Variety (July 1958)

li ‘VANITY'S’ LONDON OFFICi t »»♦ M«rttn'r Piict, Tr>f«l»ir l^u»r> P'fiSii&Tr INTERNATIONAL Cloak-and-Dagger Stuff on Both Sides—Americans Gave Gervasi Plenty of Letdown During Crisis Madrid, July 8. Now that “the Spanish situation" appears more or less settled, the. story can be told of how this settlement took place in the face of opposition, and cloak-and-dagger tactics on the American company side almost as much as from the Spanish side. Emerging as the hero after all these months of protracted negotiations is Frank Gervasi. the Motion Picture Ex¬ port Assn.’s Mediterranean repre¬ sentative. Early in April, two weeks after his initial protocol visit to govern¬ ment- film hierarchs, : Gervasi rush¬ ed back to Madrid ffpin his Rome base to negotiate a temporary agreement with the knowledge that one MPEA company {Univer¬ sal) was at the point of signing an RKO-type deal here, and that Warners was talking along similar lines with the local distrib, pipen- fa-Filmayer. In fade of all this, Gervasi got a handshake agree¬ ment from Spanish film authorities and maneuvered to prevent sellout plans.. There followed the lifting of the film embargo by. the Americans, and MPEA . Offered participation at the $an Sebastian? film festival before receiving the 18 stopgap licenses. From April 2, .when the gentle¬ men agreed. to June 20. when im- port; licenses were : tardily con¬ ceded. negotiations went on and on: On the one hand, the MPEA rep had to battle the “semi-re¬ bellion” of the Barcelona branch managers, on the other he felt the full weight of most of the local distributors, determined to elim¬ inate" MPEA in Spain. The handshake had barely been consummated on his verbal deal (April. 2), when Metro by-passed Gervasi and signed a five-ygar Six-pix-per-year secret deal With Dipenfa-Filmayer. one of MPEA’s more doughty foes. Immediate pic sale included “Silk Stockings," “Designing Woman,” “Quentin Durward," “Bad Man at Bad Rock" and “Interrupted Melody." War¬ ners followed on Metro's heels selling “Moby Dick," “East of Eden" (J. Dean’s first in Spain) and “Prince . and the Showgirl." The “seimi-rebelHop" picked up momentum as other U.S. compan ies were forced to counteract Metro and Warner moves. On government level, 18 prom¬ ised licenses remain unsigned as film officials moved in and out of Madrid for trade talks in Rome, Cannes Film Festival, etc.; With all authorities finally back behind their respective ministry desks, a wholesale erorganlzation of state film administration, involving a shift of film power from commerce and industry to the. information ministry, had MPEA sweating to prevent the 18- licenses' from get¬ ting lost in the shuffle; After two months of frustrated effort, Gervasi Was sitting square¬ ly on a hot-seat. Barcelona rebels came- out for his scalp, question¬ ing a policy of giving before get¬ ting, threatening other sell-out deals, refusing to honor MPEA’s San Sebastian commitment arid-} continuing to make quiet film sales to Spanish distribs in an in¬ dustry-where there are no secrets: Government negotiators, aware of U.S. company moves and under : pressure from locals, reconditioned release of 18 pix on. terms MPEA could never accept. / Poles Don’t Like Dogs Frankfurt, July 1. A new film theatre in the . Polish city of Bialystok, which has been named “Sputnik," is getting patrons all right. But it can’t keep a cashier. Seems that since the cinema opened, five cashiers have re¬ signed. They' objected to be¬ ing greeted by the customers With “Hiya, Laika." Sees Hiis Drama Living Forever Tokyo,. July i. “As long as I live, Shochiku will maintain kabuki. Nothing is more regrettable than losing the tradi¬ tional dramatic art of a country. A nation without a traditional drama is not a civilized nation and as long as Japan exists, kabpki will exist," So declared 82-year-old Takejiro Otarii, founder of the vast Sho¬ chiku theatrical, enterprises with his* late twin brother and . still chairman of the board for that corhpany. Otarii was respondin g. for Variety to remarks dropped by Shiro Kido, Shochiku prez, that the company is trying to unload the 300-yearrOld dramatic form which it. controls. Kabuki is a steady money loser these days. Otani, Kido’s father-in-law^ said he . well understands the position of. Kido. “Since he is the presi¬ dent,"’ Otani said. "Mr. Kido is responsible to the < stockholders for accountings of profits and losses. And because of kabuki,. Shochiku is not showing as r much . profit as others in the motion picture busi¬ ness. So it is natural for Mr. Kido to receive complaints from stock¬ holders. I understand his position very weil,” ! Otarii stated. “But come to think of it,” he mused, “the Japanese picture in¬ dustry was started from kabuki,; It received not only financial support from? the then-profitable kabuki, but many of the films were and are derived from kabuki lore. Arid most of the top actors have their roots in kabuki training” Government aid is in prospect for kabuki arid =. although Otani won’t look the gift horse in the mouth, he doesn’t feel it. is the final answer. There are now 10 kabuki theatres in Japan, all under the Shochiku banner. Five are in Tokyo, three in Osaka and one each in Nagoya arid Kyoto. Otani pointed to the reduction of kabuki theatres, as one guide to its de-popularity, noting that Tokyo used to have 20 or 30 kabuki houses and Osaka about 10. As far as attendance goes, Otani said ka¬ buki theatres are nearly. almost always full. V British FOm Unit On Harry Back? to Philly Harry Bache, Metro’s St. Louis branch manager, has been trans¬ ferred; to Philadelphia. He’ll re-, , ... - ...... sume the duties, in the; saleis d'e- j curing the last war. partment that he held in Philly ' Cast, headed by Robert Mitchum, before shifting, to. St.. Louis. • ’i includes such.: international., stars Harry Hopkins, who’s served as j as -Elisabeth^ - Mueller, 111 Athens. July i. Foreign producers still are using this locale for more and more pix.