Variety (November 1954)

2a INTERNATIONAL .. ‘YAHHTT'r LONDON OPPICI • Of. Martin'* PIkl Trafalgar Sqwtrfc London, Nov. 16. If British film producers geared their product to the American mar- ket and discarded domestic type stories with insular appeal,- the rev turn from the American market might be substantially greater .than it is at the present time. This ' v the viewpoint of Macgregor Scott, Associated. British-Pathe sales chief, who recently returned to London after attending the Allied Artists sales convention ’ < Chi- cago. Referring to suggestions that the U. S.. exhibitor or public Was anti- British, the AB-Pathe sales chief, said, the typical, theatre owner was concerned with only one thing: entertainment. “You cannot blame them for asking fur that,” he com- mented. He added that he’d discussed With salesmen the type of British pic likely to succeed and hatd gained the impression that Ameri- can audiences would be more i terested in the historical costume drama than in modern domestic comedies. Whether or not their production schedule at Elstree would undergo any revision would depend on the studio executives, lie added. Macgregor Scott cited that of the five British , pix. which were currently in distributi in tlie U., S. only one was cerfai to get top billing. This is “Duel in Jun- gle/' a Co-production which is es- timated to gross at least $2,000,000 in the; U. S. of which as much a£ $1,200,000 might* be returned to Britain. “Weak and the Wicked” Was now on release in the lower bracket of dual program with com- mitments on Warner, RKO and Loew circuits: This was estimated to earn between $75,000 and $100,- 000 for the British company. In a similar money bracket is “The Yel- low Balloon,” but he declined to : sti'mate' ".early the potential earning capacity of. the other two, “Affairs of Monte Carlo’’ and “To- iglit's the Night.” $350,000 in Eady Coin For Juvenile Films London, Nov. 9. The Children’s Film Foundation. I again is to receive a grant of ; $350,000 from the Eady Fund. An ! interim advance of $28,000 Was 1 paid over recently, and the bal- ance has now bean approved by the four trade associations. The Children’s. Film Foundation was set up a few years ago to in- sure a steady flow of suitable prod- uct for the Saturday morning /mati- nees. The Foundation, with only a limited income always will be dependent, on financial support ( from some group.. Rentals from the pix are returned to the Eady /pool. Montevideo, Noy. 9. A second film festival (first Was held in 1950) Is being organized for Jan. 15-31 next year at Uru- guay’s beach resort a.t Puiita del Este; celebrating the 125th anni of its founding. The International Federation of Motion Picture Producers has. ap: proved this 1955 event, and an award to be made for .the best pic submitted. So far Argentina, Brazil, Ger- many, Mexico, Britain, France, Italy and the U. S. are reported to have, agreed to participate/ Swaffer Continued from page 1? 20th-Fox’ Breaking Of Single-Week Run Plan Poses Problem for BOT London, Noy, 9. By breaking from the tradition of a week’s run for every pic and encouraging extended playing-time w herever results justified it, 20th-! Fox has'upset the conventional pat? I tern of the British release system, Most important of-all. by giving fi.'st-run playdates to anamorphi-! callv-cquipped theatres; which hith- erto had only played second run, it ..a 1*0 has upset the barring system. . Result is that this has created an interesting poser for the Board Of; Trade. Is a . theatre which plays j 2Qth-Fox programs first-run and ; has subsequent-runs from, other distributors to be classified ..as a first-run or subsequent-run house? ; Tins, is of importance to the BOT in determining; quota relief, as favored treatment ’ frequently metccl out to theatres whose book- ing position does not enable them to have a free choice of all avail- able product. Th British Fill .Producers A'W. reckons , that such . theatres should. continue to be classified i the sccondrrun categoi; Its argu- nient.' is. that it would 1 be unfair to , pe ali/.e. an exlilb. whq had retooled for X ; inemaSc,ope'Hjut,.st'ni-;-di'd’''h.bt have first choice on available Brit-. ‘ product. In consequence, it is Urging the BOT to retain the status quo, Rot Nov. 9. The local legit season has gotten off to a slow start. With the ex- ception of Luigi Squantina’s pres- entation of "Caine Mutiny Court Martial,” there hasn’t been ah out- standing hit So