Memoirs of Peter Boudoures Chapter 54 Showing the Movie is Not Easy

Peter Boudoures being sworn in to the SF Board of Appeals

Upon the completion of the shooting, we returned to the United States for the editing and for adding the sound effects. This could not be done in Greece. The background music that we used in the movie was performed by the Athens Philharmonic Orchestra.

When the picture was ready, we showed it for the first time in the screening room of Fox West Coast Theaters. Some critics were present and it received good reviews. The same evening the picture was shown in the penthouse of the Fox West Coast Theaters for the benefit of Charles Skouras and some of his friends. They all seemed to like it, and congratulated me on the results. When I asked Charles if he would be interested in handling the distribution, he told me, "Peter, we don't deal in foreign pictures. Please see my brother Spiro. He has the organization for that and he should be able to advise you."

A few minutes later George Bowzer, General Manager of Fox West Coast Theaters, said to me, "Peter, don't ask Spiro or any of the major studios to handle it for you. If they do, it will get lost in the shuffle. Try to get a small, experienced agency to take it. It will require a lot of personal attention to properly market it."

We showed the picture to Spiro Skouras in New York, at his home. He told me that he was sorry but he couldn't handle the distribution. He recommended several agencies which could help me. I selected one, turned the distribution over to it, and promptly left for Greece.

The premiere showing in Greece was handled by "Young Spiro" Skouras. He was a nephew of George and Spiro and represented Fox Theaters and owned a number of theaters in Greece and was releasing pictures throughout that country. Young Spiro saw the picture and he liked it. We entered into an agreement for him to show it throughout Greece.

The premiere was shown at the Rex Theater in Athens. The King and Queen of Greece were present, as were many other dignitaries. It received plenty of publicity. The proceeds from the premiere went to the Queen Frederika Orphan Fund. The movie was initially shown in three cities; Athens, Pireaus and Los Angeles. Attendance in Greece was good. However, when I first got there I brought in dollars at 15,000 drachmas to the dollar. When the time came for us to change the proceeds into dollars to take home, the exchange was 30,000 drachmas to the dollar. I lost $20,000 to $25,000 on the devaluation of the drachma.

Back in the United States, my representative in New York was having difficulties finding a theater that would show the picture. I went to Spiro and asked for his help. He talked to a friend of his, who owned Trans-Lux Theaters, Inc. about showing the picture. This group owned a number of small theaters in New York. After seeing the picture, Spiro's friend agreed to show it at the Globe Theater on 46th and Broadway. I was to advance $8,500 guarantee and pay all expenses. I thought the rate was high. The man told me that it was the same as what was paid the week before for a movie about the Korean War staring Van Johnson. The movie was shown for two weeks and I came out $1,500 loser. The movie was shown at the Vogue Theater in San Francisco for two weeks and I lost $275. The picture was shown at the Wilshire Theater in Los Angeles with a lot of fanfare and publicity. It did well the first week, then nothing. I didn't lose money because Charles Skouras absorbed the loss.

I became desperate. I wrote to Spiro Skoures in New York. I told him that for forty-five years in this country I never had to ask for anything from anyone. To the contrary, I devoted much time and effort to helping hundreds of our people and many of our causes. I reminded him that he had made promises to me which he did not keep. Now, all I wanted was for him to take this picture off my hands or to find the proper people to take it over. I would abide by whatever terms he designated. I didn't care if I made money or lost money, so long as I could get this burden off my back. It was driving me crazy. Spiro called me and asked me what promises he had made to me. I answered, "Spiro, if you don't remember what promises you made, then there is no need for us to talk any further. Let's call it quits. You attend to your business, and I'll attend to mine. Somehow or other I'll get over this obstacle." He said, "Peter, don't get excited. I'll be in L.A. in two days. You come down and we'll talk."

I flew to Los Angeles and met him at the studios of Twentieth Century Fox. He introduced me to his distribution manager who viewed the picture. He said he liked it but that it needed some modifications. He suggested that we dub it in English and cut the running time from ninety minutes to seventy-five. When I proposed to Spiro that he get the work done for me, he said, "My dear friend, Pete, don't ask me to do that. You do it." Fortunately, in my many visits to the studio, I had gotten to know some of the people working on the technical end of movie making. I talked to them about their editing and dubbing the movie, and they agreed to do it for me. They would work on weekends and nights, on the side, to finish the picture at minimum cost. They promised me that they would do the best job humanly possible. Well, they kept their promise and did the job for approximately $10,000, a figure everyone considered reasonable. I sent to New York, the negative, the positive, the original movie and the new version, together with 125 prints of the new version, for which I paid $17,000.