- Latest to utilize Greek backgrounds is British produce? Raymond Stross who soon will start shooting out¬ doors scenes for the film ^version of the American novel, ‘‘The Angry Hills." Picture will have world¬ wide distribution via Metro. It is a story -of international intrigue which highlights . part the Greek underground . movement played By ELVIRA MARQUIS Mexico City, July 8. Advertising in filrii houses has become the. Second largest major promotion media . for. consumer goods in Mexico in the" last few; years. It is topped only by ads on radio, according to Richard K. Tompkins, an American producer , of film and cartoon commercials here. Tompkins cites two reasons for. the preference of the audio-visual: rather than the printed publicity techniqufc-^l ) circulation of news¬ papers arid magazines is still com¬ paratively small in Mexico and (2) the always crowded theatres,. ae With seating capacities of 5,000. to 8,000 playing four to six shows daily, provide the advertiser with a huge captive audience. Government-controlled boxoffice prices. (4 pesos or 32c being the. highest priced ticket in a first-run house) and the current boom makes every Mexican a potential film-goer. .The technique-of flash-? mg the ads on the screen is simi¬ lar to some extent to that em¬ ployed on television in the U. S. Only the commercials in the film houses are considerably more, numerous and jthe ' audience can’t turn them off; '* -v Commercials typically come in a five-minute reel of four commer¬ cials, each running one minute and 20 seconds. Each reel usually con¬ sists "of two cartoons and two live- action films,; arid dialog may be included. But additional film ads pop up suddenly during the show¬ ing of newsreels, documentary;, educational and other shorts. Each 10-minute spool. of this type may be interrupted by five commercials, whose length varies from 10 .sec? onds to one minute. The ads have musical backgrounds, but the sales pitch must be in action only. •Tompkins, who heads his own Studio here,. is one of the busiest producers of! these, advertising film spots. Among his clierits are the Mexican distributors for Ford; Westinghouse, Goodrich, Kellogg. Remington Rand, Kraft, Lux and other American firms with sales •branches here. Mexican industrialists and the government also use Tompkins* services. For the government agency in charge Of stabilizing food prices, Tompkins is producing a cartoon to convince Mexicans to eat more eggs, a commodity that is in surplus : at preserit here. Tompkiris’ outfit is strictly a production, company. It does riot distribute the spots but sells them outright to the .client. Depending on the length of the film, company gets from 8800 .to $5,060 for a live action spot. Cost of cartoons runs from $i,600 for a 20-second spot to $4,800 for a one minute one. Tompkins came to Mexico in 1945 to represent RKO’s interest in the ChUrubiisco studios, here. He’s been on his own since 1952, In addition to tfie advertising spots, he now dubs U. S. telefilms in Spanish for the- 5 Mexican and South American market He works With a staff of 104, 100. of whom are Mexican nationals. Carlos Tous- saint, a‘ recent' award winner at the' Brussels World’s Fair for' an experimental short,: is production, chief., ZIRATO TO SPOLETO Also Conferring with Europe’s Top Maestro on Philharmonic Agenda a salesman in St. Louis for several years, succeeds Bache as St. Loo branch manager. Baker; Gia Scala and Theodore Bikel. Pic will be. directed by Robert Aldrich. Bruno Zirato, managing director of the N. Y. Philharmonic, sailed Monday (7) with his wife for Italy on the Giulio Cesare. After visit¬ ing in Rome, Zirato. will confer* in Spoleto with Gian-Carlo Menottf about the 1959 Festival jf Two Worlds in that mountain town. .;! Zirato Will be in Salzburg to see the Austrian production, of the new American opera, “Vanessa," arid will also confer with Herbert Von Karajan, top maestro of Europe, about his guesting this I fall at Carnegie Hall. 1. Ziratos will return Sept. 22. This Particular Foreign Vexation At Low Point Since War s End Cinerama for Sydney A deal has. been set for the opening of a Cinerama installation in Sydney, Australia. Outlet will be 'the Hoyt circuit’s Plaza Thea¬ tre, with the opening .scheduled for early September. Bernard G. Kranze, v.p: 6f Stanley Warner Cinerama, is also negotiating with Ernest Turnbull, managing direc¬ tor. of Hoyt’s, for the installation of .Cinerama in Melbourne. The first Cinerama theatre in the Pacific Islands area will be at the Princess Theatre in Hawaii on July 22 with “This Is Cinerama first picture in the three-strip me¬ dium, House. is operated by Con¬ solidated Amusement Co. Yank Film Biz Plea to Brazil: Motion Picture Export Assn, has urged the Brazilian government to lift the current lid on film