Variety (January 1961)

January 4, 1961 Fifty-fifth P^RIETY Anniversary PICTURES Hollywood Studios By TOM PRYOR Hollywood. Concern over Hollywood’s “loss Of identification" as world leader In motion picture production reached an alltime high in 1960 as filming here hit an alltime low. ; Only 103 features were made in this country, mostly in Hollywood, by the principal producers of mo¬ tion picture entertainment, both major studios and independents, j Overall total for the country prob-' ably was somewhat higher, how¬ ever, due to sporadic production by a number of low-budget indies operating outside of the so-called Hollywood orbit. Most of the talk about “loss of Identification" was generated, of course, as a result oi the realiza-’ tion that the job market here was indeed lightening to the point of actual hurt for thousands of pro-., duetion crew workers, featured and bit players, ext'xis. and studio ad-’ ministrati’,-';* personnel. Dormant studio staers are not easy to con¬ ceal. and there wore long stretches when some Ivg studios did resem¬ ble ghost towns ! On the o' her lur'd, and strietlv from the numerical point of view Hollywood xpr>n>ored pictures held up surprise':” diming the last 12 months, considering delays caused bv the er:,v)hf > aetb’-s and writers strikes. Tin* t ** *1 I960 score was 16k pix start’d ■ including .those filmed abroad . or onlv 17 fewer than wore put h 'tore the cameras the preceding year, warn there Was not .so muck eo'm’ntrated “loss of identification" talk. The phrase conjured up a dra¬ matic urgency, to b* sure. How¬ ever. a strong counter argument might have been made on the basis that in going outside the United States to produce at least 47 fea¬ tures the Hollywood image was being enha»*eed bv bringing more and more Hollvwood personalities, into direct contact with audiences in such videh separated areas as Europe, the Near East and Asia. That there may be. a certain pro¬ motional value out of such contact is not to be denied. Nor. as Eric Johnston. Motion Picture Assn of America proxy, • and others have pointed out. can the American fi’-m industry expect to operate on a stri-tly one-way ■ basis in international economics, j Despite the drop in production here. Ilolh wood still grabs the bulk of the foreign audience ex¬ penditure on film entertainment. And it doesn’t hurt on the govern¬ ment level in .Mich countries as England, Germany. France. Italy. = Japan, etc. . to' provide some em¬ ployment for their nationals in the nuking of pi\. (’rafts’ Slant Naturally. American film unions are primarily concerned ' with pro¬ viding job for their dues-paying members, and they have become Increasingly disturbed as more fea¬ ture produc’ion has transferred out ; of IlolKwood •’» d the country. ! However, union-. f'-om IATSE i proxy Richard WaMi down the line, have not been blind to either the foreign currency situation or dramatic requirements which ne¬ cessitate, or mak * it desirable, to produce certain nix outside Holly ; wood. Their chief concern, and it Is hard to argue with this, involves filming abroad of pix. which could just as easily be made here. to satisfy personal whims of stars, directors or producers. Studio managemert also shares concern over tiie declining -scale of production in Hollvwood, although it can he more profitable from the corporate viewpoint in some in¬ stances to mak-> pictures abroad. However, experienced studio oper¬ ators say that all flings considered it is more advantageous to keep ; stages here husv. For one tiling,! the more filming activity the. lesser ; 'the load o: overhead charges an ’ individual p c ha to carry. Equally | important, for the future, is rei plenishment of {(‘clinical manpowoi ; (not to mention talent', and it’s not ! possible to make any progress in : this direction when there isn't enough work to go around. While television has contributed . greatly to the drop it. feature pro-! duel ion, it has helped conversely. I to keep open -studio.