"VAmBTY' t * LONDON O F F I C I S f t . Mart in'* Pl*c», Trafalgar Square PRRIETT INTERNATIONAL 13

Top Film Men Asked To Reorganize Mex Prod. To Regain Latin-Am. Biz

Mexico City, Sept. 14. + The likely prospect of Hollywood

and Europe eorraling the Central and South American pic market because playdates of Mexican films down there have slumped to a shocking new low has prompted the four organizations, which fi­nance production of most Mexican pix (also do most distributing of them abroad) to name a committee of top producers in an effort to regain this market. These produc­ers, who also are experts in dis­tr ibution, will reorganize produc­tion via stressing quality.

These four are Cinex, which the government recently formed to control pic distribution outside Mexico, the t rade 's bank, Banco Nacional Cinematografico, Pelicu-las Mexicanas and Peliculas Na-cionales, oldline and biggie indie home-export distributors. These all admit that the trouble Mexican pix are having south of the Guate­malan border is that they are under par in quality, a fact that is becoming more and more apparent.

The committee named consists of Gregorio Wallerstein, Mario Zaca. rias, Juan Banders, Pedro Galindo, Bias Lopez Fandos and Eduardo Garduno.

Underscoring that unless Mex­ico acts quickly to remedy the" sit­uation down south, the U.S. and Europe will take over perhaps 100% the committee is muster­ing top producers for quality film making. As class will dominate new productions, the committee thinks tha t only 70 pix must be made annually. When markets get stronger, production will be upped, the big four promises.

Picture Production Workers Union (STPC) is being approached by the committee for adjustment because much fewer workers will be needed for the reduced pic which compares with a yearly pro­duction total of 100 or more. Com­mit tee hopes that STPC will see eye-to-eye on proposition that fewer but bet ter pix are needed to hypo Mexican pic t rade, which is for the good of both employer and worker.

Big four's action is a death blow to the quickies plan some pro­ducers enthusiastically grabbed early this summer. Committee let It be known that it won't finance any pic turned out in a fortnight because convinced no really good film can be made in that t ime. Quickie producers had been get­t ing $27,200 in production coin per pic. As making a quickie costs $2o,600, that anticipatory gave producers $1,600 pocket money r ight at the start. But the t rade doesn ' t expect anybody to make a quickie with their own coin.

Kabuki Group Set For European Bow in 1955

Edinburgh, Sept. 14. The Kabuki dancers and musi­

cians of Japan will make their Eu­ropean bow at the 1955 Edinburgh International Festival. They are the oldest traditional performing theatre in the world. This group, which visited the U. S. last year, will fly in from Tokyo.

Ian Hunter, artistic director of the festival, announced that the Berlin Philharmonic Orch will re­turn to the Edinburgh junket next August. British orchestras will be led by the British Broadcasting Corp. Symphony Orch under Sir Malcolm Sargent.

Glyndebourne Opera again has been invited to re turn in a reper­tory of Verdi and Rossini. And negotiations are nearing comple­tion for visit of the Royal Danish Ballet for a two-week stint.

The Old Vic Theatre Co. also is pacted to present another Shake­spearean play, this time at the Ly­ceum Theatre. Piece to be staged will be better suited to a prosce­nium stage than to the apron stage of the Assembly Hall where this year'* "Macbeth" was presented.

Mex Film Production May Reach New Low In

1954y Sagging to 86 Mexico City, Sept. 14.

Film production this year will reach a new low for recent years, * i t h 95 and possibly 86 the total by next Dec. 31. Hector Fernandez, f"Gigi «ec of the Mexican Film Producers Assn., revealed this estimate which is based upon the fact that until Aug. 31, production totalled 66 pix. Fernandez doesn't see over 20 films being made between now and the end of the year. However, some producers think production may reach 30 in the final four months.

Fernandez frankly pointed out tha t the way things are in Mexico and in countries which are the best markets for Mexican films, it would be imprudent to turn out more than this small number this year. He figures that 95 will amply take care of home and export re ­quirements.

