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Top-Grossing Mexican Pics Mexico City.

The top 15 Mexican films of 1984: 1. "Katy La Oruga" (Katy Caterpillar) By Jose Luis and Santiago

Moro. 2. "El ilia De Los Abaniles" (Brick Mason's Day) by Adolfo Martinez

Solares starring Alfonso Zayas. 3. "El Milusos 2 " (Jack-Of-All-Trades 2) by Roberto G. Rivera star­

ring Hector Suarez. 4. "El Extra" (The Extra) (rerelease) by Miguel M. Delgado starring

Mario Moreno (Cantinflas). 5. "Pedro Navajas" by Alfonso Rosas Priego starring Andres Garcia. 6. "El Charr i to" (The Little Charro) by Roberto Gomez Bolanos

(Chesperiot) starring Chesperito. 7. "Entre Ficheras Anda El Diablo (La Pulqueria III)" (The Devil

Walks Between Dance Hall Girls - The Pulque Bar III) by Miguel M. Del­gado starring Jorge Rivero.

8. "E l Sinvergiienza" (The Shameless One) by Rafael Villasefior star­ring Vicente Fernandez.

9. " Y a Nunca M a s " (Never Again) by Abel Salazar starring Luis Miguel.

10. "Un Hombre Violento" (A Violent Man) Valentin Trujillo starring Valentin Trujillo,

11. "El Miedo No Anda En Burro" (Fear Doesn't Travel By Donkey) (rerelease) by Fernando Cortes starring La India Maria.

12. "Siempre En Domingo" (Always On Sunday) by Rene Cardona Jr. starring Raul Velasco.

13. " E Vecindario 2 * Parte) (The Tenement Second Part) by Gilber-to M. Solares starring Angelica Chain.

14. "Emanuelo (Nacido Para Pecar)" (Emanuelo [Born To Sin]) by Sergio Vejar starring Rafael Inclan.

15. "Los Peseros" (The Collective Taxis) by Jose Luis Urquieta star­ring Roberto (Flaco) Guzman.

Colombia's Top Grossers Top grossing films in Colombia in 1984:

Title Attendance "Police Academy" 1,102,479 tickets "Under Fire" 812,050 "The Day After" 666,936 "Revenge Of The Ninja" 662,740 "Celda de Castigo" (Orig. title not avail.) 550,340 "Scarface" 514,085 "Blame It On R i o " 512,158 "Los Invencibles" (Orig. title not avail.) 472,641 "Terms Of Endearment" 433,696

Major's Brazil Billings Rio de Janeiro.

Following are film rental receipts (billings) for majors in Brazil in 1984. Sums are in local currency, cruzeiros, traded at about 3,000 to the dollar at year's end on official rate. Company Cruzeiros % of market Warner 5,231,998,823 24% Paramount 5,092,988,050 23% Fox 3,940,841,812 18% Columbia 2,999,910,219 14% Universal 1,663,093,945 . . . . . . 7 % MGM/UA 1„549,853,715 7% Disney ; . 1,453,598,440 . 7 % Total 21,932,285,004

'84 Colombian Market Shares Bogota.

Distributor Cine Colombia CIC (U, Par, MGM) Pel Mex Columbia Warner Fox UA Disney Independents Majors

Rentals (In Pesos)

285,000,000 207,555,839 146,000,000 98,216,341 91,083,677 60,201,147 26,513,824 15,284,677

985,394,717 498,855,507

Share 19% 14% 9% 7% 6% 4% 2% 1%

65% 35%

(Note: Colombian peso stood at 113 = $1 at end of 1984).

Cruzeiro Exchange Rates Exchange rates in Brazil for one dollar in cruzeiros:

Date Non-Official Official March '84 1,350 1,213 April '84 1,450 1,335 May '84 1,510 1,453 June '84 1,730 1,582 July '84 1,780 * 1,728 August '84 1,990 1,905 September '84 2,510 2,107 October *84 2,880 2,329 November '84 2,860 ; . . . 2,622

Changes In Latin America From Country To Country

In Last Explosive Decade Herewith Variety looks back over

a decade's special coverage of Lat­in America, recalling some of the changes produced during that peri­od in each of the countries.