far. Concerts, arid revues are also getting under way, with opera to follow' Dec. 6. The strong version of the “Court Martial,” whibh Pan successfully several yVeeks. at the Valle before beginning a tour of Italian key cities, held the early; legit spot- light along with Poarecca’s Pup? pets, which returned to Rome af- ter lengthy world tours to become a holdover hit here. Podrecca is currently working the strings at the Orione Theatre for a repeat, week. Previously, a well-meaning Little, Theatre group from Bolzana presented an amateurish two-night staging of Goethe’s “Faust.” and a new Italian version of Wilde’s “importance of Being , Ernest” without drawing mtich notice. The season’s first revue! Macario’s “All Women Except Me,” wound up a moderate local run. ■ <■ Several preems are scheduled in the legit sector. Castellani opens a “Hamlet” at the Goldoni, while that theatre’s name sake. Carlo Goldoni, is current with two presentation, one live and one puppet: the Cesco JJaseggio com- pany is staging “The Good Wife” 1 at the Ridotte deli’Elisea. The other Goldoni item is being pup- peted at the Opera dei Burattini,” Harlequin, Servant of Two Mas- ters.” The Valle, which just had “Caine Muti now opens Fritz Hoechwalder’s “The. Holy Experi- ment,” shown in Paris some years ago “On Earth As It Is in Heaven.” Eduardo De Filippo has brought his company Up from Naples to play “Palumella Zompa e Vola.” by A. Petito, at the Ellseo. In the ballet-concert field, the Sadlers Wells Troupe had a suc- cessful local at the. Opera/ and is continuing its- Italian trip with dates in Turin, Genoa. Naples, etc.. An impressive list of artists has been booked into the various con? cert series now; in full swing i the capital, the principal ones/ being the Argentina, the Filar- monica, and- the Aula Magna. Opera season opens with “La Forza del De.st.ino.” Gian carlo! Meno.tti’s ;‘!.\in.ahl .artd the Night Visitor*” is among, the productions set for staging at the Rome Opera House. Later this winter, among other items, Rome is slated to see ait Italian version of “.Rose Tattoo 1, and “Tea- and Sympathy” with acr. tress pleanora Rossi Drbgo. Thrush Marti Stevens will kick off, lO-eily European tour with :>ril engagement at the Cafe tit* London. While in Lon-, doii. she’ll etch two albums for British Decca. with her accom- panist Don Pippen orchestrating and recording. Miss Stevens- will continue to record in! the U; S. for the MGM label. Meantime, warbler is set for a tw -week stand at. Pittsburgh's An- kara Club beginning Nov,. 29. Miss Stevens is the daughter of Loew’s proxy Nicholas M. Schenek. 'French Line' Okay for Chile : Santiago, Nov.: 9. ! Censor Board here considered “French Line” (RKGh virtually j harmless, and did not change a foqt of the Jane Russell starrer.' The much discussed dance went through unScissor.ed. Blue-pencillers gave “Line” a “for adults only” tag and RKO is applying the saturation treatment by booking it in six downtown and ! neighborhood' houses simultaneous- ly this week. I St., Swaffer told at last week’s birthday lunch that in the early, days of the . Daily Mirror, Lord Northcliffe objected to his frank and occasional criticisms of plays. He also recalled that, William Berry, later Lord CamrosO, said to hii , “Are you a critic?” He was discouraged as a drama critic on The People when he was, editor, and wheri he left that paper, after leading a successful strike for his and his staff’s salary, Lord Beaverbrook named . him drama scribe of the Sunday Express, but warned he was only to have a column. Yet within a few months of his doing plays for both the Daily and Sunday Express, with a double page spread in. the lattet paper, Swaff was the most talked- of critic in the country. To this day; he says, although he has been out of criticism since 1931, when he gave up the theatre for Socialist politics, U./SZ artists arriving in London/often ask at a press confab, “Where’s Hannen Swaffer?” They still look upon him. as England’s leading critic. , Swaffer explains this by the fact that for years, “really as a labor of love,” he wrote for Variety what he himself describes as “a weekly column of wit, challenge and anecdotage.’