Mexican film production has averaged 100 pix or more annually dur ing the past several years. Too often, however, the big production total yielded too many boxoffice duds, at home and abroad. Trend is to stress quality over quantity. Trade has higher hopes for the 1954 lineup both here and in ex

Bob Newton Named For Ankling 'Trilby' Lead

A receiving order has been is­sued against Robert Newton, the British film actor, according to an announcement in the London Gazette, an official government publication. Newton is currently in Australia playing the title role in "Long John Silver" for 20th-Fox.

An action for breach of contract against Newton is being taken by the American associates of Re­nown Pictures. The star had been signed for the lead in "Trilby" but ankled the cast before the pic was finished. According to George Min-ter, the Renown topper, Newton had been paid $50,000 advance salary.

port countries, principally the U.S. and South A m e n t a : ' """' " ' " " "

'54-'55 Swiss Legit Sked Dominated by British,

Yank, French Authors Zurich, Sept. 14.

Legit schedules for the upcom­ing season of practically all im­portant Swiss theatres are domi­nated to an unusual extent by British, American or French au­thors, plus revivals. Interesting new plays by German or Swiss writers are still considerably scarce and few are really worth while exporting to foreign coun­tries.

The Stadt theatre Basle will open its legit season at the end of this month with Arthur Miller's "The Crucible." It will be followed later by Fry's "Venus Observed," Jean Anouilh's "The Lark," "Teahouse of August Moon," "Dialogues of the Carmelites" and "Electra." In addition to these regular perform­ances, the French touring company of Galas Karsenty will present in Basle as well as other Swiss cities "South," "The Lark," "Four Truths," Dumas-Sartre 's "Kean," starring Pierre Brasseur, and "Dial M For Murder." Elisabeth Bergner will star in a road production of "Deep Blue Sea."

Stadttheatre Berne will present "Teahouse," "Affairs of State," "Gigi," "Leocadia," Noel Coward's "Quadril le" and Vincent Lopez' musical, "Torero." The same city's smallseater Atelier Theatre an­nounces T e r e n c e Rattigan's "Browning Version," "Of Mice and Men" and "Litt le Foxes."

Of the three leading Zurich houses, deluxe smallseater Thea­tre am Central opened its fourth season last week with "An In­spector Calls." Its upcoming sched­ule consists entirely of Anglo-U. S.­French hits such as "Little Hut," "Ninotchka," "Jupi ter Laughs,"

'Lady Windermere's Fan" and "Arsenic and Old Lace." The Zurich opera and operetta house, Stadttheatre, plans to do Vincent Lopez' Paris hit, "La Belle de Cadiz" for the first t ime in German and "Belero" as a ballet.

The Anglo-U. S. -French t rend is particularly conspicuous here at the city's top legit outlet, Schau-spielhaus. Its '54-'55 lineup actual­ly looks like a miniature edition of Broadway, London and Paris marquees rolled into one, consist­ing of not less than 50% of transla­tions from' English and French, adding up to 13 out of a skedded number ' of 24 or 25 plays. This, of course, includes a few classics and revivals. But the main con­tingent reads like a list of last year's N. Y. and Paris hits: "Tea­house of August Moon,,' "Caine Mutiny," "Confidential Clerk," Christopher Fry's latest opus, "Dark Is Light Enough"; Giruddux' posthumous "For Lucretia," Thorn­ton Wilder's "Matchmaker" (origi­nally done on Broadway in 1938 as "The Merchant of Yonkers"); Julieri Green's "The Enemy" and "Lebfca'd'ia1-" »*' *» •' t'-J"* «••» »

New German Pic Export Group

Venice, Sept. 14. German film interests have un­

veiled a new organization here, Export-Union, set up to hypo the German film abroad. It is now un­derwritten by production dona­tions, but will soon become a gov­ernmental body similar to Uni-france and Unitalia. Run by Gun-ther Schwarz and Dieter Fritko, object is to publicize current pro­duction abroad, and make sugges­tions to producers on subjects and treatments for the foreign mar­kets. It is supported by a 1% take on export earnings now.

Headquarters axe in Frankfurt and the better German documenta­tion and stand at the Venice Fest already denote the increased ac­tivity of this branch. Org has also aroused the keen interest of many U. S. foreign distribs who feel that, in the near future, Germany will become an important part of the film fare for arty, sureseater and specialized U. S. bookings. The need for films in the U. S., and the slick technical aspects of German pix may help begin to let the Ger­man film into U. S. markets again. They have their eyes on South America and feel that their foreign future lies in untapped markets ra ther than in trying to crash the closed Continental markets.

