Variety (July 1958)

K PT&ttiETr Paris First-Runs Set Pattern For Paris, July 15. +' The old saying, “As Paris Goes So Goes the World,” may not be true any longer, but as Parisian first-run film tastes go so usually , go the audiences in subsequent and hinterland runs. The 1957-58 sear son showed a slight drop from the preceding season in pix. that had pulled in over 100,000 patrons for the first-run dates, but more than made up for it in hiked admission prices. So the film setup looks good here Even the recent crisis did not dent attendance so severely; Yank films got 34% of the market and the French product 579c, with the re¬ mainder split between Great Bri¬ tain, Italy. West Germany and Austria. Spectacle and comedy subjects were high on the list with more serious productions with off¬ beat themes also doing better. Easily the top grosser- was •‘Bridge on River Kwai” (Col). It was followed by the French com¬ edy, "Le Triporteur” (The Delivery Boy). Next group was headed by •‘Young L ; ons” (20th) and then a batch of French heavyweights and Charles Chaplin’s "King in New York.” . . ^ ‘Farewell To Anns High Kostelanetz’s Rome Date Rome, July 15. Andre Kostelanetz is back in the. United States for conferences with a television packager and with Columbia Records: He goes west for two concerts July 26 and Aug. 2 at the Hollywood Bowl. . •Kostelanetz abbreviated a Euro¬ pean trip the highlight of wh'ch was his appearance here at the Stadium of Domitianus, a firster for him and a sellout. D.S. Pix Tops In Stockholm, July 8. A total of 185 films opened at the first-run einemas here during the first six months this year. The U. S. topped the list with 50%, 93 films. With Britain at second _ _ ! place and 23 pix. Next was Then""carae the Yank "A Fare-; France, Germany, Sweden, Italy, well to Arms” (20th) followed by: Denmark, Austria, Japan and Nof- U S.-Italian coproduction, "This! wav nrppw Ni»ria'. Poland Angry Age" • Col.', and four French films. ' . - , Other Amercian pix to show brisk biz among the top 50 . were “Witness for Prosecution” ‘UA), “Pardners” (Par), “Paris Holiday” (UA), "Funny Face” (Par),.a rarity for a musical; "Brothers Karama- tov” (M-G), “Bonjour Tristesse" (Col), (par), - - ... .. “Bitter Victory’ ’(Col), “Prince and Showgirl” (WB), "The Killing” (RKO), and •‘Enemy Below” (2Qth). An Austrian pic in this group was "Sissi The Empress.” with most . — . „. . were “Le Desordre Et La Nuit, "Eve for an Eye,” “La Chatte”. "Charmants Garcons” and "Ca- s!n De Paris,” "Beauty Up His Sleeve.” "Les Suspects,” “Ta- mango” with Dorothy. Dandriflge and Curd Jurgens, and "Night Heaven Fell” with Miss Bardot. Hard-ticket pix held their o>vn w.'th ‘TO Commandments” (Par), which ran 22 weeks in two houses, "Around World ..in 80 Days” (UA), 28 weeks in two houses; Cinerama, 14 weeks in one house, and the French “Les MiserableS,” 20 weeks in five houses. way. Greece; Nigeria, Poland and Spain each had one pic. . Film distributors here rate the first six month of 1958 as very good. Sven Nygren, head of 20th- Fox in Sweden, declares that "we have released the same number of films this' first six months as we did during same: period of 1957, _, ... ^ . j but with a much better result.” Gunfight at O.K. Corral = other? film companies report' the Island In Sun” (20th),-j sa me thing! The film people here feel that Swedish film trade has no problem at the present. . Television means some competition, but on other „. iMiipieaa. "““Ihand, everybody seems sure that of others. Some r of ! it would be wrong to call it a prob- ' lem. . The Swedish producers have, had a great season, with. “Nara Livet” (Near The Life) awarded a prize at the Cannes Festival, and with Swedish films shown at. film fests in both Berlin and Karlovy Vary. Most notable longruhner at Stockholm cinemas is "Around the. World in 80 Days” : (UA), recently Starting its sixth month at the Ritz and still "sold out” at every per¬ formance. The horror film *age is bringing ' back oldies in that category. Uni- ! versal-International, for instance, ....... : brought out “Werewolf of London” niVR I0NFS FY.RKI) at the Aveny. Similar films of the i/JifL