Variety (August 1953)

Wednesday, August 5, W5S PICTURES 18 -MO. TAX NICK HITS INDIES Theatres today are collecting a I t‘eord $5,000,000 in! revenue fropv H^nsored -pix, and latest estimates put. the number of houses using the plugs at about 15,000. ;}/■■. . You can count the . circuits hot i^ing sponsored films on the fingers of one hand,” Claude Lee, general sales topperfor Motion Picture Advertising Service Co.} emphasized in-.Ni.'.Y Monday (3). Lee took Issue with the: asser- tion that TV has hurt his biz, “On the contrary,” he said, “it’s helped us.. For one, the theatres are hun- grier than ever for extra revenue. For another, a lot of iiew ( adver- tisers have become conscious of the power of the medium,” As for the audiences, Lee believes TV has conditioned them to accept screen Commercials more readily; Total billings of the ad pix in- dustry this year should run to' about $21i000,000, it's estimated, ; and producers are ready to follow, the Holiywood ; trend by turning; pul their films in 3-D and • wide- screen., . . spreading, too, is the practice of doubling TV commercials for theatre use. Shorties, are lensed in color, to start with, to make this possible. Resultant cost to the ad- vertiser is comparatively low, con- sidering the circulation he gets, Lee .says. }" . .,.•/} - He explained that N. Y. was One of the few. places where one couldn’t see many ad.films around, not because houses wouldn’t accept them, but because “it would cost too much money for the limited return,” Lee explained, For in- stance, he said, it makes no sense putting a film plugging a national product into a Time Square house, which gets much of its patronage from the tourist trade. Impact may be there, hut the product, may be, sold locally under a different name. • .. ■ '••••'•• Argument that advertisers might, be frightened off .by reports of theatre closings was countered by Lee. He says he had no great. diffi-■ c.u 1 1 y of convincing potentiai spon- sors that the theatres that had closed were “fringe” operations anyway and that, even under nor- mal . circumstances, he ;;probably wouldn’t sign contracts with such situations.. • A While Congressional okay of! • L* Wiayer to Ciurop .6 Ull the income tax buy disallowing • •/•:. ' A: . L n* If .* exe mptions for 18 months of eiiv lOmDO D1Z- Vacation P l °y nien t abroad will put a scri* a *1 ^ t w ous crimp irt the activities of lop , Aruiui • L. Mayer, author; and name stars,; tradesters • believe- it partnei in the Mayer-Kingsley will root but the. already-diminlshv foreign pix ing ranks of indie producers. The for London yesterday /(Tues.f on a unsteady filnv market, plus the combo biz-vacation trip. While :-.in high cost of.Releasing a picture England Mayer will 6.6;. available through aii established distrib, has films and confer with Group 3 seen harelv a handful of IndioK TOA-Distrib Powwow ■ DistTibs’ sales toppers held their regular .monthly powV Arthur- L. partner v in Mayer.. author; and (tie Mayer-Kingsley ■ Washington. Aug. 4. . .'Despite- an inllmat'on of. “pfes- siire” .eon.tain.ed. ln an eNchangeOf telegrams betw een. Allied States Assn, general counsel Abram K. wow; ..yesterday (Tues.) : ^l the. Myers, and Sen; Andrew Sc'bo'oppe'l I aramount home oft ice. Su h- : . t It;, K a n s.); cli.atrman of the Senate their discussion was |.Small Business subcommittee, tire nuns ana comer with Group 3 execs Whose pix Mayer-Kingsley if handling in. the U.S. He also ex- pects to visit Germany where, after the war, he was film chief for the American military government. Mayer’s schedule /includes the Edinburgh film, festival. He’s due .back in mid-September. : Back from extended studio con- ferences, and due to return to Universal City on Aug. 17, U proxy.' Milton R. Rackmil sketched at a stiff meeting/ in N. Y, at luncheon on Monday f3 i the horizons of the., productions upcoming Under Ed M'uhi,' as studio head. These will be .further explored when he gets back to the Coast. With Wil- liam.Goetz, and Leo Spitz officially terminating at U. it has been do: tailed how Mu hi has long, been administrative head of produc- tion. Rackmil states that U *produc- seen barely g handful of Indies j ' end up with a profit w ith av Hol- lywood-made pict ure. Under present terms asked by a major distrib for handling a film, only an indie with: a sock U. S- inade pic has a chance of coming out in the black, it's '.cla.imed. View is that a solo op with. an average .