★ Marilyn Monroe ★ Janies Stewart tm ★ Bob Hope ★ Susan Hayward ★ Randolph Scott w&j. ■ Sp-;;- ‘ " . ' s- : - " f- .. . MF'- r? at New York City Li. S. A., under the act of March 3 2>.7V. Pub- Kite, Rockefeller Center, New York 20, -V. Y. Subscription ••••:. • s: $3.00 All contents copyrighted 1954 by Quigley Publishing Co.n patty, In cents KNIGHTS OF THE BOX-OFFICE! The BIG NEWS IS THAT M-G-M’s FIRST in CINEMASCOPE is sensational everywhere! It leads Leo’s Battalion of Box-office Big Ones as M-G-M’s 30th Anniversary Jubilee gets off to a terrific start! Robert Taylor Ava Gardner Mel Ferrer urn ANN/iTerSM^ -'t/BILEt | i Esther Williams Van Johnson Tony Martin William Holden Eleanor Parker John Forsythe Robert Taylor Deborah Kerr Genn Peter Ustinov i \ Robert Taylor Stewart Granger Ann Blyth Marge and Gower Champion Debbie Reynolds Marlon Brando James Mason John Gielgud Louis Cal hern Edmond O'Brien Greer Garson Deborah Kerr This is where His Majesty O'Keefe" was made! ^ftu Lands in W Eliiabetn^ \yhin As Wild Spears |.\bv »,lC »S°C%% \s\^s U **%£**? uapy De°- 1‘> Ufcde ed 8' dva^e ,re\Q\ieen poVe^’ ~ acted °\oday a«d a rd- \s a“\.‘Kava s ^Ke \ vn arrival fo-met - a\ a!g,\ rpy,p YO> "^55 r5^' ands cW*1* \ lS\and s0tl? ^veAcO^e- th° Wi isAands-A ru‘a" ■ w e * u „ a afipA . -w>*' ^a«on"aS ' ^ . Owo years and 4700 miles ago, Burt Lancaster and a company of 400 motion picture players and technicians arrived at Suva in the Fiji Islands. They were there to film in its authentic, fabulous backgrounds, the almost incredible love story of a fellow named David O'Keefe — a lost island trader from Savannah, Georgia who became chief and ruler of 10,000 barbarous warriors. Here, surrounded by thronging spec- tacle, savage battles, mystic love-rites and multitudes of Fiji natives, is the role of roles for Burt Lancaster — a worthy dramatic successor to his portrayal in "From Here to Eternity". Here, moviegoers will go on their most spectacular and their most off-the-path movie-safari in many a year. Here is a two-mi SI ion-dollar invest- ment in a motion picture — every dollar of it invested in great entertainment! j mm JOAN RICE ANDRE MORELL ABRAHAM SOFAER FROM THE BEST SELLER BY LAWRENCE KLINGMAN and GERALD GREEN SCREEN PLAY BY PRODUCED BY BORDEN CHASE and JAMES HILL • HAROLD HECHT MUSIC COMPOSEO AND CONDUCTED BY DIMITRI TlOMKIN DIRECTED BY DISTRIBUTED BY BYRON HASKIN -WARNER BROS |c«N BE EXHIBITED ON WIDE SCREENS] •1^ Warner Bros MEMPHIS, PITTSBURGH, PALM BEACH, ST. PETERSBURG, AMARILLO, PORT ARTHUR X mm ^ x /tjj&sam M&MSjKM £W 1 WS TiB *9] Bk XVA’ OPEN TO THEATRES LARGE AND SMALL IN THE HISTORY OF THE INDUSTRY MOTION PICTURE HERALD MARTIN QUIGLEY, Editor-in-Chief and Publisher Vol. 194, No. I MARTIN QUIGLEY, JR., Editor January 2, 1954 THE CODE DISPUTE by MARTIN QUIGLEY SAMUEL GOLDWYN in a letter to Eric Johnston, president of the Motion Picture Association, as- serts his belief that “the time has come when it is imperative to bring the Production Code up to date.” He further remarks that “in the almost quarter of a century since the Code’s adoption, the world has moved on. But the Code has stood still.” Mr. Goldwyn’s voice is one of authority in the motion picture industry and one of towering prestige with the amusement-seeking public the world over. It is unfor- tunate that the Goldwyn voice is now raised in chorus with that continuing cabal of clamor against the Code by those who seek the destruction of all restraints and standards in motion picture entertainment dedicated to the maintenance of decency and morality. Mr. Goldwyn has not, I am sure, intended any such purpose. In fact, in the Johnston letter he states, “It is only through sound self-regulation that, as an industry, we can avoid the excesses that lead to unbridled censor- ship.” But the public position which Mr. Goldwyn now assumes inevitably will have the effect of lending the weight of his influence to the comfort and support of those who, despising all regulation, want to tinker with the Code to the point of making it nothing other than a sham and a pretense. To say that the Code ought to be brought up to date sounds on the face of it as an entirely reasonable ob- servation. The world moves on and institutions and in- dividuals who want to be abreast of the times must keep up with the procession. However, any such dictum ap- plies to customs and conventions. It most emphatically does not apply in the area of morality. Principles in the area of morality are as unchangeable as are the pertinent principles in the area of mathematics. Theft, perjury, adultery and