JullLJy JjA AM/, I Dracul a an d Frankenstein type are JOINS ASSOC. BRITISH expected ,0 get a ncw Jhan< *- ,o ° . . London, July 8, David Jones, since: 1943 RKO publicity director, is to join Asso¬ ciated BrLish Picture Corp. as con¬ troller of publicity and advertis¬ ing. He starts with the Elstree setup on July 28. C. J. Latta, As : sociated-British topper, emphasizes that Jones’s appointment will not affect their present flack arrange¬ ments but merely consolidate, them. /With the exception of a couple of years on a newspaper; Jones has been with RKO since 1930 and had been publicity boss since 1943. He is chairmari of the Film Indus¬ try Publicity Circle and has also: been press guy of the Variety Club of Great Britain for five years. Rene Clair New Head Of French Composers Paris, July 8. For the first time, a film creator has been-elected head of the Syn¬ dicate of. Authors and Composers here. He is picture director Rene Clair.: ■: Clair has given but no program as yet. He made it clear that films, an integral part of expression and entertainment today; will get the same treatment as music, litera¬ ture, dance and the: theatre. Its Problems Prompting Par’s Prod, of 2 Films j ; New Delhi, July 8. Mounting interest in Asia and its problems. is spurring the demand for Asian-themed films \vith world appeal, and Hollywood looking for such themes in. pix, according, to Luigi Lurasehi, Paramount Films’ director of international relations. Opportunities for Asian actors in these pix also are good, he added. . "Twenty years ago I would have i said the casting of Asians in Amer- ican pix was almost impossible, the Paramount exec pointed out. "Ten years ago; it still was no go. But todav it is feasible. Racial or color - differences do. not count; people are taken just as people. Lurasehi, who. is on his first Asian visit, stressed; his point by citing Par’s purchase of; "Blaze of the -Sun,” set in Viet Nam. Para¬ mount plans to film - the Nepal- backgrounded Han Suyin. novel "The • Mountain Is Young,” and Lurasehi is giving the Himalayan kingdom the o.o: for possible loca¬ tion shooting. Lurasehi is in this sector as part of bis tour of the Orient; the trek being tied to'Par’s projected production of "Sun V and "Mountain.”: ‘Don Carlos’ to Tee Off BFPA PROTESTS VS. ARC. EXHIBITOR TAX London, July 15. The British Film Producers Assoc, has asked the Board of Trade to complete negotiations Whereby a quota of British pix can. be exported to Argentina without payment of : the new . Argentine exhibition tax.; At j present, all British films shown in Argentina suffer a §.5.600 tax on ; color . films and $4,200 for black • and white prints. I The BFPA. regards this tax as ' excessive, and claims that it j makes trading with Argentina :. virtually impossible. From U.S. Armed Forces Heidelberg,.-July 8. In an unusual move here; the military:/ has just banned "Paths [of Glory” OJA) from playing on • the U S. Army and Air. Force Mili- i tary Motion Picture circuit in Eu- | rope.: Film, which recreates an ac- j tual World War I episode in which a French corps commander or- : dered his regiment to make a sui- | cidal attack, has been meeting ob¬ stacles in. many parts of Europe ■ since opening in the Netherlands. Stink bombs and riots have fol¬ lowed in the : film’s wake in Ger- I many. When it opened in the Brit- j ish sector; a dozen French soldiers j were thrown out of the house after tbssing stink bombs into the au¬ dience. French authorities threat¬ ened to buit the Berlin Film Fes¬ tival unless the objectionable film was withdrawn from : play luring the time. of the, Fest. And in an unprecedented move; the, French commandant of Beilin invoked Al¬ lied Occupation Statute 501, for¬ bidding any action which might harm the .reputation of one of the : occupying powers of Berlin, and { withdrew the- film: from all thea¬ tres in the FrencI^ of Ber¬ lin. . ’ ;' '> j After; French servicemen . dem- r onstrated at the preem during the Berlin Film Festival, the pic was i also withdrawn. Salzburg Fest July 26 Vienna, July 8. The Salzburg Festiyal is sched- uled.to be opened here July 26 with a .performance of Verdi’s “Don