Variety (December 1957)

Don’t Call Me, Call My Wife’ THOSE P J. TOURS ^ Upgrading in Full-Hour GM-TV. : now under ^National Telefi^ ri ^sso 9 ciate? e bann‘er, HI T il II IlflTII HIP Flint! Site f Alf TolllflllllC Rv )ine up with a novel way of lettingpotential feature viewers . jIiIr II A| 1111 I H |ml_ I Ullllulv IVI IClClllllld} islf £11 uCtl l/jf what’s upcoming each evening—a method which may break . Ill Lilli HU I II 111 U ick of the phone company, but nevertheless; effective. {I f <11T W • J (II • If wives, of .station personnel have been enlisted in a phone By ART WOODSTONE \llPPACC AT W OffAII I ITQin Rfl IVDlTiru : The highly regarded, often lavish VUW C» U1 fldgUll li dlll, lflaVCnth Mirfneapolis, Dec. 10. KMGM-T V, now under % National Telefilm Associates banner, has come up with a novel way of letting potential feature viewers . know what’s upcoming each evening—a method which may break the back of the phone company, but nevertheless; effective. The wives of . station personnel have been enlisted in a phone call campaign to let potential viewers daily know what's the eve- : ning cinematic program. The cost? Nothing;. Private lines have unlimited local calls in the area for the same monthly charge. In. the phone calling brigade, there, are about 40 women, each making 30 calls daily, for a total of 1,200 calls daily, or 8,400 ding-dings weekly,'... The idea: grew out. of a recent situation in Milwaukee involving Ted Gott, NTA V.p. in charge of station operations, Don Swartz, the new station manager, and unknowingly, Swartz’s wife. Hus¬ band Swartz in COtt’s presence continually . attempted to get his wife on the phone, only to be met by a busy signal. Cott com- riiented to Swartz, “that must cost- you : a mint.” Swartz explained local calls arb unlimited. The light clicked. KMGM’s phone brig? ade has been operating , since, getting a- welcome reception in the homes called. * Squeeze Looms on Post-48 Pix For TV as Exhibs Press Demands The cinematic pool for television,^- ■ - —---—-- never limitless despite the huge I . U . numbers of features dumped on the y|i| DfCSlOW 10 LlV tv market the past two years, is # heading into a squeeze situation f Af AnthOlOffV SCFieS On the other hand, the Holly- ■■ „ . 0 *L Wood majors are being pressured - Hollywood, Dec. ID. by exhibitor organizations to main- ^ Lou Breslow has joined Ziy TV tiii a clearance of from five to to Produce aiiew anthphjgy tele- cpvpn vpai’c: between theatrical ex- series. Target,., resigning his pro- the other hand, the only remaining s u ° sl “; ,, n , pre-’48 studio library riot committed Breslow, -with Alan Armer was as yet to tv is that of Parmount assigned^ produce a new westerri PiMnrpi: series, “Man Without a Gun,” at . _ » ». TCF, but exited in favor of produc- • Recently. ing the anthology. Pilot of the tor ^demand, ?0th-Fox stated it is p ro je C t e d Ziv series was made a ready to esfabbsh a mumpum of COU ple of years back, but company five-year clearance ^>yer- tv- ** jj didn . t g i ve it the green light until thought that other ™ a ?° r ®tu«lips how. Production gets under way sooner or later wdl follow suit with ^oon after the first of. the year. a similar clearance, pledge. Before j oiriing TCF, Breslow was Such a stance by the majors a producer at Screen Gems. Would sharply diminish the poten- -—1-—r—— tial post-’48 theatricals for tv, when ' ' • arid if, a residual formula with the R ' ^ O Hollywood guilds is ironed out. PlVIA AT rflfiflKIIl Post-’49 production, compared to * UIV U 1 IIVUUUI the lush war . years and the pre-tv ' __ era, was down in quantity, with r O . . ^ f 7 B Ja’a^phf perlear, *“ ^ V u6fl6S I Of LIV Even with a post-’48 residual ; .. _ formula agreed upon, assuming the Q M |; Al itMUA/i five-year clearance; is. maintained A7 YlPDDfi rfiDlUTfiS by most of the majors, at this point « IIIVWIIV A VUIUA VU only about 1,300 pix would be __ „ . thrown irito the tv pool. The 1,300 • Hpllywood, Dec. is piddling when compared to libraries thrown open to tv, .the Mortonn-Fine, and David Fi. Hollywood, Dec. 10. Producer-writer-director team of Morton Fine and David Friedkih pre-’48 725 Metros, the over 700 have shifted over from Metro fea- Warners et'al. ’ ture production to Ziv tv, in an 18- In this .tight p0$t-’48 .pix situation which gives them a the operations of United Artists, tv $250,000 guar^ite^. ..