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A vital part of the whole picture.

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THX Sound System Program 

Certified Installations 

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MPhs Mann Six 5 6 Tucson 

""jnns Mann Eighl 3 Phoenix 

Arkansas UA Cinema Citv Seven 6 UMe Rcdt 

UA Lakewood 4 5 Uttle Roc* 

California AMC Pueme Hills S 6 Los Angeles 

AMC Kabuki 1 San Francisco 

AMC Century City I 2 3 4 Los Angeles 

AMC Mam Place S 6 Santa Ana 

Cineplex Odeon Beverly Center 1 2 Los 

Angeles 

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Cineplex Odeon Century Plaza I Los Angeles 

Cir Cineplex Odeon Plaza I Daly City 

Cineplex Odeon Universal City 10 screens Los 

At Angeles 

GCC Avco Center Cinema t Westwood 

GCC Sherman Oaks Theatre 1 2 

GCC Fremont Hub 1 Fremont 

GCC South Bay Los Angeles 

Knkonan Upland 6 8 Upland 

Mann's National Theatre Westwood 

Mann's Brum Theatre Westwood 

Mann's Chinese Theatre 1 2 3 Hollywood 

Mann's Village Theatre Westwood 

Manns Puente Hills 1 4 Los Angeles 

Syufy No Hollywood 256 7 Hollywood 

Syufy Dnema 21 San Froncisco 

UA Eight 7 8 Brea 

UA Coronet Theatre 1 2 Westwood 

UA Movie Seven 1 Clovis 

UA Horton Plaza 2 San Diego 

UA Eight Movies Escondido 

UAWbodland Hills 2 Woodland Hills 

UA Thousand Oaks 2 Thousand Oaks 

UA Egyptian Theatre Westwood 

UA Galaxy Theatre 1 2 San Francisco 

UA Granada Hills 3 Granada Hills 

UA Citrus Heights 5 Sacramento 

UAWest Pasadena 4 Pasadena 

UA Metro Center Six Colma 

Colorado Mann's Century 21 Theatre Denver 

Commonwealth Academy Station S« 4 

Colorado Springs 

DistricI of Columbia Cineplex Odeon 4000 

Msconsin 3 4 

norida AMC Crt)Ssroads 2 St Petersburg 

Cineplex Odeon Holfner Ct/ 5 6 Orlando 

Cineplex Odeon Mandarin Comers 1 6 

Jacksonville 

Cxeplei Odeon Sandlake 3 Orlando 

Fox Theatres 34 56 Pompano Beach 

Fox Sunnse 3 4 5 6 R LaudenJale 

GCC Coral Square Cinema 3 Coral Springs 

GCC Nonhdale Court Cinema Tampa 

Muvico Apolo I Hialeah 

Mxnetco Shadowood Sq 3 4 Boca Raton 

Gtorgia GCC Merchant^ W^h 1 Adama 

Cineplex Odeon Souihlake 5 6 Ailanta 

lllinoit GCC Woodgrove Chicago 

Cmeplei Odeon Ridge Plaza 2 Chicago 

Cneplax Odson McClurg Cl 1 Chicago 

Cineplex Odeon Oakbrook Plaza 1 Oakbrook 

Kama* Convnonweelth Ranch Mart I 

OveriandPark 

Maryland GCC Sacunty Sq 1 Baltmora 

Fox Theatres White Marim I Ocean City 

Midiigaa Jack LDakk Sluda Twenty eight 1 

WVmmg 

Showcase Cmama Cascade 3 Grand Rapids 

Minneiata GCC Har Mar Cinema Rosalie 

Miaaavri AMC Metro Nonh S 6 Kansas City 

MWnnbafî Oartnon 1 St Ums 

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WWwwibarg Si Chartas St low 

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Naw Jersey Cineplex Odeon Nmvpcrt Cir 4 5 

Jersey City 

GCC Essex Green 1 Mist Orange 

Naw Maiico Commonwealth Wnrodi 4 

Albuquerque 

UA Four Hdb 6 7 Albuquerque 

Naw York Redstone Brookhaven Multiplex 1 

Long Island 

Redstone Sawmil 3 4 Nim York 

GCC University 5 Bultak) 

GCCThniwsyeNewybrk 

North Caralina Cineplex Odeon Matthews 

1 2 Matthews 

Ohio National Great Northern Movies 7 

Cleveland 

National Severance Center 2 Cleveland 

National Cinema South 1 Boanlman 

GCC Northland Mall I Columbus 

Dragon Cineplex Odeon a2nd Street 123456 

Portland 

Moyer Theatres West lltb Eugene 

Tom Moyer Eastgate 1 Portland 

Tom Moyer Uoyds Center 1 2 Pordand 

Pennsylvania Fox Coventry Sq 3 4 5 6 

Pottstown 

Tennassae AMC Fountain Sq 7 8 Nashville 

Maico Winchester 5 Memphis 

UA EastTpwne Mall 1 Knoxville 

Texas Cinemark Mam Place 1 4 McAtlen 

GCC Valley View Dallas 

GCC Collin Creek 3 Piano 

GCC Towneast Mall Cinema 4 Mesquite 

GCC Northpark Cinema 1 Dallas 

Loews Preston Park Six-Plex 2 Piano 

Presidio Southpark Cinema Three 1 Austin 

Presidio Arbor Cinema Four 2 3 4 

Santikos Embassy Oaks 3 4 S 6 San Antonio 

UA Cmama So I AmsrA) 

UA South Eight Theatres 4 5 Oalas 

UA Prestonwood Creek I 5 Oalas 

UA Skdman Soi Theatre 4 Oalas 

UA VMInut Hi Cinema 3 Dales 

UA Hulen Six Theatre 3 Ft Wirth 

UA Las Wgas Trails 4 SVt/hite Settlement 

UA Dnema Six 1 Hurst 

UA Phelan Six Theatre 1 Beaumont 

UA Towneast Soi Theatre 4 Mesquite 

UA Northstar 4 5 Garland 

UA Arlington South Cinema 4 5 Arlington 

UA Berkeley Square 4 5 Dales 

UA Northpark 6 Odessa 

UABedford4 5FtWbrth 

Virginia GCC Springfield Mai 1 Springfiek) 

Redstone Lee Highway 121112 MerryfieW 

Redstone Mt Vemon 1 5 6 10 AJexandna 

Washington Cineplex Odeon Oak Tree 

Cinemas 1 Seattle 

Tom Moyer Aldenivood Cinemas 2 Sealfle 

CANADA Alberta Cineplex Odeon Westmont 

1 2 Edmonton 

Famous Players F*aramount 1 Edmonton 

British Columbia Cineplex Odeon Oakndge 

Centre Theatre Vancouver 

Famous Players Stanley Theatre Vancouver 

Cineplex Odeon Granville 1 6 Vancouver 

Dntario Cineplex Odeon Yodi Theatre Toronto 

Cineplex Odeon Canada Square Theatre 1 2 

Toronto 

Presidio Lincoln Center Three I 2 3 Austin 

Cineplex Odeon Hamilton Centre l 2 Toronto 

Presidio Lakehills 1 Austin 

Cineplex Odeon Imperial 1 Toronto 

Santikos Northwest Ten 8 San Antonio 

Cineplex Odeon Sherway Gardens 1 3 5 

Santikos Westlakes Landing 9 San Antonio 

Etobicoke 

IHX 

Santikos Galaxy 3 San Anionio 

Famous Players Eghnton Theatre Toronto 

Santikos Century South 1 San Antonio 

Famous Players Sussex Center 1 Mississauga 

TNX Sound SyttMi Praflrwn 

Box 2009 San RafatI CA 94912 

4156621800 

Quebec Famous Players Imperial Theatre 

Montreal 

Cineplex Odeon Faubourg 1 2 Montreal 

Cineplex Odeon Place Charesi Quebec City 

Cineplex Odeon PomteClaire 4 Montreal 

AUSTRALIA Wlage Centre Cinema 1234 

Melbourne 

BELGIUM Decatron Multiplex Chailero 

ENGLAND Warner Bros Wast End Two London 

CIC High W/combe Buckinghamshire 

FRANCE Escudai Panorama Max Ljnder Pars 

LfiMoine Le Fonjm Horizon Pans 

LeMome Is George V Pans 

Multicme Gambelta Pans 

HONG KONG Chmachem GcUan Palace I 2 3 

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Suite 

EDITOR AND ASSOCIATE 

PUBLISHER 

Harley W. Lond 

The business magazine of tlie motion picture industry 

IJANUARY, 1988 VOL. 124, NO. 1 

ASSOCIATE EDITORS 

Tom Matthews 

Jimmy Summers 

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS 

John Allen 

Bruce Austin 

Tony Francis 

Karen Kreps 

Mort Wax 

CORRESPONDENTS 

(Atlanta) Stewart Hamell, (Baltimore) Kate Savage, (Boston) Guy 

Livingston, (Charlotte) Charles Leonard, (Chicago) Frances Clow, 

(Cleveland) Elaine Fned, (Dallas) Mable Guinan, (New England) 

Allen Widerr, (Honolulu) Tats Yoshihama, (Indianapolis) Gene Gladson. 

(Milwaukee) Wally Meyer, (Minneapolis/St Paul) Jack Kelvie, 

(Philadelphia) Maune Orodenker, (Raleigh) Raymond Lowery, (San 

Francisco) Nancy Foley, (Toledo) Anna Kline, (Washington DC ) 

EliasSavada CANADA: (Calgary) Maxine McBean, (Edmonton) Linda 

Kupecek, (Toronto) Doug Payne 

FOUNDER 

Ben Shiyen 

PUBLISHER 

Bob Dietmeier 

(312) 271-0425 

NATIONAL ADVERTISING DIRECTOR 

Robert M. Vale 

(213) 465-1186 

ADVERTISING CONSULTANT 

Morris Schlozman 

(816) 942-5877 

BUSINESS MANAGER 

Dan Johnson 

(312) 271-0425 

COMPTROLLER 

Judy Munn 

(312) 271-0425 

CIRCULATION DIRECTOR 

Chuck Taylor 

(312) 922-9326 

OFFICES 

Editorial and Publishing Headquarters: 

1800 N Highland Ave 

, 710, Hollywood, 

CA 90028-4526 (213) 465-1186 

Corporate: Mailing Address P O Box 

25485, Chicago, IL 60625 (312) 271-0425 

FEATURES 

14 Cover Story: Norman Jewison Gets "Moonstruck" 

The veteran director of "In the Heat of the Night" and "A Soldier's 

Story" now turns to a romantic comedy with a story told by the light of 

the silvery moon 

16 Behind the Scenes: Kings Road's New Path 

A major production company with an impressive record of hits enters 

the distribution arena. 

20 Behind the Scenes: "Can't Buy Me Love" 

How one film put Apollo Pictures on the map. 

22 Industry Profile: D.L. Velde Inc. 

A dynasty of accessories 

23 Finances: Planning Tax Savings 

MODERN THEATRE 

24-35 1988 Sound Roundup 

24 Listening to Sound 

26 Tech Notes: Narrow Slit Optical Sound Lenses 

28 1988 Sound Equipment Buyers Guide 

34 Sound Advice: Common Wall Construction 

36 In the Booth: The Dealer—The Last Episode 

REVIEWS — Following page 40 

Moonstruck; Hope and Glory; Cry Freedom; Hiding Out; No Man's 

Land; Less Than Zero; Fatal Beauty; Suspect; Surrender; The Whales of 

August; Gaby—A True Story; The Glass Menagerie; The Belly of an 

Architect; House of Games; Babette's Feast; Anna. 

DEPARTMENTS 

Opening Credits 

Hollywood Report 

Trailers 

National News 

Eastern News 

Southern News 

Midwest News 

Western News 

6 

Circulation Inquiries: 

BOXOFFICE Data Center 

1020 S. Wabash Ave, 

Chicago, IL 60605 

(312) 922-9326

^^^g^^îaa^mmi 

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OPENING CREDITS 

Extraordinary Sounds 

EVERY YEj\R WE devote a large portion of our January 

issue to surveying the latest developments in the burgeoning 

field of motion picture sound. In planning 

this year's "Sound Roundup," we took the opportunity to 

browse through past issues to reacquaint ourselves with 

what had gone before; we were pleased to discover that the 

test of time has not obviated our past concerns. 

In our January 1983 sound issue Chris Foreman, then 

with Community Light and Sound, wrote an article stating 

an idea which has been repeated over and over many times 

since: that no tlreatre, regardless of size, can do without 

surround sound. Although today one is hard pressed to walk 

into even the smallest of multiplexed theatres v^dthout 

encountering a phalanx of surround speakers, as short a 

time as five years ago many theatre owners were resisting 

the added expense of extra stereo channels. Today, surround 

sotmd systems, as promulgated in the pages of Box- 

OFFICE, are de ligiieur. 

In January 1984 Mark Engebretson, then director of marketing 

for A.B. Systems Design Inc., took a look at the 

future of theatre sound and summed it up in one word: 

digital. (Recall that, in 1984, Compact Discs and digital 

audio were stUl the playthings of the audiophile elite, no 

where near the mass market phenomena they are today). 

Now, of course, digitally-mixed soundtracks are the wave of 

the future; and the implementation of digital playback of 

film soundtracks is only a breath away. 

New technology in theatre sound has to come from 

somewhere, and one of the fortes of our "Sound Roundups" 

has been the introduction of companies new to the theatrical 

industry. The pantheon of companies whose ideas and 

products have been editorially introduced in our pages 

includes Bose Corp., Ultra-Stereo Labs, QSC, THX Systems, 

The David Hafler Company, Ashly Audio, Boston Acoustics, 

HPS-4000 Sound, and Meyer Sound Labs. 

Today's technology provides us with the finest equipment 

and installation techniques for great sound reproduction, 

but it is all for naught if we have difficulty in evaluating 

good sounding systems for our theatres. In this issue's 

"Sound Roundup," John F. Allen presents some philosophical 

and practical thoughts on "Listening to Sound," providing 

us with pertinent ideas on how to learn to listen to film 

sound. Only by becoming a "talented listener" can we then 

provide our audiences with theatre sound that will approach 

the state-of-the-art. In addition. Norm Schneider 

examines an oft-overlooked area of sound reproduction: the 

optical sound lenses, specifically nartow slit optical sound 

lenses. And Clyde McKinney has contributed another 

Sound Advice column. This installment takes a close look at 

acoustic isolation and "Common Wall Constrtiction." 

Finally, we round out our "Sound Roundup" with a comprehensive 

buying guide to the many companies providing 

sound equipment to the motion picture industry. Some 40 

companies are cataloged with addresses, personnel, and 

product listings. After each listing is a reader response 

number, which you can enter on our Reader Seivice card (at 

the back of this issue) to get more sound information. 

Harley W. Lond 

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HOLLYWOOD REPORT

.1/4*] 

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, 

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TRAILERS 

Good Morning Vietnam 

It's 1965. The two things concerning 

young Americans are the Vietnam war 

and rock and roll. The man linking the 

two together is Airman Adrian Cronauer, 

a wacko disc jockey for Armed Forces 

Radio who has been newly-installed in 

Saigon to boot Perry Como and Lawrence 

Walk off the airwaves and play the Rolling 

Stones and the Dave Clark Five for the 

troops. Soon, he is also using the airwaves 

to express anti-war opinions which get 

him into hot water with his superiors. 

Things we'd like to see: The Chicago 

Cubs in a World Series. Better prizes 

inside boxes of sugary breakfast cereals. 

And Dan Aykroyd — all by himself — in a 

really funny movie. While Aykroyd has 

been involved with some of the best comedy 

done recently in both television and 

movies, he's yet to carry a film entirely on 

his shoulders. He came close with "Dragnet," 

but at least for some of us that film 

surrendered too easily to car crashes and 

loud, grating comedy. Aykroyd is an incredibly 

subtle actor, and he has yet to 

find a film that captures that quality. 

Which brings us to "Couch Trip," a 

comedy that at least will capitalize on 

Aykroyd's attraction to playing multiple 

personalities. Here he plays an escaped 

mental patient who, through a series of 

misunderstandings, becomes a popular 

radio psychologist in Los Angeles. Espousing 

crazed yet somehow wise advice, 

he becomes something of a cult figure and 

inspires much of LA. to behave strangely 

(but in L.A., who would know?). Meanwhile, 

those who accidentally put him on 

the air must fight to get him off. Shades of 

"Network," perhaps? 

Moon," but the change was not a result of 

market research or an indecisive creative 

team. Rumor has it that the producer of a 

1948 film called "Blood on the Moon," 

starring Robert Mitchum and Barbara Bel 

Geddes, still has rights on the title and 

didn't want to let them go 

So now this James Woods cop drama is 

simply called "Cop" (if they had asked us, 

we might've suggested something more 

imaginative, but they didn't). Reportedly, 

last September's "Best Seller" was 

Woods's farewell performance as a bad 

guy, which caused sadness for everyone 

who believed that Woods is one of the best 

Robin Williams stars as Cronauer, and if 

ever there was an actor bom to play a 

wacko disc jockey, it's him. His penchant 

for non-stop babble and quick ad libs has 

seemed very out of place in most of the 

movie roles so far but as a D.J., that gift 

should work perfectly. The supporting 

cast is made up of some of our more distinctive 

character actors, including Forest 

Whitaker (currently starring as Charlie 

Parker in Clint Eastwood's production of 

"Bird"), Robert Wuhl and Richard Edson 

("Stranger Than Paradise"). 

"Good Morning Vietnam" is directed by 

Barry Levinson, who directed last year's 

"Tin Men." It is based on a script by Mitch 

Markowitz, and it was shot in Bangkok. 

Buena Vista opened the film in a few markets 

in December, but it gets its full push 

in January. 

Couch Trip 

The fact that Walter Matthau is playing 

opposite Aykroyd as a fellow nut should 

give just about everyone cause for optimism, 

although it must be remembered that 

Matthau has been hit-less for some time 

now and that the last time he was teamed 

with a hot young comic (Robin Williams 

in "The Survivors"), it was pretty much a 

bust. Aykroyd's wife, Donna Dixon, also 

appears in the film. "Couch Trip" is 

directed by Michael Ritchie, director of 

films both good ("The Candidate," "Semi- 

Tough") and so-so ("Wildcats" and the 

fore-mentioned "The Survivors"). Orion 

was hazy about a release date, but January 

seemed to be the month that they 

were shooting for. 

