Variety (April 1953)

12 EfraUfATIOXAl KBmfr •vakiitw londo* awe* t St. Marti*'* Yl*c*, Trafalgar S*vara ACT Seeks to Restrict Top Foreign London, April 21, ♦' A new offensive to restrict the employment of top grade foreign technicians on British ph is to be launched next weekend when the Assn, of Cine and Allied Techni- cians holds its annual meeting in London. It will advocate a tignten- Brit. Pix Technicians Big Screen TV For Coronation, $3*50 Top London, April 14. Big screen TV is being installed at the Royal Festival Hall and will be used on Coronation day. Ad- mission tabs of $2.80 to $3.50 are . being charged, this including a pic- nic lunch. ■ * Main presentation will be from with a repeat Arg. Indie film Production Perks; Still VS. Coram’l TV $ a night show. at latter will be 70c London, April 21. British film technicians are maintaining their stand of full op- p S Admission to $1. London. position to the advent of coramer- to € of ^‘” cial television. This is confirmed achieve thisobject. in tte aIuraal report of the Assn. In the ACT annual report, which { p; n p Technicians. Re-affirma- will be issued in London tomorrow <Wed.\ protest is made over the general policy of importation, par- ticularly of producers and direc- tors, especially as the persons in- volved frequently are not interna- tionally outstanding.” The Ministry of Labor, it is reported, has gen- erally co-operated with the anion. of Cine Technicians. Re-affirma- tion of the union’s attitude was taken after consideration of a spe- cial report last month, although they are still anxious to ascertain the terms on which licenses will be granted by the government. It has asked the Postmaster General if be would consult them before any 3-D Interest » Perks in Paris Paris, April 21. Interest here in 3-D is getting its first boxoffice test since the pub- licity about U. S. strides and the TV Included in Latest French-Italo Air Pact Rome, April 14. A pact extending Franco-Italian airwave collaboration for another year has just been signed. Agree- ment, between Italian Radio (RAX), and the Radio-Diffusion Francaise, calls for cooperation and exchange of programs between the two countries. It has been re- newed yearly the last four years. This year’s agreement, signed by French rep Francois Ponchet and Italian radio topper Seraesi, for the first time also specifically in- cludes TV programs in the setup. « tSySfrJ? £ P ‘3M» report reflects j ™ e"c IKS qualifies ^ mcreasmg telepix activity in invention p to ^ate CinemaScope. yocating that a ^ wmch ^^es ^ ndon {Qr y g sponsors, with ^ the noveIty British producer or director, at fe^Talmost category here with TV competi- least one leading British.artistand j entirely ‘to the various TV films l^ 011 negligible, and film patron- 75% of writing fees paid to a Brit- - m Britain. - I age on an even keel the last year. ish subject exclusive oi the pm-1 ^ ■ chase of author’s rights. | - • p»« T Having made representations to Y^llk rlffllS Mill iflpS the Board of Trade as well as the j - . . , I In Berlin; Isa® scores, Labor Ministry, the union is now hoping that some acceptable ar- rangement may be introduced when the Anglo-American film agreement is due for revision. It is particularly concerned at the number of quota films lensed in First here is Metro with a dust- ed-off version of its pre-war Audio- scopies. These Metroscopix are getting a big play in front of the | theatre, overshadowing regular pic. First day crowds Ireland's af Home Fete Proves Real Show Biz Dud; Dearth of Tourists Dublin, April 21. * Too many cuffo shows and too much culture hit Irish show biz during first weeks of “An Tostal,” Ireland at Home festival, which started at Easter. Organizing through the government-sponsored ji Fat and Mike. ‘Razor's Edge’ Also Big ’ were ahead of the usual ones - Berlin, April 14. j tomorrow (Wed.) at two big houses j ^ked" show’biz to rally for toe » « n . 11. I a . _ J _ *1 O TV T m rvl- VawaWi _ 1 _ * . . . fete. It paid off adversely. Abbey \ UA releases “Bwam, Devil’’ here ; tour ^ body, Festival authorities V ^li lb.. L . ^ L am 7 • » . After the successful three-month ! to ride the 3-D crest. Last Novem- run of “American in Paris" tM-G) ;ber the British Festival 3-D shorts British territory abroad with !j at cinema P^ris, another Metro pic, j played the first-run Broadway, scarcely., any British technicians s «ginging in Rain,” is now rated a jj They had a nice run without fan- employed in any grade. - big draw at Gloria Palast. Film j fare cr big publicity. 