on the screen, and no alibis can shake that one. Every time We get a worthwhile feature we hit the high spots with it. When we show the mediocre ones, our boxoffice collapses. Don't tell me good show- manship will put over indifferent Stuff. It merely gets an opening. After that, it's up to the picture, and if that let's it down,-nothing can save it. What sort of pictures do people want? Broadly, the answer is-^ good ones. Comedies? Yes, if they are under.standable Qur audiences con__t want the over-sophisticated stuff, and ihey just won't have propaganda p 1 c t u r e s at all. w-amas, too, if they're interesting and climactic, and told in simple terms. Complicated stories are a pain in the boxoflice neck. The people come out puzzled instead of entertained. Picture Biz Not All It s Cracked Up to Be By RAUL QUATTROCCHI . ■ '.Rome." Whoever wishes to get an exact idea about Italian cinema, let him try to imagine a building lustruous and bustling outside but squalid and silent Inside. Incoming visitors —film-buyers, above all-^see, ob- viously, only the facade. Then they leave, taking back with them one or more pix and an impression of animation and well-being : from which springs abroad the legend of a flourishing; free Italian picture business. What nobody knows is I Charles Cochran took a poll in the gest invasion of overseas visitors -^the bulk of whom, during the summer, came to attend the 14th Olympiad at Wembley stadium. But the swarming crowds of sight- seers, plus the thousands of pro- vincials visiting the metropolis for their first trip since the war, failed to fulfill the high hopes engendered in managerial circles. The only shows to reap a rich harve.*t were the already established successes, for there was less money than ever to spare. The average theatregoer became, of necessity, more discrim-r inating. He patronized the attrac- tions , that were already fully booked,: so there was the: glutted boxoffice; of one theatre. extending its advanced bookings, not, as dur- ing the boom war years, resulting In the spreading out of this pat-, ronage so that all and. every theatre reaped the benefit. But for the consistently bad weather, Condi-' tions might have been -even worse, for the unsettled:'Eurppean'situa- tion was another, depressing factor affecting trade in general and the entertainment world in particular. Managements had to decide repertoire of Ghekhdv's ■ "The Cherry Orchard" brilliantly played by Edith Evans. Sir Ralph Rich- ardson and Sir Laurence Olivier being absent had a decided reac- tion at the boxoffice. Best comedies currently drawing big money are the naval "Off the Record," now in its second year; ''Traveller's Joy" and "Little Lambs Eat Ivy." In fai'cial vein, "The Happiest Years of Your Life," "The Perfect Woman" and the re- cently produced -Robertson Hare- Alfred Drayton;'.combination in "One Wild Oat" look set for pro- longed runs, ,: Serious shows included "The Chiltern Hundreds," held over from last year; "The Blind God- dess," "Cockpit," "The Hidden Years," "The Indifferent Shep- herd," "Rain on the Just" (from a promising new playwrighti Peter Watling), most of which had fair to lengthy runs. Among the many revivals staged about 50% proved profitable: Gor- don Harker repeated his cpckney detective in ''Saloon Bar;" Tom Walls turned from farce to drama in "The Barretts of Wimpole Street;" John Gielgud made his return after two years In St. John whether to revert to the prewar I Hankin'S flimsy Edwardian comedy evening opening hours, many do- ing this during the Olympic season to give these patrons a chance to visit; amusements at terrflination of the games in 'the evenings. To get a line on public preference; Sir that the films they have bought are generally a number of years old. Such as "The Spirit and the Flesh," "Four Steps in the Clouds" or "The Loves of Don Juan,'' currently re- le'ased'in the U. Sv Italian produc- ers had no new passable - pix to offer. Except for a few films, the so- called "new" Italian picture busi- ness has only awkwardness, pre- tention and vapidness. The main part of the export is therefore made np of old features—yes, the Fascist-era ones, which have at least-a good technical standard. If the government helped native pro- ductionj many prestige pix could be made. But it turns a deaf ear, only pre-occupied, one would say; in building obstacles—^ increasing taxes, strangling censorship^ re- fusal of credit. Home produrtion might make light of all difficulties if it had the support of native filmgoers. But the Italian public, submerged by a flow of pix, begins to tire of them, and having the possibility of choosing, preferences don't go to lobby at the Adelphi, and kept to the early hour. Only house to re- vert to 8:30 performance is th(* Criterion, where "Traveller's Joy" is packing them in. Musical Accent The Prodigal Son;" Cyril Ritchard scored so well in the Restoration piece, "The Relapse" that it moved up to the West End from the Lyric, Hammersmith; and