Variety (December 1956)

22 PICTURES P&mErhr KIRK DOUGLAS‘ON DUTY’ WHEft FILMED—DISNEY To Clear Via ‘ Assn, f' Mtotion Picture Export boani yesterday (Tues.). was. asked to ratify a tentative agreement under which American films in Japan would be submitted a locally administered system' of. .“self-con¬ trol.” . ' Situation was outlined to the board by Irving Maas, the iVTPEA’s Far Eastern supervisor, who last, week returned, from . Tokyo, U.S. outfits have long refused to become a part of voluntary censorship in Japan, but the pressure for them to do so has risen steadily. Setup which, even without Amer¬ ican participation, . is already a reality, eliminates one prime Amer¬ ican objection, i.e. self-control dominated and. administered by the Japaneses, industry. . It shapes up as follows: . An independent and autono¬ mous five-member board is es¬ tablished under Seiichiro Takahashi, a former professor of economics, president of the Academy of Arts and chief of the National Museum, Maas considers his choice a happy one. Represented on this already functioning board. are the Japanese feature producers . with two members, Shorts pro¬ ducers with one rep, importers (other than Americans), one member and—provided MPEA goes along — the American companies, with one member. Cost of setting up the board is . put at 15,000,000 yen plus screening fees. It’s stressed that, under the Japanese constitution, the Amer¬ ican companies cannot be forced to join this setup; nor can they .be forced, to submit their features. Japanese originally wanted to establish a Code patterned after the American example. However, it was dominated by the native industry. Furthermore, the U.S. firms argued, there was ho need to submit their pix again since they already carried a Code seal. MPEA then countered with a pro¬ posal that it set up its own. re¬ viewer to look at American im¬ ports that might possibly offend the Japanese. “Blackboard Jungle” and “House of Bamboo” considerably aroused the Japanese industry and public and added fuel to the juvenile de¬ linquency controversy. There were various other proposals, and finally the independent screening board was -established. It’s been pointed out that the American position re censorship in Japan isn’t wholly consistent inas¬ much as, in theory at least, foreign films must get a Chde seal to enjoy wide circulation in American houses. ASK WHITECOLLARITES UP UNION DUES 30% A 30% hike in the quarterly dues of members of the Homeoffice Em¬ ployees Union, Local H-63, has been proposed by the executive board of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees affil¬ iate. According to a pitch made to the membership, at a general meet¬ ing last week, the extra coin is re¬ quired to make up for . the loss of revenue brought about by a de¬ crease in the union’s rolls. Because of economic conditions in the motion picture industry, some 250 Local H-63 members, mostly white collar clerical help, have been dropped from the pay¬ rolls of the film companies, the union’s executives disclosed. The layoffs took place over the course of several years. The proposal for the increase in dues payments was not greeted with enthusiasm by the member¬ ship. According to reports, speak¬ ers who opposed the proposal re¬ ceived substantially more applause than the union officials who advo¬ cated the boost. However no action on the matter was taken. It was discovered after debate had begun that a quorum was not present. As a result, the proposal was tabled to the next general membership meet¬ ing. The new schedule of quarterly dues advanced by the executive board is as follows: For weekly sal¬ aries up to $49.99 the dues for the quarter would be $5.75;. $50 to ;?Y).99, $7; $80 to $99.99. $8; $100 to $129.99, $9; $130 and above, $10. OLYMPICS MW: FEATURE 4 SHORTS ' ; London, Dec, 18. J A full-length color! feature and two featurets have been produced from material filmed during the Olympic Games in Melbourne in addition to the standard newsreel and. television coverage. The Rus¬ sians will additionally be making their own color feature from film. supplied from the same source. The full-length color feature, | which has been lensed in the Afga process on wide screen, will be titled “Rendezvous in Melbourne” and is now being readied for world release in the. New Year, This will not be a straight coverage of the Olyfhpic contests, but will cover the event in story form as viewed by six participants in the games. The two featurets, each of which runs about an hour, will be shown in Britain and Japan. They’ll each spotlight different personalities and will^ of course, put a different emphasis on the material used. The British pic, entitled “Melbourne Olympiad,” is being distributed by Renown Pictures, by arrangement with Regent Film Distribs. It has been written, and directed by Ian K. Barnes and narration