Variety (August 1956)

2 MISCELLANY PftRIETY ‘Our Films Permeated With Love For the Ordinary Man/ Says USSR Spokesman at Czech Festival By GENE MOSKOWITZ Karlovy Vary, July 31. East Europe plays its film fes¬ tivals straight; the Karlovy Vary outing had the spotlight only on pictures with none of the social diversions, such as visits, by flashy stars of Hollywood, Rome or Paris, that are typical of the western fests. No celebrities, no political frictions, just films. And the lat¬ ter mostly were of light interest, meaning a dull time was had by all. It was the first Karlovy Vary Festival with Western coverage ‘Reincarnation' Can’t Last, So Liberace Does a Switch Hollywood, July 31. On theory that the reincarnation fad will be dead by January, Lib¬ erace is dropping his “Bridey Murphy” revue, “Come as You Were,” which was planned for opening on Broadway that month. Instead he will do “An Evening With Liberace,” showcasing pian- , _ , , * w , ,, - . ist and his brother George and or- and the Babel of Ungos left many, chestra for a , imited engagement statements subject to confused in- . iw™ is r ., a |„ in „ fnr terpretations. Herewith a few quotes jotted down at random— “We went to make humorous films without them being comedies in the very sense of the word. . . . That Eastern German film showed the war was won only by the Rus¬ sians. It should not have been called Ernst Thallmann but ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’. , . . You stay here and I’ll Go to Amer¬ ica. That is the only way I’ll ever get a car.” And some notes— Liberace is retaining “Come” for his return in October to the Riviera, Las Vegas, where unit broke in. Olga Tschechowa, Vet German Pix Star, Rons OK Cosmetic Biz at 60 Munich, July 24. What to do when youth and ca- At a visit to a local glassworks ; reer are waning? An answer has the visitors were given little glass pigs. One guide innocently re¬ marked that a year ago the me¬ mento would have been an image of Stalin. . . . Igor Rachuk. head of the Soviet Delegation, in his speech before the screening of the first Russo pic said, "I do not wish to speak now of Soviet films which you will see at the festival. They will speak for themselves. All I want to say is that all our films are guided by one idea, fully in keep¬ ing with the festival motto; they are permeated with fove for the ordinary man, with our striving for noble relations among the peo¬ ples, which will guarantee lasting friendship between nations.” Karlovy Vary was a famous in- (Continued on page 16) NATKE’s Tom O’Brien Influences BBC-TV Canceling Gridcasts London, July 31. Appeals from Sir Tom O’Brien, MP, general secretary of the Na¬ tional Association of Theatrical & Kine Employees, British Actors’ Equity and the British Variety Artists’ Federation urging the Foot¬ ball League to call off proposals to network football matches for Sat¬ urday night tv, influenced the de¬ cision to postpone the matter in¬ definitely. An offer of $280,000 from the commercial network was rejected along with a BBC-TV bid of $160,000. Sir Tom had stressed that, be¬ sides dealing a lethal blow to many provincial theatres, the network- ing of Saturday night games could ultimately lead to a complete breakdown of British film produc¬ tion. been found by Olga Tschechowa, reigning queCn of the German film industry for some 20 years, circa 1925-45. Parallel with her pic career, Miss Tschechowa took up the science of cosmetics in Germany. After the war, she took advantage of a legit engagement in Paris to con¬ tinue biology studies at the Uni¬ versity of Paris. Two years ago, she opened a chic salon in Munich and started manufacturing beauty creams, with her name and fame as chief prdmotional plus. The biz is doing fine. Miss Tschechowa, now approach¬ ing her 60th birthday, became a star in Germany in the mid-20s. She has 178 films to her credit, mainly starring roles, under direc¬ tors like Rene Clair and Willi Forst. Though her film activities have declined from the pre-war rate of five a year, she still makes an oc¬ casional flick; Next screen- assign¬ ment will be In the fall, together with daughter Ada and grand¬ daughter, Vera, now 16. Reported Hilton Eyeing The Breakers, Palm Bch. Palm Beach, July 31. Reported that Conrad N. Hilton is negotiating to take over the snooty and historic old Breakers Hotel, through whose portals only an aged, “restricted” clientele is permitted to pass. Under Hilton operation, the Breakers would break all barriers. Just the reverse is expected to happen to the luxury Boca Raton Hotel, near here. Since the Schines sold out to Arthur Vining Davis it is expected that Boca Raton, winter home of many New York film moguls, will now become a re- stricted private “club.”