Variety (September 05, 1951)

'VAJumrr ionoon •fficb • tl. MUrtbi'B niminom 15 Britisli TV Found Making Strides Despite Broshotf Given by BBC ii to Germany By HARRY REGENSBERG London, Sept. 4. Television, the unpopular Brit- ish Broadcasting Corp.'s stepchild, is in a thriving condition despite being spoon-fed. The 1951 Radio show, held at Earls Court from Aug. 29 to Sept. 8. reveals some very important strides. Some of the improvements seen at the Exhibition are <1> Larger Screens. Instead of the former 12- inch tubes, sets are now fitted with 15 to 16-inch tubes, (21 anti-flare gadgets. <31 the final elimination scanning lines (Spot Wabble). For the first time, Projection TV (throwing a screen on the wall) has finally been perfected for the home. Size of screen is four feet by three feet, making it a very use- ful home model. For public use, there is a model throwing a 20-foot wide screen, using a two and half inch tube energized by*25,000 volts. The largest direct-vision tube gives a picture 19 by 16Vi inches. Peculiarity of the TV situation is that to date there are around 1.500.- 000 sets in use, with licenses issued by the BBC numbering only about 1.000. 000. Users of the extra 500.- 000 sets cannot be accounted for despite constant investigation. Thus the BBC is annually being gypped of around $3,000,000. The 1,500,000 TV sets are esti- mated to have a viewing public of around 8,000,000. With the advent of Holmemoss, Yorkshire, station, Oct. 12. it is expected that the viewers will number well over 10 . 000 . 000 . The most popular TV features are newsreels, light entertainment <variety), outside broadcasts, legit plays <including musicals), films (both English and American), bal- let, documentaries, orchestral mu- sic. quiz programs, opera, cultural and foreign films. The most popular light entertain- ment shows are "Music Hall" and "Top Hat," both produced by Rich- ard Afton. and "Kaleidoscope." produced by TV boss Ronny Wald- man. Of the kids’ programs, the most outstanding are "Muffin the Mule," by Annette Mills, sister of film star John Mills; and "Andy* randy.” Both are puppet shows. I'.S. Names Started on Brit. TV The most important individual turns if) the lighter field are Nor- man Evans. Terry-Thomas, Arthur Askey, Victor Silvester and band. Desmond Walker. Richard Dimble- by. Bernard Miles. Norman Wis- dom and A! Burnett, the last- named the most controversial. Of the women contingent. Grade Fields easily tops, although she does not often televise; Petula Clark. Barbara Mullen* Vera Lynn. Betty Dniver, Jennifer Scott and Tessie O’Shea. These, of course, do not include American radio, vaude. legit and TV names, who are always wel- comed whenever they come over. Surprising fact is that quite a num- ber of American names made their TV debut in London before getting their chances in the U. S. These, among others, include Dolores Gray, Leo Fuld. Vic Hyde, Harold heel. Bill Johnson and Norman Lawrence. Saddest part of it all Is that with all the advancements there is not even a glimpse or hint of col- ored TV. Anouilh’s ‘Ardele’ So-So As Sole London Entry London, Sept. 4. Only West End production last week was Jean Anouilh’s "Ardele." translated by Lucienne Hill, pre- sented by Linnit 8c Dunfee at the Vaudeville Aug. 10. Play is an un- comfortable mixture o f farce and tragedy, with unwholesome sex satire predominant. Isabel Jeans and Ronald Squire costar as the unfaithful couple enmeshed in wholesale family Immorality. Play has all-round excellent of acting and direction. Play was warmly received but is unpalatable fare for general audi- ences. It likely will appeal mainly on the author's reputation and to lovers of the ultra-sophisticated type of entertainment. London, Sept. 1. By arrangement with the Board of Trade, the British Film Produc- ers Assn, is to select 30 British films to fulfill the German Import Quota for 12 months starting Sept 1. Licenses issued under this quota will enable money earned by these pictures to be transferred to Eng- land through the Anglo-German Exchange Control. Films submitted for approval must be British Quota productions, the German rights of which are beneficially owned by a British company or British na- tional. New B.O. Record Doe in Bard’s Boff a ,• . < * , ■ ' • 1951 Stratford-On-Avon Season Cinema Admission Tax Hike No Scot Biz Drag Glasgow, Aug. 28. Tax increases on cinema admis- sion prices have barely hit attend- ance at circuit, indie