Boxoffice-October.27.1951

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Q,EORGE MINTER seems to be working on
the right lines with his concentration
on the British classics. First, "Tom Brown's
School Days" which did very good business
on Odeon. and now he has shown to the
trade his version of Dickens' A Christmas
Carol which he has titled "Scrooge." This
was produced and directed by Brian Desmond
Hurst and stars Alastair Sim as the immortal
miser.
Right from the opening, with Scrooge on
the steps of the Stock Exchange telling a
debtor to go to prison if he cannot pay his
bills. Brian Hurst has pulled no punches in
his determination to make this a typical
Victorian melodrama. This is a sensible decision
since the film must be played that way
if it is to be credible. It is a tribute to director,
star and cast that the picture holds
the interest from start to finish. The ghost
of Jacob Marley and the three spirits of
Christmas—past, present and future—are all
put over by means of some clever photography.
American art house patrons will welcome
this picture since it contains among its cast
so many well-known British character artists.
Mervyn Johns is the pitiful Bob Cratchit,
warming his fingers over a candle in the
miser's office and Kathleen Harrison is Mrs.
Dilber, the charwoman, who robs the dead of
their bedclothes. Young Glyn Dearman,
whom Minter discovered for "Tom Brown's
School Days," will pull at the heartstrings of
every sentimentalist with his portrayal of
Tiny Tim, the crippled lad.
This is not just Christmas entertainment,
but a film which will pull them in all the
year round—anywhere that there are people
that hke to laugh and to cry over their
films. It is Dickens at his best, full-blooded
and warm-hearted and it should be a natural
in any location with a family trade.
• * *
BUSINESS GENERALLY SEEMS to be
improving with the boxoffice taking rather
more money than last year. The first ten
months of the Eady plan payments produced
around $3,750,000 which was more than the
estimate for a full year. For the last two
months of the original scheme the producers'
bonus has amounted to 20 per cent of their
distributors' gross takings, a substantial sum
and one which should go a long way towards
reducing the gap between profit and loss.
With these figures as a guide it looks as
though the new scheme which started on
August 5 should produce nearly ten million
dollars yearly for the British producer if the
boxoffice take remains as high as at present.
This is problematic as a new television transmitter
has now opened to service the north
of England. Although television has had little
effect here, since the programs are so bad,
it may be that a drop will be noticed when
the northerners buy large numbers of sets.
The industrial north is the great market for
movies, and audiences have the reputation of
watching every penny they spend. It is more
than likely that once they have been persuaded
to invest in a set they will take good
care to use it, with bad programs or good.
As these lines are written the general election
is working up to its close and business
is being affected in some spots by nightly
political meetings which most people look
By JOHN SULLIVAN
upon as free entertainment since they have
already made up their minds which way they
will vote. Whichever party forms a government
the result is not likely to affect the
film industry to any very great extent since
both the major parties are pleged to continue
the support of the British production industry
and neither of them will commit their
party to any substantial reduction of the
entertainment tax.
As a sidelight to the election it is interesting
to note that one producer is directly
affected by it since the premiere of his latest
film has been postponed. This is Paul Soskin,
whose film "High Treason" was due to open
at the Leicester Square Theatre last week.
The picture deals with the activities of a
group of Communist saboteurs who conspire
to blow up all the power stations in Britain
and it is felt that a film with such a political
theme should wait until the election fever
has died down. It opens the night after the
general election.
* ^: *
THE ASS'N OF CINE TECHNICIANS
again has used obstructive tactics in its dispute
with the British Film Producers Ass'n.
As their claim for a lai-ge wage increase was
turned down by the BFPA the union's officials
ordered all its members to "work to
rule" in studios which, in efect, puts a ban on
all overtime. Since the other two unions.
National Ass'n of Theatrical and Kine Employes
and Electrical Trades Union have already
accepted the smaller increase offered
by the producers, their members are affected
by ACT'S decision. NATKE and ETU members
generally receive much lower salaries
than ACT members and the overtime which
they earn in the course of a week makes a
susbtantial difference to their pay packet.
NATKE personnel have asked their general
secretary, Tom O'Brien, to intervene on their
behalf between ACT and the BFPA and
O'Brien is reported to have advised the producers
to take their dispute with the technicians
union to national arbitration.
A simple machinery exists to settle these
industrial disputes and nearly all other labor
BOOKERS MEET STAR—Bookers
for
theatre circuits in Denver posed with
Broderick Crawford recently upon his
visit to the city in connection with the
opening of "The Mob." Shown here with
the actor are Daviette Haralett, Fox Intermountain,
and Mary Lee Baker, Atlas
Tlieatres.
unions throughout the country abide by the
rules and report to an arbitrator when their
negotiations with employers have broken
own. Nothing is lost by this since any award
given is invariably made retroactive. ACT's
action has, as usual, succeeded in alienating
the two other unions and has made most
people in the industry sympathetic to the
employers.
Four Hollywood Stars
In Seattle During Week
SEATTLE—Even though skies
were cloudy
last week, Seattle saw a plenty of "stars"
when such film notables as Rita Hayworth,
Beverly Michaels, Sterling Hayden and Herbert
Heyes were all in town either for business
or pleasure.
Miss Hayworth, accompanied by her secretary,
was here for personal appearances before
wounded veterans in the Bremerton
Naval hospital and the Madigan Army hospital
at Ft. Lewis. Miss Michaels, new Columbia
star, was also here on business, making
stage appearances at the Coliseum Theatre
where her picture, "Pickup," is showing.
Both Hayden and Heyes were in town for
pleasure. Hayden, an ardent yachtsman, was
a guest aboard the Gracie S, a schooner he
formerly owned which is now moored in
Seattle at the Yacht club, and was also entertained
at a dinner party at the Seattle
Tennis club and Town and Country club, attended
by E. A. Black, Mr. and Mrs. Knute
Qvale, Mr. and Mrs. James Gibbs jr., and
Mr. and Mrs. Fred W. Geibel.
Heyes, accompanied by his sister, was up
here for some fall fishing in Puget Sound.
He has fond memories of the Pacific northwest,
having been born in Vader, Lewis
county, and raised in Portland.
Theatres and Movies
Goats in Crime Wave
SALT LAKE CITY—The theatre business
took it on the chin as a result of a recent
wave of hoodlumism in this area. City commissioners
and police officials decided to ban
juveniles from midnight shows and to enforce
the rigid curfew law.
Trying to center the blame on motion pictures
was E. J. Steinfeldt, captain of the
police department, who said that "movies
foster much of the criminal sex activity . . .
What can you expect besides a rash of sex
crimes when people see sex playing a major
role in movies and books."
This latest action comes following the second
wave of hoodlumism in the city. As a
result of sex crimes, attacks and general destructiveness
earlier in the year, the city decided
to enforce the curfew law which
restricts attendance of minors to before
10 p. m. Showhouses have cooperated fully,
putting large signs in the bo.xoffice saying
that those under 16 years of age would not
be admitted after 8:20 p. m.
A decline in hoodlumism was noted when
school opened, but lately another outburst
has been noted.
Phil Rosen Dead
HOLLYWOOD — Services were held
Wednesday (24) for Phil Rosen, 63, pioneer
film magaphonist, who began his career as
a cameraman for Edison in 1912. He was a
charter member of the American Society of
Cinematographers and active in the formation
of the Screen Directors Guild.
ft
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BOXOFFICE :
: October 27. 1951