Variety (November 1957)

26 TOIXVISIOX MBSBBft Wednesday, November 13, 1957 Hollywood Production Rise of 50% By 1362, Barney Balaban Guess: Premised on Toll-Widened Market Hollywood production will have* Increased 50% by 1962, Paramount president Barney Balaban fold press guests at a “Ten Command¬ ments” first anniversary buffet- Inucheon party at the Criterion Theatre, .New York, Friday (8). This will come with the ^'audience extension” that is to be brought about with home-toll television, he predicted. a Film rentals derived from both home tolls and theatres “will take the pressure off the industry” and provide the revenue for the upped film-making rate, commented the Par chief exec. Balaban, in discussing “Com¬ mandments,” said this Cecil B. De- Mille production has "taught us not to back away from a high budg¬ et just because it is a high budget. The proper ingredients placed in the “right hands will result in the right kind of public response,” he added. “Commandments” will continue at the Criterion until March 10 with “South Pacific" about set to follow. Charles Moss, operator of the house, previously had engaged in talks witlx Metro re following “Commandments” with “Raintree County” but nothing materialized. It also was disclosed that “Com¬ mandments” will have grossed $20,- 000,000 by Dec. 31 in United States film rentals, this covering the pic¬ ture’s first 14 months of release. On the basis of experience so far. Par is now’ figuring on an addition¬ al* $12,500,000 in rentals in 1958 and the same amount in the follow¬ ing two years, or a total of $45,000,- 000 by the end of I960. Foreign in¬ come expectedly wall equal this, for an overall total of $90,000,000, thus making “Commandments” the ; greatest grosser of all time. ■ Balaban revealed that rentals! collected by Par represent 58-to- 66 % of the theatre gFoss. Disney’* Quarterly Dime Hollywood, Nov. 12. Regular quarterly cash divi¬ dend of 10c per share was declared by the board of di¬ rectors of Walt Disney Pro¬ ductions. Divvy will be paid Jan. 1, 1958, to record of Dec 13. EXHIBS’RELATIVES DUTY TASTING’ BEVERAGES Minneapolis, Nov. 12. Going the, several local “free coffee” neighborhood theatres here one drink better, the Harold Field’s St. Louis Park, reopening after ex— tensive improvements, is serving gratis to customers and advertising not only the Mocha, but also an-, other hot beverage. Cappuccino, 1 Ordinarily, Cappuccino includes] brandy as well as a mixture of coffee and chocolate, but the alco¬ holic liquor is being omitted from the beverage at the St. Louis Park. "In order to achieve an “Interest¬ ing” taste sans the brandy, Field says he tried 42 different combina¬ tions, with relatives and friends tasting the experiments for weeks, until he hit what he thinks is the right one. Apparently the American Cap¬ puccino vogue ‘ developed in Sam Francisco along with Irish coffee and gets its name from its color— the same as that of the Capuchin | monks’ habit. Field believes his showhouse may be the only one anywhere serving it. 350G Falstaff Buy of Giant Bailcasts But Ski-TV Iffy San Francisco, Nov. 5. San Francisco Giants have signed | a three-year contract with Falstaff Brewing Corp. to radiocast all games of the National League ball- club via Golden West Broadcastex*s’ K.SFO. But it looks highly doubt¬ ful whether Giants’ games will be televised at all next season. Falstaff package deal includes rights to pre- and post-game pro¬ gramming and is believed to have cost about $350,000. It’s expected that Russ Hodges, who handled | games from N.Y. Polo Grounds and recently bought a home near Fris¬ co, will voice games. Video deal depends, on whether Skiatron, with which Giants presi¬ dent Horace Stoneham has exclu¬ sive contract, gets Frisco franchise. Right now franchise is bogged down in finance committee of Fris¬ co Board of Supervisors, which wants fiscal data that Skiatron so far has been coy about delivering. Even if Skiatron gets okay soon, it’s doubtful whether pav-tv lines can be set up in time for i958 base¬ ball season. In addition to KSFO, some nine or 10 other northern California radio stations will carry games. Detroit, Nov. 12, The