In the meantime, the attorneys at Twentieth Century looked at the contracts that I had entered into with Greg Dallas, the director, Katsotis, the script writer, and Maria Costis, one of the actors. The attorneys insisted that I get a release from them to any rights they may have in the proceeds of the picture. Katsotis and Costis both signed the release. Greg Dallas would not answer my letter. He referred me to his attorney who demanded $750 for the release. That was what I called blackmail. The legal staff at Twentieth Century insisted that they had to have Dallas' Release, otherwise they could not proceed. I ended up having to pay for the release, even though Dallas' contract agreement was that he was only to get paid from profits, if any. Believe me, there were none.

Twentieth Century went on to market the picture as best it could. What came out of it is no concern to anyone but to me and the investors. It was a great experience. The dream that I had was shattered like many other dreams. I resolved to go back and take care of the little restaurant that had sustained me for all those many years. I could then decide what else I could do.

(Today the movie is in the archives at Twentieth Century Fox. Evidently, the rights to the movie belong to Boudoures's four beneficiaries. Fox Studios, currently, will not release the film without the written approval of all four beneficiaries.)

In 1956 I took a trip with my wife to New York. From there we took a boat to visit some of her relatives in Norway. We got off at Oslo and spent thirty days traveling throughout beautiful Norway and Sweden. I was astonished at the cleanliness of the area and the progress the people had made. There was much to be admired in what they had achieved. We then drove through Denmark, Holland, Belgium, Germany, France Switzerland, Italy and finally to Greece. We traveled for six months before we returned to the States.

My hometown in Greece needed considerable improvements. Women would have to carry water on their backs for fifteen or twenty minutes up hill to the village. In l959, my cousin George Nichols, his son Lonny of Montreal, and I, together with a compatriot from Germany, and we arranged to have running water brought to the village. The church needed repairs and the school was in a deplorable condition. The town-square was unpaved and the wind would blow dust around making it unbearable. In 1961 I helped to have the square paved in the area around the church and the stores. In 1962 I helped finance improvements on the school building and I paid for the construction of toilet facilities for the children. I also contributed money to buy supplies that the school needed for the classrooms. The roof of the church where I was baptized was ready to cave in due to lack of repair. I contributed money to have it fixed.

During this time, the restaurant business had started sliding downwards. Some of it was due to the fact that I was away for so many years. The customers that I had developed over the years came in and never found me there. Many stopped coming. For that I am to blame. In addition, the money that I should have spent on remodeling and upgrading the restaurant I used, instead, on motion pictures and other projects. But, the main problem was that the neighborhood began to deteriorate. Also, television became popular and people started staying home. New restaurants opened up. Many had parking. In our restaurant you could find some of the best people in town, but also, some of the worst. Patrons came in that you wouldn't want to sit next to. We had no way of stopping them from coming in. I felt that there was nothing that I could do to improve business.

I tried to sell the business. Prospective buyers looked at the books, saw what we made and were not impressed. I explained to them that I had gotten old and tired and neglected the business and that with some personal effort it could be improved. There were one or two persons who were willing to buy, but the landlord would not approve of them. Some buyers were scared off at the cost of remodeling . As a result, around 1961, I decided to give it up, close it. My landlord offered me free rent for a long time. I refused to accept it. I explained to him that the rent was the cheapest item. It was the labor costs, the food costs and the lack of volume that was killing me. I simply could not go on any longer. I salvaged what I could, and out I went with the thought of retiring.

In 1961 my cousin George Nichols, yes, the same one that got me into castor beans, had an idea for a development involving grapes in Greece. He asked me to go to Greece to survey the amount of stakes we would need and the amount of vine stocks. We had to investigate the transportation facilities and the marketing. We needed to get permits from the government and take care of other ministerial tasks. We hired a Swedish specialist who was working for the Stanford Research Institute, to determine the feasibility of the project. For a while things looked promising. But after about thirty days, the recommendations from the specialist came in negative. We abandoned the project.

In 1962 my cousin came up with another idea. He wanted to mine phosphates in Greece. He had studied the geological aspects of the area and they compared favorably to the mining being done in California and Peru. After some investigation of the potential sites and after obtaining opinions from specialists, one in particular from Germany, we gave up on the idea.

In 1963, I supported my good friend, Congressman John Shelly, in his campaign for mayor of San Francisco. He won the election. In 1964 I was appointed Commissioner on the Board of Permit Appeals, a duty which I very much enjoyed.

(Boudoures remained on the Board of Permit Appeals as a feisty, energetic and outspoken commissioner until he resigned in 1974. He was renowned for his support of the little guy and for his application of common sense to the appeals process.)