Variety (August 1953)

eclnesday, August 5 , 1953 pirriiRKK N^ed for a nationwide circuit of V ' • V . "" • ■ SEEK CUT OF •TREASURE' »ag!,5gaa; V - mT hv Martin Lewis operator AP ^riTV DtUCJiTil CC A’ w* ni companies are stepping ^?H^' 53 ih^treet Playh^e OF CITY BENEATH SEA r ( , ,e th sh'elves ea o S ? other art theatres, in the course of ; y. .. Uos. Angeles, Aug. 4. U’ s figured thiit the^la^Slav a panel discussion on British JVfark Herstein : agency and . come antiquated as more aiid more films and the American market. Harold Cornsweet filed a con- theatres retool for the nevv era Apparently' convinced that the hew iecliiiique- .pictui'fes ;are-.'here ; to j slay, film, companiesare stepping up their, release schedules to clear the shelves of conventional. pix. * — » iii a • _ r • . . . . >,. • • ' . * ’ uimv nwiu iiun utt lUiiivLll o n ill iir ■British- pix skedded^ for presents- costs of City Beneath the Sea." working close to the vest as they tion: Introductory talk was deliv- Complaint says Rieseberg made keep amloe watch on the tvne of erort Sir Gladwin Jebb perma- a 50% deal wilb Hevsteib and pix that: will drilw nent . Butish rep to the. tl\N. Cornsweet to sell his book, 1,Dive turnstiles. Studio technicians }uiv*» fecanly Council,, who took the For Treasure." Later, the plain- been ilSirt' to iltofe StiSly view that American audiences tiffs state, Biesebcrg sold the story into any dimension that the puli, would take to British films, .if they -to Cohen,.-who .in turn S.old - it : to lie-fancies* As a result - studios are could see them, more often. . ■;•- Universal for - $50,000. They want anxious to start with a clear-slate. Addressing the gathering of half that amount, plus an account It’s estimated that b/ March, : critics and press reps, Sir Gladwin of the script costs, of which Her- 1954 , most of the: studios will have f 0 und his country’s product "on stein says he was to gel : 10£-, - -,,. cleared their deckii of all convcn- the whole intelligent and often . ■' ■ ■,: tjonal product. Practice of working vorV' funny," but complained that It was still a '‘cultivated'’ rather than an acquired taste With the L. S.. public. He was also care- ful tb' make the distinction be- tween a cultivated and. a. cultured taste, but concluded that much eon Id be done ta expedite the ac- quaintance between British : pix and the broad American audience. Panel discussion was'moderated by Charles Dand, British Informa- tion Services' pic topper in N, Y. Others on the Playhouse stage in- Signing in Rome of a new agree- Others on the Playhouse stage .in-- • tT" 6 re- el uded Lewis Knfght,; film critic, between dislribs and exhibs, and Henry Hart, also a critic and spelling out a model contract and National Board of Review, prexy. rentaLterms for the coming year. For the most part they eulogized took homeoffice execs in N.. Y*. the progress of British films, with by surprise. It occasioned per- particular emphasis, oil their sue- sls tent queries on, ‘Why w'eren’t * r* aB «v m v*w • *■■■%« cess, because of their various nar we consulted m advance of any - / ' . . tive qualities which were seen re- American commitment to. the Reflecting dissatisfaction with fleeting national virtues; deal/ the.basic principles underlying in- ' Jeff Livingston, exploitation Agreement .was reached between tcrnational film festivals, and. the specialist on J+_Arthur Rank films AGIS, the Italian General Assn, of manner in which they are run, the • channeled- through - Universal, Show Business,- and A NIC A, the American companies, are ; reduci'ng ..'••• (ronlinupd on 2riV National Assn, of Motion Picture their annual allotment for pafti- ’ . : ■ . • - •■'. arid Allied Industries, of which cipation in the Venice film fete to the Americans are members. Only 6,000.000 lire ($8,OOOh Last year exception is Metro, which didn’t they kicked in 8,000,000 Iire ($1(),- join. While it }s opposed to the ar- 600) ip help plug their entries. , r.angements made, M G. hasn’t , Mot ion Picture Assn, of Amor- much choice other than going R’a last week received a report on along with the decision. the Venice .festival selections from Deal calls for 50-50 terms on 25% ^’ F' u * one Va 9 J! ce - , He . of i?ix released, with the rest going ’* 5 ?' r . • -..