Variety (September 1956)

'PICTURES PSZa&rf Wednesday, September 5, 1956 Balaban Raps ‘Organized’ Exhibs, Spurns All-industry Conference Barney Balaban, president of* 1 Paramount, this week accused •‘many exhibitors” of hot under¬ standing the economic facts of life as they apply to exhibition, pro¬ duction and distribution. The exec also stated stated flatly that Par •would not participate in any dis- trib-exhib conference seeking a so¬ lution to trade problems. Balaban made his attitude l&iown In a letter to Ruben Shor, Allied States president, who had request^ ed “the holding of a top level con¬ ference to discuss industry prob¬ lems. and, especially, ways and means of stabilizing the business on a permanent and prosperous basis.” 'As for the economics, the Par chief exec said his company is spending greater amounts of money than ever before for the produc¬ tion and promotion of pictures. He said the company’s rentals are “fair and reasonable” and added: “In thousands of instances, as we pointed out in the hearings before the Select Committee of the Sen¬ ate, we are charging for our great¬ est pictures exceedingly low film rentals which are little above, and even below,* the cost of physical handling.” Balaban‘implied that theatremen refuse to recognize this state of affairs, and, speaking generally blasted the policies of organized exhibition. “If you will study the record over the years fairly and note the chaotic results to all branches of the industry of the programs fos¬ tered by exhibitor leadership which was hot statesmanlike enough - to view the industry as a whole, you will agree, I am sure, that a dif¬ ferent and more constructive ap¬ proach is indeed dVerdue.” Although he declined to go Into the specifics, Balaban’s blast at (Continued on page 15) Film Companies Reason Theatres Are Better Than Projection Rooms for Chi Film companies are revising their policies on picture screenings for the critics. Private showings are being ruled out on the theory that the right effect cannot be achieved in a “cold” projection room. In cases of comedies and musi¬ cals, particularly, the distributors want the press appraisers seated among the public in theatres. Be¬ lief is that the reaction of the non¬ pros—applause for a production number or a song and laughs when there’s comedy business on the icreen—will rub off on the scribes. Also a part of. the new policy are the showings of “epics” which, It’s felt, don't show up adequately on the limited-size screens in hofneoffice altid exchange projec¬ tion rooms. With only a eouple of exceptions, . Paramount insisted that the critics catch. “War and Peace” in theatres. Metro has the notion that ‘‘High (Continued on page 15) Fabian TOA Keynoter S. H. (Si) Fabian, president of Stanley Warner Corp., has been named keynote speaker of the Theatre Owners of America’s an¬ nual convention. The confab will be held at the N.Y. Coliseum Sept. 20-24. Fabian, a longtime TOA leader, is presently treasurer of the ex¬ hibitor organization. He will de¬ liver. his address at the opening session on Thursday, Sdpt. 20. Spate of Foreign Film Fairs in U.S. Foreign penchant for film festi¬ vals is being extended to the U.S. in the form of “film weeks” by overseas producers seeking to pro¬ mote their pix. With the exception of Britain, all of the major film producing countries are currently mulling such weeks or have already ar¬ ranged them. Pacer is the film fair that’ll precede the Theatre Owners of America annual con¬ vention in New York this month and at'‘which six imports will be screened for exhibs! In addition, Munio Podhorzer, prez of United German Film En¬ terprises, has discussed the possi¬ bility of a German film week next spring both with exhibs in N. Y. and also with German government reps in • Washington who are said to be very interested. Japanese “film fair,” featuring five Japanese imports, is now skedded for the Museum of Mod¬ ern Art Oct. 21-25 under the spon¬ sorship of the Japanese Ambassa¬ dor. Plan is to send a delegation of the Japanese industry to attend the event and to grab off maxi¬ mum publicity for the films. The Italians are having a week of Italo pix in San Francisco (they had a