Variety (Jan 1949)

20 PICTmES New Faces Get Buildup 'Continued from pac* 11 tention by the ttudlog to star buildups. They want to use their own stars rather than go out and hire Independent players, because it answers the demand for eeono- iny. Furthermore, by owning, a star with definite marquee attraction, a lot has at hand a continuing value, instead of merely contributing to the buildup of an indie player if the pie in which he or she appears ; tuvns out particularly successful- . Producers in the past have al- ways aimed to put name players in their films as far as possible fts b.o. insurance. Failure in recent years of many of these insurance policies" to pay off has created a much greater willingness to experi- ment with the use of comparative tyros. ]Neverthelei5S, whatever the ac- tual marquete value of some of Hol^ lywood's name players, there need be no expectation that they are going to do any quick disappear- ance from films. Well-known names,^ no matter hoW'feeble they have- proved themselves recently at the b.o., are still In demand by'exhibs. Theatremen, despite ex- pefiencev retain a traditional faith in names that Is not shared by much of Hollywood, but forces pro- ducers to acquiesce in part In or- der to get better terms for their films. Hollywoodites are burned at ex- hibs because of the constant call from the field for new faces and the theatremen's refusal to coop- erate in developing them. Now, the studios are determined to go ahead with development of the novices, taking advantage of the urge for economy. Lack of Names . Lack of a sufficient number of name players at the' moment, beT cause of failure of studios to build their own stars during the lush war : and postwar era, is thought, to be one of the current difficulties at the b.o. Independent stars failed to guide their own destinies with the same skill and publicity at- tention that major companies are able to give, it is claimed. The new faces of 1949, as a re- eult; will find that they are being carefully cast in a series of break- . in roles to familiarize them with techniques and familiarize audi- ences with them. Then, if things: gO; according to schedule, they will be htoded the best possible part • the studio can contrive : to' goek them across as meaningful name players. Word of Hollywood's determina- tion to make this the year of the newcomer came from top talent execs on both coasts. Not only young players, but new directors, too.r wiU find their opportunity this year, it was suggested. ."We can't go on forever using top-salaried stars who: no longer •mnah a thing at the" boxoffice," Arthur Willi, RKO talent chief, de- clared. "The public is just not buying some of the established names and we must come through with' new ones. ; "Although when you figure a couple of stars and a director with only moderate pull may start a film off with a ."peOO.OOO nut, economy seems the big reason for shifting to new talent, it's not the only reason. I wouldn't say the change in tactics is economy so much as common sense. If the public doesn't buy what you have, you change to something else." William Mayberry, 20th-Fox cast- ing director, currently in New York, confirmed his studio's switch to greater emphasis on building up young players. "We're sponsor- Int; many new people," he ex- : piflined,; "and are- trying to bring along some of the youngsters in every picture . we make. I. think: every studio is trying to do the same thing. Lots of the older peo- ple, whose^ salaries have skyrock- eted, don't mean an iota at the boxoffice and we're attempting to , fiolve'that by developing new stars with genuine marquee .appeal." Metro's Sidney Phillips echoed his.colleagues. "It stands to reason that any business, such as ours, that is constantly repeating .Itself because of its very nature, devours talent rapidly. The established peo* pie are not getting any fresher and you can't east the same player in every picture.- So we're trying in every possible way to develop younger talent and this should be « great year for the newcomers. That applies not only to players, but to directors, designers, writers Wedne«day, January. ,26, 1949 Metro Mulls 4th Pic, For Foreign Sctedule and everyone right down the lihe." : Boris Kaplan, Faramount's east- ern talent topper, feels that the tyros seldom have had the oppor- tunity that faces them during 1949. He emphasized, however; that the demands are much more rigorous and the efforts of the Studios won't be scattered over so many youth- ful players as in the past. "There will be fewer young actors and actresses selected for term contracts," he explained. "Howevei, those who are chosen will have the best opportunity ever afforded contract , people. There will be fewer of them on the lot for producers and directors to choose from, so there will be great- er chance for selection. And those who go into pictures will