Variety (June 1954)

fc' * Wednesday* Iwe % 1954 PfistriPFr Hcrpms The major studios, which less* than two years ago hatred all use of clips from their films (old or new) on tv, are now eager to ac- commodate video with footage. Special 16m clips, highlighting dra- matic scenes, are being prepared especially for tv use. These are for advertising use on video as well as for insertion on specially-select- ed shows which go in* for film plugs, the leader in the latter cate- gory being Ed Sullivan’s “Toast of the Town.” The preparation of the 16m loot- age for tv . is not occasional. One studio, for example, has made it standard operating procedure, pre- paring a 16m tv clip fqr,every pic- ture coming off tjie lot. It makes available 100 prints of the 16m footage for spotting on tv stations throughout the country. This ef- fort results in numerous free plugs for the pictures. Attitude of exhibs on this score has also changed over the years. It was exhib .opposition that caused the distribs to withhold any and all footage from tv, the exhib com- plaint being that patrons won’t come out to see the film stars if they can see them at home on tv for free. However, on the basis of a number of experiments, involv- ing both the u^e of clips as well as stars, it was discovered that tv could serve as a valuable want-to- see showcase. In thS case of stars, studios are still reluctant to release them for appearances on dramatic or variety shows. However, they’ve let the bars down on appearances aimed especially to plug an upcoming pic- ture. Opposition is also ending to star appearances as an integral part of a particular tv show if the stu- dio can be assured its product will receive a solid plug. In recent months there have been attempts to design shows especially aimed at selling pix, but to date no prog- ress has been made in this direc- tion. Rydge Extols Upcoming Hollywood Attractions; No Australian ’Shortage’ Norman B. Rydge, managing dir rector of Greater Union Theatres, and a financial leader in Australia, did a rave about the quality of forthcoming American screen prod- uct before leaving N. Y. on his way back home over the weekend. He visited Washington and Niagara Falls on his way to Chicago, where he'is due today (Wed.). After that Rydge stops off in Hollywood to look at additional product and latest mechanical devices. Rydge was in N. Y. for nearly two weeks on his world trek, which took him first to London for hud- dles with J. Arthur Rank. He said there is no product shortage in Australia so far although American majors will turn out fewer feature pix this season. His Greater Union circuit is in^a fortpnate position in that it is supplied major product by Paramount, Columbia and Uni- versal, and not one of the three 1 has curtailed its product lineup in order to go into widespread C’Scope pix-making, Ryde was enthusiastic about “Caine Mutiny,’’ and felt it would go big in Australia. HARRY KALMINE OVERSEAS Investigating London, Paris, Rome For Cinerama Stanley Warner is stepping up its efforts to introduce Cinerama abroad. Following preliminary sur- veys by a number of SW execs and engineers, Harry M. Kalmine, veepee and general manager, will make ah effort to finalize a deal. Kalmine left for Europe on Wednesday (26) and will visit Lon- don, Paris and Rome. Still under discussion is an arrangement whereby- the foreign exhibition rights may be turned over to Matty Fox;,, ; ' New Titles' ‘Unethical’ Columbus, June 1. “Are there no ethics in our business at all?” asks Robert A. Wile, executive secretary of the Independent Theatre Own- ers of Ohio, in last*week’s bul- letin to members. He’s talking about Warner reissues, which he says are old pictures retitled.. “Two years ago,” Wile wrote, “Republic -did the same thing but cut the pictures down before retitling them. -The Republic ads re- ferred to re-editing. The War- ner ads do not. However, in microscopic type they - say, *Re-release.’ To the public, which does not see this fine print, it 1 is an imposition to show them an old picture re- titled.” ✓ . Of $2,664,000 For Col Pics In another instance' of a filth company showing sock gains on the financial front, Columbia Pic- tures chalked up a net profit, after All taxes, of $2,664,000 for the 39- week stanza ending March 27, 1954. For the. same period of a year -ago, the 39' weeks ending March, ’53, the net profit amounted to' $310,000. The jump in profit in the one-year' period totalled $2,354,00b. The earnings per share of stock for the most recent • fiscal stanza amounted to $3.26 per - share of common stock as compared to 15c for the previous year. In both 1954 and 1953 the earnings were based on 757,843 shares' of stock out- standing. Before taxes the net profit in the ’54 period was $6,296,000 as compared to $1,071,000 in ’53 stan- za. Total taxes in '54 were $3,632 ir 000 ($2,600,000 for federal taxes and $1,032,000 for state and for- eign taxes) as compared to total taxes in ’53 39-week period of $761,000 ($65,000 in federal taxes and $696,000 for state and foreign taxes.) By H4R0LIA MjER# /London, June 1. , The British government’s first major ^excursion into the picture Industry has ended in failure. To- night (Tues/), it announced its in- tention of foreclosing on British Lion and of appointing a receiver. This decision, which has shocked the local industry, is the sequel to the loan of $8,400,000 advanced to the company when the National Film Finance Corp. first Went into business back in 1951. - David Kingsley, NFFC managing director, (disclosed that British Lion had lost its entitre share and reserve capital valued over $3,350,- 000 and that, in addition, his outfit is making provision for/a $5,600,000 loss on the original $8,400,000 loan. The new distributing company will he 100% under NFFC control and will in fact be owned by the government. As such it. will be permitted to guarantee the first 70% of production costs but will not be In a position to extend com- pletion guarantees. Sir Alexander Korda’s contract as British Lion production adviser automatically terminates with the appointment fit the receiver and it’s unlikely that it will be renewed. The Shepperton studio, mainly owned by British Lion,- will be taken over by the receiver who will decide on their disposition. British Lion 14c stock was quoted on the (Continued on page 24) Wsa F3m Releasing Office Will Seek American Features Top Budget of All Tune? Hollywood, June 1. V Ip addition to a giant squid, Walt Disney’s “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” will have a giafit budget. According to director Rich- ard Fleischer it will cost around $6;000,000—the most costly film in Hollywod history. in Drops Columbia 'Buy Ralph Stolkin, key member 'of the syndicate which briefly held, and then lost, control of RKO Pic- tures in, stock transaction with Howard "Hughes, stated yesterday (Tues.) he has abandoned all ideas anent ppssibly buying control of Columbia. Reached at his Chicago head- quarters, Stolkin said he found that Col prexy, Harry Cohn, was “not interest” in peddling his shares in the film company.. Debate Right ‘Cuts’ for Army s 72-Minute Pic Washington, June 1. Pentagon opinion is reported split wide open on the proper way to handle “This Is Your Army/’ the $300,000 documentary made by 20th-Fox, for theatrical use. Pic runs 72 minutes in its present ver- sion and is being offered to the theatres as is, with the Army will- ing for some distributing compa- nies to cut “some.” On the other hand, there is con- siderable Pentagon feeling that the smartest thing would be to offer all the footage — including, what wasn’t used—to each distributor, permitting him to make and offer his own version of the tinter, which is basically an indoctrination sub- ject. Col. George P. Welch, %ead of Army public information, planes (Continued on page 16) Universal's 25c Divvy Universal board in N. Y. yester- day (Tues.) declared the regular 25c quarterly dividend on the U common stock. Divvy is payable June 25, 1954. to stockholders of record at the close of business June 11, ’54. RKO Has the ’Flowers’ But Who Gets the Money? Los Angeles, June 1. How to settle claims totaling $310,000 with only $26,524.30 avail- able. . That problem was too deep for RKO in the case of a picture titled “No Time for. Flowers,” so the money was turned over to the Fed- eral Court for adjudication. As distributors of the indfe film, RKO listed a long line of claimants* including the U. S. Department of Internal. Revenue, J. Arthur War- ner, Hans de Strakosch, Motion Picture Association, and others. Warner’s claim amounts to $140,- 000 and < de Strakosch to $134,- 615.38. Smallest claim is $300 by MPA, evidently for a production Code Seal. The $26,524.30 is the amount the picture made up to April 29, 1954. Coin for Religiosos Hollywood, June 1. Henry Spraggings, of Fort Worth, and Howard. N. Wilson, of Austin, Tex., have; set up a new organization to finance religious films, starting with “Preacher from Hell.” Delta Productions will make the picture here in Technicolor, for Autumn release both in theatres and churches. National Boxoffice Survey Memorial Day Weekend Ups Bjz; ‘Dial M’ New Champ, ‘Cinerama,’.