Variety (April 1958)

64 INTERNATIONAL FILMS PUBOBff Wednesday, April % 195# Deutsch Style In Ballyhoo: Quiet By HAZEL GUILD r Rathskeller Theatre Photos displayed before the thea¬ tre are generally black and white, with little attempt at dramatic bill¬ boards or Inviting displays. With many of the ■ theatres located downstairs, it's often only a small outdoor placard that announces what’s playing below. SPIO, the organization of the German film industry, has just started a new campaign with the slogan “Give yourself a couple of wonderful hours — go to the movies,” reminiscent of the Holly¬ wood motto- at the moment, “Get More out of life.” But the SPIO try has met with much protest from the theatre in¬ dustry because the accompanying picture shows a young couple hold¬ ing hands in the theatre. And, catch what he’s missed unless he buys another entry. Dial phones in most German cities give a (daily rundown of what’s at the movies, another way to attract the public. . Once in the theatre, for 20 pfen¬ nigs (about 5c) there’s a program showing the Cast, production cred¬ its, and brief outline of the plot— 1 which is often treated as a ; nice souvenir, and influences friends to attend. Frankfurt, April 8. I ^’Merchandising” of motion pic¬ tures in. Germany is very little like the art of ballyhoo as practiced in the States. Premiere with kleig lights and standees awaiting the stars’ arrival are just about unknown here. When a first-run German film opens, one or two . of the German stars may be on hand, but without much fanfare. At. end the lights go up and someone generally , in¬ troduces the star and hands h»m Star aCcepts—and that’s it. The j First W. German-Polish One exception..which rated much applause from the press was Cor lumbia’s opening of . ‘Picnic. Tbo the Hollywood cast didn’t at¬ tend, Columbia gave the pic full, and fine treatment with, a line of limousines conveying top German stars to the preem and klieg-light- ing the event. When the film ended, the publicity men staged a “picnic” on the platform, with lor - cal players introduced and.handed picnic baskets. Then the group tossed goodies from the baskets to people in the audience. Every¬ one enjoyed the stunt. Motion Picture Export Associa¬ tion's Fred Gronich, then topper for the organization in Germany, started a campaign with the theatre owners for more, color and flair in publicity last year. But the campaign simmered down to noth¬ ing. And so it is—or isn’t—with the fanfare. Film Barred by Bonn Govt, as Co-Production . Frankfurt, April 8. The first West German-Polish co- production to be made is apparent¬ ly in difficulty,, according to word received here. The 'West Berlin CCC Production has had to inform its Polish partiier, Film Polski, that the film just finished, “Der Achte Tag der Woche” (The Eighth Day of the Week), can be referred to only as a German film “working with a Polish.associate,” and cannot be tabbed a German- Polish co-production . The federal government. at. Bonn has ruled that in the. absence of a government-level film agreement between the two nations, this pic¬ ture cannot be called a co-produc¬ tion. Film is based on a Polish script by a Polish author; with Polish director Aleksander Ford* was filmed in Poland and mostly financed by the Poles. The , Poles had hoped that this film could. be presented at the Cannes .Film Festival as a Polish production, with added draw of a leading actress, the German star, Sonja Ziemann. Some German pro-, ducers who are in need of outside financing, are resentful over this decision,, which apparently closes the way for further financing or co-productions with Poland. Now See ‘Madeleine* As Not So Big at B.Q; Berlin, April 1. It now seems certain, that though at first widely publicized, the Legionary,” an UFA release of • - i « - the German pic, “Madeleine and argue many of the film folks, [Melodie production, won’t bring in IffiSIS SWITZERLAND GERMANY’S BIG DfWD OF Frankfurt, April 8.. There are some 2.500,000 film theatre 'seats in the Republic of West Germany today. Match this against .50,000,000 poputetion. It means 40 seats per 1,000 citizens. West Berlin’s . concentration is denser, 50 per 1,000 while areas in the northern section of country, run as low as 35 seats per 1,000 census. , Trade, custom: about. 