bave roles carefully tailored to build them." Careers Nipped Early Performers who don't make the grade in the first year or so will find their careers nipped, if the: present pressure for economy con- tinues. Their six-month option contracts will undoubtedly contain clauses upping their weekly take each time the ticket is renewed. If a player means nothing at the end of a year, when his salary .lumps from perhaps $200 a week to $300, he'll be sacrificed in fa- vor of a newcomer to save the ftvh dio that extra $100 a week-T-$5,00{) a year. The pretty face and trim figure are no longer sufficient for the tal- ent scout. Studios are'adding very few players to their lists—and then only when they have; specific i>arts for them-^so the talent hunters can be ruthless In weeding out all but the best bets. With a- first-class screen test in New York for a po- tential player costing a major any- where from $1,000 to $1,500, that's a further factor to discourage even looking at any but the most prom- ising youngsters. . Talent departments, under the economy lash, are being forced to restrict themselves more and more to Broadway in their search for stellar material. There's not the mad rush to Oshkosh on a mere word that there's a promising boy or girl there. Instead, distribu- tion department execs In the area are asked to'have a look. If they report favorably, the potential Hol- ly woodian is asked to come to New York , when he or she can. Even out-of-town legit openings are not being covered regularly. Only the most highly-touted shows are viewed by the talent depart- ment Daniel Boones prior to their Broadway preems. It has beeJi found that the out-of-town catch- Ings don't pay, since a player who attracts any attention invariably promptly gets himself an agent. And a 10%-er, if there's any de^. mand for his player, won't sign a pact, anyway, until the show opens in New York, since the starting salary may be doubled or tripled by good reaction from critics and. opening night audiences. Hollywood, Jan. 25. Metro Is eyeing pic-making situ- ation in France with view toward making an original, "Paris," there late this summer. If plans material- ize it would be fourth pic on Metro's foreign slate, others being "Conspirator," now lensing in Eng- land; sequel to "Mrs. Miniver," and "Quo Vadis," which may be done in Italy, England or both. Harry Henigsen, recently Inked as company manager for "Quo," will go abroad shortly to study situation. S. Africa Trek Continued from page 5 s Currency Reform Continued from pate U Film, who also handle most of the Austrian product. The bulk of the other distrbutors are distribuing, in addition to their few new pic- tures, mainly old German produc- tion. In the American zone, Allge- meiner Filmverlelh «till handles a large part 'of former Nazi product. Four'Produots In Berlin There are 4,919 theatres playing in the whole of Germany, with a seating capacity of 1,676,744. American zone has 1,243 theatres, Darnell, Andy Russell Charge Agent With Fraud Los Angeles, Jan. 25. Andy Russell and Linda Dar- nell filed charges of fraud in su- perior court against Cy Tannei: Hollywood tax counsellor aiid ac- tor's ag.ent. Complaints declare he nicked Russell for $12,000 and Miss Dar- nell for $7,250 through income tax manipulations. Continued from page 1 on the reason for the "inadvisa- bility," bvt it is believed there are two possible explanations. Cbange in Govt. One is that these may be a change in the South African- gov- ernment shortly and so there is no point in sending a delegation to negotiate with officials who may soon be out of office. Other reason niay be that Joseph Seidelman, Universal foreign manager, who: is already on the scene, or U. S. Em- bassy: execs, have learned that there is no possibility of working any change in the regulations. . American companies were par- ticularly anxious to establish Hieir own identities for" the purposes of the 50% limitations, even if they couldn't change the overall figure. Restrictions are based on what an importer brought in in 1947. RKO, under this deal, is in "the worst position, since it was operating through the Schlesinger interest and had no setup of its own in 1947. It therefoiie hamo standing and can't bring in any product, ex- cept by the grace of 20th-Fox, to Which it switched its distribution in South Africa last year^ A number of other companies have continued to operate through :Schiesinger and so he,' as the im- porter, has full control of what company's pictures he chooses to bring in under the 50% restriction. Only Metro, 20th, and United Art- ists have their own offiice%^and are so completely independent<in get- ting out the 50% allowed. with 477,321 seating capacity; Brit- ish zone has 1,190, with 501,3211 4,^3^ ^y^ji ^ market for films- seats; French zone has 391, with | f^r them—it will 142,801 seats, and Russian zone has j Nearly leave plenty of place for 1,695, with 555,214 seats. ! the studios. As a matter of fact The Berlin situation is unique and unparalleled. It is the only city in Germany where Germans can compare the product of all four occupying nations.