_ PfiRJETY Subscription Order Worm Enclosed find check for $ Please send VARIETY for £“ 0 \ e ^ s To . . Street City. . (Please Print Name) Zone.... State. Regular Subscription Rates One Year—$10.00 Two Years—$18.00 Canada and Foreign—$1 Additional Per Year J/SRIETY Inc. 154 West 44th Street New York 34. N. Y. Wednesday, August 1, 1956 Republic Screen-Crediting Veit Harlan, Maker of Notorious 'Jew Suess’ Film --— + Ellen Terry Memorial London, July 31. A lineup of topflight legit st(irs on Sunday (22) commemorated the first' stage appearance 100 years ago of Ellen Terry, who died in 1928. Tl^e event, put on by the Ellen Terry Fellowship, comprised a bi¬ ography in dramatic' form with ex¬ tracts from some of the plays she acted in, and was staged at her former home in Kent. Sir Lewis Casson, Sybil Thorn- die, Margaret Johnston, Peggy Ash- crof', Irene Worth, Emlyn Williams and Sir John Gielgud (Miss Terry’s, great nephew) were among those who took part; Clemence Dane scripted the proceedings. Show People On The Andrea Doria A batch • of show people and other notables were involved in the collision of the Italian luxury liner. Andrea Doria and the S.S. Stockholm of the Swedish Line last Wednesday (25) night. Camille M. Cianfarra, N. Y. Times Madrid correspondent who was on his way home aboard the Andrea Doria, and his eight-year old daughter, Joan, were killed im¬ mediately. Mrs. Cianfarra, the former wife of the American Broadcasting Co.’s Washington cor¬ respondent Edward P. Morgan, was seriously injured and Mor¬ gan's 14-year old daughter, Linda, adopted by Cianfarra, was less seriously hurt. Her escape was termed a “miracle” by many. Morgan, having been told that his daughter Linda .was killed, did a report on the collision the same night for the network. Though he spoke of the “dead girl,” he didn’t mention that she was his daughter. The “miracle” ending resulted when Linda who was in the same cabin which her stepfather, N. Y. Times correspondent Camille Cian- fara was killed, was found on the Stockholm immediately after the crash—and before any life boats had passed between the two ships. Authorities believe that one of two things happened: the violent col¬ lision catapulted her out of her bed aboard the Doria to the for¬ ward deck of the Stockholm, or else the Swedish liner’s smashed bow scooped her to safety as it withdrew after the crash. Juve suffered a broken collarbone and bruised legs, but will reportedly make a full recovery. Ballet dancers, Istvan Rabovsky and his wife, Nora Kovack, who recently escaped from Hungary, were close to the spot where the Doria was rammed, but they es¬ caped to safety in their under¬ clothes. Ruth Roman, on her way back (Continued on page 63) Fewer Features Fret Mexicans Mexico City, July 31. Mexican producers’ accent on more quality and fewer pictures has the unions worried. Joblessness so far this year is a matter of concern to the Picture Production Workers Union (STPC) whose officials have been huddling with the Banco Nacional Cinema- tografico in an effort to force up the level of production. According to union, it now has only 13 units—with a crew of 20 each—at work. However, produc¬ ers aren’t worried. They say it pays for them to take 162 weeks to make 40 pictures this year as against the 129 weeks it took to produce the same number of films in 1955. French Nudes Is Bad News for Choristers -Newcastle, July 31. Choristers in “The French Re¬ vue” here received anonymous let¬ ters threatening “death” if they appeared in the nude at the Opera House, Belfast, during week of July 30. Letters, all typewritten,' bore Belfast, Northern Ireland, postmarks. Police are treating them fairly seriously. Slim Ingram, manager of the show, said: “I know this looks like a publicity stunt. Believe me, it isn’t.” The threatening letters included such phrases as “Even a corpse wears a shroud in a coffin” and “If you want to be a martyr, take off your clothes and die.” Threat of death was by shooting. Metro’s ‘Dance’ Plus 3 Other Yank Pix Slated For Edinburgh Festival London, July 31. “Invitation to the Dance,” made by Metro in Britain, which cap¬ tured the top award as an Amer¬ ican entry at the recent Berlin Film fest, has been accepted for showing at the coming Edinburgh Film fest, under the British ban¬ ner. Three U.S. productions are included in the first issued list of selections: “The Brave One” (RKO), “The King and I” (20th- Fox), and “On The Bowery” (orig¬ inally titled “Skid Row”), (AA). Also chosen were “Reach for the Sky,” “A Hill in Korea” and “Seven Years in Tibet” (British); "Les Assassins du Dimanche,” “Marguerite de la Nuit” and “Les Mauvaises Rencontres” (French); "The Rumyantsev Case” (Russia); “Oedipus Rex” (Canada) and "Der Richter von Zalamea” (East Ger¬ many). Other entries from these coun¬ tries are being reviewed by the Festival Advisory Committee which will issue further lists at intervals. Arrangements have been made to present “Reach for the Sky” in connection with a special series of performances to celebrate the 21st anniversary of the Rank organiza¬ tion. Billy Rose Talks Talent Exchange With Russians Billy Rose, after a week’s nego¬ tiating in Moscow with the Russian government, has got the Reds to