Variety (December 1960)

FICTUHKS PfiftlErr Wednesday, December 14, 1960 Snobs, Film Showmen Can't See That Stage Names Don’t Need ’Em; Call Hollywood Basically Timid »anl V npalrlav nf tho N Y. Her- Israelis’ Reaction to "Exodus’ Hollywood, Dec. 13. A pair of Broadway producers who boast a good track record in musical theatre agreed that most Hollywood film studios “have cold feet” when it comes to buying properties fv transfer tc the screen. “They say they want new material, but they’re afraid to judge new material'' and take a chance,” say Robert e. Griffith and Harold S. Prince, whose successive string of hit Broadway musicals in¬ clude “Pajama Game,” “Damn Yankees.” “West Side Story,” “New Girl in Town,” “Fiorello! and “Tenderloin.” Griffith and Prince feel Holly¬ wood makes the mistake of treat¬ ing Broadway as if it were a film. “For a pk ture perhaps you need big stars, a known writer and director, but that can’t be translated to Broadway. In the theatre, people don’t care who wrote it and who’s in it as long as it’s good.” The New York producers main¬ tain that major film companies, with only little effort and a reason¬ able amount of money, can become involved with Broadway shows— and subsequent film rights—on the ground floor. “When Hollywood ’comes to Broadway, it wants to put up its money on tne people, but the big people don’t need Hol¬ lywood. What film companies should do is listen to the unknowns and take chances with them. All it takes is an ear and guts. Sure, sometimes they’ll stub their toe, but it will be a cheap stub, and by backing bright young people, they’ll be a part of developing properties which ultimately can be filmed.” Prince explained that money is hard to find in New York, that scripts are readily available and that composers are playing their scores for prospective investors every’ day. “Big money in New York.” he said, “is not big money in Hollywood, and film companies can come up with a lot of top talent.” Pair declared they had consider¬ able trouble raising money for their first musical. “Pajama Game,” and would have been most receptive to Hollywood money. They noted that if a single investor had put down $2,000 on “Game” and let his money ride through their subsequent show’s., the invest¬ ment todav would be worth $ 120 , 000 . Griffith and Prince have a habit of vo’’!;in" with unknowns. Such acting and writing talent as Gwen Verdon. Shirley MaoLaine, Carol Haney. Stephen Sondheim. .Adler and Rows, Carol Lawrence, Tom B I’n*;.- . rd H’U’mek were unknown names when they first went to work on Gnffith-Pnnce shows. “We’ve proven that stars a e good if they're good- for the part®. but we don’t depend on them economically. And by’ not running up g:ant costs, we’ve been able to return more to our investors than anyone else has in some time. So far. the Grifiith-Pi ince shows have grossed $30,000,000 and have netted profits of $4,350,000 On an entirely differ-nt "Ubj?ct. producers explained they’ll release c-nly the ballads from' their shows for television airing. "Television has not yet deviled a technique for -shoving the musical numbers as they should he Hiown.” they said. “\::d when you <-ee one cf them c-..t of ;on’ext. it's roierh ” Asked f*tvut the possibility of Broadway j. . ">■ ' <\i par : e'e- they agreed the medium \ re able to handle t t lively tr.ly a medal kind' ol music.: 5 ” While here, Griffith and Prince t.te .ading “Cade Blanche.'' a new ;• jd-al based on the credit card s- T.n. George Goodman and Dean I dhr are ge.-.nme tile book, with M \ Re deers and Marshal Barer cou*... :1 e s o:e, and Geoi.e Abbott to . t Produc ers rt-vt d \es- te c if: ‘he fir-t fme th t 'limy 1 i,d«s sought for tne .m and Prince addbinr.ally i-v.ny v..th Jerome Lawrence ei t K. I.ee on “A Cd! on a •*'.dplay ’■. -id or. Pa: nt ’.ember Mau- hhlman’s look. Albert Hack^tt dwells on A Screen Writer’s Cradle Days * * * another bright Editorial Feature in the 55th Anniversary Number of PSriety \ OUT SOON! * j j-—:- | Britain’s Upturn; Pix No Joke Now, Per Attenborough Richard Attenborough, who dou- i bles as costar and coproducer of ! “The Angry Silence,” w ? as in New j j York from his native London this i |week with <a) hurrahs about the: | way British film theatres have j | picked up business and (b) com-I j plaints