*, which other1 wise would be without any activity, I i and it has put a floor under the ! Hollywood labor market. Without ’ the latter, the job situation . here ' would have reached crisis propor¬ tions last year. But all is not rosy ; in this respect either. The unions view with mounting alarm growing indications of plans for going out¬ side the country to make tv films as well. Fortunately, up to now there has been more talk than action by producers in this respect. What 1961 holds for Hollywood in the way of feature production remains cloudy at present. In the twelve months just closed, how¬ ever, 20th-Fox and United Artists were the largest individual pro¬ ducers. starting 37 and 33, respec¬ tively. Breakdown of filming by studios, here and abroad, follows in alphabetical' order: Allied Artists — Hollywood, six: overseas, three. American-International — Holly¬ wood. one: overseas, four. ‘Columbia — Hollywood. 11: over¬ seas. six. I WaH Disney — Hollywood, two. MGM —Hollywood, seven: over j se^s. two. i Paramount — Hollywood. 11: j overseas, three. j 20th-Fo\ — Hollywood, 28: over¬ seas. nine. United Artists — Hollywood, 20; ! overseas. 13. j Universe! — Hollywood, seven: ; overseas, five. Warner Bros. — Hollywood, 10: , overseas, two. ! According to production charts maintained b\ this paper, there ■ wa< only a drop of .five pictures; last year, as against. 1959, in the; number of indie films which bad • their origin at least in Hollywood. * The 1960 score stood at 46. and all, but 13 of that group were made, under the t'A banner. ' While there is cause for concern ; about the slowing production pace, j chances of . Hollywood losing its I identification in the world market ! seem somewhat remote as long as; it can continue to put upon the j screen, as it did in 1960, such ' diverse and well made pix as: “Exodus.” “Pepe.” “Inherit the Wind.’’ "The Apartment.” “Elmer Gantry.” "Sons and Lovers” and “Sundowners" Hast two were made, respectively, in England and Aus1 tralia but conceived by and carried I out bv Hollywood creators': “Spar: tacus.” "Cimarron.’’ “Bells Are ! Ringing;” “Psycho,” “Suzie Wong.” i “Facts of Life” and “Sunrise at • Campobelto.” Others could be named as well, ' but this sampling is indicative of : that well established Hollywood! tradition of being able to stand i above atl competitors in turning1 out quality and mass, audience ap' peal pix on a large scale. j THE ILLOGIC OF LAUGHTER -By JOHN McCABE. (Associate Prof, of Dramatic Art, New York University One pleasantly torpid day in devastating accuracy, that this is_ Malibu when I was tape-inter . not the best of all possible worlds, -viewing Stan Laurel about his par; and that some vigorous steei ticular usages of Prof. John McCabe comic device, ! broom sweeping in almost every their origin, ' compartment of life would be a their develop blessing to the universe. And so ment and their sav we all. But somewhere the extension, a lingering thought persists — what thought oh about KalstaiT. Laurel & Hardy truded which and Chaplin? They don’t seem to stopped the in fit into this comedy of the mind terview cold, with all its attendant benefices. “Good Lord, Do they do any catiiarizing or Stan,” I said mores-bettering? The lalterday “do you rea Chaplin, somewhat, certainly, but lize that we at his height what was he part mi¬ ll a ve beenjlarly setting aright? talking comej And we have much need today of Messrs. Chaplin. Laurel. Hardy and Falsi ail. The great success of "When Comedy Was King" and Tiie Golden Age of Comedy” cm BT PICTURE BIZ By JERRY WALD Hollywood. The day after the first of the Great 1960 television debates be¬ tween Kennedy and Nixon a trade pundit reported that motion pic¬ ture theatres throughout the counry faced one of the most serious crises in the history of motion pic¬ tures. -For the one hour that the two national figures were on the air, the business dropped off more than 70' r' at the film box office. The interest of the public in the verbal tilt between the two prin¬ cipals would do irreparable dam¬ age to movie-going habits. j . . . dy (]10 tuo 0f In this manner the film industry : us. for ;fhe last year and a half, faced the latest in an endless sue and yet .1 Jiave never liad the ele cession of crises. 