Variety (July 1954)

• v Former Silent Film Actor Now Using His Family Name of Brest for Business Purposes '' / . 1 . . j • — —- . . 4 ; — George K. Arthur, the silent gcreen star, is carving out * hew career as a producer^uf. short sub- jects. Self-Styling himself as a ‘midget producer," Arthur, ..who has dropped his theatrical name and is ’ now operating under his real moniker of George Brest, is moving Into a field which he feels the niajor producers are neglect- ing, ' As head of Meteor Films, Inc., Brest is turning out a series of 18 to 20-minute shorts and is pre- senting a new concept - on how shorts should be sold. He is by- passing the major distribs and is concluding tailor-made individual deals on his own.,He is pushing a package plan, successfully tried in Europe, but slow in making head- way in the U. S., 1 Brest feels that shorts should not be sold on an indiscriminate basis whereby they can earn only $5 or $10 for the distrib for each playdale. He advocates tying a short with a feature film and sell- ing them both as a package. For example, in Europe, his “Stranger Left No Card” was sold as a pack- age with “Moulin Rouge." Under this arrangement, Brest received a flat $15,000 rental for his two-, reeler. For another short, packaged with David O. Selznick’s “Duel in the Sun,” - he received $4,500. In the U. S., he has made similar deals on a local basis. “Martin and Gaston” is being sold with “Gene- vieve,” but the package applies to a single N. Y. circuit only. Brest said he had received offers; for national package deals, but had turned them down because he did not think the shorts would go right with the pictures offered. Brest, who has completed six shorts, one of which has hit “Omni- bus” twice, leaves for England on July 28 to begin production on a a new one, “12th Day of Christ- mas,” starring Wendy Toye. He shoots his films at the Kensington Studios. DRIVE-INS CONTINUE FIRST ON 'FRENCH LINE’ Probably more so than any other film to date, RKO*s “French Line” is getting an intentional first-run play in drive-in theatres. Most companies usually * prefer launching a new film in a conven- tional, walled-in house so as not to upset the distribution playoff pattern in various areas. There have .been instances where the ozoner takes the first-run engage- ment but these are not too fre- quent. s * In the case of “Line,” RKO found that first-run regular out- lets operated by the major circuits were not out as customers for the film. Major chains as a matter of policy are persisting in their nix on any pix which, like “Line,” have been denied Production Code approval. Consequently, “Line,” is staying in the outdoors in an un- usually high number of situations. Partial list of territories where the film teed off in .ozoners In- cludes Minneapolis, Albuquerque, Fort Wayne, New Haven, Burling- ton, Omaha, Augusta; Chattanooga, Ues Moines, Phoenix, Little Ytock, Tuscon, Meriiphis and Shreve- port and Winston-Salem. ^ . Quo Vadis’ on Screen, Fire in Houston House Houston,* July 6. Quo Vadis,”, a pic with ’a Colos- sal fire scene, was interrupted for almost an hour herfe^by a small blaze. The fire broke OUt in elec- tric wiring in the ceiling of the Delman Theatre. It was discovered by Mrs. Aline McIntosh, assistant slight^' tke house was n, '300 patrons were in the a i the time and left in or- derly fashion. 'ROOGIE'S RUMP 1 Brooklyn Dodgers Film Made Two Years- Ago To Be Shown “Roogie’s Rump,” leased on lo- cation at Ebbets Field, Brooklyn, a couple of years ago, finally Is set for theatre dating. Pic, made .under the John Bash Productions banner, has been picked up for release by Republic. Story centers on a youngster who wins a spot on the Brooklyn Dodgers. Many of the team’s reg- ulars appear in the footage. Government-Protected Film Industry Muffs on Quality; 30 Argentine Pix in Cans Buenos Aires, June 29. * Although Argentine motion-pic- ture producers persist in ■announc- ing grandiose plans, mainly con- nected with the signing of Mexican or European stars, the industry is in about as bad a spot as it has ever faced, both economically and qualitative^. Not only has the native product failed to gain ground in foreign markets, but it has lost what mar r kets it ever had and is fast losing, terrain at home, since even local hick audiences have grown more partial to Italian or French mate- rial now coming in in greater , abundance, and which is in a lingo ] they can equally well understand. The more observant sections of the industry frankly blamfe protec- tionism for the decline in quality of local efforts, since most produc- ers ceased striving after quality, re- lying on the State to assure them every advantage in playing time and-finance. The chief defect in the protection laws is that they make no discrimination between good and bad product. Recom- mendations now center around amendments arranging to withhold protection from producers who waste valuable raw stock and State loans on making artistically medi- ocre pictures. \ At the present time the native industry has nearly 30 pictures awaiting release, representing an investment