Variety (February 1959)

24 HCIDUS P&3BtT Wednesday, Miffliry 4j 1959* ; O’Donnell Committee Scheme to End Long tiripe of ‘Scooped* Coinm«rcial Th^dref Details of Theatre Owners of America’s plan, to have military post theatres book* their films through the regular film exchanges and thus play features after in¬ stead of before commercial thea- tres'were disclosed this week by Robert J. O’Donnell, chairman ,of TOA s s Army-Navy Pre-Release Coimaittee. O’Donnell'indicated that all films w ould continue to be. available to camp theatres, but that the military theatres would play films only after they had completed commercial theatre rims. He said he had personally pledged to the armed' farces that exhibition and distribution would cooperate to assure that all films would be made available to mili¬ tary theatres; just as quickly as they cleared commercial theatres, and added that the present satura¬ tion playing schedules will work te speed military availability. According to O’Donnell, military posts in isolated areas where there is no competition with commercial houses would undoubtedly be given immediate availability l^r the ex¬ change area. It Was highly po^ible, he noted, that in some Instances where a film is not played off by commercial theatres within a spe¬ cified time after becoming avail¬ able in the exchange area, it would arbitrarily be given to the military post. O’Donnell, accompanied by mem¬ bers of his committee and reps of distribution, made these proposals to Assistant Secretary of Defei&e Charles Finucane last week at the Pentagon. The plan is now be¬ ing studied by the chiefs of the Army-Air Force and Navy Motion Picture Services. O’Donnell noted that Finncane had expressed some fears that the TOA proposal would mean that military theatres would automati¬ cally have a three or four month delay after the pictures became available in the individual ex¬ change. However, the Government official was assured that this would not happen, because in this period of reduced, production, pictures normally play through an exchange rapidly- O’Donnell also pointed out that during the transition period for the changeover from the present policy to the TOA-advanced onev| the military would have sufficient product to operate without danger of interruption of its present pro¬ gram because Of a shortage of films. The only pictures the mili¬ tary might miss during the transi¬ tion, ODoonell said, were a few of the blockbusters, which would be available later on. The TGA spokesman told Finu- cane that the only problem Hie military should face would be an increased work load on military bookers who would now have to work with the film exchanges in their area where formerly they had only to deal-With their Washington headquarters. O’Donnell assured the Secretary of the cooperation o f exhibition and distribution in assisting the military bookers. A reply from the Secretary is ex¬ pected shortly. RENEW TRY FOR CHANGE IN N.Y. CENSOR FEES Albany, Feb. 3. Another round in the fight to re-, duce the State’s take via “censor- ing’ 1 fees charged by the Motion Picture Division of State Educa¬ tion Dept will be fought in the Legislature and will perhaps be finally decided by Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller. His predecessor, Averell Harri- man, twice vetoed bills which would have increased the charge on first negative $3 to $4 per 1,000 feetf but would have decreased the rate' for prints from $2 for 1,000 feet' to $4 for "each additional en¬ tire copy.” In his last message of disap¬ proval — April, 1957 — Uarrimah pointed out that the bill would cost the State $300,000 in annual rev- end£; that the lawmakers* in' adopt:' y fed to provide'siib- British Cinema, Open Only 2 Years, Folds ' London, Feb. 3. A new Hull <Yorks) cinema built only two years, ago at a cost of about $280,000, shuttered at the end of last week because of lack of support. It is the city’s fourth film house to go dark "in recent weeks. Brinley Evans, managing direc¬ tor of the theatre—the Berkeley— blamed tv, high admission taxes and hire-purchase commitments for the failure of the venture. Asiatic Trouble Zones to See Eric Johnston Eric Johnston, president of the Motion Picture Export Assn., leaves today (Wed.) for Japan, the first leg of a five-week trip to the Far East that will take him also to Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand. There’s for