Boxoffice-11.11.1950

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MOW THAT THE UPROAR over this
years
royal film performance has died down it
might be as well for the organizers of the
event to decide now that they are going to
Iron out some of the inconsistencies which
occur regularly every year. Apart from the
very large sum of money which is handed to
the industry's own charity after the show the
performance itself does a great deal of good
in focusing public attention on the good
things in the industry. It therefore deserves
support, but that support is going to be more
difficult to obtain in future years if the present
bickering and lobbying is not stopped.
First, the question of the chosen film should
be dealt with. If the present system of alternate
years for British and American pictures
is adhered to there must obviously be a definition
of what constitutes the nationality
of a film. Apart from the representatives of
American companies most people here feel
that a film which is made in England by
an American company with a American producer,
director and star cannot be regarded
as British picture. The American distributors'
answer to that is that if the film counts
for quota then it is legally British and therefore
eligible for selection for the royal performance.
It is interesting to speculate what
would happen should Sydney Box put up the
picture which he is reported to be making in
Texas for next year's performance when an
American film should be chosen.
There is a growing feeling that the present
system should be changed and that the
choice each year should be for the best film
from any country and that the selection
should be made by an impartial committee.
Then, too, better arrangements should be
made for the press since the newspapers are
largely responsible for the success of the show.
At the party preceding the performance it is
impossible to get near to the American stars
By JOHN SULLIVAN
STAR MEETS ROYALTY — Irene
Dunne, who portrays Queen Victoria in
"The Mudlark," is shown being presented
to the king and queen of England at the
royal command performance of the 20th
Century-Fox film produced in Great
Britain, at the Empire Theatre in London.
since the room is full of people who apparently
have Uttle connection with the industry.
They may, of course, be heavy supporters of
the charity which benefits, but if this is the
case it might be better to arrange for the
press to meet the stars at the dress rehearsal
of the stage show. Again, tickets are
issued admitting the bearer to the lounge
during the presentation of the stars to the
royal party, but unless the holder leaves his
seat before the end of the show he will find
his way barred. This happened this year to
some of the critics who came from New
York to see the performance.
The gentlemen who run the Cinematograph
Trade Benevolent Fund (in whose supyWOV/fS
ARi. BETTER THAN EVER .
ARE
BUT
. .
THEATRES better
THAN EVER ? ?
• CAN YOUR THEATRE COMPETE IN GLAMOUR WITH THE
LIVING ROOM AND ITS SMALL TV SCREEN?
• AMERICANS ARE A GREGARIOUS PEOPLE .
TO GET OUT AND MINGLE WITH OTHERS.
THEY WANT
• YOUR PATRONS ARE AN ATTRACTION TO OTHER PATRONS
... ARE YOUR CHAIRS ATTRACTIVE AND COMFORTABLE?
• WOMEN STEER THE FAMILY ON THE NIGHT OUT
SHE GUIDE IT TO YOUR
THEATRE?
• ARE YOUR CARPETS THICK AND
RICH LOOKING?
THINK!
DOES
WESTERN
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port the show is held) undoubtedly do a fine
job of management. They should, however,
hand over the running of this particular event
to the Film Industry Publicity Circle, the
guild of screen publicists, whose members are
much more experienced in handling these
pre-performance receptions.
ARTHUR DENT OF ADELPHI FILMS has
put forward an interesting plan to the British
Film Producers Ass'n about the allocation
of Eady plan funds to independent producers.
Although no decision has yet been
made about the disposition of these funds it
seems almost certain that the money will be
paid out on a "per seat" basis which would,
of course, go to help the big producer distributing
through one of the major circuits.
Dent, in a letter to Sir Henry French, puts
the suggestion that the independent producer
is entitled to a greater share in proportion
to the gross busine.ss done on his film than
is the producer who is virtually, though not
legally, a part of one of the big combines.
He suggests that a figure of 1,000 bookings
from independent exhibitors outside of the
circuit should qualify the producer for a
larger share of the Eady plan money. "Bad
films should be discouraged whether they
have a circuits deal or not" he maintains—
and obviously an independent picture which
plays several thousand houses outside of the
circuits must have something to recommend
To be successful a film which has not had
it.
a circuit deal must get some 2,000 bookings
from small halls, but in the aggregate these
bookings would probably not mean as much
in cash as 500 bookings on the larger cinemas
of the circuits. In these circumstances Dent
feels that the independent has a claim for a
higher rate of return. It is unlikely that the
BFPA will look upon it in the same light
since its answer probably will be that the
independent who is looking only to the
smaller houses adjusts his production budget
accordingly.
[
Carlton Theatre. Haymarket, is the latest '
Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger film,
"The Elusive Pimpernel." which has been two
years in the making. Tliis is the film over
i
which Sir Alexander Korda and Sam Goldwyn
fell out and recently reported that they
had made up their differences. The picture
was written, produced and directed by Powell
and Pressburger and stars David Niven and
Margaret Leighton.
Once again the producers have shown that
they are masters of the art of Technicolor
for every scene is brilliantly photographed
quite as well as it was done in "The Red
Shoes" or "Black Narcissus." Unfortunately
the similarlity ends there as where both those
films had considerable pretensions to boxoffice
appeal this present film has little or
none. Baroness Orczy's adventure yarns of
the Scarlet Pimpernel have been read by millions
and the dual role of a dandy at the English
court and a scheming adventurer against
the Pi'ench revolutionaries is one that any
rea.sonably competent actor can usually make
believable. Niven seems unhappy as the Pimpernel
and the result is that he is incredible
as either character in spite of a mass of disguises
that would not fool a myopic child of
ten.
Unless drastically amended for the American
market this looks like a poor bet for the
American neighborhood theatres.
54 BOXOFFICE :: November 11, 1950
J