Variety (December 1957)

5 New Polish-Hade Pix Premiered; Anglo Co-Prod. On Joseph Conrad By WANDA WERTENSTEIN + Warsaw, Nov. 26. With h<?me production averaging less than 15 features a year, ,a pre¬ miere of a new Polish picture is always, an event. This fall wit¬ nessed a. novelty—five releases iii six weeks, every Monday a new film. The series was opened Oct: 6 /by the rejected at Venice Festival •‘True End of the Great War’? of Jerzy Kawaletowicz—heavy matri¬ monial melodrama, dense in ‘at¬ mosphere, slow in action, well pho¬ tographed and not without imagi¬ nation in presentation. The sec¬ ond. Jerzy Zarzycki’s “Lost Feel¬ ings,’* disappeared off screens after two days’ run. The story, set against the-background of the new. steel town, Nowa Muta, near Cra¬ cow, and . evolving the hardships of a. woman worker deserted by her husband and having four kids to provide for, shows the demorali¬ zation of her teenage oldest son overcharged with the care of the younger kids.. In spite of : .an inter¬ esting theme the treatment was in¬ adequate and the direction suf¬ fered of amateurism resulting in completely unconvincing actors’ erformances. Crime comedy by Jan Rybkowski —the only Polish feature film di¬ rector .who manages to shoot a film every year—“Mr. Anatole’s Hat” is the big success. The story of a quiet bank cashier who by buying himself a new and rather unusual .(Continued on page 79) Smog—In Vancouver . Vancouver, Dec. 3. Color footage already shot for projected documentary on Van¬ couver's smog problem has been filed away pending additional funds. , Les Phillifant, Air Pollution So¬ ciety’s new prexy, reports the film will be in abeyance at least 12 months, that period, to be devoted to raising more cash. USSR Teeners Catching Up on Tunes of 1920s London, Nov. 26. According to a report from Mos¬ cow, Russian teenagers are about 25 years behind the times in their musical, tastes. Bob Reid, a wJc. broadcaster and freelance journals 1 st who returned recently from,-a tour of the main Russian cities, to find out. how. folk spent their lei¬ sure hours,. will be talking about his discoveries during a 30-minute BBC radio program on Dec. 7., One of . his inquiries was into Whit kind of music the youngsters preferred, and what pop. tunes the disk companies were producing. He learned that they compared to the Western, world hits of the ’20s and were played in the style of- dance bands of that period. PARTNER HUDDLE FOR MANKIEW1CZ-N6C & CO. Board of. directors . of Figaro Inc., indie producing , company owned jointly by. Joseph L. Man- kiewicz and NBC, meets today (Wed.) at the company's N. Y. of¬ fice. On the board’s agenda will be a discussion of release plans for- “The Quiet American,” which;' United Artists will distribute, and production plans for Figaro’s new¬ est pic, “The Barbara Graham Story.” Latter, starring Susan Hayward, goes before the cameras on Feb. 17. In addition to fea¬ ture: pix, company’s tv production program, will be discussed. Figaro’s board includes Mari- kiewicz, prexv; Emanuel Sa.chs, executive v.p.; Robert Lantz, v.pJ; Bert. Allenberg, Alaii Livingston, Abraham i. Bienstock,. Earl Rettig and James E. Denning. U'Sstlt^TY GOLF TOPPING GEISHAS IN JAPANESE FAVOR? Tokyo, Nov: 26. With Japan: having swept the Canada Cup Tournament in the face of such competition: the U S. duo. of Sammy Snead and i Jimmy Demaret. and with Prime ' Minister/NubusUke Rishi making a la Ike for the divot sport, the . popularity of. golf in this country has already cut into the geisha box- office and threatens to make an even greater bid for the entertain¬ ment yen.; Expense accounts being- as pop¬ ular in Japan as on Madison Ave¬ nue,. companies here are discover¬ ing that it is cheaper to firm up • deals on the links than at geisha;, parties and top restaurants. j A day at the course can cost! as little as 5,000 yen ($13.88) in-! eluding prizes While geisha fests [ nip/the tab for at least 10,000 yen IS27.77) per head. It also has the | advantage Of being a. drawn-out affair whereas "parties” start to conk out when the: participants have had enough sakA Ail estimate places golfers In Japan at ! 