-Ban, uhose subsid is unique. UA TV r which has former NBC-TV Frontier seizes released such pix as ‘’African has garnered critical kudos, will ci.ippn” and “Siiddenlv.” is oreo- Prep a minimum of five new tele- Queen” arid “Suddenly ” is prep- prep a nunimum bt live ping another post-’48 package, P 1 * nv Z ^ 7 Ur United Artists,' solely a distribution Additionally,^ Z }Y organization, has been able to get joises. in diiechon of e around the post-’48 barrier, via in- f ? at . ure S 1111 1^; dividual deals between the pro- riallze / - in f^ ri ® 1 ffi I fnn e ‘ ■ ^ • ■ , . operate in this area too.. (Continued on page 52) However, first Droiee Additioiially, ' Ziv is making noises, in diiectiori of entry into feature film area. If plans mate¬ rialize, Fine-Friedkm team would operate in this area too.. However, first project of Ziv. Will be tel.eadaptatidn of. “Bold — - w Venture” former radio series M VTA# AWT K A win A which Fine and FriedKin scripted lllVSlCrV HCfUIlS for late Humphrey Bogart and mjwtvij Laureri Bacall. Pair will produce n *11 if ift w and script, and additidrially, Fried- Still Pull Effi In pair’s five series, * ““ • * they Will act as consultants on oth- . er Ziv telepix properties; The ; rerun. ride being given to . ■ . ■■ adventure and mystery skeins by mvcm ynW DTTVC 'stations is supported by a number f[\iuLU llllA Pil lJ 6i rating histories compiled by Ziv. : '-'i«iiMra mnmiAvhA' In Charleston, W. Va. f WCHS- AUSSIE TINTERS TV, has “Boston Blackie” stripped fiUJ JIL till I EI\ J Monday through Friday at 7:30 San Francisco, Dec. 10. a m., against NBC-TV’s “Today/’ KPIX, the Westinghouse tv^er The most recent ratings for “Black- here, became the first, station in le” give the skeia a 9.6 American the U S. to purchase the Australian- Besearch Bureau average, against produced color cartoons, “Waltz- a 3 6 ARB “Today” average. ing Matilda” and “Christmas Bells. In Miami, “Mr. District Attor- Importation of the Aussie celluloid ney.” stripped at 4 p.m. on WTVJ helps alleviate pressure^ in this averages a 12.6 ARB. Opposite country for new anunated product “Mr. D.A.” “Comedy Time” hits a for video. 4.4 average and -Ten'4,Tops" a There 3.7. AS a twice-a-week 10:30 p.ra. toons in the flrst deal but^KPIX show on KYW-TV. Cleveland: ‘‘Mr., has made a deal with. International D A.” outranks its competition. On Television Services to take options Monday it scores a 20.3 ARB oppo- on 50 others to be jcompleted^later site d “Burns & Allen’s 13.9 and Down Under. Rowl Gr ®f" hal 1 f h ft PJ?' “Bowling Time,” which draws a duced the cartpons, With.fuHorch- 7 0 On Friday, “D.A.” hits 18.5, estration and chorus by the Austra- supreme in .. liiaft BpqaAwstmg Upmau&siM.a x , J By ART WOODSTONE The highly regarded, often lavish public appearance tours of the country by television stars, hardly mean a thing as program, rating j hypos. The failure of p.a.’ which J in each instance annually cost thou- i sands of dollars to . sponsors and ] tv companies, as builders of /tele- j vision ratings is based on the spe-. cial information of such activity by eight firms as supplied by Pulse. Two years ago, these junkets seemed to take on great im¬ portance, in light of the vigor per¬ sonalities expended in their, city- by-city marches. According to film syndication companies: like Ziv and Television Programs of America, the sponsors of their programs benefitted immeasurably, lia some instances, in Iheir relations with their .own personnel, distributors and .mefehandisers.' But, again, Pulse figures prove that the p.a.’s don’t add to the popularity of a show, among -the corporately, disin- ] terested. ’ | ABC Film Division, National Telefilm Associates, Gross-Krashe, I TP A arid MCA-TV had personal] appearance tours ineasured in the Pulse study for Variety; So did the NBC-TV and