Victory, a* 700-seat nabe house, has been reopened under the management of A. B. Dudley who has been in^ show biz for 40 years in Detroit. Theatre, which had been closed two years, has been completely re¬ decorated. A new large screen and a new heating plant have been in¬ stalled. Adams Theatre, Newark, guaran¬ teed Paramount $100,000 in rental for “Ten Commandments” on a 10-Week run, tallied up this in just six weeks. Will It Be OoversviUe? Schines’ Push V Poll Stance on Home-Toll Albany, Nov. 12, Incorporation of Schine Home- Vue Theatre Systems Inc., under the Transportation Corporations Law, to conduct a cable or closed- circuit operation for the projection of motion pictures and other forms of entertainment.into the homes of subscribers, does not presage the immediate starting of any - such project under Schine Circuit man¬ agement. ■ Schine interests wished to "be in a position to move, but will await developments in the “cable thea¬ tre” field. The current experiment in Bartlesville, Okla. will be stud¬ ied closely—and longer. Whether Gloversville, home of the Schine chain (some 110 thea¬ tres are conducted in five states) and of the new corporation, or some other upstate community will be selected for a test has not been de¬ cided. The Schine Home-Vue is authorized to conduct business in all the cities, villages and towns of 46 upstate counties. This cov¬ ers all those in which Schine thea¬ tres are now located, and a few Others, Existing telephone and wire fa¬ cilities would, be utilized, so far as practical. It is estimated that as much, as a year might be required to get a cable system in operation. Directors of the new company are William J. Graham, Bernard Diamond and Florence D. Torrey, executives of Schine Circuit. How¬ ard M. Antevil, home office attor¬ ney, filed the certificate with the Secretary of State here. Ski-TV Telemeter Woo Bums FeeV Hollywood, Nov. 12. Two pay-tv system are wooing L. A. Dodger prexy Walter O’Mal¬ ley for rights to the ’58 season, It has been learned. It’s known that Skiatron topper Matty Fox has been hot-and-heavy after O’Malley since last February for rights to Dodger games, once legal hurdles to launching Skiatron locally are cleared. However, last week, Lou'Novins, ; prexy of Paramount’s ^Internation¬ al Telemeter,'confirmed that his group “has been iri| i:ouch” with O’Malley since last'August, and “we are continuing |our talks.” “However, no one is in any posi¬ tion to make any commitments at present,” he said. Kramer Hangs Crepe on Film Biz; Tells Madrid, look to Home-Toll’ Rowley's ‘Heart’ Plea Dallas, Nov. 12. John Rowley, chief barker of. Variety Clubs International, has issued an appeal in behalf of “Heart of Show Business” produced for Variety Clubs In¬ ternational by Ralph Staub, and available from Columbia Pictures. The appeal was for exhibitors to book and play the pic. (They haven’t been.) Originally a 55 minute pro¬ duction, the film has been ed¬ ited down to 20 minutes. EASTON PIONEER PIC HOUSE INTO AUTO LOT Easton, Pa., Nov. 12. The Third St. Theatre, one of the oldest here and at one time the No. 1 filin house, is to be razed for a parking lot. Before the deal to acquire the property by the-Kin- ney Corp. of Newark, operator of a chain of parking lots, went through, the lease held by Harold E. Esken Amus. Enterprises, New York, was terminated. The present house was built in 1913 and was reputed to have been the first building in the U. S. de¬ signed specifically for the showing of films. It replaced the Bijou, on the site, which was destroyed by fire. The theatre for the first time in Easton made use of a large pit orchestra 'for musical accompani¬ ment of silent films. - Closing of this cinema will leave only two film houses in Easton, the Boyd and State. At one time there were more than half a dozen. Los Angeles, Nov. 12. “The Ten Commandments,” through Nov. 2, has broken both house and length of run rfecords in each of its Los Angeles exchange bookings. Hitting a total gross of $1,634,048, the Cecil B. DeMiUe production'ahas returned $1,062,777 to Paramount for film rentals. Initial “Commandments” run was at the Warner Beverly where it grossed $972,696 