Variety (November 1954)

20 PICTURES P'fiRiJbfr Wednesday, November 3, 1954 Inside Stuff-Pictures Cole Porter got $100,000 net from Metro for a proposed film built on part of his cavalcade, and Chappell and the .Warner Bros, music groups collected almost as much between them for the non-exclusive synchronization rights. The Music Publishers Holding Corp.< (WB) got somewhat; more than the Max and Lot^Dreyfus firms. Metro will utilize the score for a revue-type filmusical, as yet untitled, it is not a biopic; in . fact Metro already has done the Portef story, under the. title of "Nighf and Day’-’ (WB). A . Porter’s "Can-Can” deal with 20th Century-Fox ranges from $675,000, with a percentage that may tilt it.to a 750G ceiling. Another filmusical deal, that of Columbia’s "Eddy, Duchin Story,” Is a .flat $100;000 for all. blog rights and clearances. The music bill, of course; ..will be extra, as the story develops. U.S.: Treasury received $18,504,000 from the general admissions tax on theatres and other amusements last August; and., collected a total of $26,851,000 for. the first two months of the federal fiscal year (July Jind August), Although the August figure runs $3,000,000 ahead of. 1953, the two-month total is well behind the $43,805,000 for the same period of last year, However, interrial Revenue Service reminds, that th figures for the two years should not be compared because any conclusions drawn will be. greatly; misleading-. It is pointed out that the tax has dropped from 20% to 10% with low priced tickets, com- pletely exempt and. that; the basis on which the totals are figured is entirely different from a year ago. Another, "filnr classic” series is scheduled for. the Des Moines Art. Center this season and will get under way Oct. 20-21 with;,the British film, "The Lady Vanishes/’’ together with a short feature, "Behirid the Scenes of Walt Disney. Studios.” Other .product announced for the season are*"Pepe Le M.oko” and "Beayer Valley,” (short subject!, Nov. ' 3-4;^"Paisan”; Nov. 17-18; "Grandma’s Boy,” featuring Harold Lloyd, and* "Sherlock Junior,” short with Buster Keaton, Dec. 1-2; "The Story of . Gosta Bcrling” and "The Outlaw, and -His" Wife,” short, Jan. 12-13.. There is rid adi ission ; charge. Films are qb-sporisored by the Art Center; the Des Moines Junior League and the adult education dep’t. Approximately 6,000 person^attended last year’s series.. A group of Texas millionaires and civic leaders are hosting*.a mid- Deceniber fete for show biz luminaries in behalf of. the National Milk Bowl, for juve gridiron talent. Invitations have already been sent to participate in- -a round of. informal parties and hunting sessions, with the Eddie Rjckenbacker ranch as .one of the main cities; The affair, .sponsored by Gov; . Allari Shivers, -Jesse Jones; Glenn McCarthy. Gordon McLendon, Mrs. Lee Rountree,' et a!., spine of. \vh nv have newspaper and radio or other showvbiz interests, turns proceeds of the Milk Bowl, games over to a camp for.crippled children in Kerrville,- Tex. Collection of photographs" and -negatives of Matthew. H, Brady, the great. Civil War and post-Civil War photographer—including pictures of a number of old-time show biz greats—have just been acquired by the Library of Congress. Among the daguerreotypes are those of Edwin Booth, Jenny Lind, Mark Twain, Thomas Edison posing with his talking machine, as well as many promineift in national affairs. 1 Collection, purchased, from the grandnieces of Brady, is believed to be.the.last sizeable group of Brady negatives to have remained in, -private hands. aiFE OF PRINT 4 PROVISO McGraw-Hill Distribs RKO’g Films on That Basis 16m. Under a new arrangement, Mc- Graw-Hill’s film department is sell- ing RKO educational and non- theatrical 16m films under a “life of the print” deal. Formerly, all prints were sold under a 10-year lease agreernent. The new system is not retroactive, and all prints sold prior to, Aug. 12 come; Under the 10-year restriction. The new license agreement stip- ulates that the deal is "for educa- tional. rion-theatricail exhibition only and shall remain in force for the life of. the print.” It’s stressed that the. term - theatrical” excludes all. commer- cial exhibition for profit, showing fqr admission charge, entertain- ment, or television. In addition, the print