'mental :gdoti sense to ask you what . . . . Well, we live in crisis — not only /the heck • comedy is?,. Let’s back; phasizes a melancholy fact — that in the film biz, but in the world /track to; tile beginning. Just why f0. niany years now no one has which siUToiinas us. And we ought do people laugh? ’ • been roaring in the picture houses, to take it from there. Crisis is j The inhocent eyes of. one of the The: '* two pictures, almost alone, endemic. We operate on the edge greatest comedians in /the world brought gasping wheezes of laughof daily panic! And it has been j widened liir astonishment, not un ter hack to the movies. And. in retiiis way in show business since Hike the slow eye-blink of bis turning to our point of beginning the first plavers of Athens held j screen character. Without a mo in this essay, how is it that these masks in irom of their faces in Jment’s hesitation, he reached over two .seemingly divergent cainp> of the Greek theatre. We are not and switched oft' the tape record comedy flourish at the same time? turning out die-stamped nuts and er. -i » -j Does this fact give us any clue as bolts. “Whyido people laugh?” he said. j° why people laugh/ Perhaps, but I am not moved or perturbed “How /the devil would; I know?" it is a faint one by reports ot Ciisis. \\ e have | This absolutely unselt'-conscious.. The boys at Lind\ s have been w h crcd ninny storms — ^'^",rcplvf ^jivon in dcsdlv e'enrnest su ■*tli* wnj snd now of nomic. pressure-group, artistic, ! «gt.sts’ ^tliat element oi1. comeofy comedy lor decades now. and perfinancial and technical. ; which /has always puzzled* its prac onc can assess the sum of In 1932 when I first came to tilioneVs — its unvarying and quin |jll‘ir argument as to.is: laughter, Hollywood as a writer for Warner t essential unpredictability. What tast” and God. is lndclinante. Brothers. I laced* a personal crisis are thte rules of comedy please? : Whatever it is or is not. U u.uwilhin one week alter my arrival: !Stan Eaurel knows that he knows mfnates lite for us and it bears tne t lie industry called upon all em-\how to make people laugh; as to lemarkame distinction ot being ployees to accept a voluntary 30rc ichu they laugh, that he leaves to one the ,^°. things tnat no noi payeut as a means of stabilizingpeople like, /this writer who.' sooner ma| human being can possibly ina and bolstering the film economy, or later, Visually abandon the ! 'vll“out: T 1 nlr’ ,1S.K? Quel crisis: others to follow. search for an answer to the “why" companion, sidekick and closest In 1934 the industry faced a and be* J&ve to concentrate on relative, love. _ monumental crisis compounded of “how." But just to take a part pr«. confusion and enthusiasm; we were ' in» stab at the "why .. . f John McCabe, an a^*ct organized according to National) George' Meredith '"The Idea of • Jfssor T.°'f .. Recovery Act standards, and the -Comedy,” 1877) and Henri Berg; }'or’/ Lituvisit?/, has emergence of labor as an important son '“Laughtei.” 1900i are the! /essioua* actor /or iiiaiij/ yea u factor in our film economy. -leading philosophers in the field . -or , Vi/*nri i '>.> I Check-List of Woe °f comedy analysis. Meredith as; d’ Catlo Z M ' T,.„ . . . ,„,= Uerts with some emphasis that the ; fW'oi.si— “••• The Manchunan mcident m lMo jbest jn comedy is that which is1 e ,f , 'h , ln 'critical in spirit .shades of Mort 1986 were to be the prelude to a :Sahl:, He pieacjs for more iaus,h; senes of huropean crises which ter of the mind ti.e.. Moliere, Arts! “S1”? “ ./I'',,'. }' toplianesi because of its undoubted 1939. The M ar itself proved to be , formankind. but he doesn-t ! !S'a S picture-making -know q(lite how t0 make good use i ui is.iea. _ ; of what might best be called the The years from 1939 to 1945 .laughter of the heart — that almost represented a series of crises. Mill I indefinable kind of comedv that tary disaster provoked one kind of | has given us Falstaff, Laurel & crisis-thinking: military victory ; Hardy and Chaplin. Bergson eonprovoked another. jtinues on in the same vein making With peace arose the w'orrv — :the point that laughter as such ap Hendel Sounding Happy Note For Allied, New Prez Pittsburgh. ‘Not only do we not regret com . LUTHERAN CLERIC’S WOE UNDER REDS UPCOMING Lutheran Film Associates, group! which bit the critical jackpot with Us “Martin Luther” film about seven year* ago. is now propping: “Question Seven’’ for