there were "Musical Chairs," "Eden End," "The Anatomist," Ibsen's "The Wild Duck," Strlndberg's "The Father." Chief acting honors went to Eileen Herlie for her portrayal of Medea in Robinson Jeffers' version of the Greek classic; Clive Brook and. Pamela Brown for "The Gioconda Smile;" Michael Red^ grave, "The Father;" Joseph Cal- leia, "All My Sons;" Eric Portman, "The Browning Version;" Peter Ustinov, "Frenzy;'' Yvonne Arnaud, Accent is undoubtedly on musi-. cal productions this year, headed by the three big holdovers from last year, "Bless the Bride," "Okla- homa" and "Annie Get Your Gun." Of the native hits, "Bob's Your Uncle," with Leslie Henson; "The Kid From Stratford," \vlth Arthur Askey; ''Cdrissima,'' having started slowly, has now built up to a solid profit-maker. "Cage Me a Pea- cock," with Yvonne Donlan now a firmly . established favorite, is another that mounted slowly to prosperity. Having to leave the Strand theatre to make way for the Christmas production of "The Wiz- ard of Oz," it benefited by the I Australian radio's flag of free- early demise of Prtestley's ''Home I dom is being hauled down and re- "Traveller's Joy;" Mai Z!etterling, "The Wild Duck;" Fay Compton; "Family Portrait;". Helen Hayes, : "The Glass Menagerie." ^ Foreign importations of distinct tion included Katherine Dunham-: with her "Caribbean Rliapsody;" which was a knockout during: its - limited 'London season, and. Car- men Amaya with her Spanish gypsy dancers. Ruth Draper did her usual sellout booking for her Haymarket engagement, w h i 1 e Maurice Chevalier had his month's season at the huge Hippodrome extended to five weeks, doing turn- away business. -The Comedie Francaise did : excellently for its three weeks at the Cambridge, proving far more popular than the : Italian companies, whose one week at the same house proved a finan- ' cial loss partly because of inade- quate; advance publicity. They were unlucky in having to open without their costumes and only part of their scenery, owing to de- lay in transport. "Oedipus" played in working overalls put a great strain on the imagination already—~ burdened with the alien tongue, American shows that held over from last year, concluding lengthy runs were "Anna Lucasta" and "Life With Father." Also, among American importations; Mae West's . profitable twice-nightly engage- ment at the Prince of Wales' in "Diamond Lil." Flops from America Included: "Rocket to the Moon," "I Remem- ber Mama," "Burlesque," "The Lute Song" and "Family Portrait." Recurring ballet seasons ' were ' presented by the International Ballet Cot, the Champs Elysees Co., : the Metropolitan Ballet, Ram Gopal and his Indian dancers and . . the standard Covent Garden pro- ductions by the Sadlers'Wells: - company. On. the wholCj. a diverse and: plentiful supply of attractions for .: the 12 months, but the spectacular musicals held the key to the pub^ lie purse all the'time. Australian Gov't Adopts Control of Radio System By ERIC GORRICK • ■ Sydney. , orators saw the writing on the wall for radio freedom in Is Tomorrow," which it replaced at the Cambridge.' Of the revues, "A La Carte" is the pick of the year, with Her- domestic product but, as' ever, to i mione Baddeley and Henry Ken- American one; even If With evident I heading a talented company decreased enjoyment. The first three months of the current sea- son haven't been too favorable for American pix. Except David O. Selznick's "Duel In the Sun," which looks like an unprecedented smash, other Hollywood entries don't measure up to the previous years' hits. Selznick's "Spellbound,'' Par's "The Story of Dr. Wassell" and 20th's "The Black Swan" Were the The more recent production, placed by the emblem of govern- mental control, Bill to set up new regime- Is being greenlighted by the Ben J. Chifley labor govern- ment: The liberal opposition party's fight to nix the Bill never got beyond first base because of Video and FM 1 'Slings and Arrows," co-starring j labor's terrific power in the Aussie Hermione Gingold and Walter! political arena. , Crishman, is well settled in at the \ Throughout 1948 the labor moguls have been working. to bring radio under political control. Funny angle to the* whole setup is that top politicos aver Aussie radio is not to be nationalized. Nevertheless, commercial opera- tors know that the politicos aren't 16m Develops in Arg. Buenos Aires. Exploitation of 16in film.s and equipment has been developing Slowly but surely^ in Argentina since the end of World War 11, and sbould develop considerably jnore with all the far-flung-terri- tory to the interior of the country waiting to be opened up. - Atalaya Films Argentina, in Which Jose Nuarros, Americo Fa- lomi and Rafael Calderon are lop ""ost up and coming ot the local firms exploiting 16m. «-ades. set up by Jose T. Elizondo and Augu.sto A. Baldini, is rapidly building up a chain of small thea- tres in the hinterland equipped with 16m. , small Coihedy theatre, but is not cprisidered on the saine brilliant level as the stars' previous, "Sweet and Lowrer-est." "Pour Five Six,'-' a spicier edition of "One Two Three," ,had the ill fortune to lose „ ....