is by Rob¬ ert Beatty, Eamonn Andrews and Nancy Spain. The entire Melbourne footage was the result of a deal made with the Olympic Games Committee by Fremantle Overseas Radio & Tele¬ vision, which gives the promoters a continuous participation. Paul Talbot, the Fremantle topper, who came in from Melbourne last week to finalize production and distri¬ bution arrangements^ returned to New York last night (Mon.). Hollywood, Dec., 18. ..'In a 20-page answer to the;$415,- 000 suit brought against him by Kirk Dortglas, Walt Disney last week countered that the actor him¬ self suggested the taking of the film footage 1 'that set off . the court row! Douglas charts that Disney, photographed him and his children riding - a. model train! at Disney’S home, which film was later ^hown on the Disneyland television; show and this represents “invasion of privacy.” . Disney further answered the ac¬ tor: only purpose of the filming was to exploit 1 “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” and, in being pho¬ tographed, Douglas “was engaged in performance of his duties” in ac¬ cordance with the terms of his con¬ tract. Douglas starred in “Leagues.” Late last month Superior Court. Judge Leon T. David denied the de¬ fendant’s motion i to dismiss the suit. Jurist opined that actors aren't “goldfish,” and have some rights of privacy, Gunther Less¬ ing, Disney attorney, had *a com¬ ment about that. If this opinion is to stand, stated Lessing, it would carry with it elements of a new right of privacy lender which news¬ papers might be required to obtain a prominent person’s approval be¬ fore printing anything about him. BACKUS PLAYS PUBLICIST Late Clarence Locan Fondly Recalled in Chaney Riopic ( Hollywood, Dec. 18. Jim Backus, currently portray¬ ing the late Clarence Locan, real- life, press agent of Lon Chaney in Universal’s biopic of the actor, “Man of a Thousand Faces,” has applied for honorary membership to the Hollywood Publicists Assn. In a letter to prexy Don Boutyette, Backus points out it’s the first time a Hollywood pub¬ licist ever has been shown in a “favorable and sympathetic” light on the screen. >♦♦♦♦♦♦++< Briefs from Lots Hollywood, Dec. 18.. | Otto Preminger signed Sir John Gielgud for the role of Dunois in hia indie, “Saint Joan” and set Richard Todd .to: succeed Richard Burton as the Earl of Warwick . . . Herman Moffman will direct “The Mystery of Misty Creek” for pro¬ ducer Nicholas Nayfack at Metro. . . . John Monks Jr. will script the William McGiven hovel “The Seven File” for Richard Widmark’s Heath Productions . . . John. Carroll’s Clarion Productions bought “The Break in the Circle,” an original screenplay by David Lord . . . Hal Wallis picked up his option on Paul Nathan, associate producer on “The Rainmaker,” for. another year. . . . Tudor Owen became the 72d actor signed for a speaking role in Irwin Allen’s Cambridge Produc¬ tion “The Story of ’ Mankind” at Warners, There will be 90 speak¬ ing parts in all.. . 20th-Fox picked up its option on composer Leigh Harline who has beeri with the studio since 1949 . . . Richard Boone re-activating “The Devil’s Footprint,” an original by Lucien Agniel, in view of the Hungarian situation which the story line par¬ allels. 20th loaned Robert Stack to Universal to co-star in “Pylon” * . . Goleen Gray set as femme lead opposite John Beal in “Mark of the Vampire/* Jules Levey - Arthur Gardner production for United Artists . . . Director William Well¬ man hunting another military story in which to use, as a unit, the 20 new thesps cast in “Lafayette Escadrille” at Warners ... Lindsley Parsons and his associate, John H. Burrows, will make “Rio Bravo,” “Desperate Women,” “The Incred¬ ible Yanqui” and “Jack Slade in Montana” for Allied Artists release during 1957 . . . Burt Styler and Al Lewin, who have, been writing the “Life of Riley”'* vidpic show, checked in at U to develop an original teen-age screenplay . . . Jack Kelly and Mari Blanchard will co-star in “The She-Devil” for for Regal Films . . . 20th picked up its option on producer David Weisbart. Yul Brynner withdrew as direc¬ tor of Cecil B. DeMille’s “The Buc¬ caneer” and will confine his efforts to starring in the picture . . . Jack Carson signed for one of the top roles in U’s “Pylon” . . . Jack Kelly joined the cast of “The She Devil” for Regal Films . . . John Horton assigned as producer of “Runaway Bomber”, at tf ........ John .Meredyth Lucas arid Dwight Brooks. bought “And Never a Day Shall End” for indie production . . . Jack Palance formed his own company, Cody Production's, add will star in its first picture; “Pistolero” . . . First feature slated for the new Commu¬ nications Corporation will be “The Big Firecracker,’’ based on a yarn by Robert* Smith .. . Robert Roark organized Brigadier Pictures start¬ ing January with “Duel Street.”