im

More documents

Recommendations

Info

28 . and pronounced Reno Xove' Premiere Is Blocked by Fires HOLLYWOOD -Forest fires in the Reno. Nev.. area, knocking out all electric power lines, forced 20th-Fox to call off what was to have been the first major Hollywood premiere in Reno's history, the gala prerelease bow of Jerry Wald's "Let's Make Love" at the Crest Theatre. The benefit performance was a sellout long in advance, with Marilyn Monroe and Clark Gable, on location near Reno for UA's "The Misfits." due to attend the event. All press folk and visitors were evacuated, however, and a press preview of the film was held at the Westwood studio a few nights later. The world premiere of MGM's film based on the Edna Perber novel. "Cimarron." will be held November 30 in Oklahoma City, with Producer Edmund Grainger taking a group of celebrities there for the one-night showing. There will be a twoa-day premiere screening of the western, although it will not open at once in Oklahoma. A gala west coast invitational premiere will be held here September 27 at the Stanley Warner Beverly Hills Theatre for William Gotez' production for Columbia. "Song Without End." the story of Franz Liszt, starring Dirk Bogarde. The regular engagement will begin the next day 1 1 AFL Council to Support AFM Try for Comeback HOLLYWOOD—The AFL Film Council here, representing 24,000 members, declared it will support the American Federation of Musicians' attempt to recapture collective bargaining rights for musicians working in major studios. The council adopted a resolution declaring that "studios will be best served by a union affiliated with the AFL-CIO, with its great economic bargaining power throughout the United States." The AFM has been battling importation of canned music by video and theatrical film producers, claiming it is causing severe unemployment among American musicians. The Musicians Guild of America now holds bargaining rights for musicians on the major lots. The film council contended MGA cannot help solve the importation of music problem. A NLRB election among studio musicians has been scheduled for September 7.8. Buys 'Warm Peninsula' HOLLYWOOD—Columbia Pictures has purchased the film rights to "The Warm Peninsula." a play by Joe Masteroff, for a reported nrice of $75,000. The two-act comedy-drama was produced on Broadway last year wiih Julie Harris. June Havoc and Parley Graiitrcr toplined. Fredric March as Judge HOLLYWOOD- -Fredric March has been set as one of the stars in Prank Capra- United Artists' "Pocketful of Miracles." slated to go before the cameras late this year. March will play the role of the judge. Corman Tells Exhibitors: 'Don't Dread Pay TV HOLLYWOOD— "Theatremen should not dread pay TV as putting an end to their business. Roger Corman. president of The Filmgroup told a group of Greek exhibitors visiting the Athens set where he is making "Atlas" last week. In a copy of the talks received here, Corman said that pay TV is going to become as competitive as any other form of entertainment and. while it may have momentary local successes because of novelty, it will not be the major hindrance of theatrical exhibition that many fear. "Theatrical motion picture production will become more competitive to pay TV in the effort to get the audience off its ottoman and into theatres."" Corman stated. He thinks the medium can have the value of stimulation to more effort and more film quality. "I believe theatrical exhibition has less to fear from pay TV than it now fears." the filmmaker said. ""Exhibitors used to competition know that competition cannot be eliminated but must be met with every available weapon. The weapons are quality entertainment and penetrating promotion. The motion picture industry can meet its competition, free or pay. While doing so, it can bring another golden era to the screen and the boxoffice.'" Corman also became jocular with his statement that. "One group sure to profit from pay TV is the equipment manufacturers— if they don't sell their product on time payments." Screenplay by Author HOLLYWOOD — Warner Bros, has signed Ben Masselink to write the screenplay of his novel, ""The Crackerjack Marines." recently purchased by the studio. Leonard Freeman will produce the comedy of wartime Marine recruitment. NO nsii - 1 (m;ii - i oi; w \i i i> The produicr. >lio» ii lioltliiiK loti and reel, hooked this 662-pound marlin in Hawaii where he is currently scouting locations for "Hawaii Beach Boy." which is to star Elvis Presley. The Paramount producer fought the giant fish for 65 minutes l)cfore landing it. He is shown with John HonI, his skipper. Ingrid Thulin Signed | For Three Pictures HOLLYWOOD—The Mirisch Co. has inked Ingrid Thulin i Tulean) to a three-picture contract. Touted as Sweden's "'greatest actress'" and the star of three prize-winning Ingmar Bergman films. "Wild Strawberries," "The Ma- " gician "Brink of Life,"' Miss Thulin is expected to appear in one of the films now included in the recently announced $50,000,000 program from The Mirisch Co. James H. Nicholson and Samuel Z. Arkoff have signed Mary Webster as the femmo Inad in American International's "Master of the World."" slated to go before the cameras September 7 in color and Dyna-Magic. Vincent Price will star as Robur. a man with an impossible dream to personally bring about universal peace. William Witney directs. Lensers Aiming to Picket Holden-Gardner Films HOLLYWOOD—The first move in a projected "boycott" of pictures which star American actors who reside overseas to avoid, according to union charges. U. S. income taxes, came when the cameramen's union, in a secret Chicago decision, de- ; cided to picket films starring William Holden and Ava Gardner. According to Herb Aller, business agent for Local 659, picketing may be extended to those films which are lensed overseas explicitly to avoid use of Hollywood labor. Aller acknowledged that "these are hard to determine at this point,"' and that "guideposts"' would be set up in the near future. The decision to institute picket lines, which was reached in a Chicago session of the recent biennial lATSE convention, will cover "The Counterfeit Traitor."" a William Perlberg-George Seaton production currently in European production as a Holden starrer. Aller stated that the local cameramen's union was concerned with so-called ""runaway productions"" as early as 1950. and now feels that the time for action has come •"since its impact is more severe than ever."" Aller explained that 10 per cent of his local is unemployed at a time when employment usually is at its highest. Aller further declared that of the 1.200 members of IPMPI. 1.000 live here. Some 175 work in theatrical films and the remaining bulk in television films. He added that a resolution asking that other American union members take part in the overall boycott will be presented to the October meeting of the AFL-CIO. and the union also will petition the Senate finance committee to alter current tax structures so that a U. S. citizen must be out of the country ten years, instead of 18 months, before being exempt from U. S. taxation. He added that Local 859 also will call on all affected Hollywood unions to join in the nationwide protest. Doc Merman to 20th-Fox HOLLYWOOD —Veteran production executive Lewis "Doc" Merman has joined Sid Rogeirs department at 20th-Fox. Merman was last associated with Betty Hutton. W-2 BOXOFHCE :: August 29, I960 '
i $200,000 I ; HOLLYWOOD I independent I I The I I by ! production I King — — rV Acting Pact Ratified 5y Huge SAG Majority HOLLYWOOD—A 96 per cent majority vote by members of the Screen Actors Guild approved a new collective bargaining agreement covering actors in television films. Ballots ratifying the pact numbered 5,362. with 207 opposing ratification. Some 14.000 ballots were mailed to SAG members. The overwhelming majority in favor of the contract was registered despite the opposition of the guild's New York branch council, which sent a special letter to all Gotham members of the guild declaring the contract was "unsatisfactory when taken in its entirety." The guild's national board of directors and negotiating committee had unanimously recommended that the contracts be approved. Fox Denied Right to Use King of Kingdom' Title NE'W YORK — Twentieth Century-Fox was denied the right to use the title "King of the Kingdom" Tuesday (23) at a meeting of the Arbitration Committee of the Title Registration Bureau of the Motion Picture Assn of America. It had been registered about two months ago in connection with a Roman Catholic film, "The 15 Mysteries of the Rosary." and protested by Samuel Bronston, producer, who argued that he had previously registered the title. Bronston is working on "King of Kings" for MOM release. His right to that title has been questioned by Cinema Corp. of America, distributor of the original DeMille film. "King of Kings." He