Variety (February 1961)

58 PICTCBES Pfini&ff Wednesday, February 8, 1961 Cassavetes Strives for *New Concept’ And Paramount Completely Sympatico 4 -.- Government Management Injurious? Senator Keating’* BUI to ‘Unclog’ General Aniline’s Ansco Division Based on Claimed Deterioration Hollywood, Feb. 7. Paramount is taking a forward look at filmmaking and is giving artists the freedom to express their skills without unnecessary inter¬ ference from meetings of the board of directors, according to John Cas¬ savetes. Actor-turned-director is preparing “Dreams For Sale,” new title for his “Too Late Blues,” and declared yesterday that Paramount is going all out to take every con¬ ceivable chance on a new approach and concept. Cassavetes explained major studio- . != the past have liad “justified inferiority complexes” in their dealings with artists. “It’s about time,” he went on, “that art¬ ists stopped complaining about the impossibility of maxing good films through major studios and started exerting influence and accepting responsibility in the areas in which they are most qualified.” As a director, Cassavetes has only made one film — “Shadows” — and explained why he feels Paramount is taking a chance writh him: “The one picture I made was a $40,000 16mm experimental film. Para¬ mount now insists that I produce as well as direct ‘Dreams For Sale’ so that no one would be sitting over my shoulder telling me what to do. That becomes a big risk when hundreds of thousands of dol¬ lars are at stake.” Cassavetes said Paramount’s thinking is repre¬ sented in “One-Eyed Jacks,” a multi-million dollar picture mark¬ ing Marlon Brando’s bow as direc¬ tor. and in “Hell Is For Heroes,” film project with actor Edmond O'Brien will produce and direct. Bobby Darin and Stella Stevens will star in Cassavetes’ film, but director is now working out a schedule whereby some 25 un¬ knowns — most without previous film experience—will complete the cast. “I’m happy that Paramount gave me Bobby Darin not because he is a boxoffice name but because he’s right for the role,” filmaker said, explaining Darin will not sing In the film. “I’ve got Edith Head to design the women’s costumes and David Raksin to compose the score,” he continued. With latter, Cassavetes explained composer will write lead sheets for jazz improvisations in the film, a concept fully approved by Paramount. Most unusual aspect of the proj¬ ect, director explained, is Para¬ mount’s plan for previewing it. “It will encompass major universities and cultural centers,” he pointed out. “and the film will be pre¬ viewed in such places as the Na¬ tional Film Theatre in London, Cinematheque in Paris, the Mu¬ seum of Modern Art and Cinema 16 in New York. UCLA and University of California here.” Summing up, Cassavetes said, “Paramount has accepted a pic¬ ture and an approach that don’t fall into any mold or category which could determine its boxoffice ap¬ peal. I think it’s about time the art¬ ist worried only about making a good picture and not about whether he’s going to have a job with a next picture.” Think Positive! San Francisco. Editor, Variety: A rebuttal to Ted Friend’s re¬ marks on San Francisco. It is a shame that he is so bitter, that he j must carry this “lashing out” atti¬ tude around with him. It’s evident that the article was intended to bait and irritate. But, San Fran¬ cisco. like any other city, presents to the viewer just what he is look¬ ing for and wants to see. I love San Francisco. It Is my amulet. If I am sad, it soothes me. If I am happy, is rushes forth to meet my enthusiasm. If I am tired, a ne\V view or facet will tease my appettte, and when I walk about this city of mine, I feel more alive, more intense and more aware be¬ cause the verve, the zezt and the pleasure of living seem to be con¬ centrated in the air that blankets this land mass surrounded on three side3 by water. There! I’m sure I’ve done just what Irritated. Friend the most, in the first place, and that is that San Franciscans are even more irritat¬ ing than Texans. Or Gothamites. But then, we know we’re not ex¬ aggerating. James E. Heck. WRITERS' GUILD NOMINEES Eamshaw Vs Schnee For President In May Hollywood, Feb. 7. Fenton Earnshaw and Charles Schnee have been named by Writers ..Guild of America-West’s nominating committee for post of prexy in elections which come up in May. Former currently prexies Guild’s tv branch. The two nominations may be sup¬ plemented through petition by WGA membership, under Guild rules. Admirable Enterprisers; Rank Saved Self Slipping