Variety (August 1950)

18 picroiES Variety Wednesday, August 9, 1950 Dual Censorship Expected to Bring Pre-Production Code in Argentina Argentine Pact Continued from page 7 Buenos Aires, Aug. 8. + Argentine filmmakers are begin- ning to howl over the dual censor- ship policy on native-made pictures. A move is currently under way for a unification of censorship, possibly to be exercised by the film industry itself. Local producers are hoping they will soon be able to meet with back after confabs between Dr. j Ramon Cereijo, Argentine Finance Minister, and Eric Johnston, MPAA prez. Cereijo took the agreement back to B. A. with him but reams of red tape then held back the issuance of any licenses. Argentine government a few weeks RCA’s THEATRE TV IN TEST AFTER DELAY.. . .. „ , . : back proposed two changes which After another week s delay in j would restrict the accord to Ameri- can-made pix orily and bar invest- ment of frozen coin in theatres. delivery of equipment, RCA's new theatre television projection unit is scheduled for testing tomorrow (Thurs.) or Friday at the Fox the authorities and submit a plan [ Movietone studios, N. Y. If the demonstration, which will be at- tended only by 20th and RCA i execs, is successful, it’s believed on for voluntary self-censorship pix while they are still in the blue- print stage. Once a picture has j 20th will go ahead with its plans been given a general okay under for setting up a chain of 22 Tox- ^ i West Coast houses connected for that plan no one would be able to . thMtPft TV fhi s v(»ar. interfere with its exhibition in any part of the country. (This is pat- Inside Staff—Pictures All-out plug was handed to 20th-Fox*s “No Way Out” this week by Walter White, head of the National Assn, for the Advancement of Colored People, in a bylined editorial designed for syndication to the Negro press. Terming "No Way” a “nerve-tinglihg picture of what race hatred does to otherwise reasonably normal human beings,” White declared: “It is for this reason that ‘No Way Out,* if Hollywood Oscars and critics’ awards have any meaning at all, ought to receive every prize for excellence and courage bestowed in 1950 on films. Nice Nellies and Caspar Milquetoasts won’t like it. They will torture their scared little egos to rationalize the discomfort the picture causes them, meanwhile hanging on precariously to their beliefs in themselves as ‘liberals.’ As for the troglodyte racists, they won’t go to see it at all.” terned after the MPA code set-up in U. S.). At present there’s one type of censorship for Buenos Aires and theatre TV later this year. Test run had been scheduled originally for early July but has been delayed through difficulties in obtaining the correct reflector lens for the unit. First one that came in had been incorrectly ground and a second one was dam- another which works independent- j aged in shipment. Lens is said not ly in each of the 14 provinces and j to entail any unsolvable technical 10 territories. Here th» city cen- sorship is dual with both the En- tertainment Board and the Munici- pal Police Dept. wielding blue pen- cils. The former for political rea- sons and the latter for so-called '‘moral” considerations. However, this “moral” censorship is often in- fluenced by the political angle. In the provinces and territories cen- sorship of films is exercized by in- dividual municipal bodies, fre- quently with considerable needling from the Roman Catholic Church, although the latter influence is likely to be negligible now that relations between the Peron regime and the Church are no longer harmonious. * The lack of uniform policy was made evident this past winter when the Buenos Aires Municipal Police banned the exhibition of the French-made “Manon,” although it had been given the,green light by the Entertainment Board. Far from doing the pic, which had been ac- claimed the best film of 1949 at the Venice Film Festival, any harm, the ban only served to stimulate public interest and large numbers of theatregoers from this city crossed the state line to view the picture in the provincial suburb of Avellaneda which is not governed by Buenos Aires city law. This situation drew loud beefs from Buenos Aires exhibitors resulting in a huddle between the city police here and their colleagues in Avel- laneda, who agreed fo follow the Buenos Aires line in the future. problems. McDonald Potshots Halpern’s Estimate Of Phonevision Coin Chicago, Aug. 8. Comdr. Eugene F. McDonald, Ze- nith Radio Corp. prexy, charged j climax Nathan Both amendments were promptly accepted. 