Variety (January 1961)

January 4, 1961 Fiftyfifth PSrIETY Anniversary PICTURES STUDIO EXECS ALL AD ‘EXPERTS ‘Gotta Have Taste’ Let me tell you just a short tale about a certain producer's con¬ tribution to advertising: Once there was a producer distributing through United Artists who delivered to us a picture based on one of the literary mon¬ strosities of our time, but which, nevertheless, sold millions of copies. It was a good, sound, All-American picture, full of vio¬ lence. brutality, sex, murder, innuendo, quadruple entendre, and other minor vices. The craftsmen land I sav “craftsmen” deliberately! in the ad¬ vertising, publicity and exploitation department prepared a good, sound campaign on the picture. They presented roughs to the pro¬ ducer, who walked around the room, surveying each one of the layouts just as I came into the room. His reaction was neither pleased nor pleasant. He raised his voice several decibels and shouted in a most controlled manner, “These ads have absolutely, no taste.” This, in spite of the fact that the picture a.nd^ the book upon which it was based will unquestionably go down in history as one of the most tasteless products of American culture. He then caushl my eye and noticed that I was about to break into un¬ controllable laughter. Immediately changing his approach, he said to me. “Max. you know you understand this picture thoroughly — you have been in it from the beginning. The ads have to have taste." lie said, and then added, “I don’t care whether it is good or bad taste, as long as they have taste.” Even I had to stop laughing at that point and proceeded imme¬ diately to the Fort Knox of Milltown which I keep in mv desk drawer for just such situations. You see. it's a magic kind of drawer. It only opens after meeting with exhibitors and producers on adver¬ tising. publicity and exploitation matters. Small things like the hydrogen bomb don’t upset me at all. I can’t tell you with what anxiety I look forward to the great contribution that will be made by the exhibitors and the produ¬ cers in improving advertising, publicity and exploitation on mo¬ tion pictures. . • There is much that is wrong with the way we advertise, publicize and exploit pictures ,but it is the men who are working as crafts¬ men on a dav-to-dav basis who. in mv opinion, will solve it, and not the kibitzers playing with other people’s money., time and talent Mai E. Youngstein BLOOPERS I HAVE KNOWN Bv PETE SMITH ■ Hollywood. Most of us like to recall liighpoints of a career. But more fun is thinking back at the times we goofed.. For instance, as m.c. at a Cavneranum’s Ball. I once introduced a curvy starlet as. “A little lass from Canada.” If you’ll say “little lass” fast, you’ll know why I got a big. fat unintentional laugh. Mispronouncing the name of the town of Muscogee on the soundtrack of a Pete Smith Specialty brought me hundreds of letters, telegrams and phone calls . from irate Georgians. And when I tried to show Dave O'Brien 'in front of the entire company how to take a certain fall. I sprained an ankle. And walked with a crutch for a week. Lives there a radio announcer who has never pulled a “Hoobert Heever"? In any case it was the introduction on a national radio network, of Major Bowes. I. re¬ ferred to him as Bajor E. Mowes. In presenting 'the guest of honor at . an MGM dinner I made three unsuccessful attempts to pronounce the name of the Polish gentleman. Red up to my receding hairline. I finally introed him merely by his official title. At a big MPTOA banquet given by the major studios. I served as anchor man on the dais. My func¬ tion was to introduce the various emcees who in turn, introduced the acts from thcii respective studios. I was just concluding the evening’s] festivities with a few appropriate j remarks when I felt a tug on my sleeve. It was Dick Powell. “You I forgot Warners!" lie stage-phis1 pered. < Powell was then a WB ! star-. In truth my notes had become mixed and I had completely over¬ looked a segment of the show by the brothers Warner. Of course, I tried to laugh it off by announcing I was ju^t fibbing Powell. But my stomach tied itself into a knot that took days to unravel. The times I inadvertently walked through the background of a scene being photographed and the occa¬ sions I was bawled out for same, were not a few. As a result of one of these lapses I got into a hassle with husky unit manager Red Golden. In the heat of the argu¬ ment I invited Red outside to set¬ tle it. Lucky for skinny me, Golden refused with a smile. He could have licked me with both hands tied behind his back. In a publicity tieup for “The Fire Brigade” I had a number of i fire chiefs meet with Louis B. Mayer. For the press photog’ raphers. Mayer and the head man of the fire chiefs group started to shake hands. At this point I j snatched a fire helmet front the ! cranium of another chief and plopped it on Mayer's head. Unfor. tunaiely. the helmet was at least : three sizes too small for my boss. But before I could remove it, the cameramen had snapped the pic¬ ture. In the papers the next day, Mayer looked like a cross between comedy fire, chief Ed Wynn and Smokey the Bear. I avoided Mr. Mayer’s office for a day or two. ! A blooper I’ll never forget hap¬ pened during the filming of “The Rogue Song.” I 'out of scene! had ! thoughtlessly placed an empty wine glass on a steep nearby stair¬ way tin scene. The great Law¬ rence Tibbett was singing the • finale, of his big number as lie climbed the stairs. Just as he hit a . high note he sturiibled on the wine glass turning a romantic scene into slapstick. “Who the hell put : that glass there!” exploded Tibbett, looking right at me. A I slunk off the set I could feel Larry’s glare burning a hole in the back of my skull. B.O. Tax; Protest By U.S. Embassy Seoul. Government of Republic of Korea is now studying a request made by the American Embassy here for lowering rate of the com¬ modity and admissions taxes for l\ S. films. In its request, Embas¬ sy pointed out that existing tax rates run contrary to the terms of the U, S.