Variety (December 1953)

Wednewlay, December 2, 1953 Wt New I no loud fletk Art Mogcr list written « bright pine* nn From This I Make A Living — ♦ By WHITNEY WILLIAMS JAPANESE SEEM UNWORRIED Hollywood. Nov 28 The new wide-screen method of But State Dept. Is Nervous About pioduction will be of immeasiii- able value to the comedy director in maintaining the spontaneity m RKO is holding up on the re- « comedy scene, according to vet- lease in Japan of "Flying Leather- cran megger Norman Taurog. cur- necks,” John Wayne starrer, at the rently handling Dean Mai tin and request of the State Dept. Reps of Jerry Lewis in Paramount's "Liv- the latter believe that the battle ir.g It L p.” pic would be too sharp a reminder \) With fewer camera setups ncui- of World War 11 and consequently ed, he explains, comedy action can might cause ill feeling. “ be carried through to completion In contrast with the State Dept, in a single take rather than break- attitude is the opinion of some infe dow n a particular bit' of ai t ion Nippon exhibitors who stated they possibly into three or more differ- figure the film would be widely ent scenes, as usually is the ctise accepted and would meet with in standard screen technique, each commercial success. This opinion of which requires the comic to get by Japanese theatremen was re- back into the mood of the original ported by Alfred W. Crown, RKO * scene. toreign department chief, who's Few comedians, he points out. back in N Y. after eight weeks in can attain any spontaneity aftei the Far Fast. the second or third take, and some — — lose the feeling after the first. By completing the scene In a single OA*l I) - run. so to speak, the proven rc- /l[fll riPCCpC j suits are of a higher level—luSnier, •vlll 1 I that —than when time must la- taken out to set up cameras for a r f\ 1 * difl'erent angle, and the funnyman pQJp |\ 0 D 6 inusl P u t ° n his funny-cap i Taurog. who has been turning f\ # 1\1 ft out comedies ever since lie di- KlV KiQVntlQi 'Continued on page 20) Leathernecks The public'- yen tor .f-n or new* dimension pictures was reflected forcibly at the national boxofftee last month, the first two biggest grossing pictures being that cate- gory while the biggest newcomer in November also was in tri-dimen- sion. Although business at the first- i un theatres continues substantial- ly ahead of 1952. it was a ease of the smash glossers taking all the gravy and leaving slim trim- mings for the smaller pix. This, of course, was also true of October. "The Rohe” '20th*. also champ at the wickqts in October, again is finishing first in the national on* of tho many editorial feature* in tha apeoming ■IHlli Annivernary Suinbrr Nov. Golden Dozen I. “The Ro:.e ’ '20th*. 2 “Cinerama” ‘Indie*. 3. “Eternity” 'Col*. 4. “Mogamko” *.M-G*. 5 “Calamity Jaue” *\YB>. (j “Martin Luther” * Indie) 7 “Little Hoy Lost” 'Par* H “So Big” *WH . 9. “Torch Song" '.M-G*. 10. “Brothers Valiant ’ 1 M-G II. “Big Heat” <Col*. 12 “Take High Ground” M Three-cornered race appears to he under way to bring the George Du Marnier classic. "Trilby,” to ihe screen. For the moment, at least. Britain's George M inter seems to have the inside track. Ilt's just cast Robert Newton in the title role of "Svengali” and tensing is due to start in London as soon as Newton gets there from the Coast. In Hollywood, both Warner Bros, and 20th-Fox are actively preparing pix based on the same Du Marnier novel. W'B has just east Kathryn Grayson for its ver- sion. 26th is said to be angling for James Mason. Minter's “Svengali” will be done in color and for the wide screen. While earnings from "The Robe" and "How to Marry a Mil- lionaire" have been consistent 1 with expectations. 