Variety (April 1959)

Wednesday, . April 15, 1959 J^ASilETY INTERNATIONAL FILMS 47 ITALY CLIMBS OUT OF ITS FILM SLUMP ■ By EITEL MONACO -_'■ Partial First-Run Italian Take [1958-1959 SEASON] ‘Tempest” (DeLaurentiis) .... $591,000 “The Naked Maja” (Titanus) .... 500,000 “X Soliti Ignoti” (Itvides-Lux) ...:.. 363,000 'The Vikings” (UA) ..... 343,000 “Cat on Hot Tin Roof” (Metro)... over 300,000 “Vertigo” (Paramount) ... over 300,000 Following, are in the over $150,000 class, and not necessarily in ex¬ act order: “Les Trichecrs” “Raintree County” “Mon Oncle” “Indiscreet” “Inn of 6th Happiness “Summer Tales” “Inspector Maigret” “Brothers Karamazov “Bravados” “En Cas de Malheur” “Rosemarie” (French-Metro) (Metro) (French-Titanus) (Warner Bros.) (20th-Fox) (Italian-Royal) (French-Titanus) (Metro) (20th-Fox) (French- Cei Incom) (German) To be noted : figures are partial, with some pix still to he played out . "Rosemarie” is first German pic in years to get a big h.o. response in Italy. Also, not listed Above though playing holdover dates this season are such top grosses as “Tdn Commandments’ * (Par); "Kwai" (Col); and "Around the World in 80 Days’* (UA), Several more recent releases may also land in tfie above groups at season’s end, among them “Europe by Night” (WE), "Auntie Marne" (WB), and others. Venice, JHotfier of Mm jFest By ROBERT F. HAWKINS Venice. Venice is to be credited (or blamed, some will say) with start¬ ing It alL The first international j film festival. took place in the gardens of the Excelsior Hotel, | Xido Venice back in 1932. Thanks to the growing interest for the event, which for the first time brought together films and film¬ makers from all over the world in a world-wide competition, a film palace was built in the late 1930’s to house the event, and a further addition for exhibits, offices, and screening rooms was erected a few years back to meet the ever-ex¬ panding needs of the festival. The 1959 feature event to be held from Aug. 23 to Sept. 6 will mark the 20th Anniversary of the Ven¬ ice Film Festival, which was not held during the war years. Few changes if any are contemplated from the 1958 fest. In keeping with the quality standard which—when world film -quality permits—is the Venice "trade mark,” only 14 care¬ fully selected features will be shown in competition. Three prizes, the Golden Lion of St. Mark and the two Volpi acting cups, are swarded, with a fourth “Special Jury Prize” optional for extra merits. Each picture accepted in competition, however, receives a diploma, considered a prize in It¬ self due to the stringent admission standards necessary to “make the grade.” In addition to the pix in com¬ petition, each country may submit one feature (others are Invited) for the “Informative Section” of the Venice event in which Items of spe¬ cial interest will be screened, while a series of retrospective programs, dedicated to famed personalities of motion picture history, make up the “Cultural Section.” The full program for this year’s „ event, once more under the direc¬ tion of Floris Luigi Ammannati, also includes a series of accessory events, previously held together with or immediately preceding the feature event, but now spaced through the summer to allow due attention to be dedicated to each aspect of this granddaddy of film events.' Here is the full schedule of events for this year’s Venice Fes¬ tival: , . Jun* 11-14: 2d Festival of Art Films On conjunction with tha Venice Art Ex¬ hibition). July 2-12: 11th Festival of Children’s Films. July 2-12: 10th Festival of Documen¬ taries and Short Subject?. . Aug. 1-Sept. 6: 5th international Exhibit of Film Publications. Aug. 20-21: 3d International Newsreel Festival. Aug. 23-Sept. 5:20th International Fea¬ ture Film Festival. Sept. 7-10: International Round Table Discussion on “Film Music." Sept. 7-11: International Congress of Cinema and Civilization," sponsored by the Cini Foundation. Venice is almost entirely sup¬ ported by the Italian Government. Annual budget varies and is not generally revealed. While exact figures are mostly a matter of guesswork and. conjecture, some idea may be drawn from the fol- j lowing breakdown: The Festival is allotted a fixed sum of some $15,000 per year from the state, while another $1,500 is given it by the city of Venice (out of a fund of some $300,000 placed at the city’s disposal every year by the government, but which mainly goes towards the art show, the drama festival, and other cultural events). Some $130,000 more are awarded ■ each year to the Festival by the j government, which always, within certain (unspecified) limits, makes up the Venice deficit.. This sum comes out of a $2,250,000 annual fund which the government sets aside for various film industry ex¬ penses and propaganda: part of it goes to Unitalia Films to publicize the Italian pic abroad; other sums go to Film Clubs and Societies; the Rome Experimental Film School; the organization which annually awards the “Silver Ribbon” prizes for Italian film quality; and to Venice. Finally, to be noted in this cpn- nection is the sizeable sum which the Venice Festival manages each year to collect for admissions of various kinds: some $45,000. Italy Responsive To Gregarious TV-Listening Rome. Television made a relatively be¬ lated appearance on the Italian en¬ tertainment scene, yet its effects were soon felt. As early as 1955, j when video set totals in Italy were still a modest 182,416, Italy had its last “big” year at the local box- offices, with a recorded (and rec¬ ord) 819 million tickets sold. From then on, as set sales soared, ticket sales dropped stea¬ dily: 1956 admissions dropped to 790.2 million while tv sets (actual- j ly figured in subscriptions to the subsidized RAI-TV setup) that year totalled 376,525. 