Variety (September 1956)

Vednegday, September 1956 P^iWrf MCfVlIKS n DAVY & DEBENTURES Disney Divvy: Fix, 55%; TV, 23% Television is climbing in the Walt Disney^scheme of things, Al¬ though he-segued into the operation only a couple of years ago, tv now is accounting for over 23% of the producer’s total gross revenue. , Disney’s. gross income for the nine months ended last June 30 1 is broken,down as follows: theatrical motion pictures, $11,340,660 (55.67% of total income); tv films, $4,747,304 (23,30% of .total; character merchandising, $1,843,415 (9.05%); publications, $910,- 469 (4.47%), and the Disney and Wonderful Music Companies, plus miscellaneous, $1,529,983 (7.51%).- .Total gross for the nine months: $20,371,831._ Writer a Patsy in H’wood But New Era Dawning, Sez Schulberg By HY HOLLINGER The Screen Writers Guild’s boast that a large number of its membership has become produc¬ ers and directors does'not impress Budd Schulberg. The Academy Award-winning scripter of “Water¬ front” cannot accept a situation whereby it is necessary for a writer to become a producer and/or di¬ rector in order to achieve recogni¬ tion in the film industry. A writer, be maintains, should be recognized for his writing ability. ' ^ It’s Schulberg’s contention that “the writer is treated worse in. Hollywood than the slaves before the Civil War.” He feels that as a result of the change that is now taking place in the film industry “the screenplay writer one of these days will bo treated with the same prestige as the writer for the the¬ atre.” He is sharply critical of writers “who aspire to get out of the high- priced slave category for the great¬ er accolade of becoming h pro¬ ducer or a director.” While ac¬ knowledging that their reasons might be prompted by a desire to maintain stricter artistic control of their properties, Schulberg de¬ clared: “I don’t think the aspira¬ tion to become a producer or di¬ rector provides the same sense oT integrity and control that a play- (Continued on page 18) 3-Way Mohr-tality Hollywood, Sept. 4. United Artists execs will have to decide how Gerald Mohr dies in “The Buckskin Lady.” Producer-director Carl K. Hittleman will shoot three dif¬ ferent endings for the film and su omit all three to UA for a decision. Each is a logical windup, he contends, but he and his associates can’t decide which has the most dramatic impact. There’s no reprieve for Mohr, it’s just a question of method. In one ending he commits suicide, in another he’s shot by Patricia Medina, the femme lead. In the third version, Richard Denning pulls the trigger. London, Sept. 4. The Rank Organization has de¬ cided to shutter about 40 theatres in the Odeon and Gaumont chains. They will be dark before the end of next month. In an official, statement last weekend Rank blamed the rate of admission duty for the decision. The theatres, all of which are in I Amman Ray Gpk Baalc the smaller category, have shown liCUllHUU, lutj UCl l/Calo | unsatisfactory trading results for a number of years because of the RKO Optioning Actors To Build Talent File; Hollywood, ‘ Sept. 4. In its continuing series of talent deals designed to give the studio a number of names with whom to make top product, RKO has op¬ tioned Columbia contractees Jack Lemmon and Aldo Ray for one pic¬ ture apiece.' Lemmon’s option ex¬ tends over a four-year period while Ray’s is for two years. Under the terms of the deal, Lemmon would work on a six-week guarantee at the then-current rate; $1,750 per week if the picture is made prior to July, 1957; $2,000 Weekly before July, 1958; $2,500 be¬ fore July, 1959, and $3,000 weekly prior to July, 1960. Ray’s deal is more complicated, with RKO to pay a pro rata share of compensation and bonuses paid by Columbia during the .contract year in which RKO starts the Ray picture; $600 per (i week prior to Aug. 26, 1957, and $700 per week during the ensuing year. RKO recently borrowed Cliff Robertson from Columbia for “The Girl Most Likely,” paying a flat $6,500, Rank (losing 40 Houses; Blame Tax SIDES OF STREET By GENE ARNEEL The wjraps are off the fiscal maneuvers of Walt Disney Produc¬ tions. The independent producer, who is unique in show business, plays both the television and the¬ atrical fields, one abetting the other, and comes out on top in both, plus such other enterprises as music publishing, the Disney¬ land amusement park and charac¬ ter merchandising. Details are contained in a prospectus anent Disney’s upcoming $7,500,000 de¬ benture issue with Kidder, Pea¬ body & Co. as the principal under¬ writer. Disney, as producer of the Dis¬ neyland and Mickey Mouse shows oh ABC-TV, receives all program compensation which the network collects from sponsors and with guaranteed minimums regardless of whether there’s a bankroller or not. For the nine months ended last June 30, the minimum guaran¬ tees amounted to $3,493,500. The program compensation in excess of that minimum brought an addi¬ tional $1,064,702 to Disney and for¬ eign coin brought the total tv in¬ come to $4,747,304. Disney’s costs for the same pe¬ riod ran to