Boxoffice-May.21.1979

VANCOUVER
"Qood Giijs \^car Black." which had just
completed s.iiiiraiion bookings in the
slate of Washington, moved across the
border. The first wave in British Cokimbia
embraced the Odeon Theatres' Coronet.
\ancoiivcr. Westminster Mall. Hyland. Dolphin
.md the Westminster Drivc-Iii.
TORONTO
plans are now well under way for this
year's fourth annual Festival of Festivals
here, with promises that the hassle of
lineups and overcrowding which marred last
year's event can be avoided this time.
"We expect to have 50 percent more
seats than last year," festival head Bill Marshall
said. "We're negotiating for theatres
with Famous Players, but they've got more
films backed up for that time than 1 a-
Guardia airport has planes."
The festival is set to run Sept. 6-15.
and already scheduled is a program of recent
Swedish films, at least 40 old and new horror
films, two gala screenings every night,
new Canadian productions, as well a series
of neglected films selected by Chicago critic
Roger Ebert.
Woody Allen's "Manhattan" set a new
house record in its opening at the Uptown
1 here, grossing $40,432 in three days.
Brothers Timothy and Joseph Bottoms are
to co-star as brothers in "Surfacing." a new
feature film to be made this summer in
Ontario's Algonquin Park. .'\lso in the cast
will be Canadian Beverly D'Angelo, who
was seen in "Hair." The producer will be
Beryl Fox. and Eric Till will direct. The
Festival patrons, who pay substantialls
more than the ordinary customers, will this
year have a star in the galaxy Andromeda
named for them and registered through an
arrangement with the Smithsonian Inslilule
and the Library of Congress in Washington.
S2.25 million budget will be put up by the
Canadian Film Development Corp.. the Canadian
Broadcasting Corporation. Famous
Players and private investors.
Moving into its third week of operation.
Cineplex is still "ironing out wrinkles" in
the operation of its 18 cinemas. These include
sound and projection difficulties, and
precautions against a possible breakdown in
the computerized ticket-selling system. Although
business has not been as first expected,
there is still great enthusiasm for
this unique theatre project. Biggest surprise
tc date has been the success of "The Rubber
Gun." a made-in-Montreal film that had
been neglected for two years because nobody
had any confidence in it. Response has been
so good to it that Cineplex moved ii into an
additional cinema for weekend business.
Backed by strong Montreal reviews, "Jacob
Two-Two Meets the Ho.ided Fang"
opened Ontario playdates. including five
theatres in the Toronto area. Based on the
children's cla.ssic b\ Mordecai Richler, this
Canadian film was produced by Harry Guilan
and John Flaxman was executive producer.
It is being distributed by Saguenay
Films.
The Toronto Sun will be a recipient of
Variety Clubs International's annual Communications
Media Awards. The Sun is being
honored for its publicizing of the Bikc-
.\-Thon sponsored by the Variety Club of
Ontario for the benefit of handicapped and
iniderprivileged children. The award will be
presented at the opening men's luncheon
of the 52nd .Annual Convention of Variety
Clubs International to be held May l'J-24
New Orleans.
in
Film Dist. Suit Filed
Against Allied Artsts
MONTREAL—Somerville House, a Canadian
film company, has filed a multipleaction
suit for an undisclosed amount
aaainst Allied Artists Industries of New
York.
Rosemary Christensen. head of Somerville.
said that the suit stems from an alleged
breach of contract and for failure to account
for and disburse distribution revenues lo
Somerville investors from two films. "The
Story of O" and "Zorro."
At the request of Somerville House, the
courts issued a seizure order against all
assets and properties of the distribution
company and its affiliated companies in
Quebec pending the outcome of the case.
"The Story of O" was released in 1 975
and "Zorro" a year later.
New Organization Formed
TORONTO A new organization, set up
along the lines of the .Academy of Motion
Picture Arts and Sciences, has been formed
to replace the annual Canadian Film
Awards, organizers said recently.
Paul Heffert. interim co-chairman of the
recently formed Academy of Canadian Cinema,
said that organizers recognized the
need to expand the film awards because of
the "explosive growth of the feature film indusstry
in this country."
Heffort. a composer, said that the awards
—for which the Etrogs are given—originally
had not been set up to handle feature
films and that nominating and judging procedures
had become difficult.
He said that film-feature production grew
to more than $60 million in 1977 from $5
million in 1977. It is expected to reach $100
million this year.
The awards in the past have been made
in the fall, often before many of the nominated
films had been released in the country.
For the past two decades, the awards
have been sponsored b> \arious industr\'
organizations.
Under the new academy, membership is
open to individuals with screen credit. Membership
will be divided into about 10 craft
categories such as actors, cinematographers.
composers, editors and directors.
'Halfback' Discounts
Aimed at the Boxoffice
By J. W. AGNEW
Toronio Correspondent
TORONTO— Beginning May I.
went into operation in Ontario.
Halfback, a plan devised by the
Halfback
province,
will enable holders of losing Wintario lottery
tickets to "cash them in," permitting them
to get discounts when buying records featuring
Canadian artist.s, or when buying theatre
tickets where Canadian feature films
are being shown.
"It's the best thing the Ontario government
has ever done for the movie business,"
said Bill Marshall, president of the Canadian
Association of Motion Picture Producers.
Halfback will be in operation over the
summer period until September 30. and Canadian
theatre owners and film distributors
have a five-month promotional campaign
laid out to take full advantage of this discount
scheme.
"The program is totally voluntary," stated
David Spence. director of Ontario's cultural
industries branch, administering the Hallback
plan. "Nobody's putting the hustle on
anybody. But we've got cooperation from
200 to 300 movie houses. We've even getting
movie houses in smaller towns that have
never booked a Canadian movie."
Two premieres have been arranged lo
coincide with the introduction of Halfback:
"The Shape of Things to Come." a futuristic
adventure featuring Jack Palance.
Carol Lynley and Barry Morse, and the
Ontario first showings of "Jacob Two-Two
Meets the Hooded Fang."
Later this summer, these other feature
films will be opening: "Meatballs," a youth
comedy produced by Ivan Reitman. with
Saturday Night Live's Bill Murray: "Fast
Company," a racing story with William
Smith: "The Brood," a thriller with Oliver
Reed and Samantha Eggar: "Wild Horse
Hank." a family story with Linda Blair and
Richard Crenna; and "City on Fire." a
disaster yarn starring Henry Fonda. ,Ava
Gardner and Shelley Winters.
Locally, the Park immediately booked a
double bill of "Why Shoot the Teacher"
and "Who Has Seen the Wind." and the
Elgin also brought in "Black Christmas"
along with "Death Weekend."
"I'm trying to bring back every Canadian
film I've got in the vaults, mostly for double
bills," said Len Herberman of Ambassador
Films. For theatre admissions, each losing
Wintario ticket can be redeemed for 50
cents off. or a maximum of four for each
admission. Most theatre admissions in this
province are now pegged at S3. 50. which
means that under this plan a patron could
pay as little as $1.50 for a theatre admission.
"The idea is good; You can't knock it."
one executive said. "But is it going to excite
sales in films that are not really commercial
Probably not. However, it will expose
Canadian pictures in smaller centres such
as Tweed and Peterborough, and that may
pave the wa\ for the fiUure."
K-2 BOXOFHCE :: May 21. 1979