. Columbia Pictures attains an all- time employment .peak this week with 2;5i8 on the studio payroll.. . Joseph L. MankieWicz signed Audie Murphy for the title role in “The Quiet American” for United Artists release . . . Scott R. DUnlap will produce “New Day At Sundown” for Allied. Artists . . , Kenneth Herts bought Alfred Neumann’s “Strange Conquest” for production in Peru,. . . Kirk Douglas signed to star in “The Golden Triangle,” first picture to be filmed by As¬ sociated Artists Productions . . . Burt Lancaster, Sir Laurence Olivier and Montgomery Clift draw top roles in Hecht-Lhncaster’s “The Devil’s Disciple” .. . Jackie Coogan bought film rights to “The Parson and the Apache,’’ mag story, for indie filming ... Mimi Aguglia and Argentina Brunetti, mother and daughter in real life, play mother and daughter in “The Brothers Rico” at Columbia. Martin Rackin took over producer tion reins on “The Helen Morgan Story” at Warners so Richard Whorf could devote full time to getting “Bombers B-52” before the cameras , . . 20th-Fox picked up its option on Lili Gentle for another | year and set her for a role in “Bernadine” . . . Columbia cast contractee Kathryn Grant in “The Brothers Rico,” William Goetz pro¬ duction. . . Associates and Aldrich signed Habited Welles to script John O’Hara’s short story “Now We Know” for lensing next sum¬ mer . . i William Wyler will direct “Thieves Market” and will co¬ produce with Gregory Peck in a joint deal with the latter’s Melville Productions . . . Thom Conroy, dialog coach on the Hecht-Hill- Lancaster “Sweet Smell of Success,” also will play a featured role in the Burt Lancaster-Tony Curtis starrer. . . .Francis X. Bushman will play Moses in Irwin Allen’s Cambridge Production of “The Story of Mari- I kind;” , We4nesday, December 19* 1956 Quickie Appraisal of Miami Beach Continued from: page 2 "j any worthwhile talent, the in-per- spning stars seem to have no ceil¬ ings. on their values. Harry Mufson at the > Eden Roe, Ben Novaick, bonifaqe of the Foil-, tainebleau and Preston R. (Bob) Tisch of the Americana all have the same complaint-nsalaries. Nonethe¬ less, Milton Berle at,$17,500;. Jerry Lewis at $25,000 and Xavier Cu-- gat at $15,000. are respectively booked attractions at these. three top. spots. • * All take the position that “if we don’t do it, we’ll be accused of deglamorizing our operations.” None concedes that the lush en¬ vironment of their hotels is liter¬ ally built-in glamor. That goes for the Tisches at their new Ameri¬ cana, which has Cugat bowing-in this week. The! NBC 30th anni shindig at the Americana gave the Florida resort an automatic showmanship glamor of special proportions. The show biz bunch had enough time to case the joints, from’ Murray Franklin’s al fresco bistro (in the Club. 18 tradition) to Harry the Hipster’s jive joint. In between there were any assortment of top eateries and niteries. A Broadwayfarer is very much at home since many of the Gotl^ arti spots’ key personnel are pretty well ensconced in Miami Beach and its outer reaches into Bel Harbour which, for instance, is the official postoffice for the Americana, be¬ ing just above the MB line. Bonardi, from the old Ben Marden’s Riviera, runs the niteries at the Americana; Angelo, from the Versailles, is a key man; and the other staffers in other spots are similar ex-21, Stork, etc., greeters. Hal Boyle, of the AP, is doing a story on Mrs- Al Tisch, mother of the clan operating. hotels in At¬ lantic City, Miami Beach, and else¬ where, quoting her that the entire $10,000,000 investment is 100% family invested. The ground site was a $1,200,000 buy from Arnold S. Kirkeby. At the formal dinner for NBC prexy Robert W. Sarnoff,. Floridans- Governor LeRoy Collins, with an awareness of the- Florida versus California rivalry, especially as dramatized within show biz, I cracked that Hollywood . is in “Calif.” and he suggested that the initials spell a clarion call- to all Coastites -to "come and live in Florida.” On, the shows caught, Celeste Holm is the finale of the one-week- ers at the Eden Roc whose Pom¬ peii Cafe, incidentally, Is one of the nicest * hotel saloons extant. Songstress heads for Havana’s Na- cional and, thence the Coast, with a probable picture in sight! Harry Befafonte succeeds for two weeks. At the nearby Fontainebleau Ho¬ tel’s cafe-room, called La Ronde, also a very attractive bistro, Larry Parks & Betty Garrett were doing okay backed by the Sacasas and Al Navarro bands. With Holm was Rickie Layne and “Velvel,” the only Jewish ventriloquial dummy, a somewhat ribald performer and perhaps overboard even if the cli¬ mate” is right for his naughty dia¬ lectics. Laine should watch himself on the smut; he doesn’t need it. The idea and execution are basically funny enough. At the Americana, another Broadway lammister, Val Olman, is the maestro, and at the next-door Balmoral there is Sonny