Variety (August 1953)

Wednesday, August 19, 1953 Warner Bros, fcontemplated 5 p.m. ‘‘tea and crumpets” preern for tlii? British-made The Beggars Opera,” opening at the Baronet N Y Aus. 24, turned into a tempest in a teapot, On the prowl for’ the British version of the^bagel, WB’s flackery discovered that “no crum- pet. fresh or itale, had been jseen in New York City or* In fact on the northeastern seaboard for at least 20 years-r-the time elapsed since a baker’s convention served crumpets in 1933/’ Ac cording to Warner bally men, “telephone calls were made to so 'many baked goods , plants that ; the baking industry began calling one another up and discussing this sudden trend toward crumpets To shorten a long biscuit story, Duvernoy & Sons, bakers, have an execu- tive..who knows ^ man,at the North Hills Golf Club who knows the recipc for crumpets. The latter, a Scotsman, was apprised of the crisis and, to uphold the honor of Great Britain; agreed to come to- thri puverndy plant and make: crumpets for Warners.” v.-v«.a ^ fw iiivuiau uctmicu. mac ine*iace,oi ilollv- wood. is a false face and it believes in the kind of woman that never existed.arid never could be. Whitman, however, saluted Jerry Wald and Samuel Goldwvn for defying the “thi gods of the glamor merchants.” He commends them for presenting “true values” and “pebbles of truth” in such films'as ^johnny Belinda” and “The Best Years of Oyr Lives.” ” In some ways, the film industry has undergone little change since 1903 . Forty-five years ago,, for example. theatTes^ used slides to an- nounce:‘‘Ladies'-.Will KindlyRemove Their Hats” : or ‘‘Just a -Minrite K t 4 * »a <r\ ZlVllM A0 - ’ /T toy. A dj list,'. Machines.! ". Today, trailers/ replacing, slides, read as follows: “Ladies and Cent lenien. - Kindly Remove Glasses; if Or Short: Subjects- That Will 'Fono'w’ v -or- ; .-Wl]!«i ; e Will Be.a Brief Pause While We! Go From 2 -D to 3-D Presentation, Please Put On Your Viewers and Adjust Thein for Comfortable Vision.” V': y-. . ."v .- •; ■ Willi:. “From Here, to • Eternity” a b.o. click, it’s interesting to note that ' Sylvan Simon’s enthusiastic efforts were largely responsible for the purchase of the novel by Columbia. Simori cailed Harry Colin studio president, op the phone at two o’clock one morning arid in- sisted. that the story would make a great picture. The properly was assigned to Simonas production program, blit before he could pre- pare it for-the screen his life was cut short by a sudden heart attack. Warners is putting up a reported $1,250,000'budget in its eritirdtv for a residual piece of “Giant,” the Edna Ferber-George Stevens-Henry. Ginsberg property which they are coproducing as an independent for WB release. When Miss Ferber was on the Coast some weeks ago she smarted work on breaking down the story with Stevens who is cOntin- lung that chore Until a scripter is called ini Casting will riot start until a working script nears readiness, Shooting films iri the wilds of Los Angeles County has its bazardri Several takes of Warners’ “Rear Guard,” in production on the studio’.*, ranch near Calabasas, were ruined by deer. It seems the deer were so tame that they nosed into camera range to see what the shooting was all about and to snatch sandwiches from the troupers’ lunch baskets. Jt made the crew wilder than, the deer. •• ; WBEN-TV, Buffalo, has become the second video station to nix com- memals: from Paramount for “War of the Worlds” on the grounds that clips from -the pic. “Would scare childreni*’ A's.reported-.last-week. WSAZ-' r Huntington, W. Va., turned down the Par trailer because of its .-: horror”, content. ; y.y- : ■ ■ : ; : .'