Mexico

December '84 3,290 January '85 3,800 February '85 3,950 March '85 4,700 March 13, '85 4,900

2,881 3,184 3,587 3,951 4,161

A decade ago, in 1975, the Mexi­can economy had already been knocked out of years of monetary complacence when the peso had been devalued from its long-stand­ing 12 to the dollar to 23. The then-Rodolfo Echevern'a government was playing footsy with leftwingers and the president's brother, Luis Echeverria, who headed official film operations, encouraged a slew of new, young filmmakers such as Arturo Ripstein, Miguel Littin, Fe­lipe Cazals, et al., to strike out into "qual i ty" cinema, an effort doomed to commercial failure.

The films, indeed, were made, but when released few people in or out of Mexico were particularly in­terested in them, despite costly promotion campaigns at interna­tional film festivals such as Cannes and San Sebastian.

Notwithstanding the seeming panacea of large oil reserves, the Mexican economy was undermined by the excesses of Echeverria's six-year rule. Shortly before the follow­ing president, Jose Lopez Portillo, took office, the peso again was devalued sharply, this time to around 60. Lopez Portillo's term in office saw only a worsening of the economic situation and continuance of institutionalized corruption.

Attempts at making exportable " a r t " or "commercial" films were given up by the government and the Banco Cinematografico (a govern­ment production and finance entity) was scuttled. Indie producers revert­ed to making low-budget, locally oriented exploitationers which usually could be counted on to make an acceptable profit in Mexi­co, the U.S. Hispanic circuit and, to a small degree, in other Latin American countries.

There were a few exceptions: Rene Cardona Jr., who was one of the few Mexican producer-directors to sell his films in Anglo circuits, such as "Survivors of the Andes," "Tiburon" and "Guyana;" or the perennially popular Cantinflas, released by Col. But that was about all. .

The economic woes of the Eche­verria and Lopez Portillo govern­ments, during which a free supply of dollars was still available in Mex­ico and ticket prices maintained at about $1, were relatively minor compared to the debacle that oc­curred shortly before the president and his sister Margarita (who was in charge of all media) completed their terms in office.

Then the economic roof caved in. The peso plummeted'from 60 to 80, then to 100 and 200 and is still tum­bling daily, like all other Latin cur­rencies, though as of six months ago the official rate has caught up with the black market one.

They're Trying Under the Miguel de la Madrid

government, attempts have been made to reorganize the film sector. A respected filmmaker, Alberto Isa­ac, has been appointed to the top governmental slot and is once again encouraging the- production of "quality" films and trying to attract both foreign production and copro-ductions in order to help bring dol­lars into the country. He has so far been more successful in the former

area, thanks largely to the low-standing peso. Thus, the Churu-busco Studios have been jammed full over the past year or two with international productions, though the resulting bottom line budget for Yank producers has not been as low as some had naively expected.

In television, the changes have revolved mostly around the govern­ment's Channel 13, which has had a ceaseless procession of new toppers, none of them able to make the slightest dent in Televisa's virtual monopoly. The Mexican colossus not only weathered the would-be competition of the government, but hardly blinked an eye. Televisa was, nonetheless, affected by the devalu­ations and for a while fell rather far behind in making foreign payments.

Televisa, gigantic though it al­ready was a decade ago, continues to expand in all branches of show­biz. About two years ago it bought out one of the biggest dubbing stu­dios in Mexico, CINSA, and retitled it Telespeciales; it also reportedly bought a controlling interest in the second big dubbing operation in Mexico, Servicio Internacional de Sonido.

Meaning, Televisa now controls the bulk of dubbing facilities for Latin America. Significantly, one of its top execs, Guillermo Caiiedo, is prez of the pan-Latin tv association, the O.T.I. The web also controls the S.I.C.C. in the States, which in turn controls the Spanish Intl. Network.

