Variety (April 1953)

PICTURES Wednesday, April Iff, 1953 3 4 Watch That Film Flood t The inevitability of more and more new product being re-r leased for Ty is now almost an immediate certainty. The new' boxoffice dimension of 3-D has created a windfall, in turn, for television. Inexorably, a flood of 2-D pix—choice flatties—will follow the decision by the nation’s exhibitors to tool up for widescreen and 3-D pix as the more certain lures into their theatres. There are other manifestations of an even more direct mating of Hollywood with video, even though now an arch-enemy of the b.o. An “official” Motion Picture Assn, of America program series, for TV,.unto commercial sponsorship, is primed to “show- case” the new p.Jc&n telescreens e& a lure for getting them into the cinemas. The American Broadcasting Co. is packaging that show for the, fall. Ed Sullivan’s “Toast of the Town” showed the way for utQzing a high-Nielsen vaudeo as a trailer for new Hollywood product. Thus, even as 3-D is arching its torso for the big boxoffice km, the flatties still command premium attention on telescreens. With 20th-Fox forecasting the inevitability of wide- arid third- dimension new film product, there comes the coincidental har- binger that the “old-fashioned” 2-D product will become in- creasingly available for home telescreen consumption^ Video is hungry for this sort of product. It is still a seller’s market for Hollywood to loosen some of its more recent film output for video. As theatres tool up for the new dimensions, the appeal of the flatties will diminish. It is expected that in a,year 1,000 deluxers will have converted to Cinemascope, and that 500 a month thereafter will be the ratio until 3-,000 or 4,000 key situations are fully equipped. And presumably it will favor playdating only the new dimcnsionals. Comes the flood of film from the production line to TV. The seller’s market can veer overnight to the buyer’s market, and Hollywood’s vaunted axiom that “we are sitting on a billion dollars’ worth of assets” may find these frozen assets difficult to thaw into convertible cash. Whoever is the first major to open the celluloid dikes, others will not be far behind. t This calls for a firm hand in the rationing of such valuable film resources for the sudden benefit of TV, not so long ago, and still, the arch-enemy of the b.o.—remember? Prudent judgment and firm counsel should keep in mind that the sudden bounty may prove an even greater menace from the new TV medium than the relative current dearth. Abel, Arbitration Revival Seen Result Of Senate Small Biz Hearings Revival of arbitration talks,4 backed by a strong recommenda- tion from the U. S. Senate, is seen as the -outcome of- the Senate Select Committee on Small Busi- ness probe of industry trade prac- tices. Committee hearings open today (Wed.) in Washington, with members and leaders of Allied States Assn; appearing before the Senate body. With the possible exception of Allied, both exhib and distrib quarters feel that the Senate body will strongly suggest that the industry get together and work out its own differences. The Motion Picture Assn, of America and Theatre Owners of America, both staunch advocates of an ar- bitration system, are of the opinion that the talks will be revived un- der Senate prodding. However, Allied, which has been most instrumental in instituting the Senate investigation, has indi- cated that it will not take a part in further arbitration talks unless the question of film rentals are part of the discussion and sub- ject to, inclusion in an arbitration plan. Allied has further charged (Continued on page 24) Europe Reaction to 3-D . Not So Spectacular, Sez Starr After 5 Wks. There “I think the people in Europe will be more discriminating in ap- proval of the new devices in 3-D and widescreen, and the first re- sults will be less spectacular.” View was expressed Monday (13) by Theatre Owners of America prexy Alfred Starr, who just re- turned from a five-week jaunt abroad. Starr’s opinion is based on a visit to England, France, Spain, Italy, Greece, Austria and Turkey. TOA topper acknowledged that foreign exhibs are “enormously in- trigued with the developments in 3*D and the new types of projec- tion,” but felt that a more cautious (Continued on page 24) ’ WBBM-TV Plunks Down $260,000 for Rep Filins Chicago, April 14. Over $260,000-worth of Republic pix have been purchased by CBS’ WBBM-TV. The web’s Central Div- ision veepee H. Leslie Atlass, who made the buy, announced that the transaction included such Windy City first-runs as “Storm Over Lis- bon” and “Secrets of Scotland Yard.” The purchase carries unlimited screening repeats. Union Clearance In Pix-to-TV Raised By M-Fox Move Entire question