Variety (December 1954)

<vA*imrr ^ouoomsssiSM • ft. ttortff* *•—« Tr«#»**»r Hum INTERNATIONAL 13 Peron-Catbolic Hassle Delaying Release of Rdigioiis Fix in Arg. Bueno* Aire*. D*c. li A serious hassle between Presi- dent Peron's government *»d th * Homan Catholic hierarchy, which r»,7e" n to th. local headline, for about a month, has had certain re- percussions for the film business iffecting both local producers and foreign distributors. The conflict coincided with planned release at the Opera theatre of Hugo del Carril's $400,000 historical opus. • La Quintrala." The "QuintroU" story revolves round a church con- flict of a previous historical period. So that rather than inflame public opinion, the release certificate for the picture was indefinitely with- drawn by the Presidential Press Office. Great hopes were centered in "La Quintrala" by the local pix in- dustry But because of this switch in release plans, Metro’s "Story of Three Loves" got an extra week’s run at the Opera, and "Prisoner of Zenda” eventually went into that showcase much earlier than ex- pected. The blow for producer Hugo del Carril is a staggering one, as his picture has been shelved in- definitely. which means that his coin is tied up. Foreign distributors are affected in that a couple of WB pictures, dealing with a religious background ("I Confess" and "Blowing Wild") are also held up, to avoid any im- pression of anti-Church bias. U. S. Distribs Find Going Tough American distributors are find- ing it harder than ever to see Press Minister Apold, who has been busy the past week feting Gina Lollo- brigida and husband, apart from keeping a firm hand on press treat- ment of the church situation. U. S. managers have been warned they can’t expect to see Apold for an- other two weeks. Meanwhile, of course, no release certificates are issued and there is a scarcity of product. Apold’s former able En- tertainment Board director, Ernes- to de Oliveira, has resigned and is new managing-director of the Ar- gentine Distributors Assn. Paramount has decided to re- lease the first VistaVision pic, "White Christmas," during Christ- mas week at the Ocean Rex in Mar del Plata, rather than at the Buenos Aires Rex, because altera- tions including widescreen and new airconditioning installations won’t be ready on time. The alter- native was release at a lesser show- case at a wrong time of year. Vista- . Vision will therefore be installed in Mar del Plata before here. Par’s Bob Graham attended the Acad- emy dinner to receive the 1953 award for the best foreign picture, "Detective Story." Next week the Entertainment Board is expected to push ahead with its arbitrary realignment of the major circuits, designed to give further protection to native produc- tions. There is a shortage of show- cases in the central city district and Loew’s currently plans to go ahead with construction of the Metro, its showcase, and have it completed in a year’s time. 239 H’wood Films On Lineup of 521 Pix In W. Germany for ’54-’55 Berlin^Tlec. 14. There have been 521 films (in- cluding those already released) announced for the 1954-55 season in West Germany. Season started last Nov. 30, and shows that 239 0l, .t ,°f the total are of American origin. West Germany has 137 Dims (including 20 coproduc- tions ) followed by France, with 50 pix (14 are Franco-Italian films); Daly, 38 ; England, 25 and Austria, Lineup shows that 220 out of ” 21 Productions are in color. f n of . th °m are C’Seopes. 10 are t' d p ' x also available in 2-D) and n™ yistaVision, "White Christ- mas (Par). In addition to the 521 feature t ms. approximately 25 full-length jimure and documentary pix will 'c eased in the current season. J" th ?u first five months of the season there were 109 Hollywood f im Tu ed as wcl1 as 56 German F ^re 21 French or p r-^alian coproductions, 17 dish r,:, 16 I ta ' ion ' and two Swe- released In the-same period. Assac-British to Spend $8,400,000 on Facelift London, Dec. 21. Plans for a comprehensive mod- ernization scheme which will in- volve an expenditure of $8,400,000 over a three-year period, were out- lined by Sir Philip Warter, chair- man of the company, when speak- ing at the