20th-Fox The main ACT beef is not di-5 drew excellent reviews, making rected against members of the | Gene Kelly the present favorite star of Berlin’s Kurfuerstendamm. Cinema Paris* generally a French preem house, now has another American film, “The River” <UA). •Most cinemas in this area are British Film Producers Assn, with whom the union has a working agreement on foreign producers and directors, but with non-BFPA members, who have been claiming hopes to have a CinemaScope dem- onstration ready here by early June. the bulk of the foreign labor per-1 presenting Hollywood films. Film- mils. Since April, 1951, 57 work l theatre Berlin has “The Razor’s tickets in these grades were issued, f Edge” <20th), Bonbonniere is show- of which only 13 were applied for ,j ng “Sirocco” (Col), the Studio is by BFPA members. ; playing “Payment on Demand” At the annual meet, the issue ’iRKO) while Filmbuehne Wien will be spotlighted by a resolution j has the Swiss film, “Heidi” (Col), from the producers-directors sec-[Despite summerlike weather all tion of the union, which view's with (film houses report good biz. grave misgiving the in ere as in tend-1 First 3-D feature pic, “Bwana ency to emoloy foreign producers, j Devil” (UA) will be shown in Ger- directors and others in higher crea- j many this month. It is being dis- tive grades by companies making J tributed by Constantin, which han- films in this country. The general j dies UA product here. Local exhibs council will be urged to take vigor- are not too excited about the ar- ous steps to reverse this tendency rival of 3-D pix since Polaroid j exports to tl bv Dressing for a revision of quota glasses are nothing new to local • studio costs * V_ , . 0 I i i- ri *i' i n tv _ ; -I J . ■ ■ qualifications. All Austrian Studios Idle; Need Better Deal On Distrib in Germany See Anssie Indie Exhibs Delaying Swing to 3-D public. British 3-D pix were shown at a fair here two years ago. Three films now are being shot in West Berlin studios. Algefa’s Vienna, April 21. The first week of * this month sees all Austria film studios, with- | out exception, idle. Prospects for resumption hang on negotiations now under way in Munich to set possibly increased Austrian quotas for pix exported to Germany. Re- strictions on income imposed by the present 15-pic yearly limit on exports to the Reich, plus increased since the first of 1953 and practical paralysis of produc- tion bank credits locally are re- Theatre yanked Lennox Robinson’s “The Whiteheaded Boy” after one week, and replaced it with a re- vival of “Playboy of the Western World.” „ Gate Theatre also pulled Christo- pher Fry’s “A Sleep of Prisoners” after two weeks of dull biz and put in Micheal MacLiammoir’s adapta- tion • of Jules Romains’s “Comic History of Dr. Knock” called “An Apple a Day.” Piece was origi- nally planned for summer season at Gaiety. * The Gaiety did poorish biz with “La Vie Parisienne” and the same applied to “Everyman,” morality play, at the Capitol. Theatre Royal presenting a spec- tacular show, “Trumpet Call,” with the co-operation of the Irish army and navy also found trade slow, and yanked the show - after two weeks. Fireworks, floodlighting and gen- eral carnival air of streets and number of cuffo exhibitions are held responsible for the bad show biz. The small number of tourists also hurt. Encouragement given by Buenos Aires, April 14. Carlos A. Seidel has set up an organization to purchase and ex- port 26 Argentine pictures a year for distribution in all countries ex- cept Uruguay, Brazil and Chile. Apart from purchasing the films outright from producers. Seidel hopes to finance independent pro- ducers on a percentage basis. His outfit has purchased five pictures so far: “Sala de Guardia” (ADOCA\ “Que Rico el Mambo” (Gral Bel- grano), “La Mano que Apriela” (Gral Belgrano), “Captura Recom- endada” (Sono) and “Un Angel Sin Pudor” (ADOCA). Some of the studios, shuttered by bankruptcy, are attempting to wriggle out of their difficulties and start work again. EFA may get a good lease for its studio buildings in the Calle Lima, but before any deal can be set it must pay salaries owed to technical staffs and extras. An independent producer is inter- ested in the outfit’s physical assets, with the idea of putting them un- der Juan Carlos Thorry as produ- cer-director. Work at Portenas studios is pro- ceeding under veils of secrecy on the parody of “Way of a Gaueho,” the film' which 20th-Fox made a year ago on Argentine soil. “Way of a Cowboy/* as it is now called, obviously is* intended to mock American producers for