Variety (May 1952)

We<4n~<Uy, M-y 7, 1951 nvwtmm 9 * Hollywood turned 6pt more pix in 1951 than during any year since 1944. In addition, the American industry produced the high- est number of dims in its history abroad; Figures are laid out in last week's annual report of the Motion Picture Assn, of America via disclosures of how many films were okayed by the Production Code Administration.'^ Variance between actUal output and PCA approvals is extremely small for the majors. The 1951 feature" okays numbered 282 domestically produced films and 32 produced abroad for a total of 314. In the overseas group are pix produced or co-produced by the Hollywood studios, plus foreign productions acquired for-U; S. ft distribution by the MPAArmember companies. Latter include the eight majors, Allied Artists and Republic.' Tabulation below shows the number of* pix approved for the 10 companies by the PCA. No comparable data is available prior to 1935. ... 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939*1940 1941*1942 1943 Domestic Prod. ,..£34 337 339 322 366 325 406 369 256 Foreign Prod 9 ** * 5 * 4 5 12 10 Total 343 327 329 411 381 266 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 Domestic Prod, ,.:284 230 254 229 229 252 272 282 Foreign Prod 6 14 16 16 25 1 21 22 32 0 OF FILM RENTALS Drive-ins, once labeled “passion pits with pix,”-are no longer ^being looked on by Hollywood as indus- try stepchildren. With distribution execs pointing out that the ozoners are now providing about 10% of total film rentals for the. majors, the studios are ..looking' on the open-air audiencesswith a catering eye. Paramount, for one, is known to be analyzing what type pix go best in the rampitoriums and figur- ing what can be done to make more of such films or, at least, in- clude i% as many pi^, as possible the elements that please drive-tn audiences. Total .. ..290 244 270 245 254 273 294 314* + Data Not Available. Earlier-Than-Usual Saks Parleys Seek to Maintain B.O. Upbeat To maintain the recent b.o. up-4 beat and to keep sales forces and ‘ theatre district managers constant- ly on the alert, film companies are rushing the confal) season. Meetings with * district execs, usually slated for late summer, in, anticipation of fall biz, are being held this year during the spring. In light of last year’s good summer biz, companies apparently feel that plenty of coin can be made during the summer if an aggressive sales policy is maintained and pix are properly exploited. Palavers held to date and those coming up consist in the main of sessions between sales and pub-ad execs. Sales toppers pitch the up- coming product and'pub-ad execs outline the exploitation possibili- ties. Object apparently is to send the regional and branch toppers back to their local offices full of vim and vigor. Within a month Warner Bros., Columbia, United Artists, Para- mount, Metro and Universal will have held regional sales-exploita- tion get-togethers. On Monday (5) Charles M. Reagan, Metro gen- eral sales manager, opened the first of a series of fiy:e divisional sales conferences in San Francisco with 35 execs from the home office) and five western branches under George A. Hickey, sales manager, in attendance. Confabs will weigh current and future operations and the prospects for the coming year. Branches represented at the Frisco meeting included Los Angeles, (Continued on page 18) Crown to Europe As SIMPP Rep in Talks On French Accord Alfred Crown, salesmanager for Samuel Goldwyn Productions, planed to Europe yesterday (Tues.) to participate as rep of the Society of Independent Motion Picture Producers in negotiation of a new American film agreement with France. Eric Johnston, who flew to Paris over the weekend, and John G. McCarthy, foreign di- vision head, will represent the Motion Picture Assn, of America in the talks. Since the agreement is to be Made with the French government, u * S. Ambassador James Dunn is expected to name a rep to sit in. "^otiations officially start today a t Cannes, where the American and French participants are at- tei ^ ln 8 the film festival. Talks are not expected to get *" ou ’ n t° bed-rock, however, until next Monday (12) when the scene s moved to Paris. Crown will join M at that time. He’ll be in Lon- , a on , s week. Crown is serving s substitute for James A. Mulvey, President of Goldwyn Productions (Continued •an.