carirtot be sold, assigned or transferred, ■ Prices for the "life of the print” range from $48 for an eight-min- ute, real to $85 for an 18-minute "This; Is America’’ /subject. - Through efforts of Allied Theatres of Illinois, Chicago-American has instituted a half-page' weekly feature of still shots from current films recommended by reviewer. Ann Marsters. Allied here has long been plugging away at dailies to give motion pix a boost by devoting more, promotional space to them. In return for coopera- tion, Illinois Allied prex v Jack Kirsch has sent mail pieces to exhibs and distribs Complimenting the newspaper for its "great interest and desire ' developing . arid 'introducing ideas to help stimulate movie 1 -- .g'oing Chicago.” Omaha, Nov. 2, An dut-qf-coiirt settlement, facts secret, ends the damage action arising from the sale of the Crest Drive-In ..Theatre at Beatrice, Neb: The. plaintiff, Saul Frank, of Mc- Pherson, Kans., charged he had been given fraudulent information on which he based his decision to buy the ozoner from C. M. Alspach and V. C v Anderson, also, of Mc- Pherson, for $125,000. The court awarded Frank . $55,000 damages, leaving a balance of $70,000 due on the purchase; ' While most .-■■first run- houses in Chicago are filling up with choicest variable Cinemascope and widescreen pix; two smaller houses are suffering from a 2-D product lack. Monroe,. which .went sluggishwith two week*; of "Crossed. Swords,” had to settle for a western, duaier ! in a pinch because no "A”-type attractions were 1 available. Theatre; which hasn't played -westerns or double features in years, doesn’t know what it’ll deal with now or through Christmastime. Loop Theatre; which has "Rogue Cop” currently, is in the same boat. Church’s Paid Ads Denver, Nov. 2. . The Denver Council. Of Lutheran Churches paid for two ads, each two-column five-inch, in the local dailies, urging their members -and others to be sure and see "Martin Luther” at the Aladdin. ' This is thought to be the first time; at least locally, that a church has done this. 'INTERNATIONAL REVUE 4 Metro’s Whole Roster To Be Used ; —Fear To Shoot First Hollywood producer to combat distortion of American pictures . by Red propagandists in. East Europe is William Wyler, who directed "Best years of. Our Lives” which is being widely shown behind the j Ivon Curtai At the request of Radio Free. Europe, Wyler made., a ! broadcast, in German and explained what the film was really about. Radio Free Europe reported that pirated prints of "Best Years” had been completely distorted, by eleven dubbing and editing .tricks to : convey false impressions of American life. Bill Morton, former publicity director for the; RKO Atbee Theatre,.! Providence, is still tub.thumping but there’s been a switch. He’s *beeri- : calling on film row friends in Albany, Boston, Philadelphia and fie- j troit soliciting patronage for Sheraton Corp. hotels, with, which he’s ! now associated. Hearing a pitch such as this proved a new experierice for. the tradesters.. Sheraton, which recently took over the Ten Eyck Hotel. Albany, from the Schine Hotel Corp: sent 10 representatives 1 to that city in a "sales blitz.” 1 Hollywood, Nov. 2. Dore Schary, Metro production chief, estimates that the studio’s most widespread produetiori, "In- ternational Revue,” will cover 40 foreign countries and require more than a year to complete. ^ Cast will include all the contract players on the lot and a number of added starters. Thus far' Gene. Kelly is set for ari Irish sequerice and. Leslie Caron for one in Paris. Director George Sidney will tour. the wprld in quest of talent, and loeatioiis* Seems there’s nothing ever really new in the film biz. Back in 1927, a Frenchman called Abel Gance made a picture, "Napoleon.” For the battle scenes he used three screens and three synchronized projectors. Now that Gance’s been updated by Cine- rama, indie distrib Thomas J. Brandon wants to go back to the original. On his recent European trip he. acquired “Napoleon,” with Gance supervising a'new score. Brandon is going to talk with Cinerama execs and others, about showing “Napoleon” as a spectacle. Just in case, however, Brandon brought with him a standard-size version of the film for the arties, with voices dubbed in. PLEASE CHANGE YOUR NAME Triumph, Minn., Pressagents