Variety (November 1957)

12 'VAWITY'S' LONDON OFFIC1 '• St. Haco, Trafaljar Spoor* Pfi&fflff KTEMATIONAl See Ealing Sale of Pix to Television Bringing Harmony in Prod. Ranks London, Nov. 5. 4 Current inter-industry hassle be¬ tween Ealing Films and the Cine¬ matograph Exhibitors Assn, on the sale of oldies to tv may lead to a better understanding between the two British film producing organ¬ izations. Moves are afoot to get the two groups together to see if they can -work out a common policy which would be accepted within the trade as a standard pattern. It’s understoodithat feelers are Rank Sets 3,000-Seater As Ace Vaude Theatre London, Nov. 5. The Hank Organization means to establish a worldwide reputation for its 3,000-seat London picture house, tlie Dominion, as a vaude theatre featuring only the top __ _ names. Judy Garland is currently going out to brinj^about joint dis- j starring, and recent toppers have cussions between the British Film ; included Sophie Tucker and ..Bill Producers Assn, and the Federa- j Haley. Negotiations are now in the tion of British Film Makers. Eal- ‘ work for a host of topliners to ap¬ ing, which is the centre of the cur- j pear at the theatre during 1958, rent controversy, is a member of \ among them Jerry Lewis, Liberace, the latter body. The FBFM, how-! Roland Petit and Jeanmaire, and ever, in view of its comparatively j Harry Belafonte. recent formation, is not, momen- ■ Ivor Smith, theatre exec in the tarily, a party to the discussion j Hank outfit, hopes that a tour of wijthin the four major trade asso- j the larger theatres in the group ciations, which have been examin- j may be arranged for Victor Borge. ing the situation. | He added that the vaude policy for There’s a growing feeling in both } the Dominion was designed to producer camps that the two bodies ;make it known as a theatre where should work out a formula for an j the cream of the world’s enter- agreed limitation of British pix to j tainers appeared. Live shows would be made available to the tele net-«be a major feature at the picture works. It is recognized that the ? house, but would only be presented producers themselves in both or-j when top artists were available, ganizations are divided on the issue j Remainder of the time, the thea- of advisibility, but that’s s<ime r > tre would revert to showing pic- thing. it is felt, which can and; tures. should be resolved. It is recogniz- j The Dominion would not be set ed there may be other acute prob- ' up as a competitor to the London lems if more films are offered to ! Palladium, and would not play the webs than the Industry agrees i stageshows when international should be made available in a giv- | headliners were at that vaudery, en year. ; smith added. Among producers who are close- ! _:__ ly watching the current contro¬ versy, there is a feeling that Ealing has taken a major policy decision in making it a contractual condi¬ tion that they would have full con¬ trol over the exhibition of their films on television. By doing that it is hoped they Would be able to safeguard exhibitor interests as well as the interests of the re- m.Tinder of the industry. Brit. Prods. Vexed By Secondary Pix London, Nov, 12. The two associations in Britain There’s a growimr hope that both i representing film makers are up in the BFPA and FBFM, which are arms against the quality of sup- already working together on other \ Porting programs in British picture problems, will sit around the table and work out a formula that would put other deals outside the realm of controversy. If they fail, the industry may bp faced with long stretches of internecine warfare, and possibly long and extensive legal disputes. TV, Late Floor Shows, Gambling Gimmicks Hit Cugat Sues Italian Producer for $15,000 Home, Nov. 0. Xavier Cugat has sued an Italian film company for $15,000 damages, plus expenses, citing failure to ful¬ fill a written contract Filed in Rome court, suit states that on Oct. 26, 1956, Cugat formally ac¬ cepted to act in and write the mu¬ sic for a proposed production en¬ titled, “Pane, Amore, e Chat Cha Cha” (Bread, Love, and Cha Cha Cha), to be made by Tripnfalcine Productions. Maetsra claims he wrote the music for the sound-.