Cop 

Last minute title changes are becoming 

more and more common these days 

("Shoot to Kill," "Off Limits," "Cross My 

Heart" and "Broadcast News" all had different 

titles — or no titles — until just 

prior to their release). For a long time 

"Cop" was known as "Blood on the 

I 

' 

bad guys in Hollywood history. But bad 

gtiys never get the girl, so now WooiU '^ 

playing a lawman in search of a serial K , 

er. Fortunately, though. Woods isn't quae 

ready to play Prince Charming. His character 

in "Cop" is a die-hard male chau\mist 

and the victims of the killing spree . 

noted feminists. Only through his coni.i> : 

with the case are soine of his more ofl( ;; 

sive opinions changed. This is a Janu.n . 

release from Atlantic. 

The Telephone 

Far be it for us to imply a problem w ii li 

this film, but it's now public knowliil,:, 

that star Whoopi Goldberg tried to .mu 

director Rip Tom to keep him from ir 

leasing tliis movie. The two report(ill\ 

fought over how the film should be shm 

and edited, and now it seems that Ms 

Goldberg is quite convinced that the movie, 

at least in the form that it will he 

released, will do serious damage to hei 

career as an actress. Get the feeling she 

won't be hitting the talk show circuit tc 

promote this one? 

Anyway, it sounds like a better vehicle 

for Goldberg than the three action-comedies 

("Jumpin' Jack Flash," "Burglar 

(amtmucd p 12, 

10 BOXOFFICE 

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inc 1987 Diviaton 01 Mara, Incorporated, Hackettstown, ^4•w Jaraey 07840

and "Fatal Beauty") that she's released 

since "The Color Purple " In a kind of 

one-woman show, she portrays a struggling 

actress who gets restless one night, 

picks up the telephone, and starts messing 

with people on the other end of the 

phone by posing as a series of different 

people. It's an offbeat idea and doesn't 

sound awfully photogenic, but at least it 

will give Goldberg the chance to act, 

which she hasn't done much of lately. 

Showing up in bit parts are Eliott Gould, 

John Heard and Herve Villechaize, and 

the script is written by Terry Southern 

(co-author of "Easy Rider" and "Dr. 

Strangelove") and musician Harry Nilsson. 

An odd and volatile group to be sure 

and based on the controversy, perhaps 

the results are less than hoped for. But we 

must wait and see. 

January Releases 

"The Dead" John Huston's final film 

gets its widest push in January, following 

some Academy Award screenings in December. 

The film, one which had been 

dear to Huston's heart for years, is based 

on a short story by James Joyce and is 

about the passion that is unbridled between 

a married couple one winter's 

night. Anjelica Huston, who won an Oscar 

when her father directed her in "Prizzi's 

Honor," co-stars with Donal McCann. 

Tony Huston (John's son, Anjelica's 

brother) wrote the script. From Vestron. 

"Pass the Ammo" If ever a picture 

benefitted from events in real life, this 

should be the one. Put into production 

before the Jim and Tammy Bakker scandal 

broke, this satire about a man and 

woman who try to retrieve the money 

that was swindled out of them by a pair of 

corrupt TV evangelists may have fallen 

into the pot of gold. Linda Kozlowski 

("'Crocodile' Dundee") and Bill Paxton 

("Aliens") star as the vengeful couple, 

and Tim Curry ("The Rocky Horror Picture 

Show") and Annie Potts ("Designing 

Women") play the flamboyant and thoroughly 

crooked TV preachers. If the film 

has any merit at all and if the public's 

desire to wallow in the muck of religious 

greed is as strong as we think it is, "Pass 

the Ammo" could be a real mid-winter 

sleeper. The film was directed in Arkansas 

by David Beaird ("My Chauffeur"). 

From New Century /Vista. 

"Dudes" A pseudo-Western about a 

trio of punk rockers who are terrorized by 

rednecks in a small Montana town, this 

comedy-drama stars Jon Cryer ("Hiding 

Out") and Daniel Roebuck ("Rivers 

Edge"). The film is directed by Penelope 

Sphccris, director of such slight cult favorites 

as "Suburbia" and "Hollywood 

Vice Squad." From New Century /Vista. 

"Bellman and True" This is a contemporary 

thriller based on the novel by Desmond 

Lowden. It is about a computer 

expert who unwittingly gets himself and 

his son involved in a bank heist. The film 

explores the aftermath of the crime and 

not just the crime itself. Richard Loncraine, 

who directed the droll Michael 

Palin film, "The Missionary," directs this 

production from the usually-reliable 

HandMade Films, Distributed by Island, 

"Half of Heaven" This saga that 

stretches across three generations is 

about a woman who rises from poverty to 

become a successful restaurateur. The 

story involves the woman's two lazy sisters 

and her psychic grandmother, whose 

dire predictions about the woman's marriage 

tragically come true. The film stars 

Angela Molina and Margarita Lozano, and 

it is directed by Manuel Gutierrez Aragon 

From Skouras Pictures. 

"Anguish" This is described as a horror 

thriller within a horror thriller, in that 

as the story opens we are watching two 

young girls watching a violent horror film, 

but then the violence on the screen spills 

into the lives of the two girls. Writerdirector 

Bigas Luna has also reportedly 

used hypnotic sound and image editing 

that will subject the audience to subliminal 

messages and brief hypnosis Unfortunately, 

one of the subliminal messages 

will probably not be, "Buy the large bucket 

of popcorn." From Spectrafilm. 

"Pumpkinhead" Originally planned 

as a Halloween release, this is a thriller 

about a father's revenge against the 

drunken city boys who caused his son's 

death and has them suffering at the han.l 

of a hideous demon c:rcated from il: 

mists of rural myth. Lance Henriksi 

i 

very effective in "Aliens" and "Ni 

i 

Dark," stars. A DEC release. 

12 BOXOFFICE

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COVER STORY 

Norman Jewison Gets "Moonstruck" 

The veteran director of ''In the Heat of the Night'' 

and "A Soldier's Story" now turns to romantic comedy, with a 

story told by the light of the silvery moon. 

By Tom Matthews 

Managing Editor 

DESPITE 

HIS THREE Oscar nominations 

and the acclaim that many 

of his films have earned him over 

his 30-year career, director Nomian Jewison 

still refers to himself as a farmer: 

he spends most of his free time on a 

ranch he owns near his native Toronto. 

There, surrounded by his cows, horses 

and pigs, Jewison studies huinan behavior. 

Lest you think that a farm is a 

strange place to study human behavior, 

Jewison is quick to point out that, since 

humans are simply higher forms in the 

animal kingdom, a knowledgeable person 

can learn much about relationships 

and body language by observing how 

animals respond to life around them. 

So how does this tie in with "Moonstruck," 

Jewison's new comedy about 

the romantic misadventures of an earthy, 

Italian-American family living in 

Brooklyn? Well, as Jewison points out, 

every farmer knows that a full moon 

provokes almost every animal into very 

odd behavior 

"The full moon affects all of the animals 

on my farm," he says. "And it 

affects humans just as well. It affects 

their emotions." 

Jewison cites a perfect example of 

this from his work with actor Steve 

McQueen. "Steve was definitely affected 

by the moon. When I worked 

with him [on "The Cincinnati Kid" and 

"The Thomas Crown Affair"], we had to 

consult the lunar calendar and schedule 

around it during filming because during 

the full moon, Steve became very unpredictable. 

Very often, when there was 

a full moon, he would jump on his 

motorcycle and disappear into the desert 

to visit an Indian tribe. I remember 

that there was someone associated with 

one of the films who swore than Steve 

was a warlock or something because 

whenever the moon was full, he would 

just disappear." 

So it was the magical mysteries of the 

moon — among other things — that 

drew Jewison to the script by playwright-tumed-screenvmter, 

John Pat- 

Vincent Gardenia, Feodor Chaliapin, |ulie Bovasso, Olympia Dukakis and Louis Guss. 

rick Shanley. While the characters in 

"Moonstruck" are not affected by the 

moon as severely as Mr. McQueen, they 

are all still under its spell. During the 

course of the story, the full moon that 

hangs over Brooklyn causes everyone to 

fall in love, to fall out of love, or to restate 

their love. It sets in motion a very 

satisfying but very complex story that 

ultimately and effectively weaves together 

six subplots. It's an unusual 

structure for a film and it required that 

the entire cast become not only accustomed 

to the script, but to each other as 

well. 

"We rehearsed the film much as you 

would a play. I took a studio on lower 

Broadway in New York, and the whole 

cast worked together for about two 

weeks," Jewison says. The cast, which 

is headed by Cher, includes many richly-talented 

stage and screen actors, 

among them Vincent Gardenia, Danny 

Aiello, Olympia Dukakis, Louis Guss 

and Julie Bovasso — all familiar faces, 

traditionally seen in supporting roles. 

"If one of the actors in the film was also 

doing a play across town, then someone 

else would read their lines while they 

were gone. At one point, Cher might be 

reading the dialogue of her mother in 

the film, while someone else would be 

reading Cher's lines. In time, everyone 

knew not only their own lines, but the 

lines of everyone else. 

"This created a family-like atmo- 

Cher 

sphere, which was very important to the 

film. I wanted to get to the point where 

all of the members of the cast talked 

alike, because that's the way families 

are in real life. Most of us talk like our 

parents talk, and like our brothers ,iiul 

sisters talk. When you meet a fanul\, 

you usually notice that they all talk wiili 

the same inflections and the s.iinc 

nuances. So it was very important Idi 

my cast to spend a lot of time togctlu r, 

because I wanted it to look on screen 

like these people }>(:h»n4c

the mother's character in Cher's character," 

Jewison says, sounding both 

pleased and surprised with the success 

with which the rehearsals paid off "I 

must say that it has been a long time 

since a family in a Him of mine really 

felt like a family " 

The results on th(; screi-n do indeed 

look like a tightly-knit, deeply-passionate 

Italian-American family Which 

prompts the question: How does a farmer 

from Canada get inside the heads and 

hearts of these people and convey their 

personalities so perfectly, when their 

roots and their lifestyles are set so far 

apart from his own? 

almost certainly receive prominent attention 

during the Oscar race. Consequently, 

MC;M AJA is rolling the film out 

with just that in mind, playing it in a 

handful of theatres in December for 

Ac:ademy Awards consideration, opening 

it oth( ially in .I.inuan,', and then 

widening the release; patt(;m rvrn further 

in Febnian,' as April (Osc;ar month) 

draws niâr 

Jewison agrees with this release strategy, 

although he would prefer to see it 

go wide earlier. But as far as Oscar talk 

goes, he won't allow himself to dwell on 

such things. 

"I have no opinion on how 'Moonstnick' 

will do as far as awards go I'll 

" 

just b

BEHIND THE SCENES 

Kings Road's New Path 

Production companies can take a beating 

when they license their finished product to a distributor. 

One major production company, 

with an impressive record of hits, 

wants to change the balance of power. 

To 



PRODUCE A film and then allow 

another company to distribute it is 

like giving a child up for adoption. 

Despite being the maker of the film — 

the one who struggled through the 

film's most difficult moments of production 

— a producer who licenses his 

film to a distributor can often do nothing 

more than sit on the sidelines and hope 

for the best. 

If the film is a hit, the distributor 

— not the producer — often 

gets the lion's share of the glory. (Do 

you know who produced "'Crocodile' 

Dundee?" It wasn't Paramount.) If the 

film is a flop, then the spotlight will 

probably be directed back at the original 

"parents" of the movie. And if the film 

is released with half-hearted support 

and is allowed to die after one weekend, 

then all the production company can do 

is chalk up to experience the year or so 

that it spent producing the film. It's an 

incredibly frustrating position to be in, 

but more and more small-scale production 

companies are finding it unavoidable. 

Kings Road has never been a smallscale 

production company. Founded 

two years ago by producer Stephen 

Friedman ("The Last Picture Show," 

"Slap Shot"), Kings Road made its debut 

with the Steve Martin/Lily Tomlin comedy 

"All of Me" (released in 1984 by 

Universal), and the company has since 

gone on to produce a small but impressive 

slate of films that have fallen 

refreshingly just outside Hollywood's 

mainstream. Some have been hits ("All 

of Me," "The Big Easy"). Some have 

been well-intentioned misses ("The 

Best of Times," "Enemy Mine"). And 

some, like the recently-released "In the 

Mood," have been genuine gems that, 

sadly, never found an audience. All had 

the high production values of major studio 

productions, but most, according to 

Friedman, were given something less 

than the full studio treatment when the 

films were released by companies like 

Universal, Columbia and Lorimar. 

"Although there are good people over 

at the studios, there is simply too much 

conflict of interest," Friedman says, sitting 

in his office overlooking Century 

City in Los Angeles. "It's just too hard 

for the studios to not separate their own 

films, which they have invested millions 

of dollars in, from the films that 

were financed by independent producers 

and financiers. They all know which 

films are in-house productions and 

which are not, and that tends to affect 

how much prominence the film is given 

when it is released." 

In other words, as much as you love 

your step-child, you can't help giving 

preferential treatment to the child that 

you have nurtured since birth. Friedman 

insists on being diplomatic and not 

pointing fingers at which company 

might have mishandled which particular 

film, but he simply realized early on 

Renl-A-Cop" 

that the only way that a producer can 

get his films released the way he thinks 

they should be released is for him to do 

it himself So come January, Kings Road 

will take on the responsibility — and the 

risk — of distributing its own films. 

"It simply makes sense to control 

everything ourselves," Friedman says. 

"In general, the people who put the 

energy into making the picture are the 

ones who care most about that film. 

They may not be the best people to 

actually create the ads and so forth, but 

if they are able to control all of the elements 

involved with the release ot a 

film and arc able to make sure that 

people are working around the clock on 

it 

if necessary, then they have a much 

better chance of making the film a hit. 

The people who made the film are the 

ones who are most passionate about it, 

and they should be the ones distribuiiiii; 

it." 

(cimiinuvil jj 

h'i} 

16 BOXOFFICE

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"The Big Easy 

Kings Road 

{continur.d fyinn p 16} 

In theory, Friedman's strategy is 

sound. But its hard to discuss a production 

company branching into distribution 

without bringing up the names of 

Cannon and DEC. Both of these companies 

were estabHshed producers enjoying 

a degree of success when they 

decided to control their own distribution, 

and many analysts have suggested 

that this incredibly expensive decision 

may have led to the financial problems 

that both are now facing. The theory is 

that once a production company becomes 

a distributor, the burden suddenly 

falls upon it to supply enough films to 

make the distribution outlets cost effective. 

Overwhelmed, the company starts 

18 BOXOIIICE 

The Best of Times" 

cranking out poorly-made films just to 

keep the machinery turning, and before 

long it is awash in red ink. 

"That really is one of the big lisks in 

doing what we are doing, and I have 

seen it happening ever since I was a 

lawyer at Columbia many years ago," 

Friedman acknowledges. "The distribution 

arm needs to keep the pipeline 

going, so the production arm starts making 

bad decisions about which films the 

company makes and acquires. It turns 

into a tug-of-war between the two 

branches. 

"Our plan to avoid this is to enter into 

a joint venture with a production company 

similar to Kings Road, so that they 

can supply some of the films," Friedman 

says, predicting that a deal with 

the unnamed company will be announced 

within six months. "We also 

intend to be very aggressive in acquiring 

films, and we have hired Henry Seggerman 

to handle that end of the company 

[Seggerman is largely credited with having 

acquired "'Crocodile' Dundee" for 

Paramount). In all, we plan to distribute 

10-12 films per year, with five or six 

being our own productions and the rest 

coming from these other two sources." 

So by acquiring independent films, 

won't the shoe now be on the other 

foot? Won't Kings Road now be the 

adoptive parents of other peoples' pride 

and joy, responsible for sending them 

into the world with the same loving care 

as their own in-house productions? 

"Sure, and all I can tell independent 

filmmakers is that we are going to try 

and bend over backwards for their 

films," Friedman says. "I think I know 

why I didn't like what other studios did 

with some of our films and while it is 

possible that we might fall into the same 

trap, I really don't think that we will. We 

will be dedicated to making the independent 

filmmaker feel like this is their 

home, and we will ask them to be totally 

involved in the release of their picture." 

With exhibition and distribution veteran 

Leo Greenfield serving as executive 

vice president of distribution, Kings 

Road will release its first film, "Rent- 

A-Cop," in January. An in-house production 

starring Burt Reynolds and Liza 

Minnelli, the film will open wide, with 

Greenfield trying to secure 1,000 

screens ("And I emphasize the word 

trying," Greenfield says with a laugh). 

Friedman and Greenfield have decided 

to rely on the wonders of computer 

technology by going with only four distribution 

branches (Los Angeles, New 

York, Dallas and Chicago), and they feel 

certain that they will be sufficient to 

compete with the releases of the major 

studios. Greenfield will use his years of 

experience to make sure that the films 

get booked but for Friedman, the focus 

wiW continue to be on the product that is 

fed into the pipeline. He knows that no 

amount of distribution savvy can make 

up for inferior filmmaking. 

"Most of the independent companies 

that distribute their own pictures have 

not been doing well lately, but I don't 

think that it is the problem of their distribution. 

1 think that they are all very 

good distributors. I think that the problem 

lies in their movies," he says. "We 

will be making studio-quality movies. 

We may not make many $30 million 

pi(;tures, but our scripts wll be as good 

and our casting will be as good as the 

majors. Our taste is considered hv 

everyone in Hollywood to be very good 

and they know that we know how to 

pick good pictures. 1 think that by and 

large, exhibitors will rarely find themselves 

stuck with a Kings Road film tli.it 

should not have been made in the lir.si 

place." 

^

The Gift of Caring 

^ 

^h. 

^

BEHIND THE SCENES 

a Can't Buy Me Love 

M 

Hoiv One Film Put Apollo Pictures On the Map 

LAST 



August Apollo Pictures was a 

12-month-old production and distribution 

company with one unsuccessful 

release to its credit ("Winner 

Takes All"). The company was in the 

final stages of post-production on "Boy 

Rents Girl," a high school comedy that 

Apollo had shot in Arizona under the 

direction of Steve Rash ("The Buddy 

Holly Story"). Apollo president and 

CEO Ron Beckman was high on the 

film, readying it to be released through 

the company's newly-formed distribution 

arm. But then the Big Boys came 

calling. 