similar week in New York some years back) and Joseph Mat- ernati of the French Film Office is discussing an extended showing of French “classics,” also at the Museum of Modern Art. French films would be a loan from the counterpart to the Museum in Paris and would be run in the spring. Purpose of most of these film weeks is to draw attention to the new overseas product in the offing. With the exception of the San Francisco fest, all these weeks fea- (Continued on page 20) Fox West Coast 0.0/s Cartbay, Putting Rite Into Legit Instead Hollywood, Sept. 4. Fox West Coast Theatres has begun a study of the physical setup of the 1,518-seat Carthay Circle Theatre as a prelude to taking it back and operating it for showcase films. House would be completely refurbished and equipped to handle all widescreen processes, includ¬ ing Todd-AO and the chain’s new process,* CineMiracle. Carthay has housed legit attract tions for the last 16 months, after a long period of darkness, and re¬ turned some $50,000 in rentals to the circuit. Present tenants are the nonprofit Artists Embassy which has been offered another FWC house, the 1,316-seat Ritz, in place of the Carthay. Ritz, now showing firstrun films, has ade¬ quate stage facilities and the more advantageous Wilshire Blvd. •loca¬ tion. Decision is expected within the next week. Carthay currently is housing “The Little Hut,” which opens tonight (Tues.) as the final offering of the current legit season. NEW CROUP EYEING YATES’ REP STOCK Hollywood, Sept. 4. Beverly Hills investment firm of Cantor, Fitzgerald & Co., Inc., turns back its option to purchase controlling interest of Republic to¬ day (Tues.) after having been turned down on an offer to buy at $2 under the option price. As origi¬ nally tendered, the Option called for a purchase of Herbert J. Yates’ 600,000 shares at $12.50 per share. After completing an audit of the books, %e firm offered Yates :: New York Sound Track Jacques Flaud of French Centre National de la Clnematografie has changed his plans and won’t come to N.Y. for the TOA foreign film fair. Instead, Flaud expects to be here in the spring for the launch¬ ing of a French film classics series at the Museum of Modern Art. . , John Buffalo coming on to Washington to be Eric Johnston’s exec sec¬ retary. He replaces Merrie Smith who resigned to get married. Ruf- fato worked for Johnston on the Coast . . . Importer-distrib Bon Getz back from a European jaunt . . . Americo Aboaf, TJniversal’s foreign topper, will meet with A1 Bail and his new wife in Constantinople before going to South Africa . . . The Turks have submitted another proposal for. monthly payments to the MPEA. Said one company exec: “I’ll believe them when I see the money” . . . Woman complaining on entering a crowded Metro screening room last week: “There ought to be a seat. My daughter is a television actress!” Nick Justin, m.d. of the Rivoli Theatre, back from a Coast vacash preparatory to winding up “Oklahoma!” and unveiling another in Todd-AO, Mike Todd’s “Around The World In 80 Days” . . . Bistro bonifaces starting to worry what that deluxe film product released on all local networks for the not-too-Late Shows will do to their saloon business; they envision early get-home hours in order to catch up with some of that major product on tv. Mony Dalmes, of the Comedie Francaise, and wife of Waldorf- Astoria veepee Claude C. Philippe, is dubbing the dialog and voice of Deborah Kerr in the French soundtrack of 20th’s “King and I.” Metro trade contact William Ornstein, who recently vacationed west sold a travel piece to the Herald Tribune, a Las Vegas roundup to the Hartford Times and two interviews on Lawrence Welk to tv fan mags . . . Columbia will finance and distribute “Cunning and the Haunted,” first indie film to be produced by Philip Waxman, formerly associate producer on the Col lot. He and director Alfred Werker are in town casting. DuPont’s Bill Holm back from the Coast where he demonstrated for the Motion Picture Research Council DuPont’s new splicing method that requires ho cement and is almost instantaneous. DuPont’s upcom¬ ing Kronar safety stock requires this kind of splicing since it can’t use cement. Cosmopolitan’s