350,000 compared ‘with 200,000 last year. Membership fees at the better clubs average. 300,000 yen. ($830.33) but in the long run the cost is deemed less and is keeping company , officials practic¬ ing, at indoor ranges until they are summoned to cement a deal on the greens. Wednesday, December 4 , 1957 Bad Press-No Groceries Philadelphia, Dec. 3 . Being a critic-has its hazards at least as far as luncheonfdates with femme stars are concerned. This is best explained by!Jerry Gaghan, Philly Daily News columnist-reviewer and Variety^ cor¬ respondent, in his Friday (29) pillar:! V “This reporter has a sideline of reviewing shows that threatens to throw .him off his feed. We didn’t get too excited in print about two productions that opened this week—“The Dark at the Top of the Stairs,’ at the. Walnut, and ‘Miss Isobel,’ the hew entry at the Forrest. “Apparently, poor notices had a depressing, effect on the appe¬ tites of the femme stage stars, Teresa Wright canceled an appoint¬ ment for lunch with us at the Warwick immediately after the re¬ view on ‘Stairs’ appeared. The next day when our glum appraisal of ‘Miss Isobel- hit the streets, Shirley Booth called off a luncheon, date at the Barclay. “Such is the price of integrity—back to the plant cafeteria.” —;-— - —i—;— , ■ . — ’ . ——.—^ Short Grass Verdant as Longhairs Tour NBC Op to 57 One-Nite Stands ;•___By GLENDON ALLVINE___ Handfuls to Pick Gift Subscription Enclosed Find check pr^n.o. for $..;. . Sand Variety for year.___„__ ^ two. years. Zone.;.. STATE. FROM Indicate if gift card desired Q CITY Zono.... STATE;..,., One Year— $10.00 Two Years — $18.00 Canada and Foreign — $1 Additional pet Year tfiftiETr i»«. 1 UWiit44tfc SRtrt IUw Y«k 34. N. Y. Hollywood, Dec: 3. Study of Academy’s new Oscar j Voting regulations indicates indus- j try’s top awards now- being deter- ] mined, by select handful of indus -1 tryltes. In past, these have been determined by crossrsection of more than. 14,000 members. of in¬ dustry. Beginning: this ySar,. only Academy member's can nominate. Most, drastic change is in . four ‘acting, categories where approxi¬ mately 250 Academy .members will nominate 20 performers for con¬ sideration. Last year, nomination blanks went to 12.639 members of Screen Actors Guild. In writing field,. about 190 scribes will be asked to nominate their colleagues as -against 592 ballots sent last year to SWG. membership. ..Similarly, 125 directors will nominate five top colleagues in contrast to poll last time of 552 members of Screen Directors Guild. Additional i,068 nomination bal¬ lots. sent to “various technical crafts” how shrink to 433. as fol¬ lows:. 149 to art directors, 139 in music branch, 80 to cameramen, 71 film editors. In technical classifications, nominations! in such fields as camera, editing now rest on memories of handful of men, emphasizing, Jong-held belief that films released early in year have less chance of 'winning nomination since' not ; easily, recalled by those working on nomination bal¬ lots in January: . In reporting rules .change. Acad¬ emy argued it now has enough members to supply .“representative, opinion” in all branches of indus¬ try. Last published figures are for January, $t which time Acad¬ emy rolls/total was 1,780—includ¬ ing about 150 meinbers-at-large, 100 in public relations, at least 150 others in categories which would de-bar them from nominating ac¬ tivity. =^==a=—=—si—• N.Y.’i TV Eatery New Gotham restaurant* The Forum, opening in. about two weeks in Rockefeller Center, is anticipating a large proportion of television and advertising ekecs among its clientele. * So the restaurant is planning to install jacks at each table, not only for telephones,, but for the small personalized por- r table tv sets plus earphones that will enable thie diners to monitor show or segments of shows while they eat. While bringing opera in English i by bus . and truck * 1 to one-night