had registered it and it was said that Cinema had not done so. High Asking Price Asked For 'Lion Pit' Rights HOLLY'WOOD—One of the highest asking prices for a literary property has been ;put on the film rights to "The Lion Pit," ; first novel by Frank Harvey. All Hollywood studios have been quoted a price of against 4 per cent of the gross, and as part of the deal sought, the buyer must make the picture within three years; otherwise, a $20,000-a-year penalty is : levied for a maximum of five years, all to be applied against the gross. Meanwhile, a payment of $150,000 against a percentage of the profits was paid by MGM for the purchase of "All [Fall Down," a new novel by James Leo Herlihy. The story calls for a cast of younger stars. |Next Sinatra Start — Frank Sinatra's next production. "X-15. Time of Departure." is dated to start January 16. story, revolving around the U. S. Air Force's outer space program, was acquired Sinatra from scripter Tony Lazzarino. 'Guadalupe' on Fox Slate HOLLYWOOD—Film rights to "Miracle of Guadalupe," James O'Hanlon screenplay, have been purchased by 20th-Fox chief Robert Goldstein. Henry has been assigned to direct. No producer has been named. vj ARE, indeed, the observer of the mo- [^ tion picture scene who has failed to comment upon the understandable decision of the directorate of the Motion Picture Ass'n of America not to finance 196rs telecast of the Awards Event of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. In most instances, the verdict was termed "regrettable," as it undoubtedly is. No commentator, however, seems to have touched upon what might well have been the principal reason why the magi of distribution elected to stop picking up the tab for Oscar's big night—an annual chit that adds up to more than a half million dnllars—and that ain't bagels, even when business is good. Such possible prime motive might have found genesis in the inescapable fact that during recent years the bestov.-ing of awards on pictures and those who staiTed in them has not been productive of the additional boxoffice revenue that once obtained. There was a time when selecting a photoplay as the best of the year or comparable recognition of toplining mummers could mean hundreds of thousands of dollars, via the reissue route, to distributors and exhibitors. But the growing tendency toward avalanching a dominant percentage of the vearly kudos upon one outstanding, highbudget photoplay which was of necessity being shown on a reserved-seats basis and would continue to be exhibited under such policy for many months to come cut materially into the chances of both distributors and theatre operators to garner reissue dollars. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's mighty "Ben-Hur," which is still going strong as a hard-ticket attraction, and the late Michael Todd's "Around the World in 80 Days" are classical examples. Moreover, with the pending advent of such mastodons as Bryna-Universal-Intemational's "Spartacus," and John Wayne- United Artists' "The Alamo," there appears to be little chance that road shows will cease making a concerted bid lor Academy honors. No one is to be blamed for this situation. It stems from an unavoidable evolutionary process within the trade. Be that as it may, Oscar will have to backslide to playing fiscal footsies with motors or medicines, bras, detergents or deodorants, etc., and thereby will be lost another round in the industry's battle for continued dignity and prestige. Probably the economy master-minds would attribute it to cause and effect, but, regardless of the reasons, the trend toward decentralization of production is apparently spreading to the levels of publicity—much to the advantage of the freelance flackeries which are expanding in size and importance while studio press departments In most cases remain at the skeleton status to which they were reduced during the actors' strike. The drift toward independent space-snatchers has even reached television. Screen Gems, which at one time maintained a sizeable publicity department, has farmed out four of its shows. One will be handled by the silkstocking prais- ?ry of Rogers and Cowan (Handsome Henry and Winsome Warren need it—you should live so long) and still another goes to McFadden and Eddy, etc. Whether this migration to the unaffiliated tub-thumpers is good or bad for the studios, the pictures and stars they ostensibly publicize is a matter of personal