• 9 i Continued from page! 5 toother with the dual filming arid the encumbrance, pf viewers?” The sock. reception of Columbia’s flat black & white “From Here to Eter- nity” has .served, to strengthen; the position of the '‘who needs 3-D?” proponents. The “I-told-you-sri” • ng ■ is resurrecting with.. ; veri- gcanee the ancient; film adage that . a good picture can ciir.e the ail- men; s of the business. "7 Metro Cautious yMeiro, unlike, several of the ofiirr filirieries, has always:■ fol- loued the catitious approach. It’s a 11 it u(le toward 3-D and other new techniques -has been the same;, } bnvpany has shown a willingness to experiment, but before plunging . completely into a new dimension u has followed the policy of .watch- ful waiting of the public's attitude.. : Company. is high on the wide^, process. It believes: also that 20th-Fox’s CineriiaScope has a great .chance, but is approaching the medium cautiously. It is not ...committing itself fully to Cinerna- cope With two pictures coriiirig medium—“Knights of the rum nd Table’’ and . “Rose •.JMarie”?-^. . J _, tras, as protection, also made ndard versions of -the same •. HkH cations are that exhibs, tooy _ ii. welcome the Metro experi- °,ri “Kate,” While acknowlr pUi^ that 3-D served as a ■ terri- . Pm.ary b.o. hypo, exbib attacks on t ni’ lu m. have been mounting. .• f i; d( ‘hLbn to complaints on break- 1, 1 .V' 1I 'V toss of synchronization ; arid ;i #***&, .they;have blasted the t Ja, . ,n Place pictures. ; Widescreen ;i r - '"■f- atl o n <- on the Other hand,. W& ready acceptance, v.’’. v ”' Snaper^ prexy of Allied ^‘example, stated: '“No ,i‘)’ 10 o s seen large screen can • ^4J^^a,gtithat^s^b-etter«type» • '• .•nation. However, it has no _• >. ue after the first result from - Stanley Warner Corp. arid sub- sid companies report for the quar- ter. ending May 30, 1953, a net loss pf $360,663 which includes a loss, of $258,850 from sales of capital as- sets. Accord ing to . the com pari y\ operating results for the quarter were adversely affected by charg- ing to the expense of the quarter the non-recurring itcmsrelaling to the organization of the company .and expenses incurred in adapting theatre equipment for 3-D. Gross income for the quarter amounted to $12,489,316. compris- ing theatre admissions arid miscel- laneous- theatre income OF $ll v - 550,099; rents from tenants,' $780,- 113; interest and discount earned, $46,604; arid dividends from affili- ated companies,'$i 12,500. Company says- it’s difficult to furnish, com-, parable data for; same quarter of last year since theatres now oper- ated by SW Were then part of War- . ner Bros. Pictures. It reveals that gross, income froni theatres op- erated by Warners in the U. S. for the Comparable, quarter of 1952 j totaled -$12,300,000.: y J[oan Bennett signed to costar with Richard Conte and Wanda Hendrix in “The House in the Sea” at Allied Artists... Jess Bark- er drew a pivotal role in Allied Artists' “Dragonfly Squadron.” . . Claude Btnyon completed the script of “A Woman’s World” which he will direct for 20th-Fox ., Robert Hutton arid Gerald Mohr /drew f top roles in Airierican Pictures- “The Great Green Og,” for Columbia release Douglas Fowley joined the ‘‘Casanova’s Big Night” cast at Paramount , Re- public assigned Harry Keller to. di- rect “Red: River. Shore,” starring Rex Allen. - • . Republic bought “Outlaws of the Century,” authored by Marlin Wil- helm . . Meti o signed Dolores Gray for. one picture: with an option for a term: contract;. John . Rawlins Productions ; moved froiri Eagle Lion to General Service .. Repuhf lie assigned William Witney; to di-r rect 4 ‘Red Horizon,'’ top' Inirigeter. with. William J. O’Sullivan, as as- sociate ' producer. . •’ Hal March .shifts froiri.. TV: filins for . a rple in. "Yarikee Pascha’.’ at trr v .. Edward -Sjriiall closed a deal with Color yCorp:; . of, America tri process, and print three forthcom- ing. .films. , Natioria 1 -1 ,egi 911 of Dc- cericy handed .Metrd,’s'.‘Arena” .a Class: B rating because it “reflects the acceptability of divorce.” Col um bia gave Richard Quine n new director contract calling for two films .a year;, including; TV Pola-Lite Co. Looks To jvy V) : The Pdla-Lite: :Co;, inanufactur- Crs. of ;.all-pla.stic 3-I> .yiewei\s l . Cxa pects to hit a production , capacity of 7,000,000 glasses per week with the completion of its fifth plant. The new plant is. located in Brook- lyn, with two iii I.ong Island, one in' Leominster, Rlass.,. arid one in Toronto. ". Matty Fox, vetorair fi).jp. cxecu* tiv.e, has been named chairman of tlie board of . the company-. S. G. Fassoulis; who with Fox iriakes up the principal ownership of Pola- Lite. has liee.n appointed: president arid chief executive officer, Ai O'Keefe, fofirier sales- exec for Iini- versalv has been signed as ve(‘poe in charge pf sales. V. Company also announced the signing of:'ari;. agreenient. with Na- tional. Film .Service.; -Iric.,; for the; latter; to. sell and dkstrilmte Pola- .; Ivit e’s.-'3 -Dviewers through its alii IP ated 33 exchanges in key cities. No B’s Grainger’s omo u In Chi r Denver, Goast ; Chicagp, A life, 18. RKO president J a mes 'R. : Grainger restated his coiifidence iii future operations; before a regional riieetipg of the company’s sales or- . ganizatiori here today tTues.h lie cited -economy - and; personnel ' on-; thusiasm among ; <>ther factors; in tiie operatioiiai pattern,.; .'General sales manager Charles'. Boastierg disclosed that Sam Gorelick, Chi manageri took -first. place in RKO’s recen tly concluded sales ii rive, coni- ,Xietit.u)n;. V'; v ; . Grainger |s. skedded, to be. in D e 11 V e r tojrnprroW tWed.) foi 1 arid t h e r . sides huddle, n n d: ;f rom there. .will^ continue^on . to; Sail; Francisco and L. .A., ;■ + Theatre circuits are showing con- cern over their high personnel turnover, and the fact that, since the war, there has been a continuing shortage of trained staffs willing to embark cm. a Career in the ex- hibition end of the pic biz. 7 . Chain; execs don't: see the situa- tion as; critical, but cMiiphnsize the ini porta nee of attracting new blood, youngsters who are willing to learn the tvade from the bottom up arid who cvtuitnally could rise up the ladder to responsible posi- tions. ■ :• . Situation has ril.rt*.miy : resulted, in a serious shortage of Competent thdatre inanagers throughout the country.- ‘'The best .manager , is * man who has come: Up through the ''i‘i ■'bvf-h.iei- : . Hollywood; Au^ J®-' '• Screen - Actors Guild: appointed two nominating' committees to - choose candidates, for this, year’s election in November. Other can- didates may be nominated; through j petitions signed by 35 Guild mem- bers.;'. ;; 7 .-\ : V ' - ' Class A : committee consists ; of John; Li tel, chairman, Nancy Davis,. Rosemary De Camp, Ronald Rea-, gan, Ann Doran, Cary Grant, Jack Hubbard, Lloyd Nolan. Moroni. Ol- son and Audrey Totter. Class AJ committee is made up of Anne Cornwall.-chairman:- Rhilo_McC ul- You must have the j lough, George Sowards, Ben Corr belt,: Marjorie Kane, Marion MonF gomery, William H. O’Brien. Artie Ortego and Snuib Pollard. sss - Cointiniu*a - from./ 7; ciassii’ication to. take can*, of. ex- hibitor needs during the ni'.xt year; Paramount,. similarly v is : concen- trating on big films and will depend upon .such ihde.pon.defit's . as . Pinc- Tlionras ; and Nat I loll to deliver the product needed to joiind out the release schedule.'Warner Bros., which announced it would use 3-D on ail ; its: films, has rio plans for any ill tire lower budget,-category. Even among ilie Smaller mem- bers. of the majors there are iri- dieations that the