ABC^TV networks. /J There was little or no deviation, except, in rare instances, iii the ratings of a given show before, dur¬ ing or after a personal appearance by the show’s stars. The p.a.’s meas¬ ured were all made in either 1956 or 1957. Long-legged Irish McCalla apV peared in three cities in 1956 and two others in 1957 to plug “Sheena, Queen of the Jungle” for ABC Film Syndication, according to the raw info supplied by the syndicatorMn the one instance wheae the rating day arid the p.a. coincided on the button, there Was, In fact, a decline in ratings frorri tfie previous day rated. It was in Chicago, where the p.a. pn Nov. 11,1956; drew a rating that night of slightly under 3,2 The previous rating, Oct. 14, was 3.5. : lOG to Cover 5 Cities Actor John Broinfield, as fronter of National Telefilm’s “Sheriff, of Cochise,” hit 15 major cities for the company and sponsors between Jari. 16 and Feb, 18, 1957., Pulse had measurements for 13 of/the 15 cities. The changes either way were so negligible that it’s probably safe to say, that insofar as ratings were concerned, it wasn’t worth -the $800 or $900 bucks it cost Bromfield and his pressagents and personal ban-' dlers to. appear in each city. Eight or nine hundred bucks per town on” a p.a. is a conservative estimate-.of the cost; it Was reported that one tour of just five cities cost another company roughly $10,000. Rather than labor in excessive detail. Pulse ratings showed neglig¬ ible results, at very best, for Thomas Mitchell; pumping for “O. Henry Playhouse,” out of G-K; ( Continued pn page 52) JACK WEBB TO TEST ] TEOPLE’ ON KABC-TV Hollywood, Dee. 10. Jack Webb will sound out audi¬ ence reaction to. his latest, pilot, “People,” by showcasing ; it on KABC-TV Sunday, Webb, owner of Mark VII, said ad agencies in N.Y; told him. they aren’t sure the new entry will be acceptable to people; so he wants to get reaction of the public and “let them decide its fate/’: Webb’s move is motivated, be explained, because “everyone who has seen’ it in screenings in N.Y, liked it; the critics did, and so did the agencies. But the ageiicies said they regard it as new arid different, arid don’t know if it’s acceptable. There’s drily one way to find out; we’ll leave it tip to the people.” Othor TV-FUm News On, Page52 - Hollywood. Dec. 10. •rill r» i The “class” dramatic telefilm ine Keai ining series of the future will be the Chicago, Dec. 10. hour-long format, believes Robert WBKB’s publicity depart- . Horton, co-star of NBC-TV “Wagon : ment here had hoped to have Train” series. Trend now is toward fun with the buildup campaign character development in vidpix, for its Screen' Gems “Shock” he feels, which can’t he accom- filnis, but a true-life chiller plished well within half-hour limit- which the dail£ gazettes have ations. been making much of is turn- Also, hour-long shows, with big- irig the. playful pressagent ger budgets, can afford better stunts'into no laughing .matter. guest star names and story mate- Edward Gein, the Wisconsin rial, he notes. “Wagon Train,” he farmer who has confessed to observes, has instituted a guest murder, butchering and skull star policy, which makes, for collecting, beat “Shock” to the greater flexibility in story telling. market > and the Expansion to full hour length flacks jiow are leery gj ves advantages, but also pose* ;that their slqill and, shrunken problems, hie admits. For one thing, head gimmicks Will be taken “One man can’t support an hour- as morbid. l on g § h 0 w, week after week,” he ■“ l . 1 . 