20th-Fox sales : toppers aren't happy over the rate at which the company's 2-D pix are being liquidated. Company says it has plenty of standard product available but it isn't play- ing off the way it should. Sales gxees at 20th are prod- jJJjig* the branches to put on the heat, particularly since they want I to make a good showing for the . fourth 1933 quarter. Latter will 21th Ohio city to repeal such a local tax. Ohio cities individually enacted the tax in 1947 when the Though October. "Here to Eternity” <(’o|i. which Was second in October and first ’('out inui d on page 2(ii adaptation and screenplay, hut the part of Trilby remains to he cast. Story has been done twice before in Holly vv ood. once as a silent film and. in 1931. as a talkie with John Ban vmore. most ot the repealed measure* have been in the smaller commu- nities. the marln inilu trial city of Sowngstovvn also nccntly repeal- ed the levy. City Finance Director Phillip Ferguson at Akron said the city took in about $1)2.000 last vcar from the tax. The taxation com- mittee of City Council recommend- ed the repeal, alter repeated ef- lorts m the past two years by the- atre owners. They pointed out that him homes in this area had de- creased from 38 in 1940 to 18 at Detroit. Dec. 1 Co-Operative Theatres of De- troit, a buying and hooking com- bine for 140 theatres in Michigan and one of the most important the- atre units in the state, is seeking a special deal from 20th-Fox before its houses install CinemaScope. Terms asked by the combine in- clude a guarantee that it will re- ceive at least 12 CinemaScope pic- tures, an assured profit of $2,500 for each house and for each pic- ture to go toward the repayment of equipment, and film rental terms of 50' e tor "The Robe” and 35' for subsequent CinemaScope t pic- ture. Wall St Detroiter Testifies He Was Shaken Out Of Film Haulage Business Detroit. Dee. 1. Testifying before a House labor and education sub-committee in Detroit, a former film-hauling Coin,in i d from |».ik»* t as $13 .>9 during the venr. Curl- ouslv. it took an especially sharp drop immediately following the A Y premiere ot "The Rohe," the Studios lir-t CinemaScope pie. It subsequently bounced hack to a m vv high o| S19.25 and closed last Wednesday at HH87'v. Encouraging to Wall St 's monov * service operator first film to come through from men have been the improved qunl- ii v of llollvvvoods output, econo- mics placed into afreet and. im- portantly. a recent flock of upbeat profit statements. Stink of the RKO chain was given a lift by the purchase of con- trol hi Albert A. List and his sub- sequent tender to buy up to 41)0.U00 shall s from minority holders at a Teamsters Union *AFL> "broke” him. The witness. Howard C. Cra- ven. of Ann Arbor blamed the ruin of his $400 a week net busi- ness, on kickbacks and a Teamster strike. Detroit Teamster official. Frank Fitzsimmons, facing trial for labor racketeering, according to Craven. (<( dared himself in for 90S of the levcnue for transporting litho- graphed advertising material to theatres. Not only did Craven have to make cheeks out to "cash" hut lie liad to agree to pay all income taxes for Fitzsimmons. This amounted to about $000 on his I ay incuts ot $9,000 to $10,000 Cra- ven added. Some of the cheeks. Craven said, were made out to a 'Continued on page 22) 20lli’s Panoramic Productions sub- sid. and the indie "Man Crazy." Total Panoramic sked of 10 pix should he in release by June. 1954. According to tlie 20th sales de- partment, revenue from the flatties has been dropping steadily since ‘Continued on page 6* Paul Bixler. who east the only dissenting vote, said. "It will take more than this to save the theatre hminess. We've always gone along with what the theatres wanted, parking areas and the like, hut I can't see much point in this. We are cutting down on the city's in- come when the amount saved by the theatres won't help them." The tax comes off not only the- atres. hut also dances, sports, and all other types ot amusement. Charles Amory Art Arthur Keefe Brasselle lna Claire Albert J. Cohen Jeff Donnell Samuel Fuller Ava Gardner Henry Ginsberg Ben Goetz Audrey Hepburn W. Basil Holden Arthur Hornblow Jr. Louis Jourdan Stanley Kramer Betty Madigan Daniel Mann Edward J. Mann it Robert PaTmcr Joel Preston Johnnie Ray Ivan Tors Gene Tow ne Spencer Tracy Jack Webb Betty Wookey AI