Variety (December 1957)

Wednesday, December II, 1957 PfisztETr PICTURES FRISCO FEST: THAR SHE BLOWS Learning From Last Yr.sN. Y. Test,’ The Japanese' Film Week at the Museum of Modern Art during Jan¬ uary is partly designed to remedy the slump, experienced by Japa¬ nese films in America’s commercial theatres during 1957* Shigemasa Takarada, U. S:. representative of Japan’s Shochiku Co.* revealed in N. Y. last week. Takarada is in Gotham to help prepare the groundwork for the week which runs JAri. 22, 23, 24, 29; 30 and 31. 6ix features and six shorts will be presented. A large delegation, headed by Shlro Kido, Shochiku prexy, is coming from Tokyo. : : Unlike last January, when the Japanese sent one actress, this time it is sending eight. There also Will be six men, including a writer and a director. However, no male stars are coming. As last year, the' p.r. end of the affair, is being handled .by Marjorie Geiss. Sam Ishikawa will aid her and the dele¬ gation, Takarada ackowledged that sev¬ eral big mistakes were made in the. staging of the first film week. One of them, he said, was the se¬ lection of the films. This time* the features were picked by a special Committee, keeping -in mind the American market. However, no di- (Contihued on page 70) Jack Warner In ial of Blaus Jack L. Warner, according to papers filed in N, Y. Federal Court, last week, asked dismissal of a minority stockholder’s suit brought against himself, Albert Warner and Charles Allen Jr. He also made a general denial of all allegations in a complaint filed recently by Isi- dor Blau. Blau charged that Jack Warner bought 590,000 shares of Warner Bros, stock in the Dec. 9?13, 1955, period and l,t)Q0 shares; on Jan. .30, 1956; in violation of the Secur¬ ities and Exchange Commission Act. In his answer the Warner prexy claims he sold in excess of 1,100 shares, of stock on July 10, 1956. Moreover, bn July 13, 1956, he paid into the Warner treasury 6,888 shares which was in excess of the 1,100 shares he bought earlier. Other defendants have failed to answer the suit as yet: London, Dep. 10. Nat Cohen, managing director of Anglo American Film Distributors, planed to Los Angeles today (Tues.) for his yearly business trip to U. S. He will be three weeks jat the BevHills and 10 days at Hamp¬ shire House, N, Y. Object of Cohen’s visit is hud¬ dles with SAni Arcoff and James Nicholson of American-Interna¬ tional, who turn out about 18 fea¬ tures a year which Anglo-Ameri¬ can distribute this side, and other 'lop execs. Cohen is also planning to fix details pf American distribu¬ tion of the Tommy Steele film now in production, “The Duke Wore Jeans.” He also will negotiate for a top femme star to appear with Steele in his next film, which will roll in the spring. With, two studios available in U.K. for AnglOrAmerican produc¬ tion Cohen also hopes to finalize details for a series of; tv films which will be acceptable both .to the British and U. S. markets. ROBERT MONTGOMERY BACK Will Direct Cagney—Starring Bull Halsey Biopic Hollywood, Dec. 10. Robert Montgomery returns to Hollywood, after an absence of al¬ most 10 years to produce, and di¬ rect a film based on the career , of Admiral William F. “Bull” Halsey, James Cagney will play the title role. . Film, which will "be released through United Artists, will have complete Navy cooperation and will include actual Navy footage of World War 2 engagements in which Halsey participated^ Director Wise On 'Selling’ Job As a freelance film director with a string , of important pictures to his credit, Robert Wise is -vitally interested In the type of selling a project with which he is connected gets. According to: Wise, in N. Y. on a brief visit, he seeks Assurance that the picture he directs will be sold properly before he accepts the assignment. He maintains that more and more creative filmites Are seeking similar assurances be¬ fore undertaking a job with an in¬ die or a major company. “There’s no fun in making pic¬ tures if they don’t sell,” Wise com¬ ments, “if a picture is sold prop¬ erly, it helps the creative person’s position in the .business and the business per se.” Wise: contends that too many outfits slough off (Continued on page 25) San Francisco^ Dec. 10. A hassle for San Francisco’s In¬ ternational Film Festival erupted last Thursday (5) when Steve Cochran, who owns Western Hemisphere rights to Italian en¬ try, “II Grido,’’ threatened to with¬ draw picture. Festival is sponsored by Frisco Art Commission, headed by indus¬ trialist Harold Zellerbach; but most of festival. groundwork was laid by Irving M. Levin, local showman who worked closely with consulates to obtain films. It was the Italian consulate which ob¬ tained “II Grido” . through pro¬ ducer Franco. Cahcellieri, and Cancellieri flew to Frisco to be on hand for opening of festival at 1,000-seat Metro theatre. When Cochran, who’s acted in film and had been badly disturbed by fact that . Italian censor had deleted three scenes, heard pic¬ ture was to play at festival, he flew in from Cuba 1 to. protest, arrived in Frisco afternoon before the evening “II Grido” was. to be shown. Cochrari; through attorney. Nate Cohn, pointed out: (1) He’d never seen the finish¬ ed product; (2) Scenes deleted by Italian censor ought to be restored; (3) Some European film-makers: sometimes, add a few “sexy” scenes to films for export and he wanted