- Competition is free for'"western product, with re- strictions in the Russian sector and for Russian pictures in the western sectors, but since every Berliner can move around in Berlin, he can choose what pictures he .likes to see, Berlin Is also the only city where admission price is paid In two dif- ferent currencies, east-marks and westrm3rks, of which the east-mark is worth only about one-fourth of of course, Hollywood's futuie would be assured. On the other hand, the Paley estimate is likewise a reason for perplexity because studio toppers recognize their responsibility to theatre operators. They have no desire to risk exhibitor ire by turn- ing the majority of their produc- tive facilities or talents to a com- peting media. If their profits are to lie in filmSr they prefer to keep them there. . Leo Spitz, who with William Goetz heads the production end of UniversaHnternational, sees the vying between theatres and T'V for the west-mark. In the Russian .sec-| film merely as a competitive op- 20th Pacts Schlesinj^er Cape Town, Jan, 14. Deal has now been signed by 20th-Fox, on behalf of its own product and RKO; for Schlesinger organization to handle representa- tl(m and distribution in all centers where at present not represented. This virtually means that after many years of independent han- dling, 20th, like Metro and other companies, finds Schlesinger distri- bution with number , of houses owned and eschibitors tied up, most effective. ' Par Video Continued from page 1 aging director, Robert Weitman, a check showed that at least 1,000 more people paid their way into the house from 11 a.m. to noon Thursday, when the President's actual oathrtalking: was .televised, than,: eame in the previous day. Weitman pointed out that Wednes- day is traditionally a better day at the boxoffice than Thursday, so the added crowd could be at- tributed directly to theatre TV. The Paramount also carried about 20 minutes of the gala cele- bration from Washington Wednes- day, night, plus about 25 minutes of th^ pickup from the 'President's Ball Thursday night. .Since the house was fuU both nights, it was impossible', to- determine -how much of the biz' was due to the added lure of watching the cele- brations as they happened. Audi- ence at all three showiftgs dis- played considerable interest, with no walkouts. Par used its intermediate'film method for the pickups, transcrib- ing the tele images on film off a specially-processed receiving tube, and then flashing the film onto the regular theatre screen. ■ Prints? of the film were flown to KTLA, Par's tele station in Los: Angeles, both Wednesday and Thursday nights, thereby giving the outlet a chance to scoop other Coast stations with the pictures. $53,000,000 Net sz Continued from pate S n first nine months, U showed a red- ink total of $1,709,807. Weighting the entire industry take are also big-scale writeoffs by RKO in preparation for its splltup into two separate companies. It is understood that RKO will show less than a $2,000,000 net for the year. In its third quarter, the com- pany anticipated losses to the ex- tent of $3,560,129 to bring its over- all nine-month statement to a loss of $356,024. RKO's distrib wing was $4,000,- 000 behind the break-even point in October. Company's theatre chain is about 20% off and is expected to turn up a $7,000,000 profit be- fore taxes. Equivalent figure last year was $9,000,000. Policy of wiping off losses dur- ing 1948 and facing 1949 with a cle^n slate reflects In final nets re- ported by other majors. Warner Bros , for instance, wound up with $11,837,000 profit for the year with Its final quarter held by writeoffs to $1,516,000 against close to $3,- 000,000 for the equivalent stretch of '47. Metro Is another Instance. Its final profit was a disappointing $5,309,659' for the year with the last-quarter take held to $580,000. Unless llth-hour writeoffs bite sharply into Paramount and 20th- Fox profits, those two companies will head the majors. Par's esti- mated year's net is $26,000,000 with the company already report- ing $20,015,000 for three quarters. Twentieth now looks like $12,000,- 000. Its three-quarter report hit $9,119,613. tor only east-marks are accepted, but in the western sectors some theatres accept admission on a 50/ 50 basis or sell some .price cater gories for ; west-marks only, and others for east-marks.