and nabe houses here. Only a few grum- blings have been heard from pat rons. A few India houses in Edin- burgh and South-East Scotland report larger attendance than for- merly as result of lowering certain prices. Exhibs in Scotland watch closely any fall in receipts. Cine- ma-going, they say, is as much a lubit as smoking cigarets; once h>M. it may never be recovered. India Director Turns Producer Bombay. Aug. 28. Nitin Bose, director and camera- man who was formerly with New Theatres of Calcutts, has set up his own independent production tin it here. He will produce his pictures on l he Central Studio lot. CBS, RCA TV Systems Begin Tour’ of Europe After Berlin Displays By BILL CONLAN Berlin. Aug. 29. The joint CBS-RCA TV demon- strations. which ran for two weeks here, came to an end on Sunday (26). John Martin and Herbert Foster took the CBS color show to Zurich where they will put on a one-day hospital demonstration for Remington Rand. CBS will do a show in Paris in September. A small part of the RCA dem-.| onstration is now in Copenhagen where a show' for E. R. Squibb is under way during the Second In- ternational Polio Conference. The majority of the RCA equipment is remaining here in Berlin, however, as the American officials here are anxious to keep RCA going during the Cultural fest which runt from Sept. 5 to 30. The logic goes that if the Government is to spend up- wards of $150,000 for the Ameri- can participation in the fest which 9,000 Berliners are expected to see without television, an additional investment of $35,000 would pay off with an estimated 1,000,000 video audience. The idea to retain the RCA-TV show for the Cultural fest came from Major General Lemuel Mathewson on Sunday (26>. when dropped in at the home of State Department Director Howard P. Jones where RCA promotion chief. Dick Hooper, was staying. The General asked Hooper what could be done to retain the video demon- stration and Hooper said that as far as he was concerned there was only one man who could grant immediate approval. Mathewson put in a call to New York and got General Samoff out of bed early Sunday morning (Berlin is five hours ahead of New York). Sam- off agreed with Mathew son’s pro- posal. 4 On Monday (27), a meeting was held at which reps from the Army, HICOG. ECA and RCA were pres- ent. It was agreed to start the ball rolling to get approval from the British. French, ANTA, AFRA. Equity and all others concerned with the televising of the Cultural fest. If ail goes well the Berlin- ers will see such performances as I "Oklahoma" with Celeste Holm, ! "Medea” with Judith Anderson, the Old Vic Co., The Julliard String Quartet. The Hall Johnson Choir, Agna Enters and many other top notch attractions on RCA television. Indie Production Curb Seen in Arg. • - ’ * • ,> . . ’ ' . ^ • Buenos Aires, Aug. 28. So many independent film pro- duction units have sprung up re- cently that it is reported that the Entertainment Board plans re- stricting production so as to elimi- nate fly-by-night concerns, and to insure quality production instead of quantity. As a result, some in- dependents are holding up pro- duction plans. At present, there are about 40 or 45 Aims either in production, about to go to the laboratories or ready to start shooting, apart from several which had been planned for this year's lineup but which have not got un- der way. Many of these had been planned to cover the dearth of product caused by foreign film imports being suspended. Major Argentine producers are not at all interested in making low-cost pictures. One writer, who submitted an original story Idea, involving a production cost of $40,000; but the studio asked him to build it up so as to call for a more costly production budget. This peculiar attitude may have some connection with the loans which the Industrial Bank allow* producers of up to 70% of cost. The major fault in the Argen- tine. production setup appears to be the lack of organization and the necessity of making costly retakes. Emclco Studios and Trans- America Films are preparing a special preview of the first Ar- gentine color picture. "El Gaucho y El Diablo." adapted from a Robert Louis Stevenson story. Final sequences have now come back from Hollywood. Malti-Languare Films Planned Cinematograflca Interamericana has made considerable progress In negotiations with J. Stanley Kra- mer for production in Argentina of multiple-language pix. French film star Gerard Philippe would form part of this combination. (Continued on page 20) Mex Indie Exhib Upbeat Mexico City. Aug. 28. Spread of independent exhibition of Mexican pix in this country has been started by the Impulsora del Cine Independiente recently form- ed by Gen. Aberlado L. Rodriguez, who heads the Credilo Ctnemato- grafico Mexicano, a film financing society, and a syndicate of Mexican Indie exhibitors. This is accomp- lished by buying, building or leas- ing cinemas. Impulsora has bought the Cine Alhambara, 12-year-old cinema in Tampico and is constructing a ! 