1 1 ■ states. “It’s got nothing to do with || ' ft || (ra* I the strength of the starring person- nf|/>| Oflllavi P Imht auty. lt’s a matt ’ working tine IvIvVUlftUCil 1 Uglll available to meet the weekly dead- line.” To underscore his position, IV 1 . • fl 1 he points to the fact that “Maverick” M|Y let in I UP to series, on the competitive ABC net, 11A lOl 111 Vjf vIV has recently expanded to two stars, ' ~ James Garner and Jack. Kelly. I Af O fl • His-pact with NBC permits out- lit NnarA XPiriAC side assignments, so long as no I v* vWllvv kAfllvu sponsor conflict shows up. Horton [ is currently dickering with Univer- Holl^vood, Dec. 10; sal to topline “Fox of Devonshire,” First off the ground In what, is a swashbuckling feature pic to roll r , bur^eonin; cycle SlubeSdy of flight vidpix touched off by the tion from his western character in missile race will be a series by “Wagon Trai .” McCadden Productions, which now By doubling up. his “Wagon” has a pilot in the editing stage. It assignments, he can get a couple will deal with *HT.liases of celes- “5/ or .? po f i . W f aSSig ?' .. , , f ment, he notes. Also, he’s triyng to tial adventure, factual and fiction. set a “Matinee Theatre” starring Series has a working title of stint during the next month. “Flight” and, according to George --— Burns, prexy of McCadden, “we NBC-CBS Eye Hour Shows will range far for our stories and if i? BC and sij w.. ^ CBS have new hour-Io-^, film senes It flies we’ll do it. The accent, projected for the ’58-’59 season, however, will be on human and with the former network having dramatic values.” Al Simon will already had some lengthy discus- prbduce for McCadden. its fifth tv MCA-Reyue on future .project' Under his supervision, ^Jfmats. Revue reportedly has three with full cooperation of the Air 60-mmute series in the blupnrit Force, the pilot/was shot in four sta S e - days at Norton Air Base, San Success of ABC’s “Maverick,” Bernardino. the steadily - climbing “Perry Series will be offered for sale to » lon S “ Wa ?° n start next season and there'll be 10)0 ar |- o£ c0 “ rse ' the no further production until an or, J e , S ° S l° r ./ pa ] 1 V, nS u tl>9 der is received. Show will be ?„ e *„ d toward the ful1 hour brought in for around $40,000, with iprmai * ... the Air. Force providing all unclas- * ” sified material, craft and necessary ■ j personnel: Wherever' the story Va|« f MavVATaII a takes us that’s where we’ll go,” 1\|||| I lflCl A Well h said Simon, “and that’ll take in missiles, rockets, jets, flying saucers m|\ 1 A I TV 1 and even Jerinys.” Most of the epi- I U A Vt/l/ilr IIaoI sodes will be shot on location. ■ £ £ £\. OlUvIl 1/t/dl Simon had. been working on the ' flight series since .Sputnik cap- Robert Maxwell Productions, tured the' headlines. It’s McCad- which does the “Lassie” series, has den’s answer to ad agencies com- ipked the first stock Interest deal plaint that no one is making with Television Programs of Amer- science-fictioh pictures for. tv. Ac- ica. ' tars will , be ^driwn from AFTKA Not affected In the deal is “Las- roster, with the possibility that a s i e >* currently owned hv t anV 11 at ® d C ' ert Maxwell Productions proper- Rented dramas. ties are i nc i uded in the exc i us i ve * production agreement with TPA, AinirnerD DITCril’C under which the outfit will co- ATiiIEUiJLK-IUJM/II D produce with TPA for both net- BEAL ON ‘SPILLANE’ SK* for Robert . . _ * t. Maxwell, exec producer of “Las- Anheuser-Busch has Inked a sie,” Rudy Abel, producer and large regional deal for MCA-TV’s Peter Frank, associate producer of “Mickey SplUane’s Mike Hammer,” the series, to act as production taking the skein for a five-state consultants for TPA They will area covering Illinois, Missouri; work with TPA production topper Kansas, Arkansas arid Iowa for its Leon Fromkess. Busch Bavarian Beer. The Robert Maxwell Productions Brewery also purchased a num- team came in under the TPA fold ber of markets for its Budweiser via the unique stock participation Beer. The Citfes and the number plan enunciated by TPA topper now: are being negotiated. Milton Gordon , when he bought Previously, the skein had been out Eddie Small’s sizable stock in* purchased by RKO Teleradio Pic- terest in TPA last August. At that tures for its o&o stations in New time, Gordon said TPA would hold York, Los ' Angeles, Boston, Mem- out a stock interest in the private- phis and CKLW, in the Detroit- ly held company for desired tal- Windsor area. . ent, as edntrasted to the Current Series now is In production at practice of talent participation in MCA'* subsid Revue Prddrietfens. * particular show. Rob’l MaxweD’s 17A Stock Deal