Variety (April 1956)

4 PICTURES PHtiRlSfr Wednesday, April 18, 19 S6 EASTER WEEK DISAPPOINTING; RAISE CRY: ‘GOTTA RE-ENGINEER DISTRIBUTION’ 4- The shape of things to come for the picture business' is too chal¬ lenging for the crystal ball-gazers, they admit, but that some form of distribution overhaul is on the horizon is being regarded as a, pos¬ sibility more and more. Signifi¬ cant changes in exhibition are be¬ ing discussed, too. A major company v.p. this week made this observation: “Produc¬ tion has progressed almost con¬ stantly. But distribution hasn’t changed in 40 years. We still make 300 prints of a picture, send them through the Release mill the same way and the costs are mur¬ der. What this business needs is some fresh thinking in selling and merchandising our pictures. Maybe the way to do it is hire a dozen Ph. D.’s from Harvard and have them look lor a new scientific way of finding where the public is and getting our pictures to the right places at the right time. Business during Easter Week was under Holy Week around the country. When something like this happens, it’s time to change.” Other execs are * giving “unit selling” a conversational whirl. It’s through this approach that a separate staff is set up to work on a single picture, such as Para¬ mount plans with both “War and Peace” and “The Ten Command¬ ments.” 4-Wall Deals In the case of “Commandments,” four-wall deals are to be .made with theatremen. Under the super¬ vision of Charles Boasberg, Par in effect will take over an entire the¬ atre, handle all the promotion and pay the exhibitor his upkeep plus a percentage of the gross as profit. With this approach, it’s felt, sales and ad-pub personnel can give a film all the individual at¬ tention that a product costing in the millions deserves. Many in the business believd that some values of a picture are dissipated when it’s simply one of many be¬ ing sold by the same staff. There’s no thought among film officials that unit selling is to as¬ sume trend proportions in a short period. But it’s held conceivable in five years, by which time, some execs feel, economic pressures will force the industry to change its present practices. Traditionalists among the dis¬ tributors and exhibition generally will rebel at the idea, but the be¬ lief also has been a necessarily anonymous industry- ite of stature that longer runs in fewer theatre? are in the offing. How many houses wilL’constitute exhibition in the future? He fig¬ ures on 5.000. “This may make me sound ‘like a prophet of gloom but actually it’s not a gloomy future that I en¬ vision,” the man said. He made the point that exhibitors have No Sadism, Please British censorship regula¬ tions have forced producer Bert Friedlob to shoot two dif¬ ferent opening sequences for his current “Beyond a Reason¬ able Doubt,” for RKO release. For U. S. release, opening se¬ quence will show Dana An¬ drews and Sidney Blackmer watching the electrocution of a convicted murderer. Since Britain frowns on such scenes, director Fritz Lang is shooting a different opening in which the actors merely dis¬ cuss the execution. Arizona Nuisance Tax End Steps Up Film Prospects Phoenix, April 17. Buddy Adler, 20th Century-Fox executive producer, predicts a tremendous increase in film pro¬ duction. in Arizona, now that the state legislature has passed a measure exempting nonresidents from the withholding provisions of the state income tax law. The bill, passed last week (4), now awaits only the signature of Governor McFarland to make it law. The practice of withholding state income taxes of picture people, even though they worked in Ariz¬ ona only a day or two and the tax collected eventually was returned to them, has been a source of se¬ rious annoyance to film companies. According to Adler, his produc¬ tion chart on the recent 10-day shooting schedule here of “Bus Stop” revealed that no time was lost due to weather, the only per¬ fect weather report he has had on any picture made anywhere. Revise Schulberg Boxing Film Sell as Distaffers Stay Away in Packs “The Harder They Fall-,” Colum- , bia’s adaptation of the Budd Schul- expressed by j berg novel, is being given a cam¬ paign overhaul as the result of a reportedly spotty boxoffice recep¬ tion in about 10 situations. Film was given generally strong review’s, including Variety’s, but ads focusing on prizefighting ap¬ pear to have discouraged femme ticket-buyers. As a consequence a sw’itch will be made to emphasis on the racket angles. While “Fall” does deal with boxing, a criminal over-crowded the. nation with the-; element associated with that sport J * u " --—-forms the basis of the story. Imports Scarce, Chi Arts Use More U.S. Product Chicago, April 17. Scarcity of big b.o. art pix, traceable to industry problems in France and Italy, major sources of these films, has several local art and mixed, policy houses playing subsequent runs with the others atres and the competition among themselves is harder on them than television. Many houses will be dropped but the survivors will be stronger. This lies in with the intra-trade feeling that the public