Variety (March 1959)

FfCTIJBES 11 Wednesday Marck II, 1959 J^XmETf Films’ Only PR Org Off Ramparts Though Industry Under Attack Plenty, Motion Picture Industry Council Expiree of Apathy Hollywood, March 10, Hollywood's only overall public relations organization, the Motion Picture Industry Council, decided to fold over the weekend. By unanimous vote of the Executive Committee, the 10-year-old film In¬ dustry mouthpiece will suspend op¬ erations July 1. To leave the door open for pos¬ sible resumption of activities, "if it is deemed necessary by the In¬ dustry," it was stated by the MPIC that the Executive Committee had also voted to. maintain the corpor¬ ate structure of organization,, of which Jerry Wald is prexy. The MPIC since its formation in 1949 has supplemented the activi¬ ties of the Assn, of Motion Picture Producers, official film backstop and watchdog. Composed of reps of each branch of the industry, it has acted in an unofficial but watchful capacity, specializing in public relations and springing to the defense of countless attacks on Hollywood. Foldo comes at a time when Hol- lywqod is besieged by attacks from every side, according to one MPIC spokesman. Most recent is a coverline feature on Hollywood di¬ vorce in new issue of McCall's Magazine. Esquire in a recent is¬ sue carried a whole section vir¬ tually devoted to slaps at Holly¬ wood, including soundoffs by Ben Hecht and Orson Welles. Even tv has gone in for attacks on the film colony, according to MPIC spokes¬ man. In its prepared statement, MPIC declared that suspension move was voted after "taking into account the changing conditions of the Hol¬ lywood film industry." MPIC spokesman added that it was a "time of reappraisal." When first created, the MPIC was set up as a blue ribbon body With broad-scale representation en¬ abling it to speak and act in behalf of the industry. Range of'its ac¬ tivities covered a wide variety of problems, such as cooperation with the Government during war and peace. House Un-American Activi¬ ties Committee hearings, exhibitor liaison, etc. One of its activities was to pitch for a change in the income tax structure as applied to film personalities. It also has. maintained a Library of Information, providing a source of documented material for dissem¬ ination within and without the in¬ dustry, as well as a Speakers Bureau. Don't Show Up m Press, State N.Y. Dailies Give Film Ads Pnsh-Aronnd Film companies and some exhib¬ itors in New York are doing a burn over the treatment they’re getting in the local press so far as the placement of advertising is con¬ cerned. Contention is that they’re forced to pay premium rates, but the papers’ insertion of the ads is done in such haphazard way that the value of the copy is impaired. In many instances, it’s felt, in¬ dividual pages are cluttered with ads but with no news copy to en¬ hance the readership. ■ "At the request of Russell V. Downing, president of Radio City l^usic Hall, ad managers of the tdp companies met on the matter Friday (27) in the offices of the Motion Picture Assn, of America. Session, was a non-productive one because neither Downing nor Fred Lynch, the Hall’s ad-pub director, was able to attend. However, future meetings are likely and at these some definite action expectedly will be taken. G. W. DAVIS TOPS M-G ART Hollywood, March 10. ^ George W. Davis succeeds late William A. Homing as Metro su¬ pervising art director. Homing died March 2. Acting as assistant to Davis, who won an Academy Oscar for his art direction on 20th-Fox’ "The Robe,” will be Hans Peters. Youngstein’s Russ . Return Max E. Youngstein, United Artists v.p., plans to make an¬ other trip to Russia . in May. He said last week in N.Y. he was still confident that some coproduction deal with the Soviets could be worked out. Youngstein went to Moscow last year on a combination sight-seeing and business tour. Story at that time was that he laid the groundwork for film¬ ic cooperation with the Rus¬ sians. N.Y.V Residential I ■ ■ . Houses Markedly Up This Year I In a situation duplicated in vari¬ ous parts of the country. New [York’s neighborhood film theatres since last Jan. 1 have been expert- 'endng a heartening upturn in busi¬ ness. This doesn’t • obtain with every house, of coursed But there has been a pickup throughout the Loew’s and RKO chains, important independent circuits and many . small spots. | There’s been a run of good box- office product, much of which went to the nabes following the [ first-run showcasing during the • Christmas-New Year's holiday span. But, of particular signific- [ance to the trade, is the fact that [frequently the subsequent-run lo¬ cations have been doing better , commensurately than the first- ' runs. Among the examples of this [is United Artists' "Anna Lucasta,” ■ which was about fair on Broadway and relatively strong in the Loew’s nabe outposts. Warners’ "Auntie Mame" was strictly wow throughout the RKO circut. "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" was one of the biggest entries which Loew’s. has had in years, "Some Came Running" currently is going big and high hopes are held for the Easter booking of "10 Com¬ mandments." “Home Before Dark" stood up welL and drawing good returns were "Buccaneer," "Big Country," “Inn of the Sixth Happiness" and "Sinbad the Sailor." "Geisha Boy” was fair enough. For the [past two months there hasn’t been an out and out flop. It's too early to draw any def¬ inite conclusions, according to vet¬ eran theatremen. But at least, there’s the indication that