Variety (December 1954)

18 PICTURES Wednesday, December 1, 1954 Shut Out in ARTHUR WILLI'S NEW JOB Will Expand Martin Goodman Into Motion Pictures (and Legit). Elimination of restrictions ‘ bar- ring the importation of Cinema- scope equipment into South Africa leaves only a single country—Indo- n^si—without any showcases for the widescreen process. Although the Indonesian prob- lem, is tagged, an economic one, it’s felt at 20th-Fox that the continued nixing of import permits has politi- cal implications as well. Cinemascope is expected to bow in South Africa; within an- other week", or two, “The Robe.” starting off the parade of C’Scope releases. According to Murray Silverstone, j20th-Fox International topper,- the. only condition im- posed by the South African gov- ernment in lifting the import ban was that the equipment would be licensed to anyone 1 who wanted it. 20tli has its own chain of theatres in South Africa. . Current CinemaScope installa- tions abroad run to about 2,000 with a good many more on order. Silverstone said that 1954 would be a : record year, for 20th abroad “despite the drubbing we are tak- ing in Britain.” It s pointed out that, despite 20th’s falling .out with the J; Arthur Rank Organization and its subsequent swing to the inde- pendents, the ' 20th earriings in- Britain are running fairly close to last year’s figures. Ironic aspect of this situation is that the first 75 Cinemascope , equipments into Britain were shipped by 20th from the U. S. and went straight to the. Rank circuits. Latter aren’t mak- ing any extensive use of it at the loment. Had the 75 units gone to the inr dies at the start, 20th’s position in the British market would be a lot stronger today, company exes obsejve. Differences between-20th nd Rank arose-over the question of extended playing time for the CinemaSeopers, with Rank execs sticking to their formula of yank- ing every .film after a weekis riin regardless of its b.o. 20th can’t'see the sense of such a policy and is now permanently committed to* the indie routing. OLDSTERS GET BREAK Over-65s • With Carte d’Identite Saye Two Bits Boston, Nov. 30. Stanley Sumner, manager of the University Theafre, in neighboring Cambridge, has arranged with the city’s Community Services Com- mittee for the elderly, to admit “senior citizens” (over 65) to' the theatre at a 25c' reduction on all tickets. (House is scaled at 40 to 65c.) In order to take advantage of the plan oldsters must register with either the, city’s Recreation Department pr the Community Services and obtain an identifica- tion eatdi Plan, believed to be the first of its kind in the country, is set-up to allow oldsters, retired or living on reduced or fixed incomes tiie opportunity to attend the pix occasionally. The Cambridge Chronicle edi- torially applauded Sumner for his thoughtfulness (and showmanship) tabbing him the “statesman of show business/’ Sports in Theatres Robert A. Hall, former chair-. man of Jhe National Collegi- ate Athletic Assn, tv commit- tee, reemphasized his organ- ization’s deep interest in the- atre video via a televised air- ing of his views on ABC-TV last Monday night (29). There was a “but—.” He said that the committee repeatedly encouraged use of theatre tv in college football, but hp felt that since the viewer is more comfortable at home and won't' go to the sta- dium, “then he -.won't go to the ' theatre either.” JUMP WITH ‘XMAS’ Atlanta, Nov. 30; Paramount’s “White Christmas” chalked up $9,553 at the Fox Thea- tre here last Thursday, Thanksgiv- ing, establishing a new single-day’s liigh for the house. Film was 'un- usually strong at various other spots in the south upon opening the. same dpy, some of the grosses being: Tennessee Theatre, Knox- ville, $4,550; Tivoli, Chattanooga, $4,225; Paramount’,. Nashville, $4V- 70Q; Alabama Theatre, Birming- ham, $4,850, and the Lucas Thea- tre, Savannah, $2,650. ; Big one at the Roxy, Atlanta, ; is 20th-Fox’s “Carmen,”- which scored $3,400: on opening day. It’s a di- vided house for the all-Negro cast film; Roxy is setting aside its two 'balconies (840 seats) for Negro ticket buyers only and the remain- ing 1,240 orchestra seats are held for whites. .. Annual. Thanksgiving Day foot- ball game . between the Georgia Tech and U. of Georgia freshmen tfeams, at Grant Field here, drew $30,000 at $2.50 top. Contest Was a benefit for the Scottish Rite Hos- pital for Crippled Children. Fine Arts Gets Rathvoh’s German ‘No Way Back’ American distribution