Towns In 3 Other States Minneapolis, Nov 2. . Triumph, Minn., villagje council has passed a. resolution asking similarly, named towns in Illinois, Louisiana and Idaho "to yield gen- erously and graciously ini changing to new riames of their own selec- tion.” '• Mayor Elmo Stockdill explSIns that the requests’ immediate pur- pose is to gairi for. Triumph, Minn., located hear here, "the unchal- lenged . right..; to- have the world, premiere of .the new Hollywood picture, ‘Day 'of Triumph’,”: Producers of that film have an- nounced they plan to hold the preem in one of the several Amer- ican towns named Triumph.. The A.P. carried the istory about the. Triumph, Minn,, requests, meaning more nation-wide publici- ty for the film. r MAKELIM NOT PLAYING EXHIBS FOR MARBLES Many exhibs . wlio’ve h^d the notion they could pick up the group of proposed Hal R. Makelim pix for small change are in for a dis-. appointment. The Makelim org. is currently scrutinizing all offers and those which fall below what the producer feels is fair ’ill be rejected. Many smaller situations have made bids at flat, rentals which Makelim conr siders way out of line. They face rejecti unless they up their offers. All the Makelim pictures are being Offered flat at terms that are worked out after considerable ne- gotiation between Makelim reps and the theatre men. This is- par- ticularly true of the deals with the big. chains Which have, agreed;-to support the Makelim plan. Make- lim’s deals with theatres for the 12 pictures he’s offering sight unseen, it has been.pointed opt, depend on } the theatre, the territory arid what the houses have, paid for similar pix in. the past.. St. Louis, Nov. 2:, One of the important clauses i the new five-year pact between Local No. 143, IATSE and motion picture exhibs in St. Louis and ad- jacent St. Louis County provides for one-man projection room op- eration in. all but 16 houses in the local . The deal, ratified by the union members replaced one of three years ^duration. that ex- pired Aug. 31. The projectionists continued working during the hud- dles that brought Richard* F. Walsh, prexy of the international union, to this.city on two occations. . The basic, terms of the new con- tract gives the operators in one- man houses a 20%. hike in the old basic wage scale of the house, plus a 5% retirement fund contribution by the theatre owner. This ar- rangement applies immediately to .47 of the houses covered by. the new ticket. Effective* next September, 11 other houses will also revert to one-man operation. Six of these are operated by Fanchon Marco’ St. Louis Amusement Co. The one- man. operators will, not benefit i the new contract until next year. . , The- five first run houses, Loew’s State, and Orpheum, Fox. St. Louis and Missouri, the latter three con- trolled by F&M will continue with the two-men operation but will grant the 5% pension contribution immediately. An ordinance that, requires two projectionists in each motion pic- ture theatre booth has been on the books for more than 10 years and it is likely it will be replaced in .face of the new contract. Tacoma’s Local Tax Cut Tacoma, Nov. 2. .City Council liere has voted to discontinue city theatre taxes on admissions of less thari 50c. Action was taken after theatre owners arid operators said they were going broke and would have to curtail operations unless the tax was lowered; They, said they couldn’t compete with home tele- vision unless they could lower prices. ' Federation of Women's . Clubs, \yliich has 1 a claimed I riieiiibciship of 500,000, has named Samuel Goldwyn the recipient of a special citation to be presented bri the occasion of the organization’s 60th anniversary,. Producer is being saluted for "outstanding achieve- . ments.i . motion pictures and (.lie high'standing you have set for the. I entire industry.” Irene-\V., Mills,, president of. the Federation, invited. 1 Goidwyn to, personally accept.,the citation,at. N.Y;. v d.iriner ..NoV; 8.. Bruce. Trinz, general -manager, of the-Clark Theatre here f has. a ! thesis .that theatremcn aren’t doing enough to promote the film industry! internally. Accordingly; in his $50,000 refurbishing program at- : the/ , ai .•.'’