Variety (March 1959)

40 TV-FILMS Wednesday, March 18, 1959 CBS Films Moving In an $10-Mil Sked I vidpk chatter ill Web Sales: Syndication’s Syndrome With Talent and Producers Firmed prez, off to the Bahamas for a brief vacation . . . Leslie Harris, v.p. of Hollywood, March 17. ♦—:-CBS Films, due in from Hollywood CBS Films has started to roll -„ mi , n ... Samal Productions, owned by on its ambitious $10,000,000 pro- VfuN-lvS lirGSlH iTUani Fernando Lamas, is propping a auction slate for the crmin? year, Desilu co-production, “Lafitte,” with production v.p. Les "Harris Chicago, March 17. starring him . . . CBS Films pro- firming a number cf deals prior to WGN-TV, the Chi indie, has ducer Robert: Herridge has ob- returnin® to New York. purchased the -top 30 features tained the tv rights to “In the T & i i tt • ,* from Xat'onal Telefilm-.A^-ociates' Zone,” a one-act play by Eugene ! eP A Ti te d S al ArVv^'ii"Uif “Dream Package" of 85 titles for O’Neill. It will be included in Robert Alda and die - ts , lcnuiy mght tClUXer . Mon . Herridge’s^ videotape anthology to costar m ihe ->i«n iu.ni ~n- , blockbuster show is the sta- series. “Theatre for a Story” . . . jibes" which asc.gncd J caroier, now that ABC Films has sold “Wire Service;’ to Sam Gallu, currently fnmmg f . * ,, niehtlime cine- to tw0 Australian tv stations, BTQ, “Border Patrol" for CBS. to pro- £ * “ , v soonsored on Brisbane.- and ADS, Adelaide, dace. “Antibes,” to be shot mainly e s ng ' y sp ored on Charles Michaelson, of TV Corp., abroad, will be the company's firs. ' 1V ‘ represented the Aussie stations color production. According to NTA. it's the first . . . MCA TV has signed WNEP- Alsn signed was D-an Ta^er'as time theyVo ever alIowe ‘d a film TV, Scranton, and WAST-TV, Al- st^rof “TheHoie on K street” Package- to be “creamed” in Chi- bany. for the Paramount library fi « to Ho lon-ori cago. Average price per feature . . . Bernard L. Schubert Inc. will wJ^ ^ y v^hiriP nn SlS.OGd ue mved oy NTa to hold a series of invitational screen¬ ful Jp" tM. nnP whS be the highcst;price per pic yet in ings.of its syndication entry, “Your Hollywood, March 17. CBS Films has started to roll on its ambitious $10,000,000 pro¬ duction slate for the coming year, with production v.p. Les Harris firming a number cf deals prior to returning to New York. In separate deals, llirrri irked Robert Alda and Melville Cooler to Sam Gallu, currently filming “Border Patrol" for CF.S, to pro¬ duce. “Antibes,” to be siiot mainly abroad, will be the company's firs, color production. Also signed was Dean Jaeger as star of “The House on K Street" the criminology series to be lenred here and in Washington. Gallu will also produce this one. Wilbur Stark and Jerry Layton, currently filming “Colonel Flack” and soon to produce the pilot of “Johnny Eager” for MGM-TV, have been set by Harris to produce “Attor¬ ney,” in Hollywood and on loca¬ tion in Paterson, N. J. Show still hasn’t been cast. In New York, James Faichney has been borrowed from the web's public affairs department to pro¬ duce “The Diplomat.” while Ed Montagne will probably produce “Silent Saber,” since he did the pilot. Ed Bryon has been assigned to “Bellevue.” siill another Got- MGM-TV Rolling ’Em on Coast In Shakedown Finale Hollywood. March 17. Musical Jamboree,” in key cities. Screenings will be keyed for musi¬ cians, music critics and music teachers. Series stars Eddy Arn¬ old, Jimmy Dean and Tennessee Ernie Ford . . . Leslie-Henry Co., Mount Vernon, N.Y., has exclusive licensing of merchandising on NTA’s “U.S. Marshal” . . . Girard (Jerry) Jacobi appointed assistant to the general counsel of Indepen¬ dent Television Corp. He was pre¬ viously in the legal dept, of Stan¬ ley Warner Corp, WABC-TV is picking up where -WCBS-TV left off. ABC flagship this week inked for 26 weeks of Television activity is jumping at the “Target” series consisting of ham-filmed series on the CBS MGM-TV after a long preparation 13 fresh episodes and 13 repeats, slate. period, with all but one of the Skein bows on WABC March 30 — = - company’s slate of seven pilots due an d niarked for the 9:30 Monday ‘Border Patrol’ Sales f or final shooting by next week. s ^ 0 ^* CBS tilms lias registered* a Four of the seven have already Patrol," its latest syndication nta ‘SECURITY PLAN’ entry. «T C nn,rw«» Due to roll next week are I Genessee Brewing has bought “Jeopardy,” which