Variety (December 1958)

Wednesday, December 3, 1958 PICTURES S RACKMIL OUGHTA TELL: EXHIBS 4 - Democrats Impact on Exhibs? On the basis of the recent Democratic victory, exhibitors—per Theatre Owners of America—spot the following trends in Wash¬ ington: (1) A climate favorable to the extension of the minimum wage law, indicating, according to TOA, that the industry may be faced with a fight to prevent extension of the coverage. Legislation on the subject has been dormant for several years. " (2) Little likelihood' of additional admission tax relief in view of anticipated greater Government spending. (3) Liberalization of aid to small businessj In which film houses could directly benefit: (4) A Congress more repetitive to the outlawing of pay-tv be¬ cause of the defeat of some Congressmen believed to have favored toll-tv. _____ Exchange Contract Talks Open; lATSE Seeks Wage Hike, Mgt Stands Pat The major film companies, ne¬ gotiating for a new contract with the International Alliance of The¬ atrical Stage Employees for some 2,000 to 2,500 front and backroom employees-at the 32 exchange cen¬ ters, reportedly have requested a year’s moratorium on the talks and continuation of the present contract which expired on Nov. 30. The lA, In turn, is asking for a general wage hike, increase in payments to the pension fund, and reduction in working hours from 37^ hours to 35. The film com¬ panies based their request on the current economic conditions of the Industry. As a result of a vote taken among the various exchange lo¬ cals, it was decided that the nego¬ tiations would be held on a na¬ tional level, with officials of the International office running the strategy and conducting the talks for all the local unions Involved. The lA negotiating team consists of Walter Diehl, assistant Inter¬ national presient;' Louise Wright, International v.p. and representa¬ tive of the film exchange employ¬ ees, and Harlan Holmden, Inter¬ national general secretary-trea¬ surer. Three or four meetings have been held so far with the film .companies, but, according to ah informed source, “they haven’t gotten very far.’’ About 50% of the employees in¬ volved consists of bookers and clerks. The other half is made up «f shipper, inspectors and other backroom staffers. Save-the-Theatre Plea Nosedives Port W-ashington, Wis., Dec, 2. , Exhibitor Dustie Martin, disillu- sioned and in debt, closed the Ozaukee, town’s only theatre, after : the final performance last Satur- : day (29). - Boxoffice has been fair to poor since Martin took over the filmery last April. The local gazette pub- lished his appeal to townsfolk for ' $1,800 In public gifts to keep the I 500-seater going, but “not a buck” had come in. Said Martin, “I’m I quite disappointed in the town.” s; ------ I GORDON SCOTT HAPPILY BACK IN LOIN-CLOTH Hollywood, Dec. 2. Gordon Scott’s new contract with Sol Lesser Productions for Tarzan features, following his pre¬ vious statement that he wouldn’t re-sign, runs four years, calls for immediate pay increase plus slid¬ ing raises over years. Scott leaves immediately for London, continuing on to Africa in about two weeks to start “Tarzan’s Greatest Adventure.” Pact permits outside pix. Actor broke with agent. Milt Rosnec, who opposed mbve, but Rosner con¬ tinues to rep Vera Miles, actor’s wife. Walter Meyers, his previous agent, handled new deal for Scott. Spam t Vox Pop Topt Madrid, Dec. 2. Annual vox pop poll of film fan mag “Triunfo,” an impor¬ tant trade event in Spain’s film industry, has turned up following: Best Producer—^Benito Perojo, “La Violetera” Best Aetreas —Sarita Montiel, same picture Best Actor— Vincente Parra Best Director —^Ladislao Vajda B^ Foreign Fflm —“Nights of - Cabiria” (Italy) with kudos to its director, Federico Fel¬ lini, and actress-^vife, Giuli- etta Masina. One tJJS. Mention —Heniy Fonda, “12 Angry Men” (UA) Jay Frankel Climates Russia and Satdiites’ Potential at $1,500,000 Assuming current conditions continue and there’s no interna¬ tional upset, the Communist orbit including Russia can be worth aroimd $1,500,000 a year to the Uj S.^^lm Industry, J. Jay Frankel, prez of M. J. P. Enterprises, esti¬ mated in N. Y. last week, Frankel, whose outfit has the ex¬ clusive Warner Bros., Paramount and RKO representation for the Iron Curtain countries, said the amount^ could grow “gradually” arid that he was getting requests for films from virtually all of the Communist nations. M. P, J., which is the exclusive film purchasing agent for the Czechs in the States, has a deal to sell Prague 10 films for a total of $125,000. Four of the ten already have been bought, including -“War and Peace” ($15,000), “Old Man and the Sea” ($15,000). “Moby Dick” arid “East of Eden.” The Czechs have made a $44,000 pay¬ ment towards the full amount. Additional titles to be bought by the Czechs include “Roman Holi- (Continued on page 16) Jack Warner Cheery A “vast potential for profitable operations in the business of "producing and distributing mo¬ tion pictures for theatrical