| track, but was never paid for his effort as the picture never went Into production. Trionfalcine has yet to appear in court to counter Cugat’s charges. theatres and believe that this is striking at the revenue of the in¬ dustry. At the council meeting of the Federation of British Film Makers the view was expressed that exhibs should take serious note of the mounting criticism of the time taken out of the entertainment program for advertising and other incidentals. They were, in the short run, gaining some income from advertising, hut might be losing far l • 'Thi n* tt more at the boxoffice. If theatre AiKCIA him K 17 Hard ; operators persisted with their pre- AUbMC rum DlL fl<UU; sent practice> the FBFM felt that Sydney, Nov. 5. producers would have a fair claim _ Three factors are blamed Down. f or a share of the ad revenue to Under for the present downbeat t compensate for the damage done at the cinema boxoffice. TV, late-; t 0 film rentals, olnsina hotels featuring floorshowsj ^ ^ Brilj5h Film producers “ d " C, " b . S b H^U ssn - meet it was decided to refer via polcCr machines are listed in; the matter to the joint committee tn.it order as biz wreckers. Folies-Bergere Seems Set for Japan Though Coin Exchange Dubious Tokyo, Nov. 12. As customary in Japanese show biz circles, Toho execs remained tight-lipped, but they did not deny that a deal was in the works to bring the Folies-Bergere to Japan next fall as part of what was an¬ nounced to be a global tour. Toho moguls appeared miffed when Variety revealed that Walter A. Bouillet, producer-at-large, had told the press that an agreement was reached “in principle”^ According to Bouillet, other spots to be played on the troupe’s first Far Eastern j'aunt include Hawaii, Guam,. Korea,. Okinawa, Formosa, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Thai¬ land, Vietnam, Malaya, and maybe. India and Ceylon. Formerly asso¬ ciated with U. S. Forces entertain¬ ment both here and in Washington, D. C., Bouillet had also expressed hope of gaining booking rights for the “Folies” in the Ur S.. and Cen¬ tral America on the 1958 tour. It’s reported that plans call for the troupe to open for three days here at the Takarazuka Theatre in mid-September, before moving on to. the Shinjuku Koma Stadium, alsd|m this city, for a month. Certain quarters, meanwhile, ex¬ pressed doubt that the Ministry of Finance would approve foreign currency exchange for the “Folies” since it did not come under the heading of what .the Ministry usually considered ‘‘culture.” - Practice had been (and still is to h; lesser extent) for foreign thea¬ tricals unapproved by the Ministry to take out black market currency. Last year, however, the Perez Pra¬ do band ran into the authorities when trying .to leave with black market hollars and. the practice has become more difficult. Gloom in Buenos Aires as Legit Houses Make Way for Skyscrapers Chaplin Interests Sue Italo Distrib Over‘Kid’ Rome, 'Nov. 5. All prints of a locally-edited ver¬ sion of Charlie Chaplin’s pic, “The I Kid,” have been ordered seized by a Home court order which also pro -1 hibited all future showings of the film, in its current form. It also called for the distraction of all pub¬ licity material connected with it. Suit was recently brought by the Boy Export Company, repping the Chaplin interests, against CEI- INCOM and Giovanni Praia, ac¬ cused of having damaged -the au¬ thor’s'interests “both morally and commercially” by arbitrary 'cuts and a new musical score "which was felt “offensive to Chaplin’s art.”' While Praia was ordered, to pay the court charges, plus damages, all extant copies of the pic in its "mutilated” form were ordered seized within eight days. In. its decision, the court agreed that the author’s reputation and fame had been damaged. Decision Was reached after prints of "both the original version of “The Kid,” and its trimmed version, were screened for the Court.. The tremendous growth of tele of the five trade associations. The view was advanced that the poor over the latte of the ye a r is; " a it r of support pro^s could Indicated by the 4.000 tv set* Ko- b ‘ e attributed to the Board of Trade lue mto homes here weekly via <n-; roiection of the industry’s recora- stidlinent. buyrae. Just how this • n , sndation tta t there should be s ou«hs e nema trade Is hoped by., eiJlance4 paymeats for British sec _ he fact that the average set owner ; ond feature ; f];om the statutory invites at least four friends in. J n ; 2 htlv for a Tooks.ee. It’s figured \ ■' y _ that 28 000 nivhtly are wooed away S from pix. This figure mav in- <QA TV A VC* ADFUQ I\F 7 crease four-fold in the year ahead.: OU 1/AIu VlEiNd lH I Desmte stringent economy meas-j "DDITICU VI7VC TIE/ 1 OO ures to curb inflation, the average j Dill 1 lull AJjIu 1/LL* Zu householder is finding the coin to I T „ ,, r _ purchase sets on terms irrespec-’ Cf;il ,. .. * °- v 'u five Of hieh-interest rates. b a S a .5 ere Second factor, the 10 p.m. hotel £ te ^!, 6 .: ve , e T ^\ Ar ^ WorW “ closing curfew is rated the No 1 > Days (UA), will be seen at Ciien-v of the iKWoffieeAt? pointed i'tartte'DM^^rine^/a? r™ out that plush beer gardens featur-at Car- in- ton vaude shows pull a terrific B^ramgham. nichtly c-owd away from local an .