Variety (August 29, 1951)

ffdiiradaf, August 29, 1951 ACCENTUATING THE NEGATIVE Brit Producers Won’t Slant for U.S. j SUCCESS STORIES Increased Fee No Bar to Theatre TV; Market Since TV Is Glad to Get ’Em Popularity of British pix on l S tele stations has completely revised the thinking of English producers regarding the American market. They’re now understood refusing to make any concessions l„ potential Yank theatre audi- ences in their production planning 0l i any but their biggest pix. Producers, led by J. Arthur R;mk and Sir Alexander Korda, fuve reportedly come to the con- clusion that their best hope for profits lies in (a) aiming strictly for the British home market and ilv selling their lesser pix directly to American TV distribs. They have arrived at the belief that slanting product for the Yank market, as they started to do in the early postwar years, leads to -nom- ine hut deficits on both sides”of the Atlantic. It detracts from the value for the home territory and it Mill fails to dent the American theatre market. Fortunately, the English film- makers have discovered, either American tele audiences are more willing to accept British pix in a strictly British idiom, or TV sta- tions are so hungry' for film prod- uct that they’re not fussy. In any ca»e. the British thentre-tf* S. tele parlay has been found to be profit- able tor those pix on which budg- et' ate held to a minimum. One of the difficulties Rank. Korda and other London film- makers faced in trying to crack the l S. market after the war, was that these attempts cost extra money in a variety of ways. First w.o the diminution of home mar- < Continued on page 14> Modern Museum, N.Y., Sets 12-Week Cycle of Pix On Films and Film-Making Twelve-week cycle of pix about films, film-makers and film-making i' being prepared by the Museum ot Modern Art, N. Y. t for late 1952. It will be labeled “Through the I. (Hiking Glass'* and start with ‘A Vitagraph Romance.” a two- reeler dating back to 1913. Among the pix which will be shown are “Sunset Boulevard. 1 * “A Star Is Born.” “Merton of the Movies," the March of Time’s 1939 subject, “Movies March On.” and the series of industry public re- lations shorts made a couple years »?o to show the tasks of directors, producers, set designers, camera- men and other Hollywood workers. The cycle is being assembled by Richard Griffith, assistant curator oi the Museum’s film library. He i< now seeking permission from Douglas Fairbanks. Jr.. Colleen Moore, Gloria Swanson and others l«»r use of footage they own on parties and other informal occa- sions in Hollywood. These pix yere not made for public view- ing. but just for insiders “amuse- ment." Much of the footage was •hot with 16m cameras. 'nionf the latter is a two-reeler. 'The Private Life of Rudolph Valentino,” made at a party at Valentino's home. In it, the actor did a mock love scene with Pola •Vgri. It belongs to Manuel Keachi, Mexican film man, who shot it in h’e 20s when he was Mexican consul in Los Angeles and married to Agnes Ayres. Griffith is planning “Through the Looking Glass” to follow an Ernst I.ubitsch festival. Latter will comprise a series of pix made by the director and will commemorate t*'e fifth anniversary of hia death. A ‘Rose’ It a ‘Rose* “Broadway Rose”—modern version—may finally make the Hollywood grade. Columbia has registered the title with the Motion Picture Assn, of America. It won’t be “Rose’s” first trip to the screen, however. Metro released a pic under that label in 1922. IN EARLY BUYERS 1 ^11 Exhibs Pact for Sept. 12 Fight UA’s500G Debt For EL Buy May Stall Black Ink This Yr. United Artists* Indebtedness to Pathe Industries of $500,000. rep- resenting the purchase price for ils subsid. Eagle Lion Classics, may affect UA’s chances of winding up the current year in the black, dis- trib spokesman said this week. Important angle is that if the company does show a profit over the 52-week range. 50% of the stock now held in trust will become directly owned by prexy Arthur B. Krim and his associates in the operation. It was pointed out the $500,000 is not due for three years from last March, which was the time UA acquired ELC. However, if a year-to-year breakdown were re- quired. meaning a charge of one- third. or $166,500 for each of the three years, that item clearly would impair chances of lifting the dis- trib out of the red in this first year. This is mainly an accounting problem, but it’s believed the debt to Pathe will not figure into the proflts-loss statement for this year at all, and that it wifi be a consid- eration only upon the three-year maturity. While the UA toppers are elated with the financial progress the com- pany has been making, showing a profit for each of the past 12 weeks, they're still not certain the full year's operation will wind up on the profit side of the ledger. Losses of the early part of the year still are to be overcome. And, as one exec put it, the months ahead are going to be “tough.” Deal with co-owners Mary Pick- ford and Charles Chaplin provided for acquisition of 50% ownership by Krim and his partners, in .the event a profit is shown in any of the first three years with them at the helm of management. Acquisition of negatives of old— and not so old—pix has taken on a new emphasis in the past few weeks, with disclosures that