Variety (February 1959)

PICTURES 5 Wednes day^ February 4, 1959 ' mefr > The Role of Criticism Much has been said and written in the film - industry regarding critics and criticism, Bernard P. Gallagher who publishes a news¬ letter in the magazine field has commented on the psychology which often lurks in this discussion area. He is not talking about amusement trade journals but tradepapers generally in the follow¬ ing arresting language: “Publishers give way to advertiser and agency pressure. At \' least one top editor recently resigned, directly as a result of this. Top brass insisted that big advertisers get editorial break. Other examples are hidden beneath the surface. Pressure^ also coming from p.r. agencies that are subsidiaries of ad- agencies. Word is that some of these p.r. outfits are openly suggesting trade of edi¬ torial space for advertising. Dangerous development. Should be checked by publishers* “Watering down of editorial product is a blight of magazine publishing today . The middle position too often means no position. Lack of editorial vigor is especially evident among trade maga¬ zines. Fear of criticism is sfifUng. One publishing company has a clear cut policy of “no negative reporting ” A.strong industry has strong critics. It is self-defeating to silence critics. It is slow death for any publication to back away from hard-hitting issues.” •9 Admires His Media-to-Media Parlays Walt Disney still has Wall Street running a temperature. Downtown¬ ers’ affection is inspired by the way the producer plays one amusement medium to complement the other, with beaucoup profits results. Deemed impressive is the Disney modus operand! which sees almost every one of his properties yield¬ ing! money. Range is from theatri¬ cal motion pictures, television, the Disneyland -amusement park, mu¬ sic, publishing and fictional char¬ acter merchandising. | The newest maneuver of fiscal importance is via the financing and distribution of outside product. Not only does Disney have an owner¬ ship stake In these theatrical films he also is providing added material to keep his releasing subsidiary, Buena Vista, going at full throttle. To get back to Wall Street: Last week the Disney issue on the New York Stock Exchange hit another new high, rising to $49.50 per share, topping all film companies in terms of per-share market value, ; Total of 18,200 shares were traded during the' i week ended Friday'T30)r the gain was $1.87Vfc per share, and the high compares with a low of $14. Clearly, an investment in Disney has meant get-rich-quick returns. On the theatrical front, Disney this year will have productions go¬ ing at advanced admission prices. First, due shortly, is “Sleeping Beauty” which is to play on a grind policy but at roadscale scales despite the running time of only 75 minutes. Upped prices are war¬ ranted because the all-cartoon fea¬ ture was plenty expensive to bring in, the negative cost being $6,000,- 000. And, states a Disney rep, the public will pay for quality whereas quantity doesn’t matter. Second, which probably' will be at hand next fall, is “The Big Fish- . ermanan “outside” entry mad6 by veteran film-maker Roland V. Lee. This, allegedly representing a negative investment o£$4,000,000, wiM be strictly roadsh6w, i.e., two a day. a liisney gross income was up in airareas of operation in the last fis¬ cal year, with’ theatrical film rentals being the biggest source of revenue. It amounted to $19,167,- 47^ compared with $15,574,260 the yea? previous. Television brought a gross of $9,949,730, Disneyland $1§396,186 and the combination of publications music, records and character merchandising $5,963,- 875, for a total of $48,577,262. The total for 1957 was $35,788,242. Many-Sided Splendor Disney’s is the multi-faceted ap¬ proach. As one branch of the. com¬ pany'marks gainsbrushes off on the other. At least, this is his thought. “Beauty” is an example. The fairy tale, provided a full hour of programming last Friday (3d) on the producer’s ABC network alter. This provided exposure for-the soups, the characters and,, of course,-added up to a long,, long- trailer for the theatrical feature. Whether the latter. was a plus is open to some question, for the big-' screen and stereophonic sound yad* (Continued on page 221 J Disney Cross-Plugs Walt Disney’s deal with the ABC network allows for plenty of cross-plugging but only so far as Disney’s own'theatrical product is concerned. That is, Disney is free to'trailerize.his features on the tv airers but is restrained from doing this with productions which he finances and distributes (via the Buena Vista subsidiary) but which are produced by others. Such is the case with BV’s upcoming release of Roland V. Lee’s production of “Big Fish¬ erman.” This can’t get a men¬ tion on “Walt Disney Presents” or “Mickey Mouse Club.” But Disney will buy local tv time coinciding with the airing of his own programs for “Fisher¬ man” blurbs. Cues Par Bunching Four From Loren Today’s casting problems influ¬ enced Paramount to line up four productions in a row with Sophia Loren as femme lead. Although there’s been a traditional'aversion to having the same player in a number of features; Par’s thought was to avail itself of Miss Loren 1 while she was in a state of avail¬ ability. Also, story projects were at hand for which she Was suitable; production postponements 'might have meant the loss of Miss Lo¬ ren’s services or missing out on the stories. Casting obstacles have multi¬ plied greatly in recent years, along with the rivalry among'the-various lots for desirable scripts. They feel that now it’s imperative to make quick decisions anent available casting and selection of stories for the simple reason that the star who’s at liberty to work today may well be tied up for months begin¬ ning tomorrow. The uncertainties led to the Loren situation at Par. This Italian player is now on view with Cary Grant in “Houseboat.” Film com¬ pany has “Black Orchid” going intb release shortly, with this to be followed by “That Kind of Woman,” also completed. And “Heller With a Gun” went into pro¬ duction last .week. Miss Loren has the femme lead in all four. Further reflecting the casting problem is “Heller.” The produc¬ tion w&s-in the schedule for some time.but it was only a week before the actual, .shooting that Tony Quinn was lassoed for the male lead... .- - * Aldo Tonti, Italian cameraman, hired ; bjr Stanley-! Kramer for “On the Beach” in Australia: J. WalterThompson Savant: More Well-to-Do Cue More Ad Funds ■ - , - :-♦ Entering what is described as a period of “economic adjustment,” 20th-Fox this week was again giv¬ ing thought to an executive salary cut. Plan mulled would ask execs making over $1,000 a week to take a 50% reduction pending an im¬ provement of “conditions.” Same measure was resorted to by 20th six years hack; when everyone making over $500 a week was asked to take a 25% cut. Lat¬ ter was restored when income re¬ turned to a given high level. . Whether 20th prexy Spyros' P. Skouras decides to ask for the cut or not, he’s on record as being de¬ termined to effect a 25% cut in j the -operational costs of the com¬ pany which now run to about $100,- 000,000 a year. All the depart¬ ment heads at 20th are being put on notice to comply, which auto¬ matically means dismissals at 20th offices around the world. Total figure of about 1,000 persons has .been mentioned. Skouras is represented as feel¬ ing that times have . changed ’ for the film business, but 20th's opera¬ tional structure hasn’t changed with them. Issue might not have arisen for the moment, were it hot for the fact that the company has had a very disappointing last quar¬ ter in 1958 and an equally weak 20th Pay* 40c Divvy The regular quarterly 40c dividend on the common stock was declared by 20th-Fox last week. It’s payable March 28, 1959, to stockholders of record March 13, ’59. first one in 1959, due partly to a lack of top product and partly 'to ‘ the failure of pictures; like “Roots of Heaven” and “Barbarian and the Geisha” to turn in the expected strong performances. First firings took place In 20th’s ad-pub department where six were let go. Screen Publicists Guild took issue with this and, pointing to 20th’s ambitious production ( budget for 1959-60, urged Skouras | to undertake economies that would not involve loss. of personnel. .Skouras accepted the suggestions, but said the men would have to go anyway. Issue then went to arbi¬ tration, but was settled “out of court” before that. (See separate story.) While there will be no drastic changes in domestic distribution, at least not for the moment, 20th International is examing its op¬ erations with a view to -cost-cut¬ ting. 20th has merged with Metro in several territories. The ar¬ rangement went into effect last week. If it works out, additional economy moves of this nature in smaller territories are likely. Mur¬ ray Silverstone, 20th International prez, left for Europe this .week. He’s going to survey the situation with a view to effecting economies. 20TH AND PUBLICISTS SETTLE AXE ISSUE The N.Y. Screen Publicists Guild has called off • scheduled arbitra¬ tion proceedings against 20th-Fox as a result of a settlement involv¬ ing the firing of six staffers for “economic reasons.” The agreement, hammered out after a series of meetings last week, calls for the reinstatement of Harry Hochfeld, veteran em¬ ployee of the art department and former Guild, prexy; an arrange¬ ment whereby Charles B^llello, an¬ other veteran artist, could retire with full benefits. Payment of an additional four weeks salary (above the regular severance) to the pink- slipped staffers, Jose Shor, Betty Eisenstadt, Claude Baruch mid Gene Brown, was also accepted. -Floyd Stone, former photog¬ rapher-writer for-Quigley Publica¬ tions, has j^ned Modern Photog¬ raphy as associate editor. 2Gth’s New Stereophonic Hollywood, Feb. 3. An improved stereophonic sound system which will re¬ produce stereo from sound re¬ corded monaurally with a sin¬ gle mike will be utilized on all upcoming 20.th-Fox films. New technique was developed by studio technicians under di¬ rection of Carl Faulkner. Studio thinks so highly of the development that it will be featured in advertisements along with Cinemascope and DeLuxe color. A1 Capone In For AA Release John H. Burrows and Leonard J. Ackerman are a couple of young (34-ish) producers who formed a partnership, have “A1 Capone” as their first production and are now undertaking the “sell” with the key thought in mind of distinguish¬ ing their baby from run-of-the-mill exploitation product. In New York from the Coast this week, they said they went for over $700,000 worth of budget to come up with a quality product and this they’ve got to get across to the trade, the press and the public. “Capone,” with Rod Steiger in the title part, is to be released by Allied Artists, which provided the financing.