.."doing why with the gingerbread. and is setting up % •elaborate'-phpto montage on a . prominent 'wall. .Mural, is to have an . Oscai in its center surrounded by w.k., scenes from Academy Award j ■p 1 in Canada copped three Awards of Merit at recent Edinburgh Film Festival. The films were "Coral.” by Colin Low about breaking-in of a horse; “The Switchman,”'the. work of Roman Kroitor and Stanley Jackson; "The Stratford Adventure,” produced by Guy Glover on the Shakespearean Festival at Stratford, Ontario. First, picture to be filmed in its entirety on location in Sonora, Cal.;, will be Nat Holt’s "Seven Bad Men,” although it is the 103d troupe. to use that neighborhood for exteriors. With, the rainy season coming on, Holt has rented a building on the county fair grounds and turned it into a-stage,to shoot all the interiors. It wili save time in case the •weather interferes with exterior Shooting, First and last film by the how'Robert Jaeks-Robert Goldstein Pro- ! duetions is "Robbers’ .Roost," .which went, before, the cameras this : Artists release, "Roost” if, a coriimitHiient made by! i.iie late Leonard, Goldstein wlios. estate is currently .being closed. Attorneys suggested that the picture be made under another production banner. Pair will make future, films under a.different corporate name. House of Seagram bankrolled Crawley. Film. (Ottawa) latest 16m , ’!w se ’ ■!' v f 9-'f?olf;fi , ins in one, including "The Gold CupComes Home.” ' '^ c , 1954 Canadian Open, and an '11-minu'le c neia^e of. the .blnul goiters tournament at Toronto. Title of the first in 40ycai^ C llrSt winning of the ^old Cup by a Canadian .Pat Fletcher) , What’s,likely one*of. the smallest "theatres” the country is now in operation at Mayfair House; headquarters of. the Walter Rea.de circuit at Deal. N. "J. Room, which" seats 24. is equipped With a .wide screen measuring , 5x12 ft. and has Cinemascope and stereo sound. The Government's antitrust suit, against various--film companies, which charges restraint, of trade in the 16m pic field, looks to be going to trial, early next spring. Federal Judge Harry Westover has set 13 for pre-trial argument. ' Eddie Clifford, organist at. the. Music Hall Theatre in Seattle, one of the few such musicians now playing regularly in a first run motion picture house in. the riation, was honored bn liis, first anniversary there by local show biz personalities. Tieup set by RKO has the Arthur Murray Studios introducing a new dance, billed "The Americano,” from the RKO pic of the same. name. It’s laken.fronr a terpery exercise by Abbe Lane (Mrs. X. Cugat). Motion Picture Pioneers’ 16lh annual dinner Nov. 17 in N.Y. will Tim inri'ii Piim j-have an extraordinary: feature—no speeches, just food and entertain- - a lonal Film Boaid, a government-sponsored fill -company j merit, S. H. iSi) Fabian will be honored as "pioneer of the year.” Variety Club Front Atty. Ecker Elected Pitt’s Chief Barker Pittsburgh... I. Elmer Ecker, prominent Pitts- attorney,. named Chief Barker of the Variety Club No. l’s annual, elections recently. He’ll take over from incumbent Norman Mervis at the big banquet in Wil- liam Penn Hotel Nov. 21. Others named were David J. McDonald, head of the United Steelworkers, first assistant barker; Ray Scott, radio and tv sportscaster, second assistant barker; Sam. Speranza, Stariley-Warner booker, treasurer, and AI Weiblinger, an auditor, as secretary. Latter has held this post for years. Board of Directors will be made up of Ray Downey, Harry Hendel, Jimriiy Klingensmith, Havry Ko- dinsky, Bbb. Prince arid Abe Wei Albany Tept Names Schenck Albany. The Albany Variety Club’s new Officers, are George II, Schenck, Tri-State Candy Corp. branch man- ager, Chief Barker; Norman Ja-ck- ter, Columbia manager, first assist- ant barker; Jack Goldberg, Metro manager, second assistant barker; Attorney Lewis A. Sumberg, prop- ert master; Sidney, Urbach, certi- fied public accountant, chief doughguy/ Schenck originally was. with.,the Warner circuit in Utica, Syracuse and Elmira. The group took over as soOn as named so as to permit formulation by them of plans for the an- nual Denial Drive, to be conducted in November fOr Camp Thatcher. Georgia Chain Expands Augusta, Ga., .Novr 2. Georgia Theatre Co., operator of .the Miller, Hodjeska. and Clo- verleaf Drive-In theatres here, hav^e. taken over operation of the Hilltop and Augusta ozoners: New management began. Oct. 17..