Into Decline by Changes London, Feb. 7. A survey of the diversification policy of the Rank Organization published in the Investor’s Chroni¬ cle, a leading London financial weekly, describes the operation as “outstanding in pace and scale.” The author, Frank H. Happold, a writer on economic affairs, as¬ serted that the pattern of diversi¬ fication had evolved from an established position in the enter¬ tainment world and had been shaped by specialized managerial skills and experience. The three page editorial feature analyses the way the* organization has spread its investment beyond picture theatres and studios into radio, tv. bowling alleys, equip¬ ment, etc. The content of the piece is summed up by the sub-head: “It would have been easy for Rank over the last few years to slide into stagnation. Instead it has achieved what In many eyes is a genuine growth status.” $300,000 for‘Pollyanna’ London, Jan. 31. “Pollyanna” grossed almost $300,000 In the first three weeks of London release, and is heading for inclusion In the top 10 films of 1961. The figure was released by Cyril Edgar, managing director of Walt Disney’s British company, at a sales confab last weekend attended by Roy Disney, Card Walker and Ned Clarke. The British topper claimed that the receipts had actually in¬ creased after the Christmas holi¬ days when the children had al¬ ready returned to school. The rise of Independent pub¬ licists "and publicity offices as a result of the new place in the sun of independent producers has been abundantly noticed. Less known, however, is the recent emergence of the independent creative adver-j tising groups and freelance admen and artists. Although these new organizations and individuals are not completely taking over the functions of the established ad agencies in servicing the film companies, they are never¬ theless assuming more and more of the creative functions. Reasons for this trend are two-fold. (1) There is a desire for additional thinking and a fresh approach and (2) the cost of using the ad agen¬ cies for creative services has be¬ come very costly in recent years. Reason No. 2 stems from the cut¬ back in national advertising. Whereas the ad agencies once en¬ joyed large commissions from plac¬ ing film ads in national magazines, the revenue from this source is merely a trickle at present. Some companies, United Artists being a notable example, haven't placed national consumer copy in a long time, preferring to earmark their coin for cooperative campaigns on the local newspaper and radio level. To be sure, a number of picture companies still see the ad¬ vantage of a national magazine campaign, but the volume isn’t any¬ where as much as it used to be. Without the commissions from the space placement, the ad agen- Re ‘Hiroshima’ in Chi j New York. Editor , Variety: This refers to an article printed on Page 5 of your Jan. 25 issue cap¬ tioned “Dubbed Print Yanked in Chicago; ‘Hiroshima’ Is Better With Titles.” The undersigned, having been out-of-town for the past two weeks, was unable to make reply until today. The facts and reasons reported as coming from Charles Teitel are rather less than accurate. It is debatable whether the temporary drop in boxoffice receipts can be attributed to the dubbed version of “Hiroshima, Mon Amour,” as Teitel so glibly reported. There were serious additional factors such as weather and seasonal play¬ ing time that had a distinct bear¬ ing on the temporary drop. Mr. Teitel’s fainthearted advertising was also a factor. And — more im¬ portant than all of the preceding — is the fact that Teitel chose to remove the dubbed version from the World Playhouse screen after only three days, and this without having consulted us. Any exhibitor worthy of the name would have permitted the version to run at least two weeks in order to give it a fair chance. We sincerely doubt the reliabili¬ ty of Teitel’s statement that some of his customers were so infuriated they even demanded their money back. Our checker and our Chicago sub-distributor mentioned nothing of this. Teitel and your article to the contrary notwithstanding, it is a matter of record that the English dubbed version of “Hiroshima, Mon Amour” played with consider¬ able success in Philadelphia, Pitts¬ burgh, Baltimore and Washington, to name just a few situations. The critics there “raved” over the Eng¬ lish dubbed version, too. Zenith is not taking sides with respect to the “dubbed vs. original version debate.” We ask you to print this reply merely In the in¬ terest of truth, and as a correction