- Rentals are paid generally 50/50 in both cur- rencies to the distributor. Bagnall-Nassour Continued from page 4 portunity for the studios wliich they can't afford to miss. : "If television looms and wants our product,'' Spitz says, "then ex- hibitors will have to bid against the broadcasters for it. If the films are worth more to T'V than they are to theatres, the plain eco- nomic facts are that , television is - going to get them. Whether we ; like it or not; the studios will be up'against an or-else situation." What's worrying studio execs at ; the moment is just how tar they set terms even tougher than the 1 should go now in answering the call-of the Lorelei. Paley, John Royal, Sid Strotz and other top- radio-video figures are here mak- ing an almost constant pitch for the release of film and top name personalities for video; What the studios are pondering is shall they, turn these requests away and per- haps risk giving up a good thing for the future, of play ball with the video people and risk strong exhib reaction? Of one think there is no doubt, and that is that TV is the current Hollywood bogey. A visitor here from New York can hardly move in top exec circles without get- ting the query:"Is it true that everybody is home . on Tuesday nights" watching Milton Berle?" Answer, of course, Is that a lot of people' are home viewing Berle, but whether that will go on or fade,. and 'What' its effect may ^be :on> films, is anyone's surmise. banks, and getting second-money and completion guarantees would continue as difficult as now. Anoth- er point "was the lack of desire to get the Government into films, with possible dictation of picture content. Third coin-raising alternative which appears dead was to have Miss Pickford and Chaplin, both of whom'are independently wealthy, each put perhaps $1,000,000 of their own money into a production fund. This had been suggested by banking and other money sources, which didn't see why outsiders should be asked to invest if the owners themselves wouldn't risk coin. - , ■ Although directors and manager ment knew there was virtually no chance of Miss Pickford and Chap- lin accepting this bait, it was men- tioned as an alternative in. an at- tempt- to cover every possibility.. Actually, there has been no con- crete indication that the owners won't accept such a scheme, since there was no vote or formal deci- sion on any of the. suggestions. They were all taken under advise- ment. Schemes Informally Talked Ideas were informally discussed by directors, management and at- I tomeys during the week following {the session with the stockholders i Monday (17) and further discussed at a special board meeting in New York yesterday (Tuesday). The stockholders' assembly was ad- _ „ journed sine die (subject to call). 1 was that company toppers thought One of the principal outcomes of I it inadvisable to give further the Coast conclave—Although there | publicity to Intra-industry piob- have been no tangible results soMems, Secondly, exhib organizar far—was said, to have been to I tlons, which had been invited, "shock" the owners into realiza-| were planning a series of verbal tlon of the urgency of UA's obtain-1 brickbats to hurl at producers, and Ing funds so that it can be assured | the MPAA board thought it would of a continuing supply, of its life- 1 cause the meetings to boomerang blood-^product. Miss Pickford and 1 on the original purpose of coopera- Chaplln had been frequently given ; tively solving industry problems, such "tough talk" before by prexy ] Grad Sears, but were said to have Coast Meet Continued from page 3 ss day) and will be there about a week. He'll huddle individually with productioin chiefs; Joseph M. Schenck, 20th-Pox production exec, returns to his desk today after attending the Miami function and meetings in New York. It's be- lieved his arrival Is timed to coin- I cide with that of Johnston, j All-industry sessions were called I off for a variety of reasons. One been considerably Impressed when the four directors. In a 25rminute report read to them by Mills, laid it on the line. It was emphasized at the meet- ing that UA was in no financial difficulties at the moment and had, as a matter of fact, been operating In the black since September as a result of. operational economies and the excellent grosses racked up by VRed River." UA Is in no danger whatsoever of folding, since it could continue to get Along by Improvising, as it has done in the past. Point was driven home, however, that for a strong and healthy future, the improvisation must give way to a program for Par Defines Continued from' pag« 1 studio following reports Crosby would face CBS cameras next sea- son and that Hope is being sought by the network for a back-to-baek arrangementi ,• Paramount objects only to kme- scoping of programs. Tele rights in contracts apply only to live dupli- cation of radio shows. Studio has right of rejection should it be hew that filming Is competitive to Far* Pix. „j Hope's pact was inked three ano half years ago, when video was s.»v w . rxvs*<>"> just a gleam in an engineer s getting about 14 real A pix yearly. [New Crosby, deal was signed si* fo]( tite company. Imonths ago.