Boxoffice-December.17.1962

Thompson Defends Stars'
High Salary Demands
From Eastern Edition
NEW YORK—Elizabeth Taylor will be
paid her usual SI. 000, 000 fee for starring
in "I Love Louisa." which she will make for
the Mirisch Bros, in 1963 but "she is worth
every penny of this sum at the boxoffice,"
according to J. Lee Thompson, who will
direct the picture in Hollywood in June or
July.
Thompson, who recently completed
"Taras Bulba" for Harold Hecht in Argentina,
was in New York as the second stop
of his tour of major cities in connection
with the United Artists release, which will
open around Christmas.
In January. Thompson will start "The
Mound Builders," standing Yul Brynner in
Yucatan, Mexico, this picture being on a
separate deal with the Mii'isch Co. "I Love
Louisa," which he will produce in association
with Arthur P. Jacobs, is the first of
four pictm-es he will make for Mirisch over
a seven-year period. The other three are
not yet selected. Thompson said.
"I will support the stars, no matter how
exorbitant their demands, if they bring
customers to the boxoffice," Thompson
said. Miss Taylor has never made a flop
film, he mentioned. For the six leading
male roles in "I Love Louisa," Thompson
has made overtures to FYank Sinatra, Cavy
Grant and other stars of that caliber and
all are willing to play the comparatively
small parts if their acting commitments
permit. The screenplay is now being written
by Betty Comden and Adolph Green.
Later, Thompson, who directed "The
Guns of Navarone" for Columbia in Greece
and London and first came to attention
with his British film, "Tiger Bay," which
made a star of Hayley Mills, also hopes to
make another British picture, "Chips With
Everything," from the London stage hit,
for his Bowhall Productions, sometime in
1963. This will be a modest-budget picture,
he said.
Thompson was host at a preview of
"Taras Bulba" for the magazines, newspapers
and trade press at the Beacon Theatre
November 26. He later attended a
midnight supper party at Leone's Restaurant,
where Rita Moreno, Peggy Cass, Red
Buttons, Rita Gam, Shirley Anne Field,
Mimi Benzell, Anthony Perkins. Jack Carter
and Denise Darcel were on hand, in addition
to Joseph E. Lerine. Arthur B. Krim,
Barney Balaban. Eugene Picker, A.
Schneider. Leo Jaffe and other film executives
and exhibitors in the New York area.
Every Motion Picture Has Something
Good or Entertaining: Ray Willie
DAT J .AS—For over 40 years Raymond
Willie has been seeing an average of three
motion pictures a
week, writes Bob
Porter in the Dallas
Times Herald. The
Porter article was one
of a series spotlighting
persons who figure
importantly in
the Dallas arts and
entertainment activities.
"I don't have an
idea of the total
Raymond Willie number," he says,
"but I believe I have
seen about as many as anyone else in the
countiT"
This constant screen scanning has not
just been for the fun of it. Over those
years Willie's career has concerned the motion
picture and variety show business.
Since 1959 he has been vice-president and
general manager of the Interstate Theatre
circuit, headquartered in Dallas.
If it hasn't been just for fun Willie has
retained a business-is-pleasure attitude. "I
always find something in every picture that
is
entertaining or good," he states.
A Port Worth native, Willie is one
Dallasite (since his youth) who can vividly
recall the openings of the Palace and Majestic
theatres on Elm street. That was in
1921—April 11 for the Majestic and June
11 for the Palace. They were memorable
openings. At the Palace there was a 40-
piece orchestra 'those were the vaudeville
days) and an organist at one of the largest
organs ever installed in a theatre. The theatre
had three stages with the orchestra
on center stage. At the Majestic, rose
petals floated down from the ceiling to
cover the opening night audience.
Willie's show business career began as a
teenager at the Old Mill Theatre in Fort
Worth. His first Dallas position was at the
Palace as assistant manager at the time of
the theatre's opening.
From 1921 to 1936, Willie made a number
of moves around the state and the
south as manager of San Antonio's Palace
Theatre; manager of the Pantages in Dallas,
which was located below where the old
Capitol used to be; in Binningham as a
manager, and back to San Antonio to
manage the Majestic.
In 1932 when the Interstate Theatre circuit
was fonned, Willie was named city
manager for San Antonio, seeing to the
operation of nine Alamo city theatres.
Willie came to Dallas to stay in 1936 as
division manager for Texas Consolidated,
which is a part of the Interstate circuit.
Texas Consolidated oversees the Interstate
theatres in the smaller Texas cities. In
1940 Willie was named division manager
in the larger cities. He served in that position
until 1959 and the death of R. J.
O'Donnell.
As vice-president and general manager of
Interstate. Willie heads the operation of
the circuit's theatres in Dallas, Fort Worth,
'Continued on page SW-9>
DALLAS
Season's Greetings
From the Members of
OPERATORS LOCAL
NO. 249 lATSE
DALLAS, TEXAS
Affiliated -with the AFL-CIO
Lensing 'House of the Damned'
From Western Edition
HOLLYWOOD — Producer director
Maury Dexter has put "House of the
Damned," Associated Pioducers picture
for 20th-Fox release, before the cameras
here with Harold Knox as assistant and
Jack Nickolaus as cameraman. Ronald
Foster, MeiTy Anders, Richard Crane and
Georgie Schmidt topline the cast.
Southwestern Theatre Equipment Co., Inc.
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BOXOFnCE December 17, 1962 SW-5