-., \ . . at a maximum 40% for the ,dis- . a d ongnially C urrent shortage of screens and trihs This doesn’t take in 3-D u J ec wd eight of the nine U. V S. en- short focal lenses is holding down films or special widescreen pro- and then had proceeded to the rafe of widescreen installations JKJf S« ! request three specific pix, Among s AGIS, tile Italian General Assn, of manner in which they are;run, the l, Show Business, and A NIC A. the American companies are reducing . National Assn, of Motion Picture their annual ailotmcni for parti- sc 11 en systems ready for opera- counting of expenses, but it’s un- A J,® Bad c lion; Count doesn’t take in the Very derstood that this point has not V a I, . for „ tbe. competition, himied number of houses which vet been finallv settled Othei .American pix In the running alu ays have had larger screens.. ^MoUon PiSuw“ xiSi Assn, rep ^ “ Th(? equipment dealers concede that in Rome has asked that tlicre be a ^ u ch.L r won lh Tr d r . Plcku l ) Qn he rate of factual installation has delay in the final approval of the So -I l /I t I , i A S A tl Sxt" . 2 .? th /£ 0X J;.a* • - Mon very slow, but this is in part ^rne^on ^tafS fd g^vl | blamed on their inability to turn foreiffn managers in -N Y a 1 vosts among the distribs. calls for orn the screens and grind wide- c^n^’W dia^u "X raatiei Participating companies angle lenses. Latter are in particu- ^ ThrLt overshadowitTK the whole t 0 pl ! y l "'° parts W"* 1 one I M, t arly ^ ort „ ainc/ there !£?'t 1,., . Kr‘? suuaiiun was MlV.UUdLtUll Ml nl lu lc . oiicelnn of ow MBA A been a, jy call for them for X of the old agreement, Under it. n v any years. Cinemascope lenses if there was a prolonged stalemate N, ^ f - > e s i erda > JTues.) . ,, J )ain g. stockpiled hy 20th-Fox, on rental terms, the gover.nnicnt »» . . p » . , > J\hich so far hasn t released any to would be permitted to step in- to Martm & Lewis Money vv^r? aler * s * ' ; determine the limits. Wilh the fttavs Homp at Parairintint Cin V *^c SGree ^ of the 2 5 t0 1 De Gasperi regime laJlcn ^ncl po- ^, S 1 i-t ai rarait Jy Unt urn maScope dimensions are hard litical conditions, .unstable, some , )r Ha J WalJvs-Joseph, 11. . Hazen- m get. According to one equipment \ (Continued on pace l6i Marlin & Lewis starrer, ‘‘Money dtvAler, theatres ordering such • • • • • ; . f rom Home,” will be released by greens now don’t stand a chance Ami iiP iffPii tniv hl lfC Paramount under a deal concluded getting, the in before the' end of CHI HEALTH B D BANS | here yesterday (Tues.). Talks, with September. “It all hit. us . with a M “ • -.——:■ In an attempt to hypo (healre- , PARMiEL EPSTEIN ' ; TO^NEW LONGTERM PACT^ ^ey r .i^p^a.S , ««%$ :■ . v * of sports events as well as tluv pre- ix, Hollywood. Aug. 4..; .selling of. at tract ions via . estab- . Mol r.pstcin, \\lid went to work lishcd film bally methods. Theory' at Paramount 23 \ears ago as Kd- of the (inn, according to veepee ; nniiui l.owe slandin, was sighed to. William Itoscnsohn. is that closcd- a new. longlcrm producer contract; .circuit video cannot become an ac- .beginning with '‘Legend.of Incas,” ccpled show, biz medium ; .-unless.-.It in October. He lias already pro- j is presented 01 V a regular basis, lie dueeu eight features for the studio, disputes the view of Nate; lla I peril. After the stand in job he was Theatre Television NetWork top- successively second . and first as- per. l lui t tile, medium remain sistanl. director, unit ; production, manager, assistant to producer Ar- t h in* I lorn 1) 1 0 w v vSh or t s direct or and producer; tional. product. Practice of working 14 to 18 months in advance ap- pare h i 1 y w ill -. be d i scon t i nued, a n d it’ll, be a rare studio that Will have a backlog of 16. to 18 pictures on hand at any one time. Feeling is that it Will, be risky to build up a backlog in a period of quickly- chahging technical methods. Until the time is reached when there : will be a degree of .standardization, (Continued on page 18) dormant, until there is an out- standing xock offering. All hough BOT is canvassing