1.000-seat house there. It likely will ; build a 1.200-scat house In Puebla I City, capital of Puebla. BRITISH cntcurrs SWEEP SHOWMANSHIP CONTEST London, Aug. 28.' The circuits cleaned up in the industry's national showmanship competition, winning seven out of the nine awards, including theflrst prize of a two-week trip to Holly- wood. This was w'on by F. J. Smid- more. manager of the Gaumont, Morecombe. who may choose an alternative cash prize of $2,100. His assistant received $210 and each member of the staff who worked with him during the competition will receive an extra week's pay. Managers of the Odeon, Briston and the Odeon Port Talbot. S. C. Beacham and M. I^ewis. captured second and third places with prizes of $1,400 and $700. Reacham's as- sistant will receive $140 and his staff an extra week's pay while Lewis’ deputy will be awarded $70 and the theatre staff half a week's salary. Fourth prize went to Associated British Cinema’s manager, F. A. Hall, of the Savoy, Wolverhampton. He gets $560, his manager $56, and the staff an extra half week's sal- ary. Fifth prize has the same value, going to L. Laidlaw of the Grand Theatre, Pelaw-on-Tyne, an indie house. In addition to the nine major cash awards, 130 area prizes of $70 each were awarded to the best entries in the 27 competition areas. All prize winners will receive certifi- cates of merit. Wolfgang Wolf Resigns As MPEA Austrian Boss Vienna. Sept. 4. Wolfgang Wolf, Austrian boss for Motion Picture Export Assn, since opening of its Austrian op- eration in 1946. resigned this week and has been succeeded by Louis K^nturek. European manager of MPEA. Latter recently shifted here from long-time headquarters in Prague. Tightening Czech re- strictions on western pix forced Kanturek Into Austria where It's assumed MPEA operations will likewise end within a >ear at most. Wolf came to Vienna, his native city, as a member of the U. S. Army with an assignment as dep- uty U. S. Film Officer in the In- formation Services Branch. After a brief period as Chief Film Offi- cer, Wolf undertook organization of the MPEA Vienna office which he expanded into the biggest Aus- trian film distributor with notable success. He was successful in the difficult field of getting Yank pic income converted into dollars. In 1950, MPEA distributed 160 films in Austria against 84 from Ger- many, next biggest originator of celluloid shown here. Wolf left for Venice where he will confer with Motion Picture Assn, of America officials during the film festival there on possible future assignment. Foreign Films Helping Break Ice in Aussie Fight for Sob. Shows Sydney, Aug. 28. Hilda Hattam. independent op- erator of the 1.120-seat Premier in Surry Hills, when stymied two weeks ago on its plan to introduce Sunday pix at her house by the refusal of distributes* to supply product and the threat by Thea- trical Employees' Union, finally opened her house with the foreign pic. "Shoe Shine." Miss Hattam has declared that she will open Sundays from now on with for- eign product supplied by Nat Scheinwald, who is currently okay- ing films for the 300-seater King’s Cross theatre, King's Cross, on Sundays. Ken Cook, indie owner of King’s Cross, plans to continue Sunday piaydates in defiance of the pow- erful TEU, taking product from Scheinwald. At least six other in- j die exhibs are planning to seek Sunday greenlight from Chief Sec- retary Clive Evatt, in charge of cinemas here. This indicates that a breakaway is looming by certain indie exhibs. Spokesman for the eight U. S. major distrtbs operating in this zone declined to comment on the Sunday setup presently. Last week, however. Universal declined to supply short subjects to Miss liat- tam. Spokesman for the TEU said that a test case of the entire Sun- day setup would probably be made via the Supreme Court to see whether Chief Secretary Clive Evatt had the power to permit Sunday showings