agree in principle to an exchange of talent between the two nations. Impresario, who acted on his own, will try to clear with the U.S. gov¬ ernment on the barter of talent; in time to get showcasings open in both countries by New Year’s. Rose, seeking the Bolshoi Ballet, Obraztzov’s Puppet Show and the Soviet Army Ensemble of 200 voices (who have appeared in Lon¬ don-), has the interest of ABC-TV in doing a video show. Plans, con¬ cluded in Moscow this week, blue¬ print an exchange of four com¬ panies to play six cities in the re¬ spective countries. He will try to line up Marian Anderson, Vladmir Horowitz, Louis Armstrong, perhaps Emmett Kelly and a “copple of dozen American beauties.” He suggested other names, including Ann Miller, Ray Bolger, Benny Goodman and Tom¬ my and Jimmy Dorsey. Soviet agreed on tv perform¬ ance for its stars if it proves “necessary for economic reasons.” Political past of foreign filmmak¬ ers may worry the public in' u 1e countries concerned, but it doesn’t necessarily concern the American distributors. Republic has in release a fii m called “Circus Girl,” a combination of two Germain pictures made by Veit Harlan, who gets directing credits on the screen. The duo— “Stars Over Colombo” and. “The Prisoner of the Maharaja”—was released in Germany by the Gloria. Harlan is the man who made the infamous and viciously anti-Semitic “Jew Suess” for Hitler’s propa¬ ganda chief, Josef Goebbels. Film, a distortion of a Lionel Feiirlv- wanger novel, served to inflame racial hatred in Germany and other countries. Following the war, there were riots in various cities in Germany when Harlan pictures were re¬ leased. Sentiment has now died down somewhat. Nevertheless, a prominent Ger¬ man producer recently ditched Ernst von Solomon as a script¬ writer on the upcoming film. “On Order of Canaris,” fearing Solo¬ mon’s past record, Solomon was a good Nazi and after the war wrote “Der . Fragebogen,” iThe Questionnaire) which had a strong¬ ly anti-American bias. Republic has another German picture with a director who has openly avowed his Nazi leanings.'' It is “The Congress Dances,” lensed by Franz Ante], an Austrian active in both local and German production. Ante! recently pro¬ claimed (Variety, July 18, p. 2) in a Vienna bar that he was "an old Nazi and proud of it.” He, too, was charged with making anti- Semitic remarks. As a result, there was a move to bar him from work in Germany. Harlan’s first film since the war was “The Undying Beloved,” made in 1951. It died. In 1954, he de¬ stroyed—in the presence of a no¬ tary—one of the two existing nega¬ tives of “Jew Suess.” The other is held by the U». S. Government in Washington. Even as he burned the film, Harlan said he had many offers, including one from Egypt, for the footage. Hilton Looks Hot For New Hotel in Frisco; Means 2 New Legits? San Francisco, July 31. Conrad Hilton’s plan to build a 1.200-room hotel in Frisco, in the talk stage for many months, ap¬ pears on the verge of jelling. It would, as one result, give the Bay City a pair of new^ theatres to re¬ place the 30-year-old Currart and Geary. Main wheel in the project, aside from Hilton, is • financier Louis Lurie, who owns the Curran and leases the Geary. He has" insisted all along that there can be no deal for his prop¬ erty unless Hilton replaces the two theatres. Ordinarily, Hilton might be tempted to look elsewhere for a location, but it’s known that: He wants a flat piece of land close to the heart of the downtown sector of Union Square; Contractor Robert Cahill, who owns a 99-year lease on the Geary’s land (Lurie sub-leases from him) and-owns the building next door, is eager to sell to Hilton, because it will help the business of his ad¬ jacent nine-story garage, and, Cahill and Lurie will presum¬ ably give Hilton better terms than anyone else in Frisco. . The land included in the Hilton deal would result in demolition of both theatres. It is the same site on which Matson Navigation Co. held an option last winter. The ship- continued on page 16) Dean Martin’s London Palladium Negotiation London, July 31. Dean Martin has been in com¬ munication with London Palladium impresario Val Parnell concerning stage dates in Britain as a solo at¬ traction, sans Jerry Lewis. Martin clicked here with his re¬ cent record “Memories Are Made of This,” and is anxious to play the Palladium .and provincial music halls. Pix Stars ‘Suckered’ Into TV? Hollywood, July 31. Screen Producers Guild roundtable on television brought out these comments: Stars were being “suckered” Into deais for telefilm series which were cutting the throat of the film industry, and of the stars, too. Television was a promising, but just another, source of literary supply but tv scripts are deceptive and must be carefully translated into theatre screen terms of impact. Agents use talent as pawns, shifting them from screen to video. But established boxoffice figures should stick with their home team and have no truck with the broadcasters.