of the tendentious and Inaccurate statements given to your; Chicago correspondent by Mr. Charles Teitel. Zenith International Film Corp. Daniel Frankel, President Epaulets for Nat James Hollywood, Feb. 7. Nat James, pub-ad-exploitation director for Hall Bartlett Produc¬ tions for past four years, has been upped to v.p. of company, con¬ tinuing past duties as well as tak¬ ing over various production func¬ tions as assistant to producer. Company currently is readying five films, including “The Care¬ takers” for United Artists release, and “Woman of Paris.” cies, according to one ad-pub veepee, cannot, in many instances, afford to provide the creative func¬ tions as fully as in the past. Many of the ad agencies specializing in motion pictures now derive most of their commissions from the handling of Broadway theatres or the large circuits. Ad Dept. Shrink The rise of indies also has its origin in the depletion of the once- large advertising departments the film companies maintained. With the end of the mass production of pictures and the emergence of the independent producer, the need for specialized campaigns arose. In most instances, the indie ad organ¬ izations and freelancers are former staffers of the film companies they are now servicing. Instead of re¬ ceiving a weekly salary, they are now paid on a piece basis, be it copywriting, layout or a combina¬ tion of both. In the majority of cases, it’s the distributing company which decides if an outsider should be employed, but there are in¬ stances in which the producer in¬ sists on the retention of a particu¬ lar creative advertising man as, for example, Otto Preminger’s utilization of Saul Bass for the campaigns on his pictures. The stepped-up employment of the freelancers and the outside creative groups has led to^the pos¬ sibility of the retention of different outfits, perhaps including ad agen¬ cies, for different pictures. The situation, in some respects, would REPEATING THEIR CHORES Previn to Handle Oscarcast Music —Ames & Knri on Art Producer Arthur Freed has set Andre Previn, Edgar Preston Ames and Emile Kuri to repeat assign¬ ments they fulfilled last year for upcoming 33d annual Oscar show April 17. Previn will be musical director, which he also undertook ^ in the 26th and 28th shows, and Ames and Kuri will be art director and as¬ sistant art director, respectively. More Rockwell‘Naas’; lively Scramble Outside ‘Exodus,’ Boyd, Pbilly Philadelphia, Feb. 7. Enough police to halt a panzer division roadblocked a sizable sec¬ tion of the midtown here because | of the threatened appearance of George Lincoln Rockwell, son of a vaude comic, grandson of an I Illinois theatre manager, self-styled leader of the American Nazi Party, j at the opening of “Exodus” in the j Boyd Theatre (1). A total of 75 persons were ar¬ rested in riot conditions outside the film house. Three of those taken in were followers of Rock¬ well, the remainder were anti- Nazis, mostly college fraternity members, who came with eggs, vegetables and more expressive weapons. Black-tie audience was held up in the traffic shambles and forced to park several blocks from the theatre in zero temperatures. Po¬ lice precautions were complete and commanded by city’s top brass who brought everything from dogs and mounties to motorbike, men armed with riot guns. Despite large haul of prisoners, film-goers suffered little discomfort except for traffic and parking delays. No one was admitted to theatre block without tickets for show. House was sold out in advance so boxoffice didn’t suffer. The three visiting “Nazis,” Ralph P. Forbes, 20, and Raymond D, Goodman, 28, both of. Arlington, Va., and Schuyler Ferris, 46, of Falls Churclr, Va., were all held In $10,000 bail the following morn¬ ing on charges of inciting to riot. parallel the trend in the manufac¬ turing companies which often em¬ ploy different ad agencies for dif¬ ferent products. Of the new organizations that have come to the fore in recent years, Kaiser, Sedlow & Temple, appears to be the most formidable. Sam Kaiser is the former Warner. Bros, assistant ad manager while Vic Sedlow and Herman Temple are former film company art direc¬ tors. The firm Is one of the few indie orgs that provides copy, lay¬ out. and finished art work. Ex¬ cluding the actual placement of the advertising, it furnishes the distribution company or indie pro¬ ducer with a complete advertising campaign. The firm is currently engaged in helping prepare cam¬ paigns on “A Raisin in the Sun," “The Guns of Navarone,” “Fanny,” “Something