1 Long-time campaign of Allied and other exhib association^ to keep Ambassador Griffis has pointed Confidential Reports, Inc. r from using hometown people for, checking out that the next move lies with Hocal theatres was pointed up this week by the following paragraph in the Argentine government. In * a bulletin of the Associated Theatre Owners of Indiana under the head- - *• ------ ----• - ji ing “Public Reports Incorporated”: “In Iowa a local checker who had been checking his hometown the- atre for ‘Confidential’ Reports, Inc., was appointed assessor and doubled the valuation On the theatre property. The exhibitor appealed the doubled valuation but at the Tax Board hearing the assessor (the CRI agent) testified that he knew the exhibitor could afford the increase | because he had been checking the theatre and knew what business he was doing.” view of continued hurdles raised by the "Latino country, it is still a question whether the agreement will really be carried out or if it’s just another reprise on an old theme. Yank pix have been barred from the Argentine for the past] two years. United major to with the UA Releases 4 Buenos Aires, Aug. 1. Artists, only American make a separate deal Argentine government, has released four films. Company’s Responsibility for Hollywood’s reputation "as a hotbed of sin and vice” is placed on the Hollywood films and attitudes of the 1920s and ’30s in the September issue of Modem Screen. In an eight-page piece by Lloyd Shearer, the fan mag says that the scandals of Hollywood’s early years “have firmly left their influence in the mind of the 1950 public.” Mag defends Hollywood today, declaring that crime incidence j is lower than that of other cities, and says “there is probably less sex- agreement permits it to import 17 j ual activity among actors and actresses as a group than many others.” films as a “capital investment.” j Article traces scandals, and says: “Compared to the screen colony of * _ _• _ - . A. 1 1 TT -11: . . 1 A 1 t « in * • A . « . this special deal does it the right to remit However, not give dollars. UA releases to hit the theatres are “The Big Wheel,” “Outpost in Morocco,” “Africa Screams” and “A Kiss for Corliss.” These films the 1920s, Hollywood, today, ’is as pure as Eden before the snake walked in, and its actors and actresses are unfairly libelled by the immoral behavior of their predecessors.” Convenient yardsick for checking improvements of drive-ins has been distributed by the Indiana State Board of Tax Commissioners to all county and township assessors. Board, according to the current bulle- have* been* something of an anti- ! the Associated Theatre Owners, breaks down ozoners into four because Argentine film-; categories. Type “A,” the highest grade drive-in, rates an average per- L Halpern theatre TV j goers have waited so long for ■ jar assessment of $35. Bite is gradually reduced down to the Type “D” 'strong Hollywood material, it has 1 fresh-airer, whose per-car assessment ranges from $16 to $25. These come as a disappointment that the j figures, bulletin states, are a result of a state-wide survey and confer- .. . . « • . • « I DTI rOO 1IM t Vi TVI on If Alltel AAT* tVl O o f consultant to the Theatre Owners of America, of “indulging in wish- ful thinking” in holding that film ^ rn* » rentals occruine from Phonevision ! Auctions such as The Snake Pit, nwliiu *l™ + l^ “The Window” or “I Was a Male first should not have been pro- Few Theatres Continued from page 3 there be prevented the renaissance of the huge combine that led Ger- many into establishing the world’s first quotas and other restrictions to stifle international film trade. The $200,000,000 empire in- cludes, in addition to the 40 first- run theatres and three giant stu- dios, a motion picture equipment company, a distributing service, copying laboratories, music-pub- lishing, synchronizing and patent- holding companies and rights to several hundred prewar pictures. They’ll be sold to the highest quali- fied bidder, but “no person may purchase, directly or indirectly, more than one studio or more than three theatres.” Under the rules, the largest of the UFA studios, the Bavarian Film Kunst in Munich, with nearly 50% of West Germany’s feature film production capacity, may be sold to one owner but this owner is to be barred from holding an in- terest in any other West Germany studio. Qualified bidders are all persons except governments, political part- ies,. "government officials or em- ployees, persons barred under the various provisions of the