stands in the Middle West and Deep South, NBC seems to have won over to culture not only the natives but CBS and ABC- Ih 57 cities a new generation, of opera-goers, condi¬ tioned by radio, records and video, is finding good music, sung by trim young singers, not only tolerable but even a pleasure. Blot out a foreign language* slim down the sopranos from the 300- pounder who created Violetta, throttle down their strutting gesti¬ culations, brighten up ; costumes and scenery, and you don’t have to use a block and tackle to get pop and the teenagers out to the audi¬ torium in Peoria or Sagi w. You may even have to cultivate the principal to :get a seat in the sold- out high school when ‘Traviata” plays Florence, Ala. or Albany, Ga., for these: incipient eggheads in high EDW.G. ROBINSON JR’S ‘CONFESSIONAL’ OUT “My Father-My Son,” Edward G- Robinson Jn and William Dufty (Fell; $3.95), is the “autobiogra¬ phy” bf the screen star’s son, done in the manner of a “confessional” yarn, since, actually, no 24-year- old with few achievements to. his credit is in a position to .pen an “autobiography.” Book, there¬ fore. stresses sensational side of y o u n g Robinson’s : “unhappy” school life, the misunderstandings between him and his parents, his headlined tangles with the law, his .bouts with alcoholism, attempts at suicide, early marriage and divorce. Author cops the plea that he grew up in the shadow of ‘‘Little Caesar,” never was accepted at face value, but always as the son of a famous father. Considering the chances the youngster had, his parents' position and background, and with a thought for many non- problematic sprouts of equally well-placed, show : biz personalities, it is not always easy to; sympathize with this “boy who ..should not (Continued on page 69; ■ school and college orchestras kno\ and love their oboes' and violas. After a week of dress rehearsals during the last week of September at the ultra-modern G’Laughlin Auditorium: of St. Mary’s College at South Bend, Ind., the NBC Opera Company of 100 musicians and technicians moved on to the U; of Michigan, and played to other col¬ lege audiences at the Universities of Wisconsin, Illinois, Ohio, Kan¬ sas, Texas and Massachusetts, Mar-. shall College, Duke, Iowa State College, Kansas State Teachers College, Louisiana Technical Insti¬ tute and North Carolina Women’s College: Most appreciative of all campus groups was the all-Negro audience at the Jackson State Col¬ lege in Mississippi. Intensive selling by Community Concerts, last spring resulted ‘ houses cleaned out months ahead in. Evansville, Ind.; Topeka, Kan.; Port Arthur. Texas, Alexandria. La.; Newport News, Va,; Charleston, Wpst Va.; Kingston, N.Y, and Little Rock, Ark. (not at the high school^. Of the three operas, “Figaro” was the least booked by Judson, O’Neill and Judd, and this Mozart comedy* aft the book of which the author’s father actually died laugh¬ ing, was enjoyed in Ann Arbor and Saginaw, Mich.;- Springfield and Peoria, Ill.; Utica and Elmira, N.Y,; San Aiigelo, Tex., and Hartford, Conn. Ten cities played “Madame Butterfly” and “Traviata” was the favorite with 43 performances. Ends This Sat. (7) Riding herd on this 10,381 mile trek, General Manager Chand¬ ler Cowles flew from town to town, or drove in a de-luxe Oldsmobile, (Continued on page 16) * Geo. Barns as Piper Hollywood, Dec. 3. George Burns has been inked by Mode Records, to make his debut as a disk performer with an album entitled “Songs I Like To Hear Me:. Sing.” / Package will consist of oldies Burns warbled during his days in vaude. • INDEX Inside Music 58 . Inside Pictures , .......... 24 Inside Radio-TV .52 International 10 Legitimate .■■>*...;,... 72 Literati __ ..... 77 Music .......... /;..... 5 ft New Acts ................. 69 Record Reviews. 56 Frank Scully_........ 77 Television ..27 Television Reviews ...... 34 Tollvision ..;............ 26 TV Films 30 Vaudeville 65 Wall Street .....,....... 12 DAILY variety (Published in Hollywood by Daily Variety. Ltd.) $19 .a year.. *20 Fbreign.