Televisa also continues active in theatrical, via its Televicine arm, though latter has shown a poor track record after producing a doz­en or so disastrous films in Spain and another slew in Mexico itself. Its distrib operation in the U.S. Hispanic circuit has mostly faded away.

But the Emilio Azcarraga em­pire's biggest new ploy is expected to be homevideo. Televisa execs are gearing up for a major entry not only into the Mexican market, but into the U.S. Hispanic one as well via its new' Visavideo operation V#iich will handle U.I .P: product (Paramount and Universal).

Argentina '.. An exec of a Yank major in Bue­

nos Aires once described Argentina as "surrealistic," and the country's ups and downs over the last decade seem to bear out that pointed epi­thet. To try to "unders tand" the country remains as vain a task for the occasional visitor as for the most savvy porteho. Argentina defies all logic.

It is a living contradiction: the richest and the poorest country in Latin America, the best-educated and the most vulnerable, seemingly "European," but susceptible to the worst follies of the Latin world; a country where one year you can go to the best restaurant in town and have a meal for four people for $5, and where two years later the cost of a glass of tomato juice is $10; a country famous throughout history for its meat production, yet where last year restaurants two days a week served no beef as part of a ra­tioning program.

In the early part of 1975, Isabel Peron was making her last frantic efforts at getting the country into shape, before being replaced by a military junta in March 1976. Most industryites at the time supported the new rule of the generals, for it was hoped they would bring order and stability to the country after a

decade of confusion and violence, both on the part of leftwing guer­rillas as well as of rightwing death squads.

For a while, under General Jorge Videla and his economy minister Martinez de la Hoz, all seemed to be going well, though it required no great economic insight to realize that the house of cards would soon tumble. Even a roving correspon­dent could see that.

The fake economy however was a temporary boon to show biz, as ticket prices soared to $5, coin transfers were free and many Ar­gentines suddenly seemed to be wealthy overnight, for no obvious reason.

Easy Money These were the years (1978-81) of

the plata dulce, or "easy money," when distribs spent lavish sums for Yank films, paying $200,000, or $500,000 for a title. One distrib company billed about $6,000,000 in one year. The international fests and markets were thronged with temporarily wealthy Argentines flashing their dollar checkbooks and paying outrageous sums for product. Others went on buying sprees in Florida and Punta del Este (Uruguay), making down payments on luxury apartments.

They actually believed the carousel would spin on indefinitely. One company, Maxifilm, sprung up overnight and built a luxurious du­plex near the Calle Corrientes that cost $6,000,000. It opened in April 1981, j ust before the company went bust leaving only a trail of unpaid bills. Another outfit, Cinecolor, decided to build a new lab, and spent millions of dollars on it.

Meanwhile, production was held to the usual 15 or so features a year, led throughout the decade by Aries Cinematografica, and censorship was probably the tightest in Latin America, more>severe than other military dictatorships in Chile or Uruguay. Attendance was dropping in the capital, and in the provinces the economic situation was getting ;j worse, despite the surrealistic flow g of coin in certain sectors.

Martinez de la yoz , the economy | minister, had a theory, since Argen­tine businesses and factories weref notoriously antiquated and ineffi­cient, they would be puf fcr'the test of competitiveness.,Meaning, goods r-would be imported that would sell £ to consumers at, less than domestic j items.

The policy worked, of course, in I bringing to ruin the inefficient • domestic operations; but the shining new companies were never forth­coming, for it was a better financial proposition to invest in money mar­kets at fabulously high rates, over 200% per annum interest, turned around every week or month:

After three years of such fanciful shenanigans, during which the price of tickets at BA wickets rose 1,-000% (a Variety headline that irked most distribs in Argentina, some of whom claimed it was only 700%), the bubble burst. Prices went back to more or less " n o r m a l " levels. Those who had made down pay­ments on apartments in Miami and signed contracts for large dollar sums for films moaned and groaned and tried to renegotiate.

There was to be a short period of psychological respite during the world soccer championships in 1978, which Argentina won. New facilities were built at Eceiza Air-

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