/ 'This, he claims, is still remembered as outstanding journalism. More Drama Outside „ Why did Swaff give up the the- atre for politics? In his own words he sums it up as follows: “I got tired of seeing a world of pretense, I. saw outside the the- atre a much more moving drama, more bitter tragedy and more liv- ing comedy, than anything that was acted on the stage. In the theatre it was the same every night. Out- side, it was different every day. “Besides.” he adds, “when I be- gan to attract more attention on my arrival in the theatre than was caused by the rising of the curtain, I felt it was time to get out. People were discussing me instead of the play. I was the center of all eyes, and I hated it.” Swaff believes sincerely that bis quarter-century of Socialist propa- ganda has had a great deal to do with the creation of the welfare state, which he avers, “one day the whole world will copy.” At the honor lunch, Swaff spoke for more than an hour in reply to a toast proposed by.. Lord Hdre- Belishe and seconded by Sir A. Beverley Baxter. It was a speech crammed with anecdotage. in which the honor guest commented on his* own relations with the press lords for Whom he has worked and on his pioneering work in bringing about a change/ of news coverage. “I have worked for the Beaver- brook press three times/”' he quipped, “which is three times’ more, than Lord Beaverbrook.” The Express topper was one of .many press* thiefs who sent mes- sages of congratulation. Others followed after the event. One de- scribed it as a wonderful occasion and another commented, “Your power,, your clarity and force and the admirable grouping of the sub- jects were a lesson to. all speakers.” But Swaff likes best the. message that ended, “No other journalist in the world has ever held the po- sition you do,” Two German Military Pix Seek U. S. Dates •Frankfurt, Nov, 9. Despite the persistent talk in Germany that films with a military theme are no longer a big draw, two major productions with a soldier background are bidding for U. S. playdates. Hottest current contender Gloria Film’s “08/15,” which is playing to huge audiences in Germany’s key cities, with Gloria’s, largest distribution in history, 100 prints now being out. . Plot . concerns a German soldier in the prewar Nazi army. Gloria has turned down a U. S. tv offer and is holding out for American theatre distributi Second production for U. S. re- lease is “The Golden Pest” (Alli- anz ) ; which/ tells of a small Ger- man into which an American army post moves, with resultant complications, * Added draws for U. S. business are that it was megged by Yank director John Brahim and used American soldiers who were stationed near the shoot- ing location in Wiesbaden. Rosson Renamed Prez Of Western Canada Tooters Regina, Sask , Nov. 16, Henry Rosson. Regina, was re- elected president of the Western conference, American Federation of Musicians; for a ninth term at a convention in Saskatoon. Locals of Winnipeg. Brandon. Regina, Saskatoon, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver and Victoria were repre- sented. Buenos Aires, Nov. 9 . . Nitery entertainers are in a des- perate plight, with the shuttering of no less than 18 niteries in Buenos Aires this winter. These were the King's Club, Golden Gate. Novelty, Tibidabo, Automo- bile Club. Turf Club, Lau Coupole, Versailles Hotel, Ascot Club, Pre- mier. Luba, Le. Perroquet, Casino de Paris. Casino Russe! Lyra, Babir Ionia. Aguaribay and El. Polio Dorado (Golden Chicken), Of these, only the Novelty and . Tibi- dabo have reopened under new managernent, only to reshutter within a Week or. so. The Novelty, like many of the others, has been in existence around 32 years. These were all firstclass spots with lavish restaurant facilities which periodically engaged inter- national 1 floorshow talent to lure the carriage trade. Stars of the Jean Sablon and Josephine Baker calibre have performed there at one time or another. Some, operators of shuttered ni? teries have recouped some of their capital via advantageous sales of their leases, with the premises converted to other uses. The Nov- elty by next, season will have be- come a 600-seat legit theatre. Fuhd§mental cause of the folde- roos has been the high cost of op- eration because of the demands by the Gastronomic Union, a closed shop labor group which “protects” the interests of hotel, nitery and safe workers. These took 169a on all earnings and sent prices so! High that feiv except, tourists could j afford nitelife. And the dining- j dancing habit has gradually died out. Another factor was the co^t o£ a municipal , license to bpera'te a nitery, growing from $2,000 to $4.0*00 in one year. In addition. •“ rotection money” had become a settled habit and