Variety (July 1957)

58 TV FILM ANNUAL J^Sriety Wednesday, July 31, 1957 French Look To 1960 for Tele's Coming of Age By GENE MOSKOWITZ f Paris. France used to pride itself on being; the first country to have regular television transmissions— In 1936 —? and now boasts about having the best image quality in the world owing to its 819-Fne definition screens (highest, includ¬ ing the United States, among other countries is 625 lines). The French have not kept up with their head¬ start, due to the mterruotion of the war years and the nationaliza¬ tion of tv, and now rank fourth in Europe in the number of sets in operation (Great Britain has 200,- 000, Russia 1,300,000, West Ger¬ many 662.000 and France 500.000). Actually over 509,000 receivers have been declared, in the annual payments of licenses ($6). with the inclus’on of rural, publicly con¬ trolled sets, schools and tv clubs. There is also the hardcore sect of Gallic “bricoleurs,” those who build their own, do not report it and even resort to ingenious cam¬ ouflage for the antennas. About three-fourths of France Is now covered by tv emissions and a fullscale blanket operation is ex¬ pected by 1960. Meanwhile there Is one channel originating from Paris, with the various nationwide relays. There are 50 hours’of re¬ ception per week with 60^ live shows and 40 c b filmed. Some im¬ portant areas are allowed an hour and half per week for local offer¬ ings. Plus and Minus Nationalization has one major plus factor in the absence of com¬ mercials, but this is allayed by the still rather lacklustre overall pro¬ gram calibre. Being a newcomer, tv is still under radio in the gov¬ ernmental Radiodiffusion-Televi¬ sion Francaise, and remains a Cinderella when it comes to finan¬ cial handouts In spite of burgeon¬ ing sales, Th'ngs have eased some¬ what this year and it is felt that tv will have its head come 1960 and the complete coverage of the country. There are three periphery com-' mereial stations on the borders of France (Tele-Monte Carlo, Tele- Sarre. Tele-Luxembourg), but the small areas covered are felt incon¬ sequential. Since, the sets have to be changed for their reception, they are of little import in the French television picture. When tv was revived in 1945 there was only a minuscule studio In the Rue Cognacq-Jay which piped its output to the Eiffel Tower for transmission. There were only 414 lines In use then, with 819 in the experimental stage. A fire in the Tower gave the chance to con¬ vert completely to 819, for the few sets in operation were easily changed to the new' linage. Then tv forged ahead and now has 10 studios and is constructing a special centre to make the neces¬ sary tv films. There is also a pri¬ vate company, SOFIRA, controlled by the RTF, which has begun pro¬ duction on series for the*RTF and also channels them into theatres and other French-speaking areas for both theatre and video usage. Not many American film packages are in evidence, for, as yet, the small rates paid do not entirely cover the heavy dubbing costs. Some, however, are naw running such as “Rin Tin Tin" and “Sher¬ lock Holmes.” “Kit Carson” lost favor due to family pressure groups who reacted to the excessive vio? lence. They prefer the French “musketeer” equivalent which they feel to be more romantic and thus more acceptable in spite of the corresponding mayhem. Dubbed U.S. Pix Many dubbed American films appear on French programs as well as fairly recent French pix. The mainstays are live presentations of full-length plays by the national and private repertory companies, various variety shows and the daily newsreels and newscasts. The re¬ cent political tensions and violent upheavals in Eastern Europe and North Africa have given television 8n immediacy and timeliness that could not be coped with by the slower theatre newsreels. Variety { >resentations are the most popu- ar and many theatre owners feel that the Monday night program of (Continued on page 64) TV FILM COMMERCIALS PRODUCED SINCE JAN. 1,1957 s (Continued from page 55) FRED A. NILES PRODUCTIONS INC., Chicago. Fred A. Niles, in charge. PAUL PARRY PRODUCTIONS, Hollywood. Paul Parry, Pres. * To signify some or aU of the total number of commercials are in color, t To sig nif y whether ajiy of total include animation.