of about $3,000,000. Some industry spokesmen advo- cate forming a. Latin-American bloc to create a common market for all Spanish-speaking pictures in Iberian language countries, via tri- angular co-production pacts be- tween Argentina, Spain and Mex- ico, which would take in inter- change of talent, directors, script- writers, etc. Meanwhile “Tren Internacional” (International Train), the first pic- ture turned out by the Big Five unit put together under govern- (Continued/on page 10) Pie Stocks Good If Studios Avoid Pix for Idiots’ Hollywood, July 6. Investment in motion picture studio stocks is a good idea If Hollywood continues tq turn out high grade ' product and- does not relapse Into “grinding out sce- narios "written for the amusement of idiots.” That is the opinion of Charles T. Jawetz, of the broker- age firm of Daniel Reeces & Co,, in an optimistic new market let-, ter. Citing such films as “Executive Suite,” “The High and the Mighty,” “The Caine. Mutiny,” “Prince Valiant” and “Three Coins in the Fountain” as examples of recent improvement In production. Jawetz declared the novelty of television has worn off. These pictures, he added, “have displayed good . judgment and knowledge of appreciation that have been conspicuous by their absence for many years.” Film biz’s slogan of “Join Hol- lywood and See the World” is be- ing given added impetus by. a whole slew of current - and forth- coming pix shot partially ,or .wholly abroad. Number of foreign locationers, bemoaned by Holly-, wood unions, is on the increase with producers explaining that they’re just giving in to the de- mands of the big screen. Argument is made that, eyeri if a pic isn’t wholly made abroad — and actually few are—it’s now im- perative to do a good deal of background footage in the foreign locale to catph the right atmos- phere. It's pointed out that, with the coming of CinemaScope, it’s no longer as easy to fake scenery. Quite apart from that, the com- panies aren’t unmindful of the fact . that there’s nothing quite like a Cook’s tour of some foreign country when presented with the asset of the wide screen.- B.o. al- lure of 20th-F6x'.s “Three Coins in the Fountain,” in which C’Scope explores Roma and its fountains with impressive results, is a re- minder ... of what travel-happy America,; likes. Ironic aspect of this is that, only a very few years ago,* foreign coun- tries were begging Hollywood to include -some footage * of their scenic attractions in pix by way of recruiting prospective tourists. Now their wish has been more than fulfilled. Other factors enter also: Mak- ing films abroad, or even just do- ing location footage, is a good way (Continued on page 16) Hot Todd-y Reports Mike Todd’s personal connec- tion with Todd-AO, the wide- screen process to be used for. the first time in the "Okla- homa” lensing, is due to under- go. a change. Todd was hud- dling with liis lawyers in N.Y. yesterday (Tues.) to work out details, but refused to elabor- ate. - New development reportedly doesn’t affect the Magna The- atre Corp. setup. Todd speci- fically denied (1) that he was out of Magna and (2) that “Oklahoma” filming was snaf- ued. Full Todd-AO Story is ex- pected to break today (Wed.) or Thursday when Todd ex- pects to go to Europe. DAFF'S EXEC VEEPCY U Head No Longer Uses His ’Director Of World Sales’ Tag Reflecting the widening scope of his responsibilities,. Universal’s Al- fred E. Daff has quietly dropped his title as director of world sales and now. gets executive v.p. billing exclusively. Daff, who rose through the ranks at U starting in Australia, became director of world sales in 1951, Position was then—-and still is— unique in the industry. Exec v.p. js in line with Da*ff’s expanded activities which take in production planning as weir" as sales. He’s now spending half his time on the Coast, giving U the closest possible coordination be- tween production. and sales. Amusement Shares Serene Before Long Weekend; Broadcast Issues Lead By MIKE WEAR Great activity in theatre shares and RCA and CBS is- sues attracted much attention . In yesterday’s (Tues.) stock market. Radio Corp. of Ameri- ca common opened, up nearly a point higher, reaching a new 1954 mark of 32 s 4, for a gain of l-Vs points on the day. Both CBS issues hit new peaks for the year, “A” shares being up ^sths of a point and ”B” stock a full point on the day. RKO Theatres soared to a new high of 8Vs, gaining a point in the day’s trading. National The- atres hit a new (54) peak of . TV-i, and, like ABC-Paramount, was a quarter of a-point high- er on the day.. Despite the fact that the stock market had a sell-off last week, especially in the high-priced shares, traders in amusement issues wdre encouraged by the rela- tive stability of film and theatre stocks, radio shares and affiliated issues. Most radio stocks were un- (Continued on page 16) A grass roots campaign, simitar to the drive waged for the admis- sion tax ' reduction, is being weighed by Allied States Assn, in its fight against distribs’ film rent- al charges. This pitch, directed at local and national legislators in hope of achieving