■homegrown product might, -as well throw in the/ tow.el. High U; S. .production costs plus the distrib’s handling fee—.-30%.- off the top for distribution overhead j plus advertising and print costs —leave the indie iii a precarious coin position before he begins to recoup even a portion of his out- lay. Foreign production, however, has made the difference. It has en- abled the indie to cut. his produc- tion costs from .25 to; 50%, thus, giving him a chance to come out on top regardless of the distrih’S j releasing fee. , : | With, the; aiilicipaled blocking of (Continued oh page 1.8 > . Strirtly liush-huslv, but It’s tin- (lerstood that the . group was : addressed by. Alfred : Rv Starr, . Theatre -Owners' of America proxy.'v St a it . would n't d l VU Igc what he was talking about, but it’s learned that Ilfs presence Was In connection with the report. issued by ' the Senate Small. Business Subcommittee 'which failed fof arbitration, and .'/a. stricter. J uslice Dept, attitude hi wafeliiiig for possible decree • violations by 1 he distrihs;. Ai- hit ration, u rged by t he, Soil ale group, also figured in' tlie talk. Washington, prevent film lion: “will be geared to whatever others frrtm : avoiding U. S. in- ‘ 'll'* ^ • • • • it . • ' - . -il ri.- ~ ^ • i .it'-?- — ' • Washington, Aug. 4, | <‘o An inference that Abram' F. Myers, board chairman and geii- } Ivv ' era) <qiinsel ; of the Allied State'. Assn.; was seeking to "pressure- or n . Fill ft 1A C iM * Tni.itlnt e” the. Senate Sma 11 , «*n |J||{ i |lts Business 'Subcommittee on tnotican \ I" 1 pictures, was conlaiired in a. wire ' \ng. . 4. ; sent to Myers- yesi(M’day ./Mon f In.. . :' stars and r the committee's chairman, Sen. An :: | oil ieial report of cormnittce issued :lpd;iy ' (Tuesl r softens (he. blow against Allied and Its geiicral couu- ' set. I’nlike a tentative report eii’CU- • la ted among committee members, which '.leaked onl during 'the week, observations and. reeommeiidatUrn's of the Senate body makes no men- tion of Myers by name. It ohvioiis- .' ly. howe\er, refers to Myers as “a . spokesinan for .Uie .largest exhibitor orgaui/afion;’’ 'phis n/fercnce, al- ; though pinpojnted at. Myers, caus- ((• some surprise In trade Circles, ;. sitiee TiieaIre; ()vvnCrs of 'Ainerira v His the largest ex hi h outfit. "■■ (’ommiUee’s' report, In .essence, f folhiws the reeoinniendatIons conr tained. In (lie “leaked” report. It .strongly :iirg,C-s;.-the. setting up of, a . \ olunlary systein of arbitration w it bin the .motion picture' industry . 1 ! It ; ('alls for a “more forceful and ] more vigilant, policy on the part I ot file antitrust (11 vlsioii- of the,: ; Dept, of Justice in assuring com- * j pii,nice ; With : decrees resulting I j from the extensive litigation i a",ainsl t he many motion picture j companies.” Bulk of I he eommiltcnv report is _ ' (ieA'oled to t he 'subject, of arhilra- ' t iou, w ith the .( ommllt ee viewing it. ’ a-y I he hes.l nieaiis t o sofye fi;.e i) ai;y . disputes between (listribs I ,'ind ex li ihs over industry trade , ' piael ices. . : “Arb it ration js mil the panacea,” the i rpojj says, “Inil it would pro- • (C'oiiI ifined on page DD . ite New attempt to end the deadlock i° negotiations for a new r pact between the filmeries and the New •York while, collar exchange em- ployees will be made at a confab toda^; iWed .). Talks on contract terms have been taking place for •several. months and have. been marked, by bitter hassles, leading l! 1e ; ^Intloh . . Picture, . Homeoffice Lihployees' to. request strike per- mission from International Alliance ‘.’f Theatrical Stage Employees ftu.hard Walsh on two occasions. Walsh had -been weighing ; the onion’s .latest strike demand when lie asked the. unit to consent “to. one more meeting,” Previous to requesting the coUarites to with- iiold their strike action, IA. prexy [ inferred; with film company reps, an indication.that.a settlement may. reached at today’s palaver. Mean,while, union has opened m'goUations for a new pact for ti/nneoffice emploj'ees. Union, is c.»