Variety (February 1961)

films**K pirtDEa RADIO STAGE SHOW BIZ & THE NEW EGGHEAD Film Dividends: $25,907,000 Washington, Jan. SI. Motion picture companies paid stockholders $25,907,000 in divi¬ dends during I960—the biggest annual melon since 1957, according td the Commerce Dept. The 1960 total compares with $24,935,000 in 1959. $21,424,000 In 1958 and $27,350,000 in 1957. The December, 1960, dividend figure amounted to $3,858,000. For December, 1959, the melon total was $4,292,000._ , Aurthur, Vidal Rose as Writer Woe, A la Legit, (or Columbia Pictures 0f4- A motion picture equivalent legit’s now-defunct but long suc¬ cessful Playwrights Co. has been Organized by three writers who have made their marks in various entertainment media. Principals of tilt new film production company art Robert Alan Aurthur, Gore Vidal, and Reginald Rose. This is believed to be the first time that a group of writers have teamed up to work in films in a manner similar to the way the Playwrights Co. operated successfully in legit for 20 years. The new company, for which a corporate name is still to be chosen, nas closed a deal with Columbia pictures to make four features Over a two-year period. Unique aspect of the agreement is that tach of the writers will provide an original screenplay and will pro¬ duct his own project. The fourth property will be provided either by One of the partners or will be ac¬ quired on the outside by the team. Aurthur, who had -been execu¬ tive producer of NBC-TV’s Sunday Showcase last season, will serve as executive producer of the film production company. All three members of the team gained na¬ tional attention for their work in television, although Vidal had been (Continued on page 77) Muster Know-How For New Theatre In Humid Africa Theatre Equipment & Supply Manufacturers Assn, has pledged to help the Motion Picture Assn, of America with technical advice and information in connection with the projected development and construction of motion picture theatres in West Africa. At' the suggestion of the MPAA, the American manufacturers will make recommendations necessary for the construction of a 1,200-seat pilot theatre. Taken into considera¬ tion will be the problems involving the lack of sufficient power and the high heat and humidity of the area. At present, TESA is working on a new plan to provide design and (Continued on page 77)’ Well Motivated Methodist The chronic aversion of directors of the old school for Method acting is now almost traditional. But It remained for George'Abbott to put th® .final quietus on hny doubt. At a recent rehearsal of a Broadway musical, Abbott was directing a. young Method- trained actor. ~ “Turn from the window and cross to the * table, please,” called Abbott. “But Mr. Abbott ” said the youthful thespian, “what is my motivation?” “Your motivation,” replied Abbott sourly, “is that we like it that way—and we’re paying you your salary. Cost $1,100,11 To Keep Boone Hollywood, Jan. 31. Richard Boone has reversed him¬ self and will stay with “Have Gun, Will Travel,” after all—but at a price. For next season’s 39 epi¬ sodes, CBS-TV will pay him $1,100,000 to be spread over three years. He had complained that he was tired of the same role after five years and was considering an offer for a feature picture. CBS was faced with a similar sit¬ uation with Dennis Weaver, who wanted out of “Gunsmoke, but was finally placated with a hefty raise in salary. Now that the western will be expanded to an hour next season the web will have to nego¬ tiate with him all over again. SOUTH AFRICAN FEATURE Jamie Uys ‘Rip Van Winkle’ Goes to Warwick Hollywood, Jan. 31. “Rip Van Winkle,” comedy fea¬ ture produced in South Africa by Jamie Uys, has been acquired tor worldwide distribution by Warwick Productions toppers Irving. Allen and Cubby Broccoli. Film will be released through [pair’s Eros Films. E PMIUHTUFS ision of Privacy Windfalls Taxable at Foil Maximum Rates By JOE COHEN If “anti-intellectualism” trends in American politics seem in the pro¬ cess of being reversed by the new John F. Kennedy administration, this fits in with the popularity of cerebral types of entertainment in American .show business. A rela¬ tionship between the two tides is not implausible, and it is to be remarked that poet Robert Frost “thanked” the President for “rec¬ ognizing” talent—some dozens of the literary elite having been per¬ sonally invited by Kennedy to the inaugural. Kennedy’s Harvard crimson front has pretty well dispossessed the old redneck phlanx whose man on horseback was the late Senator Joe McCarthy. Probably Kennedy could not have won if the climate of thought and artistic taste had not prepared the way. At least there are many who believe this true. I In every direction today there are signs and omens of a new respect for gray matter. It shows in the cafes with the egghead comics, on the art film circuits in a new Intellectuality, among the offbeat highbrow and esoteric albums. Note also the multiplying string quartets, small ballet com¬ panies, a