exhibition” is within Jack L. Warner’s cone of vision. The pres¬ ident of Warner Bros., in. a letter to stockholders this week, said the first quarter of the new fiscal year expectedly will show a substantial upbeat over previous periods. He adds that in effect he’s high on the results shown by quality pictures, Warner states that as a result of the upbeat the company has been going after, and acquiring, “many of the most sought-after film pro¬ perties,including books, plays and talent Company now has more than 30 “major” properties' in Various stages of preparation for release. The- “major attention” is given theatrical productions, said the prez,'but still “significant success” has been achieved in telefilm-mak¬ ing. Fearful over the uncertainty sur¬ rounding Universal and unable to obtain a definite commitment from prexy Milton R. Rackmil about the company’s future status, a group of exhibitors have unofficially pro¬ posed the idea of forming a syn¬ dicate to buy Out the company. Ex¬ hibitor interest in such an idea is based on the trepidation that the loss of another important supplier of films would result in untold direct and indirect damage to the nation’s theatres which are al¬ ready suffering from a short sup¬ ply ot product. It is the opinion of exhibitor leaders that everything possible must be done to keep Universal, or for that matter any other film company^ alive and in active pro¬ duction. “If there is any danger about the future of Universal,” said one exhib leader, “Rackmil, out of fairness to the industry, ought to tell us.” He added that if the rumors concerning Univer¬ sal are true, “we Ought to be given a chance to try and keep the c6m- pany alive.” However, he indi¬ cated that theatremen, as well as the rest of the industry, are com¬ pletely in the dark as to Rackmil’s intentions. A Congress Fret Sam Pinanski, a leading light In Theatre Owners of America, ex¬ pressed the view that if there is any danger concerning Universal, the subject should be brought up and discussed, by the newly-or¬ ganized American Congress of Ex¬ hibitors. He ventured the view that perhaps exhibitors, acting as a unified body, could perhaps lend some aid in helping a troubled company out of its difficulties. He said he had been approached by many theatremen who have asked him what could be done to pre¬ serve U and other companies as active providers of product. Concerning Universal’s short¬ ened production program—^seven pictures as compared, with 34 a year ago—several theatremen ex¬ pressed the hope that they would have the opportunity to sit down with Rackmil to discuss the situa¬ tion and see what can be done to (Continued on page 14) Trend for Yank Distribution rnergers overseas at I times create strarige situations. For instance, 20th-Fox is now handling the RKO films in Ecuador. Deal originally was for Metro to handle the RKO releases there.- But then Metro turned over its product in Ecuador to 20th, and the RKO contract was transferred too. The Metro- 20th cooperation abroad is widening. With 20th taking on Metro in New Zealand, M-G in turn now js releasing the 20th product in Chile and Peru, and Metro also is distributing 20th in Viethnam and Siam, 20th is re¬ leasing Metro in Venezuela. Though the Metro-20th coopera^ tion appears to be accelerating, and both companies in turn are hud¬ dling with other outfits on similar mergers elsewhere, some execu-?' tives still have their misgivings. They argue that handling a com¬ pany’s fUms to a competitor for distribution deprives one outfit of its longstanding identification in a given market. Also, the cost of giving up offices and personnel in some places are exceedingly high and almost nullify savings from mergers. Nevertheless, what with pres¬ sures from all directions to econo¬ mize, this type of merger is seen as a dramatic gesture to prove the. companies are at least trying, j Hit 96, U Preferred Drops to 83; Decca Repeats 25c Dividend UA Repeats Divvy: 40c The United Artists board, meeting in N. Y. yesterday (Tues.), declared the regular quarterly 40c dividend on the common stock. It’s payable Dec. 26 to stock¬ holders of record Dec. 12,1958. Limited Reciprocity Not Acceptable to Czechs; Only Deal Now’s M.J.P. The Motion Picture Export Assn, has offered a limited reci¬ procity deal to the Czechs, but was turned down with a pointed ref¬ erence to the problems already posed by a similar arrangements^ between the U.S. and the Russians. Offer was made in Washington by MPEA prex Eric Johnston some time ago in conversation with Ladislav Kachtik, the Czechs’ ex¬ port head. Johnston said that, if the Czechs were to buy his mem¬ ber companies’ films, he’d use his personal Influence to see that the majors took on some Czech pic¬ tures in the States. Kachtik since then has signed a deal with J. Jay Frankel’s M.J.P, outfit under which M.J.P. becomes the Czechs’ exclusive agent when it comes to the acquisition of Hol¬ lywood product. Frankel in turn has first refusal right for the States on all Czech productions. Frankel represents Paramount, Warner Bros, and RKO in their Iron Curtain deals. Johnston’s offer occasions sur¬ prise since this is the second time that MPEA has gone for the re¬ ciprocity idea. It did likewise in the Soviet deal, though the term “exchange” is studiously avoided in the agreement. However, both parties pledge the wdest possible circulation for th&- respective purchases. The U. S.