about British distribution j | methods. : “The cinema' at home.” he said, “is now taken seriously whereas it , had been a joke. Now television is a joke.” TV, he added, has no sub- . stantial variety on its two channels and the third, he adds, will be home j toll. On the other hand, pictures of | quality are doing better than ever I ‘ at the boxoffice. Titles which came : ; to mind include “Nun’s Story,” i “The Apartment." “Ben-IIur.” . i “Room at the Top” and “Mil- 5 lionairess.” Theatres are doing bet- ; ter because while production is ; down the standards in production : ; are higher. Mediocre pictures do . ; nothing, but the successful ones ! : are bigger than ever, observed At- ; tenborough, as the United King- ! dom market now seems patterned : after the United States. As for distribution, the per¬ former-filmmaker regards as “idi- otic” a system of release which sees fully 40 c o of a film’s rentals taken from the London area alone. It's beyond him why the rest of . the country doesn’t contribute ; more. ! “Angry Silence” was brought in ! at a negative cost of sligthly less ■than $300,000. with Attenboiough. cottar Michael Craig and copro- duccr Eryan Forbes having taken no salary but are in on participa¬ tion. Film won the international film critics award at the 1960 Ber¬ lin Film Festival. Tilm is being presented in the United States by Sig Shore’s and Joseph Harris’ Valiant Films, in association with Yitalite Filins. Shore, in introducing Attenbor¬ ough at a meeting in N. Y., also had an observation to offer a re¬ porter. He drew attention to the growing number of hard-ticket pic¬ tures being thrown on the market indiscriminately. He ins-ris that the initial roadshow treatment will be damaging to those If vs than the yerv bc-t, for once the shaky entry i ,; torrid to ro on a conventmnal .inn basis both exhiintor.s and the public will be wary of it. Jsdson Parker’s Post Jud’on Parker, of Embassv Pic¬ tures’ N. Y. advertising staff. h.:s ’ been named the (ompany’s »»\- : ploitation director by Eddie Sod-; ornon. executive v.p. I Parker, formerly sales manager oi Embassy'*; Boston office v.luro topper Joseph E. Levine operate*: ’ a states rights distribution oiufit. ! transferred to the N. Y. ad Mali j eight months ago. A 25-year vet-1 e-run of the industry, lie ha*- worked j in New England r O” Ureversal, j Warners, and Un.ted Artists. j Paul V. Beckley of the N.Y. Her- al Tribune has been elected chair¬ man of the N.Y. Film Critics, suc¬ ceeding Howard Thompson of the Times. Daily News’ Wanda Hale moved up from secretary-treasurer to vicechairman, succeeding Beck- ley. Now secretary-treasurer is Archer Winston of the Post. Eugene Archer, Times, and Joseph Morgenstern, Herald Tri¬ bune, were voted membership. Critics set Dec. 29 for their an¬ nual vote on the year’s best picture, foreign-language film, director, ac¬ tor, actress and screen writing. Stanley Warner Wages Detailed Officers and directors of Stanley Warner Corp. received total remu- ; neration of $851,970, according to a • proxy statement summoning share¬ holders to the annual meeting in Wilmington, Del., on Jan. 12. Prexy S. H. (Si) Fabian and exec v.p. Samuel Rosen receive a com¬ bined total of $470,620, which is paid to Fabian Enterprises under an agreement for their services. Other salaries listed are: Nathaniel : Lapkin, first, v.p., $159,750: Harry Kalmine v.p. and general manager, $92,150; the late Maurice A. Silver, zone manager. $31,000, and W. Stewart McDonald, v.p. and treas¬ urer, $66,150. | Three directors are up for reelec- : tion—Fabian, Rosen, and Lapkin. I The terms of directors Kalmine, : Dr. Charles F. McKhann, and Mc^ j Donald continue. BRITAIN’S‘SATURDAY’ FOR MAR DEL PLATA London, Dec. 13. “Saturday Night and Sunday Morning,” which recently set up : a new house record at the Warner ■ Theatre, has been named the offi- ; rial British entry at the Mar del I Plata film festival which runs from : Jan. 8-17. It was produced ■ by Harry Saltzman and Tony Rich- ! : ardson, directed by Karel Rei*z, : and is distributed through Bryan- ‘ ston in association with British Lion. ! If a second British film is in- : vited to the fest, the choice will 1 almost certainly be “The Long and the Short and "the Tall,” produced by Sir Michael Balcon for Asso- ■ ciated British. N. Y. to