-Korean treaty of com¬ merce and navigation, in which most favored national treatment is promised to U. S. pix in Korea. Existing rate of .admissions tax for U. S. films at i’irstrun theatres in Seoul is 23Co of the admission price and the commodity tax on feature films is 750 yen per meter. Embassy is understood *to have grave concern about the recent decision of the House Financial and Economic Committee to in¬ crease the admissions tax and the film commodity tax for foreign films threefold. By HY HOLLINGER Only superficially appraised in the general meatmorphosis of production and distribution, is the transition that is taking place in today’s advertising and publicity. The changes may not be as dra¬ matic and may be having more difficulty rising boldly to the sur¬ face, but there is nevertheless an awareness on the part of the pub¬ licity and advertising personnel that the functions of their depart¬ ments’ needs must be modernized to conform with the “new” motion picture industry that is presently emerging in this era of television and suburbia. Exhibitors and individual produ¬ cers are quick to place the blame for allegedly antiquated publicity and advertising practices on the film company pub-ad departments. Witness the statement issued by the Screen Producers Guild and Theatre Owners of America fol¬ lowing their Coast meeting prior to the TOA convention in Septem¬ ber: 'Our industry's advertising not only is sterile and antiquated, but is one of the u'orst ad prograins of any American industry ." If such is the case, a number of pub-ad chiefs maintain, a large portion of the rap must be shoul¬ dered by these same producers and exhibitors. For example, Roger Lewis at United Artists charges that the inability to mod¬ ernize advertising practices and techniques is due to the preval¬ ence of an old theatrical — “too many people in the act.” Without naming names. Lewis contends that in some companies everybody from the president down, including members of the board of directors and certainly the sales department has • an opinion on what constitutes a good advertising campaign. Augmenting this background chorus of secondguessing is a large group of in¬ dependent producers and theatremen, each regarding himself as an advertising expert. Under the in¬ dustry's present setup, Lewis points out. a ' “producer” can be anybody — a star, a director, a writ¬ er, or a businessman; — but the mojment he receives the title of proIducer lie automatically becomes ;an authority on publicity and ad¬ vertising. Bigger Bosoms . Theatremen. Lewis states, are always johnnies-on-the-spot when it comes to criticizing ads, but “If you ask them for a suggestion all they can come up with is a worse alternative — they want bigger bosoms, more ’sex. more action, more violence. “The only mistake an advertis¬ ing man can make in this busi¬ ness,” says Lewis, “is io have an idea. If he sticks to the traditional lines — action, violence, sex — he’s safe. You have to be brave to have an idea.” The UA executive contends that if a new advertising approach is attempted and the picture fails to score at the boxoffice. the ad con¬ cept is immediately blamed. “They don’t seem to realize that the same picture might have failed with a traditional campaign,” he notes. Frequently, according to Lewis, a producer walks into his office with the stylized Container Corp. of America ads and asks “why can’t we have ads like these?” With the exception of Saul Bass. Lewis says, there are no established advertis¬ ing designers working in the indus¬ try. If a film fails because an avant garde ad is employed, the approach is immediately aban¬ doned simply because if failed the last time out, Lewis asserts. Held In Disdain Another Lewis beef is the gen¬ eral disdain the industry holds for the publicity and advertising men. He notes, for example, that the in¬ dustry hands out awards for al¬ most every field of accomplish¬ ment, but that there are no awards for an ad campaign, a good promo¬ tion or copy lines. “The promotion (Continued on page 36! A Playwright’s Cradle Days Bv ALBERT IIACKET Fiftyfive years ago when Variety was starting, I was start¬ ing. I was playing in "Lottie The Poor Saleslady, or Death Before Dishonor.” Variety has changed a lot since. So have I. I was play¬ ing a little girl. . . I don’t remember much about my part except that I died in the second act. As the curtain came down on that scene, I would strug¬ gle out from under the leading lady who had collapsed with grief on top of me, and rush offstage. There, someone would adjust feath¬ ery wings over my long nightgown, lift me on to a kitchen table, I would clasp my hands in prayer. A lantern slide would project moving clouds onto a drop, behind me and. on cue, an oval cutout would open and the audience would see me winging my way to heaven. Cheers and whistles and I was through. size except that she made two of me whenever there was a situation. The boxoffice girl looked down thrugh the opening in the glass at us as we came up to her. My sis¬ ter spoke up. “May I see the ’man¬ ager, please?” The girl stood up to see us better. “You mean Mr. . . .?”