Boxoffice-Febuary.18.1956

—
MPA Code Attacked
By Boston Herald
BOSTON — "Conservative Boston has come a
long way on censorship," comments the Boston
Herald in a recent editorial. " 'The Man
With the Golden Arm,' which is now playing
in a downtown theatre, was denied the Motion
Picture Ass'n seal of approval because
it deals with drug addiction. But the city
fathers have shown no concern, and there has
been no audible protest from the public. It
will complete its run here without a challenge,"
said the paper.
"The fact is, of course, that it is a restrained
and adult film with a powerful message.
It is on a vastly higher plane than
most pictures we are allowed to see. And
there is no excuse for banning it.
"Yet the industry did put its official
ban on the film. Less tolerant and more
timid than even this onetime capital of censorship,
Hollywood said in effect that 'The
Man With the Golden Arm' should not be
shown. Why?
"The reason is the outmoded and ridiculous
production code which provides, apparently
at the insistence of the Federal
Bureau of Narcotics, that 'neither the illegal
drug traffic nor drug addiction must
ever be presented.' So sweeping a prohibition
is illogical on its face, because, however
we may deplore the illegal use of narcotics, it
is a real problem which can't be handled by
pretending it doesn't exist. Even from the
federal bureau's point of view constructive
movie treatment of the theme should be
highly desirable.
"But constructive or unconstructive, who is
the Motion Picture Ass'n to say what shall be
discussed on the screen? No such censorship
applies to the legitimate theatre, or to television
(which frequently discusses the drug
problem i or to books or periodicals. Every
other medium is wide open on the subject.
What possible end is served by restricting
movies?
"We are glad that Nelson Algren's tough,
deeply moving story was finally filmed. And
we are glad it is being shown in Boston, as
well as in most of the cities of the country,
despite the industry's extra-legal ban.
"But we hope that its popularity and
obvious educational value will at last shake
the Hollywood moguls out of their 'see-noevil'
approach of self-regulation. The production
code should be radically rewritten or
abandoned before a seal of approval becomes
a seal of mediocrity."
Republic to Distribute
Rank's 'Doctor at Sea'
NEW YORK—Republic has acquired the
U. S. distribution rights to "Doctor at Sea,"
J. Arthur Rank Organization followup to
"Doctor in the House," which Republic also
distributed. Herbert J. Yates, president, and
Richard W. Altschuler, director of worldwide
sales, said the new Rank picture will receive
the same heavy promotion given its predecessor.
"Doctor in the House" played 24 weeks at
the Trans-Lux 52nd Street Theatre here and
from eight to 12 weeks in other theatres
throughout the country.
"Doctor at Sea" is in Technicolor and
VistaVision and again stars Dirk Bogarde.
The "Doctor" novels were published in this
country by Harcourt Brace & Co.
A Successful Policy for
5 Years
'English Films No Different Than U. S.,
// You Pick and Sell Them Properly
By ELSIE LOEB
CLEVELAND—Catering to the entertainment
needs of a highly selective audience of
Catholic tastes gives Leonard Greenberger,
manager of the super
de luxe Fairmount
Theatre in suburban
Shaker Heights, a fairly
free hand in making
up his programs. His
patrons support a wide
latitude of screen material
but demand
quality entertainment.
Greenberger
When
realized, about five
years ago, that quality
Leonard Greenberger
br0US ht large numbers
of people to his theatre
he reached out into the field of English
pictures and, by adhering to his established
high standard of selection, has made them
as commercially successful as our own Hollywood
brand of pictures.
"I do not do any special selling job on the
English pictures I play," Manager Greenberger
explains. "I treat them just like I
treat all pictures and sell them strictly on
the basis of quality. The only difference is
that we usually play English pictures on a
first run basis and this warrants the use of
greater newspaper advertising space than we
generally use to advertise our subsequent run
Hollywood programs. The reason for this is
twofold. First, we do not have the benefit
of following the usual first run campaign.