L. A. Frederick Brisson Stdney Carroll Joe Csid.a Ben Segal Jack Segal Lenny Segal L. A. to N. Y. Robert Anderson Peter Arnell Milton Berle Bob Braun William Castle Jimmy Durante Billy Eckstine Taina Elg Cary Grant Clement Hirsch George Jessel Mai Klein Francis Lederer David A. Lipton Mariorie Little Irving Ludwig Irving Mansfield Stuart Rosenberg Maiia Schell Dick Shawn Billy Wiigus U. S. to Europe Ken Giniger Joe Glaser Rita Hayworth Donald O'Connor Morton A. Spring Laurence A. Ti*-ch Europe to U. S. Samuel Bronston Joseph Gotten Grieve DeMruther Helen Kardon P.dricia Medina Dick Pack J. Arthur Warner Anna Dei re Witnan. . Maurice Winniek Ir\ipe Wermser Tony Wright Tel Aviv, Dee, 13. Israeli enthusiasm for “Exodus” pic Is not as unequivocal as many might assume. Truth is that Leon Uris’ book, on which the pic is based, was much less of a success in Israel than in the States. Many Israelis believe that romantic idealizations in the book and film distort the hard facts of the Jewish war of independence. These facts are believed to be sufficient to speak for themselves. Harretz, one of the leading papers here, frontpaged its review of the Otto Preminger picture, written by its New York corres¬ pondent, Amos Elon: Those who liked’ the book will like the picture as well; Elon reports. It is the first, real Hollywoodian exaggeration of the birth of Israel. Mr. Preminger is feeding his audiences with huge portions of schmalz. Even the most chauvinistic Israeli, even the extremest among Zionists must feel some resentment. Our historical drama is misrepresented injfhis picture in a melodramatic way, like in a Western with the Arabs playing the part of the Indians.” Elon concedes that the picture has many values on the technical side and some artistry too. With some resignation, he concludes, that still the best thing an Israeli can do is to hope the film will be a hit. Jesse Zel Lurie, New York correspondent of the Jerusalem Post, is much more sympathetic: “Of course ‘Exodus’ is fictionalized, but it is not fiction. The strength of the movie is that—much more so than the book—it tries to reenact historic fact and it is filmed authentically where it happened . . . Any Palmachnik (Jewish fighter) viewing the film will sav:-“This is the way it was—almost* . . . Preminger has done infinitely better than what is normally expected of a Hollywood producer.” • “Exodus” will not be shown in Israel until spring. The expecta¬ tion is great. American Council of Judaism Praises Preminger Fairness In Giving Other Side of 'Exodus >+ American Council of Judaism, V«» Showmen which speaks for the non-Zionist, . - T and/or anti-Zionist, Jews of the Arthur JL. Mayer United States, has heretofore criti- . cized Leon Uris’ novel, “Exodus.” who knows kit Fs mid Q s has an Some of the points raised were ckay formula for ftihire b.o. in quoted in Vartety a year ago. The nis discerning end h'9hly Council has now returned to the provocative piece titled i*:sue with the completion and re- 4 'T’» A C’* j j lease of the film version, produced A S 9 ^ j S 9 ana r S an( j directed in Israel by Otto * * * Preminger for United Artists re- . . _ lease this week, another Important Feature T , „ , , fk* It praises Preminger for having ^ achieved with the film, a closer 55th Anniversary Number approximation of historic accuracy than the book. Film critics around °* the U. S. have received an “inter- . r — pretation” which states that the KjA^IEHTY i film is much nearer the truth than $ the Uris novel though it obviously ' ? describes still-recent history from 1% - | • a partisan point of view. K H KOfP|l I Judaism council speaks of the U liaiVU vlU I Ivw film as containing “surprisingly little violence.” It will be recalled IIT • rV f that in the earlier diatribe against W £]{Tf|F AT 2) I TJris volume one charge was If vUClfl VI Cl \J that it was an “Israeli Western” replete with gunplay. Council re- V ¥}• 1 n II peats, in the latest briefing, the I A 111 Q ft ATI >rilllV contention that as written by Uris IV LrlOlIUgl UVUIIJ the story was “anti-Arab, anti- British, anti-some Jews and gen- Albany, Dec. 13. frally unhistorical.” Preminger is All pictures rated by Legion of "credited with “toning down” the Decency as B (objectionable in script. Says the Council for Juda- part for