rights for N. Peter Rathvon’s "No Way Back” have been acquired by Fine Arts Films, N. Y. Pic was made in Germany and is available in two. versions—titled and dubbed. Deal with. Fine Arts was made by John G. McCarthy, Rathvon’s U. S. rep. Loretta Young may devote one of her filmed telecasts to the work of Variety International respecting childx'en.; Marc Wolfe of Indian- apolis is handling negotiations. Arthur Willi; who for years was RKO’s eastern production rep and recently was associated with Co- Uimbiq.as N. Y. talent ager f , has joined Martin Goodman Produc- tions as head of the motion picture and legit departments. Both divisions will; be expanded under* Willi. Goodman’s is a per- sonal management and packaging, outfit whibh heretofore has oper- ated ’largely in the tadio-tv fields. ON ‘NEW MEXICO’ FILM Los Angeles, Nov. 30. What started ‘ out as a suit filed by the General Aniline & Film Co. to collect $3,000 from Irving Allen Enterprises and Joseph Just- man wound up as a counter-suit for $330,000 in Superior Court. In the original action General Aniline claimed it could not col- lect on a note countersigned by Justman. Allen and Justman re- taliated with a charge that.-plaintiff had failed to secure release prints for the film, “New Mexico,” there- by causing heavy loss. league’ Hits 65 Walt -Disney’s ”20*000 Leagues Under the Sea” is set for holiday runs at 65 key theatres across the country j’. First will be the Astor, N. Y., where the film bows Dec. 2$. All other openings are to be on Christmas Day, Distribution, via Buena Vista; Disney’s own. subsidiary operation, is now the subject of a N. Y. meet- ing of the. company’s Coast, Gotham and London execs. They’re talking general sales policy for “Leagues” and appraising the re- sults of Buena Vista’s previous two entries, “Living Desert” and “Van- ishing Prairie.” “Leagues” is tp be screened for the London visi- tors this week’ Roy Disney and Card Walker aie joining in the sessions with, sales chief Leo F. Samuels and ad-pub director Charles Levy. Participants from Britain, are Cyril Edgar, .head of Disney pistributing Co- Ltd.; Cyril Jaimes, treasurer, and Art Al- lerghen, ad-pub head in England. Clyde Joy Houck, five-year-old son of Joy Houck, owner of the Panorama Theatre, New Orleans’ and head of Joy Theatres, Inc., which operates in Louisiana, Mis- sissippi, Arkansas and Texas, will make his screen debut in “Kehr tucky Rifle.” Film is now being made in Hollywood by Howco Pro- ductions, owned by Houck and | Francis White of Charlotte, N,G. While general enthusiasm has been expressed for Theatre pWners of America’s proposed film financing plan, there is a 1 hardv iSost .' of pessimists who doubt the willirfguess of exhibitors "to kick in'* for such a fund. This pessimism extends into the high echelon of TOA. ; An influential TOA leader, who asked that his name hot he men- tioned; termed his feeling of the fund-raising plan as, “guatdedly optimistic.” He based his observation on thp lack of exhibitor support of the National Exhibitors Finance Committ^^.proposed; by Ted-Gaipbie, Sam Pihanski, and Si Fabian about six years ago. This grohp ha4 as its purpose the establishment of an exlflbitoripfoiluctidh.^hgncin^ fund similar to the one now proposed by TQA/ M Perhapsttiie ; 'need was not as great then,” the TOA leader said/ “At any rate^S&fcjbitorS showed no enthusiasm for the idea, especially when it Oartie to th point of putting up the money.” The informant ; also doubted, that such butfits as United Paramount Theatres, Stanley Warper,, knd National Theatres,, all of which' come under consent decrdej/ijulbs,, would receive the greenlight from the . Dept, of Justice to paftiolpate,' !T*h sure they’re all for the plan,!* he said, “but I doh’t khoxv how they can take part at the moment/* Theatre Owner# xif AmeticaV adamant nix of appealing to the Gov 2 * ernment for help against distributor trade practices is . looked upon by the rival Allied.