has too few pictures from which to select, this as the obvious result of multiple bookings. A sounder economy would evolve, it’s suggested, if the number of theatres were cut down and with each in a given area play¬ ing different films on a long-run i ■ ,, , , ... . . , , basis. There can be no question I cryil i? the blueS ™, h u? playing what but that potential ticket-buyers i r . • would see more pictures if they 0 Balaban) Cainegie, had more opportunity, time-wise Sux ? and Esquire have, for the All the customers can’t be lassoed ! past . several weeks, been playing if the merchandise is available for ! straigllt sub runs, reissues and only a couple of days : moveovers and doing rather well And the marathon runs in a = with them - The downtown World lesser number of theatres wouldn’t I Pla y house hasn’t had a big b.o. impair distribution rental but I winner since ^ Played “Aida,”' , over would cut down on the overhead a year ag0 - 0nly ha PPy bouse Or, so the theory goes. around is Richard Davis’ Ziegfeld _ ' Theatre, where “Diabolique” is r • 11 it i rp I sm ashing the house record and is rrizell Novel lo RK(L i n ™ in J ts J 7t £ week n | World Playhouse operator Abe nPml*P rllmiratimv Keitel. an artie pioneer, thinks that vlUIc I UUHLallOIl | the product shortage is partly at¬ tributable to strict local film cen¬ sorship which often keeps good b.o. product, proven in New York runs, out of Chicago. Another rea¬ son for weak product, he thinks, is Franco and Italo producers’ cur¬ rent filmaking policy which he thinks is “trying to please every¬ body,” and as a result not pleasing anyone. “Ten Days in August.” unpub¬ lished' novel by Bernard Frizell, has been bought by RKO for a re¬ ported $50,000. Book, to be brought out by Simon & Schuster later this month, Is about the resistance movement during the Nazi occupation of Paris. Harold Matson agented the deal. DIVIDES HIS GAUL BY 4 Harrison Remaps ZOth’s Sales Areas, Commanders Sales supervision setup of 20th- Fox has been revamped, wit'll new general sales manager Alex Har¬ rison creating four divisions con¬ trolling eight districts taking in the 33 U.S. and six „ Canadian branches. Division managers, some pro¬ moted from the ranks, will be re¬ sponsible directly -to Harrison, with Arthur Silverstone as assist¬ ant general sales manager. Realignment sees C. Glenn Nor¬ ris taking over supervision of the newly created division which in¬ cludes the Canadian, Central’ and Midwestern districts. Martin Moskowitz will supervise a newly formed Eastern division, taking in the Atlantic and North¬ eastern districts. Abe Dickstein, 20th branch manager in N. Y. since Feb. 5, 1951, has been upped to the Atlantic district managership. Alex M. Arnswalder succeeds Dickstein as 20th’s New York branch manager. Arnswalder had been Dickstein’s assistant. Four divisions are constituted as follows: Eastern, under Moskowitz, takes in two districts—Northeast and Atlantic; Oentral-Canadian, under Norris, takes in three dis¬ tricts—Canadian branches, iriid- west and central. Southern divi¬ sion, under Harry B. Ballance, comprises two districts — South¬ east and Southwest. Western divi¬ sion, under Herman Wobber, in¬ cludes west, with Reville Kniffin as assistant division manager su¬ pervising L.A., San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, Salt Lake City and Denver. ‘Plain & Fancy May Go to Col Deal is on the fire for Columbia to acquire the screen rights to “Plain and Fancy,” musical com¬ edy with book by Joseph Stein and Will Glickman, lyrics by Arnold B. Horwitt and music by Albert Hague. Other film companies showed in¬ terest in the legiter but agreement on price couldn’t be reached. Col now has the “in” to the extent that title of the play has been regis¬ tered by this outfit with the Mo¬ tion Picture Assn, of America. “P and F” ran slightly over a year at the Mark Hellinger-Thea¬ tre, on Broadway. A national com¬ pany worked a few months and the Broadway company is now on a limited tour. CROWN PROWLS EUROPE FOR CO-PROD. DEALS Alfred Crown, Allied Artists v.p., leaves on the Queen Elizabeth to¬ day (Wed.) to scout additional co¬ production deals in Europe and confab with the company’s execs in London and Paris. Sailing with him is Lee Katz, AA’s European exec production rep, who had been on the Coast for | studio talks. ‘Teaching* Comedy Hollywood, April 17. A school for comedy writers and performers has been opened here by Ron Carver,*a performer with vaude, nitery, tv and film antecedents. It’s a unique attempt to apply basic principles of teaching to the thorny problem of polishing comedy techniques. Curricu¬ lum consists of 'four courses: (1) techniques, (2) memory (sic) training, (3) comedians’ workshop and (4) writers’ workshop. Classes will be limited to 10 students each with Carver and tv writer Robert Marko shar¬ ing the instruction chores. Carver’s main textbook is Lupino Lane’s “How to Be a Comic,” which was described in Variety’s Golden Jubilee issue. Rock V Roll or Spring? Minneapolis, April 17. New theatre vandalism efut- break is being reported here concurrent with the