Variety (November 1957)

Wednesday) November 13, 1957 P'XftlEfY PICTCKKS S Wallerstein Reaction To Golden jubilee Fiasco— Consistent, Point-of-Sale Showmanship Pays GEORGE J, SCHAEFER AS TODD-AO PREXY George J. Schaefer, veteran major-level exec,, reportedly is slated td become president of Todd-AO Corp., which licenses the Todd-AO widescreen system-to pro¬ ducers and distributes equipment for its presentation to. exhibitors. Schaefer formerly was a v.p. of Paramount, general sales chief of United Artists and president of BKO. In recent years he has been' business rep for indie producers. - His. appointment to the Todd-AO presidency is said la tie in with an intensive driye which the company Is now-mapping designed to set the name - up as an emblem^ of top- grade product Only two pictures released in Todd-AO so far are “Oklahoma” and “Around the Wojld in 80 Days.” Todd-AO col¬ lects 5c per theatre admission when the process is used and lc per ad¬ mission when a print-down version is shown. . Schaefer’s job will be to con¬ vince top producers of the quality and boxoffice values of the system. It’s figured that perhaps a half doz¬ en powerhouse entries will estab¬ lish the name in the eyes of the public and, in line with this, ef¬ forts are being made to induce Samuel Goldwyn td use the system With “Porgy and Bess” and Harold Hecht with “Way West.” Schaefer presumably will con- continue his association with the indie film producers, including Stanley Kramer, “while taking the Todd-AO helm. 'SHOWMAN OF TEAR' Pittsburgh Tent Award To Mike Todd Nov. 24. • Pittsburgh, Nov. 12. Mike Todd ^will be given Pitts¬ burgh Variety'Club’s ‘‘Showman of the Year” award at 30th annual banquet of Tent No. 1 In Penn- Sheraton Hotel Sunday night, Nov. 24. Todd and his wife, Elizabeth Taylor, will be here, Banquet Will honor outgoing Chief Barker, Harry Kodinsky, lo¬ cal public relations man and one-] 'time reporter ifor morning Post- Gazette, and his successor, Harold i C. Lund; Westinghopse Broadcast¬ ing veep locally. At the same time,! Variety Club will -adopt another Orphan, a boy,- from the Roselia Foundling Home. Roselia is Va¬ riety’s No. 1 charity, the dub hav¬ ing recently finished a $750,090 wing for the institution. Raft Mimic Sought Hollywood, Nov. 12 . George Raft will make per-, sorial appearances in 19 U.S. ' cities and six major European capitals to plug “Out of My Past” which Charles Martin will produce from the Raft hiopic which ran serially in the Saturday Evening Post . Martin will write, produce and direct under the terms of the deal by which he acquired rights to the story for $ 100 ,-.. 009. Raft meanwhile is-launch¬ ing a search for an unknown to portray him in the film. Warners Top U.S. Grosser In Japan Tokyo, Nov. 12 . For the second period in a row Warners topped the list of MPEA film earners in Japan as figures were released for Jan.-Sept., 1957 inclusive. Metro placed second and Paramount third. Accumulated total revenue fig¬ ures include hire for features trailers, newsreels and shorts. In order of position with yen figures (and dollars parenthetical): Warner Bros., 1,062,590,258 ($2,- 951,362). Metro, 1,049,000,998 ($2,913,947). Paramount, 959,667,368 ($2,665,- 715). 20tb-Fox, 785,944,056 ($2,108,- 316), Columbia, 497,245,966 ($1,381.- 234). .Universal, 467,245,966 ($1,303,- 337). RKO, 427,380,838 ($1,159,391), United Artists, 279,826,936 ($777,- 279). Republic, 161,996,278 ($449,989). Allied Artists, 114,148,564 ($317,- 074). Chicago, Nov. 12. Motion pictures heing a business subject to semi-annual hysterics, in recent crack of Walter Wanger, the hysterics seem to be at con¬ vulsive peak currently in this re¬ lease market. Rumors abound, none of them cheerful. There are gloomy forecasts that Chicago may end* up a town of 25 or 50 film houses. Chicago has long been a theat¬ rically downbeat burg and nobody has ever quite explained why. Two decades ago it was a leading origi¬ nation point for radio programs, had the first patent on daytime serials. Three decades ago it was a booming legitimate centre, send¬ ing out its own Toad companies. Chicago invented the “stage band policy” in the Paul Ash days. Its night clubs in . the past were the country’s largest. Today and for a long time Chi¬ cago has been ridiculously also-ran in live talent and air program orig¬ ination—the statistics in no way reflecting the fact that, despite all, Chicago was ’America’s second largest metropolis.. The point seemed to be that Chicago was less metropolitan, less downtown, less a show town than cities a third its size. Boston hums by comparison. Is Chicago now to be among tlje first to become a moving, picture dust bowl? To listen to .a lot of the talk on. Film Row, among the circuit staffers, it sounds like the same kind of dread of extinction Which caused the Indians of Wy¬ oming to break out in death dances during the 1880’s. Tres Sensitive Whatever .the underlying rea¬ sons, Chicago is enormously “sen¬ sitive." Everything loom's large here as an adverse factor. The Asian flu is worse here than in most film keys. Industrial unem¬ ployment has developed locally while just a rumor elsewhere. People are staying home in droves. The answer to these