annual conference din- ner of Associated British Cinemas in London last week. Sir Philip revealed that the or- ganization had contemplated be- coming program contractors for the commercial tv web, but on ma- ture reflection the board decided against such action. Entry into such a project would have involved an investment of around $4,200,- 000, and it had been decided to put that money towards the improve- ment program. Brit. Exhibs Plan New Tax Relief * London, Dec. 14. An admission tax relief plan, which, if accepted by the treasury in its entirety, would cost the gov- ernment nearly $17,000,000 an- nually. has been formulated by the exhibitors of the pix trade for dis- cussion on an all industry basis. Tn the main, the Cinematograph Exhibitors A°sn. pi,'in is aimed at giving the bulk of any new con- cession to the small exhibitor and four fifths of the re ief is planned to come from admissions up to and including 30c. The CEA will now pursue its campaign by discussion with the Customs & Excise*- and by a joint trade deputation to the Chancellor of the Exchequer. At the same time provincial branches will be urged to send deputations to their Members of Parliament. Last year, the industry supported the CEA .tax relief claim, which would have oost the Treasury $20,000,000 a year. It was even- tually allowed a tax concession worth $9,800,000. Hazel Guild HtllywNCl am4 Broadway c« a-viaMaf ao Hw Coatiaaaf. la a K l dd h ig »■ t i n > <|ai* pla<* Wheels Within Wheels a bright byliaa placa la 49th Anniversary Number of OUT SOON Broadway Hits Now Showing On German Video Frankfurt, Dec. 14. German tele is finding that its most popular plays with the local viewers are German adaptations of New York stage productions. Upcoming performances are set for "Caine Mutiny Courtmartial" on Jan. 6 (with Julius Gellner from BBC in London as guest director), Eugene O’Neill’s “Anna Christie” and Ernest Hemingway’s “Short Happy Life of Francis McComber” set for early next year. Already used on the fall sched- ule are Tennessee Williams "Cam- ir.o Real,” John Patrick’s "Tea- house of August Moon,” Thornton Wilder’s "Our Town"; T. S. Eliot's "Confidential Clerk" and Jean Anouilh’s "Colombe." All were translated into German, with spe- cial casts, costumes and sets for the one- or two-hour dramatiza- tions. West Germai\tv has key stations splitting the time, so that on the Frankfurt Hessischer Rundfunk channel, plays can be transmitted to other stations or picked up from senders in Berlin, Munich. Ham- burg, Bremen, Bonn and Cologne. New Paris House Makes 5,224-Seat Day-Dater; 4 Big IT'S. Pix for Xmas BAN TALL OF BERLIN’ SHOWINGS IN HAVANA Havana, Dec. 14. Showing of the Russian film, "The Fall of Berlin," has been banned here. Pic had played here for six days after having been okayed by the government’s film commission. Scheduled to play only one week, the banning was ordered on the seventh day by Minister of the Interior Ramon O. Hermida. It was reported that Britons liv- ing in Cuba had objected to the film’s characterization of Churchill. The objections reached strongman Fulgencio Batista, who attended a special showing. Shortly thereafter police seized the only print in Havana and pulled down all ad circulars. Before it was exhibited, the dis- tributor and the film commission had included a Spanish script em- phasizing that it was a Russian propaganda film. W. Germany to Promote Its Product in U. S. Berlin, Dec. 14. The Federal government of West Germany is to make available $60,000 to be used for promotion of the export of West German films to the U. S. This experimental amount is said reportedly divided among six German films due to be released in U. S. in 1955. Dubbing and other costs must be borne by the exporters them- selves. Negotiations took place in Bonn last week and were at- tended by reps of the Federal Ministry for Economical a(|airs, the German Foreign Office, the Federal Press Office, the West German Film Producer Assn, and the Export Union. DEFA, W. German Prods. Plan First Co-Prods. Berlin, Dec. 14. The first coproductions between DEFA, sole pic producing outfit in Soviet-controlled Germany, and West German companies likely