Variety (December 1956)

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10 PICTURES P'XfzlE’Fr More B&WPk Than Tinters in 1>6; Hollywood may be going in for 4 more colorful subjects, but the number of tint features continues to drop. This year, for the first time in a long time, black-and- whites actually outnumber the color releases. Best available index is the total of feature films okayed by the Pro¬ duction Code Administration dur¬ ing 1956. As of early November, with 269 seals issued, 153 of the pix were in black-and-white and 116 were tinters. By comparison, with 305 seals issued for the full year_ of 1955, 151 were black-and-wlntes arid 154 were in color. In other words, the color content hasL.slipped from 51% in 1955 to 43% in 1956. Non-Fitting’ Doormen A theatre-man joints out in line with the"'V ariety' stories on house operations, and al¬ leged shortcomings, that in certain cities the elderly men, who are mostly in* the door¬ man and ticker-taker' jobs, are not permitted to sit down. It is pointed up that Loew’s and RKO theatres provide tall stools for the doormen but that the Paramount policy is pot to permit sitting-down.’ Coast Girilds Drop is attributed to two factors: one is the desire to effect econo-, mies and the other relates to a realization that some subjects are actually. more effective in mono¬ chrome .than in color. Top direc¬ tors, like Elia Kazan, have long maintained that the wholesale swing to color has its artistic draw¬ backs ahd that color for color’s sake alope doesn’t necessarily pro¬ vide added value for a film. Kazan, who did one tinter— “East of Eden”—said last week he had yet to find a drama filmed in color where the tinting didn’t soften the impact of the story. He deplored the “artificial” coloring so often adopted by Hollywood and said he wouldn’t mind making a tinter provided he could attain the proper, muted hues. 20th-Fox, which for a time in¬ sisted that all of its CinemaScopers be in color, has now adopted a flex¬ ible policy and, like other studios, is turning out black-and-white C’Scope pix. Cost of prints, par¬ ticularly on the long color films like “Giant,” has taken op increas¬ ing importance and figures as an important item in adding up costs. Widening Gauge Of Film Oka; With Allied Allied States Assn, greeted fa¬ vorably the future potential of large gauge film. Metro’s upcom¬ ing 65m film was enthusiastically hailed by the exhib organization’s equipment standardization commit-, tee. In a report submitted by Hugh McLachlan, head of the committee, M-G’s 65m system was described as “an Allied type of exhibitor’s Cinerama.” On the basis, of what he saw in a Coast demonstration, McLachlan said that M-G’s 65m is superior to Cinerama arid Tod<j- AO. He said exhibs did not have to worry too much about the giarit gauges coming from the film com¬ panies since “indications* are that there will be simultaneous release of most, if not all, 6f these films on 35m.” McLachlari stressed, however, that Allied’s committee “feels that we must have progress and that the business must accept progress, so we must encourage in- all ways possible anything that is an im¬ provement and big film projection is definitely 'an improvement.” He declared that certain late model projectors could- be modi¬ fied to show large gauge films and cautioned exhibs contemplating new purchases to make sure the equipment could be modified. McLachlan said he had received assurance from the film com¬ panies that when the large gauge film is released, it would be made available on a standardized print stock, including 20th-Fox’s 55m. However, 20th officials in New York promptly denied that its 55m films would be issued on a 70m print stock. Other recommendations made by Allied’s equipment committee include: In purchasing new projector lamps, especially for drive-ins, make sure'they can be modified to operate with new projectors that may be purchased. There is definite trend to the discontinuance of silver screens and a return to the fairly high grain white sheets. i Terms of Fox Hollywood, Dec. 4. Matty Fox has returned east fol¬ lowing meetings wjth the talent guilds aimed at’ working out a for¬ mula whereby he can sell the RKO backlog of post-1948 pix: to tele¬ vision, with a guild cut-in on the profits. Fox made. the. guilds a “more generous” offer than was pitched them by the major film studios at earlier meetings, and the guilds are now mulling his proposals. Screen Actors Guild, Writers Guild of America West and the Screen Directors Guild will now turn the*’ Fox proposals over to their respective boards for discus¬ sion and possible action. (SAG board Monday night (2L) rejected the Fox offer, amounting to $648,000 in cash to three guilds for 75 RKO pix. Guild nixed the bid as “ridiculously low.” It’ll now consult. with the other guilds. SAG wants, over 50% of any talent split‘on post-1948 films. Fox offer wouldn’t cut in the craft' unions, only the guilds.) . Fox’ offer was better than the majors’ proposal of putting the guilds in for a total of l'5% of the gross from tv, with the guilds to split up the 15% pie themselves. Majors’ deal, also excluded from guild payments theatrical pix which went in the. red oh their the¬ atrical runs. Guilds turned the majors’ bid down in 'ft hurry and countered with a demand for 30 % of the net, a demand iced by the majors. With the two groups dead¬ locked, there' is no date for an-, other meeting at this time. Fox first proposed the guilds al¬ low him to release his 70 post-1948 pix now, with the understanding if the majors reach an agreement