Through a fortuitous set of circumstances, 

Chris Zarpas,once associated 

with Washington, DCs Circle FUms, 

had visited the set of "Boy Rents Girl" as 

a guest of the film's co-producer Mark 

Burg. Now, as Walt Disney Picture's vice 

president of production and acquisitions, 

with the sole task of finding independently-produced 

films to buy and 

release, Zarpas thought about "Boy 

Rents Girl" as he searched for new 

product for the Buena Vista Distribution 

arm. 

"None of us had met Zarpas when he 

visited the set. We had no idea who he 

was," says Jere Henshaw, Apollo's executive 

vice president of production and 

the executive producer of "Boy Rents 

Girl." "But all of a sudden he was on the 

phone to us, saying that Disney chairman 

Jeffrey Katzenberg wanted to see 

the film. We were not sure what to do, 

because we were already committed to 

releasing the movie on our own. But we 

sent him a tape of the movie, he liked it, 

and he offered to buy it." 

According to legend, once Katzenberg, 

who is one of the true giants in 

today's Hollywood, finds something he 

likes, he simply doesn't give up until he 

has it. 

Consequently, Apollo found itself 

the flattered but uncertain target of Katzenberg's 

interest. While this sounds 

like a dream situation for an independent 

company just starting to find its 

legs, Beckman says that the decision to 

license the film to Disney was not as 

easy as one might think. 

'"Boy Rents Girl' was going to be our 

lead film for the late summer and it was 

an important project for us in that we 

knew that it would establish us in the 

industry," Beckman says. "But we realized 

that we simply didn't have the 

clout that Disney has. We also didn't 

have the money that they have. We 

couldn't have put up the S8 million or so 

that they used to market the film. 

"But most importantly, we knew that 

by placing the film with a company like 

Disney, it could only reflect well on us. 

"Can't Buy Me Love 

Disney simply would not have bought 

the movie if it had not been a quality 

motion picture. So their interest validated 

our company with the creative 

community and with our investors." 

Once Disney acquired the film, they 

made very few changes in Apollo's edit, 

and those that were made were made 

through consultations with the film's 

producers. The only sticky point was 

the title, which Disney felt certain 

would rub people — particularly feminists 

and young girls — the wrong way. 

Jere I lenshaw still prefers the original 

title and he believes that had Apollo 

released the film, any controversy that a 

title like "Boy Rents Girl" might have 

generated could only have helped to 

draw attention to the film. 

But Henshaw agreed to allow Disney 

to do a marketing test with the original 

title and with Disney's choice ("Can't 

Buy Me Love") and as is often the case 

in Hollywood these days, the market 

research won out. The rights to the Beatles' 

song were acquired and the rest, as 

they say, is history. "Can't Buy Me 

Love" opened on 1,256 screens (far 

more than Apollo could have handled 

itself) in mid-August, and as of November 

3, the film had grossed a very 

healthy $31 million. 

Beckman and his associates have 

nothing but praise for Disney and were 

particularly impressed by the fact that 

the film was treated like one of Disney's 

own in-house productions, and not as a 

step-child (some independent producers, 

having sold their films to a major, 

have complained that their films have 

received lesser treatment when it came 

to marketing and distribution budgets). 

But for the immediate future, Apollo 

Pictures intends to carry on as a selfcontained 

production and distribution 

company. Mike Bisio, Apollo's president 

of marketing and distribution, has established 

a network of sub-distributors 

across the country, and through them 

Apollo released "Rolling Vengeance" in 

September on a regional basis. In January, 

"World Gone Wild," an actionthriller 

starring Brtice Dem and "Houston 

Knights" star Michael Pare, will also 

be rolled out on a region-by-region 

schedule. Bisio realizes that he doesn't 

have the firepower of Disney, but he 

believes that with good product and a 

proper release strategy, a small compa-] 

ny can make an impact in the market. 

"Where Buena Vista can afford to 

release their films with deep pockets, 

we have to be more conservative," Bisic 

says. "We want to get the film onto 

enough screens so that it has a chance 

but we have to be careful and not strike 

too many prints in case it turns out thai 

we have an unsuccessful film on out 

hands. Buena Vista can open a tilu 

wide and if it fails, they just go on t( 

their next release. But for a comp,Hi\ 

like ours, each film could make orbrcal 

us" 

^B 

20 BOXOFFICE

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INDUSTRY PROFILE 

— 

D.L, Velde^ Inc.: 

A Dynasty of Accessory Suppliers 

By Tim Monahan 

FOR 

MANY COMPANIES a move from 

the heart of Manhattan to Jersey 

City would be a harbinger of decline. 

But for D.L. Velde, Inc., one of the 

leading companies in the motion picture 

advertising accessories production 

and distribution business, this relocation 

has been an indicator of the confidence 

and resolve of its owner and president, 

Leslie F. Velde. D.L. Velde, Inc. was 

founded in 1948 by Leslie's uncle, Donald 

Velde, a man of independent spirit 

who first made his mark setting up the 

advertising department of Paramount 

Pictures in the early 1940s. 

A Niche in Art Films 

In pioneering the "art films" niche of 

the motion picture industry after WWU, 

D.L. Velde, Inc. was responsible for producing 

and distributing the advertising 

accessories those films needed to make 

a splash in America — essential press 

information, movie stills, one sheet 

posters, radio and then eventually television 

spots, and the all-important movie 

trailers that whetted the appetites of 

moviegoersacross the country to the 

films of post-war Europe. 

"Donald started out entirely on his 

own," said his wife Edith Velde. "He 

built the business from his contacts in 

the industry. When he began to expand, 

he called me in to help nm things and to 

train new people. Eventually we had 40 

full-time employees." 

At first the company worked exclusively 

with dubbed foreign films, and it 

handled Embassy pictures for some 

time as well as completing projects for 

Universal. Edith retired in 1980 and 

Donald passed away last year, but Leslie 

has kept up the spirit of the enterprise. 

When she joined the company (replacing 

Edith), she came with more than a 

good family recommendation. 

While a student at Tufts University 

and the Boston Museum School of Fine 

Arts, Leslie made — her first film "Elephant 

Man" (the film has no relation to 

the later film of the same name) 

which was shown at the Museum of 

Modem Art. Upon completing her education 

Leslie moved to France where 

vdth the contacts of another influential 

uncle, James Velde, she began her career 

with Les Artistes Associes (United 

Artists). She then worked for Henri Langois, 

founder of the Cinematique Francais. 

And she freelanced for the innovative 

filmmaker Jean Rouche as well as 

various producers for French television 

and radio. 

James Velde was vice president/general 

manager of United Artists during 

the 1960s and 1970s, and introduced 

Leslie to Mike Frankovich with whom 

she worked upon her return to the 

states. 

Leslie became president of D.L. 

Velde, Inc. five years after her arrival 

back in the U.S., coinciding with Donald's 

retirement. This was not an atypical 

career route for a member of what 

one industry executive has called "The 

Velde Dynasty." 

Leslie's cousin Thomas Velde's career 

had taken off several years earlier with 

even greater speed. After college Tom 

devoted three years to D.L. Velde, Inc. 

(1965-68J before going on to produce 

television commercials. He is now back 

in the movie business as the Los Angeles 

film buyer for the western division 

of AMC. 

"D.L. Velde, Inc. was successful," said 

Tom, "because of Donald Velde's relationships 

with producers and distributors. 

He was known for his total honesty 

and commitment to ensure that his service 

was number one in the business. 

And it was. Even his competitors had to 

admit that." 

Today's Expansion 

As it stands now, D.L. Velde, Inc. is 

producing and distributing advertising 

accessories for films in art, foreign, horror, 

children's and mainstream feature 

categories. These include two Cineplex 

Odeon films, "The Glass Menagerie" 

and "Five Comers;" the Scotti Brothers' 

"Lady Beware;" the Japanese surprise 

hit "Tampopo;" and the child plcascr 

"Care Bears in Wonderland" 

In D.L. Velde, Inc.'s new location, 

near a major UPS depot and Newark 

Airport, operations move along efficiently. 

"Now that we have so much 

room to work in," Leslie said, "we can 

easily break down and ship, for example, 

5,000 Screenvision trailers every 

four weeks without a hitch." 

Keeping her eyes on the future, Leslie 

Velde has put her vice president, Arthur 

Skopinnsky, in charge of developing a 

new venture—film distribution. 

"We have just completed a deal for 

the North American theatrical rights to 

a German film called 'The Record,' 

which stars Owe Ochsenknecht, last 

seen in the critically acclaimed 'Men,'" 

Skopinnsky said. "It premiered at the 

recent Chicago Film Festival and we 

hope to place it around the coimtry, 

including Los Angeles, Cincinnati, 

Cleveland and San Francisco. This is the 

second feature we are distributing and 

we are on the lookout for other unique 

films— foreign films, documentaries, 

and specialty films. There's a definite 

niche we can fill using our established 

contacts with the art cinemas." Another 

possible avenue for expansion is 

the home video market. Since home \'ideo 

distributors provide free press and 

point-of-purchase advertising materials 

to video stores, the demand for such 

material is high. With some 20,000 video 

stores around the coimtry, large quantities 

of advertising accessories are generated 

each month. Leslie hopes to better 

tap into this growing market. 

Leslie also has a personal dream that 

she would like to bring to fmition: making 

her own films. Her personal interests 

include studies of 18th century 

painting, Louis XIV and the French Revolution, 

and Leonardo da Vinci and the 

Renaissance, topics she feels would 

lend themselves to re-interpretations on 

film. "I don't have any concrete plans 

yet," she said, "but I think I could jiull 

together all my inter

FINANCES 

Planning Tax Savings 

a 

By Mark E. Battersby 

SwEEPiNc; CHANGES IN the tax law 

resulting from last year's Tax Reform 

Act of 1986, now make the 

year-end review of every theatre owner's 

tax situation more important than 

ever. Tax rates have changed this year 

as well as the niles governing the 

deductihility of common expense items 

such as interest and taxes. 

At the root of any tax planning strategy 

is the accounting method that is 

employed by the theatre. Although tax 

rates are reduced to only five this year 

and two in 1988 (not counting the 33 

percent phase-out rate), a theatre owner's 

tax burden may be lighter if income 

can be spread equally throughout the 

years Obviously, it is impossible for 

most owners to arrange to receive income 

at a uniform rate, but much can 

be done to control taxable income by 

using the various methods of accounting 

that are available today. 

For instance, a so-called "cash-basis" 

theatre reports income and deductions 

as they are received or paid. An "accrual-basis" 

theatre reports these items 

as they become due This year, the 

question of which method to use is taken 

from the hands of virtually every corporation, 

partnerships that have a corporation 

as a partner and tax shelters 

which all are now required to use the 

accrual method of accounting for tax 

purposes. 

Sole proprietorships, Subchapter 'S' 

corporations and other partnerships are 

free to use the method best suited to 

their operations—and the one which 

will keep their tax bills low, year after 

year. 

In selecting the most suitable accounting 

method, one disadvantage of 

the accrual-basis should be considered— 

it is more difficult to shift items 

of income and expenses from one year 

to another The cash-basis theatre owner 

may be able to collect fees, rents, 

interest and other obligations in advance 

or in part Tlie f:ash-basis owner 

can also usually control expenses to 

some extent by accelerating or deferring 

payments for items such as advertising, 

supplies, repairs, interest and 

taxes. 

Control of this sort is not really as 

easy for the accmal-Kisis theatre owner 

Thesf- owners f;an, however, defer 

income by promoting as little as possible 

during the closing days of a year in 

order to reduce income for that year. Or, 

they can accelerate expenses by requesting 

the delivery and billing of supplies 

before the end of the year. 

T?ie end of the tax year is also an 

excellent time to take a look at the 

theatre entity itself. For instance, all tax 

items generated by a business or profession 

operated by a sole proprietor are 

taxed directly to him or her. 

From a tax standpoint, the main difference 

between a partnership and a 

corporation is that the latter is a taxable 

entity separate and distinct from its 

owners and shareholders. This is not 

true in the case of a partnership— 

partnership does not pay tax. Rather, 

the partnership merely reports its income, 

the distributive shares of which 

are attributed to the partners, the same 

as though they had been received without 

the intervention ot the partnership. 

A corporation has a distinct tax disadvantage 

in that its earnings are ordinarily 

taxed tv/ice—once to the corporation 

when earned and again to the shareholders 

when received in the form of 

dividends. Income earned by an 'S' corporation 

(which is taxed in much the 

same manner as a partnership) is taxed 

directly to the shareholders 

In comparing the tax factors in operating 

a theatre business as a partnership 

or a proprietorship, rather than as a corporation, 

it should be remembered that 

not all of the corporate income will be 

subject to double taxation. The operators 

of a theatre or other theatrical business 

may "withdraw" reasonable salaries 

from the corporation or have the 

theatre corporation "repay" loans made 

to that entity by the shareholders 

A word of caution, however: Profitable 

theatre corporations that have not 

paid dividends may not be able to 

deduct the full amount of salary payments 

to officer-stof.kholders The failure 

to pay such dividends can cause a 

portion of the compensation of empoyce-stockholders 

to be treated as 

non-deductible dividends, even though 

the total payments considered as compensation 

are reasonable in amount. 

On a similar note, because a corporation 

is a taxable entity separate and distinct 

from its shareholders, its profits 

are not, as is usually the case with unincorporated 

theatr(; businesses, taxed to 

the owners when they are earned, although 

they are taxed to the ( orpor.ition 

at that time Th(' profits an: taxed to tinshareholders 

only if and wh('n ihcy ar(' 

distributed to them in the; form of dividends. 

Therefore, to a limited extent. 

shareholders of a corporation have an 

advantage over partners or proprietors 

in that they may distribute the profits in 

the year or years in which the profits 

will be subject to the lowest individual 

tax liability. 

Splitting theatre or other business income 

between related entities and individuals 

is a common method of reducing 

the relate.d group's aggregate tax liability. 

The most common device used to 

accomplish this income spreading is the 

payment of salaries to officer-shareholders 

of the theatre corporation, 

thereby reducing taxable income. 

In addition, there are other methods 

of splitting income among related entities. 

TTiese include the financing of corporate 

operations by means of interestbearing 

loans by stockholders, the leasing 

of business assets from stockholders 

and even the splitting of a theatre corporation 

into several entities. 

Tax planning primarily concerns the 

timing and the method by which the 

owner's income is reported and the tax 

deductions and credits claimed. Our tax 

law permits every theatre owner to 

select among various options in the 

reporting of income and the claiming of 

deductions and credits. The owner's 

task is to decide which of those options 

will minimize his or her tax bill. 

In order to make this decision intelligently, 

the theatre owner must have a 

fairly accurate picture of th(; operation's 

tax situation not only for the current 

year but also for the next year. It would 

be pointless to defer income from 1987 

to 1988 if the 1988 income will be subject 

to a higher rate of tax. 

Thus, the overall goal of any tax planning 

is to time taxable income so that it 

will fall in years when it will be subject 

to the lowest tax and to time deductible 

expenses to fall in years when they will 

offset income subject to a high tax rate. 

If the theatre owner postpones a tax, he 

has, in effect, an intiTcsi-free loan from 

the govenimi-nt for the amount of the 

postponed tax. 

Of course, if the tax is ignored rather 

than legally postponed, the owner will 

have not a loan but a debt to society that 

must be paid That fine line—and the 

five to l.S years s. I'»XX 2

Modern Theatre 

Listening to Sound 

WHEN 

By John F. Allen 

ONE IS in the sound business, 

particularly the reproduced 

sound business, the subject 

of how things "should sound" is 

often discussed and debated. A sound 

reinforcement system, such as for a 

concert, can easily be turned off to hear 

how well it's doing its job because we 

have the live source right there with 

which to make a comparison. 

Motion picture sound, however, is especially 

perilous as there is no such 

point of reference. In a case like this we 

must rely on skill and even taste in the 

design and tuning of sound systems. 

And so the free-for-all begins. 

Given the nature of sound and hearing 

this is to be expected. Suppose, for 

example, that you clang really hard on 

the gigantic 21.4 metric ton "Pummerin" 

bell sitting atop Vienna's St. Stephen's 

Church. Every living person in the 

entire city will not only hear it, but wdthout 

a doubt know exactly what it is. 

Though it may be the last thing that you 

hear for awhile, the sound you wall perceive 

is not exactly the same sound 

everyone else hears. Distance from the 

source, wind, humidity, being indoors or 

out, and other variables such as a person's 

age and the kind of sound one happens 

to like, all affect what and how a 

listener "hears." It is often said that we 

each have our own personal filter in our 

brains through which we listen. Though 

everyone throughout Vienna will recognize 

the aforementioned sound as that 

of the Pummeiin, the way each citizen 

"hears" it and "listens" to it will widely 

differ. 

Like the rest of the world, the theatre 

industry is full of people with ears of 

different ages, tastes and filters. After 

listening to so many films for so many 

years, some in the industry claim they 

know exactly how every film should 

sound and how every theatre's sound 

system should be tuned, even if they've 

never heard either one before. My question 

is: 

How can we be so sure of such 

things? I don't think we can. 

I say "we" because I have made part 

of my living based on how well I 

hear. 

My success depends on it. But it's not 

how well we hear that really matters, 

it's how well we listen 

And after nearly 

three decades of serious listening to 

music, as well as sound systems, I am 

still learning how to listen. I do not listen 

the same way I used to, even just a 

few years ago. My judgement of what is 

best is, I hope, improving. 

How does a theatreowner, a musician, 

a sound engineer or anyone else become 

what Aaron Copeland calls a "talented 

listener?" Well, for one thing, we 

do not do it by listening to sound systems, 

any sound system. We need to 

spend years carefully listening to, as 

well as enjoying, all kinds of live, natural 

sounds and orchestras. 