^page.llh . Amory to London _ Charles M. Amory,'v.p., in charge of sales for Souvaine Selective Pic- tures, N. Y., planed to London Sun- day (4) on a search for new pix to be released by the company. He’ll be abroad about a week. UA Tieup With Brazil Distrib In an unusual deal that is expect- ed eventually to prove highly profitable to United Artists," the company is taking over physical, distribution in Brazil of the prod- uct of the largest local Releasing outfit. Arrangement was set by Arnold M. Picker, UA’s v.p. in charge of- foreign distribution, during a three-day trip to Rio last week. UA's tieup is with Uniao Cine- matografica Brasileira. Outfit han- dles features, shorts and newsreels and also produces in Brazil through affiliates. Features it dis- tributes are mostly Brazilian- made, but also include American, Argentinian, - Mexican and English. While the agreement, which is effective July 1, calls only for physical distribution now, possi- bility is seen that it will be ex- tended later to include selling. This could make it even more val- uable to UA in increasing its im- portance in the Brazilian^market and in reducing the overhead of its network of exchanges there. Picker originated the deal while in Rio in January. He cut short a seven-week European trip to get back there last week and close it with A. A. Ribeiro, prez of UCB. He returned to New York over the weekend. Picker called the deal a “vote of confidence” in UA. Justice Dept. Hearing: Vs. U, UA Off Again Hearing on the Department of Justice complaint charging Univer- sal and United Artists with em- ploying common officers, and seek- ing to declare invalid UA’s acquisi- tion of Eagle Lion Classics last year, has been postponed again, this time with a new date as yet unset. Session in N. Y. Federal Court had been scheduled for April 30 but was called off because Judge Alfred C. Coxe, one of the three jurists on the bench, had slated a vacation in Europe beginning around that time. Judge Coxe is expected back in Gotham at the end of this month and the hearing is slated to follow-shortly, ' While patronage of standard the- atres appears to be shrinking each year, the ozoner audiences are steady or building. It thus appears to the studios that a minimum amount of extra effort can bring in maximum additional income from the drive-ins, as contrasted, to the difficulties of building audi- ences' for conventional houses. ' Starlight theatres five years ago were existing almost wholly on re- issues or very late runs, and some are still in that category.-*'However, some are now in first-run play- off positions, and many. are» in key or early subsequent spots and pay- ing percentage. With TV about to be expanded by 2,000 stations in the next few years, as a result of lifting of the Government freeze, the drive-ins are being viewed extra-kindly by distribs,. The auto havens appear to have the least vulnerability to J tele, since they have many pe- culiar advantages of their own, and so they should have increasing im- portance in their proportionate overall grossing potential in fu- ture years.* Keough, Fabian Hinted as COMPO 'Big Three Reps Naming of the “Big Three” of the Council of Motion Picture Or- ganizations, whose job will be the sharing of the chief exec duties in the interim absence of an individ- ual prexy, likely will be completed this week. Allied States Assn., at its board meeting in Colorado Springs at the past weekend, designated Trueman Rembusch, former Allied prez, as its rep on the three-man committee. Panel will be rounded out with similar elections by the Motion Pic- ture Assn, of America and the The- atre Owners of America. That each of the three groups should have one man on the committee had been proposed by Arthur L. Mayer, who bowed out as exec v.p. last week. ^ Conversations in MPAA circles in the last couple of days indicate that a strong choice is Austin Keough, Paramount v.p. and gen- eral counsel. MPAA endorsed Mayer’s recommendation at a board meeting late last week but (Continued on page 13) Call N.Y. Meet of Rules Group on Arbitration Herman .A. Levy, chairman of the rules committee for the pro- posed industry arbitration‘system, has called a two-day meeting of the group for next Tuesday (13) and Wednesday in N. Y. • Committee, which comprises reps of the various exhib associations and the distribs, is to draft a plan on the detailed operation of the arbitration system, including clari- fication on the extent of awards which may be given by the arbiter panels. -* 4 4 Ryder’s NX Looksee Loren L. Ryder, director of re- cording and engineering at < the Paramount studio, returned tp the Goast over the weekend after a brief New York stay to make ar- rangements in regard to technical advances in magnetic' film editing. Already utilizing.the scheme are suoh indie, producers a? Sol Lesser, Andrew Stone and Frank Wlsbar. Paramount will probably* change over to magnetic film editing within the next six .months, Ryder dis- closed.. Advantages* of .the new system ov&r the old method, he said, are threefold, .Reportedly it costs less, has a better quality and is easier fo* handle. Council of Motion, Picture* Or- ganizations has been given some financial bolstering via an imme- diate payment of $95,000 from the Motion Picture Assn, of America. Of that sum, $75,000 was allocated from the $150,000 which the MPAA had pledged, earlier as partial fi- nancing for the “Movietime U.S.A,” tours. The additional $20,000 is to ’■ Colorado Springs, May 6, .. Just as some semblance of peace among. the component outfits of the film industry appeared on the