admis¬ sions regardless of whether or not the current price control structure is retained. « Brazil’s price control board (COFAB) was due to dissolve last week. Many pressures have been brought to bear on the Brazilian Congress to continue, controls. Brazilian Seriate has just Voted to continue controls. MPEA'prez Eric Johnston has] wired Brazilian president J. Kubit- schek, stressing the need for a liberalized policy on admissions. ] Development comes at a time; when Brazil is expecting some $424,000,000 in U.S. credits to help it straighten out its balance of payments deficit. The MPEA position in this, the biggest of the Latin American markets, is that the governriient can’t have its cake and eat it too.. On the one hand, the Americans now must remit on the free mar- ] ket whereas, in the past, they were able , to transfer at least a portion of their earnings at the ] official rate. On. the other, ad¬ missions are fixed; precluding a rise in revenue other than via] higher attendance. British lion to By-Pass West End Pro-Releases Loridon. July 1. West End first-runs are no long¬ er to play a determining role in British Lion’s future distribution pattern. In a policy announcement .the company asserted] that West End pre-releases were of little or no financial value, an/d only have some wo?th in launching arid pribr licizing a picture if they immedi¬ ately preceded the general release. Rate of film rental from West End theatres is lower than in other situations throughout the country because the theatre operators have higher; expenses. Advertising and exploitation costs, chargeable against the film are onerous and even after a successful rim of six to eight weeks, the distributor usually ends up with a substantial deficit. British Lion said it would be its policy to open, in .the West End when possible, but to regard gen¬ eral release as of first importance: When there is no, West End spot available, British Lion will proceed with the general release as pre¬ viously arranged. First pic under the new policy is “Law and Disor¬ der" which started a rim at the New Victoria yesterday (Mon;) without a previous West End run. ► Cued by the general worldwide economic status, blocked American film earnings abroad have hit a rec.ord low. Situation ha*, beeii eased partly via Improved dollar balances in some of the key mar¬ kets and partly because of the ris¬ ing volume of Hollywood produc¬ tion abroad. * In a number of countries where U. S. film outfits at one time had piled up bullions in frozen reve¬ nues, the balance now has dwin¬ dled to virtually zero. Specifically that is true in France and in Italy. In Japan, the Americans twice haye loaned large sums to local hydroelectric power development companies. In other areas, com¬ pensation deals and International Media Guaranty programs have served to bring home the bacon: The Motion Picture Export Assn, cautiously admits that the situation is better today than it’s, been at any tiirie since the war. However, it maintains that it’s .difficult to¬ day to identify just what exactly constitutes “blocked" funds. For instance, in Italy, where monies are set aside for production, the lire are blocked (i.e., riot remitted to N.Y.) but they are deliberately earmarked for production. Metro alone is spending a small fortune in local currency -for its current “Ben Hur" production at Ciriecitta studios in Rome. ; In Britain, the companies! have no balances and have had none for quite some time. They get a basic $17,000,000 in “official” remittances anyway and above that can trans¬ fer funds as "bonuses" for produc¬ tion, the acquisition of British films for overseas distribution, etc. In fact, the American outfits from time to time have found themselves short of funds in the British mar¬ ket and have had to borrow to cover their regular remittances. In Latin America, the situation has improved too. Both in Argen¬ tina and Brazil large backlogs have been taken out. In Egypt, another trouble spot, U, S. blocked film funds are being thawed under a new ar&ngement. Granada Musters Spains Artists Granada, July 8. Seventh annual Granada Music & Dance Festival is again present¬ ing an unusual number of interna¬ tional artists and varied programs in an Alhambra setting once the most formidable Moorish citadel in Europe. Opening the symphonic portion of the festival, guitarist Andre. Se¬ govia accompanied by the Spanish National Orchestra undr'r the baton of Enrique Jodda, premiered a new work for guitar and orchestra by Joaquin Rodrigo. Artur Rubinstein was ovationed for his performance of Rachman¬ inoff’s] Second Piano Concerto, with the same orchestra conducted by Jhan Martinon. , Mid-way highlight of festival took place June 24 in the circular patio of Carlos Quinto’s Alhambra Pal¬ ace with presentation of two works of Manuel de Falla; “Sombrero de tres picos” and “La vida breve.” Antonio and an augmented ballet company starring Rosita Segovia, Carmen Rojas, Carmen Rollan and Paco Rqiz were cheered for ‘‘Som¬ brero." , ! Victoria de los Angeles shared honors with Antonio in “La vida breve” staged by Luis Escobar and brilliantly interpreted by Maestro Toldra, who conducted orchestra and chorus. Both works will be seen at Edinburgh and Brussels this year. . ; individual recitals by Segovia, Rubinstein and Victoria de los Angeles plus additional balle" con¬ certs by Antonio and his ballet company are programmed