had to- be paid out to municipal, police and union | officials. The difficulty in obtain-! ing good liquor was another^ snag j to contend^Avith, nd frequently/j off-the-cuff entertainment had to be dished out to influential parties. The decline in trade and shut- tering of so many spots has cut into employment prospects for nitery talent, with the Vaudeville Entertainers Union beefing plenty. about it. It’s a case of locking the stable door after the goose with the golden eggs has gone. As ' mbst operators went bankrupt be- . fore shuttering, musicians’ and talent fees ape still 'owing. This | added to the lessening employ ment chances. Paris, Nov. 9. A looksee at films - in pro- duction gives some indication of present and future trends pf the French film. The 29 filmed shows that numerically things are in a. healthy state. The fact that 15 are completely French and the bthers coproductions shows that this latter type of filming ’ still about .haH of the output. The cinema boxofflce is rising as well as the take per picture/ Most important is the fact that the Film Aid Law has smoothed out most .difficulties and kept em- ployment at a good level. Thus the main problem confronting the film Industry here is the actual film content. Many are against the trend towards the present hard- boiled, cops and robbers pix. These make up 10 of the current crop in production. There also is /a. tendency to concentrate on cos- tume color-specs. Falilng off of original scripting is marked as novels and plays are copiing more frequently the basis for” films. Such titles as “Pas De Souris. Dans * Le Bizness” ( No Broads i The Racket), “Ca Va Barder” (Things Will Pop), “Du Rififi Chez Les Hommes” (Trouble Among the Men) , “Les Clandesti .” “Les Diaboliques’’ and “Bonnes a Tuer? (Ripe For Killing). Give some idea of the type of pic being pro- duced. °Constaiitine Pix Led Way This swing to cops-and-robbers pix stems from the solid successes of the Eddie Constantine - Lemmy Caution films. These turned out to be thb top grassers of the season,, and were low-budget pix. Constantine, an American singer,. played the Scotch-drinking, skirt /chasing G- Man with the aplomb and violence needed to click here. Although these Seem to be parodies of the U. S. counterparts, the old adage of the French preferring their own worked here! and the race was bn. Coproduction also helped to give the necessary financing for big- scale specs to meet this staple pub- lic taste. Now two C’Scope pix ar being made here with 20th-Fox distributing, Crlx Berate imitation Trend Some.film crix feel that this imi- tative aspect of French film biz is not healthy for the industry'. They fear French is losing its individ- uality, Inventiveness and more pro- found treatment of humanity^ They say that even their top directors , are turning to the melodramatic and spectacle films. Some point to H. G. Clouzot ; s “Les Diaboli- ques,” Claude. Autant-Lara’s vi- sion of Stendhal’s “Le Rouge Et Le Noir” (The Red and the Black), Jacques Becker’s “Ail Baba.” Rob- ert. Bresson’s "La Princesses Des Cleves” and Rene Clement’s desire” to make a gangster pic. Even Jean Renoir’s return to the studios here is with a costumer, “French Cancan.” However, as long as biz stays at this healthy pace, there will be no rapid shift In the present trend. Some have suggested a special prize, under the Film Aid Law, for more. outstanding original scripts which With spme state sub- sidized backing would tempt pro- ducers to change their present, ideas on production- New Cinema in Jerusalem Jerusalem. Nov. 9. A new cinema, the Ron. has been opened here, being the 11th in the Israel section of the city. * 2,790 Belong to Mex ANDA Mexico City, Nov; 9/ Latest census of. active member-, ship of. the. National Actors Assn. (ANDA) shovys! 2,790 belong.' But including administrators and other functionaries, the total the ANDA family is 3/742. ANDA is now readmitting, met bers who drop out because they haven’t worked in two years— when • tliey get engagements and resume dues paying. Oldest Mex /House as Museum Mexico City', Nov. 9. One of America’s oldest theatres, the Teatro. de la Republica in Queretaro City, capital of Quere- taro state. ' to be a national, museum because the federal gov- ernment has abandoned brav plans, to make it an elite play- house. "It .was found that the venerable playhouse, (vintage 1793) would have to be nearly taken, apart and put ’together again, making it too expensive.