^ Dublin cinemas. It's argued that the aver- [ i'* 11 , e ; - ?»«« "’>«» widescreens a tr e worker snends more +han * tor-tne pic, can afford entertaining friends in ‘ Star studded gala preems are be- theep spots, presentlv biebiv. pow-lined up for this simultaneous erful in the nabes, with Saturday release. As in London, there will nights the tons in the spending, he separate performances and all spree. [ seats will be bookable. Prices will Thi^d factor is the enormous S he upped at all seven. The season growth of social clubs in the key [will be for 13 weeks at all cities and nabe spots, where members \ except^ Manchester and Dublin,] may spend hours sipping beer and J where’the run will be unlimited. playing the ooker machines m>‘nus anv official hindrance. These' clubs, according to surveys, rnke In heavy coin via the gambling plav—running Into several million dollars annually, with the govern¬ ment copping a heavy revenue in¬ take on license okays. An orchestra will be featured at 11 theatres except In Dublin. As well as providing added audience ap-| peals, this gimmick helps to ease the entertainment tax. Such a pre-j caution is unnecessary at Dublin, where the local tax situation dif¬ fers from the U.K. French Line Up Eastern Co-Prods. Paris, Nov. 5. With the European' Common Film Mart due for an entensive start! next year.and coproduction one of! the main factors, there is a grow-: ing tendency here Of also coproduc¬ ing with Eastern European 'bloc countries. This probably will make France one of the top split pix producing countries on the Conti¬ nent. Almost half of the French fihn output may he in this cate¬ gory in the near future. France has just completed a co¬ production deal with Russia, has made pix With Yuogslavia, Czecho¬ slovakia, Hungary and East Ger¬ many, and is soon starting pix with Red China and Poland.' Need for expanding foreign film income reputedly is one of the main fac¬ tors involved In this, ^ French have two Russo projects. Another "Anna Karenina”'will be produced by J. Bercholz while Pushkin’s “Doubrovski” is to be produced by Henri Berard. Hun¬ garian pic done with French par¬ ticipation was. “Beauty and the Gypsy,” with Nicole CourceJ. and a Magyar and Gallic director while the Czech entry was “Liberte Sur- veille” with Marina Vlady and Rob-, ert Hoss'ein. It also has a split di¬ rectorial team. East Germany was used-Jor ex¬ teriors and much of the studio work for the seventh film version of Vic¬ tor Hugo’s ‘‘Xes Miserables” direct¬ ed by Jean-Paul Le Chanois. New scenes are being added here and. pic will be released in two parts. “Till L’Espiegle” and “Les Sor- cieres De Salem” (Witches of Salem) were also made at DEFA studios. Polish deals will be a version of Dostoievsky's “The Gambler,” with Gerard Philipe to be directed by Claude-Autantlara, and a French- West German-Italo-Polski produc¬ tion of Victor Hugo’s “The Man Who Laughs ” to be directed by Polish Aleksander ..Ford. Yugo¬ slavia was the scene of “Michel Stragoff” and the recently com¬ pleted costumer, “La Tour Prends Garde.” Red China will share Roger Pigaut’s “Le Cerf Volant” Film Prod, for $27,000 ,The KUc ’- ' r Buenos Aires, Nov. 5. Widespread gloom is spreading in Buenos Aires as more and more legit theatres are doomed as a con¬ sequence of a new spurt in build¬ ing skyscrapers. Another three the¬ atres have received^ their death-, blows—the Porteno Arglmino,' Apolo and Variedad.es, either via selling of theatres dr -union trou¬ bles. ' The Apolo has been sold by im¬ presario Alfredo Lamacchia, th# Variedades, owned by him in asso¬ ciation with Otegui & Co., went for nearly as much coin and the' Come¬ dia went for a high -price. Amendments in the building code will now allow for skyscrapers on main thorofares. Next May, another huge arcade building, to he dubbed Galeria Corrientes, will go up where the Comedia and' the Chan- tecler nightclub stood. A similar fate is'predicted for the Maipo, on Maipu street, .which Amadori and Bronenberg are reputed to be sell- ing. Impresarios complain bitterly