what Argentines look upon as travesties on their “Gaueho” character. Comedians Augusto Codeca and Sevejro Fernandez are working in (Ms, along with Guillermo Bat- taglia and Alberto Bello. Juan Sires is directing. Libertador Studios has just com- pleted rolling the Argentine epi- sode of “Witchcraft,” an interna- tional co-production. Olga Zubarry and Narciso Ibanez Menta had the principal roles under Leon Kli- movsky’s direction. Script is by Alejandro Verbisky. Remainder of the pic*will be shot in Mexico and Spain. sponsible for the Likelihood is that 2d Nip Studio Hops On 3-Dee Wagon; ‘Wax,’ Tix,’ ‘Bwana,’ ‘Wings’ U.S. Pix Tokyo, April 14. Shochiku Studios, leaping oA the ^ three-dimensional bandwagon, an- complete lull. I organizers to provide longhair con- j nounced successful testing of no more than The Chaste Joseph,” at CCC stu- [ one new production, an Ernst Ma 1 4.UV vuukjbv vvtivjrii) **v w wbM | _ dios in Spandau, “Die Rose von rischka operetta, will roll between ! same day as the big symphony con- certs also led to Iturbi playing the clashes, Jose Olympia ^Stambul,” a Central Europa tt .•{ p tl i\ e » jjat the Templehof studios, and a Until rmiY I enacted \ third film, untitled so far, produced J ! by Capital in same studios. Ideal Berlin and Munich-pro- Sydney, April 14. General run of Australian ex- hibitors will not dip into- their bankrolls to splurge with 3-D until a standard system has been devel- oped at a reasonable cost, according to independent cinema operators. Some cf these are playing a game of “wait and see.” One circuit oper- ator here felt it was not sensible to spend heavy coin on one 3-D system if unsuited for product from a rival distributor. The majority of independent exhibitors here, in addition to the major loops, play product from several companies. And it goes without saying that they can’t in- stall three different systems. The Robert Menzies Liberal Party government has made no an- nouncement covering a relaxing of the dollar freeze to permit im- portation of American 3-D equip- ment. However, inquiries in finan- cial circles indicate that no green- light would be given for the whole- sale entree here of 3-D equipment from the U.S. However, it might be produced here or brought in from Great Britain. Reported that the government would not okay heavy expenditure on the importation of Cinerama equipment. Survey indicates that now there are no more than six major Aussie cinemas capable of playing Cine- rama. To convert the balance would set a cost far above the reach of Down Under exhibitors because in a majority of situations it would entail a complete theatre rebuild. Film, »a during company, soon will start 1 shooting “Chase After the Rommel Treasure.” Pic will be based on actual, happenings in 1943, when a German army captain from Rom- mel’s Africa troop got the order to bring Rommel’s cash box to Berlin. The Allied landing in Italy, film, | now and June. ! cert at Capitol. Coin for longhairs Under the present Austro-Ger- j is notably short in these parts re- man agreement, this country is on j cently. Theatre Royal originally the short end of a five-to-one quota system. Since Austria’s small area and population are not* sufficient to pay out even on the average $100,- 000 production cost here, German income is absolutely essentiaL It has been customary for Austrian producers to sell their German rights before production in return for advances of approximately half however, forced him to sink the \ the production cost. This gives Ger- treasure in the bay of Golo. had violinist Campoli slated for same day, but the date was post- poned until the falL EBC-TV Show Plugging London Niteries Halted j screening Shochiku Vision and rush produc- the j tion of a five-reel 3-D’er to be ready for release within two weeks. Toho studios has two dimensional pix under way, using a system they call Tovision, Shochiku Vision is similar to' •Natural Vision, requiring only one camera and a single projector. An ordinary ^screen is used after processing with metallic powder. Special lenses are attached to cam- ! era and projector for filming and man distribs veto power over Aus-j trian scripts, casting and costs. This has reinforced local unwillingness to make anything but wine-women- Talent Flow Into U.S • -are sure shots for limited income, but have no artistic burden. Brit Hopeful of Easier Violinist Joseph Szigeti finishes , bis two-month tour of Japan April 25. By the end, there will have been 10 performances in Tokyo alone, with a special program for the Emperor at the