they have become keystones of a num- ber of personal-fortunes during the past few years. Their value for television, of course, is what has put the new spotlight on these rights, but at least some of the coin derived from them has also come from theatrical reissue. Most startling of the success stories of those who had the vision to pick up old negatives before prices zoomed, is probably that of Eliot Hyman, who. with some bor- rowed backing, established Telin- vest. a corporation for buying up J rights, about four years ago. He recently sold his entire interest in i the company and its subsids for al-! most $1,250,000 after paying off his hackers. Hyman owned more than 500 negatives, lie disposed of them to the new outfit recently organized by Matty Fox—Motion Pictures for Television. Inc. As part of the deal. Hyman signed on as prexy of Fox's firm under a fat, longterm employment contract. TV Influence Another success story is that of Irvin Shapiro, foreign film dlutrib, who began to acquire negatives about three years ago. He set up Film Equities Corp. for the pur- pose. It and affiliated companies are now distributing the pix to TV and are showing heavy profits, as well as having appreciated the value of FE’s investment many times. Still another farsighted buyer was Joseph Auerbach. Czech refugee who came to the U. S. in 1941 after running the Elekta Studios in Prague. He bought up negatives or arranged loans to the owners for an interest in them. Most spectacular of the latter type (Continued on page 16) 120G Talent Piracy Sait Filed Against Agent Rose Los Angeles, Aug. 28. Helen Ainsworth. Hollywood •<*nt. filed suit for $120,000 in s ih*i lor Court against Harold Rose, charging him with inducing Co- Hnne Cajvet to break her agency contract. fM a»ntiff asks $20,000 rompensa- 101 and $100,000 punitive dam- age*. New UA Payoff System To Delay Producers, Though They’ll Likely Go Along United Artists has notified all producers releasing through the company, or their business reps, that in the future the indies will receive checks covering their share of film rentals at the rate of one per month, rather than the once-a- week settlement which has pre- vailed traditionally. Company runs about two to three weeks behind in squaring accounts with the producers. Settlement on Aug. 31, for example, might cover income chalked up during the week ended Aug. 18. Average UA distri- bution deal gives the ‘ producer about 70% .of the revenue from theatres after deduction of costs. Switch simply means the produ- , cer will wait much longer for the payoff. A couple of reps claim their pacts with UA direct that settle- ments be made on the weekly basis, but they are inclined to go along • on the new payoff system. Distrib claims the change was made to cut down on the costs and l complexities of Us bookkeeping. ‘Birth of Nation’ Hitting Texas Ozoners; Brother Of H. B. Walthall as Exhib Dallas, Aug. 28. “The Birth of a Nation” has ar- rived at the ozoners. The epic is to open here at the Lone Star Drive-In Sept. 2. Wallace Walthall, brother of the pic's “Little Colo- nel,” the late Henry B. Walthall, is scheduled to address the patrons through the loudspeaker system to the autos. The first drive-in showing was held early this month in Uvalde with Walthall also attending. Fol- lowing the showing, he was the guest of former Vice-President John Nance Garner. Walthall is a veteran film sales- man and district official in the local office of National Screen Service. He acquired territorial rights to the film and has been ac- tively engaged in showing it. GOLDING NAMED AD-PUB DIRECTOR FOR GOLDWYN David Golding, who resigned last month as 20th-Fox publicity man- ager. has been named ad-pub di- rector for Samuel Goldwyn Pro- ductions. prexy James A. Mulvey announced in N. Y. yesterday (Tues. >. He succeeds Sidney Gar- field. who on Sept. 10 switches to Columbia Broadcasting System where he’ll serve as director of exploitation for the radio network. In the new spot, Golding will have full rein over the department, both in N .Y. and on the Coast. Martin S. Davis will continue as assistant ad-pub director. During World War II. Golding was managing editor of the Medi- terranean edition of Stars $ Stripes. He was Goldwyn’s press rep In England in 1946-47 and a year later became press liaison for Sir Alexander Korda's London Films. He went to the 20th pub- licity post in N. Y. in 1949. Warm Shelter Noel Meadow, foreign film distrib and publicity man. has adopted a new slogan for his letterhead. Obviously a refer- ence to the w'hite specks caused by interference on TV screens and popularly known as “snow." Meadow's snapper reads: "Come In Out Of the ‘Snow’ See a Movie.” First-Run Pattern Changing in N.Y.; ‘Vadis’ Deal Latest Further changes from N. Y.’s traditional pattern of first-run bookings, and consequently circuit deals, are in prospect, with the disclosure by Metro that it's set with a simultaneous run of “Quo Vadis” at the Astor and Capitol Theatres beginning in November. This clearly means at least one of the two important outlets will be unavailable to other distribs. for some time, forcing them to Scramble elsewhere for showcase runs. Even Metro, affiliated with the Cap. will find it necessary with its other product, which normally would go to that house, to