early thea¬ trical release. Film, which tells of j the pressures brought against a ! pastor and his son in East Ger-j many, was produced by Louis de | Rocbenumt Associates which wi distribute the new pic, as it did "Luther.” "Question” was produced for de Rochomout by Lothar Wolff, di¬ rected by Stuart Rosenberg and written by Allan Sloane. Britishactor Michael Gwynn stars. Film¬ ing was done" in Germany. what would happen to the backlog peals primarily to the intellect be of war pictures? cause, as he attempts to prove. . . When rationing ended there was there is an absence of feeling that 'f1* ,n very happy economic fear of inflation. -Box accompanies laughter. Good come! a.boul n an,d Iook for"'a,rd i° a office First to he Hit" was the dv. he savs is corrective: it asserts l s‘ro.nSf.r and more revitalized orproiniso. II wasn't. In 1947 Great ; itself instructively, and to the dei ??"lzall,on aft9r * 'f nV??l1Hg m Britain went oft the gold standard. :«roc which it does not do so. It is ^Illwauke<? on Jan Hand lo. froze currencies, and this proved jmperfect. Comedy, he goes on, \ Thus did Harry Hendel. chairto be a. fresh anxiety. cannot be kind;, there is ever a ' man of the board of the Western. Wide-screen and Three-D pro; therapeutic harshness to it Which Pennsylvania Allied Theatre Ownvoked consternation. Khrushchev’s | cleanses as we chortle. , ers and treasurer of the national trip through the United Slates in Tn Pmvp Th* Pnint I body, take umbrage at Variety’s 1959 hit box olfices all over the i * rr., j I inference that his group was not country hard: so did the 1960 . How about tbat. Tbe r^0lJ?<J" ; too happv now that thev are back Olympics. " ing recent successes of Sahl. Boh in tho fol‘d. •Newhart and Mike Nicholas , Hendel talks of a completely re Show Biz Employment Hollywood. Entertainment industry em¬ ployment in the Los Angeles area is ' running /61 a'T. ahead ot the corresponding period las! \e-ar. according to the California Dept, of Employ¬ ment Statistics. The statistical ' analysts fig¬ ure that a total of 39.700 peo¬ ple were employed in October, compared to 40.100 in Septem¬ ber and 39.200 in August. The comparable, figures lor last year were 37,700, 37,500, and 36.400. anythin! Gloom and Doom peddlers are always looking through the en , traiL for auguries of misery and | disaster. There is too much Nay ‘ Saying in an industry with a paten ' ti.al ot 300.000.000 customers a : week. What are we doing to gel ; our share. Are we thinkmg about j those weekly visitors, or -are we! concerned with imagined hurts' and ills?. j Industries which depend on ' governmental subsidies wave as a j shaft of wheat in the wind. We are j the only motion pict,,re industry | anywhere in anv country \*.hich re j ceivos no goy eminent subshly of -any kind. This is a signal of our J 'strength as y\oll as a reflection of ; ou” growth. 1 Tiie only crisis we ought to face ! is a la-’k of houses in yvhich to play our product. I A Nickname Is Born V* men I had my first big suc¬ cess in Boston* a documentary of Japanese atrocities against the Chinese called "Scorched Earth." I was approached by other exhibitors to book the picture. Not being too familiar with the technicalities of the film business I took aM the da'es I could, but neglected to do one thing — and that yyas order prints. Came the day the openings were scheduled and I found m: self in the embarrass:ng posit’on of having only one print, and that is how T got the nickname aiound Boston of “One Print Ley hie.” Joseph E. Levine fighting organization.” He also said that Allied -will con. tinue to break Hie nation’', ••u;?dO'i’ealile habit today of not attending movies.” j “Allied is for the litHe guv and ; that’s why I’m for Allied." coo: tinned Hendel. He al-o pa >ed ’along the information that \5**e ! Mo s of COMPO hid !>.*en aiii; g and would he replaced on the next ,tuo pictures in the area Marcus ; plan by Ph 1 Katz. Stanley -Warner publicist noyv in the ad agency business. Ilendcl said the COMPO-Mareu* plan had been yen succe^slul on “Jungle Cat” BVg “I Aim At Stars" fC’oli and “Facts of Life” •UAi and exhibs in area v.ere look¬ ing forward to high grosses on next selection, “Wackiest Ship in Army" (Col).