1957 admissions were off over 30 million, down to 758.4 million, while video sub¬ scriptions almost doubled to 673,- 080. The situation for 1958 stands at over a million tv sets regis¬ tered, admissions off another 28 million in a year, down to the present level of some 730 million. Even more slgificant is the fact that the tv inroads in this country were made with a single program (channel) and a relatively short (5-7 hrs/day) video day. Industry- ites tremble at reports that RAI- TV is planning a second TV pro¬ gram soon, or at others predicting a commercial tv channel in this country ere long. . (President, ANICA) Rome. During 1958, 135 new full-length Italian films have been distributed; of these, 56 were made in color, 60 for wide-screen, thirtyfour were shot abroad. During the first quarter of 1959, shooting was started on 38 full- length films; of these, 10. are in color, 15 for wide-screen and nine are being shot abroaad. These data confirm that the eco¬ nomic trend of the Italian film production has definitely turned upward. We must add to these figures, the 300 documentaries and 645 newsreels produced in 1958. It has often been emphasized that it Is not sufficient to quote i the figures relating to the films produced to. give a complete and exact picture of our Italian indus¬ try. This is correct. It is there¬ fore necessary to make a more de¬ tailed comparison concerning the quality and returns of films pro¬ duced. From this standpoint too, the situation is. improving: again in 1958, some great spectacular films involving heavy costs were pro¬ duced in close cooperation with important American companies; more films of the same type are being prepared and will start shooting soon. Some directors among the most qualified of our neorealistic cur¬ rent have resumed their activity, while several young directors have [ recently started their career with success. There has been a considerable increase in the production of a certain group of costume films of average cost, based on history or fiction. These are especially In demand and welcomed by some ex¬ port markets. It would be silly to offer only optimistic considerations. Unfor¬ tunately there also exists silly and trivial films, which prejudice and slow down the renewal of inter¬ est in our film industry, especially in foreign markets. As regards the economic results of the most recent production, we can report satisfactory figures: In 1958, the boxoffice gross of Italian films ha3 been off about 40 billion lire on the domestic market, as compared with the 35 billion of the previous year. Moreover, dur¬ ing the first half of this film sea¬ son, the proportional take of Ital¬ ian films In first run theatres has reached 35% of the total gross, with peaks of 40%, as against an average proportion of 28% in the corresponding period of the previ¬ ous season. | Balance Sheet , [ This general improvement in our industry is indirectly but precisely confirmed by the change which has occurred in the situation of our motion picture industry credit. The balance sheet of the Motion Picture Dept, of the Banca Nazion- ale del Lavoro was closed with a substantial surplus, and with over 1.5 billion lire of reserves. Many other hanks granted new large (Continued on page 56) NEW ITALO SHOW BIZ PLAN Would Place Entertainment In Ministry of Sports, Tourism Rome. A plan to Incorporate the local entertainment sector into the Min¬ istry of Sports and Tojirism has started its way thrpugh Italian gov¬ ernmental procedure. Chances of success are still uncertain. A simi¬ lar plan was presented in 1954 under the government of Mario Scelba, but the move disintegrated before the : designated Minister, Pontl, could take office. Principal objections to the in¬ corporation previously have come from the exponents of tourism in this country, but these are now said to look more favorably on the project, with Tupini, the desig¬ nated Minister of Sports and Tour¬ ism, openly supporting the inclu¬ sion of the field of entertainment In his ministry. Entertainment to date has formed part of the Presi¬ dency of the Council, under the leadership of a State Undersecre¬ tary. Miscellaneous—and Vague—Italo Data Statistics are elusive in Italy but the following facts seem depend- able: Year-round film theatres, 10,497. Situations at summer peak, 17,729. Parochial (Catholic Church) film spots, 5,995. * Features produced In 1958, 135. Documentaries made in 1958, 300. Newsreels made In 1958, 545. Tickets sold last year, 730-million. Boxoffice income last year, 110-billion lire. Average admission, 151 lire. Average film cost to produce, 160-million lire. Investment in negatives, 