NBC-TV is ON RERUN BELTLINE stein in Binghamton. Rochester. financing in an , ho “ rIon ® version, lUilUHl UUilldlll. Alban y-Seheneciady, Syracuse, Wltb Andrew & Virginia Stone National Telefilm Associates Buffalo and Watertown, N. Y., to* Aiming the show entirely at sea, has come up with a new sales plan alternate with Amoco sponsorship and “You’re Only Young Once," for its rerun product, handled by in those markets. Amoco has pur- comedy series which Richard. Bare its Famous Films rerun division, chased the series in 59 cities. wil1 Produce and direct. Dean Called Program Security Plan nthpr tn ermnenre w hn wilt Jones » who was to have starred In (PSP), it has these features: alternate with Amoco Ire h pensi- the series ’ has pulled out due to Each station Participating acquires aih»;; 7 . his casting in Metro’s “Never So exclusive rights in its market for Cofa* 13 Albany 1 ^5a°- C °Blue ^Pla^e his casting in Metro’s “Never So exclusive rights in its market for Foods, Charieston, r S C., and f n eature and «*? A- two Columbus Ga • Spaiv Mattress Ll ® ht °P era production of “Okla- ages, but without the usual re- Greensboro-Winston Salem, N. C. homa" this summer and has been quirement of buying the pro- Lee Ontieal Mobile Ala • House replaced by Jim Hutton, a new- grams outright or making substan- Furniture, Montgomery, Ala.- and comer - Pat BIair P |a - Vs the f ™me tial rash payments. After making Mayfield's Creamery, Chat- Iead - ^ choice rf program packages, tanooga, Tenn. Last week, studio filmed ’Tather station is given a specified period Additionally, 23 new statiqns of the Bride,” with Al Lewis pro- tune t0 seU or telecast the pro- Mayfield’s Creamery, Cl tanooga, Tenn. Additionally, 23 new statu have inked for the Richard Webb ducing-directing and Jim Backus gr ^ ns * and Paula Raymond starred, and ■ .... ___- . "The McGonicle." the Mickey ■™*” e ^* h *g2^* e l, ac S^ Famous Films’ roster of shows, ITC Adds Sales Reps, District Mgrs.; Office In Toronto Shaping Up S' NTA’s takeover of Gross- Shaughnessj-Tom D Andr6d com* * niii ATiru ._ M _ j _a edy starrer which Ray Singer and more than 400 hours of program- Dmk Che\ill at are p.oducmg-writ- ming Included in separate pack- mg. Navy comedy also stars Diane m such shows v ts ..Af^ can Jurgens. On location in El Paso and P .. r0 , .. .. Q . H enry Playhouse,” Juarra Don S*egel rolled "Amigo,” .. Sheritf c£ Cochise,” and such tiie Gilbert Roland starrer. _ real oldies as "China Smith” and Already completed is “Maisie, “Orient Express.” InTnrnIltnS^amnf» lIn^^ U^ ‘%^ ,0 ?| i t ge l, r0 i ,ed '' A ” ig0 • , ’ “Sheriff ef*CocW«e.“ and such in loromo onapiug up the Gilbert Roland starrer real oldies as "China Smith” and Independent Television Corp., Already completed is Maisie, “Orient Express.” which hopes to release a new syn- with Janis Paige starring and Tom _:_ dicated property every two McKnight producing, and due to *\ i • o t - months, is busy expanding its sales start soon is “Johnny Eager,” with DulllS J01HS oCflUpCrt force.'Ten new sales representa- Wilbur Stark and Jerry Layton Wh George SfiuDert denarted tives have been added and a series producing. Entire operation is £s t opp er of ABC r!lms no?Tong of district managers appointments headed by Richard Maibaum, who’s t become v p in charge of has been made. got about three more properties in MGAf TV th^ vwd was out thlt Named as district managers the hopper which may take pilot s h u P ert wouTd Idont a no-roiding were Herbert Miller, midwest di- form if sales click on the earlier nli P v • ARrViimc g vision, and Henry Frofenius, pilots. George Shupert, v.p. in P ite m John Burns this nast week southeastern division. Both will charge of tv for Metro, relumed to arp E uThLo Ho ^tc report to syndicated general sales Gotham last week after o.o.’ing f c4aL of naSlll saL fl manager Hardie Frieberg. Miller pilot production and selling the Jerome nl«oral slles d^ectorifl? had previously been a midwest NBC “Jeopardy” deal. Mrv TV 1 1 director for regional sales supervisor for Cali- - r - - * __ ferdus had 0 been P a°s d sodifed with He y eS > ‘R»verboat’ Pilot 'RIVERBOAT' WOOS DARREN Interstate Television Corp. Holly wood, .uarc.i 17. Darren McGavin is being dick- Two new regional sales ap- Dou S Heyes has been inked by ered for the principal role in the pointees are Ralph Baron, eastern Revue Productions to write