. She gave his name. My sister said yes, the manager. The girl put a little wooden cover be¬ fore the wicket, left her glass bowl and went into the dark theatre to find the manager. He appeared and looked down at us puzzled. “You. want to see me?,” he said. “Do ■ you recognize the profe-ssion?,’* ! asked my sister. The managerf more puzzled than ever. You could " see he was thinking hard. “Profes¬ sion? What profession?,” he askedi “We are playing at the Grand Opera House in “The Traveling Salesman ...” My sister did not Not completely through as I used ; have to say another word. Th®; to help our crew who travelled with j manager’s lace lit up in recognius. I used to hold a smoke pot in ] tion. .“Oh. you want to see the the fire scene. I also rolled buck show?,” he exclaimed. “Go on in. shot on a drumhead in the storm ; Go in. Glad to have you.” And io scene. I threw up rock salt in xhe : we went. Those were the days. % dock scene when the hero plunged j in after “Lottie.” The local crew ! would ask to see my union card. I Ft f\ TT « had one. Our carpenter gave me an old IATSE card of his and that settled everything. Company car¬ penters were always my friends. In j one company the carpenter made a ! large black bag for me to put my j Flexible Flyer in, so I could carry j it on the train with me and not; -w Athens, have to check it through with the' Much was heard during I960 baggage. i-about tiie flight of Hollywood pro-; On one-night stands most of your ; Auction to foreign climes. This was life was spent on trains. When you '...a but somewhat .weren’t on one you were waiting intensified. It. was accompanied by for one, or you were getting off ; J.rado discussions on international one to get on another. I got so that ;finan(-,!n.2 of such films with special I could sleep anywhere and through ! enipha"ls., "Pon the so-called “soft am thing. ! currency ’ situations in Spain, \ . x , Italy and Jugoslavia. But no real A couple of years later when ;istic reportage of 1960 could omit \arieiy was lour and I was nine some attention to the special case Greece Peps Dp , j As Prod. Centre of the Kingdom of Greece. Foreign producers, and especially Americans, are indeed welcome here. The Ministry of Industry en I couldn't seem to get a job. I was sent to a convent. There at night whenever there was an electric storm the nuns would get all the boys up out of their beds and Into the ' pr and like old times to me and I’d fall to sleep, to be wakened by a whack on thehead and an order to pray. ; landscape ^bounds' in classic rid They seemed to be afraid of thun¬ der and lightning. The only thing bad about it that I knew was it could ruin a performance if you weren't careful. Particularly thun¬ der — you had to hold back a line sometimes 'til the noise was over, or even say the line again. together so that a schedule need 'o>e no time at all. The Grecian ns 300 One-Nighters and rugged terrain and. with the bright Mediterranean sun, is ideal for co’or photography. Recent Features The last foreign picture which was shot here was the API-20th ■ Century-Fox release .“It Happened j In Athens” directed by Andrew jMarton with Frank Parmenter as One season I played 300 one an active producer and production night stands. I remember more , manager. This tells a lov° story main streets and stagedoors and written by Laszlo Vadnav and dressingrooms that are completely . based on the life of the first unrelated. Poughkeepsie N.Y., is i Olympic champion and marat; on very vivid and. yet very vague to, runner Spyridon Louis played by me. I remember the mailbox di-jTrax Colton and Jayne Mansfield, rectly the slagedoor. j Nico Minardos. Bob Mathias and The morning of the day we were introducing Greece’s Maria Xenia to play there, we went in to unpack. ! t0 tl:c *^nu‘ncan audiences, to see if there was any mail. The i Shot here in Athens last Autumn Smith Bros, had their factory , in fine -weather, the film contain* there. For publicity they sent every j spectacular scenes in the Athens member of the cast a’package of ! Stadiumwith the participation of Smith Bros. Cough Drops. I had a ' nn.OOO Athenians who worked as fine time. I not onlv ate mv own extras without fee wearing old 1896 box but several other boxes that. ^is. This was an unprecedented had been thrown avav. From then and exceptional accomplishment on things are vague. I remember people working over me trying to get me to wake up; a doctor stand¬ ing beside me in the wings: of go¬ ing on and getting my lines out and drawing a blank again. which solved a serious budget prob¬ lem. It dramatizes local concept* of “cooperation.” A second film which 20th Cen¬ tury is shooting in Greece is the drama. “Lion of Sparta." which I remember another time going j started rolling in November. It i» along a particular main street. 1 j produced and directed by Rudy have no idea whose main street it j ^ate Bi.l Lckart as produc was. I remember horses and carls, j tion manager. a few parked automobiles, the drug i Spyros Skouras, 20th Centurystore. the five-and-ten and the i Fox chief, disclosed on his recent Xickleodian. This was what my sister and I were looking for. I don’t remember the title of the picture they were playing. It was a Biograph picture with Mack Sennett and the. pier at Santa Monica. The Nickleodian was a very small place that had once been a shop. There was a small ticket booth sur¬ rounded by glass with /‘Admission 5c” painted in large gold lettering. My sister and I w'ere about of a visit to Athens that his company will shoot another picture in Greece next spring, “The King Must Die.” He also talked about his intention to ultimately build a big studio here; Carl Foreman is planning t« shoot another picture in Greece as well as other American. Italian, French and German producer*. Looks like Greece should become an active production centre.