Variety (August 1958)

16 PICTURES P^RiEfr Wednesday, August 6, 1958 Church Morals Non-Catholic Rights Again Erupts In A Boycotting Move "Lake Placid, N.Y., incident in¬ volving the Brigitte Bardot starrer, “And God Created Woman,” and the Roman Catholic pastor, is seen in the trade as both (a) “frightening” exhibitors and (b) encouraging other local priests elsewhere to take similar action. One theatreowner. said at the weekend that he had planned to book “God Created Woman” in several of his houses but that, in the wake of the Lake Placid ex- perience; he had changed his mind. “What's the use,” he commented. “It's all very well to talk about principles, but when you run a commercial enterprise it’s just as well to remember that the purpose Is to bring people in, not to keep them out.'*: Six-Months Ban : In Lake Placid, Msgr. James T, Lyng placed a six month ban for Catholics on the Palace Theatre, the town’s only film house, when it played Bardot. The Kingsley import is on the “Condemned” list of the National Legion of Decency. Later, the same local priest pre¬ vailed on the operators of the Sara- Placid Drive-In to cancel the book¬ ing of another Bardot feature, “The Bride Is Much too Beauti¬ ful,” which has a “B” (Objection¬ able in Part for All) rating from the Legion. (Distributor Jack Ellis, said he had not been informed of the can¬ cellation. as of yesterday (Tues.) morning. He said that it would Represent a breach of contract. He’s had no such experience any¬ where else.) Msgr. Lyng said his actions were . taken “in the interest of common decency” and should not be ident¬ ified as. the moves of any one single sect. In imposing the six- month ban on the Palace, the priest* also urged local business people not . post any program, no¬ tices of the house for that period of time. About half of Lake Pla¬ cid's population is Roman Catholic. However, during the summer, the community is swelled by a great many vacationers. The Palace is run by James P. McLaughlin, a Protestant. The Sara-Placid Drive-In is operated by two Catholics. When. Msgr. Lyng first approached McLaugh¬ lin he offered a deal under which the church would pay $350, or a Sunday’s receipts, whichever was greater, plus the cost of shipment for the print of a new picture, from Albany. McLaughlin turned down the proposition, pointing out that his house had play “C’-rated films before and without any interference from the church'. “God Created Woman” turned in the theatre’s second-biggest gross of the year. This is not the first tme that a Roman Catholic pastor has im¬ posed a total ban on a theatre af¬ ter it played a film considered ob¬ jectionable. Each time this hap¬ pens, voices are raised in protest.- The last two releases oyer which such issues arose were “Baby Doll’ (WB> and 44 The Moon Is Blue” (UA). The Catholic position in these matters is that the clergy is ob¬ ligated to “protect” the morals of its flock. The usual counter argument is that, in looking out for Catholics, the Church actually is depriving non-Catholics of their; freedom of choice and in effect is . acting as a censor for the entire community. There is some question: among exhibitors whether; or not the type of six-month ban imposed in Lake Placid actually is effective for more than a couple of weeks. Nevertheless, most theatreOwners don’t like to get into a hassle with the local priest, though—as in the Placid case—there is a tendency to resist at least on the picture in volved. Part of the reason is. that the attendant publicity on the at¬ traction greatly spurs attendance for the run. Pattern in the past has been for the local Church au¬ thority to eventually enter into a deal under which the ban is lifted in return for a promise from the theatre not to book any condemned films in the future. Already in Placid Msgr. Lyng in¬ dicated the ban might be lifted “under certain conditions," though he refused to spell them out. “God Created Woman,” easily the most successful foreign import ever fo hit the States, has run into a lot of censorship trouble during its release. The danger of colli¬ sion in the future, is . probably in¬ creased since distributors now tend to dub their imports to make them available to a wider U.S. audience: A number of new Bardot films (new at least to Americans) are coming on the market, including “La Parisienne” which has been ‘B’-rated. As importers pay larger advances for these films, they can be expected to become proportionately. more eager to avoid incidents nvhich might tend to reduce the gross. Though they are generally, cau¬ tious, quite a few exhibitors are Of the opinion that Church boy-, cotts of the type imposed in Lake. Placid should be opposed. Same is true of the independent importer- distributors: Reasoning is that the fact of a theatre’s bowing, be¬ fore the boycott threat is generally reported in the trade and creates a climate of fear (often exager¬ ated) which then. tends to extend itself far beyond the single film in question. Star System == Continued from page 1 a screenplay to a major film com¬ pany. An executive of the com-: pany read the script, said he liked it and that his company would be willing to finance the property if the producer could obtain the serv¬ ices of one of the male performers designated by the company. : The list Included the following; James Stewart, Frank Sinatra, Cary' Grant, Clark Gable, Gary Cooper, Robert Mitchum, Tyrone: Power, Glenn Ford,. William Holden, Gregory Peck, Marlon Brando, Montgomery Clift, John Wayne, Yui Brynner, Kirk Doug¬ las and Rock Hudson. Since the producer had con¬ ceived the production as a modest: budget entry .and since a majority of the performers listed already had commitments, he is just about ready to abandon his project. In the field of femme stars, the list Is usually smaller. Although the following is not meant to be complete, the distaff list is be¬ lieved to. read as follows; Ingrid Bergman, Ava Gardner, Marilyn Monroe, Brigitte Bardot, Deborah Kerr, Doris Day, Elizabeth Taylor and Audrey Hepburn. As a further indication of the concentration oh certain “name” performers, the policy of Metro may serve as an example. The company, which has been on the downgrade since the depletion of its private stable of stars, is mak¬ ing every effort to corral the “proper names” in its deals with independent film-makers. For in-, stance, the company’s 1958-59 pro-r duction . schedule. - includes such names as Frank Sinatra, Gary Cooper, Cary- Grant. Glenn Ford, Robert Mitchum,- Rex Harrison, Yul ,• Brynner, Ingrid Bergman, Doris Day,. Elizabeth Taylor, Au¬ drey Hepburn. Deborah Kerr and Judy Holliday. In addition,' the company has also set such “name”: players as Harry Belafonte, Ros- sano Brazzi, Jack Carson, Maurice Chevalier,: Mel Ferrer, Anthony Franciosa,’ Charlton Heston, Dean Martin, James Mason, Anthony Perkins, Robert Taylor, Richard Widmark, Paul Newman, Leslie Caron, Cyd Charisse, Kay Kendall, Shirley MacLaine, Maria Schell and Debbie Reynolds. SS Continued from page 3:=S which the film biz has stayed clear in the past. Several of the companies feiel that any deal’ with : the Soviets is Certain to ; be presented as proof abroad that, when it rejects any such propositions in the past, MPEA ; acted in bad faith. The Association over the years has gone to some pains to explain to its. overseas competition that, as an industry, it is unable to go for any reciprocity . arrangements, ’ there being no longer a direct link be¬ tween distribution and exhibition. This assertion has always been greeted with considerable skepti¬ cism Abroad. Alerting Non-Members, Too Washington, Aug. 5. Film companies not affiliated with Motion Picture Assn, of America or Motion Picture Export Assn, will meet Aug. 21 for a brief¬ ing with Eric . Johnston, and. Tur¬ ner B. Shelton, of the. United States Information. Agency; . Johnston and Shelton hope for a good turnout at. the meeting in room 5104 of State Dept, building. Purpose is to alert these non¬ member companies on the . status of the exchange of films between the United States and the Soviet Union. Censor Speaks Continued from, page 3 to be censored—And might, be banned—in more sophisticated New York, Pesce . said he couldn’t go along with the assumption that New Yorkers (not even metropolis tanites) Were more “sophisticated.” In any case, he noted, some other forms of control do exist in other states, whether . via police powers or other methods. He also wasn’t sure that the statement-^’These films play in other states and nobody seems to suffer 1 ’—was accurate. : Pesce said he personally favored the categorizing of films for