will be made in 1955. This is the result ” of negotiations between East and West German filmites which took place here last week. Meetings were attended by D£FA boss Hans Rodenberg, sev- eral other top DEFA officials as well as West German film pro- ducers, including Hans Abich (Goettingen), Friedrich A. Mainz (Hamburg) and Alfred Rauschen- bach (Munich). Coproduction deals also Include a pic to be made by Veit Harlan. Slate-con- trolled DEFA is interested in co- productions with West Gorman outfits chiefly for political rea- sons, newspapers here charge. Aussie-Born Producer Clicks by Giving B’way Styling to Panto Shows Glasgow, Dec. 14. Freddie Carpenter, young Aus- tralian-born producer, is giving the Broadway treatment to current English and Scottish pantomimes. He is making them eye-catching musical spectacles with the tradi- tional kiddie stories retained as kernels. As chief producer for the How- ard Ac Wyndham group, Carpenter has charge of pantomimes at Edinburgh, Glasgow, Newcastle, Liverpool and Blackpool. As soon as he clears one production, he’s off a few hours later to launch another. y His aim is to give the traditional British panto, “the slick up-to- date appeal of a Broadway musi- cal." He has achieved * standout success with spectacle of "Goldi- locks and the Three Bears" at the Alhambra Theatre, Glasgow, where Jimmy Logan (nephew of Ella Logan) scores a solid hit in comedy. New Mex Setup To Hypo So. America Mexico City, Dec. 14. Improvement of servicing for- eign markets for Mexican pfle by increasing official aid to distribu- tors is being continued. Newest step in that direction is the trans- formation of Peliculas Nacionales, oldline indie distributor in Mexico and abroad, into "a company of public interest" for the announced purpose of increasing playdates for Mexican films in Central and South America. The new PN in- vites all producers who want bet- ter Central-South American dis- tribution to join it, on the basis of stockbuying. PN is to have an ultimate capital of $1,280,000, of which'$720,000 has already been paid in. The trade’s own bank, the Banco Na- cional Cinematografico, has upped it« 5% participation in the old PN to 25% in the new. Structure of the new PN is iden- tical to that of Cinex which the government recently organized to control pic distribution abroad, and to which 80% of Mexican pro- ducers belonjg. Saging Central- South American market prompted changing the setup for Mexican pix down there. Paris, Dec. 21. After lone-wolfing it for awhile, the big Pathe 1,670-seater, the Marignan, soon goes into tandem harness with three other spots— the Max Linder, the Alhambra and Les Images. This will create a 5,224-seat setup, and will be an important outlet for pix since the firstrun Paris take is vital In film distrib here. Tieup of Marignan will be for the Metro pic, "Knights of the Round Tablj," and may continue. Three biggest hookups here are the six-shot combo of the Para- mount, Folies, Palais-Rochechou- art, Lutetia, Select-Pathe and Elysees, with 7,265 seats; the Ber- litz, Gaumont-Palace and Paris, with 7,151-seat capacity and the Rex, Normandie and Moulin-Rouge With 6,424 capacity. Other biggies are the Balzac, Helder, Scala and Vivienne, with 2,540-seat; the Colisee and Marivaux with 1,964; and the Biarritz, Madeleine, with 1,307. There are other variable setups which change alignment and day- date combos at times, but together they are the vital first-run outlets. Christmas will see a mass distri- bution of big U. S. pix for the Yuletide. Among these are "Knights," "On Waterfront” (Col), "White Christmas" (Par), "Hell and High Water” (20th), and the French with "Ali Baba" and H. G. Clou- zot’s "Les Diaboliques." 