*mandihg a two-year pact calling ,)V Wo wage hike the first year 5 7- for the second; Meeting v * t o . Paramount eluded in a stale- m.ile as Par officials offered a $3 l os.srthe-board boost. Talks w-ith • W! iversa! open next week.. Unlike ^ exchange, negotiations, home- m individual basis, with the union /■ r 'Kering with each company sep- ^•alcly, ■ . • medium or • screen the public wants; it’s- too sopn to toll how much, the novelty appeal figures in the business we have done with, ‘Outer Spa C e,V although in thfi.t case it w'ould have been a good picture in 2-D.” U does plan to diversify, its: program; more social themes and. less westerns, for example; also more musicals, or rather frothy stories with a few. numbers. This naturally will spiral costs, because more Technicolor will be utilized. Rackmil still is ambiguousi on iDecca Records’ 1 function and rela- tion to Univqrsal. As president of both,, and with the diskery account- ing for the 42% purchase control of U, Rackmil states that “the .re- lationship is always there, when we are ready for it, or need it; right now We don’t, so separate entities and operations will -be- maintained.” A previous idea for Deeca to serve, as distributor for vidpix selling has long since been abandoned, U this week set 13 pix, 10 of them in Technicolor and. two in ■3-D, for release during, tlie re- ! mainder of the year. come tax on their overseas earn- ings was passed bv Congress and sent to tlie White.House as one of the final acts of Congress before, its adjournment Monday night. (3 >. Under the present law.: overseas earnings are exempt from U. S, income taxes if the earner 'resides abroad for 17 of any 18 consecu- tive months; vSevcra 1. Hpllywooders are currently taking advantage of the. law. ■flreyv F, Hchocppcl. tit.. Kans.i. Schoeppel responded to a tele- • gr.'im in which' Myers que.slioin-d j .printed reports from a. leiiiatiye ■■ draft ' of : ’th:e ; subcommittee’s final ; report.. Myers was ‘ pnrfic;iiIni ly . ‘yv• J r s 'A■ i irate about a. portion, sharply criI• - ' ; ; . ,0,n i ci/ing him for I'ojecting llig ; eai nei resides j j n( j ()s | rv arbitralioii plan because ,. Y 18 . ( ()ll.'e( li- | : ( i flj/ 1 nnl ihrliiVlf*: .I rnl ion ii.'l } id. did. not include arbitration of ; film prices. .' Adinilt ing;'' a leak,. Sciiocppcl ... ... : » i... .. ...... 11 The House and Senate had dif - 1 "talyd ”llic commitlee’s report/ will ferent versions of a measure to ; be .handled in an ord(*r!y fashion kill this off. What wa's finally inrid ho; amount of pressure, or in- adopted, however, was the Senate ; .-I’.m.idati'on -fixjiii. any. source, will at- version; This provides that earn- , 1(,t ^ Jl s conlenis.” ings only up. to $20,000 in any i Schoeppel added: “I. am of ihe calendar year, are exempt, It sols ' opinion; that. no ciiticism of any the cutoff date as Dec. 31, 1952; i kind ran be made against Ihe thou In other words; the unlimited >.x- sands of .members of the.^Allied emption covers money earned up ‘ Staffs Assn, for their cfforls to to the end of', last year. Work out more stable economic W—-— — - ■ ; -t—. : '' . . conditions in tlie industry. It is n i i n (n »v apparent, that you personally ai<: dcnenck otz r3Sl race • ! /primarily^ concerned aboul alleged A , - ■ . . _ quotations from the preliniinary Ilf riiancrA RaAQAII Fni* draft which discussed in some rl(*- Ul Llldllge nCdoUIl rOI f t a i| t lie history of arbitration nego- TUafrA flitiinc’ tiations and. the commit tee’s eanv- 1 1 IlCtUIC blldlllo IVICI 5 CI est belief that achievement, of a Hollywood, Aug/ 4, i workable arbitration agfeement.be- In .an oilicial statement^^ confirm-' Iwceiv elements of the Industry Theatre Chains' Merger j . - Washington, Aug. 4. Bara mo lin I, which shelled, out i $I0(),()()() for screen rights to the • ii"w' J a UK'S MlclicMcr novel; . “Bridges of Toko-Bi,” is likely to ; run jul 0 a. blank wall of non- I fooperation from tlie Don I agon, tie- :.eprd'iii{ to informed sources here. ; / rmrilieniiore, Daramount, Vaiuki.y : I'anicfi, had a I ready lK“<^n 'notified' ; that Dept, of Defense cooperation j/would probably have to be witli- I held b(‘eause of a previous eomiri:!- : on 4 nt to Metro for assistance on . ”ForV;oft(‘n Heroes of Korea,” an earlier Miehener ojhis wilh an al- most identical background, and theme. Den t agon execs responsible for . liaison 'wilh; Hollywood report a : deluge of. phone calls from virlu- /a'ly every major studio .the (lav after 1 lie new' Michcher novel ap- . pea red in Life ' niag.. . Ai. the. l ime, •'•■• -.