adults, but added that this would impose certain a diministrati ve difficulties on his department.. He also point¬ ed to exhibitor resistance to such a method, though it is practiced widely in Europe. Generally speaking,: Pesce found more, objectionable material than in the past in foreign imports. "Because of the court decisions, we had to liberalize our approach and distributors started submitting more and more films that hit . over the border line,” he held. “The distributors for a while thought this place was wide open. Well, it isn’t.” . (Pesce has .been In the . division since 1952. He became assistant director, a year ago and: chief of the department last September. Sidney Bernstein is assistant di¬ rector. Division formerly was headed by Dr. Hugh M. Flick, now assistant to the, N.Y. State. Educa¬ tion Commissioner.) '=• F. F. F.. Films Ine. has been authorized to conduct a film busi¬ ness in New, York; with capital stock of 200 shares, no par value. Phillips, Nizer, Benjamin. Krim & Ballon were filing attorneys at Albany. Leon Fromkess, who has produced films in both Hollywood arid Man¬ hattan, says that union regulations in east raise costs and. discourage further production, so that films shoot in N.Y. primarily only when there is an overwhelming necessity for street exteriors and other , out¬ door action which Hollywood studios cannot simulate as well. Speak¬ ing as a telepix man in last week’s Variety, Fromkess spelled out the east-west costs in terms of union locals, the Pacific crews “making it easy” and the Atlantic seaboard crews “thinking of nothing but their. own paychecks.” He cites these differences: • * 1. In Hollywood, a producer can place a call for as early as 6 a.m. or as late as 8 p.m. without going into overtime. Crews get' straight pay for eight hours commencing with the time they report to work. In New York, any call before 8:30 nm. involves double time, for the period until 8:30; after 5:30 p.m., it’s also double : time. 2. In Hollywood, overtime is time-and-a-half, and the overtime hour is divided into six-minute segments, so that if a crew works five minutes over, they get paid for only . six minutes, of ohe- . tenth of the hour rate at time-and-a-)\alf. In New York, when a crew goes Over five minutesj it. receives double time for an entire half-hour. 3. Average straight-time work week of film crews in Hollywood is about 50 hours (actual time varies with each craft, but averages out to 50) ; in Ne\v York, it’s 40. Film companies, with large investments in their overseas produc¬ tions, increasingly feel that there must be an intensification in the flow of production publicity to American news channels. . •. That’s in. line'with the belief that, to create a real want-to-see atti¬ tude on the part of the.public,, the title of a picture and its stars must, be kept in front of the potential audience for a long time prior to re-r lease. Too many attractions, maintain ad-pub execs, reach the thea¬ tres “cold” and on the crest of a last-minute Wave of publicity which comes too late to hit home. It’s, a view very similar to the one held by many of the independent , importers who argue that foreign films would be well served by a con¬ tinuous flow of pre-release publicity from Europe. Effort along this line is being made by the French Film Office in Manhattan. Three major productions now shooting in Europe are keeping up a steady stream of news and features to the States; "John Paul.Jones,” which is current in Spain; “The Naked Maja” and “Ben Hur.” Latter two are shooting in Rome. European and American journalists are be¬ ing shipped to the studios in the hope, that their reports will keep in¬ terest in these projects alive. Mum on Id Week f 10 C Figures Stanley Pays 25c The board of directors of Stanley Warner Corp. declared a dividend of 25c per share last week on the company’s common stock. Divvy is payable Aug. 25 to stockholders of record Aug. 11. RiHli Frankiin a— Continued from page 1 vdice so readily (she’s done child¬ ren, dogs, bid ladies and imitations of Audrey Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe) agencies apparently have had no fear of her being recognized. Perfect case in point; U. S. Steel had her do ah old. lady croaking out the line, “Young people love soft drinks in cans,” and in short order the Glass