And, secondly, our first run English pictures
appeal to large numbers of people other than
our regular patrons—people who do not live
in our area but come from a considerable
distance.
"These people, in my judgment, don't come
to see these pictures because they are English-made.
They come because they are quality
pictures. While there are many good foreign
language pictures, we do not play them.
Rather, we confine our programs of foreign
films to English dialog pictures and through
a five-year period have found them profitable
boxoffice wise.
"Most popular types of English pictures with
our patrons," Greenberger continued, "are
comedies and dramas aimed to appeal to
women. The most popular stars are Alec
Guinness, Alastair Sims, Michael Redgrave,
Ann Todd, Celia Johnson, among others. Alec
Guinness is by far the most popular English
player.
"The most successful English pictures we
have played to date are Doctor in the House,
which played a record 20 days; Lavender Hill
Mob, 15 days: others that hit the boxoffice
bull's eye included The Promoter, The Man
in the White Suit and The Captain's Paradise.
"We have asked our discriminating patrons
why they like the English pictures we have
shown. They say they like them because they
are realistic, because they portray character
so well and, also, because they do not depend
upon star value to carry the burden of the
picture but instead, each member of the cast
is importantly developed.
"Ycu don't have to run an art house to
play English pictures," Greenberger continued,
"but if you are running a large theatre like
the Fairmount < 1,600 seats) with a fixed, high
overhead, you have to select them with an
eye on the boxoffice. You can't gamble with
'arty' pictures with a limited appeal.
"After interspersing our regular Hollywood
programs with top English pictures over a
period of five years, my advice to other theatre
owners is that this type of operation is
commercially successful only in theatres
which cater to high IQ patrons. And these
theatres should stick to those quality English
pictures which have commercial, not artistic,
appeal, such as sophisticated society drama
and comedies. One more word of advice
stay away from the war drama.
"My yardstick for British pictures is the
same as for Hollywood pictures—namely quality.
We have no trouble selling admission
tickets for quality product, either from Hollywood
or England."
Greenberger says he is not playing as many
English pictures as he used to, but there's
a reason. He initiated this policy. However,
when other theatres in the same classification
as the Fairmount saw its success, they, too.
introduced occasional English pictures. So,
the yardstick being picture quality and the
quality supply being limited, the Fairmount
Theatre doesn't have the field to itself any
more, the field in which it pioneered.
UA Sets Magazine Budget
On 'Alexander' in April
NEW YORK—United Artists has set a
$251,000 program of advertising in national
magazines and newspaper supplements for
"Alexander the Great," the Robert Rossen
production in Cinemascope and Technicolor,
according to Roger H. Lewis, national director
of advertising, publicity and exploitation.
The ad campaign, a feature of the SI,000,000
promotion for "Alexander," is expected to
reach a combined readership of 147.000,000.
The magazine program, starting April 2 with
a four-color, full-page in Life, will run in
Good Housekeeping, the Saturday Evening
Post, Look, Harper's Bazaar, This Week and
Pictorial Review in April and May issues.
The picture will open at the Capitol Theatre,
New York, around Easter and will be
released nationally later in the spring.
Trans-Lux to Distribute
'Lovers and Lollipops'
NEW YORK—Trans-Lux Distributing Corp.
has acquired "Lovers and Lollipops," the second
feature produced by Morris Engel and
Ruth Orkin, who made "Little Fugitive." according
to Richard Brandt, president. The
Myer P. Beck organization will publicize and
exploit the Trans-Lux release.
"Lovers and Lollipops," which is scheduled
to open in New York and Hollywood this
spring, is the fourth release of Trans-Lux.
The others are: "Dance Little Lady," already
in release: "Stopover at Orly." a French film.
and "La Strada." Italian-made feature starring
Anthony Quinn. Myer Beck will also
publicize the latter.
BOXOFFICE :: February 18. 1956
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