of union clear- ances required for the sale of pix to television has been spotlighted in the announcement by 20th-Fox president. Spyros P. Skouras that unloading of some of the com- pany’s “older” films is now being considered. Specifically Involved, and pos- sibly .presenting some problems, is the American Federation of Musi- cians. James C. Petrillo outfit has yet to fully clarify its position on Hollywood product to TV to the satisfaction of all film companies! Some time ago Paramount hesi- tated to okay the use of its pix to Zenith’s Phonevision tests, in Chi- cago and then finally went ahead with the experiment when specific- ally approved by Petrillo. Par’s feeling was that all other unions had made it sufficiently clear that films made prior to Sep- tember, 1948, could be telecast without objection. However, it also was felt that the AFM hadn’t en- tered such a clear-cut agreement. t Question of who’ll be the first to take the TV ball from 20th-Fox is currently puzzling the other dis- tribs, just as it is worrying ex- hibitors in the wake of 20th’s move to release some of its oldies to video, Distrib .reaction is divided. On the one hand'they are pleased that a break has been made and they now have a legitimate excuse to chart policy with the 20th example in mind. Other execs accent that they are still plenty in the 2-D biz, both via expensive backlogs of new product and other pix slated to roll. Major companies so far have re- sisted the lure of heavy added coin to be made by letting their product go to the telecasters, but the 20th stand, outlined in prexy Spyros P. Skouras’ message to the stockholders, is likely to lead to a lot of serious reappraising, since every one of the distribs could use the TV coin and none wants to be caught napping once the gates open. Only distrib which has been sell- ing to TV all along, and without making any bones about it, is Republic. Prexy Herbert Jk Yates told stockholders in N. Y. last week (Continued on page 25) ‘Wax,’ ‘Man’ Bof fo B.O: Despite N.Y. Daily Pans; Added Proof of 3-D Pull Chalk up for 3-D, among its other attributes, power to override the critics’ pans. Arch Oboler’s “Bwana Devil” became a smash after an all-around drubbing by the reviewers. Now Columbia’s “Man in the Dark” and.Warners’ “House of Wax” ase drawing top money in N.Y. despite notices which, in any other field, would do anything but start a b.o. stampede. “Wax” especially is going sock, with some of the loot being attrib- utable to Eddie Fisher’s appear- ance onstage at the Paramount. Mostly all press sizeups of the pic included comment on the “old fashioned” type of thriller screen- (Continued on page 25) Continued school vacations the •latter part of last week and the widened circulation of top product, as traditionally tossed into release by the distribs during a holiday period, make the current session a strong one in key cities covered by Variety. Upbeat continued through the weekend despite rain in some locations. In an unusually close race, “Salome” (Qol) barely edged out “Call Me Madam” (20th) in this week’s sweepstakes, moving up from second place last week to the No. 1 position. “Madam,” which hAd the lead spot last week, fell to second via slight dropoffs in busi- ness as the pic went into holdover status in many situations following giant first week’s biz. “Salome,” in either first or second weeks of its runs in representative cities, is go- ing at a hefty clip. “Moulin Rouge” (UA), holding up strong in extended runs, rates as third this session, replacing “Peter Pan” (RKO-Disney) which had show position last week. “Pan” is taking fourth money this round. “Hans Christian Andersen” (Gold- wyn-RKO), a holdover in all loca- tions checked, continues in the b.o. bigtime with fifth spot. “Off Limits” (Par) is in sixth place, same as last week, and “Come Back, Little Sheba” (Par), well established as a strong money- maker over a long haul, is seventh. “Trouble Along the Way” (WB), do- ing okay business in a number of spots, is eighth. Rounding out the Top Ten are “Desert Legion” (U) and “Kettles on Vacation” (U). Cutting Backlogs In line with the hesitancy anent future production be- cause of 3-D and widescreen influences, many top Holly- wood studios are cutting in- vestments in new pix. Para- mount’s inventory was cut by $8,174,552 in the past fiscal year, prez Barney Balaban re- vealed in his annual report. . However, advances to outside producers were increased by $3,639,869. Par’s total inventory — pix completed and awaiting re- lease, others in production, etc. —amounted to $36,626,536 as of last Jan. 3. Year ago this was carried at $44,810,088. Par ’52 Net Jumps To $5,899,871; 3-D ‘Solution’ In View With operating revenues of $106,090,044, representing an in- crease of. more than $10,000,000 over 1951, Paramount’s net earn- ings for 1952 climbed to $5,899,871, * equal to $2.52. per common share, president Barney Balaban told stockholders yesterday (Tues.) in Par’s annual report. Earnings in- clude a net of $559,287 on the sale of real property, this presumably being the Coast laboratory disposed Of by the company last year/ Earnings in 1951 amounted to $5,459,273, or $2.33 per share. The per share earnings in the new year, exclusive of capital gains, were $2.28. Par’s 67%c. interest in Famous- Players Canadian has a market value of about $24,000,000, said Balaban, relating that the Canadian chain wound up its 1952 fiscal year with a profit' of $3,480,126, com- pared with $3,032,018 in 1951. Par chief exec further related (Continued on page 24) Of the newcomers on the list, “Battle Circus” (M-G) is sock in Omaha and ' good in Seattle. “Jeopardy” (M-G) is fast in Chica- go. “Seminole” (U) is above aver- age in Kansas City, great in De- troit and lusty in Philadelphia. On the basis of its smash in N. Y., “House of Wax” (WB) appears cer- tain to hit paydirt when widely re- leased. Other 3-D entry starting out is “Man in the Dark” (Col), standout in San Francisco and strong in N. Y, (Complete Boxoffice Reports on Pages 8-9) Haley Pact Breach Suit Vs. RKO in Settlement A $400,000 breach of contract suit filed several years ago in N. Y. Federal Court by Jack Haley against RKO Pictures was settled and discontinued, according to papers filed yesterday (Tues.). Terms of the settlement were not 1 revealed. In his original suit, Haley charged that RKO did not live up to a 1945 two-picture deal. Haley said he made one picture, “George White’s. Scandals,” but was not called foy *a second although the studio usea sequences from “Scan- dals” in “Make Mine Laughs” with- out employing the actor for the latter. Haley asked for $75,000 for breach of contract, $300,000 for in- vasion of his civil rights, and $25,000 as coin he could have earned on the second picture. *“ Sale of 20th-Fox oldies to TV is no more than a year off and, de- pending on the speed of the indus- try’s conversion to Cinemascope and other systems, could come even earlier. * News that 20th had changed its mind on supplying TV ^yas con- tained in president Spyros P. Skouras’ message to 20th stock- holders yesterday (Tues.), and hit both the industry and Wall Street with bombshell effects. Twentieth stock closed Monday (13) at 17% on the N. Y. stock exchange, register- ing a 1% point gain even before the report was officially released. Yesterday it closed at 17V4. The statement, which makes 20th the first of the major distribs to acknowledge plans of unloading to TV, gave no hint as to when 20th might move, saying merely that, with CinemaScope, the theatre de- mand for older pix will “greatly decrease.” Skouras said he could put no accurate value on 20th’s library of some 900 pix since the advent of sound, but commented: “We hope that these pictures will derive for your corporation very large income, running into millions of dollars.” , It’s understood that the company figures it can gainfully pull the (Continued on page 24) • — ... 20th’s Stand on Video As Another Blow In Green’s Stock Battle Decision of 20th-Fox to peg re- lease of its older pix to TV, on CinemaScope saturation of the the- atre market, was «een by industry observers yesterday (Tues.) as an- other move designed, among other things, to head off the expected at- tack by Charles Green, minority stockholder, who is challenging the 20th management. Although Green has never flatly stated whether or not he favors re- lease of *20th product tb TV, it’s believed that this will be one of his arguments in the upcoming (Continued on page 25) Trade Mark Registered FOUNDED BY SIME SILVERMAN Published Weekly by VARIETY, INC. Harold Erichs, President 154 West 46th St. New York 36, N.Y. Hollywood 28 6311 Yucca Street Washington 4 1292 National Press Building Chicago 11 612 No. Michigan Ave. London WC2 8 St. Martin's PL, Trafalgar Sq. ' SUBSCRIPTION Annual .... $10 Foreign . $11 Single Copies 25 Cents ABEL GREEN, Editor Vol. 190 E^gjgj^ 0 No. 6 INDEX Bills 70 Chatter ^ 78 Film Reviews 6 House Reviews 69 Inside Legit 72 Insjde Pictures 24 Inside Radio 44 Inside Television 48 International 14 Legitimate 71 Literati 77 Music 49 New Acts 68 Night Club Reviews 66 Obituaries 79 Pictures 3 Radio-Television 28 Radio Reviews 40 Record Reviews .......... 50 Frank Scully 77 Television Reviews 41 TV-Film 27 Vaudeville 60 DAILY VARIETY (Published in Hollywood by Daily Variety, Ltd.) $15 a Year. $20 Foreign National Boxoffice Survey Vacations Boost Week’s B O.; ‘Salome’ 1st, ‘Madam’ Close 2d, ‘Moulin,’ ‘Pan’ Next