in 47 weeks. Picture also has been set in 14 other situations in California, Ne¬ vada, and Arizona. Bookings there represent the film’s first wave of engagements. Where To Get Product, How To Hypo Bis, & What’s With Cable: TOA’s Worries . Giveaways Continued from page 3 would contribute SI00 annually to the plan for a total of $1,000,000. The film companies would contrib¬ ute an additional $1,000,000. And finally national advertisers would be asked to contribute $1,000,000, giving the plan a total working capital of S3.000.000 a year., According to Wenland, running the campaign, including details of overhead and fee, would run 5% or $150,000, leaving $850,000 or $237,000 a month for merchandise or cash awards. By HY HOLLINGER Availability of features— Cable theatre potentia.1 — Business-building tactics— These themes will highlight the Nbv. 20-23 Theatre Owners of America (10th Anniversary) conven¬ tion at the - Americana Hotel in Miami. Prior to the general membership sessions which begin on Wednes¬ day <20), a series of preliminary meetings will be held by the board of directors, the executive commit¬ tee, the nominating committee and the finance committee. The ad¬ vance guard of TOAites will con¬ verge on Miami Beach on. Sunday (17) to complete the agenda and prepare resolutions. Elmer C. Rhoden, president of National Theatres, will deliver the keynote speech. Also scheduled to speak is Eric Johnston, president of the Motion Picture Assn, of America. Johnston’s address,' it’s hinted, may have significant reper¬ cussions in industry circles. There are indications, too, that TOA will support to some extent the proposal made by Allied States Assn, at its re¬ cent convention that the dis¬ tributors release pictures on a zonal basis instead of adher¬ ing to the national release policy. TOA, unlike Allied, will request the division of the country into two zones-^east and west or north and south. The opening day’s session, which will be presided over by Sidney Meyer, will , see Mitchell Wolfson making With the welcome, greetings from Great, Britain by Robert Wotherspoon, Rhoden’s spiel, .a re¬ port of the board and executive committee by TOA prexy Ernest G. Stellings, the introduction of new officers who will be selected by the nominating committee, and a report on arbitration and con¬ ciliation by; general counsel Her¬ man M. Levy. Round Tables Johnston will face the luncheon opening day. The afternoon ses¬ sion will be devoted to round-table meetings on the problems of small theatre owners (Burton I. Jones and Albert M. Pickus, co-chair¬ men); foreign films (Walter Reade Jr„ chairman); drive-ins (Paul Krueger and Albert Forman, co- chairmen); film rentals (J. B.. Schuyler and Carl Patrick, co-chair¬ men), and advertising and public¬ ity (M. B. Smith and Dave Jones, co-chairmen). Entire morning pf convention’s second day (Nov. 21) will be de¬ voted entirely to a discussion of cable, tv—“Is It good or bad for exhibition?” Philip F. Harling wifi be the moderator. Luncheon break that day will -witness an address by Abe Montague, Columbia's sales v.p. This marks the first time in a number _ of years that a film company executive has consented to address an exhibitor conven- | tion. Last year the film companies {boycotted both major exhib con- ' ventions because of the bitterness that existed between distribs and exhibs as a result of the hearings in Washington before the Senate Small Business Committee. The appearance of both John¬ ston and ^Montague at the TOA convention appears to indicate that peace has been declared, at least between the film companies and TOA. Not a single top-echelon film company executive attended Al¬ lied’s convention last month, al¬ though a number of branch man¬ agers were present. The afternoon of Thursday. (21) has been designated a closed ses¬ sion at which the press will be barred. Friday (22) will be de¬ voted to various aspects of the industry's business building pro¬ gram. Reports of the roundtable meetings and a discussion of TOA’s proposed group insurance program will also be heard. The closing day, Saturday (23), will see a continuation of general sessions and additional discussions on