Variety (November 1957)

+ As Deadline Nears in Union Hassle Virtually the entire battery of 4* NBC labor lawyers is working * against a deadline of midnight to¬ morrow (Thurs.) to straighten out a jurisdictional dispute between the Radio Sc Television Directors Guild and the National Assn, of Broadcast Engineers & Techni¬ cians. If the network, which has hen working intensively on the problem since Saturday (2) after¬ noon, fails to mediate the differ¬ ences between the two unions by that time, the unresolved situation ite expected to deteriorate into an¬ other phase of wobbly camera shots, sudden intruslohs by voices on the studio intercom system and the loss of whole segments of ’net¬ work programming. . Eight between RTDG, which rep¬ resents tv program directors, and NABET, union for technical di¬ rectors end cameramen at NBC, exploded last Friday (1) and al¬ legedly accounted for the disrup¬ tion of several NBC tv stanzas on Friday,' Saturday and, again, on Sunday, when the temporary truce was supposedly in effect RTDG last Friday exercised for the first time the right of its di¬ rectors to talk, withqut the help of a third patty, to network camera¬ men during unrehearsed tv shows. Right also extended to direct gab between program directors and (Continued on page 78) Kaiser, Todd ft Weave’s New Shew Biz Votnre; Aluminum Theatre Domes Henry J. Kaiser, Mike Todd and Sylvester L, ..(Pat) Weaver Jr, have joined forces in, a new .enterprise, the building of revolutionary alu¬ minum domes for big. screen film specs, stage and concert entertain¬ ment, and all types of auditorium events. Enterprise grew out of the pre¬ miere of “Around the World in 80 Days.” in the -Kaiser Aluminum Dome at -the Hawaiian Village Hotel vacation eentre. Together, in Honolulu, they organized Hie new firm on an equal partnership basis. The first project Will be to design and build a pilot dome as a forerunner of multi-purpbse audi¬ torium theatres that can bie effected throughout the U.S. and the world. Weaver/ former prez of NBC, was * named president and man¬ aging director -of ’the new enter¬ prise.- * ’New* ’post will’ not affect other Weaver enterprises, his Pro¬ gram -Service,' or his other duties: With-Kaiser-^he is radio and tv di¬ rector of Kaiser Industries. . •The first prototype dome In ■Ha-'] waii, designed and built by Kaiser Aluminum 8c Chemical Corp., was erected in only 20-working hours, at a structural erected cost of about $4 per square foot. It seats up to 2,000 persons, is 49V£ feat high,] 145 feet in diameter and puts 16,500 square feet under cover. TV’s Goodson & Todman Buying R.I. Newspaper /Television production company of Mark Goodson & Bill Todman is on the verge of entering the newspaper field. Deal for pur¬ chase of the Pawtucket (R. I.) Times, with assets rated at $3,000,- 000, is near conclusion, through Allen Kander brokerage. ' G-T and a few associates are seeking 100% ownership of the paper, the only daily in Pawtucket. They will not settle for less than 80% ownership of the 90-year-old newspaper, with Goodson & Tod¬ man, apart from fellow investors,' taking at least 50% ownership. Lemer&Loewe Dicker Cap Gain Setup for "Lady’ Frederick Loewe and Alan Jay Lerner, authors of “My Fair Lady,” who own 30% of the show between them, are working out a “multimillion dollar capital gains” deal with- Columbia Broadcasting System, which financed the legit musical for $350,000 and owns 40% of it. The CBS takeover of all prop¬ erty rights will afford the authors an opportunity to “keep some of the loot” which, otherwise, as now constituted, is straight income, and taxable in the. highest brackets. For example, among other unexpected Windfalls, in this day and age of meagre'sheet'music sales, the au¬ thors received some $40,000 in revenue from music and score sales alone, in.addition to.mechan¬ icals and kindred income. Producer.. Herman Leyifi, who sold 2Q% of his 30% ownership to an investor in Philadelphia for around $ 400 , 090 , is reported not having qualms about it because he already declared himself that “this is the first time. I ever got $325,000 ail in one lump sum which I can keep.” % Disney May Produce, ! \' Kaye M.C. Oscarcast Walt . Disney may produce this year’s - Academy Awards presenta¬ tion over NBG which, for the first time, is being underwritten by the industry instead of its former Gen¬ eral Motors (Oldsmobile) sponsor¬ ship. Working with Disney would be trained, video producers. Danny- Kaye is up as the emcee, ■with auxiliary. conferenciers to punctuate the proceedings, instead of the one-man master of cere- .* monies as heretofore!? The success of “Curse of Frank¬ enstein,” the British entry recently released in U. S. by Warner Bros., has quickened the horror film cycle in foreign lands. Almost every major U. S. film company has contracted for the delivery of one or more horror films for dis¬ tribution in the international mar¬ ket. These pictures, it has. been discovered, have a global appeal and have the ability to rack up tall coin in almost eveiy sector of the world. The horror-pix appeal even ex¬ tends to television. Columbia's Screen Gems subsid has had a solid success with its package of 52 Uni¬ versal oldies, selling them to 70 stations in. a matter of weeks, and there are at least four new shocker series in the works for next fall. . Unique aspect of the current cycle' is that one production com¬ pany, Britain’s Hammer Film Pro¬ ductions, has emerged as the fore¬ most supplier of the eerie films. Hammer, headed by a.father and son team, James and Michael Car¬ reras. have or have had deals to produce horror films for United