present juvenile “rock ’n’ roll” craze. Whether there’s any connec¬ tion between the two is a mat¬ ter of local exhibitor specula¬ tion. / W. R. Frank says that in re¬ cent weeks there has been much slashing of seats. again. Number of other exhibitors have been encountering simi¬ lar vandalism, with teenagers becoming more unruly and dis¬ orderly again. There has been some damage to screens, too. RKO Nixes Space Rental Offer Of Allied Artists RKO has turned down a bid by Allied Artists for the former to lease studio space to the latter, Steve Broidy, AA president, dis¬ closed in New York last week. He revealed further that discussions had taken place concerning a shar¬ ing of distribution facilities over¬ seas but nothing came of this either. AA has limited offices outside the United States and the com¬ pany’s increasingly elaborate pro¬ duction plans mean stress and strain for sound stages. Space has been rented from other lots, In¬ cluding Samuel Goldwyn’s and Re¬ public’s, but the costs of these deals to AA -apparently is becom¬ ing a problem. • Some time ago a Coast realtor was to construct a large studio in the San Fernando Valley, with AA to have access to it. But Broidy is now doubtful that this will come about. The chief exec had a favorable report to offer on AAs’ money front. ^Domestic gross climbed to $8,663 T 000 for the 39 weeks ended March 31, whereas the entire pre¬ vious fiscal year brought total rev¬ enue from the U. S. market of only $8,615,000. Company is now facing “its brightest future,” stated Broidy. , AA has no “fixed policy” gov¬ erning the sale of (fated product to television; “time will-tell if it is advisable to sell more pictures to tv,” he commented. ACTORS GUILD MEMBERS 4,226-59 FOR PACT Hollywood, April 17. By one of the largest majorities in' its 23-year history, Screen Actors Guild has approved the new bargaining contract with major theatrical film producers. Vote was 4,226 to 59. Contract oalis for a five-day week for actors, raises minimum wage scales by more than 30%, with the first hike retroactive to last February 1 with a second raise in most categories effective Fob. 1, 1958, and contains other improvements in working condi¬ tions. N. Y. to Europe Fanny Btradshaw' Corinne Calvet A1 Capp J. J. Cohn Alfred Crown Paul Derval Milt Ebbins Billy Eckstine Gant Gaither Don Hartman Arthur Hornblow Jr. Shirley Jones Goddard Lieberson Stella Maret Andre Mertens Kim Novak Steve Previn Harry Saltzman Nat Shapiro N. Y. to L. A. Jane Froman Herb Golden Victor Jory Andre Kostelanetz Doreen Lang Jerry Pickman Helen Rose Sol C. Siegel Bill Silbert Berlin Festival, ‘A’-CIassed, Has 20 Acceptances Total of 20 countries, including the U. S., so far have promised to participate in the sixth inter¬ national film festival in (West i Ber¬ lin this year. Deadline for en¬ tering films is May 15. To date none of the Iron Curtain countries have indicated they’ll compete. Festival runs from June 22 through July 3. This is the first time the Berlin event will be run under the classification of an “A” festival, as determined by the In¬ ternational Federation of Film Pro¬ ducers Assns. Each feature filrti will be judged by an international jury of one rep each from the U. S., Britain, France, Italy and 1 Japan and two from Germany as the host eoun- ‘No Love Lost* Dept. From the 1956 Berlin film festival folder section detail¬ ing travel facilities: “When travelling to Berlin by train or car through the So¬ viet Zone of Germany, a tran-. sit visa will however be need¬ ed. Foreigners ... get the transit visa at the ‘Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ of the so- called German Democratic Republic (DD‘R).” ^ try. Apart from the * award of “Golden Bears” by the jury, the public this year again will be in¬ vited to vote on its favorite choice, and prizes will be handed out on that basis also. Fest will have a special showing of comedies from various countries under the motto “Humor of the Nations.” GERMANS RIBBON 'MARTY' Only U.S. Film To Cop a Bambi Award Frankfurt, April 17. Only Yankee film to win a Bambi award, German equivalent to the U. S. Oscar, was “Marty” (UA). Bambi awards are given annually by the film magazine “Filmrevue” after polling German film critics and fans. Pic was se¬ lected as the best foreign film shown in Germany during 1955. All other prizes, best actor and actress and best film, went to Ger¬ man pictures. “Himmel Ohne Sterne” (Heaven Without Stars) led the list of best films. L. A. to N. Y. Greg Bautzer Robert S. Benjamin Julie Bennett Jocelyn Brando Charles Braswell Vanessa Brown Merian C. Cooper Alfred E. Daff Howard Dietz Irving Greenfield Miriam Hopkins Katy Jurado Art Linkletter Arthur M. Loew - Kevin .McCarthy Benjamin Melniker Gene Martel Charles. C. Moskowitz William Nutt Joel Preston Charle? M. Reagan Tex Ritter Mickey Rooney Mike Rosen L. K. Sidney Spyros P. Skouras Lew Wasserman John Wayne Mae West James Whitmore Europe to N. Y. ' Jean-Louis Barrault Sonia Cortis Maurice Eisenberg Paul Gallico Brenda Lewis Robert Q. Lewis Oreste Munio Podhorzer Madeleine Renaud Roger L, Stevens