20-billion lire. Revenue from Export, 1958, $12,000,000. Census of Italy’s Film Industry, about 15,000. Number of producers, 80. Number of national distributors, 36. Number of regional distributors, 47. Hollywood Crafts’ Cry: ‘Runaway’ Films Help European Communists Italian Film Weeks Opened in Far East Rome, April 14. Unitalia Film, the organization charged with promoting the Italian film abroad, has set a series .of Italo film weeks in the Far East, starting in Colombo last week (23). Other dates are slated for Singa¬ pore, Tokyo, Seoul, Hong Kong, New Delhi, and Bombay, where the junket ends on April 22. There will be 12 features shown In addition to a set of documen¬ taries illustrating Italian life and another chronicling Italo film his¬ tory from its origin to the present day. A group of actors, actresses and producers will make the trip. Alberto Sordi Alone Can Carry A Weak Story Rome. [ No popularity poll exists In Italy for film stars -(though there are Innumerable ones for pop singers). But if the b.o. response Is any in¬ dication, Alberto Sordi today Is one of the very few Italian person¬ alities who is a success even in a bad picture—and almost always manages to save it at the boxoffice All the rest, even the comedian. Toto. must have a good vehicle to Insure a healthy b.o. response. Among other top Dames who In the right film can really pack them in are Marcello Mastroianni, (one Df the busiest), Vittorio DeSica, j Amedeo Nazzarl, Vittorio Gass- mann, as well as some of the new youngsters such as Maurizio Arena and Renato Salvator!, who have a healthy teener appeal. On the distaff side, the situation Is identical. None, not even Magnani, can save an unliked pic. But, in the right item, Gina Lollo- brigida, Silvana Mangano, Anna Magnani, Giulietta Masina, Sylvia Koscina, Antonella Lualdi, Eleori- ora Rossi Drago, are undoubtedly aids. The young contingent is currently made up of teen-appeal¬ ing Carla Gravina, Lorella deLuca, Giorgia Moll. Alessandra Panaro and others. (Sophia Loren is now almost considered a foreign star.) The foreign sector is even more difficult to gauge fairly without a poll of any kind, and omissions are almost inevitable. Perhaps most mentioned, however, are Ingrid Bergman, Marilyn Monroe, Kim Novak, and Brigitte Bardot among the ladies, and Gary Cooper. Greg¬ ory Peck, Kirk Douglas, Marlon Brando, William Holden, Cary Cary GraTit, Paul Newman, Frank Sinatra, Burt Lancaster, among the men. Hollywood, April 14. f Charging that “runaway” foreign | production, made at lower cost abroad, gives employment to known Communists at the expense of American film workers, the Holly¬ wood AFL Film Council, repping 24,000 members, has petitioned the national AFL-CIO exec council and its prexy, George Meany, to sup¬ port a nationwide consumer boy¬ cott on all such foreign-filmed pix. Simultaneously, as part of a reso¬ lution unanimously adopted by the Film Council, a proposal was sub¬ mitted to Congress urging legisla¬ tion to “require that all motion pictures and television films made in foreign countries and exhibited in the U.S. be plainly labelled in the main screen title with the coun¬ try of origin.” Full-scale Congres¬ sional investigation of “runaway” foreign pix by American producers also w r as asked. In communicating with the AFL- CIO exec council, the Hollvwood org requested that the national body adopt the suggested consumer boycott resolution at its convention meeting in Sepember. Film Coun¬ cil pointed out that 50% of techni¬ cians and artists employed abroad *n American pix are Communists. It also charged that such foreign production, a major contributor to Hollywood unemployment, was en¬ gaged in for the purpose of reap¬ ing substantial tax benefits at the expense of American citizens. CO-PRODUCTION VERY PROMINENT IN ITALY One half the features Italy pro¬ duced during 1958 were made in partnership with another nation (or in some cases, with more than one country). A steady rise in such twin projects is noted from 1952’s total of 18 (all with France) to the 1958 figure: 67. The general trend is in'two di¬ rections: on the one hand, co-pro¬ ductions with such European part¬ ners as France, Germany, Soain, Yugoslavia, etc. — in view of the establishment of the European common market; on the other, the numerically smaller but financially more rewarding part¬ nerships with Yank companies, generally leading to world-wide distribution of such twin efforts. Two evident examples of the success of the last-named formula: Dino DeLaurentiis’ link with Para¬ mount on “Tempest”; and Goffre- do Lombardo’s Titanus production of “The Naked Maja,” made in partnership with Metro and UA. Both hits, they are expected to open the door to many more such Yank-Italian deals, aided, in fact and spirit, by the clauses of the recently - signed MPEA - ANICA | film pact linking the two nations* ifilm industries. J Italy has co-production agree¬ ments in force with: U.S., France, Spain, Germany, Austria, Yugo¬ slavia, Argentina, Venezuela. It has film exchange pacts with the fol¬ lowing: Great Britain, France, Spain, Austria, Germany, Argen¬ tina, Yugoslavia, among others. [ Agreements are being negotiated with Mexico, Belgium, Holland.