all), C (condemned) or , ism: “Surprise may he found in given a “separate classification,” this fertile field of comparison” shouid be "avoided by all—young between published text and screen and old.” according to Bishop translation. William A. Scully of the Albany Herewith, in excerpt, are para- Catholic Diocese. graphs offered the press by the dis- Seully’s remarks, contained in a sident body of American Jewry: letter read to all parishes last . “The movie’s scene aboard ship Sunday (11) as part of the annual (“Exodus”) tempered Uris’ account renewal of the LOD pledge, take 0 f the same incident, with its on special significance in that he varied threats of mass suicide, is a former chairman of the Cath- j .. In t ' he book fh z , onists threat _ oho Bishops Episcopal Committee fned t0 kill 10 a day untl i for Motion Pictures. Radio and nhe Britjsh r ei eaPC d the ship. The Television. Up until now there has .., error . collnter , crror .. (heme never been any concetted effoit to u } 1 i cb pervades the entire hook .is exclude Catholics from , seeing B- barely present in the movie, rated pictures to the same extent „ . that condemned pictures have been B rl,Ish r “ le ,. ls P orlra >'e< J m » fought. Catholics in the past have m ®*t sympathetic way. The most often-and sueeessfully-bovcttod an U-Bntiah remark comes from* theatres which have shown ,rx eon- £.vpriot Zionist who exclaims. The doomed by the Legion. intlsl ? f rc ‘ h * hcsl , ■"“ *'« t0 „ „ . , . i , . , have, hut why do we have to have Scullv s letter also blasted . the a Productiorf Code, whicli, i e s:.id. " , , tl „ . has “failed tn its. primm y impose.”. ^ t! 3 e " 0 ' D cl ; f ' on1 ^ U } e ? rst Code seal, he went on, ‘ s bci-n cl « use ° f . be Balfour Declaration given to pictures whh h arc net fit 'that winch premies a national to be shown .in any neighborhood ' llC T ’ t0 * hc Jcwish - peoi ? ,e) 13 motion picture house.” f l uoUd ; 7 he rema.njng clauses, __._ guaranteeing the rights of the Arabs in Palestine and oi the anti- ‘Exodus’ Tails ‘Ben-Hur’ Zionist Jews throughout the world. wore omitted irom the book. The Minneapolis, Dec. 13. film makes a sincere effort to de- “Ben-Hur” (M-G) will depart pict the tragedy oi the inconsistent from Ted Mann’s Academy here in commitment to both the Zionists mid-January after a 49-veek i"n. and the Arabs. Initial ads for its successor. “Ex- "For example, in the picture, the odus (LA), are pegged to Jrn. 25. head* of the Irgun. Akiva. David and are inviting mail orders. Opatoshu) is heard to exclaim, The hard-ticket “Exodus” sc.de •There- is as nuno "..ire to the will be $2.65 top. the same a- l'er Arab case in Palestine as there is “Ben-Hur” and for Cinerama oiler- » -iie . • w >ii e ’ ing like ings here. [th.is appears in the book!” aneriior Important Feature in tke upcoming 55th Anniversary Number ef P'Ahiety ‘B’-Rated Carries To Bishop Scully Albany, Dec. 13. All pictures rated by Legion of Decency as B (objectionable in part for all), C (condemned) or given a “separate classification,” shouid be "avoided by all—young and old.” according to Bishop William A. Scully of the Albany Catholic Diocese. Scully’s remarks, contained in a letter read to all parishes last Sunday (11) as part of the annual renewal of the LOD pledge, take on special significance in that he is a former chairman of the Cath¬ olic Bishops Episcopal Committee for Motion Pictures. Radio and Television. Up until now there has never been any concerted effort to exclude Catholics from seeing B- rated pictures to the same extent that condemned pictures have been fought. Catholics in the past have often—and successfully—boventted theatres which have shown p : x con¬ demned by the Locioh. Scully's letter also blasted . the Productiorf Code, which, be said, has "failed In its. primaiy i urpo'-e.” Code seal, lie went on, been given to pictures whh h are net fit to be shown in any neigiiborhood motion picture house.” < Exodus , Tails ^Ben-Hur* Minneapolis, Dee. 13. “Ben-Hur” (M-G) will depart from Ted Mann’s Academy here in mid-January after a 49-week i■ -n. Initial ads for its successor. “Ex¬ odus” (UA), are pegged to Jan. 25. and are inviting mail orders. The hard-ticket “Exodus” sr.de will bp $2.65 top. the same a- fer “Ben-Hur” and for Cinerama oller- , ings here.