relief on the governmental level* will be held off until all other avenues of di- rect appeal the distribs are closed. The temper of exhibs on the film rental question is close to the boil- ing point. Bitter charges are be- ing hurled at the major companies by leaders of three exhibitor or- ganizations—Allied, Theatre Own- ers of America^ and the. Southern California Theatre Owners Assn. „ The main beef is that distribs are siphoning off the relief obtained via the reduction in the federal admission tax. This contention, therefore, is cited as the reason for seeking aid from government authorities who, it’s claimed, grant- ed the tax relief to help the hard- pressed exhibitors and not the dis- tributors. It’s pointed out that since the tax cut, ll pictures haye been presented to exhibs at terms of 509o as compared to the asking pvice of 359b to 409b for simitar pictures in the past, v A five-man Allied strategy com- mittee convened in Washington last week to map out the exhib org’s next move. The committee is pointing toward a meeting this month with the sales toppers of the major companies. If the dis- tribs agree to this session, the (Continued on page 22) TWO BALTO HOUSES JOIN ARTIE RANKS Baltimore, July 6. Two new first-run pix houses are set to open later this summer. I. M. Rappaport who operates the Town, Hippodrome, and Little The- atres has leased the Centre from Morris Mechanic. The latter owns and manages the New plus two legit houses. Rappaport will ex- hibit foreign and art films, a pol- icy which has proved successful at the Little. The new enterprise will be known as the Cinema Centre and is set to kick off Aug. 1 with Walt Disney’s “Vanishing Prairie.” Film Execs Dismiss Martindell’s Blast at ‘Lack of Statesmanship’ in Film Industry Add the American Institute of Management to film execs’ per- sona non grata list. AIM was at hand over the past week with a severely critical report on the pic- ture industry that hit a vital organ: management. “The motion picture industry may possess showman- ship, but it lacks statesmanship and perspective, two qualities re- garded as essential for managerial excellences by the AIM,” said the organization’s president, Jackson Martindell. He charged the industry with “extravagance, inefficiency, poor teamwork and lack of foresight.” Apprised of these accusations, film officials asked (1) who's Mar- tindell?, (2) what's the American Institute of Management?, and (3) getting back to > Martindell, wliat’s he tryihg to promote, for himself? ; “A report of‘ this kind is irre- J sponsible; and simply should,be ignored because it can only mean ] someone is trying to draw atten- tion to himself,” said a major film company v.p. “All nonsense,” commented a. production - distribution president. He added: “It’s a poison pen let- , ter against an industry that has 'managed to survive abnormal hard- ships and is now gaining remark- able Strength.'**, “What can these people possibly know about the film business?” a distributor wanted to know. While Martindell and AIM were strangers to the film execs, some recognized persons listed as board members. These included Wheeler Sammons, publisher of Who’s Who in America, and Ordway Tead, edi- tor and director of Harper & Brothers, and until recently head of New York City’s Board Of Higher Education. AIM, it was explained** is a non- profit Organization which publishes ah annual tome, “Manual pf Excel- lent Managements.” This offers a comparative study of some 4,000 Americarrand Canadian companies in all fields. AIM claims 13,000 “members,” presumably meaning subscribers. According to Martindell, the ab- sence of any film companies from the list of 4,000 prompted some inquiries. Thus his report. The AIM analysis was said to reveal “no outstanding board of directors, although the Institute is watching some developments here with interest,” Schwaber chain, holders of five nabe houses and the first-run Playhouse, will add another for- eign and art house locally, repeat- ing the policy that resulted in the* Playhouse. They will convert the currently second rUn Linden into a first’ run outlet similar to the Playhouse which was formerly the Homewood. After extensive re- modeling, operation will get under- way July 16 with “Seven Deadly Sins.” Amend Complaint In Suit Over Release of Pix to TV Los Angeles, July 6. Consolidated suit by several film producers, fighting television re- lease of their films via sale of Eagle Lion Classics, was resumed in Superior Court today (Tues.) with an amended complaint. De- fendants are Chesapeake, Eagle Lion, United Artists, Pictorial Films and others. Complaint is that United Artists’ purchase of Eagle Lion Classics consisted merely of pictures, made by the plaintiffs for Eagle Lion distribution, and that various rights were sold by Chesapeake, the Eagle Lion parent company, without proper notification. Plain- tiffs therefore ask a share of the $500,000 sale price. Another charge is that the purchase included a deal whereby the Chesapeake lab- oratory would get all UA's business over a period of ten years. Com- plainants also want a share of that.