Kendis, ex-Stork. Footnotes td the NBC 30th anni party: Groucho Marx not only had daughter Melinda but Eden (Mrs. Marx) on the tv gala . . . Gina Lol- lobrigida stole the press. Her remi¬ niscence .of Howard Hughes’ con¬ tract offer was the fact “he only sent me one plane ticket; also, he didn’t want to make movies, he wanted to play.” Italian star’s, hus¬ band-manager, Dr. Stofac, is her interpreter although she under¬ stands enough English . . . Nick Kenny, Hy Gardner, BEn Gross, Jack O’Brian, Larry Wolters, Bob Jennings <Thne) among other ra¬ dio-tv editors on the scene. Gard¬ ner did personals on the ’local mikes; also Nick Kenny, with Bea Kalmus, pitching “A Penny for Kenny,” for the National Jewish Asthmatic Hospital (Denver) to which he is very partial Since its fine work for one of the Kenny grandchildren, a five-year-old little girl . . . MCA NBC-TV sales veeplee William R. Goodheart Jr. got the news of a new grandchild while on convention; their fifth, but the first'boy. VAhiETY automatically got a great .leadership in the Cabana Belt, among the NBC affiliates, personalities, ct al., but the biggest bombshell was that tax K. O. story that .streamered R. 1. Eddie Fisher wondered. The Robert Sterlings (Ann Jeffreys)-were nonplussed be¬ cause they have anew video prop¬ erty which they planned setting up for. tv. and pictures. Barroter- turned - agent - packager - producer Martin Goodman had a thought about limiting ownership by the star ,to 24%. and farming the pseudq-“control” xi out to the star’s managers, reps,-relatives, et al. . GAG’s Tommy Rockwell has his ideas (Perry Como is his client and the Como show was keyed to the NBC 30th anni convention), and as for the crooner he wasn't talking. Groucho Marx was grousing be¬ cause “I only saw the sun through a keyhole, what with all these re¬ hearsals, and what do I need it for?” Leo Durocher got gin-clob¬ bered, ahd columnist Louis Sobol mopped up per usual. Jack O'Brien’s wife got -bitten by a man o’, war—as the starfish indigenous to the Florida surf is called—and almost went into shock because of the pain. Robbing with sand is the curative, and Jinx Falkenburg wanted to know why the hotels don’t issue instructions at ocean- side because, while not poisonous, it’s painful. Alan W. Livingston was also bitten but had presence of mind to rub with the sand, but for a time was also unnerved. The cabana boys have instructions not to administer first aid nor make with the Dr. Kildare bit—for legal reasons—yet there seems to be little forethodght because the man o’war is quite common. General Sarnoff’s yacht, appro- priotely called the Electron, was a special treat all its own, to the VIPs he had invited aboard for k cruise, because of its amazing gadgets. The RCA board chairman figured that “with Frank (Folsom) minding the store I’ll stay on a feW days,” meaning until this weekend, to a Palm Beach detour, but Mrs. Sarnoff hurried home because of the Xmas week rush. Continued from' pace t idealism clash with an easy life. Play, was not given much pjraise by the crix when it opened, but the public goes for it. And the theatre has* taken it all over the country, playing to full houses everywhere. The Chamber Theatre is present¬ ing a play by a hitherto unknown author, Yoram Matmor. The He¬ brew’ title means “An Ordinary Play.” As is, the play is neither very original nor very unusual. It vShows young men and women who have helped build a new country but having^achieved their first goal have bedome aimless. The play was produced by the Chamber Theatre’s founder-director, Joseph Millo. A light note is struck by the third repertory group in Israel, the Ohel which is staging a musical comedy, “5:5; or Tit for Tat.” Though not without flaws, this is one of the' funniest shows in town. It is written and directed in the tradition of an army farce. A mili¬ tary company is invited to spend some days off at a farmers’ village near its base. But life is not easy for the soldiers because the farm¬ ers are in dire need of helping hands and exploit the boys till the soldiers hit upon a grand idea. They offer the old farmers an “ex¬ change program” and take them to their military camps. There, they change clothes and leave. The commander mistakes the clumsy farmers for real soldiers and drives them off for military training. The boys meanwhile, go back to the farms and have a real holiday with the farmers’ pretty daughters. Gideon Shemer directs while Yo- hanan Zarai and Zvi Glaser conduct the lively score. Rika Zarai a* farmers’ girl, Dahlia, sings most of the songs. The Ohel* w.hich is a theatre sponsored.by the Israeli Labor Fed¬ eration, also has created an Arabic theatre , groups playing to enthusi¬ astic audiences, in such Arab towns in Israel as Ramleh, Nazareth, and others. The'first play is “Kais wa Leila,” Onfe in two acts by Achmea Shawki; an Egyptian author.