Listening to orchestras can be difficult, 

even misleading, however. Some 

are better than others. So are instruments 

and concert halls. If you can't 

hear a "good" orchestra imder a skilled 

conductor in a "good" concert hall, you 

can't possibly learn how "good" the 

music can really sound. Poor acoustics, 

for instance, can keep some soimds 

from ever reaching your ears. This happens 

in movie theatres too, by the way. 

Learning To Listen 

Which orchestras, which halls, which 

sounds, which films should you select to 

educate your cars? Wow! The answer is 

probably all of them. For myself, 1 can 

am thoroughly enjoying my 

say that I 

continuing listening lessons around the 

world. I am also fortunate to live where I 

do, because I can have Boston's famed 

Symphony Hall to serve as a reference. 

I return there regularly not only to 

enjoy the symphony, but also to "calibrate" 

my ears. Critical listeners need 

live references and, like musicians, constant 

practice to maintain their edge. 

If one is primarily accustomed to listening 

to recordings over loudspeakers 

and tries to make judgements about 

sound quality, I submit they shouldn't 

be too sure about their opinions. Too 

often in these situations one's hearing 

can become biased by the timbre and 

quality, no matter how good, of the 

sound systems they are listening to, not 

to mention their own particular tastes 

which have developed and changed 

over time. 

A "trained" critical listener is one 

who learns nuances and tones. He or 

she does not make qualitative judgements 

based on personal likes and dislikes, 

but rather on the accuracy of the 

sound reproduction. This can be 

thought of as analytical listening. 

Comparative Listening In Theatres 

When you think about it, if a salesman 

or technician is to demonstrate a 

sound system to a theatreowner, both 

are at a disadvantage. Neither really 

knows what the film should soimd like 

because they didn't make it. And who is 

to say that the sound system in question 

might not just play the film better than 

it was made? So a theatreowner is supposed 

to decide, usually in too short a 

time, whether he "likes" the way a film 

sounds as compared to the way it played 

over another sound system in another 

theatre on another day. This may not be 

the best way to evaluate sound systems, 

but it happens in theatres (and Hi-Fi 

stores) every day. 

After the completion of a recent 

installation of one of our systems, the 

customer was very pleased with the 

results. However, he said he wanted to 

wait a few wi-eks and hear other films 

before fonning a final opinion 1 have a 

lot of respect for that approach. We 

24 BOXOFFICE

How does a theatreowner, 

a musician, or a sound engineer 

become what Aaron Copeland 

has called a "talented listener"? 

need to be very careful not to make hasty 

decisions when comparing high quality 

sound equipment For example, 

when comparing the same film on two 

systems and one, for some reason, 

masks a problem in the recording while 

the other system reveals the flaw, we 

can't stop there. Too many people are 

too quick to mistakenly blame the more 

revealing, i.e., more accurate, sound system, 

for the problem. This is foolish 

Learning To Listen To Films 

As you can see, listening to the sound 

of a film can occupy a bit of a gray area. 

The ART of creating a film's sound and 

the ART of tuning a theatre's sound system 

have both grown and changed dramatically 

over the last few years. The 

wav that we, and the public, listen to 

films today has also changed What may 

have been considered "good" sound in 

the past is, in some cases, all but unlistenable 

today. Tomorrow's recordings 

will just as surely shine light on today's 

deficiencies. Since each film is a unique 

creation, the ART of listening needs to 

reflect that We need to widen our tastes 

considerably In some cases our expectations 

must be changed, perhaps even 

enlightened After all, a film is not a 

concert 

When listening to a film, we must 

keep in mind that we are indeed hearing 

an illusion created by reproduced sound, 

not perfect sound. The qualities and 

imperfections in a film's soundtrack can 

be influenced by many factors, from the 

recording engineer's creativity to the 

number of recording generations encountered 

during the production process 

Soimd effects, for instance, whose 

sole intent is to fool you, may even be 

purposely distorted. Their succeSvS lies 

not in accurately reproducing a particular 

sound, but in making us believe that 

we have heard the soimd of something 

that may not even exist. TTiis is a totally 

subjective art form. 

I'laying Films 

As l:)olby's loan Allen likes to point 

out, different films sound differently. 

Unfortimately, the practice in some 

theatres is to attempt to "correct" this 

"problem" by retuning or rebalancing 

the theatre's sound system for different 

films. Serious listeners of films should 

leam to accept and appreciate these differences, 

though they certainly do not 

have to like them or agree with them. 

Consider the often debated subject of 

the surround channel. The use and level 

of the surrounds t:an vary considerably 

from film to film Some directors prefer 

the effe. 1'>K« 25

TECH NOTES 

Narrow Slit Optical Sound Lenses 

By Norm Schneider 

Smart Theatre Systems 

WITH 

THE INTRODUCTION of narrow 

slit optical sound lenses 

(NSOL) came questions about 

their benefits and possible drawbacks. 

UntO recently NSOL lenses were very 

difficult to produce because of the precision 

tolerances that had to be held 

during every phase of manufacturing. 

Small errors could cause the product to 

be rejected and with a low manufacturing 

yield, the price would be high. Most 

of the early lenses were mainly used in 

laboratories for special work with optical 

recordings. The standard lens had a 

slit beamwidth of about 1 mil until a few 

years ago when lenses of 0.6 mil were 

successfully manufactured on production 

lines. Modem manufacturing techniques 

and automation in the optics 

field can now produce NSOL lenses 

with precision tolerances at a relatively 

low cost. 

Why would a smaller slit be desirable? 

Modem release prints of optical stereo 

feature films are capable of capturing 

frequencies up to 15 kHz in the recording 

process. Depending on the care 

exercised in the printing of the print 

itself, frequencies can be expected to be 

present above at least 12 Khz, and higher 

on a quality release print. A 1 mil, or 

even 0.6 lens cannot read this information 

reliably and needs assistance from 

electronic peaking circuits to play back 

the weak high frequency tones. 

At this point we must digress to 

review how the lens and exciter lamp 

produce a source for the solar cell to 

"read" the soundtrack. The exciter 

lamp must produce a constant light output 

that is focused through the lens onto 

the moving optical soundtrack. It is 

extremely important that the filament 

of the lamp is dead center to the slit of 

the lens, and has equal brightness in the 

center of the filament to each edge of 

the slit of the lens. A misaligned bulb 

can produce a hot spot in the center of 

the film soundtrack if not properly powered 

or mechanically out-of-center. A 

bulb with too much age may have a sagging 

filament that can produce more 

brightness on the edges of the lens than 

the center. Either case may cause poor 

stereo sound reproduction. 

The slit of the lens is very similar to 

the operation of the gap width of a magnetic 

tape recording head. The slit must 

be wîde enough to allow several cycles 

of information to occur while the soundtrack 

is in front of the light beam of the 

lens. If the slit is too wide, the high frequency 

response of the playback will be 

severely reduced. As the slit is made 

smaller, the high frequency response 

increases. The speed at which the film 

moves past the lens slit is a factor. The 

signal induced onto the solar cell is 

related to motion and the number of 

optical modulation changes that pass 

the slit within a given time. A low frequency 

on the soundtrack provides fewer 

changes per second than the mid or 

high frequencies. At high frequencies, 

the number of changing optical patterns 

seen at the top and bottom of the lens 

slit may be different and, as a result, 

cancel each other. Theoretically, in tape 

recording, if a wavelength of the signal 

is equal to the width of the slit of the 

recorder, no signal is recorded. In playback, 

no signal is reproduced. In the 

optical Variable Area recording process 

a valve is opening and closing. However, 

the size of the slit is critical to the 

desired frequency response of the system 

during playback. 

When the first stereo optical theatre 

processors were introduced they had to 

interface into theatres with soundheads 

that had standard optics. Older soundheads 

with wide lenses were very common. 

Slit-correction circuitry was added 

to the processors to make up for the bad 

high frequency response of the optical

speaker 

soundhead. Adjustments allowed for a 

high frequency boost where the lens 

caused a roll-off in frequency response. 

This was mandatory because the signal 

had to be flat beyond 9 kHz in order for 

the noise reduction circuits to track 

properly A weak high frequency response 

into the noise reduction units 

could produce severe "pumping" of 

high frequencies due to mistracking of 

the nose reduction system in the high 

frequency band. The problem with slitcorrection 

circuits is that they introduce 

a frequency phase shift that is noticed 

as coloration of the sound. The amount 

of phase shift and coloration depends on 

the amount of slit-correction "dialed 

in." NSOL lenses carry the frequency 

response out much further so that less 

(if any) slit correction is necessary. 

Figure 1 shows the frequency response 

of a 1 mil optical lens with a pink 

noise soundtrack as a source. Notice the 

roll-off of the frequency response 

around 6.3 kHz. Figure 2 shows the 

same soundtrack played with a NSOL 

0.487 mil lens. The frequency response 

is extended well beyond 12 kHz without 

slit correction circuitry. 

Problems could arise with some 

stereo processors when attempting to 

calibrate the sound system if a NSOL 

lens has been installed. On some processors 

If is not possible to reduce the slit 

correction circuits to a flat position and a 

resulting high frequency bump will apf)ear 

in addition to the phase inherent 

shift. Also Figure 2 shows that the narrower 

lens has a lower light output onto 

the film that results in a 6 dB voltage 

output of the solar cell This could present 

a problem in systems with marginal 

gain in the preamplifiers or increased 

signal-to-noise ratio if the preamplifiers 

are not particularly quiet. 

Another consideration in using NSOL 

lenses is that alignment (focus, azimuth) 

is very critical It is much more 

difficult to line up the lens because of 

the narrow beam of light emitted. Also, 

a projector soundhead with sloppy mechanics 

makes alignment very difficult. 

When properly installed the results arc 

superb. 

Before attempting to install a narrow 

slit lens in the "A c;hain" of the stereo 

system, check with the manufacturer of 

the processor to see if the lens will 

cause problems with his processor 

Preamplifiers must be very quiet (free 

from circuit noise), and wiring from the 

solar cell to the processor must be carefully 

routed using a high grade of 

shielded wire to reduce possible hum 

pickup because of the lower signal 

NSOL lenses r^n provide a very 

"sweet" sounding high end to the 

theatre stereo system, but can also provide 

no benefit whatso

SOUND EQUIPMENT' 

1988 Sound Equipment 

Buyers Guide 

A.B. INTERNATIONAL 

ELECTRONICS INC. 

1830-6 Vemon St. Box 1105 

Roseville, CA 92630 

(916) 783-7714, (714) 951-7435 

Robert Bird, President 

Irwin Lasky, Vice President 

Voice of the Theatre systems, 

loudspeakers, 

amplifiers and equalizers. 

Response No. 302 

ASHLY AUDIO, INC. 

100 Femwood Ave. 

Rochester, NY 14621 

(800) 828-6308 

(716) 544-5191 

Bill Thompson, President 

Bob French, V.P. Sales/Marketing 

Professional power amplifiers, 

electronic 


BARCUS-BERRY 

5500 Bolsa Ave., Suite 245 

Huntington Beach, CA 92649 

(714) 897-6766 

John McLaren, Chairman 

Professional audio equipment. 


ALPRO ACOUSTICS 

P.O. Box 50070 

New Orleans, LA 70150 

(504) 522-8656 

Harold Hawkins, General Manager 

Yvonne B. Foerster, Vice President 

Acoustical sound panels. 


ALTEC LANSING 

A Mark IV Company 

P.O. Box 26105 

Oklahoma City, OK 73126 

(405) 324-5311 

Karen Treadwell, Vice President Sales 

crossovers, signal processing power amplifiers, 

audio distribution amplifiers. 

Power amps, pre-amps, noise gates, com- con 

pressors/limiters, equalizers, electron, 

crossovers: THX approved. 

BGW SYSTEMS INC. 

13130 S. Yukon Ave. 

Hawthorne, CA 90250 

(213) 973-8090 

Brian Gary Wachncr, President 

BOSTON ACOUSTICS 

INC. 

247 Lynnfield St. 

Peabody, MA 01960 

(617) 532-2111 

Richard A F'rank, I)ir Marketing 

THX approved loudspeakers. 


CERWIN-VEGA 

555 E Easy St 

Simi Valley, CA 93065 

(818) 896-0777 

Rich Mandella, Pro Product Sales

SOUND EQUIPMENT (continued) 

COMMUNITY LIGHT AND 

SOUND 

333 East Fifth St. 

Chester, PA 19013 

(215) 876-3400 

John Strand, Dir. /Marketing 

1610 N. Las Palmas 

Hollywood, CA 90028 

(213) 464-4596 

David Gray, Gen. Mgr. Film Div. 

Cinema sound processors, including the 

CP55 and CPZOO; Dolby Spectral Recording 

(SR) System; rack mount system. 


EPRAD INC. 

2573 Tracy Road 

Northwood, OH 43619 

(419) 666-3266, (800) 782-0170 

Theodore J. Stechschulte. Gen. Mgr. 

Loudspeaker systems and components 


CROWN 

INTERNATIONAL 

1718 Mishawaka Road 

Elkhart, IN 46517 

(219) 294-8000 

James Beattie, GSM 

Amplifiers, preamps, crossovers. 


DOLBY LABORA TORIES, 

INC. 

100 Potrero Ave. 

San Francisco, CA 94103 

(415) 558-0200 

Ray Dolby, Chairman 

Ed Schummer, VP Marketing 

Scott Schuman, Dir. /Marketing 

Sam Chavez, Cinema Tech. Mgr. 

ECONO PLEAT 

2664 So. La Cienega Blvd. 

Los Angeles, CA 90034 

(213) 870-2246 

Larry Sperling, President 

Dawsey Sales 

5115 Maryland Way 

Brentwood, TN 37027 

(615) 377-0714 

John Dawsey 

Acoustical wall coverings. 


ELECTRO-VOICE INC. 

A Mark IV Company 

600 Cecil St. 

Buchanan, MI 49107 

(616) 695-6831 

Janine Fromm, Sales Manager 

Complete line of audio equipment, including 

amps, equalizers, sound processors, 

stereo synthesizers, sound systems 


FRAZIER INC. 

Route 3, Box 319 

Morrilton, AR 72110-9532 

(501) 727-5543, (800) 643-8747 

James R. Truelsen, VP Sales/Mktg. 

EV Theatre Sound Systems, loudspeakers 

and electronic components 


EMILAR CORP. 

1365 N. McCan St. 

Anaheim, CA 92806 

(714) 632-8500, (800) 854-7181 

Richard Guy, VP Marketing 

Loudspeakers and cquipmoit 


Complete line of loudspeakers, includnn 

i 

the new CATS (Coinvidcnt-AUgtu 

Transducers) 


30 BOXOFFICE

GU/INTEGRATED 

SOUND SYSTEMS, 

INC. 

1227 Wall Whitman Rd. 

Melville, NY 11747 

(516) 351-2100 

Norm Wicland, President 

Stereo sound equipment 

Rrsponsr No. 317 

HPS-4000 SOUND 

64 Bowen St. 

Newton Centre, MA 02159 

(617) 244-1737 

John F Allen 

HPS-4000 Sound Systems, including computer-designed 

High Performance Stereo 

digital-ready sound systems, the Allen 

Surround Array formulae, and the SR-70 

High Performance Loudspeaker 

Ki'sponHC No. 31 

THE DA VID HAFLER CO. 

5910 C;resLeiU hlvd 

Pennsauken, NJ 08109 

(609) 662-6355 

Carl Wise, Marketing Manager 

B 

Ronald H. Means, President 

.Steve Romeo, Market Manager 

Mark C;and(;r, VP Marketing 

Ken Lopez, VP Mark(;ting 

I lector Martinez, Market Manager 

Professional power amplifiers 


JBL loudspeakers, UREI electronics, 

Soundcraft mixing consoles. 


t^ 

JBL PROFESSIONAL 

8500 Balboa Blvd P O. Box 2200 

Northridge, CA 91329 

(818) 893-8411 

'

SOUND EQUIPMENT (continued) 

KELMAR SYSTEMS INC. 

284 Broadway 

Huntington Station, NY 11746 

(516) 692-6131, (516) 421-1230 

Andrew Marglin, President 

Margaret Pearsall, Exec. VP 

Power amplifiers. 


KINTEKINC. 

224 Calvary St. 

Waltham, MA 02154 

(617) 894-6111 

Zaki Abdun-Nabi, President 

Dan Taylor, VP Marketing/Sales 

P.O. Box 688 

Hope, AR 71801 

(501) 777-6751 

P. Woody Jackson, National Sales Mgr. 

Stage and surround loudspeakers. 


MEYER SOUND LABS, 

INC. 

2832 San Pablo Ave. 

Berkeley, CA 94702 

(415) 486-1166 

John Meyer, President 

Gary Hudson, Mktg. /Sales Mgr. 

OMNIMOUNT SYSTEMS 

10850 Vanowen St. 

North Hollywood, CA 91605 

(818) 766-9000 

Susan Michelson, Vice President 

Jim Schaller, Sales Manager 

Mounting assemblies for surround speakers. 


PEA VEY ELECTRONICS 

711 A. St., P.O. Box 2898 

Meridian, MS 39301 

(601) 483-5365 

Ken Valentine, Product Manager 

Stage and surround speakers, power amplifiers, 

equalizers and electronics. 


QSC AUDIO PRODUCTS 

1926 Placentia Ave. 

Costa Mesa, CA 92627 

(714) 645-2540 

G.M. Hockman, Dir. Sales /Marketing 

Loudspeaker systems, amplifiers, equalizers 


Amplifiers, sound processors, surround 

speakers, self-powered subwoofers, complete 

sound systems. 


KLIPSCH& 

ASSOCIATES 

NT. AUDIO VISUAL 

P.O. Box 618 

Topanga, CA 90290 

(213) 455-2560 

Thomas McCormick, President 

Nancy McCormick, Vice President 

Sound systems 


GLEN O'BRIEN 

MOVABLE 

PARTITION CO. 

5301 E. 59th, Box 300200 

Kansas City, MO 64130 

(816) 361-5700, (800) 821-3595 

Donald E. Jackson, President 

Stephen R. Nichols, V.P. GSM 

Sound Sorbic acoustical wall panels. 