the moment no provisions for a stopover either in India: or in the Philippines.. (Johnston may include India in his Itinerary, MPEA said yesterday (Tues.) Though the industry is having considerable trouble both in* Indo¬ nesia and in Taiwan, Japan is far and away the.most important'of Johnston’s stops. The Japanese during the past year have become steadily more restrictive. There’s danger of more of the. same f or the new film year, wMch starts April 1, 1959. While _in Tokyo, Johnston pre- ; Sumably also will finalize arrange¬ ments for the thud UJ5. industry- loan to. Japanese Hydroelectric power development. Negotiations for the loan are complete. In TrrdATiPsifl, J ohns ton expects to huddle with government offir cials^ on “various tightened restrict tionsVoh U.S. pjx, including, fewer permits and remittance problems. According Jo MPEA, these regu¬ lations have so .substantially re¬ duced American film earnings jn Indoneisa that ‘‘a full reappraisal of -industry operating policies is deemed essential.” Johnston will be accompanied on his trip by Irving Mass, MPEA’s Far Eastern supervisor. • PRODUCER GOES WRITER AND THAT’S A NOVELTY Hollywood, Feb. 3. Writers turn producer almost daily, but the spring get£ pretty dry waiting for a producer to do a similar about-face. In settling his releasing deal with Columbia Pic¬ tures, which still had one year to do, Charles Schnee -indicates that the difficulties of casting a picture are so “insurmountable” that he’s returning to writing. Schnee, who during his year at Col - completed screen-plays and was ready to go before the cameras with three properties, including "The Image Makers,’’.“Let No Man Write My Epitaph” and “The Tiger Among Us,” attributed casting problems to severing pact which called for film company to finance him 100%. A fop writer at Metro—where in 1952 he won a best screenplay Os-1 car for “The Bad and the Beauti¬ ful”*—prior to turning producer there and later at Col last year, Schnee reports that he prefers writing to “the difficulties of pro¬ ducing today. “Anything I do in the future has got to include writing,” he states. “The work that goes with being a producer today could be much bet¬ ter used in creative writing insofar as I’m concerned.” MIDDOUGH'S NEW STATUS . Hollywood, Feb. 3. Miles" Middough succeeds Jack' W~ Reynolds as' head of the Roach' Stiicfids Commercial Film Division.* “ HeTIormeriy was with Warwick] joining R03& hm Martifl«zmRa^S|oi ^'&bt&go; Fob. jU Herb Martinez, Ideal Universal-! sales ipanager, topk over yesterday (Mon.) ’ as' topper oF the Rank branch here, c replacing Sam Gore- lick. Both are Film Row vets. Lat¬ ter was presumed let outas part of the cost cutbacks Rank has been effecting around the country. Goreliek said lie has offers that may keep him in the trade. Approves Swap The Motion Picture Export Assn, this, week distributed remarks made in Washington last week by Sen. Hubert H. Humphrey to the effect that criticism of the film in¬ dustry for its film exchange agree¬ ment with the Soviets was “grossly unfair.” The Minnesota Senator spoke at the annual meeting of the Institute of International Education. Holding that Eric Johnston should be com¬ mended for his efforts, he said: “I think we ought to realize that it is to our advantage to have Amer¬ ican' films shown in the Soviet Union. It American films are good enough for you and for me and for our children, then why not for the Soviets?” “I am- of the opinion that we ought to try to show* them (Amer¬ ican films) in Bussia,”he added. The Senator’s emphasis. Is a puz¬ zler in that the criticism of the agreement has centered primarily on the showing of Soviet pictures' in the U.S. and, within a section Of the trade, on the position into which the Industry was forced by the State Dept, which was far more eager for the deal than the film business itself: life true, however, that, in order to get Amerifean films behind the Soviet curtain, reciprocity in terms of Soviet pir in the States in in¬ evitable and the two are closely linked together. Mexicaa Ratio ■ Continued from pa*« 7 their own ftimfare, no matter~how poor the quality. A good way to pack the house in Mexico is to take an audacious theme (streetwalkers,* wayward youths decadent society, variations of bedroom farce and low comedy, etc.); get a knoWn female name such as Columba Dominquez; Ana Luisa Peluffo, Aida Araceli, Kitty de Hoyos, etc., all