all of the other serious infractions of the moral law are morally wrong now, always have been and always will be. A code that would drift with any current of contrary thought would be a fraud. Hollywood has been distantly familiar with the Code for nearly a quarter of a century. It would seem that such a span of time would have been sufficient for both Hollywood and all other elements of the industry to come to understand its essential character. But very lit- tle in this direction has actually happened. If this were not so it would not be popular to talk vaguely about “bringing the Code up to date.” THE Code document consists primarily of the ap- plication of moral principles, based on the Ten Commandments, to the subject matter of motion pictures. The duty of the Production Code Administra- tion is to apply the principles of the Code, in an advisory manner, to the scripts and pictures which producers submit. Secondarily, the Code document consists of a number of regulations based on matters of policy and expediency. With respect to the primary — and in effect the essen- tial part of the Code — to call for its revision is tanta- mount to calling for a revision of the Ten Command- ments and the moral order of the Western world which is rooted in the Ten Commandments. It does appear that in the private lives of many persons such a revi- sion has indeed been effected. But it is hardly to be argued seriously that if an individual or a group chooses to declare the Ten Commandments out of date and in need of revision to meet the conditions of the modern world any such attitude makes the Decalogue invalid. As to the secondary and impermanent part of the Code, consisting of a number of regulations based on policy and expediency, this has been subject to revision and amendment frequently throughout its entire life. Incidentally, it is this part of the Code which has caused much criticism to be visited upon the Code as a whole. That this should be so is indeed proper and logical because some of the policy regulations which have been in effect have been plain silly, such as the regula- tion against the use of the words “Hell” and “Damn.” To Mr. Goldwyn and to other serious and responsible critics of the Code the question might well be asked, “Just what do you want revised in the Code and what is the thought and language of the revision you seek?” IF the revision requested from whatever source in- volves an alteration of a moral principle based on the Ten Commandments the answer must be an em- phatic “No.” Failing to make this answer the Associa- tion would become party to so emasculating the Code as to make it a hollow pretense which would betray its own and the public interest. If the critics of the Code want a change in the regula- tions based on policy and expediency let them state what changes are wanted and to what purpose. At the present time there are pending for adoption by the Association a group of policy amendments ; others might likewise be considered. But if other changes in this category are to be considered it will be necessary for their sponsors to speak, not in vague, general terms, but in specific language. Obviously to discuss the Code or any part of it in specific language serious study, and not merely casual acquaintance with the document, is imperative. Over the misty vista of these many years Mr. Gold- wyn remembers himself as “one of the initiators of the Code” in his letter to Eric Johnston. Simply for pur- poses of historical accuracy, he is reminded that the Code was not initiated by anyone in Hollywood. As Mr. Goldwyn will recall from this reminder it was originated and brought to Hollywood by the person whose name is signed to these lines. If Mr. Goldwyn should view any of the lines in this discussion as vehement, I am sure he will ascribe this to parental ardor and not un- friendliness. Also for the purpose of historical accuracy, it should be noted that Mr. Goldwyn, from the time of the meet- ing of the producers association in January, 1930, at which the Code plan was first submitted, was an inter- ested and constructive supporter of the Code idea and its administration. This record is proof of his loyalty to the principle of self-regulation and an assurance that when the dust of the current debate subsides he will be found standing staunchly on the side of that kind of a Code which makes for decency in motion pictures and a good name for the industry. MOTION PICTURE HERALD Tax Fight To the Editor : My 3-D equipment cost less than $150, and my sixth 3-D did more business than a similar 2-D on