that union featherbedding is squeezing them out of show biz, and-that they can’t afford to nix the reaFestaters’ bids when they • can’t hope to make their shows pay. They, point out that the citizenry is perfectly ready to pay, and pay. heavily for good entertainment. But they say that no matter how much they-increase admission scales,, the union demands milk them- of any hope of profit. , The Theatre National Populaire from Paris, under Jean Vilar, has been packing them in at the Cer¬ vantes Theatre at 200 pesos per. But. the theatre has been sold out, and seyeral shows at “popular” prices are to, be put on at the Colon Opera Theatre to satisfy, the de¬ mand. ‘DAYS’HELD T04SH0WS WEEKLY IN HONOLULU Honolulu, Nov. 12. “Around World in 80 Days” now* is being shown only three evenings a week, plus a Saturday morning matinee, at the Kaiser Dome -on Hawaiian Village., hotel grounds. Schedule was curtailed. from an¬ nounced 10-Showings per-week, pol¬ icy, presumably to help Henry J. Kaiser keep in step with zoning laws covering the dome house. Ad announcing curtailed schedule called attention to city attorney’s ruling that showing of the film “is within the normal and usual -oper¬ ation of an auditorium so long as it remains the tail of the dog.” Meanwhile, prices have been dropped to a $2.80 (tax included) top. Adding to the confusion at the ticket windows is the fact that two front row's of seats were yanked following the preem. Dawn Addams SnesRome Rome, Nov. 5. Dawn Addams has sued-a local production company, Athena Cin- ematografiea, for damages total¬ ing some $2 I 7,000 in Roman courts. Actress charges that Athena htfd failed to follow through on a con¬ tract calling for her seryices in the Antonio Pietrangeli pic, “Souvenir D’ltalie,” released, here by Hank Films. * Another suit, concerning the pic rights to Giuseppe Yerga’s book, “La Storia di Una Capinera,” has been lost* by Titanus Films, Com¬ pany was ordered to pay damages totaling some $5004 Opera Rack to Drury Lane London, Nov. 5. Drary Lane Theatre is to be used for opera for the first time in more than 45 years when. S. A. Gorlinsky presents an Italian season there starting next Janr29. He’s assem¬ bling a special company of top Ital¬ ian operatic artists and has already booked the Royal Philharmonic and London, Symphony. Season Will run until March 15. The last opera presentation at Drury Lane was in 1911 when .$ir Thomas Beecham conducted for** Russian company. Freer Exchange of Pix Big Aim of Paris Meet On Europe Common Mart ' Rome, Nov, 5. A large Italian film industry delegation is currently in Paris to attend the meetings of the OECE huddling on “invisible transac¬ tions,” which, among other things treats the subject of film exchange among members of the European Common Market Delegates will also meet with their counterparts in the French pic industry to dis¬ cuss renewal of the, Franco-Italiah. co-production and film exchange agreements, which are in force un¬ til December this year. _ Common market discussions, as outlined in the previous meetings in February and May of this year, concern ^tbe freer exchange of pic¬ tures between member countries. Dubbed feature pix is the most con¬ troversial subject up for discus¬ sion. Two proposals for freer quota-less ■exchange of these pix are under- the current talks: a proposed substitution of the cur¬ rent bilateral agreements (Francd- Italian; Italo-German, etc.) with one covering , the whole QECE ter¬ ritory with a single top quota; or the raising of the quotas - covered in the various current agreements so as to practically ‘result in fre# Unfettered exchange of pix be¬ tween member countries. First.would work this way. If, f.e« Italy allowed the yearly im¬ port of 10 French, 30 German, 20 British pix, etc., this method would be substituted by one allowing a total of 150-200 or so features frdhx all the-member countries. Without individual quota restriction, in breakdown form. While this is con¬ sidered impractical and opposed by many members, the second, merely an elaboration of various current agreements, seems more, favored at the moment Rennie Wants to Produce . London, N 6 v, 5. Michael Rennie, over here to star -in George Maynard’s film,, “V.l,” which , aims to fell the in¬ side story of Hitler’s doodlebug campaign, announces that-he i« go- „ ing to become a producer-star. ' When he has finished - “VJ.” he will return to Hollywood to finalize his plans for his first pic. Rennie’s first independent film will he shot in Spain,