and full-hour weekly series, “River- division, and Charles F. Whipple direct the pilot segment of “Paver- boat” which NBC-TV plans as a midwest division. * boat,” hourlong series which NBC- fall entry. New account execs are Thomas will present next fall. “Riverboat” will deal with life Gallagher, Detroit; Tony Wvsocki Heyes just comple ed produc- on the Mississippi after the Civil Memphis; Peter Harkins, New Or- ing-directing-writing the pilot of War. It will be made on the Uni¬ leans; Kenneth Johnson, Indiana-. “Bravo,” Gerald Mohr starrer at versal-International- lot on the polis; Ray Barnett, Los Angeles; Ziv * Coast, and Z. E. Marvin, Texas. ■ — ■ «■■■■■■ —■— ITC will open offices in Toronto !Salt7 J o?Us E ue^ea,e a d MOOIUjlOW Oil MdlllSOIl AVORUG Canadian operation. Sales opera- ** tion will be a division of Norman- — ——— j aa Canadian d, tS Ll fi?S nrnrf,^ C rr iPany,S Hollywood, March 17. titled “Moon Probe.” Ziv actually ^ Hollywood, March 17. With “Flight” sold over most of the country and its two cur¬ rent series and tw T o pilots up for national sale, California Nation¬ al Productions now finds itself in a temporary squeeze for syn¬ dicated product. The NBC subsid will decide this week on three more properties as potential pilots or syndicated series. Squeeze came about because “The Lawless Years” was sold to NBC-TV, while “Philip Marlowe” has aroused considerable in¬ terest on the network level. Meanwhile, company has ordered only pilots on “Gutpost in Space,” which is completed, and “War Birds,” now being edited. “Space” shapes up as a potential network sale, since it’s the first of three space shows being prepared to reach Madison Ave. “War Birds,” a light adventure about World War I pilots, may also be destined for Madison Ave., since it’s different enough to arouse interest. Consequently, the CNP slate is virtually exhaust¬ ed in terms of new product for syndication. And with “Flight,” CNP’s last syndicated entry, in some 135 markets, the CNP sales force is getting hungry for new product. Frank Cleaver, CNP v.p. in charge of production, planed into Gotham with finished prints of “Space” and “Marlowe” last week for agency screenings and for homeoffice huddles to get approval o n three new properties. In a House of Many Shows, Single-0 Pattern of Selling Gets a Dual Look - : -*-f Principle of selling fresh first- W*1 > I J j* j ft’ run* syndication property one at a Wiles Industrial rlX time, utilized by most of the ma- Chicago, March 17. jor syndicators is being modified. Fred A. Niles Productions, jhe deviation varies from firm wKich heretofore has specialized , firm bu t nevertheless It's ap- in film and videotape commercials, . ’ . ...... _ .... . is branching out into industrials, parent. Stimulating the modified Niles has signed Hersehell G. approach, is the stepped-up releas- Lewis, one of the founders of ing pattern of many of* the houses. Lewis & Martin Films and who For example, Ziv which sticks recently sold his facilities, to head as c i 0 se as possible to the one-at- the new department as veepee. a -time idea, finds on occasion the New office will be called Indus- need for the same sales exec to trial Programs Division, as Niles handle more thAn one show in the regards the term “industrial film” market. National Telefilm Asso- as obsolescent. Industry today is ciates, in principle also adhering complex and departmentalized, to the single-o principle, also finds says Niles, and so his firm will itself with more than one show to tailor-make programs in specific handle. Ditto for Independent areas of industry as sales training, Television Corp. public relations, product training, Reason situation occurs for Ziv etc. Is that sales in many cases are not --- finalized on a particular series __ . _ _ _ When a fresh entry is introduced. IT AT U|'U TV NTA has taken over the Gross- IIA I. 11111111*1 I Krasne-Sillerman properties, as JIAVUI* A I well as having its own. ITC, be- __ _ __ cause of its stepped-up releasing, M-__ p _ ]y ni _X also remains unsold in many mark- ill 3 V IW |lf~XI ets on a particular show when an* 1IAUJ A*V ilVAl Qther skein j s brought out f One-at-a-time policy stems from Aa VlTnnmofAfO this'concept: concentrate on one Ao OyniUvCliUlO ser ^ es tn pitches to stations and J , advertisers, as if no other series At least two new syndication e £ sts in ‘ he b ™? g U P an ’ houses should