denazifi- cation law and, in the case of studios, any person who held a major position in the government- controlled film industry during the years preceding May 8, 1945. Net proceeds of liquidation after settlement Of claims and obliga- tions will go to the federal repub- lic. Interests of minority stock- holders will be safeguarded,- ac- cording to the announcement. En- tire transaction is to be completed by Jap. 1, 1952. would not average more than $250,000 per pic. Halpern made the estimate in a speech July 28 before the Southern California Theatre Owrners Assn. McDonald, in a statement last wreck in reply to Halpern, called the estimate a “ridiculously low figure” made without the benefit of the “extensive survey which Zenith has conducted ... to deter- mine to what extent the public is willing to pay for high-class tele- vision entertainment such as Class A movies in the home.” TO A exec declared in his speech j that figure had been arrived at af- ter researctu.based on nationwide Phonevision operation. Zenith is still of the opinion, according to McDonald, that film producers’ revenue ultimately to result from the pay-as-you-see vi- deo system will “far exceed the total boxoffice of all the motion picture theatres in the U. S.” “Phonevision is not a threat to the motion # picture theatres,” Ze- nith exec said. “The threat is that of the present type conventional television. Phonevision, on the other hand, if it should be approv- War Bride,” such as they have been hearing and reading about. \ ences with many outdoor theatre owners. Deluxe spots, it’s pointed out, have a life expectancy of 25 years while low-cost theatres have only a theoretical 15 years. Best Sauge °T the dramatic impact on an audience in a film house is As a result of~its"Iining up" of I amount of popcorn and other concession edibles consumed during UA releases the Lococo circuit | the runnin g time of the picture. That is the opinion of Robert Stillman, has adopted a new system of ex- ploitation in first-run houses. This system allows for four sections , on week days and five on Saturdays and Sundays.. Last three sections of each day allow for the sale of numbered seats which can be re-! who ruled that no cards would be distributed among the customers for the sneak preview of his “Sound of Fury.” Preview cards, Stillman explained, turn film fans into self-conscious critics and do not form an accurate barometer of their feelings. If they stop eating during a picture, he says, it must be an absorbing story. Metro is venturing into the great outdoors in a spectacular way. with served in advance from one day a flock of °P en air Productions to follow “King Solomon’s Mines” and to’another. VanCC oay | ^Kim," recently completed. Currently in work are "Quo Vadis” and Yank Gains Continued from page 3 Across the Wide Missouri,” both huge projects calling for exterior shooting. Other outdoor films in the offing are “Running of the Tide,” “Ivanhoe,” “Soldiers Three,” “Scaramouche” and “The Plymouth Ad- venture.” Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder have been requested by the Para- ~ a **in fho lim I mount homeoffice to suggest a new and happy ending for “Sunset pensation deals in which the 1 , ( Boulevard.*’ Original version is highly acceptable in first-run situa- tions in big cities, but the biggies are worried about its reception in the neighborhood houses and rural districts, where the customers prefer films that end in a clinch instead of manslaughter. peso, franc, etc., were traded for goods or services. In this respect, the majors were really cashing in on earnings of previous years. Nonetheless, through improved ------ . -. - ori/ i 1 RKO’s “Best of the Bad Men,” originally slated to gallop in Gallup, fiscal status^ m some countries and iN.'M,, has been detoured to Kanab, Utah, where the great open spaces a continuation of^ windfalls via j are not so cr0 vvded. When RKO’s location scouts landed in Gallup they ran into a celluloid traffic jam, with five troupes shooting “Rocky Mountain,” “Santa Fe,” “Ace in the Hole,” “New Mexico” and “Sound of Fury.” compensation pacts, the dollar totals are still at a sound level. Year of ’49 was the first In which the postwar decline in grosses and dollars was halted. Now it seems Twenty collegiate football players are working in Columbia's “The .. . certain that 1950 will at least hold t Hero” without a word of publicity, through an agreement between the ed and put into commercial use, the gains made in the previous studio and the athletic authorities at USC