not unwilling to .peel to epidermis before the cameras (even top star Maria Fe-‘. lix has some revealing scenes in her latest); ;and then put .them through their paces in sundry var-] iations on the East Lynne theme, in soap opera, tear-jerker fashion^, or in presentation of “the realistic facts of life.” . Mexican censors, for all the talk of banning nudity in films, are still lenient where the story line calls for female undress. And scriptwriters and producers know every angle to milk which, legiti¬ mately calls for a showing of the. somewhat hippy, over • bloomful charms of Mexico’s leading ladies, young and not so young. It works like a charm fevery time. When Mexican movie fans become bored with the endless repetition of second-rate, charro (cowboy) movies featuring lots of loud caterwauling posing as sing¬ ing boxoffice admissions drop to' almost zero, the inevitable shot in the arm is a “for adults only” film. This meaning some public peeks at female flesh performing a spe¬ cies of celluloid strip tease in* one way or another. The. fans cue up before the theatre for the privilege of get¬ ting a nude’s eye view of their favorite stars (and that’s why Brigitte Bardot films break box- office records here consistently). Odd note is that audience is made up of just as many female movie fans as goggling males. The ladies may be*, "shocked” but they keep on coming back again and again. With this constant Interest .in. the female form divine Mexico’s financially weak. prqducqrs : gqt .out ^ of 4fte red by- turning ; out undresS-4 epics, with the?e paying the freight' 1 bn their more ambitious efforts. Couple of months ago it was reported by Variety that Republis might go on a; regular- quarterly dividend, basis with the Indication that the payoff would amount to 15c every three'months. Coming in effect as a followup, the Wall Street Journal on Monday (2) quoted Rep president Herbert J. Yates as saying the outlook for a regular quarter¬ ly divvy is “encouraging.” For the year ended Oct. 26 Rep had a'profit of $1,50Q,QOO, Yates told the Journal, after a. previously-reported net of $1,296,066 for the first nine months of the year. Fiscal 1957 brought 4 loss of $1,362,000. Rep’s cost in fiscal 1958 of liquidating its theatrical film operation amounted to $2,000,000. With this out of the way the prospects for 1959 look bright to Yates, who cited the company’s laboratory and televi¬ sion activities as primary reasons for his cheery outlook. / • . ' < " Ben Sack, who crashed through to a dominant position in the Bos¬ ton deluxe house scene in a scant two years with four houses now op¬ erating, rolled Up the biggest film grosses in Boston’s history with over a million dollar take for five pictures. The'five pictures, which netted over 214 million, were “Oklahoma,” 23 weeks, current at Beacon Hill, $300,600; “South Pacific,” 44 weeks, $400,000; “80 Days Around World,” Saxon, 52 weeks, $1;000,000; “Gigi,” 23 w«*k§;'current at Beacon Hill, $300,000; . “South Pacific,” 44 weeks, current .at the Saxon, $600,000; for a total of $2,600,000. Pitch to sell $500,000 in State of Israel bonds will highlight the “Jes- Sel Golden Jubilee” banquet Feb. 24 at Beverly Hilton Hotel, exploit¬ ing George Jessel’s 50 years in show: biz. Coin is to be used In setting up a new community of homes in Israel for new immigrants from Eastern Europe now arriving in new state in large numbers. Invitation¬ al affair, of which Eddie Cantor Is honorary chairman, is sponsored tty friends of Jessel in entertainment industry, politics, Friars, Hill- crest Country Club and other biz and fraternal organizations. Exhibitor associations are continuing to receive beefs from their constituents relating to the competition of 16m films in various areas. Especially irritating to theatremen are the reports that rather recent film* such as “Sayonara,” “Anastasia” and "Carousel” are being shown in 16m versions in competition with commercial theatres. Both Theatre Owners of America and Allied States Asm.'have asked their members to file" complete reports so that appropriate ac¬ tion can be taken to bait this competition.' A tax on’the sale of newspaper, radio and television advertising is provided in a bill introduced in the Maine Legislature \>y Sen. James E. Coffin (D-Freeport). Proposed levy, which would be brought under Maine’s current three percent sales tax, would raise an estimated mil¬ lion dollars in revenue, and part of the money would be used to aid the state’s college students. Dino DeLaurentiis, Italian producer, doesn’t think too much of Rus¬ sian film productions. - “They have too native a quality—-no real expression,” he states. TacificV Albany Goal For Hard-Tickets: Eight Wks. Albany, Feb; 3. Northeastern New York premiere of “South Pacific” in TDdd-AO at the Ritz, the night of Feb. 19, will be sponsored by the Times-Union, for “the benefit of the Variety Club’s Camp Tiacher Fund. The regular run of the musical, probably at a $2.50 top, wfll start tiie, next day. “Hard tickets” will be sold during a hoped-for eight- week: engagement “South Pacific” advertising is slated for papers within a 60mile radius of Albany. Hollywood, Feb. 3. Lester Braunsteln and Howard Beck null produce Dale Van Every’* upcoming novel, “The Scarlet Feather” . .. John Ireland joined star lineup of Bryna’s “Spartacus” . . , Warner Bros, will make “Yellowstone Kelly,” starring .Clint Walker,, star of studio’s .“Cheyenne” teleseries, to be. djLrected by Gordon Douglas_ Burt Lancaster will tdo “Elmer Gaintry,” H-H-L production of the Sinclair Lewi* evangelical expose „ *. . Alfred Hitchcock gets away with Ms next Paramount produc¬ tion, “No Bail for. the" Judge,” April 15 . . Sara Shane snagged femme lead opposite Gordon Scott in Sol Lesser production, “Tar- zan’s Greatest Adventure” ; . . Kick Jason set “Beggarman TMef” as his Aric Productions’ first pic, with himself in star role . . . William Reynolds, film editor-pro¬ ducer, bought John Haase’s paper- backer, '“The Young Who Sin.” Albert Zugsmith set Charles Haas to direct his next Metro pro¬ duction, “Girl’s Town,” for which Mamie Van Dcren Is pencilled to star ... Associated Producers Inc., has added pair of properties to its upcoming 20th-Fox releasing sked: “Miracle of the Hills,” religious western by Charles Hoffman, and “Dog of Flanders,” by late British novelist Ouida . . . Constance Tower inked to one-a-year pact for seven years by Mahin-Rackin Pro¬ ductions and The 'Mirisch Co.; as result of her performance in their “The Horse Soldiers” . . . Kevin. Corcoran, moppethesp, takes over title foie in Walt Disney?* “Toby Tyler,** directed by Charles Bar¬ ton. Shpetner Productions’ “Tha Leg- end.of TomDooley” produced by Stan Shpetner - from his own. screenplay, ; will be . financed and distributed by Columbia Pictures, UncomradelyMann Draws NX Pickets Screen Directors .International Guild, union * of eastern 3ilin and telepix directors, threw 'a picket line around the; “Middle Of the Night” production, being* filmed at the Fox Studio* in Manhattan, ’ at 7 a.m. yesterday (Tues.). Action was taken after Delbert Maim, on the advice of the Screen Directors Guild in Hollywood, refused to join the local union. Efforts over the weekend of Commissioner J. R. MandeTbaum of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Serv¬ ice to bring about a settlement failed after lengthy talks. ; "■ “Middle of the Night,” Paddy Chayefsky’s film being, m&de un¬ der the Sudan Productions ban¬ ner for Columbia release, 1 .Was se¬ lected by the SDIG as part of its campaign to gain reciprocity with the Coast SDG. The eastern union efinges that when, its members wore on the Coast, they are forced to pay an initiation fee and join the Screen Directors Guild. As a consequence, they want . Coast directors to' be¬ come members of the N.Y. guild or for members of each guild to work freely in. each other’s territory. The SDIG claims that it has many months to establish a reci¬ procity agreement Nvith the.-SDG but the latter organization, has shown no disposition to Come to such terms. The strike against ‘.*Night” is the N.Y. guild’s second step in its drive for reciprocity. On -Jan. 20, it made Paul Stewart, • directing - the ‘Deadline” telepix series* for Pyramid Productions, a N.Y, outfit, pay a $1,000 initiation fee to join the SDIG. An SDIG spokesman stated that his group is still open to an ar¬ rangement with the Coast guild whereby directors can work* on either Coast without having to be¬ long to two unions. . Picketing aetijtm* of the eastern guild is ;nbt exported to, interfere with the production of “Night” since all. the employees are mem¬ bers of muons affiliated with the International "Alliance- of:*Theatri- cat Stage - Employees and are not expected, to fespeetthe picketing of tfie indie union.' ' * ;