Carlos.” It will be followed by Richard Strauss’ "Arabella” in the Festival House with Joseph Keil- berth as conductor. The next , event in the Festival House, Aug; 4, will be a performance of Mozart’s "Le Nozze de Figaro,” produced by Guenther : Rennert with Karl Boehm as musical director. In the sector . of Contemporary works, the opera “Vanessa;” by Samuel Barber, is scheduled to be given its first European perform¬ ance in the Festival House Aug. 16, Produced by Carlo Menotti and conducted by Dimitri Mitropoulos. this will terminate the series of : operatic performances. West German Boxoffice Data . Berlin, July 15, Following data is just available from SPIO (top organization of the West German film industry), money figures (DM) representing Deutschmarks. Film Distribution /Distribution Source 1957 1956 New German DM 171.800,000 , 154,300,000 German re-issues --:_DM 400,000 1,600,000 Austrian . . ..... >...-. . .. ; : DM 35.300,000 35,400,000 American ....; ..>........ DM 106,000,000 101,800,000 French ,:. . v.... , .. . DM 23,800,000 16,600,000 British .. ...:..;............. DM 11.200,000 5,800,000 Italian .........;..:............: DM TJQO.OOO 11,400,000 Others ., . >....... DM 5,000,000 4,300,000 DM 361,200,000 331^00,000 1957: 1956: • 800,000,000 : 817,500,000 .DM 1,28 DM 1,16 DM 152,500,000 DM 150,800.000 ; Tptal . ' " . Cinema-goers . ............. Average admission ,:.:....;.. Amusement tax . ..... . ; (average 14.9% ‘VAUliTY'S* LONDON OFFICI . > If. Mtrtln't Hiiw, Trafalgar ., M ar> . Zurich Fest: Too Much, Too Many Zurich; July 8: . Eight performances of London’s Festival Ballet at Stadttheatre and ..three Marcel Marceau shows at Schauspielhaus won* top b.o. honors in second half of the Zurich June: Festival, which ended July 3. Most of the British, ballet’s appearances, presenting three different programs, were capacity or near, whereas the French mime played to SRO houses on his fifth Zurich tour, as in previous years.. Other events in the fest’s concluding half, included Britain’s Bristol Old Vic Co. with G. B. Shaw’s “Man and Superman” at Schauspielhaus and;, at the same house, the Paris Theatre du Vieux- . Colpmbier with a French, classic, Jean Racine’s “Britannicus,” superbly played by Daniel Ivernel, Marguerite Jamois. Raymond Gerome, Emmanuele Riva, Hubert Noel and Claude -Martin, di¬ rected by Gerome. Both- scored heavily, but failed to: sell ;out. In the opera department; Stadttheatre presented a new produc¬ tion of Mozart’s . “Nozze di. Figaro,” earning only fair reviews; plus repertory pieces “Fidelio” and “Tosca” of which latter fared, considerably better at the b.o. thanks to an excellent cast includ¬ ing Birgit Nilsson; Met tenor Eugenio Fernandi and German bari¬ tone Heinz Imdahl. Ticket sales for many of this year’s fest performances were gen¬ erally so-so, with some exceptions. ThisTooks due to the fact that. (1) the schedule was considered bvercharged, with five-legit plays in four languages, nine operas in German and Italian; nine ballets . plus the Marceau program of pantomimes; (2) some of the tariffs were too stiff, ranging up to $8 top for some operas; and (3) some performances, especially operas, lacked distinction and were deemed below par for a festival production. Legit presentations were almost unanimously well: received, but only classical German comedy “Amphitryon” by Heinrich von Kleist, Jean Anouilh’s "Rehearsal, or Punished JLove” by the Madeleihe Renaud-Jean- Louis Barrault outfit plus the Marceau show succeeded in draw¬ ing capacity crowds. \ ^Mezo. ' Giant Hike in Star Salaries In Germany Seen Big Film Problem ——— : --- : — : -—rf Frankfurt, July 8, Assoc.