Wild,” “Lawrence of Arabia,” and “The Devil at Four O’Clock." It has also worked on “The World of Suzie Wong,” “Her¬ cules Unchained,” “Elmer Gantry,” and “Some Like It Hot.” In other cases where the film companies have bypassed their ad agencies for creative services, they have retained freelance copywrit¬ ers such as Lester Dember, Jose Shor and Barry Fremont, freelance layout men such as Sam Weissman, Roy Winkle, and Ben Rogers, and freelance art services such as Dave Carson, Fran Jones-Jack Barry. Bill Gold Associates, Fieldston (David Sternberg), Summit, A1 Siegel, and Scotty Malts. Ansco photographic division | (estimated worth, $25,000,000) of ; the General Aniline & Film Corp. ; may be headed for Paramount ac* \ quisition sooner than (earlier) ex- j pected) as the result of a hill filed j in Congress by N.Y. Republican 'i Senator Kenneth B. Keating. Para- ■ mount has been casing Ansco for j some time but has been blocked in l actual negotiation for the property | by international legalistics. The parent Aniline outfit, orig¬ inally seized as alien property from German interests during World War II, has been operated by the ( U.S. Dept, of Justice. Being bat- : j. tied out in court is a claim of par- s * tial ownership filed by the Swiss | Interhandel Corp. j Keating’s measure sets forth that I the government management is im- j pairing the values of Aniline and j because of this the assets should j be sold, with proceeds, held in I escrow until the rightful owners j are established. j This would mean private enter- j prise takeover, along the lines of ’ Par’s acquisition of Ansco, if de- ’• tails can be worked out. British Lion ——.. Continued from pare 3 —a substantial bids for the distribu¬ tion rights. The picture eventually went to Columbia, which is said to have provided a guarantee of over $300,000. At this point, Col picked up the N. Y. date and handled the remainder of the distribution throughout the U. S. The picture ran for 36 w'eeks at the 450-seat ? Guild and brought in net film ren- i tals of $76,000 after the deduction of advertising costs. Present indi- ! cations are that the picture will . chalk up a film rental gross of i $1,200,000 in the U. S, } Two-Way Stretch’ jj Lion international followed the \ same pattern with “Two-Way Stretch,” the current Peter Sellers I entry at the Guild. This time Show- ; corpation, which also distributed § “Man In a Cocked Hat,” picked up jj the picture for the rest of the U. S., « with Lion retaining the N. Y. en- \ gagement. Showcorporation is be- ] lieved to have paid a $100,000 guar- ;; antee for “Stretch.” jj Lion planned to launch “The j Angry Silence” in a similar man- * ner and had arranged a booking \ at Rugoff & Becker’s Sutton Thea- jj tre, but Sig Shore and Joe Harris jj picked up the distribution rights | just before the opening and are : currently releasing the entry \ through Fred Schwartz’s Valiant • Films. j “Expresso Bongo” and “The En- j tertainer” were acquired by Walter s Reade’s Continental Distributing : long in advance, since the Reade : firm also had a piece of the pro- j ductions. Continental has also n picked up the U. S. distribution I rights to “Saturday Night and Sun- ? day Mornings,” one of the current jj hits in London. jj 'Shadows’ Special • | A unique departure for Lion jl will be its efforts on behalf of jj “Shadows,” the John Cassevates ! American-made film which U. S. f distributors nixed. Company orig- ■ inally picked it up for the United l Kingdom alone, but the picture i turned out to be such a big hit in !< London that the British company jj acquired the world-wide rights. !j Present plans are to handle the f picture on its own in the U. S., at jj least initially. It has been booked j into the Embassy Theatre on Broad- ; w r ay for an Easter date. On the jj basis of the N. Y.- engagement, jj Lion will set the pattern for the jj release for the rest of the U. S. The ij company is presently negotiating f for a U. S. deal on “Black Tights,” jj the ballet film (in 70m Technira- jj ma) made by the late Joseph Kauf- jj man. If no satisfactory agreement jj can be made, Lion is prepared te f kick off the film on its. own in | New York. f, In stuations where Lion decides f to launch a picture on its own in | a half a dozen key cities, even the j physical handling of the prints is i looked after by the N. Y. office, jj Only addition to the staff is the re- jj tention of freelance p.r. man Al- jj fred Katz to supervise the cam- 1 palgns. Today’s Ad-Copy, As Features And Publicity, Go ‘Freelance ’