Only drawback is that so far German films have lacked the cali­bre and subject mat ter for undue stateside interest, and of the Ger­man pix to play the U. S. since the war, most have flopped and shown little general interest. Export-Union feel they have some pix for U. S. chances now in Harold Braun's "Zo Lang Du Da Bist" ("As Long as You Are There"), a slick film on filmmaking with stars O. W. Fischer and Maria Schell; Victor Vicas' "No Way Back" on the love affair between a German girl and a Russo diplomat, and other more commercial pix for possible dubbing or for dualer fare in special situations.

GEO. ('DOLLS') MARGO'S NEW BBC-TV PANEL

London, Sept. 21. George Margo, who has taken

over the role of Harry the Horse in the London production of "Guys and Dolls" for the final three weeks of its Coliseum season, devised the new BBC-TV panel game, "Tall Story Club," which got the No. 1 rating on an audience survey poll. It starts a series tryout tonight (Tues.).

Margo took over the "G & D" role from Tom Pedi, who had played it since its inception. Pedi is now vacationing in Devon and plans to re turn to New York Oct. 9.

Yanks Show Interest In Giant Scot Revue

Edinburgh, Sept. 21. Theatrical interests in the U.S.

have cabled for details of "Hail Caledonia," big-scale Scot revue of song and dance staged at the Assembly Hall here, according to Norman Marshall, who produced it. Show has cast of 170, and was surprise hit of the final week ot the International Festival here.

Possibility of "Hail Caledonia" being switched south to a theatre

"like the Drury Lane in London is a matter of expense,, said Marshall. Cast was three times as big as "Oklahoma," he ' stressed, and no management* could put i t 'on with­out a lafH iuDSldy/ f '""J ! i "

Col Pix Set For New Zealand Via Kerridge-Odeon; Metro To Moodabe

Milestone Working In N. Italy on 'Widow'

Turin, Sept. 14. Lewis Milestone, Patricia Roc,

Akim Tamiroff and Massimo Ser-rato are on location in the hills surrounding this north Italian town working on "The Widow," taken from the novel by Susan York, for Venturini Films of Rome.

Milestone agreed to do this pic­ture, it's reported here, on the con­dition that he be allowed to make it from an artistic point of view without concern for the boxoffice. He also adapted the' story for the screen.

Some of the scenes are being shot in the Villa Primo Sole where Lana Turner and Lex Baxter spent their honeymoon a couple of years ago.

Delay on Film Release Permits Still Blocks

Yank Distribs in Arg. Buenos Aires, Sept. 21.

Delay in issuing release permits for American product is annoying to Argentine cinema patrons, who, in some instances, are just catch­ing up with pix released in some countries several years ago. Last week, the long-delayed launching of Par 's "Samson and Delilah" was held at the Gran Rex. Almost on the same day, "Third Man" (Indie) opened day-date at the Florida, Gaumont and Capitol.

The Entertainment Board insists that release permits for Yank pix are not suspended but merely de­layed because of the current book­ing scramble. Apparently part of the delay stems from the native producers ' insistence on priority for their releases. But because a majority of recent pix failed to draw at the box6ffice or meet the advantageous holdover terms guar­anteed Argentine-made product, U.S. films may get their release certificates sooner than expected. Even the zany comedies made here, top moneymakers in former years, have lost their appeal.

Among the several vital matters taken up by Robert Corkery, MPEA rep in Latin America, on his visit here, was the matter of expediting release permits. Thaw­ing of frozen coin via complicated exchange deals was another im­portant subject.

Incidentally, for the first time since vaudeville acts became obli­gatory, the Gran Rex has tied up advance bally on "Samson" with blurbs about the accompanying show. The Ekatherina Galantha Ballet has been set to play with this pic, and being given a break in all advertising.