-British’s TV Coin London, July 8. Sir Philip Warter. chairman of Associated - British Picture Corp., which controls Associated British commercial ty, has good news for his shareholders: They share m the biggest payout yet from tv, with the dividend being upped from 20% to 30%. With the profits rising from $7,228,546 to $9,774,783, the com¬ pany’s 71c shares have, rocketed by 22c to $3. Aussie Pix Prod. Sydney, July 8, General opinion in Aussie politi¬ cal circles is that the Robert. Men- zies Liberal government will not heed to requests from film pro¬ ducers here to financially back film production ih a major effort to keep the home-brew studios Operat¬ ing. Also considered unlikely that the Joe Cahill Labor government,; headquartered in New South Wales, -will unleash treasury coin to aid a production upbeat here. Premier Cahill is presently in the U.S. and is reported seeking to interest Hollywood film men. to make a pic or two in this territory. Presently, there is very little ac¬ tivity. on the homefront . produc¬ tion scene. Harry Watt,. Ealing director who has made several films here, said he believed the government could help producers by making finance available via loans to genuine producers. Watt is currently filming a local yarn under the Ealing banner with British and local talent. Chips. Rafferty, who has starred in a batch of native films and is also a producer With Southern International Films, said that the local industry needed a govern¬ ment film fund, to which a bona fide producer could go and secure assistance on the presentation of a good script, a reasonable budget, cast list,'etc. Extend Italo-German Pact Rome, July 8. The German-Italian film agree¬ ment, regarded vital to the future of the European Common Market scheme foundation, has been ex¬ tended here for another year fol¬ lowing talks by German and Ital¬ ian pic industry reps. Certain changes are announced in the pact extension.which gov¬ erns pic exchange between the two countries as well as coproduction, efforts. Variations are said to be designed to "develop and strength¬ en relations” between the two mar jor film producing nations. The greatly Increased film star salaries in Germany are going to cause the same disaster in the German film industry that has oc¬ curred in America, according to article in Der Spiegel (The Mir¬ ror), No. 1 weekly news magazine in West Germany. Quoting sta- ! tisties of the West German Film Producers Assn., the article points, out that while other .film produc- ! tion costs have shown about a 50%. increase since 1953, salaries of "the expensive 12” leading film stars in West Germany have gone up to 300%. A film star’s salary now represents-a fifth of all film. \ production costs in West Germany. In .1953; income for a top star was $7,500 to $15,000 for one Tole. The salary had risen in 1955: to $10,000 to $25,000. By 1956 the fee for a top star was from $12,500 to $50,000. And salaries still are climbing. While. Romy Schneider, leading ingenue in Germany, earned $6,- 250 for her first film role in "Sissy” three years ago, her price shot up to 500,000 marks ($125,000) for. her part in the .new Germaii- French co-production "Liebelei.* German actress. Maria Schell pulled down $100,000 for her part in - "The Brothers Karamazov” (M-G) in Holly wood, and this has upped her price in Germany. Like¬ wise, Curd Juergen’s international fame means that he now com¬ mands as high as $200,000 for a part in a picture. While the international prestige of such stars as Maria Schell and Curd Juergens and Liselotte Pul- ver has also made Jthem more popr ular at home, and has made their pictures more acceptable in other, than West German markets, the article, emphasizes, it will now be absolutely necessary to make co¬ productions or to get foreign re¬ leases on German films in order to break even with these costly stars —the same .problem that Holly¬ wood had to meet. Based on their popularity in the States, Hildegard Kneff . and Lilli Palmer earn around $25,000 for a film In Germany. And Romy Schneider, Nadja Tiller, Ruth Leuwerik, Horst Buchholz, Peter Alexander, Hardy Kruger, Heinz Ruelimann, Louise Ulrich, Marika Rokk, Li$elotte Pulver, Sonja Zie- mann and Karlheinz Boehm are ] the other stars in the ”$25,000 per j film” category. Singapore Chain Adds 2 Cathay Organization’ in Singa¬ pore plans to add two new theatres to its chain of over 50 houses. One is the 700-seat Cathay Cinema in Bukit Mertajani, due to open Fri-. diay (11); The other . is. the 1 . 000 -seat Cathay Cinema,, Johore Bahru, set to open July 22, 1958. Several ad¬ ditional theatres are under con¬ struction, including one in Singa¬ pore. .