and UCLA. Faculties of will provide the revenue to the | yea r. In view of the just-approved j both universities asked that the names of the players be suppressed to accord with the British under prevent critics from accusing the athletes of professionalism, which the companies will prob- „ ably take $21,000,000 in dollars Understood J. Arthur Rank is talking a deal with Wynn Rocamora, rather than the previous ( Dorothy Lamour’s agent, to star her in the London production of $17,000,000, the chances are re- j “Rain.” Currently Rank is negotiating with Mary Pickford, owner of garded good for the dollar totals ; the film rights, for shooting next winter, to go ahead of the first six months ' motion picture producers which ordinary television is taking away from them.” SEP Commie Yarn Bought by Warners Hollywood, Aug. 8. Satevepost’s “I Posed as a Com- munist for the FBI,” by Matt Cvetie and Pete Martin, unveiling form- er’s activities in commie party while working as FBI undercov- er agent, has been bought by Warners for immediate production. Jack L. Warner described film as “in tradition of WB’s ‘Confes- sions of a Nazi Spy’.” U Troupe Converges during the balance of the year. Specifically, film business has shown improvement in England, France, Italy and a number of other . countries on the Continent. More coin will also be. derived from Japan and Germany while the Argentine, long a zero mark in company ledgers, will show a RKO-Brandt Up to Lawyers Continued from page 3 Universal execs and players are converging on Chicago Friday (11) for the world preem of “Louisa” at the Chicago theatre, Loop first- run. Charles Simonelli, U’s ex- ploitation chief, and actor Charles Coburn pull in from New York. Ronald Reagan, Ruth Hussey, 1 Spring Byington, Edmund Gwenn and Piper Laurie are trekking from the Coast, After pulling a number of bally wise, xve can’t expect anyone to, attorney, acknowledged that he put up all his money when he: had started negotiations looking hasn't got the item he is purehas- i * oward Purchase of Hughes’ pro- ll’TfiTXf* retUln f ° r the i‘ n S i » ha “ d - buf^afl Z Business improvement in tlie tUally an y lhin 6 to »ve them be-:(leal was still in the "embryonic" Eurouean countries is attributed fore Jan * 1 or 2 * That means more stage, Dietrich and Green met generally to'gradual recovei’y^roni: warranties.” Hast Friday (4) to talk further on the economic fraying which these | Dietrich stressed that if these sectors took during World War. details could be worked out byl21 nnw a . II. Recovery is evidenced both by the attorneys there was absolutely ! „ | 0 nyw S 1 anfl better b.o. performances as well as nothing standing in the way of the j m g U01 * 18 umiKeiy. by an easing of restrictions of pix ' Brandt group’s taking | it, but indications from the Coast \ are that Hughes is not interested so consum- _ o Milton C. Weisman, attorney for imports and dollar remittances, j Hughes’ approximately 929.000 i ^e Brandt group, and Tom Slack over of Hughes counsel, continued efforts yesterday to work out their prob- Further improvement is seen in the shares in the chain. He said that •increased purchasing abroad which Hughes was perfectly satisfied - . . _ the U.S. will push through to build with the availability of the coin I l e ms. Deal involves In excess of up its military machinery. and all the financial aspects of' $7,000,000 and wpuld mean con- Gains film-wise have not been the deal. j solidation of the RKO chain with evidenced uniformly. Important! RKO board chairman asserted s^ 16 f 4 houses of the Trans-Lux markets such as Australia, New . that his presence was no longer i circuit, which is headed by Brandt. India and tlic Philin. ’ in Wpim 'Ynrb’ nn tlm noern. Pinanoinfr id Vioin ri ViAtwilod hv A Zealand, India and the .Philip-‘ required in New York on the nego-I Financing is being handled by a pines have slipped in the past six i tiations. He said he was staying [bond issue which Would be floated months. But the improvement over on other matters and was un- I by Kuhn, Loeb & Co. Dietrich has stunts in the Windy City and mak-! elsewhere has been strong enough i determined on when he’d return‘had a number of talks with Elisha ing personal appearances, star to overcome the drop registered ■ to the Coast. , Walker, of the Wall street firm, troupe will visit 26 key cities for mainly in the Far East and Down! Meantime. L. Lawrence Greenland has apparently been satisfied Under, j former RKO board member and as to its plans for the financing. stage stints and interview’s.