- State DepL has urged exhibitors to make ev¬ ery effort to book the Russian fea¬ tures so as to assure the showing of the Hollywood films in the So¬ viet Union. In the past, MPEA has taken a rigid position against reciprocity in its relations with foreign in¬ dustries and governments. In ari interview with Variety recently, Kachtik said he wasn’t interest^ in ally reciprocity deals for Czech films. “We’d rather just seU and buy,” he said. Although no official disclosure was forthcoming last week after the Decca and Universal board meetings, insiders insist that ne¬ gotiations for' Music Corp. of America to buyout U’s studio realty holdings for $10,000,000 to $15,000,000 are continuing be¬ tween attorneys for both compa¬ nies. All that was revealed was that Decca had declared a regular 25c quarterly dividend. Meanwhile, U’s preferred stock, which zoomed 23 points in seven days to 96, dropped to 83 this week. Some sources attributed the decrease to profit taking while others maintained that the initial, skyrocketing was due to “a lot of people who believed that the com¬ pany would retire the shares” at $105 par value in order to effect a merger with Decca Records, which owns 82i/6% of U’s common shares. One Wall Streeter, close to the Decca^U situation, said he didn’t see any reason for the re¬ tirement of the preferred shares, especially since Decca owned over 80% of the common. The activity of U’s preferred shares was somewhat bewildering to Wall Streeters as well as some holders of the shares. Commented one source: “Somebody has inside information.” Meanwhile, the confusion that has surrounded U in recent weeks continued as prexy Milton R. Rack- mil maintained his silence and re- I fused to issue any clarification of I the MCA-U deal. MCA officials lhave acknowledged that the talks I are taking place, but Rackmil has 1 refused to coni^m or deny the ■ reports. Reed, Greene in Spain Madrid, Dec. 2. Sir Carol Reed and Graham Greene are currently scouting lo¬ cations in Southern Spain for a J. Arthur Rank production of Greene’s latest novel, “Man from Havana,” which the novelist will screenplay himself. Greene told press here that screenwriting was not an unfathom¬ able technique and while he knew scripters with greater talent, he preferred his own screen adapta¬ tions as a guarantee the original opus would not be mutilated. “Man from Havana” is slated to roll next April, principally on lo¬ cation in Spain, with Alec Guiness in the lead. Universal prexy Milton R. Rack- mil, general counsel Adolph Schi- mel, and foreign manager Americo Aboaf have gone to London to con¬ clude the deal \vith James Car¬ reras’ Hammer Productions for the delivery of several horror pic¬ tures to Universal. The deal Was originally initiated by Alfred E. Daff, recently out as executive v.p. of the company. . Following his London visit, Rackmil will go to Paris for meet¬ ings with U’s Continental staffers. At the completion of his business there, he’ll take the polar route to L. A.. He’s due at the Universal studio on Dec. 12. 1 Reprieve Due For French Film Aid Paris, Dec. 2. As of this week it looks like an extension of the Film Aid Law is inevitable, but for exactly how long is still in question. Though passed by Edouard Ramounet, Minister of Commerce and Industry, under whom the film industry is placed with administrative guidance by the Centre Du Cinema, Antoine Pinay, Finance Minister, has held off signing till now. It is only Pinay’s signature hold- irig up the extension. He feels that too much money is spent on push¬ ing the sensational aspects of the French film (Brigitte Bardot et. al.), and is against subventions on prin¬ ciple. However, he offered a six- month extension—till July, ’59 for it runs out in Jan., ’59). W6’S$20-MILBANK CREDIT NOW $5,000,000 Warners is apparently cutting down on its obligations. Decipher¬ ing its audit-Latin, a bank credit of $20,000,000 has seemingly been reduced to $5,000,000, with a re¬ striction on dividends ($1.20 per year) removed. Still maintained are require¬ ments for a certain, unspecified working capital and a limit on the amount of company stock which the company may buy in. In the past fiscal year WB bought in 48,100 of its own common shares on the open market at a> cost of $950,000. Outstanding were 1,745,- 196 shares, exclusive of the 737,- 051 held in the treasury. LeRoy Crew Back West Producer-director Mervyn Le¬ Roy and his crew returned to the Coast this week following the wind¬ up of New York location shooting for “The FBI Story.” Footage was taken at the Yankee Stadium, Central Park, midtown streets and other Gotham areas.