-States Assn, as speaking out ‘ of both sides, of the mouth at once. Especially, since TOA will seek Dept, of Justice ap- proval to enter , production* via a specially organized film finance unit “If that’s not going to the Government, I 4dn’tknow.what is,” de- clared an Allied leader.. ' , ' . ' / Point made by AiHedite,an influential eastern member of the unit. Is that any discussion/with the,Federate would require a thdrough re- view of current exhib^distrib relationships, including the price of ;film, the shortage of pictures and prints, and an analysis of the charge that the major distribs are deliberately curtailing their production activi- ties. The Allied leader stressed' that the' Dept.i of Justice -will want to know all aspects of distrih-exhib deals before it allows the former theatre affiliates of the***defendants in the U. S, vs'. Paramount case to p V duce and distribute pictures. -The Honduras Embassy in Chile' threw* the book at the Benedict Bogeaus pic, “Appointment, in Honduras” - (RKO), now playiffg* at the Santa Lucia Theatre in Santiago. In a press release, the Embassy declared: “Since last night an American-made picture entitled ’Ap- pointment in Honduras’ is being shown at ai local theatre. Tbis piptufe was not filmed in Honduran territory where there is no'pprt .called ’Puerto Honduras’, and where a large part of the., fauna photographed for the purpose of lending interest to*the film; can only appear to be Honduran fauna as a result of the ignorance or irresponsibility of some' Hollywood picture director to whom it as of little import if they include scenes- taken in • some part of the globe and place them; in another geographical area. For the development -pf the -run-of-the- mill story of this picture, it wasn’t necessary to use the -name of s country or stamp it with a ridiculous and unreal political episode.” In “The Two Lives of Jonas Applegarth," MacLean’s’ .magazine's Robert Collins tells the story of a Hollywood- character actor from a Cree reserve near Calgary, Alta., who spends most of his time there oat-farming. Applegarth, who may have to give up mbvie /billing as Wildhorse/by tribal decree, started' as an extra witfe. Alan Ladd in “Saskatchewan” (which was shot in Alberta.) ... . , Director; Raoul Walsh later wired him to hit the trail for Holly- wood to play Shining Lightower, a Navajo in the U. S. Marines, i “Battle Cry” with. Van • Heflin—who, Applegarth says, “treated me like his brother.” His role was built up and he wa%, raised from $110 to $250 a week. He now makes $350, but to his. agent Vernon Jacob-, son’s despair returns home after each stint and recently turned down one part because it would interfere with his^fall plowing. He’s been in another Alan Ladder, “Drumbeat.” ~ Buy, Don’t Build Continued from, jpage 7. film entertainment via new drive- ins, Berk maintains that. many areas can use conventional the- atre. He noted that the builders of the new Cross County Shopping. Center; in the Westchester ayea of. New York attempted to . obtain financing for a. hardtop but were turned down. Berk said there was a “terrific” call for drive-ins and also a scramble for locations where ozoners licenses could be obtained. The demand for drive-ini proper- ties, he said, was country-wide. Except for closed-down theatres in run-do\y neighborhoods and those converted for other uses, Berks feels that “many theatres, that are closed will be reopened eventually.” AS an example of the demand for theatre leases, he pointed, to Harry Brandt’s takeover of three .former Loew r s houses 1 and the acquisition by other chains of theatres formerly operated by the major circuits. Latter, under con- sent decree .. stipulations, had to divest certain of their houses. Increasing: boxoffice uncertain- ties with foreign features has operators of the sureseaters doing a burn over the high guarantees currently being asked by the indie distribs. Complaint is that the arties are asked to put up tall coin not only on selected top releases with a high earring potential, but also on the less solid product. As the ex* hibs see! it, the sortage of foreign b.o. fare frequently puts the squeeze on them. “The way things work out now, we no longer have any assurance that, with a big grosser, we can make up for the. loss suffered by a poor one,” commented one artie op. “They're now asking high terms for everything.” The distribs’ reply to this is that it’s largely question of supply and demand and that they them- selves are being forced to fork out large:—and in their view unreason- ably high—advances to European producers. “The fewer top pictures there are around; the more money these films will bring. There’s nothing unusual about that,” said one dis- trib. He added that, in many in- stances, it was a case, of the ex- hibitors bidding against one an- other and driving up the price. Several of the indies make the point that while it's true that the major attractions command sizable theatre guarantees, it’s frequently a