a total of $4,559,953, meaning a profit, on the surface, of $187,351. ‘Davy’s’ $1,675,082, Etc. » It’s at this point that the book¬ keeping is important. For, Dis¬ ney’s costs include the production of “Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier” which, as of June 30, had grossed $1,675,082 in the¬ atrical release. This goes into an¬ other Disney pocket. Video costs include, too, $474,198 for rights li¬ censed by Disneyland Inc. Disney (Continued on page 20) On Pic Assets Lost in Satellites MPEA’S MAAS TO ORIENT ON TROUBLESHOOTING Irving Maas, in charge of the Far East for the Motion Picture Export Assn., leaves N.Y. tomor¬ row (Thurs.) for an extended trip through his territories. He expects to be gone three months. Maas’ first stop will be in Manila where he will look into the critical Philippine situation for the com¬ panies. MPEA members are threat¬ ened there with just about every¬ thing, from quota to taxes. Maas also will go to Pakistan, where the film agreement has 3 expired and needs to be renegotiated, and to Burma, where the companies have suspended shipment of film for the moment. Before returning home, Maas also will spend time in Japan. He expects to stop in Indonesia to con¬ duct talks on the remittance of last year’s American film earnings. steep rise in operating costs and the high incidence of the entertain¬ ments duty. They continued opera¬ tion in the hope of some relief but as . that had not been forthcoming the closures were “a logical con¬ sequence.” The step,® said the official an¬ nouncement, was being taken with great reluctance and with a' full awareness of all the consequences, including the loss to local film- goers and the British film industry. In local trade circles it is con¬ sidered probable that other thea¬ tre chains will also be announcing (Continued on page 20) Aboaf to S. Africa Americo Aboaf, foreign sales manager for Universal, left N. Y. over the weekend for a trip to South Africa where he will study U’s position in the new 20th-Fox- operated distribution setup. Aboaf first went to Paris and then stops off in Turkey before going on to South Africa. He’ll be gone about three weeks. Arnall for Pronto Fix Sales to Reds Hollywood, Sept. 4. Immediate sale of pix behind the Iron Curtain will be recom¬ mended by Ellis Arnall, prexy of the Society of Independent Motion Picture Producers, when he meets with members tomorrow (Wed.), Arnall said he made the decision after huddles with Jack Lamont, rep of SIMPPs^ Independent Film Producers Export Corp., the State Dept, and discussions with mem¬ bers in the last few months. “I now feel the State Dept, would actually favor such activity by the industry” Arnall said. He also said that he examined the problems facing indie producers and con¬ cluded that ways must be found to make it possible for them “to get a better shake of the boxoffice dollar.” The best place to do this is the foreign market, which con¬ tinues to grow and is ready for more product,” he added. Having failed to collect for . losses sustained during the Ja¬ panese occupation of the Philip¬ pines, the American industry in¬ tends to file further claims with the Foreign Claims Settlement Commission in an effort to re¬ cover monies lost via the national¬ ization of industry in Hungary, Bulgaria and Roumania. Compensation claims also may be filed against Russia and Italy, but the chances of collecting any¬ thing in respect to these two coun¬ tries are considered extremely slim. The next Congress is expected to legislate in connection with war losses in Germany, but the ffilm companies were' out of the Reich by the time the war started and they would have a claim only in connection with losses suffered via the German occupation of Holland and other countries. Difficulty in all theSe cases, ac¬ cording to Herbert Erlanger of the Motion Picture Assn, of America, is the necessity of proving actual loss. This may be easy with oil companies or banks, but becomes a problem in connection with film since the only really tangible loss is in prints. However, the compa¬ nies maintain that their damages must be. gauged by the. losses in contracts and business, either dur¬ ing the war or due to nationaliza¬ tion. It was partly this inability t® (Continued on page 20) 20th’s Tender’Rush Job To Make Ha; on Presley Hollywood, Sept. 4. Twentieth-Fox will rush the cur¬ rently shooting “Love Me Tender” into release Nov. 1 to capitalize on the current teenage craze for Elvis Rresley. Rock ’n’ roll singer is* top- lined in the film, formerly titled ‘‘The Reno Brothers,” with Richard Egan and Debra Paget/ Shooting is expected to be com¬ pleted by the end of this month jnd the studio will rush through the post-production chores in less than four weeks. It will bq one of the few times that a major film has been pushed into release so soon after production. 