Professional power amplifiers 


RGM INDUSTRIES 

32 BOXOFFICE

SOUND EQUIPMENT ^continued) 

3342 Lillian Blvd., RD 2 

Titusville, FL 32780 

(305) 269-4720 

Ronald Goigel, President 

Lillian P Goigel, Vice President 

Sound equipment: amps, processors, 

crossovers 


RENKUS-HEINZ INC. 

17191 Armstrong A\c. 

Irvine, CA 92714 

(714) 250-0166 

Russ Carrol, Dir. Marketing 

Smart Speaker Systems and speaker components 


SOUNDFOLD, INC. 

P.O. Box 2125 

Dayton, OH 45429 

(513) 228-3773 

Art Sickels, President 

Tony Sickels, Vice President 

Acoustical wallcoverings 


THX SOUND SYSTEMS/ 

LUCASFILM LTD. 

P.O. Box 2009 

San Rafael, CA 94912 

(415) 662-1900 

Geoff Smith, Projects Director 

Clyde McKinney, Technical Director 

Kimberly Straub, Dir. Marketing 

Amplifiers, preamps, noise reduction 

units. 


ULTRA-STEREO LABS 

2810 HuriK- Ko.iil 

Malibu, CA 9()2b5 

(213) 456-2511 

Jack Cashin, President 

SENNHEISER 

Sennhe.iser Electronic Corp. 

48 West 38th St. 

New York, NY 10018-6297 

(212) 944-9440 

Tony Tudisco 

Rolls Electronic Corp. 

4260 Lankershim Blvd 

North Hollywood, CA 91602 

(213) 877-8877 

Kathleen Burke, Sales Manager 

Infrared (wireless) high fidelity sound 

systems for the hearing-impaired. 


SMART THEATRE 

SYSTEMS 

3856 (itr.i-.n IntluMridl Way 

Atlanta, GA 30341 

(404) 452-1820 

Norm Schneider, President 

THX Sound Systems, including THX 

crossovers and hnnth monitors 


TECCON ENTERPRISES 

LTD. 

686 Cliffside Dr., P.O. Box 38 

San Dimas, CA 91773 

(714) 599-0817, (818) 915-4244 

Jack Dimmers, President 

Susan E. Adams, Vice President 

Complete line of audio equipment, including 

amps, equalizers, sound processors, 

stereo synthesizers, speakers, sound systems 

Response No. 333

I I I I \ I I I I 

I 

I 

SOUND ADVICE 

COMMON WALL CONSTRUCTION 

By Clyde R. McKinney 

THE MULTIPLEX theatre, 

IN auditoriums 

are positioned one next to the other 

and the projection booth is common to 

many (if not all) screens. The soundtrack 

of a 70mm adventure film such as "The 

Untouchables" playing on one screen 

bleeds through to the next auditorium 

where a monaural print of "My Life as a 

Dog" is playing. The invading sound annoys 

the audience, but what can you do? 

The combination of adjacent loud and 

quiet films will test even the best isolation 

wall. 

The subject of theatre sound isolation 

may seem highly technical and conjures 

up thoughts of exorbitant costs, but don't 

stop reading— I intend to keep the discussion 

realistic and readable. Sound isolation 

in multiplex theatres is becoming an 

increasingly difficult problem to solve. 

Improvements made in sound system design, 

audio equipment power-handling capabilities 

and increased use of the surround 

channel all contribute to greater 

potential for sound transmission between 

auditoriums. 

In adjacent auditoriums with reasonable 

construction, it is usually the bass 

which is perceivable from the next auditorium. 

In order to quantify this occurrence, 

Lucasfilm researched sound pressure 

levels of several movie soundtracks, 

breaking the sound spectrum into octaves 

and taking level measurements every 1/8 

second. The comparison of these measurements 

showed that, as expected, the 

widest variance was in the low fbass) end 

of the spectrum. 

Quiet dialogue-oriented films have little 

or no loud signals in the bass end, 

while action or adventure films have quite 

a lot. Both films have about the same levels 

at mid and high frequencies. 

While it is impossible to build an economical 

common wall which would attenuate 

100 percent of film sound from adjacent 

auditoriums 100 percent of the time, 

one can achieve acceptable performance 

from economical construction. Measurements 

can help an acoustician determine 

what type of construction is needed. 

Figure 1 shows the results from the 

Lucasfilm tests. Condition 1 reflects the 

difference between the loudest 1/8 second 

and the softest 1/8 second of the 

films measured. Condition 2 shows the 

amount of noise reduction needed if the 

adjacent house has an air conditioning 

system operating at NC-30, ASHRAE's 

recommended level. As you can see, the 

air conditioning sound masks some of the 

sound spill over and the amount of sound 

isolation required may be reduced—especially 

in the low frequencies. So the air 

conditioning system can be beneficial 

when it creates a controlled constant 

sound that does not exceed NC-30. A system 

with a background noise level above 

NC-30 does more than mask sound, it contributes 

objectional noise of its own 

The third line is the result of analyzing 

the data statistically. It is a comparison of 

two levels, the one which is exceeded 10 

percent of the time, and the one which is 

exceeded 90 percent of the time (in other 

words, 10 percent of the time it is less 

than this level). By using this technique, 

we see that we can reduce the requirement 

on the wall construction to something 

approaching reality: what we are 

Example 1 

1, 2 1/2" metal studs. 24" oc 

STC-45 2 1/2" type X gypsum board 

MTC-40 screwed to stud. 

80 

3. 2" thick sound attenuation 

70 - 

10 

Figure 1 

125 

blanket. 

1 I 

1 

saying is that never, ever hearing something 

is too great a requirement, but that 

hearing something roughly 1 percent of 

the time (10 percent x 10 percent) when 

the booking is a soft, dialogue film playing 

next door to a relatively loud film, is both 

economically achievable and an acceptable 

level of performance. (1) 

The last line suggests requirements an 

isolation wall should meet. Your acoustician 

and architect can work together 

using this information to achieve the 

proper sound isolation for your theatre. 

Technically, 250 Hz and up should be 

about STC-65, but below 250 Hz the STC 

should be higher. This is because the STC 

rating was created to measure speech 

transmission, not dynamic motion picture 

Example 2 

1 2 1/2" metal studs. 24" oc. 

STC-45 2. 5/8" type X gypsum board 

MTC-42 screwed to stud. 

2 3 

3. 2" thick sound attenuation 

blanket. 

r^ 

Example 1^ Êxsmple 2 ^ 

± J L J L 

250 500 1000 2000 

Octave Band Center Frequency - Hz 

4000 

34 BOXOKFICE

indtracks. I asked Steve Thorbum of 

arlos M Salter Associates, Inc. to ex- 

the widely used STC rating and a 

in 

IV rating, MTC. 

Sound Transmission Class (STC) is a 

glc number rating system used to indic 

the ability of a partition to isolate one 

ICC from the noise or the sound of 

3thcr adjacent space. The problem 

h the STC rating is that two partitions 

h the same STC rating may have difent 

properties. One partition may proe 

higher low-frequency sound isolan. 

the other higher mid-frequency 

md isolation. So, while the STC rating 

;trm is a ven,' good guide for the transssion 

of speech, or middle frequencies, 

re is more to consider in the sound isoion 

between auditoriums than just the 

C rating of your partition. 

The MTC system (Music/Mechanical 

ise Transmission Class), created by US 

psum Company, follows the same rules 

rating as the STC procedure with the 

;eption that the absolute level for the 

t three 1/3 octave bands centered at 

). 160, and 200 Hz are used in the calcuions 

rather than the +/- tolerance 

;d for STC rating In other words, the 

ik level is used rather than the average 

el If the partitions in Figure 2 were 

ed with the MTC system, the partition 

:h the I 2 inch gypsum board would 

ve an MTC rating of 40, and the partin 

with the 5/8 inch gypsum would have 

MTC rating of 42. These two partitions 

uld both measure STC 45." 

The most important thing to keep in 

nd is that the wall should be designed 

reduce the sound level from one side to 

: other For that reason, you must know 

at sound pressure level will be present 

either side of the wall For instance, a 

)jection booth produces 75 to 85 dBc 

pending upon the machine and film 

ing run, while the auditorium's sound 

:ssure level may reach 1 15 dBc during a 

ist from a big .sound movie A booth wall 

would need much less transmission loss 

to keep machine noise out of the auditorium 

than would a wall common to two 

auditoriums to keep the movie soundtracks 

from invading those adjacent 

spaces. 

Designing an isolation wall is only half 

the battle You can design a wall as thick 

as the Great Wall of China, hut one small 

hole in the wall will make it useless for 

sound isolation The constmction of the 

wall and its integrity is critical. Make certain 

that your wall is built as designed and 

proper materials are used. Settling or 

remodeling of the building may produce 

voids or deterioration in the partition. One 

small crack allows the leakage of a surprising 

amount of sound Flanking exit 

ways and corridors can also allow sound 

to travel between auditoriums, negating 

the results of your common wall construction 

How can YOU tell if your existing 

theatre walls provide adequate isolation? 

It may be obvious I have been in some 

theatres where the sound transmission is 

so bad that windows should be installed so 

at least the audience can watch what they 

were hearing If things are not bad, but 

you are unsure, find a raucous rock and 

roll or classical tape or better still, a CD 

Plav it in one theatre at a level equal to 

what would be the loudest movie soundtrack 

you would play Be fair and turn it 

up a bit, this is a test. Now go to the auditorium 

next door and listen Can you hear 

the music? If so, is it a muffled booming 

or can you make out melodies? Docs it 

seem to be coming from a specific point, 

or points in the wall indicating a void or 

hole in the wall? If you hear nothing, or 

only a faint boom, the wall is probably 

performing well enough .so the adjacent 

movie soundtracks will not interfere with 

one another. If you can plainly make out 

the music, you will need to decide whether 

to call an acoustician or a glazier ^H 

Îgure 2 

Acoustic Noise Reduction (m dB) Required Between Theatres

IN THE BOOTH 

THE DEALER—THE LAST EPISODE 

MY 

By Tony Francis 

TWO PREVIOUS articles discussed 

the plight of the independent 

theatre equipment dealers— those 

not owned by the major circuits. In the 

beginning all dealers were independents 

and played a vital role for both manufacturers 

and exhibitors. That was before my 

time. When I originated Theatre Products 

International 10 years ago, many of the 

larger dealers were already owned by circuits. 

Dealers and Exhibitors 

The independent dealer doesn't have a 

sponsor with deep pockets. His survival 

depends on whatever skills he possesses 

coupled with hard work. Hard work is no 

fun and saleable skills are not plentiful. 

Our industry needs skillful dealers that 

can perform a variety of functions with 

which exhibitors should not have to concern 

themselves. 

The exhibitor should concentrate on 

attracting and entertaining theatregoers. 

He should not be bothered with the care 

and feeding of projection and sound 

equipment. That should be entrusted to 

those clever technical people who seem 

to enjoy that sort of thing. To the exhibitor, 

equipment is mundane. He should 

buy it and it should work. If it breaks the 

dealer should fix it. 

To the dealer, even the skillful dealer, 

operating a theatre is black magic. I often 

wonder how any exhibitors manage to 

survive. 

To each of us, the skills of the other are 

esoteric, even mystical. The skillful exhibitor 

and the skillful technical person 

are as different as the artist is from the 

physicist. They are not the same people 

at all. So, each must rely upon the skills of 

the other. 

When the exhibitor performs successfully 

as a showman, he sells tickets and 

creates the revenues that allow him to 

buy from the dealer. The dealer in turn 

assists the exhibitor by providing him 

with a high performance technical vehicle, 

consisting of picture and sound that 

brings customers back to the theatre 

That's the way it should work and 

sometimes it does. Too often, however, 

the dealer lacks the necessary technical 

skills, causing the performance of the 

theatre he outfitted to be bland. 

This is "Showbiz"! A theatre's peformance 

must be exciting and stimulating 

in order to entertain. The picture must be 

sharp and clear. The sound must be realistic 

and have impact. 

The state-of-the-art in sound has improved 

enormously, but many dealers 

don't know much about it. This magazine 

has carried numerous articles on sound. 

Many exhibitors find these difficult to 

read and understand. That's O.K. Many 

dealers don't understand thetn either 

That's not O.K. If a dealer cannot deal 

with today's level of technical sophistication, 

he has a severe disadvantage. What 

is the value of a dealer who lacks a thorough 

and detailed understanding of contemporary 

picture and sound technology? 

The Discount Broker 

The discount stock broker doesn't give 

advice. He just handles the paperwork 

and charges very little for his services. 

The customer must do all the analysis and 

make all the decisions as to the product 

he wishes to buy. 

Since the discount broker charges very 

little for each transaction, he needs a ver>' 

high sales volume to support his activity. 

Some high volume discount stock brokers 

have been quite successful—much more 

successful than many of their customers. 

The broker who gives no advice can't be 

blamed when the customer buys the 

wrong stock. 

Have you ever heard of "Super Dealers"? 

About three years ago, various manufacturers 

told me of certain dealers who 

called themselves "Super." I pictured 

these gtiys nmning into phone booths, 

closing the door, and finally emerging in 

their red flannel underwear. That's ridiculous! 

But what made these dealers decide 

they were "Super"? The answer was sales 

volume It had nothing to do with red flannel 

long Johns. I should have guessed it. 

Knowing most of these dealers, I realized 

how absurd they would look in that 

attire. 

The "Super Dealer" is a clever businessman. 

He uses high sales volume to 

create buying power. He uses this buying 

power as a leverage against the manufacturer—driving 

the manufacturer's price 

down and increasing "Super Dealer's" 

profits. "Super Dealer" is a super salesman 

and a fine negotiator. If he passes 

the savings along to the exhibitor, he does 

not have to be "Super" technically. And 

that's a good thing. It's very difficult to be 

technically "Super," when the volume is 

high. 

Dealers and Tecihnicians 

There are few higlily qualifiitd technicians 

in the exhibition side of this industry; 

the best of these are usually employed 

by the manufacturers, and they 

are specialists in their company's equipment. 

Quality independent technicians 

are in demand and therefore more expensive. 

Dealers, even "Super" ones, are hard 

pressed to find skillful technicians. Being 

able to afford them isn't easy either. So 

some dealers have a technician, and some 

don't. But everyone has someone they call 

a technician. The "Super Dealer" may 

have to use average technicians to handle 

the volume of work he takes in. 

You know aboiu the law of averages. 

Let me offer you my slightly different 

version. The average technician can 

make an average projector and average 

sound system produce average picture 

and sound quality. The bad news is, he 

gets the saine average performance from 

the best equipment as well as the average 

equipment. The limited ability of this 

technician limits the performance of the 

equipment. 

If a dealer is not technically oriented, 

he will know what equipment is best for a 

particular situation. "Super Dealer" may 

not even care. He is motivated to sell the 

equiptnent on which he negotiated the 

largest discount. He is a super businessman. 

A true dealer has an obligation to know 

as much as possible aboiu all the equipment 

that is available, so he can recommend 

the equipment that best suits the 

needs of a particular theatre. All brands 

are not equal; each has its own advantages 

and disadvantages as it relates to a 

specific theatre. 

Equipment changes. You may have always 

bought the same brand of projector 

or whatever. While the name is the same, 

the quality may not be. Shouldn't the 

dealer know that and tell you before you 

find out for yourself? If the dealer is a 

discount broker, he doesn't give advice. 

Chances are, he doesn't have any advice 

to give. If the exhibitor makes all the decisions, 

and the eciuipment doesn't perform 

as well as it should, who is to blame? 

This is the last episode in my trilogs' on 

theatre equipment dealers. When I last 

wrote about dealers five years ago, there 

were a lot more of us. Some faced their 

last episode in the interim. Because of 

technology, my company will be here five 

years from now; maybe I'll have the 

opportunity to address the subject one 

more time 

Vlli 

Tony Francis is president of Theatre 

Products International. Los Angeles 

36 BOXOFFICE

NATIONAL NEWS 

1987 Boxoffice Biggest 

Ever 

The stock market may be taking a beating, 

but 1987 is expected to be the motion picture 

industry's best year ever Barnng eleventhhour 

disasters, year-end domestic boxoffice is 

expected to total near $4 I billion, eclipsing 

198-4S S-) 03 billion record 1986. by comparison, 

only saw $3.78 in domestic grosses. 

"Attraction" Jolts 

Paramount's Market Share 

Fatal -Mtraction. with grosses exceeding 

$94 million by mid-November, has overtaken 

" 

"The Untouchables (with $76 million) and is 

now second only to "Beverly Hills Cop 11" 

($153 million) as the years highest grossing 

film All three films are Paramount releases 

and largely accountable for that studio's rising 

market lead Domestic market shares for 

1987 (through Nov 1) are as follows: 

1 Paramount (-(- ) 19.6% 

2 Warner Bros. (-) 13,9% 

3 Disney (-) 12.1% 

4 Orion (-) 11.2% 

5 Fox( + )8 4% 

6 Universal (-) 7.8% 

7 Tri-Star(-l-)5.6% 

8. Columbia (-(-)5.0% 

9 MCM'UA(-f-)3.7% 

10 New Line (-) 19% 

11 New World ( 

= ) 1.7% 

12 DEG( = ) 1.6% 

13 Vestron(-(-) 1.5% 

14. Cannon (-) 1.3% 

{ + ) indicates an increase in market share 

since last month. (-) indicates a decrease; ( 

= 

) 

indicates no change 

MGM UA Chairman Lee 

Rich Joins Cinetex 

Cinelen, the i(jnlrout stepping down from 

the film company that bears his name The 

Bank of Amenta and other Dclaurentiis creditors 

are even discussing renaming Dtd, citing 

that DeLaurentiis's association with debt and 

box office poison may have rendered the 

firm's monilcer a negative in the minds of 

many moviegoers 

New World Restructures 

Distribution Network 

N

EASTERN NEWS 

Boston 

USA Cinemas held its third edition of the 

Boston Film Festival at the Copley Place 

Theatre. Proceeds from the 10-day, 60-fllm 

event will be donated to Boston's Fund for 

The Arts. Films that performed strongly at the 

festival were opened for regular runs, among 

them "Family Business", which received good 

reviews, and "Street Trash." 

Interstate Theatres, one of New England's 

oldest exhibition chains, has merged with 

Lefont Theatres of Georgia to form a new 

entity, Interstate-Lefont Theatres. George Lefont, 

founder and president of Lefont 

Theatres, will serve as senior vice president, 

responsible for all operations In Georgia. 

