Foot in the Door?

LEVOY OFF His TELEPIX NUT, headlined Hollywood's Daily Variety.

Translated, this meant that Gordon Levoy, film producer, attorney and a founder of Republic Pictures Corp., had gotten back his original investment on a venture in which movie men had expected him to lose his shirt. More than that, by making 52 movie shorts (15 minutes) for use on television, Levoy now stood to net an estimated $500,000.

The movies were made last year for Procter & Gamble Co., which paid $91,000 for first transmission rights on their TV Fireside Theater, for such stories as The Courting of Belle and The Pardoner's

Tale. After P. & G. used them the films reverted to Levoy, who sold them again last week to the Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc. for a down payment of $225,000 and a 50-50 split between CBS and Levoy on future revenues. In so doing, Levoy proved that it is possible for Hollywood to make short movies for TV and rent them out for first, second and even third runs, in the same way that movies are now sold to theaters.

Last week, other Hollywoodians were hard at work on the same idea. Gene Autry signed up to make six half-hour westerns (with options to film an additional 46 shorts) for Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co., Autry's radio sponsor. Wrigley agreed to pay from 30% to 50% of the production costs for first transmission rights. After the first run, Autry will be free to sell the films to other TV sponsors.

Bing Crosby Enterprises was also putting its money (but not its Bing) into the making of 44 half-hour shorts, at an average cost of $12,000 apiece, for this year's Fireside Theater, with all secondary rights held by Crosby's firm. (Samples: The Man Without a Country, The Canterville Ghost.) Grant-Realm, another Hollywood outfit, has made 26 half-hour films of short stories for American Tobacco Co., at a cost of between $9,000 and $15,000 apiece.

Even so, the first-second-third-run booking system was just a foot in TV's door. Before the door could swing wide open to new full-length features, a way would have to be found to pay for them. Many Hollywoodians thought that the problem might eventually be solved either by a booking system similar to Levoy's or by something like the "pay as you see" Phonevision promoted by Zenith Radio's Eugene McDonald Jr.

Under Phonevision, subscribers would have their specially equipped TV sets hooked up to their telephones. Normally, the Phonevision broadcast of a new movie, sports event or Broadway show would be "scrambled," i.e., it would be telecast as a meaningless blur by blocking key frequencies from the television band and channeling them through telephone wires. If a Phonevision subscriber wanted to see a movie, he would call the operator and she would plug in the missing frequencies to unscramble the broadcast. The fee for each movie (perhaps $1) would be put on the phone bill, and McDonald would share it with the movie company, TV station, etc. Phonevision may get its first commercial test next autumn, when Gene McDonald hopes to try it out for 90 days with 300 home televiewers.

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