in their guild talks within six months, he would pay the guilds according to the major format, and make his payments retroactive to the time he sold his post-1948 pix to tv. He also suggested if no deal with the majors were consum¬ mated in six months, the payment problem should go to arbitration. The guilds nixed this proposal, particularly the arbitration angle. Fox, who came here with his attorney, David Stillman, doesn’t face .g^e multiple problems con¬ fronting the majors. Unlike the majors, he doesn’t have consider- abel coin tied up in -backlogs, al¬ though he is eager to unload the 70 pix involved. In addition; the majors were told by international IATSE proxy Richard F. Walsh earlier this year that if and when they sell post-1948 pix to tv, he expects the majors to cut IA crafts into the tv pie. That’s why the majors told the guilds their 15% figure must include any other unions or crafts. Lapkin’s Added Braid The board of directors of Stan¬ ley Warner Corp. last week elected Nathaniel Lapkin as first vice pres¬ ident of the company. -As an officer and member of the board, Lapkin has been a key fig¬ ure in SW’s diversification moves. He was prominent in the negotia¬ tions which led to the acquisition of Cinerama and the International Latex Corp. He is presently in charge of the company’s Cinerama production program. CIVIL LIBERTARIAN VIEW: CODE DUBIOUS Pointing to certain “glaring faults” in the Production Code, the American. Civil Liberties Union has urged the Motion Picture Assn, i of America to determine whether specific subject taboos in the bode are “based on solid evidence and represent the opinion of the mo¬ tion picture audience rather than the opinion of one particular group,?’. In a letter to MPA A prexy Eric Johnston, the National Council on Freedom from Censorship (an ACLU affiliate headed by Elmer Rice) safd the Code should be re¬ vamped .with tfie opinion of three outside groups taken into account: 1. A cross-section of the film-go¬ ing public; 2. experts on the sub¬ jects to be covered, and 3. psychol¬ ogists and social scientists who have some knowledge of human be¬ havior and what stimulates it. Letter made it plain that the Union in no :way endorsed the Code,, which it considers “a re¬ straint on freedom of expression.” However, it noted, “as long as the Code continues, we believe that at¬ tention should be given to those provisions which especially limit free expression. “It strikes us that in framing the Code to meet the demands of these (pressure) groups, the MPAA has not only given up an important measure of freedom, but it has done so without determining if the public agrees with their opinion and whether the evils inveighed by these groups could reasonably be expected to follow.” In what appears a clear refer¬ ence to the Catholic Legion of Der cency, the Union noted that, by their continuing pressure, “these groups ... have required the in¬ dustry to accept their standard of socially-acceptable film subjects and treatment.” It noted these groups’ rights to vent their feel¬ ings, but observed it was proper to object “when their expression hampers free expression arid de¬ prives other members of the com¬ munity of the opportunity to dee certain subject matters treated in films.” Rodgers Named Veepee Of Trans-Lux Theatres Thomas E. Rodgers was elected veepee of the Theatres (Corpora¬ tion last week, per Percival E. Fpr- ber, chairman of the Trans-Lux Corp. board. Rodgers has been supervisor of Trans-Lux theatres in New York for the last six years* He had been in the film business for two years before joining Trans- Lux. Booking of product Into T-L the¬ atres is handled by Rodgers, who also serves as ad-publicity director for the chain which includes houses' in Philadelphia, Washing¬ ton and Boston besides the N.' Y. theatres. Trans-Lux declared a 20c divi¬ dend last week, covering 1956* T-L recently has been paying 15c divvy annually. The 20c is payable Dec. 20 to stockholders of record Dec. 12 . 'ART 1 FILMS MIDWEEK Deliberate Slotting Of Imports Tues. and Wed* St. Louis, Dec. 4. A combination policy of art im¬ ports and American films has been inaugurated by the Frisina Amuse¬ ment Co.’s hardtop, the -.Lincoln, in Charleston, Ill., that relighted Thanksgiving Day. Dale Rennels, manager of this house and the Rogers in the same town said the change in policy was made at the request of patrons of the • house who yenned the foreign made prod¬ uct. Under the current plan the im¬ ports will be shown on Tuesday and Wednesday nights and the rest of the week reserved for Hol¬ lywood product. The Osage, Kirkwood, Mo., owned and operated by Harry Wendt also has become art-minded and will show such films four nights weekly with the rest of the week reserved for domestic prod¬ uct. The first foreign film pre-r sented since the change in policy was “Diabolique.” Wednesday, Dcccoiber 5, 1956 Wax Museum of Stars Readying ; Hollywood, Dec. 4. A new tourist attraction for Hollywood—a wax museum a la Madame Tussaud’s in London featuring some 300 life-kize figures of top film stars of both past and present—will be opened next summer by the Society of Make-Up Artists. Society’s membership of 33 make-up artists Will do the work and approximately, one year will be required to complete all the figures. Museum, however, will be opened as soon as a representative group of statues has been completed and displays will include duplicates of all famous make¬ ups of film history. . Museum will be located at SMA’s new headquarters on Cahuenga Blvd., and. will be open to the public with