Interstate operates a 10-screen complex in 

Roswell Mail and Is building a soon-to-open 

eight-screen operation In Midtown Promenade 

Boston-based Hoyts Cinemas Is building a 

12-screen theatre in the middle of Syracuse, 

N.Y.... Loews Theatres, a Tri-Star subsidiary 

with 300 screens. Is planning to build a 10- 

screen theatre in DeWItt, a southern suburban 

area of Syracuse. .LJSA Cinemas is 

building two six-plexes due next March In 

Clay's Great Northern Mall and is planning to 

open in the Fayettevllle Mall across from 

USA's existing triple. Chuck Goldwater, USA 

Cinema's senior vice president and general 

manager, said the 12 new screens were In 

development during USA's acquisition of Cinema 

National. 

A benefit showing of "The Princess Bride" 

was held at the USA Cinemas' Cheri Theatre 

with proceeds going to The |oey Fund, which 

provides assistance for families of cystic fibrosis 

victims and supports research on the crippling 

disease. 

Boston now has more theatres playing art 

films than any other New England city and 

ranks just behind New York City and Los 

Angeles nationally. Films playing in the Harvard 

Square area, Cambridge, do consistently 

well, better sometimes than the same film 

playing in Boston. The city with its new Inrush 

of young urban professionals has a large builtin 

audience of college students, with hiarvard, 

Radcllffe, MIT, Emerson, Simmons, Boston 

College, Wellesely, Leslie, Northeastern, Salem, 

Massachusetts State and others to draw 

from. 

David Kleller 

has been appointed Interim 

director of film at the Boston Museum of Fine 

Arts. Kleller served as the former supervisor 

of the Rear Window's alternative film program 

since 1981. 

Toledo, Ohio 

Site plan approval is expected for National 

Amusement, Inc 's proposed 10-screen movie 

complex In the Spring Meadows Mall, 

south of Toledo on Airport FHighway. Upon 

completion, the complex will be the second 

largest in the area (AMC's Southwych is the 

largest in the area, with 12 screens). Each 

auditorium in the proposed complex will have 

a seating capacity of 350. 

Springfield, Ohio 

The Springfield City Council held a "Lillian 

Gish Day" in honor of the actress who has 

brought recognition to the town. Gish is 

believed to be the longest-employed living 

motion picture actress and has just seen the 

release of her 106th movie, "The Whales of 

August." 

Piqua, Ohio 

Plans are underway to build a six-screen 

cinema on a 60-acre site on the southwest 

corner of Interstate 75 and U.S. 36, according 

to the Mall Co. of Alliance, Ohio, which specializes 

in shopping centers for small cities. 

Columbus, Ohio 

The North High Drive-ln Theatre at 8750 N. 

High Street has been closed and will be 

replaced with a shopping center The Drive-ln 

had been a target of complaints from local 

organizations for its policy of showing X-rated 

films. 

Ridgefield Park, N.J. 

Construction is underway for a new 10- 

screen theatre complex in Ridgefield Park, at 

Route 46 and Interstate 95 The theatre will 

be part of the Overpeck development, a 

new center with more than one million 

square feet of retail space. Scheduled to 

open in the Spring of 1988, the 4,700 seat 

theatre will feature Dolby stereo In each auditorium, 

70mm capability, and FutureVision — 

a new film process utilizing digital sound and a 

wall-to-wall floor-to-ceiling screen. The fourstory 

building will have auditoriums on two 

levels, with access through four escalators 

and two grand staircases. The opening of the 

theatre will bring to 319 the total screens in 

the Loews circuit, with 78 located in New 

lersey. 

New York 

Cineplex Odeon re-opened the Olympia I 

& II Cinemas at 2770 Broadway Nov 6. The 

event marked the sixth such New York 

theatre renovated by the chain in 1987. The 

new complex brings Cineplex Odeon's total 

number of New York City screens to 29 in 20 

locations 

now costs $7 to see a movie at Cineplex 

It 

Odeon's Manhattan flagship theatre, the 

Zlegfeld This Is the second New York cinema 

to charge the barrier-breaking ticket price, 

after Cineplex Odeon's Carnegie Hall Cinema, 

which charged $7 per ticket when It reopened 

in lune 

Washington, D.C. 

City officials are planning a $3 milllc 

renovation of the Colony Theatre in the 49( 

block of Georgia Ave. The Colony Theat 

was formally a neighborhood movie hou' 

and later the home of the DC. Black Repert' 

ry Theatre until it was abandoned in ti 

1970's It has remained abandoned since 

closure Andre Gandy, executive director 

Peoples Involvement Corp., who is workir 

with Key Largo Development on the pla 

stated that the property will be restored as 

theatre and used as a mixed-use develo| 

ment, containing offices, stores and apai 

ments 

Bristol, Conn. 

Bristol's motion picture screen "coun 

was lessened by two with the decision 

• 

partners Michael Tehrani and Mario Ottavi 

no to shutter the two-screen Bristol Cent 

Mall Cinemas and to schedule a major reta 

Ing firm to occupy 4,000 of the cinema 

7,000 square foot space Boston-based US 

Cinemas continues to operate an eight-plex 

Bristol, situated in the Pine Street Plaza. 

SOUTHERN NEW 

Lexington, Ky. 

A disgruntled moviegoer drove his tractc 

trailer truck through the lobby of Lexingtor 

North Park Cinemas when theatre employe 

refused to let him change auditoriums wit 

out paying. Clarence M. Dees, 46. of Kans 

City, Mo. purchased a ticket tor one of the 

movies playing at the Cinemas, but left wh< 

the movie was almost over to see anoth 

film in the same complex. When De 

attempted to return to the first movie he h. 

been watching, employees stopped him ar 

the manager asked Dees to leave the theatr 

Approximately 15 minutes later. Dees r 

turned, driving his tractor-trailer rig throuj 

the walkway from the shopping center par 

ing lot. His truck sheared oft the top of tl 

walkway entrance and traveled over a ma. 

of landscaped areas, avoiding metal pok 

pedestrians, and leaving a trail of diesel fi 

on the walkway Dees then drove throui 

the canopy entrance and into the lobby, tec 

Ing out the ceiling, tipping over video gam 

and narrowly missing the ticket window ai 

concession stand According to Capt Fn 

Williams of the Lexington Police Departmei 

Dees said that if he hadn't gotten wedged 

he would have continued into the auditorlL. 

where the movie he had paid to see w 

showing None of the 200 people inside tl 

theatre were injured. 

Palnfi Beach, Fla. 

Oct. 9 saw the grand opening of Uniti 

Artists' six-screen Treasure Coast Square M 

complex, located oft Federal Highway 

Commercial in lensen Beach. 

38 BOXOFFICE

The 

Chapel Hill, N.C. 

A newly-appointed commission has been 

formed to lure more movie-makers to North 

Carolina Headed by Rep Anne Barnes, a 

Democrat from Chapel Hill, the commission 

will begin to study the movie industry and 

find ways to attract more producers The 

group was created by the 1S87 General 

Assembly and will try to promote North Carolina 

as the ideal place to shoot films The 

panel will not be starting from scratch Over 

the past two years, approximately 20 movies 

have been filmed in North Carolina, bringing 

t2(X) million in annual revenues But the commission 

and Gov )ames G Martin want to 

Increase those numbers and attract more 

producers like Dino DeLaurentlis, whose production 

company has moved its headquarters 

to Wilmington. 

Miami 

I hi- Wlami Film Festival was dealt a nasty 

blow when the $100,000 annual stipend 

sometimes earmarked for the festival by the 

state of Florida did not materialize this year 

Angry at Governor Bob Martinez's administration 

for not allocating the grant, organizers 

complain that the festival deserves the funding 

IJecause it is a "high-gloss " ambassador 

for Miami and Flonda The same organizers 

also lashed out at the American press establishment 

for their slack coverage of the event 

"In Barcelona. Madnd and South America the 

papers positively froth with Miaml-fest 

news," noted one key organizer 

Springfield, III. 

Kerasoles Theatres plans a summer 1988 

opening for its new White Oaks West Cinemas 

4 and a December 1988 opening for a 

two-screen addition to its Showplace Cinemas 

4 The (hams Fox Town and Country 

Theatre should be finished dividing itself into 

two auditoriums by Christmas 1987. 

Grand Rapids, Mich. 

The worlds first 20-s(.reen theatre is 

scheduled for a December 1987 opening in 

Wyoming, Mich when lack Loeks Theatres' 

Studio 28 12-screen theatre adds eight additional 

auditoriums The renovation Includes 

new seats and drapes for all the complex's 

audltonums, a new lobby, and computerized 

ticketing The Beltline Drive-In, a Grand Rapids 

Institution since 1948. was razed to make 

room for Studio 28s building and parking 

additions. 

Detroit 

Slated for a December bow Is Loeks' new 

elght-plex at the Sears Lincoln Park Center In 

Detroit The 2,850 seal facility Is the first new 

theatre to be built In the area In 30 years. 

Milwaukee 

The second-run Budget Cinemas chain 

opened a new six-plex in October on Milwaukee's 

far Northwest side on W Good 

Hope Rd and N 73rd St All six auditoriums 

are equipped with wall-to-wall screens and 

Dolby stereo Admission prices are $1 before 

4 p.m. and $1.50 after. 

Indianapolis 

The newly renovated Irving Theatre at 

5507 Washington St held its grand reopening, 

featuring the 1952 classic family film "Singin' 

In The Ram 72-year old theatre 

" 

operated for six years as an adult movie 

theatre but was later shut down for zoning 

violations The five Investors in the theatre, 

Rivington Redevelopment Associates, are 

hoping that the renovation will spark additional 

redevelopment in the area The 560- 

seat house will have new lights, screens, burgundy 

carpeting, new wiring, new heating 

and cooling systems, fire-proof acoustical 

draperies and a viewing room for the physically 

impaired that will accommodate 10 

wheelchairs Harry Burkharl III, who is supervising 

the Improvements, has as partners his 

father Harry Burkhart )r , Michael Dowling, 

and lay and loan Holsapple The investors 

purchased the fjuilding for $90,000 and plan 

to spend an additional $75,000 renovating 

the theatre, the oldest in the city. 

Bloomington, Ind. 

Zoning approval has been granted for the 

opening of Kerasotes Theatres' Jackson 

Creek Cinemas 8, which should see completion 

in May 1988 

Brookings, S.D. 

I he State theatre Company Is constructing 

a new tri-plex near Its home base In 

downtown Brookings Completion of the 

theatre, Brookings' first since 1910, is expected 

by spring 1988 

MIDWEST NEWS 

WESTERN NEWS 

Kansas City 

^.\1C has announced plans to build 26 

new screens in Detroit. Houston, Denver and 

St Louis New theatres will Include 10 screens 

at the Bel Air Center in Detroit (where AMC is 

already the city's largest exhibitor with 66 

screens), eight screens at Houston's Commons 

at Willowbrook shopping center, six 

screens at the intersection of Colorado and 

Alameda boulevards in Denver, and two new 

screens to be added the existing Calleria 4 

complex in St Louis. 

Carbondale, III. 

tntrifs arc now being accepted for Southern 

Illinois LJniversity's 10th annual Big Muddy 

Film Festival to be held February 1-7 The 

competition will include 16mm and V4-inch 

video-cassettes from nationwitje entries as 

well as the featured works of guest filmmakers 

The festival will award Sl,5(X) in prize 

money to outstanding works Films and videos 

will be judged separately The deadline 

for entry is January 15 For more information 

and entry forms please write Big Mufidy Film 

Festival, DepI of Cinema and Photography, 

Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL 

62901 

i;.,5^^f^ 

Los Angeles 

Pacifif Theatres announced a new 10- 

screen complex to be built on the site of the 

old Thousand Oaks Drive-ln in Newbury 

n^-^sÂV 

Park Pending approval. Paciln is scheduled 

to begin construction in the first quarter of 

1988 

Junuiir\. IfKH Vi

Palm Springs, Cal. 

Metropolitan Theatres opened their new 

$2.3 million Courtyard 6 complex in Palm 

Springs Nov 20. the first step in Metropolitan's 

20-screen expansion program, and the 

first new theatre to be built in Palm Spnngs in 

20 years. Metropolitans long-term expansion 

plans include proposed theatres in Santa Barbara 

(six new screens), Goleta (four new 

screens), and Santa Ana (two screens), all by 

1989. 

San Antonio 

A 3 Theatres' Santlkos chain opened 20 

new screens in San Antonio in two new facilities 

Dec 18. and have already announced 

plans to build an additional 31 screens by the 

end of 1988 

The new and planned theatres 

will almost double the chains operations. 

One of the new theatres, the 60,000-squarefoot 

Embassy Oaks 14, is the largest in the 

Southwest with more than 3,500 seats The 

second new complex, the Crossroads 6, will 

be part of the renovated Wonderland Shopping 

Center at Loop 410 and Interstate 10. 

New Santikos screens to go up in 1988 will 

include those at the new Rolling Oaks Mall (six 

screens), the Central Park Shopping Center 

(three new screens), the South Park Mall (seven 

screens), and the Terrell Plaza Shopping 

Center (eight screens). The Terrell complex 

will be a second-run house featuring a 

reduced $1 50 pricing policy. 

Austin 

In a related story, A 3 has just finalized its 

aquisition of Presidio's 19-screen, 5-location 

theatre chain in Austin A 3 also announced 

that Presidio will build an additional 34 

screens in Texas's capitol city by the end of 

1988. 

Pryor, Okla. 

David Santee and Ron Fields have closed 

the Center Theatre In Vinita, Okla to take 

over the operation of Wilda Thompson's 

theatres in Pryor. 

CANADIAN NEWS 

Montreal 

Norwegian actress Liv Ullman told attendees 

of Montreal's 11th World Film Festival 

that she is angry about a "pivotal" scene she 

didn't want cut from "Farewell To Moscow," 

a film based loosely on the life of Jewish 

Soviet dissident Ida Nudel. Ullman said that 

the missing scene portrays Nudel expressing 

her feelings about Soviet restrictions on her 

physical movements. She said she will not 

promote the film unless the scene is restored. 

Toronto 

The Famous Players chain is undertaking a 

$5 million renovation of its Uptown five-plex 

in Toronto, and they say it could grow to six 

screens. The company says it also has plans 

for another three or four downtown cinemas, 

but isn't yet saying where. 

Toronto's recently closed University 

Theatre has been bought by Cineplex Odeon 

The chain is building offices on the site, 

and will be putting up a new six-plex on adjacent 

property. The $40 million undertaking, 

which will also house retails shops, restaurants, 

a luxury hotel and a new underground 

parking garage, will give the Festival of Festivals 

a new home for its galas, hopefully in 

1989. 

Cineplex Odeon has announced a buyback 

through the New York Stock Exchange 

involving as many as two million common 

shares The move came after the October 

market crash. 

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

Tokyo 

Arista Films, Inc has concluded a deal 

whereby Ms. Miyako Ejiri of Dela Corp. in 

Tokyo will handle .Arista product in japan, 

according to Louis George, president of the 

Encino distribution-production company. 

ON THE MOVE 

Claudia Cray has been promoted to vice 

president of broadcasting production and 

publicity for MCM's motion picture marketing 

division. Cray will supervise the creation 

of all broadcast publicity materials used in 

MCM's motion picture marketing campaigns, 

as well as audio visual materials for a wide 

variety of special publicity and promotional 

events She will also oversee all contact work 

with New York and Los Angeles-based broadcast 

media. 

Don Barrett has been promoted to vice 

president of promotion and publicity for 

MCM's motion picture marketing division. He 

will oversee the creation and implementation 

of all 

national promotion and regional publicity 

campaigns undertaken on behalf of 

MCM's feature films. In the process, he 

supervises the MCM-related activities of 

MCM/UA's team of field representatives 

throughout the United States and Canada. 

Barrett pined MCM's motion picture marketing 

division as director of promotion and publicity 

in .April of 1987 following four years as 

director of national promotion for Universal 

Pictures. 

Screenvision Cinema Network has appointed 

Ceorge Mamantov vice president/ 

director of theatre operations, a position that 

oversees over 5,000 screens in the U.S. 

jay Swerdlow has been named vice president 

of Pacific Theatres Swerdlow joined 

Pacific in 

1969 and has served most recently 

as administrative assistant to Jerome A. 

Forman, president of the chain. 

" 

W R "Randy Slaughter has been named 

to the newly-created post of vice presidentgeneral 

manager of Spectrafilm In addition to 

overseeing the western sales region. Slaughter 

will be responsible for Spectrafilm's New 

York and Canadian sales offices. 

OBITUARIES 

Fred E. McSpadden, pioneer motion picture 

exhibitor, died in Tuscon Oct 14 at the 

" 

age of 88 "Mac, as he was known to the 

industry, had a career that spanned 50 years, 

37 of which were devoted to Fox West Coast 

Theatres. He retired in 1964. "Mac," who 

was a recipient of many civic and industry 

awards, was most proud of selling over one 

million dollars in war bonds during World 

War II He managed many key theatres in 

Southern California and was transferred to 

.Arizona in 1940 for reasons of health. He is 

survived by his daughter and two sons, tlve 

grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren. 

Harold Konover, 69. former independent 

motion picture exhibitor and distributor 

based in Hartford, died in Miami Beach Konover 

operated the first run. downtown 

Strand in Connecticut's capitol city He also 

implemented a lineup of independent foreign 

product for US distribution. 

Lillie Lucille (Bill) Phillips, owner of the Eagle 

Theatre in Stilwell. Okla and a longtime member 

of the United Theatre Owners of Oklahoma, 

died this autumn Her theatre closed 

shortly thereafter. 

Theatre manager Warren C. Girton, 79, 

employed by Pennsylvania's Comerford 

Theatre Co chain trom 1928 to 1965, died 

recently He had retired in 1973. 