25% of the houses change bill twice a. week. Pertineiit theatre data follows: there’s not much difficulty in lur¬ ing the young people in. it’s the oldsters who need to be influenced, and this picture has little, come-on appeal for them. Most of the German newspapers have good theatre critiques, but a notable lack is-^gossp columns. Without the daily chatter of a Hedda or a Louella, the stars never come as close to the folks as they do in the States. Much of the color and back¬ ground notes re the stars -and the films that are fed tb folks in the States are. eliminated . here, Fan magazines as such play it square— photos of the stars’ homes; plots of upcoming films, but no chitchat. Sometimes a word or photo catches the public eye. For years after the Italian film “Bitter Rice” played here, a sexy femme might be tagged “bitter rice.” Americans have brought in some innqvations. United Artists, for in¬ stance, hired actors in clown togs to walk thru the towns when “Lime¬ light” opened. Occasionally an old streetcar covered with film ads runs thru the city. Mostly, the Germans stick to the trite. Since 1934, the German Self Censorship Division has been mak¬ ing a check of the film publicity material. Of 1,040 theatre plac¬ ards, 27 have been rejected, and 28 others have required changes (higher necklines, for. instance) to tone them down. Of 18,000 publicity photos, 200 had been withheld. Television K had just begun to be used to promote films. One Ger¬ man distributor. Constantin, has ar¬ ranged a half-hour show of clips from -its upcoming pictures with background about incidents during filming. A couple of advantages: all the better-priced theatre tickets are reserved, and are so'd/fc 5 *'- me per¬ formance only. Ticket buyer, can look at a seat chart, just as for a stage show, and know where he’ll be located. But if he conies in late, with the ticket for one per¬ formance only, he can’t stay over to the large amount of coin hoped for. Starring Hildegard Knef (alias Neff) in her first local screen ap¬ pearance in nearly four years, this film preemed here Jan. 21 at the Zoo Palast and ran. there only for 13 days, “Madeleine,” Incidentally, was costly to produce, and now the pro¬ ducer, may be lucky to cover said costs. Peter Schaeffers,. Melodie^ Film’s boss, opined that it would have been wiser not to launch this film in Berlin since there are too tough critics here. Objectively, many here rate "Madeleine” as one of'the better German films of the current season. GERMANS GET WORK OF SINCLAIR LEWIS Berlin, April 8. According to Paul Gordon Plays (Berlin), the new German UFA in conjunction with Melodie - Filin (Berlin) . and Sam Waynberg have acquired the world filmizatlon rights of “Let Us Play King,” a novelette by Sinclair Lewis. Mel¬ odie will produce pic by order of UFA.. Latter will distribute it. - This brief news item borders on the extraordinary since it happens very seldom that German filmites get hold of a work by. a famous American author and . practically never by such a famed writer as the late Nobel Prize-winner Sin¬ clair Lewis. Reason, of course, is the. money barrier. Ini nearly all previous cases, the Germans were unable to pay the demanded high prices. As to Gordon* the purchase of “King” marks a first in the do¬ mestic film Industry: Never before have the Germans acquired the filmizatlon rights of a world-famous American author! Financial details of this deal were not revealed. Deal, incidentally, was negoti¬ ated on behalf of. UFA by Gordon and on behalf of the property own¬ er,. Random House (Harry E, Mauie), and the Sinclair Lewis es¬ tate represented by Pincus Berner of N. Y. It was closed by a long distance call. Top German Stars (German stars are rarely under | exclusive contract to one film pro¬ ducing company only, so the dis¬ tributors are included along with the names.) ’ 1. CURD JUERGENS “Die Ratten” (The Rats), ........... Herzog “Teufels General” (The Devil’s General), . .Europa “Carnival Story,” ........ _.RKO 2. HORST BUCHHOLZ “Hochstapler Felix. Krull,” (Confessions of Felix KrulD ....Europa “Monpti” (My Little One). .. . . ..... UFA - 3. 0. W. FISCHER “Ludwig H” ...... ..Schorcht “El Hakim.” .......... .Neue Film “Schandal im Ischl”..... .Schorcht 4. MARIA SCHELL “Die Letzte Brueeke,” (The Last Bridge),...: Columbia “Die Ratten” . (The Rats), .......... . .HeFzog ”So Lange Du Da Bist” (As Long As You Are There), :..,.. . .......;....... . Schorcht 5. LILLI PALMER; “Feuerwerk” (Fireworks), ...v;v... .Schorcht “Anastasia,” ......: . CCC “Teufel in Seide” (Devil in Silk), Deutsche London 6. ROMY SCHNEIDER “Sissi” ; .(Parts 1, 2 and 3), • .. - .Herzog “Monpti" .............. UFA “Scampolo” .:.....,,.. V..... UFA (Three ; of the six stars listed above' ttrie either well or reason¬ ably well known in the States. Ciift Jurgens has appeared in “The ; Enemy Below” . and is com • mg out in several other films, in¬ cluding =“Me ar.ii the Colonel” and “Inn of Sixth. Happiness;” Maria., Schell : appears in “The Brothers . Karamazov” and has signed up to. do “Hanging Tree” opposite Gary Cooper, and'. Lilli Palmer has appeared in a number of American, films and on U.S. tv- Homy Schneider recently visited the States where Walt Dis¬ ney’s Buena Vista is. currently releasing her film, “Vidcie” (Maedchenjahre Einer Koenigiri). O. W. Fischer was signed for “My Man- Godfrey”...by Universal, but personality conflicts devel¬ oped and; he. was replaced with David Niven)* Top Swiss Hard tops List follows of over-l,000-seat bouses In the five key cities of Zurich, Basle, Berne, Geneva and Lausanne, (there are no over- All houses are equipped for CincmaScope. Those marked with an asterisk are also equipped for fourdrack magnetic stereophonic sound . Swiss Status Quo: 4-6 A Year -By GEORGE MEZOEFI- Zurich April 8. Production activity in Switzer¬ land this year looks to remain, within the nsual limited bounda¬ ries, Le. four to six features may be shot. Top and longest-estab¬ lished producing company Is Prae- sens-Film Zurich (Lazar Wedhsler). Gloriafilm Zurich (Max Dora) is second, followed by Neue Film A.G. (founded last year), plus a brand new outfit, Unitas-Film, also in Zurich, which has yet to start production. First Swiss picture this year will be Praesens’ “It Happened in Broad Daylight,” from an original screenplay by Swiss playwright Friedrich Duerrenmatt (whose “Visit from an Old Lady” Is skedded for Broadway as “The Visit,” with the Lunts in late April.) “Daylight” is in German with German actors Heinz Riieh- mann and Gert Froebe, plus Swiss- French screen star Michel Simon. An as-yet-uncast femme role may go to a Spanish actress; Ladislap Vajda, who did Spain’s prize-win¬ ning “Mar celino Pan y Vino.” is directing. Film will be in black- and-white, standard size. The plot is a present-day whodunit involv¬ ing a child murder, a wrong sus¬ pect etc. The offbeat story line promises a change - of- pace in locally-made pix which, in recent years, have been restricted to pop¬ ular comedy-drama and filmiza- tions of classical Swiss country-life novels. Praesens hopes to have “Daylight" ready for showing at the Berlin Film Festival next June, as Switzerland's official entry. Pix in Future Gloriafilm’s production plans are all tentative with no vehicles lined up. However, one or two features are likely to go before the cameras this year. Neue Film A.G., whose Initial entry, “The 10th; of May,” was re¬ leased at beginning of the 1957-58 season to moderate Tesults. will follow up this summer with a screen version q£ classical Swiss writer