be born this year. ? ther se 1 nes to , sel1 at ^ sa JP® They are United Artists TelevI- don (UAT) and MGM-TV. UAT “S,, 411 ® already has hired Kurt Blumberg ^ ba ^ ^ be sa A es mesaa 8 e dehvered to manage its syndication opera- the^lSiS- tion and has lined up a staff, ready message utihzed to make the moveover once the Kl™ , ^ ^ greenlight is given. The go-sign NTA is working around the probably will come within the next P r °blem by using task forces, few months, after the spring na- Mam sales force, for example, will tional selling season. UAT has concentrate on “William Tell” lined up five properties with the Wlth a task force of different sales intent of putting those that don’t execs working.on the taped “Juke sell nationally into syndication. • Rir y* ^ ben .-^ s mam Mi- - .. . . sales force finished on “Sergeant MPM rv y ^ Yukon” Shifted the “ pi, handling of the show to its rerun syndication b.z. Charles Bud) division for a m0 p operation . Barry, when he was MGM-TV top- other niajor houses have varia- per. was "foreign” to thetelefllm. tions on this theme . syndication biz. Not so with MGM- TV’s present v.p. and general man¬ ager, George Shupert. He came over to MGM-TV after heading ABC Films’ syndication operation. Initially, Shupert’s push will be on the national network level, hut probably before the’year is out MGM-TV should be taking solid steps in the syndication direction, j It already has the core of such an operation in its feature film sales force. ‘Matty’s Funday Funnies’ On M-TV With Toy Coin ABC-TV has inked for a fresh cartoon series, “Matty’s Funday Funnies” for Sunday afternoon showing beginning Oct. 11. Car¬ toons, which were produced by Paramount, are tabbed for the | 5 o’clock time with Mattel, manu¬ facturers of toys, as sponsor. New cartoon series will present Harvey Famous Cartoons and will feature “Casper,” “Herman and Katnip,” “Buzzy the Crow” and others. Deal for the animated cartoons, which will be seen for the first time on tv, was set by the Carson-Roberts agency. Moonglow on Madison Avenue Canadian tv film nrnd,‘ , 1 nHr iPany S Hollywood, March 17. titled “Moon Probe.” Ziv actually pany currently productino^'Can- Television producers are in their finished theirs before CNP, but nonLir’ r in n aL P a r ?o d u U „ C d n foro C n“: own race for spaee. With three ^^t“shlw'ra 0 prolucra Pearson formerly was sales rep- purely space-show projects under- recently decided to make a few Canada* 1 ' 6 ^ Sterlillg Films in way, the first to hit Madison Ave. changes ’in the pilot, thus holding <_anaaa. was “Qutpgst in Space,” the Cali- up completion of the final print. ...» ™ fbmia National Productions pilot Third space entry is the hour- iDlrS ALLEN TO BRITAIN filmed at Metro. Frank Cleaver, long “Conquest of Space,” pilot Ottawa, March 17. v.p. in charge of production, planed and 12 scripts of which are being Robert Allen, supervising pro- into New York with the finished underwritten by CBS-TV. This is ducer of special television pro- print last week. a Paramount Television Production grams for the CBC, leaves April 22 Due to make the agency rounds; and is to get underway the first of for Britain to produce a one-hour this week is the finished pilot of j next month, with a pilot due to be drama for H. M. Ternent. Globe “Space,” the Ziv entry starring completed and on Madison Ave. by .Productions. William Lundigan and formerly j mid-May. Howard Connell on How U.S. Co-Prod. ‘Conditions’ Quality of British Telepix Is the blame meted out to the British for alleged lesser quality of telefilm co-production- entries justified? Not so, says one British producer involved with a number of such projects. Howard Connell, associate pro¬ ducer of “Gleneannon,” says that during the shooting in England he had no control of the scripts or casting. His function, he states, was that of a technician, executing orders on the American-conceived Gross-Krasne entry, now dis¬ tributed by National Telefilm As¬ sociates. He also had a production role in Ziv’s co-production with Harry Alan Towers on “Martin Kane.” Connell intimated that before blaming what may be considered inferior British telefilm entries, the British label should be seen in con¬ text of the real situation. In most instances, the Britishers have been executing orders from their U. S. partners, as the Americans con¬ ceive what the statewide public wants to see.