downbeat circumstances is more and better showmanship and planning and (Continued on page 24) Washington, Nov, 12. A new proposal for a stepped-up exchange of motion pictures between the United States and Russia was made today (Tues.) by the Soviet Ambassador in a meeting with U.S. State Dept, officials. What the proposal consisted of was not disclosed. Eric Johnston, president of the potion Picture Assn, of America, was scheduled to con¬ fer with the State Dept, on the Soviet pitch late today. -Chicago, Nov. 12. A change is in store for Chi- north side theatres. ) City Council’s recently approved i bill authorizing a housing project ! over a 10 block area has added ; growing confusion to the local the¬ atre situation. Due to be torn down within the next two years are the indie Gold Coast Theatre and the H&E Balaban Windsor Theatre. Unclear is the fate of the Surf, H&E Balaban’s most important art house operation since the recent j sale of the Esquire td Paramount ; Pictures. 5 Currently H&E owns four pieces j of theatre property in Chicago and : operates or books as many more ! houses. While the corporation ’ would like jfco concentrate on its tv enterprises, it has been unwilling to part With Its profitable theatres • at .a low price. . 1 Offers have been made to H&E for the Surf and some of its out¬ lying operations but, because of . i price differences and since the in Fii m Row panic, negotiations have Hollywood as “king of _ the give-' been halted. Because of a tax aways” because of his promotion 1 situation it is doubtful whether the of merchandise for radio and tv ; organization would sell a second giveaway shows, is proposing a j theatre during the same tax year, giant cash and merchandise give- j R stands H&E controls the away plan for the nation’s the- S booking at the Paramount-owned atres. Wenland’s proposal would : Esquire, the Telemanagement- in volve tieing in the film compa-' 2 wn . Carnegie and. its rented nies, exhibitors and national ad¬ vertisers. Giveaways Scheme Adolphe Wenland, known Surf Theatre, giving it virtual con¬ trol of the near north side’s art audience. Only the indie-owned Cinema is directly competitive. With the Esquire sold, H&E (Continued .on page 79) Basically Wenland’s plan con¬ sists of the. following: A patron goes to his neighborhood theatre and buys a ticket. He gets a card inside the theatre on which he writes in 15 words or less, “I like the picture because He mails the self-addressed card to Holly¬ wood. The cards are separated by states and judges, changed each j Louis Astor, memb er of Colum- month, select one winner from j bia’s top * horaeoffice sales staff f acI V,state. The top 48 cards se-. s j nce 1933 w iR switch to a consult- ° r f cas £ Utive basis Dec. 31 under terms of prizes. Runner-ups also get cash j an amended employment contract, or prizes. * j Astor has been in distribution Wenland’s idea Is to distribute j nearly 50 years. As 2 teen-ager he VETERAN LOUIS ASTOR, COLUMBIA CONSULTANT $237,000 worth of cash or prizes each month. Here’s how he sug¬ gests that the money required be raised. A total of 10*000 theatres (Continued on page 26) OUT SOON! The 52nd Anniversary Number Of Forms Closing Shortly Usual Advertising Rates Prevail Special Exploitation Advantages Copy and space reservations may be sent to any Variety office NEW YORK 36 154 W. 46th. St. HOLLYWOOD 21 6404 Sauat Blvd, CHICAGO 11 612 N; Mfcklgan Ava. LONDON. W.C. 2 f St. Martfa's Place Trafalgar Sq«ar«% was. advance man for legit produc¬ tions and in 1910 entered the film field, later becoming an exhibitor and, shortly after World War I, joining the New England distribu¬ tion combine headed by Abe Monta¬ gue and Joseph McConville. When the latter two sold their franchise and joined Col, Astor also went with the company. He served as New Haven branch manager before going to the h. o. In another personnel change. Bernard E. Zeeman, treasurer of Col Pictures International since 1951, has been named a v.p. of the foreign operation. Zeeman went to Col in 1935 as a traveling auditor, Tiaving switched from Universal where he served in the same capa¬ city. He subsequently became as¬ sistant manager of branch opera- tibns and, in 1944, head of foreign branch operations. FOOTNOTE TO 'CAMERA' Author Isherwood Says It Falsified His Novel Tokyo, Nov. 12 . Speaking at the International I House here, novelist Christopher ] Isherwood said movies must be 1 based on action and visual presen- j tation and not on the brilliance of j the dialogue. ✓ On a global tour, Isherwood was asked about the film adaptation of : his “I Am A Camera.” He respond¬ ed that the picture “entirely falsi¬ fied the atmosphere of the origi¬ nal.” He said he wanted to give the atmosphere of moral degepera- tion prevailing in Germany in the I early 1930’s through the character j of Sally Rowles and for that pur- ipose he wanted to be as passive ’ as possible. Yet, he complained, the film i gives Isherwood a romantic lead j who even makes a pass at Sally, j “That is far from what I intended,” i he declared. “Camera” was a stage hit before it was filmed. The picture Showed recently in Japan. ' Isherwood left for Hong Kong, Singapore and India on his tour.