purely nostalgic one-man show like Hal Holbrook's “Mark Twain.” Note, too, various fine arts magazines and think piece antholo¬ gies commandihg high subscription prices. The off-Broadway legit move¬ ment has resulted in explorations of new dramatc themes and meth¬ odology. Some of the trys are merely “pretentious” but much has been rich in innovation. In the publishing field, there is (Continued on page 66) More Betting in Britain London., Jan. 31. Britain’s betting laws ar® being whooped up, though th® result is hardly likely to lead to high blood pressure. As of now, it Is now possible for saloon customers legally to play dominoes, cribbage. darts and shove ha’penny for trivial stakes and onlookers can have a mild side-bet gutter on some games. No definition, is given, of what constitutes trivial stake.” One-armed bandits are now permitted, but only on prem¬ ises with limited access. Lot- -teries for good causes are now permitted and, on May 1, bet¬ ting shops will become legal. These concessions are Unlikely to turn Britain overnight into a nation of frenzied gamblers, but at least they seem a step in the right direction. Marquis deSade Revised as Nazi Paris, Jan. 81. Roger Vadim will produce “Mar¬ quis de Sade,” derived from the notorious Frenchman jelled by Na¬ poleon Bonaparte but converted In the present instance to a Nazi of- j ficer. Sade, after whom the psycholo¬ gists named the phobia of sadism, or delight in cruelty, sexual or otherwise, was a prolific writer. Vadim will start shooting in May. Washington, Jan. 81. In two decisions, the U.S. Tax Court has ruled 1 that “invasion of privacy” payments made by film companies to relatives of a person depicted- in a motion picture must be treated as ordinary'income for tax purposes. In the cases before the court, two different attempts had been made to ease the tax bite on such payments. Mrs. Helen D. Miller of New York, widow of Glenn Miller, sought to treat the $409,000 she re¬ ceived from Universal in 1954 for her approval of “The Glenn Miller Story” as longterim capital gains af¬ ter deducting legal expenses. The court approved* the deduction of lawyers’ fees but rejected the capL tal gains benefit, ordering her tax return to be recomputed. Mrs. Doris W. Starrels, a daugh¬ ter of the late Navy Cdr. Frank W. Wead, had received $5,800 from Loew’s Inc., for her clearance of ‘The Wings of Eagles” in 1956. She contended the payment wasn’t tax¬ able, claiming it an unauthorized invasion of privacy. If it weie a court-awarded judgment it wouldn’t be taxable, she maintained, arguing that the" same rule should apply even though she consented to ife l without legal action. The Tax Court ruled against it, stating that she had made no show¬ ing of injury. Jose Ferrer Wins Cap Gains Okay Re’SSlouK Bardot and Vadim Teamfor Slapstick Aimed at Hoke s Homeland--U.S.A, Paris, Jan. 31. . Slapstick being an American in¬ vention nurtured by a specifically Yank sense-of-humor, Brigitte Bar- dot and ex-husband Roger Vadim are deliberately carrying coals to Newcastle in their current film, “Only for Love.” Picture, which goes under the French title “La Bride Sur le Cou,” is a whacky comedy with plenty of sight gags and the kind of non¬ sensical antics that heretofore seem to have been the private property of the Billy Wilders and the Frank Capras. What’s more, Vadim makes no bones of the fact that he’s aiming “Only for Love” at a world audience, with the U.S. mart definitely and sharply in focus. That’s quite a departure for the I | French who, despite an avowed aim of seeking greater foreign rev¬ enues, tend to stick to the asser¬ tion that they’re worried about France and let the chips fall where they may after that. “I don’t think we’ve ever made such a comedy in France before,” Vadim said. “French audiences love Hollywood slapstick, but French directors usually get their laughs from dialog. With us, the lines must be funny. That’s the theatrical tradition and it requires a kind of rigid logic that is very inhibiting. “In ‘Only for Love,’ I am trying something that I have never done before and that is quite alien to the French cinema. This Is sitifa- tion comedy. Actually, there isn’t, (Continued on page 77) 1 Washington, Jan. 81. Jose Ferrer last week won a two- part income tax case in the U. S. Tax Court which saved him $103,- 802.78 in one instance and an un¬ disclosed amount in another. In the first part of the case. Fer¬ rer won the right to take capital gains credit on all his earnings in 1953 from the motion picture, “Moulin Rouge.” His take—$151,- 938.74—came in one lump, not di¬ vided between his interest in the story rights and his pay as star of the film. Internal revenue service had ruled he couldn’t compute his acting services as capital gains and demanded $106,802.78 in taxes and interest. The court ruled that in his contractual situation he could take the capital gains route. The other part of the case con¬ cerned his foreign taxes credited against U. S. taxes in 1953. The court again decided In Ferrer’# •favor.