emphasis-'will be on more expensive films. Republic has several , times announced that, it was dropping flic ‘B’ picture; en- tirely;' this cutoff actually occurred, but the studio is sched- uling more . arid more films for higher ex pen ditures, C’olumhi a re- tains- a; good : percentage of .low budg.etcrs : on' its schcduie, . most' of t heni com ing’ from ; m Kat z- irian 'while others arc* obtained’ iii dea Is with Tri di vidua I indepCridents.. • Key sources of ‘B’ nix in ..the next yeaiV. wil I - be ’Allied. Art ists, Jifost of whose program: consists of. f i 1 ms'.; j n th a t c l ass,: ai rid; such ■ iri d e-;- pendents 1 -- as. - Fi |ma kers. Edward Smaii arid Anierican Pictures Corp. Th ere are . others, of : course,... bu t most of J.hem Operate on. a richedr ule.; of brie or ...two pictures only rather than . iliapping tin ;eritire series, much in the manner of'.the old low-budget units rnaintained toy. .’the studios.• Next 12. months probably will, cue a definite industry decision on the; pix Which once occupied so : much of the Ho))ywoodrelease sche.dule. Public reaction... over a long period, to 3-D and widescreen, the effect upon the nation's, thea- tres of the veto of the admissions t Ax_re i ^al._.andJ.he^oAe_rij.Qg^^ new TV markets all will play an important part. in the eventual fate of the ‘B.’ Meanwhile; it buzzes with less vigor, v 7 For TOA Nat’l Conv. First- . of. A projected series ‘ of training pix for theatre employees Will be. screen' at the; Theatre. Owners rif. America riationul 'coii- ventfort In -Chicago in November. One-reeler;. finally entitled “Cour- tesy is Contagious,’’ , is being pro- duced by Video Pietiiresy Jrie,, of New York,. at an estimated cost of $ 8 , 000 ,. Whether :'it’s to be followed by others depends on. the recep- tion from the TOA membership. Pilot, which marks the first time iri iris, exhib history that theatre ops will be using their owii screens for staff training purposes, .is the brainchild of TOA exec; v.p. Wal- ter Rea.de, Jr., and will, be made available in both 35m and 10in. Filmaek Trailer Go. of Ghlcago is uriderw’rtting the cost ;as an; in- dustry service. Future’ pix ]>re- sumably would have to gel TOA financial backing. Idea for a training scries goes back to last year’s T()A powwow. Script, prepared by If.. A. Wood- man see of Video Productions- un- derwitnt some changes and. sliootr itig Was delayed when T()A toppers Cm.iUln’t get’ together on just what should arid shouldn’t go into the reel. Video wil| use professional ac- tors for the main roles with the-, at re managers from several N.Y. houses.to be called In as technical advisors; Several equipment tin ns are. lending thea.l re supplies wit fl- out charge for the Jen.sirig whirh will he done at lire. Video studios. Exhibs Will be able to ..cither biiy a print or rent one through Fil- inack. 'Script uses a pseudo-SeMalor visiting a typical. v t heat re. ranks “ one circuit exec opined this.week. “That type of fellow hail become so rare thuti, if a good one comes rilong, he can practically write his own ticket.” . Cognizant of the fact that thea- tre .Jobs entail, long and odd hours, the. eirctiit s have '.added .new in- centiycs io^ keep their st affs on- the . Job;’ Wages have generally gone up and employees are, offered health. insurnrice. paid vacations -arid Tn some cases life insurance policies^ It’S adinitted .that thi*; luck of en- thusiasm for theatre Jobs, iri part stemmed frpin the impression that the biz was on its way down. .Now that the industry has managed to,, reverse this ling of thought, the circuits; bellove they can act el- ; feet.ively to assure themselves of a reservoir of inanagerlal talent from which to draw tiie inep wlio, will run the theatres of the future. Irked by TV Continued from page 5 hours when theatres must close, the. petition asserts;, “It would be-interesting to know w hat action; the City would lake iri the case. of a motion picture.thea- tre exhibiting a TV program dur- ing the prohibited Tours' The regular motion .picture, tjieatrcs are in direct coiripetition with the TV- station.;. So great is the copi- pe ti tion that: it 1 s known to ali that ii ' * ' ■ 1 .1 iL. -.i Better Than Gunzburg’s Deal niaiviiig HCA’s Victor divi- sion distributors of Polaroid. 