belief. In this opinion it is not salubrious. It is doubted that an independent pressagentry with several accounts to service can or will do as good a job as a department or individual with a sole goal to attain. What's more, there can be little doubt that the trend is hardly conducive to bolstering the morale of the limited number of men who remain on studio publicity department payrolls. Perhaps nothing better illustrates the above-described situation than the recent experiences of Marty Weiser, veteran movie publicist and exploiteer. For many years, Marty was a salaried employe of Warner Bros., where he specialized in merchandising pictures. Then he became associated with producer-distributor-exhibitor Robert Lippert in a similar capacity. Still later, he decided to hang out his own shingle as a freelance publicist, retaining Lippert as his bellwether account. Came an offer from Colimibia studio to do a special selling job on that outfit's current "Strangers When We Meet," which proffered proposition was so fiscally flattering that Weiser could not afford to pass it up. So. he disposed of his business and for the next several months devoted his full time to "Strangers." The job—and it goes without saying that he did an outstanding one completed, he was retained by the Cleary- Strauss & Irwin flackery to perform a similar chore for an NBC-TV special starring Tennessee Ernie Ford. Recently, it became known that Weiser's always-effective services were again available. He was virtually deluged with offers. Out of it all, he decided to return to C. S. & I. as, what Madison Avenue would call, an account executive. He has already assumed the stewardship and responsibility for three important assignments, to wit: Serving as special coordinator of all promotional activities in connection with the hard-ticket engagements in Los Angeles and San Francisco of "Sunrise at Campobello," the Dore Schary production. Handling publicity for producer William Claxton, who has returned to the fabrication of theatrical film fare after a hiatus bout with television. Claxton's upcoming picture is "Desire in the Dust," which will be distributed by 20th Century-Fox and was made for Associated Producers, Inc., the 20th-Fox affiliate impresarioed by Lippert. Doing some special exploitation work on all of the forthcoming features under the aegis of the same Lippert. , BOXOFFICE August 29, 1960 W-3
Page 1 and 2: ' AUGUST 29. I960 im mG^tl&fv fictu
Page 3 and 4: WaSkDl^ney'A ^7 «t 1/ /^:^ tms\ BR
Page 5 and 6: ^^"S?JS^ .M
Page 7 and 8: , "EEN . Executive a '^^ 7i(jôft^^
Page 9 and 10: I ' force, I ; berg, j United i j j
Page 11 and 12: ir I lelegates to WOMPI !)onvenlion
Page 13 and 14: I Pickman { 1 John Pickman Is Study
Page 15 and 16: McWilliams Heads 'Pepe' Advertising
Page 17 and 18: j • NOW BEING DISTRIBUTED TO ALL
Page 19 and 20: I London ! scenes," ' NEW I aided ;
Page 21 and 22: . — ^^^ CENTURY PRESENTS THE MOST
Page 23 and 24: uitrndcM êpont ^ TRIBUTE TO BEN SH
Page 25 and 26: . . Irving . . Harry . . Jim . . Ja
Page 27: '. with [ Widmark 1 the OLLYWOOD If
Page 33 and 34: PORTLAND Top features such as "Ocea
Page 35 and 36: She's on the grand tour -for amour.
Page 37 and 38: She's on the grand tour -for amour.
Page 39 and 40: .iQ ~ ni 3 ^^ê^ o c3 O: Co Q 3 a.
Page 41 and 42: — — — —— Merry Loop Upswi
Page 45 and 46: ! Philip , He ; HOLLYWOOD—An I j
Page 47 and 48: . — — I ^^^ CENTURY PRESENTS TH
Page 49 and 50: ; play I Waldleitner, I ! company '
Page 51 and 52: i I I ! Chamberlain, I which i Miam
Page 53 and 54: ' Billy , Drive-In, , Theatre, 1 Fi
Page 55 and 56: — ^^^ CENTURY PRESENTS THE MOST R
Page 57 and 58: I DES ' I Pickus 1 From I i NEW I R
Page 59 and 60: — ^^^ CENTURY PRESENTS THE MOST R
Page 61 and 62: , CLEVELAND—Nothing I capacity :
Page 63 and 64: . — n CENTURY PRESENTS THE MOST R
Page 65 and 66: ! Safe ' BOSTON—A , nection j "Oc
Page 67 and 68: I BOXOFnCE . — ^^^ CENTURY PRESEN
Page 69 and 70: ; report I I VANCOUVER—The I hot
Page 71 and 72: i I I LA I a I I commission , C-3 i
Page 73 and 74: . . . See . . Exciting . . Remember
Page 75 and 76: guitar was played by Marlon Brando.
Page 77 and 78: A. U An Interpretofive onolytis ot
Page 79 and 80:
Feature productions by compony in o
Page 81 and 82:
I E.\celsior) . French Yves .(krard
Page 83 and 84:
' — Opinions on Current Productio
Page 85 and 86:
' essive ; ound , en 1 corrode, , i
show all

im

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?