daily ads to ram across the message that seven film companies had Insertions in its August issue and the week of Aug. 22 was one of “Booming movie biz.” Hearst monthly footnotes that $2,842,200 was the estimated gross in 21 key cities during that week. For another footnote, not in the Cosmo ad, the gross figures were taken from Variety, with no credit given. Also, as pointed out by Variety, that gross was registered by 217 theatres and not in all houses in the keys. Walt Disney’s inventory amounts to nearly $20,000,000 . . . Bruce Odium raised all his own capital for “Flamenco,” which he’s now pro¬ ducing in Spain for Paramount release . . . Metro’s sleeper of the year: “Fastest Gun Alive . . . MOnovale Productions Inc. is the owner of Norman Krasna’s “The Ambasador’s Daughter” (UA), a corporate Drive in Beverly Hills where K e r share «■» *■*»■1 Monova,e Meanwhile another local syndi¬ cate is preparing to renew its offer to purchase Yates* stock. Group originally suggested a $10 price, which Yates rejected. However, he is understood to have informed them he is willing to accept $12 per share. The $10.50 offer rejected by Yates would have meant $6,300,000 for his shares in the firm. In reporting its decision to turn back the option, Cantor, Fitzgerald said it had established “friendly” relations with Yates and would maintain its present major interest in the valley lot via holding more than $1,000,000 worth of Republic Pictures 4% debentures which are due June 30, 1965. Firm added that it is optimistic about the appreciation possibilities of theatrical and television stocks and is seeking other investment opportunities in show biz. WILDE REBUTS KAZAN ON STARS’B O. POWER Hollywood, Sept. 4. The Hollywood star system is far from dead, even though Elia Kazan has called for a wake, Cor¬ nel Wilde, contends. The proof, he said, lies in any analysis of box-»| office returns for the last year. “The best proof of all,” Wilde declared in answer to Kazan’s com¬ ments last week that the star sys¬ tem is all washed up, “Is in the returns of ‘Marty/ Despite the fact that it was a fine picture and despite the fact that it received an excellent campaign, it wound up around 57th in the list of the- top grossers of the year. I’m posi¬ tive that the same picture, with the addition of one top name that (Continued on page 18) Sinatra Saga: ‘Poison to Profits’ TO CAN BUY IT NOW,’ TOA’S FILM FAIR TAG , Theatre Owners of America wants it understood that it’s run¬ ning a film fair and not a festival In connection with its annual con¬ vention Sept. 20-24 in New York. * .Purpose of the fair, a TOA spokes¬ man said, is to show exhibitors for¬ eign films that will be ready for re¬ lease shortly and that they can book in their theatres. He pointed out that it would be similar to a merchandise fair at which poten¬ tial buyers can examine the prod¬ uct and then buy. There has been some misunder¬ standing regarding the TOA event. Foreign producers from as far as the Philippines and China have been requesting that their films be shown. However, TOA has stated that no pix would be unveiled which are not in the hands of a distributor and ready for immedi¬ ate release. It’s stressed that' no prizes will be awarded and that the only purpose of the fair is to unveil the films to potential cus¬ tomers. What was yesterday’s “boxoffice poison’ 1, can very well be tomor¬ row’s “boxoffice cure.” This has been proved several times in the past. One of the most notable ex¬ amples 'was Joan > Crawford, who made exhibitor Harry Brandt eat his words in the early ’40s. Now, after 20 years of riding the hills and dales of public favor, Frank Sinatra is making nearly every phase of show business eat its prognostications that he was “through.” On the basis of box- office draw and the type of deals he is now getting, the swoon-croon¬ er-turned-actor is undoubtedly now up near the top of top sta'rs. He is also a man of many corpora¬ tions, each reaping profits over and above his salary and .each avail¬ able for eventual sale on a hefty capital gain basis. Two weeks ago he personaled at the Paramount, N. Y., with his own independently produced (Kent Pro¬ ductions) film, “Johnny