via pic permits: General feeling now is that there will be many cinemas operating on the Sabbath in and around Syd- ney zone before the end of 1951 irrespective of any TEU op- position. City’s authorities here have de- cided to legalize non-commercial Sabbath sport to.combat move by Chief Secretary Clive Evatt to okay Sunday pix. Previously the au- thorities had a taboo nixed Sun- day sports in key spots under their control. By ALICE VRNEZKY London, Aug. 28. A gross of $369,600 for the March-October season is estimated by the Shakespeare Memorial The- atre at Stratford-on-Avon now that the opening of "Henry V” com- pletes the five-play repertory. From now on, Shakespeare's 'The Tem- pest” and the four history plays from "Richard II” through "Henry V" will be showing in succession at a scale of $1.75 to 35c. Intake, highest in the theatre’s history, stems from installation of 135 new seats which can bring in $33,600 per season. In the past few years since An- thony Quayle took over as direc- tor, the theatre has bolstered its reputation and its bank account, switching its focus from text to texture, and concentrating on fewer and better productions with a seasonal star like John Gielgud, Peggy Ashcroft, or Michael Red- grave, supported by a solid resi- dent company. Having reached 99% capacity in '49, and 94% in ’50, and with an intake exceeding operating output by $22,515 in 1950 (plus a nestegg subscribed by American friends at the theatre’s inception), the theatre ventured into recon- struction last November, adding the extra seats, an electronic light board and a new wing containing 16 dressing rooms and a green room. Of the $266,000 spent, $168,000 is estimated as capital ex- penditure. It is expected that the now-outstanding $50,400 of the re- construction cost to date will be made up in three years. Press Favorable to 1st Four Press response to the first four plays was favorable, ranging from temperate to torrid; "Henry V" is suffering generally by being com- pared with Glen Byam Shaw’s su- perior production at the Old Vic earlier in the season. Chosen to contrast with the his- tories, "The Tempest." directed by Michael Benthall and heavily if tastefully decorated by Loudon Sainthill. emerges as a gaudy and effective fantasy, and the best en- tertainment fare of the lot. Michael Redgrave’s weighty Pros- (Continued on page 20* New Irish Council Asks State Aid for Legit; Plan Seans Unlikely Dublin, Aug. 28. Newly-formed Irish Arts Coun- cil. representing management, and Irish Actors’ Equity, is seeking a slate subsidy, apart from that paid to the Abbey Theatre, for special productions of artistic merit and to aid professional managements operating theatres which are not financially successful. Ides is simi- lar to the Arts Council in England, but so far has found little favor here. Council also wants local authori- ties to subsidize touring companies, improve standards of local opera- tions and In some cases to build theatres. National Transport Co. is also being asked to provide cheap fare for touring companies. Although the project has the backing of Irish Equity, not all managements are represented. Government may review the whole position in the light of what it will have to advance for rebuilding the Abbey Theatre. Other Foreign Hew* On Page* 17 and 90 Lauder, Fyffe Honored By New Scotland Club Glasgow, Aug. 28. Memories of Sir Harry Lauder and Will Fyffe will be honored when Scotland’s first Stage and Screen Club is launched here next month. Dining room will be named the WiU Fyffe Room, and there will be a special suite named the Lauder Room. Harry Gordon, top Scot comic, is first chairman of the new club. Films, legit, vaude and radio will be represented In the membership. Jiioge Film Union Signs $200,000 Export Deal Hamburg, Aug. 28. Junge Film Union, the country’s second largest production company, has announced that export con- tracts worth $200,000 have been signed with Italy, Belgium and Switzerland for the export of three company pix. Contracts were inked by com- pany general manager Rolf Meyer, who toured those countries dur- ing the recent weeks. Meyer will leave shortly for Stockholm to ne- gotiate with Scandinavian distrib- utors for exporting Junge Film Union pix to those areas. Details released on the Italian. Belgian and Swiss pacts revealed that com- pany will receive an advance cash payment of $100,000, while the other $100,000 Will be paid upon delivery of prints. i