Zimbalist N. Y. to Europe Robert Ardrey Boh Blake Shirley Booth Peter Brook Brenda Brook Lester Cowan John Davis Ben Goetz Paul Hfnreid Joyce Heron Ursula Jeans Otto Kruger Maggie McNamara Anthony Oliver Ben Pearson Eddie Rich Thelma Ritter Francis L. Sullivan Spencer Tracy Europe to N. Y Paul Badura-Skoda Clarence Brown Claude Dauphin Yolande Donlan Greer Garson Charles Goldner Hal Haekett Alexander Kalioujnv Richard Kayne Phyllis Kirk Don Loper Lucille Lortel Silvana Mangano John G. McCarthy Donald McDonald Rodney Millington Rosa Rok Ruth Roman Tessa Small page Oliver Unger Us 25c Divvy T mversal hoard, meeting in N Y. yesterday 'Turv*. (Ir- eland a 50c per share s« mi-an- nual dividend on the common sun k av well a> a 25c per share ext ra div vy. Both are pavahle Dec 22. 1953. to stockholders of record Die. 12. 1953. Out of an offering by General Precision Equipment Corp. to stockholders of 108.187 shares ol $2.90 cumulative preferred stock, without par value. 104.113 shares have been purchased through the exercise of subscription warrants. Balance of the 4 054 unsuh- ' Directors of Loew s. Inc., de- scribed shares have been placed dared a dividend of 20c per share by The First Boston Corp. and on common stock last week. Tucker. Anthony & Co. on hehalt Melon is payable Dec. 24 to of the underwriting group. I stockholders of record on Dec. 11. lit t of $4 50 a share. The fact that several officers of National Thea- tres personally have been buying up the NT stock cued substantial public inning of the same issue. Hughe* Rumors' RKO pictures' slock continues as the issue most influenced hv rumors of a "deal" involving How- ard Hughes' control of that com- pany Reports that some sort of capital gains transaction is on the lire invariably go hand in hand with stepped up trading of the Mock. Conversely, there has been no allegedly inside intelligence of any m vv di al lately and conse- quent l\ the siock Ikjs been quiet. Heavy 3-Months Trading In Film Shares Past three months brought unusually heavy trad- ing in film slocks on the N. Y. Stock Exchange, as investors’ inti rest in the picture business perked up markedly. The tremendous success which 20th-Fox has had initially'With CinemaScope. a general run oi improved product. Albert A List's purchase of No. of Shares Price Per Share Outstanding* Aug. 25 Nov. 25 4 000.000 $14 38 $15.75 890.000 18 25 17.50 5.150.000 12.13 12 50 2.750.000 8 75 8 75 2.325.000 28 25 27 25 3 900.000 3 38 2 88 3 780.000 3.75 4 75 2 475.000 . 10 83 10.83 2.750.00(1 17.25 18 38 980.000 r ' 18 25 18 13 2 475.000 13 83 12 13 RKO Theatres’ control and his subsequent offer to buy 400.000 'shares of the circuit’s common stock from other holders were among the factors influenc- ing the Big Board activity. Following table shows at a glance how each important film issue fated over the three-month span. Total Dollar Value 3-Month Change Aug. 25 Nov. 25 $ 57.520.000 S 03 000.000 11.212.500 ~12.075.000 82.409.500 84 375.000 18.582.000 18.562.000 37.781.250 40.106.250 13.182.000 11.232.000 14.100.000 17.800.000 26.309.250 26 309.250 47.437.500 50.545 000 15 600.000 15.484.800 33.734.250 30.567.600 shirk wan further evidenced last Frida.' 27 1 The issue jumped a quarter point, clo-ing at $3.12 , jc. VMiiltam ousiv v illi an announce- ment that tim company is cnutimi- live V.iih m the red RRi) Pic- tures had a net loss ot $3.739.1 13 f-•! - > bine months ended last Oct. 3 C<.. I'rspoiujirig period in 1952 b.n .. ’a Pit (Illicit ol S4 777.766 P< aps Minn w hat lira itching to ih’ *"t;m ■ as fi c deficit i ot in the ><i I'a-i ■ s third quarter. The lo-s fm tins |h i i oi 1 w. s jiMi d at $248 * 277. compared with a loss ot SI 064 932 tin the third quail* r ol 1952. AB-PT ( OL. i.omv NAT L I UFA PAR. HKO PIC. RKO TH. STANLEY Mill UNIX \VB $ 5.480.000 862.500 1.905.500 2.325.000 1.950.000 3.760.000 George Axelrod Edward Choate Irene Dunne Max Gordon Dan Hollywood Van Johnson Loren L. Ryder Si hie St. Clair 3 107.500 115 200 3.166.650 \ppi oxuivatc $350.1 KT.9U0 $12,208,650 t