a good part of the public might be trend¬ ing toward the„ local houses for a couple of reasons: (1) convenience, and (2) the price is right. Part 2 of the theory is especially I meaningful. No polls are needed ; to communicate the knowledge [that many theatregoers are balk¬ ing at the Broadway admission scales. The tariff of $1.80 to $2.40 i for a single seat is drawing beefs, ! particularly since, in these days of reduced clearances, a feature can be seen in a nabe almost im- [ mediately after the premiere run. ! Outstanding product such as ["Cat" and “10 Commandments" j does equally well in the first-runs and the nabes. The good-but-not- great pictures are doing better in the sub-runs. SAM BOVERMAN ON OWN With Par 29 Years—Expert On Copyright i Sam Boverman, veteran head of Paramount’s New York and foreign [production legal activities, has re¬ signed from the company effective [March 15. Boverman, who had [ been with Par for 29 years, will ! continue the practice of law on a fulltime basis with the firm of Mar - guies, Heit & Boverman. A specialist in the field of copy¬ right law, Boverman served as rep¬ resentative of the motion picture industry and advisor to the U. S. Registrar of Copyrights at a meet- [ ing of the Universal Copyright: 1 Convention in Paris in 1954. J TEAR-GAS 3 HOUSES Memphis Boothmen’s Leader Deplores Such Tactics Memphis, March 10. Three nabe theatres which have been picketed for two years b? the Moving Pictures Operators, Local 144, were bombed by tear gas over the weekend. (Downtown ^ theatres plus the Park and Plaza, two nabe houses, are the only ones in the city union¬ ized.) Rosewood, owfied and operated by Nate Reiss, had about 600 pa¬ trons viewing “Three Coins in the Fountain,” when clouds of tear gas enveloped the house. Said Reiss: “I was in the audi¬ torium myself and my wife was in the lobby. Everything was order¬ ly. Someone asked me if there wa» a fire and I told them no. I di¬ rected the people out myself, half were youngsters watching the Sun¬ day matinee. There are seven ex¬ its and the theatre was cleared in two minutes with no panic at all.” Reiss said he found the tear-gas bottle on the floor of the passage¬ way between the stage and the front row seats. He said the fumes were cleared and patrons back in their seats in short order. Idlewild Theatre, another nabe, also was tear-gassed as was Mem¬ phian. Albert Shelton, business agent for Local 144 told Variety “The tear gas attacks definitely were not caused by any of our men. We de¬ plore any action of this kind,” he stated with emphasis. Orear $ Optimism: B.O. Perks While TYShowsBore Kansas City, March 10. : Obvious signs are about that a better year for exhibs is in store in this area. Some of the sig n s —- better grosses despite much ice, snow and bad weather; less ob¬ vious but nevertheless evident, quick response to advertising, par¬ ticularly smart radio advertising; likewise quick response to good ex¬ ploitation ideas. Thus has Dick Orear, president of Commonwealth circuit, mes¬ saged execs and managers prepa- tory to a series of spring huddles now underway. These and other signs point to a good, healthy appetite for mo¬ tion pictures, perhaps even an awakening to the boredom of tele¬ vision. And best of all the indus¬ try appears to be in a position to meet this challenge with a rash of strong product, Orear said in his pep talk. The series of district huddles be¬ gan with District 2 in Springfield, Mo., Feb. 26. Others: District 1, Gdand Island, Neb.; District 3, Hutchinson, Kans., Mar, 5-6. Manhattan Dailies Interpreted As Favoring TV & Lest Over Films Makes A Diff N Vancouver, March 10. It’s either heil or hiss for Bing Crosby hereabouts. He's now been given honorary life* time fish 'n' hunt permit as payoff "for a pair of gratis filmed comeons for British Co¬ lumbia centenary last year. Five years ago, when city's top hotel refused Crosby be¬ cause . of his “disreputable” outdoors duds. Post Office Won t Clarify on UAs ‘Naked’Portrait Washington, March 10. United Artists went to the U.S. District Court here today (Tues.) in a move to restrain the U.S. Post Office from bar¬ ring the “Naked Maja” ad from the mails. Suit was filed against Postmaster General Arthur Summerfield by Max E. Youngstein, UA v.p. For reasons of policy, the Post Office Dept, has declined^to tell United Artists whether its Goya nude ad is fit for the U.S. mails. But for those publications which have already carried the classic “Naked Maja” display, it’s all water over the dam according to Dept. General Counsel Herbert S. War bur ton. Warburton explained that his of¬ fice does not give a ruling on the propriety of published matter un¬ less an individual postmaster calls for one when the mag or newspaper is deposited for mail¬ ing. In the case of the UA Goya, no postmaster raised the issue and hence no ruling. This does not bar a future ruling if and when the ad is- printed and mailed again, provided a postmas¬ ter questions its . fitness. UA had asked for an advance Tilling on whether newspapers that carried the display would be barred from the mails. In reply, Warburton said he couldn’t give one, but pointed out that if it came up for decision, many factors, such as the tone of the publication, the nature of the captions etc., would be weighted. - > t- Flaws in the treatment of mo¬ tion pictures, both editorially and advertising-wise, have been ac¬ cented by a study of New York metropolitan newspaper practice . during the period of Jan. 15 to Feb. 15. Survey was undertaken for