t lie . • field for a wide variety of olTei- ' ings, It will: launch its program with seven Notre Daine fool ha It games and five Harlem Globe- liqtler basketball games, . HOT, jieeofding to. Rosensoluh Is . liol, askinj. for any guarantee or adyanee, biit will make the evenl.v available strictly. on a v -percentage basis. In addition, he noted there would be no ext ra charges since IKVl’ would foot both Hie line, and local loop charges. Ilo -emphasized", .that not a cent would be taken oIT the top Ipr the line or loop .costs, HOT is olVering a .package deal The International Boxjng. C’liih HOT is OlVering a .package deal is asking a guarantee of $150,000 -which consists of hooking the'.en- plus a percentage of the b;o. take tire series of football or haslcet- lor the. closed-circuit theatre tele- casting of l he Sept. 24 lieavyweight chain pi o n sh i p bou 1. be tween c ha.ni p Rocky Marciano and ; challenger Roland La Starza. Hefty guarantee being demanded by the I IK 1 is re- sulting in withdrawal of some of (lie thcatre-TV firms brlglnally in- terested in the ; fight.' Meanyvliile, .(he (I i lie He . Razor company sard it would he Willing to pay $175,000 for the home TV rights with New York, and New .England, hi a eked out. If the bout goes to Gillette, thm-o's a chance the event may he.--shifted to Friday, Se.pJ....25, to. make use of Gillct.te’s jiegiilar fight time ovcrNlK’. Com- pany said it is still hopeful of get- ting the rights, ; Although maintaining that it is- still “in. the picture,’’ Ilox Office To 1 e V isi on, Inc., t he ne W |y-for 1 ned Milton Mound-Sid; Caesar cornpa- hy. indicated il wasn’t interested in any deal that demanded an ad- vance from tlieat res, “We want to make an event at- tractive to t heat res,’’ a spokesman ! declared.. “We-don’t want to Iok-c (Continued on page 16) ball games or both. Pacts-will con- tain cancellation clauses allowing exhibs to cancel put. il' the at trac- tion docs not d’raW after three tries. Admission lab maximum, ac v . (Continued on. page 20) Order lor TOO CinemaScope im stallations was placed wiili 20th- Fox last week by Gen. Abelanlo. la. Rodrigue/, Mexican circuit opera- tor and a producer. Rodriguez also acquired Hie right to lens a number of ..features and exports t o c<iui|> at least' 34 liouses with the wide- screen process, by the end. of this year. ' . Meanwhile, 20th announced that the first C’anadian demon.stration of CinemaScope is due Aug. 11 at the Imperial Theatre, Toronto, wilh exhibs, press :reps, equipment manufacturers and government, of- ficials -attending, HomeolVice core tingent will he led by W. (.’.Tielir- ing, exec assistant sales inanager. W, It. Frank Iasi week ■■licensed CinemaScope lenses to produce “Sitting Hull" In color. With ICr- rol Flynn’s “The Story of' William Tell,” to be made in' ICurope, Ibis makes, the second CinemaScope re- lease for United Artists. .-Ollier- indies with CinemaScope pix ori their schedule include Hoi t Fried- lob and Walt Disney. Joan Davis, Col Call It Mtig.. No One is ready With any- ■ n % f: ; Was the comment. , -{‘Y exhibs are putting ih 'or- nT-'. s ^ CineinaScppe 1 Miracle I HEAL I H B U BANS here yesterday (Tues.). Talks, wit h 1 llLiniii ii u v umiM ... j Warner Bros, were broken off soine REUSE OF 3-D VIEWERS Par is lalkina joinl Chicago, . Aug, 4. . ! production with Wallis-Hazen for tie .Board of Health here today : Vina Del mar’s “About Mrs* Leslie ” ;s.) cracked down bn the reuse ! Hie would star Shirley - Booth «V. . • .T. iUliatflV: Aim ..L/VHAU V fc , *, V ' -, v ‘ V. j iN'i’oi' screens developed by 20 th; (Tues.) cracked down bn the reuse, I^c would star Shirley - .-Booth However, they, sell at $3. a square of 3-D viewers in- theatres because ! whose contract is owned by -W4I.: foot and there is a lively difference the practice is unsanitary and apt ! If . there is a deal,“Mrs. Iaesiif?" 1!l opinion over their quality. Vari- to lead to eye infections. Action [ would; be filmed, on the Par lot eih. circuits, while installing some was taken by the board prexy Dr. and would go as a Par release. . ^‘i.facie Mirror screens, are also Herman M. Buridesen foliowitig re- ; ■ ~r— t . q.upping houses with other .high' ports from physicians. AhtrOTi Q RnfKn IIaJiI l r ‘ "nsity screens which they con- Action was taken to “safeguard .. -rtUlLOII yDIUldU I/CcU •! 