shop for another spot. In recent months, distribs in- creasingly have been breaking away from their customary ac- counts—Paramount selling away from the Par Theatre, for example —in an all-out effort to obtain better deals. This has resulted in stepped-up competition among all the distribs for top showcasing of their important pix. Similarly, first-run ops are en- gaged in a sharper rivalry, vigor- ously bidding for the top product. New example of this is the Par deal with the Astor for “Here Comes the Groom.” It’s reported the house is guaranteeing a mini- mum rental of $75,000 for the pic, which follows the current “Jiin Thorpe—All American” <WB>. "Vadis.” bowing at the con- clusion of “Groom,” will play on a reserved-seat, two-a-day basis at (Continued on page 18* Despite increase of the fee to 75c per seat for the Ray Robinson- Randy Turpin fight Sept. 12, all theatre television exhibitors to whom the fight will be available have pacted to carry It. Several of them, however, have nixed the pro- posal that they boost their ticket tabs for the event to $2. Fight is to be staged at the Polo Grounds, N. Y„ which automati- cally excludes the six New' York houses equipped for big-screen video to pick up the event. It's expected, though, that at least six theatres will tie in to the theatre TV network for the first time, to provide a circuit at least as large, and possibly larger, than any yet linked for a fight. Highest pre- vious number was the 15 which car- ried the Joe InniU-Jimmy Bivins bout several weeks ago. and that number included the N. Y. houses. Since the Louis-Bivins match, in- stallations have been completed in three new theatres in the cities along the eastern seaboard which previously carried fights. ‘These include one Paramount and two RCA big-screen units.) In addition, two or three cities which have never been able to tarry the bouts previously because the telephone company’s coaxial cable was un- available. may he linked to the net- work for the Rohinson-Turpin fight. American Telephone & Tele- graph is reportedly making every endeavor to expand the network as fast as possible, and may hook Min- neapolis. St. Louis and Boston to the cable for the first time. Be- cause of Turpin's surprise win over Robinson when they fought In Eng- land last June, exhibs are con- vinced that the fight will be one of the hottest boxofflee lures they’ve been able to offer yet via their big-screen equipment. Metro Two-House ‘Vadis’ Premiere Recalls ‘GWTW’ Setup; May Better Gross Disclosure that Metro’s “Quo Vadis” will preem at the Capitol and Victoria Theatres, N. Y., for simultaneous runs beginning in October, recalled the same distrib's experience with David O. Selznick’s “Gone With the Wind." which played the same two houses in 1940 “GWTW," according to the records, racked up-a dual theatre gross of $1,264,000. That was at a time w’hen N. Y. ftrstrun business was well below the present level. Example of'this is that Radio City Music Hall, back in ’40. experienced some weeks when about $50,000 was taken in. as compared with today's average take of substantially over $100,000. GWTW” ran 11 weeks at the Cap for total revenue of $715,000. Film played on a continuous basis, with admissions ranging from 75 c to $1.65. The Selzniek production went 43 weeks at the Astor for a gross of $549,000. This was a road- show' operation with tlx scaled to a $2.20 top It’s expected the price range w ill be similar for Vadis.” On the basis of the GWTW” combined take of $1.264.000—when business generally was short of the current mark—"Vadis” is expected to ex- ceed that figure. >-pl> . Hughes Preps Sudden LA. ‘Woman’ Release; Unusual 3-House, 3-Circuit Unit Hollywood, Aug. 28. Deciding on immediate local re- lease for “His Kind of Woman," Howard Hughes arranged for a spe- cial three house unit for the opening Friday (31). Pic hows locally at the Orpheum, Hawaii, and El Rey. with total seating capacity of 4,180. Orpheum, a 2.213-seater, dark sev- eral months due to product lack, rekindles for the engagement. Sherrill Corwin, the operator, plans to keep the house open on a per- manent basis henceforth. Tieup is decidedly unusual for a first run operation locally, since each house is controlled by a dif- ferent circuit. Orpheum is under Corwin’s Metropolitan Theatres, the Hawaii is a Galston 3e Sutton house, and F.I Rey is Fox West Coast. Combo - xs set up with startling suddenness when Hughes decided against waiting several weeks for the RKO Hillstreet and Pantages to be available. More than $25,000 will he spent In adver- tising the local getaway. Court Orders LA. Distrib Out of Rental Biz 5 Years Los Angeles, Aug. 28. A distributor of 16m films last w'eek was ordered by Federal Judge James M. Carter to stay out of the rental business for five yean. Affected by the court decree is Eugene A. Balcoin. who recently pleaded nolo contendere < no- de- fense > to charges that he illegally rented prints of Paramount's ’’Connecticut Yankee” and .Disney’s “Cinderella.” Judge Carter also imposed a suspended sentence upon Balcom and placed him on five years’ pro- bation. Conviction marked the dis- trib's second brush with the law for copyright infringement. Last year he was fined $100 by Federal Judge Peirson M. Hall for wrong- fully renting a print of Metro’s "Harvey Girls.”