Concho” (UA), and grossed $147,000. Four years before, when he was just about hitting the lowest bottom of his career, Sinatra personaled at the same house with “Meet Danny Wilson” (UI), in which he starred, and the first week’s total take was $64,000, and in ’52 boxoffice generally was better than it is to¬ day. Between his skidding boxoffice situation and his stormy personal life at that time, Sinatra was hardly members of the press were like¬ wise taking slugs at him, but the crowning blow of all was when his agent, Music Corp. of America, “fired” him. MCA had represented him ever since he turned “single’’; in fact, the agency had loaned Sinatra the $63,000 he needed to buy back his contract with band¬ leader Tommy Dorsey. Not only was the N. Y. Para¬ mount in ’52 his low point as a theatre personality, but “Danny Wilson” also presumably repre¬ sented his finish in pictures. He got $75,000 salary for starring in the film, but after its release and poor b.o. record, Sinatra was “poi : son” in Hollywood. -No studio wanted him, at any price, and then, a year later, Abe Lastfogel, Wil¬ liam Morris Agency head, persuad¬ ed Harry Cohn, Columbia Picture prexy, and Fred Zinnemann, di¬ rector of “From Here to Eternity,” to spot Sinatra in what proved to be an Academy Award-winning role. Sinatra took the part for a total salary of $10,000. For his last two'pictures, “High Society” at Metro and the recently completed “Pride and Passion’ (Stanley Kramer-UA), Sinatra got $250,000 in salary. But perhaps his most promising film, deal to-date is the upcoming “Pal Joey” at Colum¬ bia, where he last worked - for $ 10 , 000 . Although. Columbia owns “Pal Joey,” the film will be produced by another of Sinatra’s companies, Essex Productions which also “pro¬ in an enviable position. Several | duced” the soundtrack record al¬ bum from “Society,” released by Capitol. Sinatra will get $125,000 salary and Essex will own 25% of the picture besides. Plus this, Sinatra gets Rita Hayworth, at $150,000 straight salary, and Kim Novak, charged to the film at $50,- 000 salary, as costars. George Sid¬ ney, who gets a percentage of the film .through Columbia, will direct “Joey” and his salary is in at $125,000. “Pal Joey,” incidentally, will wind up Miss Hayworth’s contract relationship with Columbia. In the settlement of the recent Columbia- Hayworth court action, she agreed to do two more films for the com¬ pany at $150,000 each. She was loaned by Columbia to Broccoli-Al¬ ien’s Warwick Productions for “Fire Down Below” as the first film under the settlement deal. Prior to “Joey,” Sinatra does “The Joker is Wild,” film biog of Joe ,E. Lewis, for Paramount re¬ lease. This film will also be made by one of Sinatra’s corporations, this time Bristol Productions, and at the same terms as the “Pal Joey” deal, I.e., $125,000 salary and 25% ownership. “Joker,” in fact, will involve two other cor¬ porations besides Paramount—di¬ rector Charles Vidor’s and writer Art Cohn’s—with Lewis also in¬ volved in the venture, but not as a corporation. Lewis is getting $60,000 in cash and 12^% of the profits, with payments to he spread over a period of It) years. On the side, Sinatra is also co¬ manager of fighter Cisco Andrade. L.A. to N.Y. Rupert Allen Lou Blau Dorothy Collins John Craig William Dozier Don Gordon John Howard Arthur P. Jacobs Anne Jeffreys Nick Justin Howard Keel Dorothy Lohman Ray Milland Walter Mirisch Helen Morgan Joseph H. Moskowitz Barbara Nichols Marisa Pavan John Raitt Spyros P. Skouras Raymond Scott Nita Talbot Mike Todd Raoul Walsh Richard Widmark, Max E. Youngstein N.Y to L.A. Val Arms Kaye Ballard Kermit Bloomgarden Himan Brown Joe De Santis Roger H. Lewis. George W. Meyer Robert Radnitz William Saal Evelyn Varden Herbert J. Yatetf N.Y. to Europe Paul Cunningham Barry Gray Harold L. Hackett Ray Harryhousen William Hopper Dennis O’Keefe Herman Rush Charles Schnee --Irving Strouse - - Europe to N.Y. Americo Aboaf June Alyson Anthony Bartley John Boulting Mark Goodson Radie Harris F. Hugh Herbert William Douglas-Home Deborah Kerr Eartha Kitt Goddard Lieberson Joyce Mathews • David Merrick Ezio Pinza Emmett Rogers Billy Rose Rita St John Syd Silverman Walton & O’Rourke