Cinema: Present Imperfect

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Moviemakers, sweltering through the dog days of August, were distrustful of the present and worried about the future. ¶ At Warner Bros., the list of actors under contract reached an all-time modern low of six, including Virginia Mayo. ¶ The Technicolor musical Kiss Me Kate will be released in four shapes and sizes this November: 1) small screen flat, 2) small screen 3-D, 3) large screen flat, 4) large screen 3-D. Meanwhile, many movie-men were beginning to think that 3-D was less a shot in the arm than a bump on the head: box-office returns on the latest 3-D films are showing a steady decline from the top grosses of such early novelty hits as Bwana Devil and The House of Wax. Because many theater owners believe the profit on 3-D pictures is not yet enough to pay off the added cost of enlarged projection booths, extra machines and extra operators, only 2,100 of the nation's 21,500 theaters are equipped to show 3-D. ¶ M-G-M may have scented a new trend: the original Lassie movie has been remade into a film called Gypsy Colt in which the lovable old canine has been replaced by a horse.

¶ President Eisenhower delivered another blow to the cinema industry (the first: his pocket veto of the bill granting relief from federal taxes to movie theaters—TIME, Aug. 17). The President plugged a tax loophole through which movie stars have avoided paying income taxes by staying outside the U.S. for an 18-month period. The amended bill limits to $20,000 the amount of tax-exempt earnings within an 18-month period, and will probably do much to bring movie stars, writers and producers home.