Con¬ tainer Institute hired her to say in a little-girl voice, “Soft drinks taste good in bottles.” Miss Franklin started “faking it” about four years ago when, at 21, she played the running role on “Mr. Peepers” of a 12-year-old stu¬ dent. (She was the only moppet old enough to smoke during pro¬ duction breaks.) She claims the only “product conflict’’ she’s eyer : had is a con¬ tinuing one: a large number of actors, when asked for blurb credits, claim the Levy’s bread pitch as their own. N. Y. Censor Asks New Law Squelching ‘Extreme Brutality' Scenes In Films The trend towards brutality and gruesomeness in films is such that specific legislation should be en¬ acted in Albany to allow the New York censor to deal with it, Louis M. Pesce, chief of the N: Y, State Education Dept, motion picture division (i.e. the N. Y, censor) de¬ clared. Pesce reported receiving an in¬ creasing number of complaints, from individuals throughout the state, pointing out the increase in films accenting; “horror” and vio¬ lent action. However, he pointed out,..his, department is unable to take action even on the extreme instances since, in the wake of the “Garden of Eden” decision, its scope was defined to the subject of obscenity. Censor said his department would welcome specification of the censorship law to rule out extreme brutality. . Another, approach, .he suggested,-would be the setting up of. categories, separating the audi*] ence into juveniles and adults. Pesce said he had no quarrel With the operations of the Producr tion . Code, which is supposed to eliminate extreme sadism, . horror, etc. at the script level. Offenders for the most part are small outfits. many of Which don’t even bother getting the Code okay, but must pass through the N. Y. censor’s office if they Wish to have their pix played off in the state. “I see legislation aimed at these excesses as a specific need,” Pesce commented. His own department so far has done nothing to try and initiate any action in Albany. . With the increase in exploitation films, the motion picture division is. sending out more letters than ever, warning distributors against excesses In advertising. Under the rules of the division, a license can be revoked if the ads for a film are considered offensive. Paramount sees, no “particular purpose” in continuing the run¬ ning feud with drive-in operators, and particularly the Independent. Exhibitors of. New England, Over the terms-for “10 Commandments.” The company had been challenged by Edward W. Lider, president of the Bay State Allied States • Assn, affiliate, to issue the second week’s grosses of “10 C’s” in drivC-ins as readily as the company has been giving out the first week!s take, The film company’s refusal to issue the second Week’s figures is. taken to mean by . the Massachu¬ setts group that its : (the exhibs) claim. that the picture had ^flop¬ ped” at five Bay State drive-ins has been substantiated ; However,' the film company maintains that, if the grosses are poor for the second week, it’s the fault of the five, drive-in operators. Par’s, position is that the ozoners had publicized the;.withdrawal of the. picture and. had placed new adver¬ tising for another picture. As. V result; Par states; the public was confused and unaware that “10 C’s” was still available at the out¬ door theatres in question. Par forced the drive-ins to live up to the .original Contract which called for a firm two Weeks for the pic^ ture. . Although Par has been giving put first, week figures for various engagements of “Commandments” in drive-ins throughout the. coun¬ try, it has not as yet issued a company’s position being that it is “fruitless” to continue the contro? versy. It staunchly maintains that the engagements have been .profitable under the terms request- . ed by the company. Par has been charged With il¬ legal price-fixing because of its demand for royalty payments— 68c for adults and 30c for children the first week and 57c and 25c for the •. second week. Policy has caused the drive-ins to charge 50c admission for children. who have heretofore been admitted free. Beaver Talley’s Ji-Way 51 Drive- In near Pittsburgh has been trans¬ ferred from the New Castle operat¬ ing company headed by A1 Tate and the widow of John Wineck to the Cook and Anderson Theatre Enterprises of Beaver Falls. Pa.