the advertising-publicity man¬ agers committee of the Motion ' Picture Assn, of America and su¬ pervised by a committee headed by Universal’s Jeff Livingston. Papers were studied by three agencies—Charles Schlaifer, Mon¬ roe Greenthal and Donohue & Coe. Results in hand, a committee of film men plans to visit several of the papers to argue for better treatment in the light of advertis¬ ing volume placed with them. Editorially, one of the com¬ plaints is that, compared with television and legit, films aren’t being given an adequate break. Of course, such things as the tv program listings are included in the “free space” which the papers hand out, yet few film men argue seriously that the papers should not carry such listings. On the ad side, one of the main complaints is the indiscriminate "bunching” of ads on a single page so that good ads get lost with the bad. Editorially, one of the worst papers in town to crack is the N.Y. Times. Yet, two film execs last w~ek admitted that they per¬ sonally would be quite unhappy to have the Times carry some of the publicity stories put out by the film companies. At its meeting -last week, the ad- pub group also heard a report on Academy Award show activities. The closed-circuit "preview" of the show, skedded by NBC for March 31, will run half an hour and will originate from the Coast. NBC is making the facilities available gratis. Post Office ban on periodi¬ cals carrying the “Naked Maja ” ad of United Artists teas challenged as “gross cen¬ sorship ” this week by the American Civil Liberties Un¬ ion and its affiliates, the Na¬ tional Council on Freedom from Censorship. ‘News’ Scarce in Show Biz Mimeo Canadian Managing Editors Divide on Critics Vs. General Reporters on Theatrical Assignments Pacific Coast lime Irks WB Distrib Officials; Afternoons Actionfnl N. Y.-L. A. three-hour differen¬ tial in time has become especially meaningful to Warners. Its distri¬ bution execs who recently shifted to the Coast from N. Y. headquar¬ ters miss the old routine of arriv¬ ing at their desks and finding fig¬ ures on boxoffice experience the previous day at the start of the new day. Previously, decisions could be made before lunch (that is, lunch¬ time for easterners) on whether to yank or continue a picture and on co-op advertising policy. Now it has become a matter of disconcert¬ ing after-lunch decisions: Also missed, it’s said, are the WB execs’ luncheons with exhibs in New York during which many a booking deal w r ould be discussed and often settled. WB’s move to the west may have paid off in terms of economy but it’s stated that because of it dis¬ tribution toppers Benjamin Kal- menson and Charles Boasberg are spending more time away from their respective offices than ever before. Ottawa, March 10. Editorial attitudes of daily news¬ papers to show business coverage were aired at a session of the Cana¬ dian Managing Editors Conference in national convention in Ottawa. Walter O’Hearn, the Montreal Star's drama critic, chaired the panel and subsequent mullings of the subject, "Covering the Enter¬ tainment World.” The panel figured that, while press agent’s stuff was well written by capable writers, it emerged as anything from “junk” to “phoney" and "bogus.” One thing p.a.’s could do about it, said the editors, was put" in more spot news and less fea¬ ture. “News” was a sad lack in all show business press releases. The editors generally blasted the practice of sending just any report¬ er as reviewer. O'Hearn said, "If the paper’s budget won’t' allow a full-time critic, it should find a competent staffer who is interested in the field and train him in critical writing." Others kudosed general reporters on their handling of show ,• stories, claiming a general reporter could probably write a better story from the news angle than the critic. Other opinions: a review’ should be written for the readers, not the performers; a music critic must know music or his paper will lose the respect of its "high IQ" read¬ ers, although it may be different in regard to other reviewing such as books, pictures, television; a news¬ paper should criticize the profes¬ sional entertainer but only report sans criticism on local-talent pro¬ ductions. Considerable time at the session was spent on the publication of radio and television program list¬ ings. The editors considered radio and television as strong competi¬ tion to the dailies “so why should we give them so much free space?” But where, they asked, could the line be drawn? Besides O’Hearn, the panel in¬ cluded William Thomson of the Regina, Leader-Post; C. B. Schmidt of the Kitchener-Waterloo (Ont.) Record, and Miss Winnifred Stokes of the Niagara Falls Review. Miss Stockes is Canada’s only female managing editor. Taradash’s Legit Version Of Chris Davis Novel Hollywood, March 10. Columbia and producer-writer Dan Taradash are in negotiations on a pre-production deal on Tara¬ dash’s new legiter, now being written. Taradash play is based on a. first novel by Christopher Davis en¬ titled "The Lost Summer." He is aiming for a Broadway bow next fall. If current negotiations jell. Col would put up all or part of the coin for the play, receiving film rights in return. MPAA’s Israel Aid Award Motion Picture Assn, of America will receive the American-Israel Chamber of Commerce and Indus¬ try’s Sixth annual dinner award at the Biltmore Hotel, N. Y., April 8, according to Nathan Strauss 3d, Chamber prexy. Award goes to the association in recognition of the participation of its members in Israel’s economic growth.