Artists, Columbia, Universal, 20th- Fox, Paramount and Warner Bros. Carreras admits frankly that the pictures were made for teenage audiences, “That’s the - only mar¬ ket that exists today,” he said. He attributed the success to his 1 com¬ pany’s films to the fact that they (Continued on page 19) Tdemeter Eyes B way Legit As In the first such pitch directly and ^exclusively rimed at the legit field. International Telemeter has set a demonstration of its home toll television system for 75 stage pro¬ ducers in New York next Tuesday (12). Demonstration Is to he con¬ ducted by Raul MacNamara, Tele¬ meter v.p., in collaboration with the League of N. Y. Theatres. Intention, as stated. by - Para¬ mount Pictures, which controls Telemeter, is to Convince the round actor; impresarios that home toll represents a way of reaching great¬ ly-multiplied audiences. Key angle, of course, is that the home viewers would pay, aldng with the pew oc¬ cupants. Meanwhile, demonstrations of Telemeter will be given ’concur¬ rent with the Theatre Owners of America convention at the Ameri¬ cana Hotel, Miami Beach, Nov. 20- 23. Par is taking over a suite at the inn for fhe showings as well as an exhibition booth on the floor of the TOA trade show. By Opposing Toll-TV Now Are Webs Killing Off Possible Golden Goose? - . . ■ .— f Parents Sue on Horror Pix After Boy, 9, Dies Chicago, Nov, 5. Family of a nine-year-old boy who died of a ruptured artery in a theatre lobby here recently is suing the theatre and a film distrib for admitting children to horror pix. Suit blamed the death on fright. Attorney David Relff Is asking $25,000 for the parents of the hoy, •Stewart Cohan, from Essaness As¬ sociates, owners of the Lake The¬ atre, and from United Artists Corp., distributors of "Black Sleep” and “Creeping Unknown,” the- chillers Involved. Suit argues that films should have been desig¬ nated “adults only” and charges defendants with “negative mali¬ ciousness” in showing the reels to ! juves. “See It Soon On TV’ Misconception Is Apropos of the recent film trade attention to the public expectation that all ^theatrical releases will soon be on television; market re- - searcher Albert E. Sindlinger has made known a report prepared for a client, showing that 36,000,000 potential theatre admissions were lost In the United? State? during July because of thiaj misconception. ~ Of all persons wijo said they had considered attending a theatre dur¬ ing that month, Sindlinger’s sam¬ ple analysis showed that 2?% stayed away because they antici¬ pated that the pictures in. local theatres could be caught not too much later on their, home screens. This measures oufr to 36,000,000 lost ticket sales. The public has been educated to j (Continued on page 79) Big Disk LP Salute On Irving Berlin’s 50th ‘The record ’ industry * is giving Irving Berlin a big LP salute to commemorate his 50th anni as a cleffer. Already in the groove are packages from Epic (Jay Blackton), RCA Victor (Reg Owen), Dot (Pat Boone), Mercury (Sarah VaUghan- • Billy Eckstine) and Joe Bushkin (Capitol). Also in the works is a Berlin roundup for Ella Fitzgerald on the Verve label. On the pop front, Berlin is riding with “Sayonara” title song of the Warner Bros, pic, and Keep Running Away From You.” RCA Victor has the film’s soundtrack (Contipued on page 63) j Washington, Nov. 5. Will the television broadcasting industry be committing suicide if it succeeds, through legislation, in stopping the Federal Communica¬ tions Commission order authoriz¬ ing a three-year trial run of sub¬ scription tv? This question is being asked here in the light of what is considered a realistic appraisal of the Bartles¬ ville experiment and Its bearing on future developments in wire or closed circuit feevee. This appraisal, which, assumes that film exhibitors and other op¬ erators will soon move into the wire field, indicates that closed circuit tollvision will give free tv plenty of competition, that costs of wire installation will not prove prohibitive (and might he met In a variety of ways), and that wire operators may be able to sew up the most important source of sub¬ scription programs — Hollywood product. Bartlesville, it’i felt here. Is only scratching the surface of its po¬ tential and may well be pulling its punches. With three channels available, it’s being asked, what’s to prevent an operator from using one of them for public service ana another for sponsored programs, while devoting the third for feevee shows? Carrying the Bartlesville system to hundreds of cities, large and small, and particularly to one-sta¬ tion and two-station markets, it can be seen that the number of program services which can be sup¬ plied to most - communities via (Continued on page 19) Godfrey Firing Again; Hits Air Censorship, Tower, Politics and Ike’ San Francisco, Nov. 5. Arthur Godfrey‘is operating on radio and tv under what he calls “a self-imposed censorship.” He says “a while back” he de¬ cided he couldn’t say anything about his favorite crusade, a big¬ ger, stronger, better-paid Air Force, because the radio and tv nets are “caught in the switches” of power politics in Washington, D. C. Godfrey broadcast from Frisco last week and last Thursday (31) spoke about the Air Force to 500 persons at a combined lunch meet¬ ing of the Commonwealth Club, the Efisco Chamber of Commerce, the Down Town Assn, and the Air Force Assn. Chatting with newsmen, Godfrey launched. into an impassioned global-diagnosis which included a fervent plea for the Air Force’s Strategic Air Command. He said that as a result of his global think¬ ing he is nq longer welcome at the (Continued on page 70)