1 r su P e rior and which sell the public." It was explained that Hollywood,. Aug* 4! ; f./ , MS ^ “ 1an half the Miracle Mirror sterilization processes currently in . Herman Cohen, head of Abtcon - ’J ; f use are insufficient to prevent con-^ 1 Pictures, closed a .four-picture. CO- n s felt, that, apart from the tarnation. P 0 1 a r 0 i d viewers,! production deal with Anglo-Amal- *'“; en and lens shortage, exhibs which comprise most of the 3-D gamated Films of London, starting h? |h no hurry to convert until specs in use, are designed for sin- with “River Beat." in tK c,edt n umber of pix leased: gle use only, but permanent view- ; -':Shoot|n'g.-:'st-art$'.Aug..'2?.'-In'.'Fng- : ti(»=are=a^^vail-able-r ^ers^h- a ve=l aCel^n=t-be^n-) a i^Tand^wl tlwEhyll iSfiKiric-and=Donald= = . , ; ; , ;% lnen ) a Scope releases are ex- ket. Some theatres also are col-j Houston in top roles. Guy Green to a*? }? Precipitate another rush lecting the glasses from the cus-! will direct on an eight-week sched- the big screens, lomers and are reselling them, (Ule, WITH \rtIIPF7F I PNQ R Frank Iasi 'week licensed TTllllijyULiiiliJLi LiLillJ CinemaScope lenses to produce Continuing the technical binge ."Hitting. Hull" In color. With lOr- slaftcd hy introduction of thewide- Flynn’s “The Story of' William screen Cinerama and the 3^ -D ... r Tell,-” to be made in ICurope, this “Hwana Devil,’’ attempts-- are’ cuf- makes, the second CinemaScope re-" rently being made to combine the h’asv f° r United Artists, : -Other- 3-D with specs system with the indies with CinemaScope pix ori aharmorphic (squeeze lens) process. *hf*ir schedule include Itei t Fried- Several filmeries are working loh and Walt Disney., with, optical scientists who have , ■. ' ' been active in 3-1) to determine if a [non navic fnf fall If com pa ti bl e; syste.ni can; he .a cli ie ved , Jvall l/a T lOj LUl vdll ll ^ Difficulty in’ arriving! at combo . A. < I, IMIf j A » C HA „j : system revolves around, the proh- l|UllS MitT JUDglC MlSn ,-. lem of obtaining a sufficient light - Hollywood, Aug, 4. sourge, ; Joan Davis and Columbia railed n| .it quits alter an altercation over . Anprm^n Amifh in Npw “Jungh* Joan,” which had been dlieHIIdll, <31111(11 HI ^Vw slated as her next pictme. Ail her • DaoFo an Ta! Ck jknH i future ‘films., on the Jot were can- lOStS 111 lOl DnaKeUp , (Oled by mutual agreement. . Tfuniber of shifts, in. Columbia’s! '. Actress agreed to repay the st u- ■ homeoliice exec staff, finds Irving i diu keyeral thousand dollar s vy hit'll, . Sherman moving up from person- i been spent for work on the nel director and office -manager-to .screenplay; . ah executive post in the interna- tional... departmerit. Herbert.. L. f/gtet Trilcf Smith; purchasing chief;- assumes. . auu * UUdbl 11 Udl DU1I . . Sherman's post as . an additional I;os- Ange.le.s-,. Aug. 4, ... duty; . Federal Judge J{en . Hari 1 on - As a result Of the two executive postponed hearirig oi Cals tori /& changes, . additional promotions Sutton’s $1.870.200 antifru-l .suit '■ were.made, with Jack KermJSs be- until late September. JfiaintifTs are , ing elevated to assistant manager owners of the Hawaii Theatre in Sherman's post as . an additional I ;os A rige.iy*.s-,. A tig. 4, . .. duty; . Federal Judge J{en . Hari 1 -on - As a result Of the two executive postponed hearirig oi Cals Ion /& changes, additional promotions Sutton’s $1.870.200 antif ru-l .suit '■ were.made, with Jack KertreSs be- until late September. Plaintiffs are ing elevated to assistant manager owners of the Hawaii Theatre in of tiie purchasing .department. Hollywood and most of the major Kerness will share responsibility companies are named as defend- with .Fred Izzo, also an assistant * ants. :PuccbaSing^managei^GJo£ia-W!mn^^^TuEls.L-.Dxplalned^llmLlij^s^ — stock has been named assistant ! ing for a tour, of eastern courts'',-, manager Of the personnel depart-1 this week and that the trial is rhent, a newly-created post. I expected to require -'two months.