Imperial Palace London, April 14. . As^resuit of high-level talks dur- ing the past few weeks, there is rising hope in London that the U. S. State Dept, will okay a re- laxation of the McCarran Act, to permit a free flow of British per- formers to work in America. It is believed that, within the next three to four months, agree- ment will be reached in Washing- ton, which will enable British art- ists to accept .U. S. engagements on conditions similar to those in [operation before the legislation be- came effective last December. Since representations were first made to Washington this year “by the Variety Artists* Federation, a number of prominent agents and others, who have been on business trips to America, have discussed at executive level. difficulties con- fronting British performers under the McCarran Act. It is widely accepted here that these repre- sentations have been sympathetic- ally received, and the view prevails that some accommodation arrangement will be agreed upon in due course. Legit Shows Abroad ^LONDON ♦Week ending April 18) Affairs of State, Cambridge (8-21). Airs Shoestring, Royal Ct. (22). Call Me Madam, Coliseum (3*15). Dangerous Curves, Garrick (14X Dear Charles, New (12-18). Deep Slue Sea, Duchess (3-6X Dial M Murder, West (6-19). Escapade, Strand (1-20). For Better Worse, Comedy (12-17-52). Glorious Days, Palace (2-28). Happy Marriage, Duke York (8-7). Little Hut, Lyric (8-23-50). Living Room, Wyndhsm’s (16). London Laughs, Adelphi (4-12). Love of Colonels, W. Garden (5-23-51X Love Jrom Judy, Saville (9-25). Mousetrap, Ambas. (11-25). Paint Wagon, Her Majesty's (2-11). Paris to Piccadilly, Pr. Wales (4-15). Quadrille, Phoenix (9-12). Redheaded Blonde, Vaudeville T4-1). Reluctant Heroes, White (9-12-50). Ring Out Bells, Vic. Pal. (11-12). Seagull, Arts (22). Seagulls Sorrento, Apollo (6-14-50). South Pacific, Drury Lane (11-1-51). Sunday Breakfast, New Lindsey (15). Three Cheers, Casino (3-7). Water of Moon, Haymarket (4-19-51). Wonderful Time, Hipp. (10-21-52). Woman Importance, Savoy (2-12-53), Yodng Etix, Criterion (4-2). SCHEDULED OPENINGS (Figures denote premiere dates) So Shall Ye Reap, Richmond (27). Starched Aprons, Embassy (29). London, April 14. After a six-month run, TV’s roost elaborate free commercial for West End niteries has been temporarily halted. Known as “Toppers About To\vn,” program was first aired direct from the Cafe de Paris, last October. It has been featured at. monthly intervals from some lead- j ing nightspots. \ Produced by Richard Afton, pro -1 Hawk” has been added to the gram was built around the British \ three other U. S. 3-D pix sched- Broadcasting Com.-TV resident j uled for early showing here. Set dancing line, the Toppers, with a I for May showings, so far, are Both studios are faced with a shortage of Polaroid specs for screening both their own and im- ported illusioners. Shochiku has contracted for 20,000 pairs of pola- roids from Mitsubishi Electr2c Co., which is already swamped with or- ders from importers of foreign 3-D pix. Universal’s “Wings of the star cabaret show preformed be- fore an invited audience. The only cost to the management were the free meals for the guests. Toppers” has come from the tWB), “Bwana “Ticonderoga” Bagatelle, the Colony, Washington, j jectors are increasing with the an- !?•«*~ • .« * .« •»* - AmIit “House of Wax” Devil” (UA) and (Col.), Demands for synchronizing mo- tors needed to operate dual pro- Embassy, Cirps, Mayfair Hotel, etc. i Most bonifaces agree this TV show has proved a stimulant with the intrinsic value, in its country- wide coverage, giving out-of-town- ers first-hand glimpses of West End shows which could he noted for subsequent celebrations. ticipation of the new medium. Only firm which can make them here, Fuji Central, has seen its stock ad- vance on the Tokyo curb. Scot Coronation Dimont Glasgow, April 14. TV will not reach film theatres in Scotland in time for the British Coronation. After trials, it has been decided that the present size of picture obtained on theatre screens is not suitable. Expected now it’ll be end of 1953 before here. 2,073,000 TV Sets in Brit London, April 14. Although still lagging a way be- hind America, the number of TV receivers in use in Britain is creep- ing up at an impressive rate. Lat- est figures available, up to the end of February, show a total of 2,073,- 000 sets in use. With a potential viewing audi- ence of three to four persons P eI> receiver, peak programs are now tele reached film houses. attracting a public of 6,000,000 to ‘ 8 , 000 , 000 .