40 BOXOFFICE

n^^^npf^v^^nr^^rr 

Reviews 

from near-death and vows to live on — so long as Johnr 

doesn't marry Loretta 

While Loretta's plight forms the heart of the story, there 

much more to "Moonstruck " Loretta's family is a rirhl-. 

drawn Italian-American brood, and they all have delightful 

opinions on (and problems with) love The most touching; 

character is Rose (Olympia Dukakis), Loretta's mother, who 

knows that her husband is cheating on her and is unable to 

understand why At one point she asks Johnny. Loretta's 

oafish fiance, why men chase women Johnny reminds Rose 

that, according to the bible, woman was made by taking a rib 

from man Maybe. Johnny figures, man is just trying to get 

his rib back, because it's left a soft spot over his hean In this 

wise and sweet observation, "Moonstruck's" whole mood 

and message is captured 

Despite the tremendous supporting cast, "Moonstruck" is 

Cher's movie Here is finally a character that allows the 

actress' sweetness to shine through, instead of relying on her 

familiar toughness The woman literally glows in this role, 

and any fan who has endorsed her acting skills (even 

through some embarrassing performances) will be more 

than satisfied 

The film is rated PG for language. Tom Matthews 

— 

HOPE AND GLORY 

Stamng Sebastian Rice Edwards, Sarah Miles, Sammi Davis 

and Ian Bannen 

Written, produced and directed by John Boorman 

A Columbia Pictures release Drama with comedy, rated Pr, 

13 Running time 113 min Screening date 10/15/87 

MOONSTRUCK 

Siarnng Cher, Nicolas Cage. Danny AieJlo, Vincent Gardenia 

and Olympia Dukakis 

Pruduced by Norman Jewisim and Patnck Palmer Directed 

by Norman jewisim Written by John Patnck Shanley 

An MGM'UA release Comedy, rated PG Running time: 97 

mm Screenmg date 9/15/87 

"Moonstruck" is a precious and magnificent ode to the 

moon It is certainly one of the most heartfelt screwball 

romances ever made, as it salutes love and lunacy and 

makes the observation that, with a full moon as a m-ronspir.itor. 

the two are often the same thing 

A warm and hilarious salute to love and all of its 

complications. I'ut this on j douhlf bill with 

"Roxjnnr" jnd uji< h your judii-nt r go t ompletely 

sappy. 

War is hell. .And for a rebuttal comes .John Boorman, 

vtith this absolutely grand look at life during the Blit/. 

Tuo weeks on 16 screens brought in a hopeful 

$230,000. 

In these turbulent times, there is something intrinsically 

wrong with romanticizing any aspect of war. But "Hope and 

Glory," John Boorman's autobiographical look at his childhood 

in London during the Blitz, is such a rich and humorous 

piece of work that one can't help having the oddest sense of 

envy for any child who lived through that exhilarating time 

Boorman was there, and there are simply too many moments 

that ring true for this to be anything other than a recreation 

of real events. We can only be thankful that Boorman was 

perceptive enough of a child to record these events, and to 

then have grown up to be a filmmaker good enough to plav 

them back for us. 

Cher stars as Loretta. a widow with a good heart and a long 

run of bad luck As the story opens, she has agreed to marry 

Johnny (Danny Aiello). a sweet and bumbling hunk of a man 

who. although a real charmer, is completely wrong for her 

Johnny is on his way to Italy to tend to his dying mother, and 

his parting request of Loretta is that she call Ronny (Nicolas 

Cage), Johnny's brother Johnny and Ronny haven't seen 

each other for years due to some horrible falling out. but 

Johnny is determined to have Ronny at his wedding 

Loretta meets Ronny. and they immediately take a dislike 

of each other Ronny. a sullen and extremely angr\' young 

man, lost his hand in a meat carver five years ago and he 

blames Johnny for the accident Loretta is determined to 

smooth things over between the brothers but as things happen 

m screwball comedies, these two completely mismatched 

souls end up in bed together In the kind of loopy 

logic that permeates the film, Loretta figures that if she 

sleeps with her fiance's brother, the brother will have his 

revenge, the score will be settled, and the brother will < ome 

to the wedding, which is what the fiance wants more than 

anythmg By the lime that Johnny gets bark from Italy, 

Loretta is determined to marry Ronnv. whi< h is okay with 

Johnny because his mother has made a remarkable recovery 

Review Index 

Anna R-8 

Babette's Feast R-8 

Belly of an Architect, Th« R-7 

Cry Freedom R-2 

Fatal Beauty R-4 

Gaby R-6 

Glass Menagerie. The R-7 

Hiding Out R-2 

Hope and Glory R-1 

House ot Games R-7 

Less Than Zero R-3 

Moonstruck R-1 

No Man's Land R-3 

Surrender R-5 

Suspect 

R-S 

Whales ot August. The R-6 

Januiir\. I^'KK K I

— 

— 

Boorman's premise is simple, if not more than a little 

offbeat. His point is that through a child's eyes, the bombings 

and constant threat of peril that haunted London during 

World War II were a source of adventure, not terror. Humor 

of the most human kind — that borne of shared anguish and 

relief — outweighs the occasional moments of grief, and it 

makes "Hope and Glory" a unique and memorable look at an 

unexplored side of wartime. 

The film is rated PG-13 for language, violence and sexual 

situations. Tom Mattlicius 

Washington), nor is it even directly about apartheid. It is 

chiefly about Donald Woods (Kevin Kline), the white journalist 

who met Biko, became convinced of the rightness of 

his cause and then had to sneak himself and his family out of 

South Africa so that he could publish a highly critical book 

about Biko's death at the hands of the white establishment. 

For long periods at a time (and this is a vers' long movie), it's 

possible to even forget Biko, who dies halfway through the 

story And for that to happen, given Richard Attenborough's 

obvious concern for the subject, is unforgivable. 

What if "Gandhi" had really been about Gandhi's best 

friends That's the problem nith "Cry Freedom," a Sim 

that is far less moving than it should be. 

The whole last hour of the film is a simple escape movie, 

and not a terribly involving one at that. Kline is a little too 

stoic and strident as the liberal newspaperman and despite 

the obvious risk that he is taking in smuggling his manuscript 

out of South Africa, the tension is not what it should 

be. Washington is very good, but again, he's not the star. Biko 

has two major scenes in the film, one in which he's showing 

Woods around a black township and other in which he's 

forced to testify before a courtroom, but in both he is more of 

a source of story exposition than he is a man. He gives 

speeches — he doesn't talk — as he presents Woods (and us) 

with the history of black oppression up to that point, and 

then he leaves the story. He could be any well-spoken activist; 

we never get any sense of who Biko was and how he 

came to become a now-legendary figure in the fight against 

apartheid. 

That the same man who made "Gandhi" could diminish 

such a rich and vital character is truly disappointing. Given 

Attenborough's track record and the basis of the film, "Cry 

Freedom" will automatically receive critical notice and 

Oscar talk. But the chances of such attention translating into 

healthy boxoflfice is questionable. 

The film is rated PG for violence. Tom Mattltcwa 

CRY FREEDOM 

.St/iDini; Ki.i'iii Ktiiu\ t)c}}zi\ Waalunglon (ind Pcnelupc Wiltun 

I'ri/diicc.d and diicctcd hi) Ku liaid Attcnhinuugli 

Written In/ 

John Brilf.y 

A Universal I'tctiircs release Drama, rated I'd Runnint], time 

157 mm Screeninv, date: ] 1/2/87. 

" 

As has been mentioned elsewhere, "Cry Freedom ically 

does make an unfortunate choice of focus. This film is not 

about slain South African activist Stephen Biko (Uenzel 

HIDING OUT 

Starring Jim Cryer, Keith Coogctn, Annaheth Gtsh and Oliver 

Cotton 

I'rodiieed hy JefJ Rotliherg Directed hy Hob Giraldi Written 

by Joe Menosky and lej]' Rotliherg 

A DEC release Aetitm-amiedy, rated rC-l.i Running time: 

98 mm Screening date: 10/28/87 

Jon Cryer stars in "Hiding Out" as Andrew, a 27-year-old, 

baby-faced stock broker whose life is threatened when he 

R-2 BoxorilCE

agrees to testify against a mobster Adopting the guise of a 

teenager, he slips into his cousin's (Keith Coogan) high 

school and immediately begins to appreciate the simpler 

pace of tecnaged life — a life he hated the first time around 

He falls in love with a pleasingly-plump senior and unwittingly 

gets elected class president before the hoodlum finally 

tracks him down and a shootout ensues Andrew survives 

to testify, and then gets relocated in a witness protection 

program to the same Iowa town where his high school sweetie 

is now going to college (and is now presumably old 

enough for Andrew to cease worrying about statutory rape 

charges). 

— 

— 

"Hiding Out" is basically an "If I only had the chance to do 

it all over again" story, but with much of its heart cut out. It's 

amusing in a simple way and is occasionally even perceptive, 

but writers Joe Menosky and Jeff Rothberg don't seem 

capable of telling the story they want to tell. 'The presskit 

likens the movie to "Peggy Sue Got Married," but "Hiding 

Out" doesn't really want to take the time to explore 

Andrew's former life, why it was so awful, and why he's 

better off having lived through high school a second time 

The film just relies on the more obvious sources of gags that 

the scenario provides and while Cryer is surprisingly good in 

his role, he's not a good enough actor to carry the film and 

not a popular enough of an actor to sell the film Not a bad 

effort from DEC but like "From the Hip" and "Bedroom 

Window." this is a potentially strong idea handled predictably 

and featunng a sort-of-popular actor who can't guarantee 

ticket sales. 

The film is rated PG-13 for language and violence. Tom 

Mallhews 

NO MAN'S LAND 

iKjrMNj; ( luiTiw. .tni:in, ij li Swi.cncy, Lara Harris and Randy 

Quatd 

Produced hy loseph Stem and Dick Wolf Directed hy Peter 

Werner Writlcn hy Dick Wolf 

An Drum Pictures release Action-drama, rated K Running 

time 106 mm Aspect ratio 1 85 Screening date 10/29/87 

Thi-' kiiii III lit- ill. nil. I .ilxiiii higli-Kt li i.ir f/iiVics 

st.irfs nut gn.il, ihvti t.ikrs .i >. 'fi> Man .s Uiiicl is llial i.iicsl dI 

birds, the tnily smart B-movie This sleek and surprisingly 

cerebral tale of an ine:xpenenc:ed young (op who is asked to 

pose as a high lech Porsche thief and ends up being seduced 

by the dark side is much more than just an excuse to show 

speeding Porsches and subsequent car crashes, although its 

ads would never tell you that D B. Sweeney is good (if a littli 

lackluster) as the pure-as-milk cop who finds fast cars and 

gorgeous women hard to resist, and Charlie Sheen is perfer i 

as the head of the Los Angeles car theft ring who leads 

Sweeney astray Sheen is perfect, that is, once you get pasi 

the fact that his character was obviously written for an actor 

at least 

15 years older than he is. 

The film builds to an interesting point where Sweeney has 

developed a genuine friendship with Sheen, and simplv 

refuses to believe that Sheen is guilty of the murders that 

Sweeney is supposed to be investigating But then at this 

point, the film becomes diffused. Sheen learns that Swcene\ 

is a cop, but oddly docs nothing about it for a long timi 

Sweeney finds out that there is another cop — a crooked cop 

— working for Sheen, but his introduction into the story just 

makes it confusing Suddenly th

— 

rated 

— 

screen. So they've taken the novel, removed the one thing 

that made it unique, and made a story about very rich and 

very good-looking kids who have some problems, but who 

appear to just be in need of a good guidance counselor. 

Andrew McCarthy, the Brat Packer (male or female) most 

prone to crying, stars as Clay, a sensitive type who used to 

run with Blair (Jami Gertz) and Julian (Robert Downey Jr.) 

before going away to college. Now he's home to find that 

Blair has become a coke-snorting fashion model and that 

Julian is $50,000 in debt to a drug dealer/pimp (James Spader) 

and has turned to male prostitution to help pay it off. 

There is much tension (and much sex between Julian and 

Blair) before Clay rescues Julian from the drug dealer. 

These youngsters are definitely screwed up — Julian ends 

up dying — but they've all been given hearts of gold, which 

negates the premise of the whole story. Only Spader's character 

comes close to portraying the revulsion generated by 

the book, but he also proves the filmmaker's original theory: 

A film filled with people like him would be unbearable. So 

we're left with a stylishly made but terribly hollow film that 

may still do well by attracting youngsters who aspire to be 

spoiled, drugged-out, sexed-out monsters. We're just not 

sure anyone should be encouraging such things. 

The film is rated R for language, sexual situations and 

extensive drug use. Tom Matthews 

Whoopi stars in this ultra-violent, ultra-annoying cop 

comedy as Rita Rizzoli, an L.A. crime-stopper obsessed with 

getting a killer strain of cocaine off the streets. When she 

starts poking around the mansion of the wealthy businessman 

responsible for the drug, the hood assigns his bodyguard, 

Mike (Sam Elliot), to keep an eye on her. The two 

\ € 

FATAL BEAUTY 

Starring Wlioiijn Gohllicig, Sam Elliot, Riihoi Blades and 

Brad Dourif 

Produeed by Leonard Kroll Direetcd by Tom Holland Wntten 

by Hilary Henkin and Dean Riesner 

An MGM/UA release Aetion-comedy , R Running time: 

104 min Screening date: 10/21/87. 

"See this movie, or I'll shoot your /f>.l'

the whole film, and was so over-the-top in his attempts to 

wreck Kathleen's case, that anyone who didn't see this one 

coming should be banished to watching old "I'erry Mason" 

renins. What >s surprising is how lifeless both Cher and 

Quaid arc She has never been duller and he, on the heals of 

two great perfonnances this summer, seems to already be 

relying too heavily on a short repertoire of mannerisms Wc 

would lay odds that at one point "Suspect" was a great script, 

but somewhere the power of the story has been completely 

lost. 

The film is rated R for language and violence. 

thews 

— 

Tom Mat 

Suspect 

Siaiitui; Cho. Dennis Quaiil and Liam Nccson 

Pruduced by Daniel A Sherkow Directed by Peter Yates 

'ntten by Enc Roth 

A Trt-Star Pictures release Drama, rated R Running time 

21 min A-iVi' raim 7 ."J.S Srrrrnini; ilnif 10 21 87 

"his convoluted courtroom drama made $7.9 million 

n its first 10 days, but business was doHTt 35 percent 

hr SCI ond wi-rkrnd. Case closed. 

Courtroom dramas don't come much sillier than "Sus- 

>ect" Cher stars as Kathleen Riley, a dedicated public 

efender, and Dennis Quaid plays Eddie Sanger, a Washingon 

lobbyist who is reluctantly called to serve as a juror 

uring one of Kathleen's trial Kathleen is defending a deaf 

nd dumb transient (Liam Neeson) who seems to be guilty of 

nurdering a female federal employee, but Sanger — for reaons 

that are never quite clear — decides to turn amateur 

elective and start trying to solve the case himself When he 

tarts finding solid clues he is forced to make them known to 

Lathleen, which is a blatant violation of court rules (lawyers 

nd jurors must never discuss the case out of court). This 

elationship leads to peril and a ven,' weakly drawn 

omance 

SURRENDER 

Stanini; Salty I'lcld, Michael Caine, Steve Guttenherj; and 

Peter Boyle 

Executive producers Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus 

Produced by Aaran Spelling and Alan Greisman Directed and 

Written by Jerry Bclson 

A Warner Bros release Comedy, rated PG Running time: 95 

mm 

"Surrender" is a frustrating batch of contradictions. The 

plot contains occurrences and coincidences that might seem 

at home in a farce But director-writer Jerry Belson moves 

the story along at a dull, lackadaisical pace, making the 

events seem silly instead of outrageous. Because it's a 

romantic comedy, one might expect it to look bright and 

cheery. But this is a Cannon production, so it looks dark, ugly 

and like it's been filmed through mud And though stars 

Sally Field and Michael Caine are two of the most likeable, 

resourceful actors in the business, they seem lost in their 

ill-defined roles. 

Do merry mishaps ensue when two good actors meet 

up uith a cost cutting production company? So. After 

three weekends, "Surrender" had done pretty much 

just that Hithjust $5.4 million. 

The stor\' begins with Sean Stein (Caine), a successful 

Beverly Hills author who — because of several divorces and 

palimony cases — is nearly broke. He's also left with a distrust 

of women Across town in the Hollywood Hills is Daisy 

(Field), a would-be artist who's stuck in a job that involves 

" 

stamping trees on assembly-line "paintings for hotel rooms 

She's been involved with wealthy men who have taken care 

of her needs, and is currently involved with a slick attorney 

(Steve Guttenberg), who alternately treats her as a child and 

a parent. 

"Suspects surpn.sr ending — thai the. )udgc. ui Kallieen's 

trial is actually responsible for the murdirr — is no 

lurprise at all Simple him logic told us that Kathleen's client 

wasn't guilty, and this judge had acted so evilly throughout 

Januar>. I*>KH K-5

: 

They're both attending a benefit cocktail party when 

thieves storm in and force everyone to strip down to their 

underwear and be tied up in pairs. But Daisy (ho-ho!) isn't 

wearing underwear! So when she and Sean are tied up face 

to face, they become unintentionally intimate. Later, when 

they begin to date, Sean claims to be a poor, never-published 

author, so he can test Daisy's true motives. 

But then Daisy dumps him, but then she learns his true 

identity and goes back to him, but then he learns what she 

learned, and back and forth. Then the old boyfriend returns 

to town after being kidnapped by angry natives somewhere, 

and Daisy wins millions of dollars in Vegas, and round and 

roimd we go until we reach the clunky ending. Sean brings 

home a hooker, who once stole his car, expecting to take 

revenge, but the hooker turns out to be a man, and Daisy 

walks in, and the hooker ties them up and robs them. 

They're back where they started and everything is fine. 

These plot devices play just as absurdly on screen as they 

sound on paper. Belson has even thrown in some ludicrous 

character quirks (Daisy can't tell a lie without violently 

blinking her eyes) that add to the forced silliness. 

In a fast-paced farce, where plot twists take priority over 

character, such details can add to the mounting hilarity. But 

without pacing and energy, and when spread out over a protracted 

length (actually "SuiTender" is 95 minutes long, but 

there are times when 95 minutes can seem protracted), they 

just seem dumb. 