horizon, Allied States Assn.’s board of directors got together here, and all hut declared open, warfare anew. The collective target was. the distributors who, said Allied, are virtually bringing about an economic^ demise of exhibs via their policies on trade practices. Sentiments' expressed by the Al- lied chiefs were in sharp contrast to the spirit of conciliation which marked the recent industry con- clave in N. Y. on proposals to set up an arbitration system to settle disputes. At that session Allied reps were among the conferees who. .agreed to the principle that the best approach to exhlb-distrib differences is along the lines of harmonious cooperation, or ah* most, instead of belligerent attack. The principle still is agreeable but plenty of details must be worked out to Allied’s satisfaction. In their huddle here, the Allied- ites failed to come up with any new gripes but gave their by-now traditional complaints versus the film companies a thorough airing. Objected to were “injustices” in competitive bidding,, over-pricing of some films, rental demands which require, in effect, upped ad- (Continued on page 11) Many Exhib Leaders Take M-G Studio cover COMPO’s administration ex- penses. Latter payment evens MPAA’s score with exhibs, who .had put up $105,000 toward COMPO's general fund. MPAA heretofore had con- tributed $85,000 toward the oper- ating fund; MPAA voted the new COMPO coin at a board of direc- tors’ meeting in N. Y. Friday (2). Meanwhile, incoming dues from theatremen has been down to a vir- tual halt as a result of their ap- parent uncertainty on COMPO’s future course in the absence of a president. That the exhibs will re- sume their -financial support is anticipated Tyhen the proposed three-man committee is- named to share the proxy's.post until an in- dividual president finally is elected. Nassers Get Final OK On 4-Pic Sale to TV Los Angeles, May 6. David B. Head, referee in bank- ruptcy, granted George and James Trek for Pix .Look This week’s Culver City get* together hosted by Metro is shap- ing up as the most spectacular se- ries of trade screenings on the books in terms of exhib talent on hand to once-over new product. M-G's invitation to spend three days at the studio has been ac- cepted by many of exhibition's leaders, namely over 100 theatre- men representing independent houses, circuits, cities and towns of all dimensions. Key members of the five prominent trade asso- ciations are included. Distribution v.p. Charles Reagan expressed regrets that all exhibs, for practical purposes, couldn’t be asked to make the trek west. Reps of the trade press have also been invited. Reagan and production chief Dore Schary will share a large part of the hosting chores during the three-day session which opens to- morrow (Thurs.). Ad-pub v.p. Howard Dietz, fol- lowing the unveiling of each film, will detail promotion plans and (Continued on page 15) Nasser permission to sell four mo-1 * tion pictures to Quality Films for TV distribution. Decision was made over the ob- jections of the Bank of America, which has liens aggregating $431,- 000 on the four pix. Francis Hur- wood, representing the bank, in- sisted that the theatrical value of the films^ be exhausted before they are released to television. Phil Goldstone. Buying Into Motion Pic Centre Hollywood, May 6. Refinancing of the Motion Pic- ture Centre Studios has gotten underway, with Phil ' Goldstone buying into the rental studio. Pro- portion of Goldstone’s purchase has not yet been determined but negotiations with MPC owner Joe Justman are reportedly nearing satisfactory conclusion. Understood buy-in will signal re- turn of Goldstone to indie pro- duction. He has been inactive some time. Meanwhile, there has been series of directives issued to indie producers on the lot inaugu- rating general trimming of over- head. This includes curtailing fulltime projectionist services and keeping lot open 12 hours only in- stead of round 'the. clock* - - ‘MOST EXTENSIVE’PROD. SKED FOR 20TH-FOX Hollywood, May 6. Television or .no television, 20th7 Fox is going ahead with the most extensive . long-range production schedule In the studio’s history. That is how Darryl F. Zanuck de- scribes the company’s shooting program for 1952-53. Quantity will equal, if not sur- pass, the 1951-52 slate, which calls for a total of 36 feature films. Thus far 30 screenplays for the 1952-53 program are in the writing mill, and eight of them are des- tined for Technicolor. Growing importance of tunefilms is indicated by the elevation of Sol Siegel to the post of .execu- tive producer in charge of all mu- sical production. Siegel's assign-* ment does not involve supervision over four tune films currently in work. They are “Bloodhounds of Broadway,” “Stars and Stripes Forever,” “Tonight We Sing” and “The Farmer Takes a Wife.” From now on, all producers as- signed to musicals will work under his direction. In addition, he will take personal charge of “Call Me Madam,” scheduled for summer filming. »