1st German-Egyptian Co-Prod. Set for *55 Frankfort, *Dec. 14. In line with the efforts of the German film industry to make co- productions with more foreign countries and increase the circula- tion of German pix in other lands, the first German-Egyptian co-pro- duction has been set Jor 1955. Pierre Zarpanely, head of the A1 Hilad Productions Co. in Cairo, says his company has been work- ing on the Egyptian end of the deal since 1953. Now, plans have been finalized to shoot the first of a series next year. Dieter Borsche, German actor, is to star opposite Egyptian actresses Fatma Hamama and Samirah Ahmed. Salah Abu Seif will di- rect. German scripter Gerda Cor- bett is now in Egypt getting back- ground for the film, which’ will concern a German soldier mis- takenly put into an English prison in Eg.vpl, but decides to stay after WEST GERMAN GOVT. AID FOR FILM PROD. Frankfurt, Dec. 14. The West German government is determined to aid the local film industry in growing to its pre-war heights of international ac- ceptance. At a recent meeting in Bonn of the Federal and State Film Industry Committees, the two government branches'set up a plan for further cooperation in the financing of films. Where both federal and state funds were for- merly available to producers here, restrictions of the various govern- ment groups differed. Now a uniform code of rules has been set up for both the fed- eral and state, to make it easier for film producers to apply for funds. Among other parts of the plan are (1) inclusion of private banks as lending agencies for funds; (2) agreement that the cultural and political viewpoints of the states will remain independent regard- less of financial arrangements with the federal government for pix; (3) groups of. preferably four pictures will be financed jointly by either central government or state, to spread the risk. BBC-TV Does Repeat Of Controversial Show Despite Press Squawks London, Dec. 21. Despite a mass offensive by the press, public and in Parliament, BBC-TV stood its ground and went ahead with a repeat performance last Thursday (16) of George Or- well’s "1984." The initial telecast on Nov. 12 was greeted by contin- uous telephone protests by viewers the same evening and by big news- paper coverage the following morning. It developed into a major run- ning story in the national press, which in turn, inspired Members of Parliament to intervene. Four mo- tions had been tabled in the House of Commons 48 hours before the repeat broadcast was due. One of these deplored the ten- dency of BBC television programs to pander to sexual and sadistic tastes, while another deplored the tendency of MPs to attack the courage and enterprise of the BBC in presenting plays acceptable of appreciation by adult minds. A third motion, which calls at- tention to the faci that many of t\\e inhuman practices depicted in the play are already in common use in totalitarian countries, welcomed the sincere attempt by the BBC to bring hdme to British people the logical and soul destroying conse- quences of surrendering their freedom. Sir Charles Taylor, Tory MP for Eastbourne, with the support of other back-benchers of the same party, tabled a motion expressing thankfullness that freedom of the individual still permits viewers to switch off, and also commends the government’s foresight which will soon allow alternative programs. The second performance of the play attracted the biggest ever television audience for a repeat presentation and this had an effect on attendances at picture thealres and other entertainments through- out the country. Biggest Swiss House Opened Lausanne, Dec. 14. The largest Swiss theatre, The- atre de Beaulieu, recently was completed here in Lausanne, sec ond-biggest city in French Switzer- land. House, which has a capacity of 1,900, is located in the building of the Comptoir Suisse, annual tradefair. Theatre has a balcony built es- pecially to secure excellent view- ing. Its stage is 46-by-29 feet, and Jap Takarazuka Troupe Set for Honolulu Da?es Honolulu, Dec. 14. Japan’s famed Takarazuka The- atre troupe will give 20 perform- ances in Honolulu next spring in connection with the Cherry Blos- som Festival, one of Hawaii’s three top wecklong fetes. Japanese Junior Chamber of Commerce here is underwriting the date,, with a $50,000 budget in- dicated for the revue, tentativt ly set for April 8-18. Takarazuka stages classical and semi-classical | in figypi, IJUI uttiuua oiuy uuti j me- -- Ivlp the war and marries an Egyptian ' it can be extended back as far as Japanese theatre, western-" l girL . p . 198 feet. * • * l operas, ballet and musical revuts.