- Burrows, previously as¬ sociate producer for Lindsley Par¬ sons Productions, is the son of AA exee v.p.-treasurer George Bur¬ rows. Ackerman, a lawyer, in past worked for New York’s Chemical Corn Exchange bank on motion picture and television loans and, later on his own, was legalistic rep for several individuals and compa¬ nies in tv. Burrows and Ackerman said they’re planning an extensive se¬ ries of meetings with influential groups, including the Friars and Lambs (who in turn have influen¬ tial contacts), theatremen and the press. Part of their message is that the real-life Capone, although re¬ garded as a hero in some quarters, was a “monster” and he’s so de¬ picted in the picture. And if there’s any censorship trouble they’ll go to court to fight it. Nothing official as yet but there has been some beep-beep out of Chicago that the local police, sen¬ sitive about seeing their home town as the site of gangsterism, might try to curb “Capone.” Co-producers added they can’t understand why some major companies have ac¬ cepted without a fight for-adults- only restrictions on their pix in Chi. There’s some harsh subject mat¬ ter in “Capone,” including the Val¬ entine’s Day massacre of seven hoods and a severe beating which Capone takes In Alcatraz, which might not sit well in certain for¬ eign' markets. To protect them¬ selves, Burrows and Ackerman had “cover” shots taken in production, i.e., scenes which can be substi¬ tuted for the originals. DELUXETOPROCESS FOOTAGE FOR TODD-AO De Luxe Laboratories in N. Y. P a 20tb-Fox subsidiary, is installing Todd-AO processing equipment. Program calls for the lab to be ready to handle Todd-AO footage by the late summer, 20th, having bought Into Todd- AO, plans to make several pic¬ tures in the process. It has aban¬ doned its own Cinemascope 55 process. Discretionary spending power, i.e. the amount of money available to a family after it has met its basic costs for food, clothing, shelter, etc. rose 63% between 1950 and 1958 and could go up another 90% over ’5lrby 1969, Arno H. Johnson, v.p. and senior economist for the J. Walter Thmopson Agency, told the Sales Eexecutive Club of N.Y. yes¬ terday (Tues.). “Families moving up to better income groups could take on great- ' er physical consumption of many products. The additional purchasing power is there even with higher prices, but the interest and desire has to be created,” he said. “We have the purchasing power and the latent consumer needs for this type of growth in living stand¬ ards over the next two years,” Johnson maintained. ‘Tew realize that we have, today, a $30,000,000 'backlog of consumer buying await¬ ing activation by increased selling effort. This, is enough additional potential demand to make possible more than a 10% increase in con¬ sumer purchases in 1959. “Marketing and advertising budgets should be increased by .10% to 15% to take advantage of today’s Opportunities. An increase in selling effort now can be an Im¬ portant factor.” Though Johnson’s remarks weren’t directed specifically at the film industry, they certainly seemed to apply. The very period—1950 to 1939—when, according to Johnson, discretionary spending power went up from $86,300,000,000 to $140,- 400,000,000, also marked the period when the film biz found itself in a time of crisis. It was a period, too, when the population of the U.S. went up ffrom 151,700,000 to 173,- 800;000. By 1964, Johnson figured, when the population will crest 193,- 000,000, discretionary spending power will hit $217,000,000,000, or 55% over ’58. By 1969 it should reach $267,000,000,000 out of a total disposable income of $470,000,000,- 000 (after taxes), which compares to a similar total of $307,000,000- 000 in 1958. Johnson cited the “habit lag” which develops as more families rise on the income ladder. By way of demonstration he took up the example of the automobile indus¬ try, which is now faced with the need for proving to Americans that 1. they need a car. 2. they often need two cars. Of the 57,000,000 families who today have a car, fully 13,000,000 actually need a second car, and the automobile market ac¬ tually could absorb another 30,000,- 000 additional, cars, he said. "To cash in on this expended po¬ tential will require aggressive ad¬ vertising and selling, because pres¬ ent habits and desires in relation to car ownership need to be changed,” Johnson argued, adding that the poor automotive showing of 1958 “can hardly be attributed to lack of purchasing power.” VOGEL BACK FROM STUDIOS Viewed ‘Ben-Hur* and Other Future Releases Loew’s prexy Joseph R. Vogel is back at his homeoffice desk fol¬ lowing tw'o weeks at the company’s studio. During his Coast visit, Vogel viewed four hours of “Ben-Hur” footage and other upcoming Metro films, including “T^e Mating Game,” “Count Your Blessings,” “The World, the Flesh and the Devil,” “Green Mansions” and “The Beat Generation.” With production chief Sol C. Sie¬ gel and studio administrator, Vogel discussed editing and scoring plans for “Ben-Hur” and also convered plans for launching a number of new productions In the next few weeks, including “Never So Few,” “It Started With a Kiss” and “The Wreck of the Mary Deare.” On his return to Gotham, Vogel con- [ ferred with general sales manager John P. Byrne on pix to be re¬ leased from now until the end of August ..