"The Robe" (20th> is now in its 24th week at the Broadway, with an estimated take of $876,000 in the first 20 weeks. Special upped scale of $2 makes this money pos­sible here. Latest exhib to equip his house with C'Scope is Pablo Cavallo at his Florida. This ex­hibitor also obtained CinemaScope for installation at the Gran Rex in Cordoba, getting it from Italy un­der 20th-Fox license. Until foreign exchange is available, exhibs can­not hope to buy these installations on a big scale.

Sydney, Sept. 14. Leroy Brauer, Columbia's Aussi*

managing director, revealed last week after his re turn from New Zealand that Col product would be released on the Robert Ker­ridge-Odeon circuit instead of Mik» Moodabe's Amalgamated loop in the future. Moodabe's New Zea­land chain set deal to handle Metro product last month.

New deal means that the Colum­bia fare will now first-release in Auckland, Christchurch, Welling­ton and Dunedin. Product cover­ing the new Col deal include* ,"Caine Mutiny," due for day-data release Oct. 23 at the St. James, Auckland; Majestic, Wellington, and Regent, Christchurch; "On Waterfront," "Bullet is Waiting," "Miami Story," "Black Knight ," "Prize of Gold" and "Hell Belovr Zero."

Charles Chauvel's Aussie-mad* film, "Jedda," will be handled separately by Robert Kerridge on the Col deal.

The Kerridge-Odeon drain is a powerful setup playing opposition to the Moodabe Amalgamated loop. The J. Ar thur Rank organization has a 50% sayso in K-O. 20th-Fox holds the major stock interest in Amalgamated.

In Australia, Col key release* through Greater Union Theatres, in which Rank also has a 50% stake. The Columbia switch will now give Kerridge the new prod­uct in New Zealand instead of prize Metro fare, which Moodab* has signatured.

Arg. Exhibs Try Legit To Keep Out of Red

Buenos Aires, Sept. 14. Harassed by rising costs and the

government's reluctance to author­ize higher prices, exhibitors are casting around for means of keep­ing out of the red. The Central Cinematografica Circuit is eyeing conversion to legit, and has been mulling offers from agents for an American musical at that house early next year. The 1,200-seat Rose Marie, a moveover house, is also reverting to legit for a brief period this month, housing a ballet company.

Exhibitor discussions with the Entertainment Board on the price boost continue on an upped scale behind the scenes. Theatre staffs are vitally interested in the par­leys, because their 29% wage in­creases were made contingent on a higher admission price at the

Restrictive Policies in British Film Biz Eyed By Monopolies Commish

London, Sept. 14. Evidence of restrictive practice*

which, it is alleged are carried on in the British motion picture in­dustry, are being sent to th* Monopolies Commission by th* Cinematograph Exhibitors Assn.

In formation already has been supplied to the commission on th* practice whereby exhibitors ar* barred from getting certain films and on the use of stop lists. An­other point to be raised is th* distributors's policy which compel* the purchaser of a picture theat re to take over existing bookings and to pay rentals at the same rate a* the previous owner.

At last week's meeting of the CEA general council, it was also suggested t h a t representations might be made on the position whereby the produccr-distrib-ex-hibitor could make its own contract with regard to date of exhibition before independent exhibs could make its own contract with regard to date of exhibition before in­dependent exhibs could make a similar plan.

Other items which they suggest­ed might be referred to the com­mission were in relation to break figures, currently the subject of arbitration between the CEA and the Kinematograph Renters So­ciety, and to the concerted control of film rentals in an area whera one exhib owns all the pic theatres.

Red China, Soviet Pix Okay for Japan Dates

Tokyo, Sept. 14. Motion pictures from Red China

and Soviet Russia will be admis-sable to Japan on a strictly com­mercial basis under recent revi­sions to the Finance Ministry's regulations governing import of foreign films. This marks first offi­cial recognition of commercial film imports from Red China. Previous pix from Mao-land shown her* came in under cultural agreements and were supposedly exhibited without charge although collec­tions were always made.

Alterations have been made to the clause which specified that a reserve of 10 film import permits would be given to importers of product from certain countries which had bought Japanese films, with .resulting favorable balanc* of t rade accruing to this country. Previously Russia, Red China, the U.S., England, France, Italy and West Germany had been excluded from, the list of qualifying coun­tries. Now Russia and Red China have been made eligible".'L