‘Suite,’ ‘Wait,’ ‘Guitar’ Next Long holiday weekend for Mem- orial Day this year is spelling con- siderably improved biz currently in many key cities covered by Variety. However, ideal outdoor weather put a crimp in anticipated upbeat in' some spots while con- tinued transport strikes still plagued Pittsburgh and Indianapo- lis. Several new pix were unveiled but not as many big ones as ah- ticipated. New* boxoffice champ currently is “Dial M For Murder” (WB), which was fine to sock in most of the 14 locations where playing. “Cine- rama” (Indie) again is finishing in second position. “Executive Suite” (M-G), which had been first for four consecutive weeks, wound up third. “Long Wait” (UA), which started out smash last round, is capturing fourth spot while “Johnny Guitar” (Rep) will be fifth. “River of No Return” (20th), long among the top three, is wind- ing up sixth. “Flame and Flesh” (M-G), comparatively new, is push- ing up to seventh, mainly by dint of some 10 playdates since inclined to be uneven so far. “Elephant Walk” (Par), fifth last round, is taking eighth money. “Knock on Woqd,” also from Para- mount, is landing ninth spot. “French Lihe” (RKO) rounds out the Top 10 pix. /‘Carnival Story’.’ another RKO release; and “Gene- vieve” (U) are the two runner-up films. “High and Mighty” (WB) shaped as one of the standout newcomers, with smash totals both in L.A, and Frisco. “Gone With Wind” (M-G), out again on reissue, shapes as a terrific forthcoming bet. It looms colossal for an oldie on opening week at N. Y. State and started out smash in Frisco. “Secret of Incas” (Par), also new, shapes mild in Balto and Boston but big in N. Y. and good in Seat- tle. “Witness To Murder” (UA), another new entrant, is nice in Chi, Slow in K.C. and fair in Frisco. i“Student Prince” (M-G),'also new, Ls modest in Indianapolis and Den- ver but fancy in Pitt. “Miami Story” (Col), fair in Omaha, Is light in K.C. “Gorilla At Large” (20th) looms dullish dull in L.A. “Tomorrow is Too Late” (Indie) looms okay in K.C. “Holly and Ivy” (Indie) looks neat in Chi but only so-so in Pitt. “Pinocchio’^RKO) (reissue), okay in Detroit, continues fine in Chi. “Rails Into Laramie” (U) shapes trim in Chi. “Moon Is Blue” (UA), good in K.C., is big in Detroit and nice in Cincy. “Arrow in Dust” (AA) is mild in Detroit. “Siege At Red River” (20th), slow in Balto, is not so good in Washington with vaude, “Living Desert” (Disney) shapes socko in St. Loo. “Beachhead” (UA) is fair in St. Louis. “Make Haste To Live” (Repf is rated okay in Chi. (Complete Boxoffice Reports on Papes 1041) IFE Releasing Corp, Is now in the market for indie-produced American features and expects to . distribute three or four a year in addition to Its regular quota of Italo imports, Bernard. Jacon, v.p. in charge of sales and distribution^ disclosed' last week. , ' - . He said talks had Already, been Initiated with a number of pro- ducers. Acquisition of Hollywood filihs represents quite a switch of policy on the part of IFE Re- leasing which was set up a year and a half ago to handle Italian features only. Jacon emphasized that IFE had no intention of en- tering production financing and that it would take on outside pix on straight distribution deals. > IFE Releasing, which operates independently from Italian Films Export, at present maintains a net- work of five division and two'dis- trict offices with 19 salesmen cov- ering all of the exchange areas. Sales staff will be expanded to 28 in the fall when the outfit launches its new release sked consisting of (Continued on page 24) No Courtesy to U.S. So East Germans Get Same Treatment From Us Washington, June 1. Bar on East German motion pic- tures .in this country is in retalia- tion for that country’s seizure and manhandling of U. S. owned prop- erties . there, and was ordered j>y the State Department. Although films are still allowed into this country from Russia and most of its satellites, they may not be shown if made in E4st Germany, a proviso which has caused consid- erable puzzlement in the U. S. in- dustry. Office of Alien Property, a branch of the Justice Department, (Continued on page 24) Trade Mark Registered FOUNDED BY SIME SILVERMAN Published Weekly by VARIETY. 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