It's rated PG for language and situations. Jimmy Summers 

THE WHALES OF AUGUST 

Starruig Bcttc Uiivis, IaUuiii Gish, Vmcoit Price and Ann 

Sothem 

Produced by Carolyn Pfcijfcr and Mike Kaplan Directed by 

Lindsay Anderson Written hy David Berry 

An Alive Films release Drama, rated PC Running time: 90 

mm Aspect ratio: 1 85 Screening date: 9/15/87. 

A well-intentioned hut disappointing vehicle for 

Lillian Gish and Bette Davis. Thanks to almost 

unanimous critical support, its hrst weekend in four 

theatres grossed a promising $127,254. 

It pains us to say this, but "The Whales of August" is not a 

very good film. While critics and film fans will no doubt 

defend this film as they would their own grandmothers, the 

fact is that this already weak story is not served well by Bette 

Davis and Lillian Gish. The simple fact is that in their twilight 

years, these two legends have not been activelyemployed 

actresses. Certainly they would be the first to 

— 

'"^Jî^ 

admit that acting is a craft that must be practiced and per 

Whales of August" that this has not been the case for eithe 

and has to depend completely on Sarah, but Sarah i 

through her sister's angry outbursts and overall depressior 

and Sothem), however, Libby softens and finds hope 

play and like "Orphans," the stodginess and confinement c 

the play have not been adapted successfully to the screer 

by the best of actresses, the story is simply too slight to hav 

fected endlessly and, sadly, it appears evident in "Th' 

actress. As game as they are in this film, the performance 

are disappointing 

The story is about two aged sisters who have lived in th 

same small home on the coast of Maine since they wer 

children. Libby (Davis) is cynical and simply waiting fo 

death, while Sarah (GishJ, is still youthful and wonderin 

whether she wants to remain with her sister. 

come 

Libby is blin' 

not sure that she wants to spend her last few years sufferin 

Through contact 

Ann 

with outsiders (played by Vincent Pric 

Sarah agrees to stay, and the two sisters sit to wait for th 

whales that have come every year since they were chil 

dren. 

Like "Orphans," "The Whales of August" is based on 

All of the action is propelled by dialogue, but even if spoke 

the kind of intimacy that a play might have. Look forglowin 

reviews of "The Whales of August," but the slim storv' an 

the unsatisfying acting should quell any word of mouth. 

Tom Matthews 

GABY—A TRUE STORY 

Starring Liv Ullmann, Norma Aleandro, Rachel Levin an 

Robert Loggia 

Produced by Pinchas Perry Directed by Luis Mandoki Wri] 

ten by Martin Salinas and Michael James Love. 

A Tri-Star Pictures release Biographical drama, rated I- 

Running time: 114 mm Aspect ratio: 1 85 Screening date: i 

20/87 

"Gaby—A True Story" is about as daring as a film can ge 

in testing the limits of a inainstream audience. It takes a 

honest, unflinching look at the severely handicapped vie 

tims of cerebral palsy, even delving into their sex lives. It' 

not particularly pretty, it's 

— 

not easy to watch and pans of 

are tediously slow, yet how better to dramatize the exper 

ence of an invalid who must depend on others for even th 

simplest of things? 

The film is based on the inspiring life of Gabriella Brirr 

mer, who was bom with disabilities so severe that she coul 

not speak or walk or move her hands. She wrote her origins 

story, from which the movie evolved, on an electric type 

writer that she operated with her one fimctional limb, he 

left foot. For an actress to play a role with such physics 

limitations is extraordinary, but newcoiner Rachel Levi 

does so with poignancy and dignity. 

This is not just a story about the disabled. Luis Mandol 

has created an inspiring film about a woman's struggle t 

express herself in the face of overwhelming doubt. Gaby' 

story begins where "The Miracle Worker" left off, with th 

first breakthrough in communication between teacher an 

student. In her first English-speaking role, the fine Mexica 

actress from "The Official Story," Nonna Aleandro, play 

the nanny and lifelong companion to Gaby who discovere 

that trapped in a useless body, was an intelligent woman. 

Gaby grows up to be discontent with the education offere 

the handicapped and braves her way into and tlirough th 

public school system and on to college, hoping that someda 

she will be acknowledged and understood bv "normal 

people. Her story is about breaking through limitations, 

testament to tenacity and believing in oneself 

Topping the list of credits is Liv Ullmann. But don't expec 

the kind of performance for which she became famou 

under Swedish director Ingmar Bergman. It will be a disap 

pointment to her fans that her role is not very large. Ull 

mann plays Gaby's mother, a woman of considerable com 

plexity, but the character is over idealized. As Gaby's father 

Robert Loggia also seems strong and sensitive, Inu too gooi 

to be real. 

The film is rated R for bared breasts and a very brief bn 

intense scene of lovcmaking. 

Karen Kreps 

- 

R-6 BOXOFFKF.

i 

THE GLASS MENAGERIE 

Siarnng Jiiannc Woodward, Juhn Malkuvich, Karen Allen and 

Jaryics Naughton 

Produced by Burti Hams Directed by Paul Newman Based 

on the play by Tennessee Williams 

A Cmeplex Odeon release Drama, rated PG Running time 

134 mm Screening date 10/22/87 

Paul Newman's filmed recreation of Tennessee William's 

"The Glass Menagerie" is equal parts a success and a disappointment 

On the plus side is the cast, a kind of dream 

gathering of actors the likes of which most people won't be 

able to see in the countless renditions of the play that community 

theatres are prone to do Joanne Woodward is perfect 

in the role of Amanda, the wilting socialite who wishes 

nothing but the best for her two children, while at the same 

lime smothering them with her own neuroses Oddly, 

though, her character somehow shrinks into the background 

in Nevvman's staging of the story, allowing the two children 

— Tom, the cynical wanderer, and Laura, the agonizingly 

shv spinster-to-be — to shine. As Tom, John Malkovich is 

perhaps too prone to affectation; although his role (and 

indeed the whole play) is supposed to be fantasy, Malkovich 

is perhaps a bit too "out there" The real surprise of the film 

is Karen Allen as Laura Laura is (he pivotal character in the 

play and when she finally receives her Gentleman Caller 

(James Naughton) toward the end of the story, it is the kind 

of scene that can make or break a play Naughton and Allen 

pull it off beautifully, Naughton's character gracefully pulling 

Laura out of her shell, just before breaking her heart for 

good 

Kracklile begins suffering from intense stomach cramp 

and vomiting, and assumes that his wife is poisoning hin 

Coming home sick one day, he finds his wife in bed witi 

Caspian, whi(.h only drives Kra< klite into an affair with Flas 

ia, Caspian's sister Because of his affair Kracklite loses th' 

funding for his project, and then finds out that he has stn 

mach cancer and has only six months to live He goes on 

with his exhibition and during the opening ceremonies, hl^ 

wife gives birth (in unrealistically short time) to Kracklile 

child. Then, Kracklite- kills himself by throwing himself off 

balcony 

— 

A fair recreation of a great play, the first week in one 

\rn York theatre brought in a soso $21,000. Laura 

may hj\f to blow out her candles sooner than I'aul 

\et*man had hoped. 

The problem with "The Glass Menagerie" is one that perhaps 

no director could lick. As a play, the audience is 

allowed to stay just outside the dingy St. Louis apartment 

where the story takes place and is able to experience the 

story simply as an observer. In the film, which is shot mainly 

in two-shots and closeups, our contact is too intimate. We 

lose the sense of the apartment, which in a way is a major 

character in the story Our eyes can no longer wander 

around the cell in which this family is trapped because Newman, 

by necessity, is using the camera to force us to see 

what he wants us to see. Consequently, while Williams's 

words are recorded faithfully and without much tampering, 

the means by which his play is related to the audience are 

probably not what he had in mind This is certainly a wellintentioned 

piece of work, but it's hard to predict who will be 

interested in seeing it Serious theatre-goers have undoubtedly 

seen the play many times already, and everyone else 

may be put off by the "arthouse" quality of the film A noble 

project, but probably not a money-maker. 

The film is rated PG for language.—Tf.>f>i Matthews 

THE BELLY OF AN ARCHITECT 

Starring Brian Dennehy. Chltie Webb and Iximbert Wils/m 

Produced by Colin Callender and Walter Donohuc Written 

and directed by Peter Grecnaway 

A Hr.mdale release Drama, not rated Running time 120 

mm Aspect ratio 1 66 Screening date 9/28/87 

"The Belly of an Architect 

" 

is about a distinguished Amerin 

architect named Stourley Kracklite (Brian Dennehy), 

:io goes to Rome with his beautiful young wife, Louisa 

hloe Webb), to put on an exhibition in memory of his hero, 

.1 little-known 18th century French architect named 

Etienne-Louis Boiille Kracklite is so obse.s.sed with the past 

that he ignores the present, including his wife .Soon, a handsome 

voimg Italian architect named Caspian (I-imbert Wilson) 

spots Louisa as a woman looking for a romanm interlude 

Rome has never looked so stunning, nor its 

architecture 

been so celebrated than it is in this film. This is a visualh 

arresting film, with high-style sets and costumes by Missoni 

but it is often hard to understand and that which is understood 

is not particularly engaging. The film revolves around 

intellectual concepts like art, architecture, obsession and 

loneliness, but it is too dark and its characters too unsyinp.i 

thetic. Still, having a mainstream actor like Brian Denneh\ 

in the lead may open up "The Belly of an Architect 

" 

audiences beyond the European arthouse circuit. Me is ,i 

giant of a man and a giant of an actor He shows both thi 

comic and tragic sides of this creative genius, much in thi 

way that Orson Welles — to whom he bears resemblance - 

did. All of the other actors pale next to him except for Chloi 

Webb ("Sid and Nancy"), who is very good despite her pecu 

liarly unnatural voice. 

The him is not rated, but it contains full male and femali 

nudity and explicit sexual situations. Karen Krcps 

HOUSE OF GAMES 

.,;.4i/i)ii; i.iiiti.Mii) (./..;..,.. /..I Maiitcgna, Mike Sussbaum rtii. 

Li7ia Skala 

Produced by Michael Hausman Directed and Written )' 

David Mamet 

An Oriim Pictures release. Drama, rated R Running (im< 

102 mm 

l)i> Mill II.ml III sif it.' //i/s mm if, I iiir.in. No.' )(>u'n 

not .ilonr. Alter three iwcA.s it had ni.iilr i>iil\ 

.. T'SS K

— 

— 

— 

' 

that's much closer in style to Mamet's work in the theatre. 

And that could be the movie's commercial downfall. 

Because, you see, people in Mamet's plays. They talk like 

this. You understand? Like this. In staccato. Some actors can 

pull it off. Like Joe Mantegna. He's good. Real good. Others 

can't. Okay? Audiences unfamiliar with Mamet. That's most 

audiences. Will find it too odd and cold to connect with. 

Lindsay Grouse plays Margaret Ford, a celebrity psychologist 

who has repressed her own feelings to the point that 

she's become cold and nearly friendless. When one of her 

patients — a young man with hefty gambling debts — turns 

to her for help, Dr. Ford visits the holder of the lOU's, Mike 

(Mantegna). Mike, who's likeable despite his obvious sleaziness, 

agrees to tear up the lOU's if Margaret will help him 

get out of a tight spot in a poker game. The whole arrangement 

turns out to be a scam designed to bilk money out of 

the naive doctor. Margaret sees through the scam at the last 

minute and everyone has a good laugh. 

deference to their late father, the stem founder of a Luther 

an sect renouncing earthly pleasures, the women never mar 

ried although their youthful beauty have attracted many sui 

tors. 

Despite their rigid devotion to poverty and austerity, thi 

sisters retain a French maid, Babette (Stephane Audran) 

Babette had come to them desperate for work and over th( 

14 years that she has worked for the sisters, she has becomi 

an indispensible member of the household. After years o 

cooking for the sisters' austere diet, Babette finally implore: 

them to allow her to cook a French meal for the commemo 

ration of their late father's centenary. But when they see thi 

ingredients arrive — live tortoises, quails and wine — th( 

sisters feel that it will be a witch's sabbath and they panic 

They reluctantly go ahead with the dinner, with the wholi 

town invited (the sisters beg everyone to eat the food withi 

out tasting it and without saying anything about it). Only thi 

General, one of Martina's suitors, cannot keep himself fron: 

raving about the food and his appreciation of it leads to i 

tender reunion with Martina. The wine soon mellows all th«i 

cantankerous parishioners, so they drop all their old quarreli 

and petty jealousies and just enjoy themselves. 

The feast, with its elegant tablesetting, many courses an( 

many wines, is four-star. As food productions go, it's right up * 

there with "Tampopo." Watching people who have neve) 

had more than codfish and ale-bread soup taste fine Frencl 1 

food for the first time and then have to try and hide thei ! 

enjoyment makes for extravagant humor. All of the charao, ^ 

ters are so human, so endearingly drawn, that it's impossibk • 

not to laugh until you cry over their idiosyncracies. 

It's a pleasure to see an intelligent, entertaining adult film ji 

that contains nothing that demands an adult rating. Karet \ 

Kreps 

Instead of angry, Margaret is intrigued. Mike shows her a 

few more scams and before she realizes it, she's caught up in 

an elaborate scheme that's been in the planning stages for 

weeks. The scam goes bad, the police arrive and Margaret 

accidentally kills a detective during a struggle. 

Margaret returns to her office shaken, but soon she realizes 

that everything that has happened in the past two days 

is part of a greater scam designed to take advantage of her. 

Margaret confronts Mike and guns him down. 

After a vacation, Margaret returns to her practice a new, 

happier woman — but one who picks pockets in her spare 

time. 

Even the least perceptive viewer should be several steps 

ahead of Dr. Margaret, since the tricks and scams pulled on 

her are obvious and familiar. "The Sting" it's not. But the 

argument can be made that Mamet isn't really concerned 

with fooling us. The story is more concerned with Margaret 

and her desire to find a release — a desire that becomes so 

overwhelming that she's blind to what's being done to her. 

That, however, is intellectual doodling, and though it can 

be fun, it's not what most audiences want out of a movie. 

Most audiences want a good story and believable characters, 

and unfortunately "House of Games" supplies neither. 

It's rated R for language. fimmy Summers 

BABETTE'S FEAST 

Starting Stephanie Aiuban, Biidil K)er, Birgitte Fcderapiel, 

Bibi Anderson and Jean-PhiUppe Lafont 

Produced by Bo Christenseri Written and directed by Gabriel 

Axel, from the short story by Isak Dinesen 

An Orion Classics release. Comedy, not rated In Danish until 

English subtitles Running time: 102 min Aspect ratio: I 66 

Screening date- 9/28/87 

You have to wait a long, long time for dinner in "Babettc's 

Feast," but the feast is so delectable that it's worth the wait. 

The rest is all aperitif 

A narrator introduces us to the characters who live in a 

tiny and remote Danish fishing village. Here live two elderly 

but beautiful sisters, Martina (Birgitte Fedcrspicl) and I'hilippa 

(Bodil Kjer), who an^ devoted to piety and charity In 

ANNA 

Starrmg Sally Kirkland. Paulina Porizkova and Rober. 

Fields 

Produced by Jidianne Gilliam and Deirdre Gainor Directei 

by Yurek Bogayevicz Written by Agriieszka Holland 

A Vestron Pictures release Drama, rated PG-13 Runninj 

time: 100 mm Aspect ratio: 1 85 Screening date: 9/30/87 

"Anna," from a sometimes himiorous, often poignant — 

but not too credible — script by Agnieszka Holland, is abou 

Anna (Sally Kirkland), a successful Czech screen star whosi 

outspokenness against the 1968 Russian invasion led to he 

exile. Now living in America and desperately trying to earn ; 

living as an actress, she is at an Off-Broadway audition u'hei 

she meets Krystyna (Paulina Porizkova), a bedraggled younj 

Czech woman who begs for Anna's help before collapsing a 

her feet. 

While Krystyna is still unconscious, Antia discovers tha. 

the young woman is a fan of hers and carries with her i 

scrapbook devoted to her early days on the screen. Anna i; 

touched and in scenes that are alternately maternal anr 

sisterly, the older actress takes the young woman under hei 

wing and teaches Krystyna English, how to dress, and how t( 

tell Americans what they want to hear. Together they go t(j 

another Off-Broadway audition, where Krystyna uses i 

tragic story from Anna's own life as part of the audition tha. 

ultimately gets her the role that Anna had wanted. Krs'stynfi 

is catapulted to moviestar fame, taking Anna's sometime! 

lover, Daniel (Robert Fields), with her. Crushed, Anna suf 

fers a nervous breakdown. 

Sally Kirkland proves to be an exceptional leading lady ir 

her role as the aging, exiled star. Adopting a convincinj 

Czech accent, she plays her role as if she has lived it. A 

times she appears old and haggard, other times youthful am 

glamorous. Cast opposite her is Porizkova, the famous fash 

ion model who is making her film debut here. Yes, she'l 

pretty, even in her early scenes when her teeth arc hideous 

ly decrepid — a sign of having been raised in Easterr 

Europe But can she act? Let's just say that she's vent' pret' 

ty 

This poignant and ,it times luunorous drama will mov(^ 

most adult viewers, but particularly so immigrants and 

women over 40. They may resent, however, the film's happy 

ending, that has Krystyna paying for a face lift for Anna. 

The film is rated PG-Li for partial female nudity, violenct 

and language. Karen Kreps 

' 

R-8 BOXOFFICE

'. 

REVIEW DIGEST « HOLLYWOOD UPDATES - 

Story type key: (Ac) Action: (Ad) Adventure: (An) Animated: (B) 

'iography: (C) Comedy. (Cr) Cnme: (D) Drama. (DM) Drama with 

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My) Mystery: (OD) Outdoor. (Pol) Political. (R) Romantic: (SF) 

cience Fiction: (Sua) Suspense. (W) Western 

a 

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BOX(

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audience response 31 6-687-61 36 

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Ad index 

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Response No. 47

JANUARY 1988 

Void after March 1988 

Reader Service 

more information, 

1 advarllMmant and product naw*

Last year OSRAM Xenon bulbs 

projected an extra 4,500,000 movies. 

In 1986 alone. OSRAM Xenon bulbs delivered 

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The problem is the day isn't long enough to show all 

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