65 Docs and Features, 100 Newsreels Completed By USIA’s Posts Overseas Washington, Sept. 4. U.S. Information Agency re¬ ported to Congress yesterday that its posts abroad completed some 65 documentary and feature films and more than 100 newsreel re¬ leases during the first half of 1956. Nine documentary films were pro¬ duced in the U.S. for worldwide use. On its sixth semi-annual report, the Agency said that, in addition, 15 motion pictures were acquired from private organizations for overseas use and some 12,000 copies of new language versions of other releases were sent abroad. Agency reported it now hhs nearly 1,000 films available for tv use abroad. USIA supplied more than 460 programs for telecasting by 150 stations in the free world, of which 34 were original productions, ac- 1 (Continued on page 15) National Boxoffice Survey B. O. Roars as Summer Ends; ‘Society’ 1st (or 4th Time; ‘Bus’ 2d, ‘Okla.’ 3d, ‘Seed’ 4th * The traditional closing of the summer season, marked by the three-day Labor Day weekend, again provided the nation’s film theatres a b.o. bonanza. Cloudy .and. rainy weather in the east lessened the trek to beaches and resorts and served to overcome the mass exo¬ dus of the more torrid regions of the country. This is the weekend the theatres needed badly and the fact that the results were so satis¬ factory provides the theatres with a neat cushion with which to face the uncertainties of the fall season. For the fourth successive week, “High Society” (M-G) captured top honors, rating from big to to mighty in keys covered by Variety* Moving into second spot as a result of a batch of new play- dates is the Marilyn Monroe star- rer, “Bus Stop” (20th), which is racking up rousing grosses in all situations where . playing. New openings keyed to the Labor Day weekend is moving the Todd-AO “Oklahoma!” (Magna), sixth last stanza, into the thir t d position. Sprouting up from the rear to push its way among the leaders in fourth spot is “Bad Seed” (WB), which gained momentum as it opened in additional spots, \ “Severf Wonders of the World/* the Cinerama entry, is holding strong although it dropped from third to fifth position this week, Biz continued great but other pic¬ tures soared ahead as result of having more outlets this session. “King and I,” (20th), in the deuce spot last w^ek, dropped to sixth as number of playdates in keys cov¬ ered by Variety diminished. Same factor caused “The Eddy Duchin Story” (Col) to finish seventh as against fifth the last round. Wind¬ ing up in the eighth spot is “Away All Boats” (U), which was fourth last stanza. “Burning Hills” (WB) and “Proud and Profane” (Par) round out the top 10. The runner-up pictures are “Somebody Up There Likes Me” (M-G), Bandido” (UA) and “Pillars of Sky” (U), “War and Peace” (Par), despite turnover difficulty due to over three-hour running time, is great in N. Y. and fine in L.A. “Solid Gold Cadillac” continues gilt- edged in L.A. “First Traveling Saleslady” (RKO) is so-so in Toronto. “Ambassador’s Daughter” (UA), nifty in N. Y., is great in Chi and good in Seattle. “Fastest Gun Alive,” sizzling in Boston, is nice in L.A. “Bandido” (UA) is okay in K.C. andd Frisco, strong in L.A., I good-in Denver, but so-so in Philly. “Pillars of Sky” (U) is so-so in ^Frisco and fair in Detroit. Grand Jury Raps Philly Theatres’ Indecent Pix/ Urges City Censorship Philadelphia, Sept. 4. Neighborhood theatres wert blasted as the chief offenders in the showing of indecent pictures by the August Grand Jury, which recommefided a city ordinance for the reestablishment of some kind of censorship board. The lack of censorship was seen ; a direct cause of the recent marked increase in juvenile de¬ linquency throughout Philadel¬ phia. “Our neighborhood theatres are showing some flagrantly indecent films,” the Grand Jury declared in the report landed down to Judge John Morgan Davis. “We plead with City Council to enact some legislation to control this situation.” “So-called comic books, when pursued carefully, are suggestive and obscene,” the report contin¬ ued. “The definite relationship between juvenile delinquency and indecent films and this sort of lit¬ erature has been established through painstaking efforts by a U.S. Senate subcommittee.” Some K. C, $1 Theatres Skirt Federal Excise Kansas City, Bept. 4. The customers 'Will get the di¬ rect benefits fn a few situations where picture house admissions have been at the $1 dollar scale. With advent of the new Federal tax regulations these spots are going to a 90c top, generally in- . eluding -the Paramount (United Par) and the Roxy (Durwood). Admission scales at some first- runs have stayed under that brack¬ et, Fox Midwest operating its first- run combo of four theatres on a 65c matinee and 85c night scale. This has been broached for in¬ creases a time '.or two, as in the repent -case of “The King and I,” but general policy is to stick rig¬ idly to the 65-85 scale. Art filmers have generally- worked on a 75c student rate and $1 regular admission, and this be¬ comes 90c in the new Setting, Lowest rate in town is usually at Loew’s Midland where ’a 60c-80c scale is considered regular. This one takes a flight to higher admis¬ sions at times, as it did for “High Society,” and this again ism^ely to be 90c under the new ruling.