3-D specs is u far belter (Hie. for P<da- roi d than, its prior at:rungement with Mi (ton R. (* unzbtirg. Where Cl.unzhurg bought his viewers at f);7e a pair RCA is said to be pay- ing 8 c to 9c for the viewers,. While this leaves a very small profit rirargin for RCA, latter com- pany i ■enoriecUy has its: eye on a miitiiier of IhiJaroici developments-., in the exhibition field and the deal on the glasses may tie In to future merchandising, cooperation be- tween the two companies; RCA dealers last week H4) were told at a meeting in New. York that the average number of viewv ers used on a 3-D pix Was between 8.500,000 and 9,000,000; There are about 10 stOreopix now> in release. Tiie glasses cost Polaroid .about 3,5<; to .produce so that, where un- der its^ arrangement. with Gunz- burg it showed a per pair.proMt of * a bo u t 3.2c, the RCA dea 1 i n c re a seri • the take to.5.5c. Pdiaroif) is geared to turn out 1,500,000 specs a day bid currently isn’t aiming for that level. HCA-Polaroid pact provides that RCA supply dealers will keep an emergency stock of glasses on hand at all times to supply any exhib who: might need them in a hurry. RCA and Polaroid also, will .launch a stepped-up merchandis- ing arid ad campaign to promote 3-1) films;. Deal with Polaroid has netted .Gunzburg close to $2,500,000 since under his agreement . which ex- pired July. Ifi, he.“was“. to gcl B:};- 7 000,000 ’. glasses. Price- of the .viewers reriiains 10 c. After break- there is now a Jife-and-death Strug- r . Gunzburg, J oiaroid for.a, gle on : fhe. part, of those who ex- j ^:hrie .eyed the possibility-of Na- - ; bihit motion^ pictures in theatres to 0 ” 2 !*' Screen • .Service handling tri survive: the- competition of the di.stfihutiori of the specs. However,. 1 * 1 - _ •. I- * :» . « « <«i /a TV stations, i-tho,rieaF^-.brew."up'When.vNTS: re-f. “And;, under .the Charlotte 0 r r '. Juried: tri give up handling, other diri'a-rieei-' gt’ : .the :: .very..-''h(>u;r • that- the j tj pes of glasses, defendant' »McGeeri ; is 'required 4 ' ‘ 1 — : to his doors during cii urclr hours, the TV station runs., on, (Vx-.; hjhiting i.t'ori’UW-^RUbM'C/'-'forTiay' < riy sponsors) the ..very.riame Hoilvwood productions exhibited -by the de- fendant.” ; ’’ , McGee’s drive-iri was built when the locatiori was outside the city boundaries^, but When, the town limits were recently expanded the theatre’s ' boxoffice, projection booth' and. sereen. .cariie within, they city,line while part of. the property remained outside, Other riearby drive-ins ar e per mitted to o p erate “during the 'SurtlTay evening="Hours; McGee was fined $10 and for violating the ordinance took the ease tri court, Boat Capsizes, Clipping : ■ • : Nowsreciers. on-(’oastv .*: /'7'' llollywood,. Aug, 18, ■; A newsreei camera boat With;, lensers shooting, the national Water ski championship at Long Beach : capsized with occupants and . all equipment dunked, ; Paramourit’s. Sam Gruenwald, who can’t .sWiin, Had to .be held up until help, reached. the craft, which was over^ turned ■ either by a heavy : wave. or ’ ski backwash.: • Those on boat Included Willard Yan"derVeerr~Warne"r-PaTl ref^F rarTk~ King, ;NBC-TV; . Irby and Fox • movietone, ! and . ‘ | Times World Wide. , K overman, Don. Bririn,