to be sure this wasn’t done; : (4) Western Hemisphere rights were his and hadn’t been cleared. (5) Quality of print might be poor. Cochran demanded to see two? hour film and so at 6 p.m. a special screening. was held at the Metro, despite fact that doors were to open at 8 p.m. and festival show¬ ing was to start at 8:30 p.m. A few minutes before 8 Levin asked if Cochran was satisfied, that nothing had been deleted or add¬ ed, but Cochran wasn’t and in¬ sisted film run straight through to windup. Cochran was unhappy (Continued on page 24» With Lehman Bros. & Lazard Freres 'BED OF GRASS' ENTERS Customs, In Censor. Role, Feared Leading Lady Under-Garbed “Bed of Grass,” impounded by U S. Customs officials upon arrival in New York several months ago, finally has been released for ex¬ hibition. Print had been held. up pending deliberation of whether the film's star, Anna Brassou, was or was not sufficiently clothed. Decision against over-exposure was made; the. picture has been green-lighted. “Grass’’ was made in Greece by Gregg TaHas. Net, 9 Mos„ Up on ’56 United Artists’ profit and gro«s continue on the rise. Board, chair-, man Robert. S, Benjamin disclosed at the weekend net earnings of $2,363,000 for the. first nine months of 1957, up from $2,256,000 for the comparable period of last year. Worldwide film income in the new period climbed to $52,553,000, compared with $46,777,000 in the previous period. UA board at a New York meeting Friday (6) declared the regular quarterly dividend of 35c per share on the comon. stock, payable Dec. 28 to stockholders of record on Dec. 16. ♦ As Loew’s prexy Joseph R. Vogel continues to overhaul his executive lineup* the all-important question still facing the harrassed film com¬ pany concerns the future plans of Joseph Tomlinson, the Canadian in¬ dustrialist who recently lost hia proxy fight against the Vogel team. Will Tomlinson engage in a new proxy fight designed to unseat the present management at the regular stockholders meeting in February? Although there have Veen reports that Tomlinson and his associate, Stanley Meyer, planned to renew the battle, there have been as yet no specific clues. One recent court action in Delaware brought by a -Tomlinson associate, Ralph Camp¬ bell, might be a tipoff, but it is not in itself a concreate indication of Tomlinson’s intentions. Campbell obtained a temporal- 1 ' injunction in the Delaware Court preventing. Loew’s from paying out a total of $626,000 in attorney fees for the successful fight against the Tomlin- sca faction. Hearing on the. injunc¬ tion is scheduled for Dec: i9. Except for this act : on, there has been no. other omen. To wage, a proxy fight, Tomlinson must file a (Continued on page 24) Jeanette MacDonald , iss making satisfactory recovery from an e me r gen c y appendectomy at Georgetown Hospital, Washington, DC. To YOUR Best Advantage. VARIETY, in its more than 50 Years of Reviewing the Passing Show Business Scene, has. noted and annotated that Shows and Showmen who make the most of their properties-—from Script and casting to direction and production—wind up showcasing their wares to BEST ADVANTAGE. VARIETY, with its more than 50 years of showcasing. ALL of Show Business, offers the BEST ADVANTAGE for any and all Amusement Indus¬ try Advertisers. The upcoming 52d ANNIVERSARY NUMBER will work to YOUR BEST ADVANTAGE. Space Reservation at any of the offices! NEW YORK 36 154 W. 46th At, HOLLYWOOD 28 6404 Sinset llvd. CHICAGO 11 612 N. Mldilgoa Av*. LONDON, W. C. 2 8 Sr. Mortlii's Hoc* TrafalgarSquare Loews Hoped For Despite Serge Semenenko’s con¬ nection with Warner Bros,, Loew’s Inc. had at one time considered calling in the v.p. of the'First Na¬ tional- Bank of Boston for “advice and consultation” in untangling the $30,000,000 funded debt that is pre¬ venting the final separation of the production-distribution firm and the theatre company. Although some friction had been expected, it was hoped that he would work in cooperation with Lehman Bros, and Lazard Freres. Although the Loew’s board had approved Semenenko’s entry in the matter, his services apparently were never retained since the prob¬ lem was placed before the Federal Court. .Semenenko’s advice had been sought because he had nego¬ tiated the original loan in 1945 and 1947 and was the one responsibly for bringing together the eight in¬ surance companies that granted Loew’s the loan. Loew’s Inc. is hoping that Loew’s Theatres will assume $10,000,000 of the debt. If this should come about, it Will be necessary for Loew’s Inc. to obtain a new borrowing covering some $20,000,000. Meanwhile, th*e theatre division has some $9,000,000 in cash which |.the theatre board has refused to turn over to Loew’s Inc. in whole or pa'rt. This matter is also before the Federal Court which, it’s hop£d, will make its decision by Jan. 15. San Francisco, Dec. 10. United Artists will invest be¬ tween $50,000,000 and $60,000,000 for production in 1958, Max E. Youngstein, v.p., told the - com-. pany’s sales convention here. This will be for the releasing program of 1959, the 1958 schedule already be¬ ing ready. Roger Lewis, ad-pub director, told the session that a record total of $8,500,000 to $9,000,000 will be spent on promotion of the 1958 releases. Detailing plans for the full year’s promotion, he said effort will be made to get away from the con- (Continued on page 25)