^ „,„^.v K^„„„ I,,,; "^^le lead, Sonnie Hale, who , only other boxoflice leaders but i ^^^ *^^'''*^''1 on eve of opening and ! fooling anybody with this kind of while RKO's "Notorious" ' (last I by Bobby Howes; then as i chatter year's b.o. winner) totalized $42,000 1 ^"O" go* going, sister Binnie ]; and $40,000 in its respective Rome | Hale was also hospitalized and out —- A...f...,u„ and Milan firstruns. the cast for many weeks. Speaking on the Austral an ; , . —5—5 r Contributions to the straight Broadcasting Bill, Prime Minister i Other Imports So-So | p]„y jjgt included Terence Ratti- Other American imports did so- | gan's dual "Playbill," consisting of so, and even worse, among them, | "The Browning Version" and "Har- lequinade;" which, proved an un- qualified: .SU:ecess from the start, giving Mary Ellis and Eric Port-, man two strongly contra-sting roles. 1 ever figured on any other system , I J. B, Priestley, whose last year's of control. Fort Apache,'' WB's"Treasure of [ success, "The Linden Tree," car-1 Prime Minister went on to say films such as M-G's "The State of the Union," "Green Dolphin Street" and "Cass Timberlane," 20th's "The Ghost and Mrs; Muir" and "The Foxes of Harrow," RKO's | J. B BBC Pattern Ben J; Chifley declared he did not ' think radio should ever have been 1 allowed to get out of the govern- I ment's control. Said: that the BBC I was completely government-owned and no British government had When questioned why the gov- ernment would not grant an okay to commercials to use frequency modulation or television in opposi'* tion to the non-commercial and semi-governmental controlled Aus- tralian Broadcasting Commission, Chifley said that both FM and video belonged to the people^ and the government represented the people, thus the government of the day was ju.stified in reserving the right to these new developments in the entertainment field. He went on to .say that minor radio stations realized they would be driven out of business if great monopolies controlled FM and video. All „af,_which makes the 1949 radio picture even more gloomy tor the commercials. Unshackling Radio 1 iSierra Madre," Par's .''Aloma of the i ried over for half the current year, . South Seas." | failed to ring the bell with "Home , 1 The beginning of the season has \ Is Tomorrow," being more of a ! been, for the home pix, an. unin- - treatise than a: play, and it folded I terrulited series, of flops. Only 1 after five weeks. An unusual'ex- exception was Lux's '^Street Hero," perience for its star, Leslie Banks. I which isn't a great film but a quite , R. C. Shcrriff came back info the i amu.sing comedy. Univer.salcine's i field with "Miss Mabel," his first that the world was entering upon a new era of radio development which made a review of the whole situation necessary. In Australia a special board of control was: needed, comprised mainly of govr ernmental officials, including a Treasury topper, with a govern- I "Under the Sun of Rome," one of 1 play in 12 years, and it gives every . ment spokesman in the top seat, the best things ever made here; I indication of a healthy run. | Questioned on what was planned did strongly in Rome but mildly | The Old Vic had its least pros-■ for Aussie radio in the new era elsewhere; Vittorio De Sica's "Bi-; perous season in many years, with! ahead, Chifley pointed out that the cycle'Thieves" is doing rather well j "The Way of the World," "Doctor j present commercial system of air- here but the reports from the other i J'austus" and "Twelfth Night," the ing patent-medicine splurges did key cities, are discouraging. Played | company being headed by Alec , not tend to make for very good in a sureseater, the Rivoli, the i Guinness, Cedric Hardwicke and I broadcasting. With those remarks , _ Roberto Rossellini-Anna Magnani | FaHh Brook, but jcompensation was : coming from the Aussie nation's i a major share of the $4 license fe« Love," was a mere success of i P™vided at the end of their en-j chief spokesman, and issued in ] charged the local fans for yearlf Throughout '48 politicos Down Under have been stressing the need to "unshackle" radio from the clutches of major newspapers, which they claim control 62% of local commercial setups. Politicos also claim that soapers practically control the major air time over the ace commercials, making it tough for other sponsors to get best air dates. Politicos' allega^ tions: are denied by the commer-' tials. Top commercial execs point out that the Aussie commercial stations have an 80% listener cov- erage, made possible only by play- ing topline entertainment. Throughout 1949 the Aussie gov- ; ernment will sponsor tKe non- commercial Australian Broadcast- ing Commission from Treasury coffers. Up to '48 the ABC took Pic, curiosity^ I gagememt by the addition to the I Parliament House, commercial op- > listening.