half of the proceeds going to industry Charities, Clay Campbell is chairman of the Museum Committee which in¬ cludes Here Westmore and Jack Kevan._ Credit Freeze By Italian Pix Labs Midsummer Santa Glendale, Dec. 4. Santa Claus comes to this suburb too early to suit film makers. Producer Wiliam Goetz had received an okay to do location scenes for “The Brothers Rico” on Brand Blvd., and a crew showed up on schedule for the film which car¬ ries a mid-summer setting. But Brand Blvd. was already festooned with Christmas jdeco- rations. .J A crew of 20 electricians and grips had to dismantle the decorations along one entire block so that director Phil Karlson could shoot a scene in¬ volving 85 actors and crew¬ men. When the day’s work was over, the decorations were re¬ stored. Rosener’s Advice To French: Avoid Monopoly Plans French producers have every¬ thing to gain and nothing to lose by continuing to use sub-distribu¬ tors in the U.S. and by keeping the distribution of their films oh a competitive rather than a “mon¬ opolistic” basis, Herbert Rosener, whose * Mayfair Pictures releases imports in the western states, said in N.Y. last week. Rosener, who’s, also an artie exhib (in Los Angeles and San Francisco) noted a rising interest in foreign films in his area, but opined, that overseas producers tended to spoil their own game via exaggerated demands. 4i A bad deal with the Independent distrib¬ utors filters all the way down the line to the sub-distributor and trie theatre,” he commented. . Rosener thought the proposed 20 % distribution fee outside the keys “wasn’t realistic” if a picture had limited circulation and did not gross much. As for the charge that .sub-distributors tend to lose foreign pix in the shuffle since they handle so much other prod¬ uct, Rosener commented that the outfits couldn’t very well exist on French pictures alone,. Exhibitors; he said, did try to play imports, but frequently had been discouraged. “If a man In a small town tries a foreign picture, and he dies with it, and then he tries again and finds he doesn’t do business, he* is likely to lay off. And, after all, who can blame him ? ” : Even so, Rosener reported, ilve theatremen recognize ' the offbeat value of imports and they keep coming back to them. One French picture he handled was extraordi¬ narily successful. It played 11 runs in San Francisco, 20 in Los An¬ geles, two in Fresno, two in Santa Cruz, four in Sacramento, etc. United California Theatre booked it over the entire circuit. UniversaPs 25c Divyy And Extra Ditto Melon Board of directors of Universal at a meeting last week declared a quarterly dividend of 25c per share and an extra dividend of 25c per share on the company’s common stock. Melon is payable Dec. 28 to stock¬ holders of record Dec. 14. Rome, Nov. 27. Most recent consequence of the financial crisis in the Italo film industry has been the credit freeze just approved by a group of film labs here in Rome, now banded together in what some opponents term a “cartel.” Reported that this group now demands advance . payment from producers and dis- tribs who want their copies Rroc- cessed or multiplied. Price cited as necessary before the labs will accept work is 39 lire or an estimated average price of 50 lire per meter, or some 120,- 000 lire of a 150,000 tab per copy (about $200 of the $250 total). Previously, all this work was ac¬ cepted on credit. Now, labs ap¬ pear unwilling to risk mounting bills in an* industry in which too many companies are in a bad way financially, and in which billions of lire in unpaid bills are literally circulating as “legal” promissory tender. Results of the lab freeze have not yet been felt, but early indi¬ cations are that many independent operators in the .business will be severely handicapped, and perhaps thrown out of business because of the new interruption in the pic credit cycle. Obviously, the move has little or no effect on the larger established firms or on the Yank companies here which are able to afford the advance money needed for their prints, etc. While some observers ,here feel the move justified because of the uncertain credit Jtructmre in the local industry, ana by tne difficult situation the labs have found themselves in in recent times, others (who. have demanded that ANICA step in), feel that the freeze is unfair to Independents while favoring the big companies. Labs have another worry. The Technicolor plant now being erected just outgid$ Rome to them constitutes a. serious threat via the company’s backing, tie-ins with Ferrania here and its vast experi¬ ence in the field. Russia, Romania Building More Picture Plants Expansion of film production facilities in Russia and ROmanig was reported in N. Y. last week by Bernard Kreisler who recently returned from a trip behind the Iron Curtain. Huge new fring is being added te the Mosfilm studios outside Mos¬ cow, Kreisler said. It includes six new sound stages,, two of which are already in use. Stages are 40 feet high to allow for highpowered lights. Outside Bucharest, a 350-acre film city is springing up. It in¬ cludes six stages and living quar¬ ters ’ for 3,000 persons. German and Soviet technicians are em¬ ployed and the equipment is com¬ ing from France, Germany, Hol¬ land and Russia. -* The Romanians are arranging co-productions with Italy and France as part of the effort to adopt the new filming techniques. Rod Steiger’s Rank Film Rod Steiger will star in J. Ar¬ thur Rank’s “Across the River” which rolls Jan. 21 at the Pine- wood Studios in England. Ken Annaken directs, John Staf¬ ford will produce.