••■'v- ^ impefidil^gwei^ersev- : ' :AV0,ll( l -be the gi'eatest single str.o ; each qmu y• was luisw ered hy stale- . tl Takes Over at U-I; ei 'at theatre circuits, Joseph M. ' forward in. cjiminating- most, if numi .that the. prpmise.;of coopera- A' ' 1 " ai ; T«:il. TVTAvr Sehe.nck expiained that • “teehnical not a, .b. the comiilaihis, tostifunj tJon./ wHh Metro would prdelude uoetz stays 1 in IVOV. changes • in theatre operat ion are • . (Gonti niiecTon page 18 )■/.’■" . hel p, on a :fi I in .version ot the nety er Hollywood, Aug.'4, . coming along tod fast today . ... . ....... ... . ......... .;-William "Goetz- $tepped out'yes^ aiiy; local, theatre organizatioh to!'^ ■ .• ^ ; - ; - inler.ested ; sl.udjos . hacked -. .dowri, • terday (Mon.), as production chief. } -ke.e'p abreast, af . all ihe swiftly- Stereo EciUipttient b*d' ( > ;.l r, ' l, /!' oun, .‘ a.s ysole . bidder;. at-^ UnivgrsaLIftternatiOnal but. Will!. paced developments, it required .a./:/ :■ Wr’-Ai kir A r: ” 7 brd Die dpt|on: : / Drprlijetibri enntiriUe at the' studio' .un-tiil' ; -Nov.-.f national'or'gafiiza'ti'o'n- to. handle io-' L/OSlSv^ULDy iVIlLL .votikj be eqmpliealed by wdlhliold-. story; As .a result, the oUier four. at UnivgrsaLInternatiOnal but. will j. paced developiments. it requires a '. continue at the- studlo : until Nov.'j national orgahizatum to . handle to-! 12 , when, his contract expires, to !.day’s . problem.spf change andj • clean up his. projects. .' ; I progress.” His ■. , duti.e,s. ; --.W'e're'. taken, over by.}' Schenck a d d e d that . Magna / ,’s-. prob.ienis -.of change ahd | ' ; Installaiiph ebsts -.of sUTeOpbbnic • pf/ici/i 1 _.roop'e?*aHon. qh.h gress.” ' • soun d-: (*qii.i pirient have' "been ■ d ras-- sc'* [Ves,'.y ., / chenck'.added tliat } Magria . t icallw reduecd by Altec Service' ion on ha t lie Edward Muhl, recently appointed. Corp.; controlling the Todd-AO .vice-president in charge of pro- process;, has no connection: with duction/ Goetz resigned July 8 foi- the plan to combine several large lowing, disagreement over ’ the ' theatre chains, such as United terms of a new contract w*ith .Mi'I-{Artists}" Skouras; Golden.-. State, ton R. Rackmil, U prexy. V| Rowley, and others. He aiso S'aid Leo Spitz,. U’s executive bead of; the possibilities of greater '/film: production; retires from the studio / power do not enter into the plan, Aug. 1; H 0 weVer.:; he . is keeping/, declaring that the on!y praet icaI his office on the lot until his; con-: way of buying product is for Ideal tract expires Now 12. I exhib to pick the fiitu that fits iiis.. /Muhl has beeh^'-with V as busi- particular theatre, ness manager and general man-! Regarding the new teehniyal Corp. ; Alter; }sales : topper., L. I). Nelter, Jr! said this .Week (3) that the new rates had gone into. efTeci Aug,. 1. with, a new •low price of. $375/for/smaller houses to a High of $750 for the bigger ones. For- mer prices ranged from $000 to $900. ,. According to Net.ter, the feduc- t ion h ti s heen made possib 1 e due 1 0 “on th v, job”.; expericrice and t lie ironing out of “bugs.’} Nctlor com- mented',': that-. the separate pricing .Director . Jo.sef / yon ; .Sternberg : /last we(‘k nMurriV'd from . Jap-jn. , v. jl.ii. a print, of ‘‘Anatalian,’.’ whi' h . ; he .lensed 1 he 1 e with a rial ive cast Stf.uh'bei'g/hnn^elf (he's the -English r h.ar.r,'iliuri. /''•■■ific'sfrir> Sternberg’s 'tat/'*-if discovery•./•.daneer Akemi Ne- gidii/ : / ■ - ager for more: than. 12 years/ He developments, he said: “Eventually of each major' unit of stereophonic It’s the story of the 30 Japanese i • . . • • *• ■_>« < . . j . .. . 1.. • f. «. . v _ __ ‘ _ r . 1 * 1 1. ' ■ j . . ‘ • ‘ r a . •./*.• '!..lii _ i^mtt = =Trn=aH J ?rcTffc. K t = /beearte^a^vT]f7::Wh(qrr ; l^ahdH^ ' national Piciures merged in 1945./ through (iris proving period will Charges Correspond with the type long after the war was o.ver. Stern j adding g:>neral production : exec .. become standard and adopted by and size of equipment used; w J chores last year* . the entire industry/.” / 1 benefit the smaller theatres. • ould- berg is curienfly discussing a U.S. : . ] distribution deal.