battle'to get the exhibs to book, the run-of-the-mill product. Stress on tjie part of both the distribs and the theatres is on the uncertainties surrounding the foreign film biz. One distrib put it this way: “The producer abroad always thinks he has a top film and, in any case, he has an exaggerated notion of the U;: S. market potential. He asks very high guarantees. The dis- tributor, who doesn't want to be left holding the bag, has to get a good deal from the theatre. Then the picture opens and gets critical raves, in which case its chances are at least good, or it’s panned by one or two of the leading critics and everyone stands to lose a lot of money.” •• It’s generally acknowledged that, on the whole, i954 has been a poor year in terms of quality for for- eign films. That is. why films like the French “Wages of Fear” have reportedly been getting disttib bids for up to $100,000 in guaran- tees. ; George Lourau, who pro- duced “Wages of Fear,” is cur- rently in the U; S. and is expected to set distribution for the pic. It’s reported going to Italian Films Ex- port.. First motion picture ever Shown in the. monastery of .San Francisco <Jel DesCrto, on the. Italian island of that name, will be United Artists* Venice prize winning release, “Romeo and Juliet/' It Was corproduced by J. Arthur Rank; with a sequence iri ; the monastery, but only after obtaining permission from; the Vatican, One of tfle difficulties was Juliet, played by Susan Shentall. There was reluctance to permit a femme in the cloister for the first time in the 753 years of its existence. Special screening/of othe picture will be held there reward for the cooperation of the monks. Study center “for critical examination of the esthetic and social Implications of motjLon pictures” has been established by the New School of Social Research; *N. Y, It will be operated in cooperation with Cinema 16, the non-profit film society headed by Amos Vogel. Latter.- and Arthur Knight, film lecturer %nd critic of the Saturday Review of Literature; will serve as directors of the group/ The study session tees off Dec. 9, with the film center conducting two evening series in the New School, auditorium, both under the direction of Knight. " Replica of the sewers of Paris at Universal City, idle since the silent days when Lon Chaney starred in “-The Phantom of the Opera,!* has been returned to use in scenes for “The Purple Mask.” This time Tony Curtis prowls the sewer as an underground Royalist opposed to Napoleon Bonaparte. BAROMETER RISING John Huston’s New Change of Locale For ’Moby Dick’ Still searching for a favorable area to complete thft location shooting of “Moby Dick,” Moulin Productions has now selected the Canary Islands, This is the third change in a period of a month. Entire company, headed by Greg- ory Peek, leave for .the Canaries at the completion Of interior shoot- ing in London, Blagged by bad weather in Ire- land and Scotland, the company originally planned to move to Madeira. It later selected Cope- town, However, official govern- ment weather report discouraged film-making in that area for some weeks. Director John Huston then settled on the Canary Islands. Huston will wind up all interior shooting at the Associated British Pictures studio in London on Dec. 8 and expects to complete all shooting by Jan. 15. On his return to Hollywood,. Huston will super- vise the editing, dubbing, and scor- ing of the picture. Warner Bros, plans to release the picture in mid- 1955. 146-Seat Dresden, Ohio House Gets CinemaScope -*•" Columbus, Nov, 30; Ohio’s smallest operating the- atre, the 140-seat Star in Dresden, has requested arid received gener- ous terms to purchase Cinema- Scope lens. - Some weeks ago, owner Earl. Starner advertised; in the bulletin of the Independent Theatre Own- ers of Ohio for a CinemaScope screen and got one 18 feet wide by nine feet high, which just fits in- side his 20-foot-wide show house. Starner has been having difficulty in maintaining grosses with the limited supply of non-CinemaScope film sihefe he makes three changes W66k ITOO called William C. Gehring, Twentieth Century-Fox sales man- ager, who called National Theatre Supply Co. in Cleveland' to make arrangements for Starner to get. the special lens at what Wile call- ed “very, very acceptable terms.” As far as is known this is the first time anyone hereabouts has taken up Spyros Skouras oii his offer to assist any exhibitor finan- cially unable to install Cinel Scope equipment.