Jeremias Gotthelfs peasant novel. “Die Kaeserei in der Veh- freude.” Latter was brought back to public attention via a. success¬ ful radio serialization.. Richard Schweizer will do screenplay. Newcomer Unitas-Film starts shooting its maiden effort some¬ time this month (April). Tenta¬ tively titled “Golden Ox Inn,’’ it will star Schaggi Streuli, a big favorite here due to his starring in a string of moneymaking pix in recent years. Unites’ second pro¬ ject is a semi-documentary drama. “Glacier Pilot” It is set for fall production. Dr. Oscar Dueby, for¬ mer production veepee of Prae- sens-Film and Gloriafilm, is Uni¬ tes’, exec. Praesens is distributing both Neue Film A-G.’s and Unites’ product. All the foregoing is In German tongue. Production is non-existent in the, French- and Italian-speaking parts of Switzerland. So far, only two color pix, Prae¬ sens’ “Heidi and Peter” and “Be¬ tween Us the Mountains,” latter a commercial failure, and one wide- screen pic (“10th of May”) have been produced in Switzerland. All others Were in black-and-white, standard size. There exists one single film stu¬ dio in this? country, the Rosenhof Studio in Zurich, which boasts all of one stages with limited technical facilities. Major part of: local film¬ ing is done either on location or in “improvised” studios such as: inns, school-halls, gyms etc. . Swiss films which have Suc¬ ceeded in foreign markets and particularly in the U. Sv, are: “The Search” (Praesens,: 1948; released world-wide by: M-G). (Copped a string of Hollywood for¬ eign awards, including three Holly¬ wood. Oscars. It is, by a long shot, the most successful. Swiss release ever to hit the international market.). “Marie-Louise” (Praesens, 1944) (Academy Award *1945). “The Last Chance” (Praesens, 1945) (Golden Globe Award). “Heidi” (Praesens, 1952) (Sev¬ eral international awards). “Heidi and Peter” JPraesen*, 1954) (released in the U. S. by UA). “Uli the Farmhand” (Gloriafilm, 1954) (in the German-speaking market only). “Uli the Tenant” V (Praesens, 1955) (ditto). Gloriafilm’s “Policeman Waeck- erli,” a top grosser locally, did moderate biz jn Germany and Aus¬ tria, on generally good reviews. The same firm’s “Upper Town Street” and “Bakery Zuerrer” are lined up for German-Austrian releases. All Swiss pix exported to Ger¬ many and/or Austria have to be dubbed into. “Hochdeutsch” (prop¬ er German), being in the Swiss dialect which is the colloquial lingo here, but sounds like Chinese to most non-Swiss ears. > GERMAN PRODUCERS ON FOREIGN LOCATION* Frankfurt, April 3. Just as American film companies are seeking foreign locations for authentic backgrounds, so for the first time since the war German companies are going outside the fatherland for foreign locales. Liselotte Pulver, who just fin¬ ished a film for Universal in Holly¬ wood, is going to Paris to film ‘‘Der Spieler” (The Player), based oh a Dostoievski novel, opposite Gerard Philippe, in May. German actor Hardy Krueger is filming “Einer kam durch” (One Came Through) for Rank in Lon¬ don, with German director Wolf Rilla also set for the. production, Copenhagen is the setting for the filming of “Ein Seemann Geht am Land” (A Sailor Goes on the Land), starring Karlheinz Boehm and Annie Rosar and Georg Tho- malla. Arthur Maria Rabenalt is directing, for Constantin release. German comedian Heinz Rueh- mann is also filming later this summer in Copenhagen. He’ll play the lead in “Fuer xwei Groschen Zaertlichkeit” (Affection for Two Pennies). This is to be a Danish- German co-production. Finally, Romy Schneider, who just returned to Germany from tho States, where Disney is releasing her film; “The Story of Vickie,” now goes into a German film to be lensed in Paris. Titled “Christine,^ it’s a remake of the Arthur Schnitzler dramatization . called “Liebelei.” Robert Slodmak, Holly¬ wood director, has been signed by Gloria films to direct this pic, with Vittorio; De Sica as Miss Schnei¬ der’s co-star.