busi¬ ness building. The convention will close with the president’s banquet, and the issuance of the “star of the year award,” an annual TOA event. Important aspect of the four-day convention will be the motion pic¬ ture industry’s second international trade show which is being held in association with the Theatre*Equip- ment and Supply Manufacturers Assn, and the National Assn, of Concessionaires. Equipment for both conventional and drive-in the¬ atres, food dispensing equipment and food and. candy' items will be displayed at the Americana Hotel. Madrid, Nov. 12. At a press conference here American producer-director Stan¬ ley Kramer, winding up a month¬ long exploitation trip for his “The Pride and the Passion” saw ex¬ hibitors and the motion picture Industry as doomed to fall before home-toll movies. Kramer began by reporting the situation in the United States as alarming. Television has cut grosses tremendously. Industry leaders were confused and uncer¬ tain, having what Walter Wanger has described as “semi-annual hysterics,” They eould not unite or make up their many different minds in what way tp, move for the future. “Eventually,” he continued, “there must be paid television In America and throughout the world because only home-toll can today assure a film producer an imme¬ diate profit. Today a motion pic¬ ture costing one million must' gross three to cover costs, while, the- same film on 20,000,000 home re¬ ceivers at 25c -per set^ means an overnight gross of five"million.” . Turning to George Omstein, United Artists distrib topper in Spain, and Casimiro Bori who owns what is perhaps the most finan¬ cially solid local distribution com¬ panies, Kramer added that pay-as- you-see video would make distribs and exhibs the forgotten men of the entertainment industry. “I no longer consider myself a motion, picture producer but a pro¬ ducer of entertainment,' r he stated, “and that could mean I’ll be pro¬ ducing sfilms directly for television within the next two to three years. Television, for all its de¬ fects, has given young writers, directors and actors- opportunities to create new and exciting enter- ' tainment forms that proved artis¬ tically significant.” Pay-TV Fees Continued from page 1 t quirements are established,” it as¬ serts, “on the basis of benefits be¬ stowed upon successful applicants, there are strong indications that the Government may not receive proper or adequate fees for the services it will be required to ren¬ der to the special beneficiaries of this new program, as now applies in the case of existing programs.” Kierman’s memo declares, on the basis of study* of Congressional in- I quiries into the broadcasting in¬ dustry and consultations with rep¬ resentatives of the FCG, that “in some instances' excessive profits are being made by some present licensees of radio and tv facilities.” The memo adds: “It is apparent that, unless appropriate legislative action- is taken, even more exces¬ sive profits, based upon the esti¬ mated volume of business expected to be done by toll-tv, are in pros¬ pect for successful applicants for these licenses, should the proposed trial tests of toll-tv, to be initi¬ ated by FCC early in 1958, result in approval of the program.” In support of this statement, the memo cites estimates given the Senate Interstate Commerce Com¬ mittee by Paul Raibourn of Para¬ mount’s. . International Telemeter Corp. that pay ty will bring in •about $600,006,000 revenue in 1960 on the “modest assumption” of 25% of tv set owners paying $1 a week, and over $5,000,000,000 on the “high assumption” that 90% of tv households will become sub¬ scribers and spend $2.50 per week for programs. Referring to staff consultations With FCC officials, the memo quotes a member Of the Commis¬ sion as saying that “as far as self- sufficiency In its operations is con¬ cerned, tbe-<3ommission was ’zero self-sufficient* in providing serv¬ ices to the industries benefitting from its operations.” . The memo refers to “another of¬ ficial” of the Commission as say¬ ing “he has. felt for some time that perhaps a better way to han¬ dle FCC radio and-tv allocations would be to offer the license to the highest bidder.”