the same playdate. I now have some “strictly 3-D” customers. Yes, Television is hurting our show, but it’s also taking advertising dollars away from your local newspaper, and you are not doing a job unless you point this out to your editor at least once a week. I hurt the loudest the last day of each month when I tear off a few pounds of flesh to send the Federal Reserve Bank, and although it's a stiff uphill fight, if you line up your newspaper and bank, and cooperate at the right time, we can eliminate this tax, but when I say we, I mean everyone in show business. The day before Ike vetoed the Mason Bill, 1 sent $50 worth of tele- grams from leading organizations and busi- ness people. I am firmly convinced that had everyone done the same, we wouldn’t be paying the tax today. Take a look at your last month’s Federal tax depository receipt and ask yourself if y ou can afford the energy and cash to participate in the next waltz. — JESS JONES, Ritz Theatre, Crescent, Oklahoma. Tribute to HERALD To the Editor : As the year comes to a close, I think we should pay tribute to your excellent maga- zine and all the help it has given us through- out the year. Every section is read with much interest and certainly a lot of valuable information and hints are given on the prob- lems of theatre management. Also, in these days when we see the box office sagging more than ever may we re- mind the producers that the smaller towns have to make a living also, so why not give us more down-to-earth stories with human interest family appeal. Animal pictures, race horse stories plus real clean humor will draw our patrons. However, as it now seems increased prices for pictures that often the parents will not allow their chil- dren to see results in their staying home as well. So, Mr. Producer, give us the family type picture and we’ll be happy. — D. P. SAVAGE, Capitol Theatre, Listowel, Ont. CinemaScope9 s Future To the Editor: What will CinemaScope per se mean on the sixth attraction ? I give you one answer : not as much as 3-D per se. I hope it never happens — and scanning the lineup of CinemaScope productions for the next six months — I’m sure it will be far in the future, but wait until a CinemaScope production of the quality of “Man in the Dark” and “Arena” is released. And now I would like to ask a question. Where are all the reviewers who criticized 3-D films for containing scenes that merely demonstrated the 3-D technique ? Or isn’t it so bad artistically to include scenes in a CinemaScope production that serve no pur- pose other than demonstrating the scope of the camera?- — - A Mississippi Exhibitor. The Recipe To the Editor : The industry needs better and more pic- tures. Also more pictures with top stars. — Exhibitor, Buffalo, Neiv York. The Money Making Stars THIS is the week in which exhibitors of the United States, Canada and Great Britain — through Motion Picture Herald’s 22nd annual poll — bestow on actors and actresses their most prized honor. To be selected as one of the Top Ten Money Making Stars is the goal for which all members of the screen acting profession strive. To be named again and again is the firmest proof of player eminence. Special recognition is due Gary Cooper, a veteran of fourteen appearances in the Top Ten, who now has attained the Number One position for the first time. To Mr. Cooper and his colleagues, congratulations and best wishes for continued box office success during 1954. The HERALD thanks the thousands of exhibitors who again chose the play- ers whose names meant the most on their theatre marquees. — M. Q., Jr. January 2, 1954 MONEY MAKING Stars of the year 1953 as selected in annual poll of the nation's exhibitors Page 13 HAWKINS sweeps top honors in British champion polls Page 18 GOLDWYN suggests revisions in Produc- tion Code regulations Page 20 COMPO reports dues collections holding up to good level Page 20 CANDY hanging on exhibition Christmas tree in holiday week Page 21 TERRY RAMSAYE Says — A column of com- ment on matters cinematic Page 22 20TH-FOX plans assistance to exhibitors on use of CinemaScope Page 22 1953 PROVED to be an anamorphic, lively aspect year Page 25 NORWALK citizens reopen local theatre closed three years Page 26 LOEW'S International shows single track sound system Page 27 DECCA indicates intention to buy more Universal stock Page 27 "ETERNITY" selected as best of the year by New York critics Page 27 COMMUNION Breakfast scheduled in New York for January 31 Page 28 AMPEX sound unit is announced for the- atres up to 1 ,500 seats Page 28 NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT — Notes on indus- try personnel across country Page 29 FCC indicates obstacles ahead to future of subscription TV Page 32 TELEVISION set production total in year reached 7,250,000 Page 34 COLOR TV approval leads to controversy on who gets credit Page 34 SERVICE DEPARTMENTS Film Buyers' Rating Page 36 Hollywood Scene Page 24 Managers' Round Table Page 37 People in the News Page 33 What the Picture Did for Me Page 35 IN PRODUCT DIGEST SECTION Showmen's Reviews Page 2125 Short Subjects Chart Page 2126 The Release Chart Page 2128 8 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 2, 1954 yt S smart and showmanlike a piece r\ of promotion effort as has been seen in many a day was that achieved for the opening at the Broadway Paramount of Warner Brothers’ “The Eddie Cantor Story,” Thursday night of last week. At about the time the film was opening in New York, Cantor appeared on the Ralph Edwards TV show, “This Is Your Life,” with an obvious direct tieup with the opening. The show is a coast-to-coast hookup en- joying high popularity. On Sunday on the TV Colgate program, Cantor, star of the show, plugged “The Eddie Cantor Story” all the way down the line. It was a case, indeed, of using the TV medium for all it was worth to promote a new film — and in this case, it was quite appar- ently worth plenty. ► “Show Biz,” lively history of Broadway in its great years, written in the vernacular by Abel Green and Joe Laurie, Jr., has had reasonably successful sales as a book. Now its authors, the editor and a columnist on “Variety,” have produced a rec- ord album — RCA Victor LOC-1011 and EOD-1011 — of their half-cen- tury review. It is narrated by George Jessel and features songs and bands popular through the whole flam- boyant era. WHAT PRICE LAP? Ernest Kassebaum, owner of the Rivoli theatre, Seward, Nebraska, reports that the other day he received 50 cents in the mail from an anonymous patron who praised a recent screen at- traction at the theatre. The note then added, "We found that one of our girls was too big to hold on our lap." Hence the 50 cents. tures be increased to 16 per cent. The Association says foreign films in Italy the past year amounted to $10,000,000 less than the previous year ; and that twice as many Italian films were exported as during the previous year. ► Almost 60 per cent of American homes now have television receivers, David Sarnoff, chairman of the board of Radio Corporation of America, said this week in his an- nual report on the state of the busi- ness. Mr. Sarnoff cited the great variety of applications of radio, tele- vision and electronics which his company is developing for use in many fields, and he especially was jubilant about the imminence of color television. The magnetic re- cording of pictures, recently demon- strated by RCA, he called a devel- opment of great significance for the motion picture world. ► The Ford Motor Company has concluded a deal with Box Office Television for the most extensive off-hour theatre television show in the history of the medium. The closed circuit program, for Ford dealers and executives will be shown in 31 theatres in as many cities January 28. ► The Supreme Court on January 6 or 7 hears crucial arguments on the constitutionality of state film cen- sorship. For three hours, lawyers will debate whether the states of Ohio and New York were within their constitutional rights in banning the films. “M” and “La Ronde.” .‘’Ti’ fv 'v rcj ^ FOR THE RECORD Motion Picture Herald Presents ► The Italian film producers want more screen time in their own country, and more money from their government. They put it baldly the other day in the considerable talk going around about Italy’s projected new film law. The Italian Associa- tion of Producers wants special licensing of producers and distribu- tors, which would have the effect of raising the number of days on which native films must be shown from 80 to 120 days yearly. They also sug- gest the government subsidy of 10 per cent of the gross income of pic- The Box Office Hits of 1953 From Here to Eternity (Col.) Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (20th-Fox) Hans Christian Andersen (Goldwyn-RKO) House of Wax (W.B.) Moulin Rouge (U.A.) Peter Pan (Disney-RKO) The Robe (20th-Fox) Shane (Para.) [The pictures above are listed alphabetically by title.] MOTION PICTURE HERALD, published every Saturday by Quigley Publishing Company, Inc., Rockefeller Center, New York City 20. Telephone Circle 7-3100; Cable address, "Quigpubco, New York", Martin Quigley, President; Martin Quigley, Jr., Vice-President; Theo. J. Sullivan, Vice-President and Treasurer; Raymond Levy, Vice-President; Leo J. Brady, Secretary; Martin Quigley, Jr., Editor; Terry Ramsaye, Consulting Editor; James D. Ivers, News Editor; Charles S. Aaronson, Production Editor; Floyd E. Stone, Photo Editor; Ray Gallagher, Advertising Manager; Gus H. Fausel, Production Manager. Bureaus: Hollywood, William R. Weaver, editor, Yucca-Vine Building, Telephone HOIlywood 7-2145; Chicago, 120 So. LaSalle St., Urben Farley, advertising representative, Telephone, Financial 6-3074; Washington, J. A. Otten, National Press Club; London, Hope Williams Burnup, .manager, Peter Burnup, editor, 4 Golden Square. Correspondents in the principal capitals of the world. Member Audit Bureau of Circulations. Other Quigley Publications:' Better Theatres, published thirteen times a year as Section II of Motion Picture Herald; Motion Picture Daily, Motion Picture and Television Almanac and Fame. a '.zirmm MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 2, 1954 9 HOLIDAYS AND PREMIERES BRING BACK THOSE RINGING CASH REGISTERS NEVER SO MUCH OF SO GOOD. Crowds jostled and gaped in New York and Hollywood these past holidays as the major motion picture companies presented a feast of their very best and very biggest, garnished with wide screens, CinemaScope, stereophonic sound, and, of course, 3-D. The array of product at this time of year represents a culmination of a trend and recognition that only quality pays off. In New York, virtually every night saw another Broadway opening. In Hollywood, MGM's "Knights of the Round Table" opening was itself a production. 4S "KING OF THE KHYBER RIFLES" was opened by 20th-Fox at the Rivoli, New York: below, the crowd scene: at the right, Mr. and Mrs. Leonard Go Idenson. Mr. Goldenson heads American Broadcasting-Paramount Theatres. PR E H if RE TOnTtF- * THE G REATA^^S IN C I N E m ft S c q p gSp IN G OF THE K: H YTB E R: SEEE: TYRONE POWER TERRY MOORtK TECHMICbl a DELUXE . \t ; -S&t: ■ T ANTOR STi EEFE BRASSELLE AND MARILYN ERS1 ALINE MACMAHON AND WILL ROGERS, JR. waskI jwgji w TONIG! WffE SBiSSfUl MMra tfKKlK WARNER'S "The Eddie Cantor Story" opened at the Paramount in conjunc- tion with extensive benefit fund cere- monies and tieins. At the left, the Paramount marquee; above, Mrs. Keefe Brasselle; Mr. Brasselle, who portrays Mr. Cantor in the film, and Benjamin Kalmenson, Warner Brothers Distribut- ing Corp. president. jmntmn 10 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 2, 1954 20TH-FQX'S " Beneath the 12-Mile Reef" went into the Roxy, New York, aided by promotions engineered by Charles Ein- fled, vice-president, shown at the right below with guests Meyer Schine, Schine circuit head, and Mrs. Schine. W 6* THE ISSUE” HA5C0PE m C M-S WORLD PREMIERE "KNIGHTS OF THE ROUND TAI £RT TAYLOR AVA GARDNER MEL FERRER IN HOLLYWOOD, MGM's first Cinema- Scope creation, "Knights of the Round Table" opened at the Egyptian. At right, production chief Do re Schary, right, with Lana Turner and Lex Bar- ker. IN NEW YORK, Col- umbia's "Miss Sadie Thompson" at the Capitol drew throngs at midnight. Below, Jack Cohn, vice-pres- ident, with Rosemary Clooney and Jose Ferrer. MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 2, 1954 II W&'m (KIU6NK THE .mw* \sir~ IKNIGHTS ROTO L wws>’!|®*i SEss^s IwruiKD s^' by the Herald RAY SMITH, left, last week was named vice- president of the James- town Amusement Co., with headquarters in New York. He will as- sist Gerald Shea, pres- ident, and will continue supervising buying and booking. PROMOTING "Knights of the Round Table" was the subject as MGM advertising-publicity vice-presi- dent Howard Dietz met the other day in New York with exploitation executives. In array are Emery Aus- tin, exploitation manager; Mr. Dietz; Silas F. Seadler, advertising manager; Dan Terrell, publicity manager; Howard Strickling, studio: publicity director; O. A. Kingsbury, Donahue and Coe; Joseph Flynn, promo- tion; Halsey Raines, publicity; and Ernest Emerling, Loew's Theatres ad chief. MGM's THIRTY YEARS are being noted these days with rallies and other appropriate ceremonies; and of course a sales drive will take advantage of the enthusiasm. Above, at the Des Moines exchange, 30th Anniversary Jubilee captain John P. Byrne, second from right, poses with per- sonnel. Mr. Byrne also visited in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Seattle. With him, above, are, seated, Margaret McGaffee, Florence Baker, Theo Anderson, Geraldine Robuck, Shirley Gass, Helen Long; and, stand- ing, Ivan Fuldauer, Morris Nystrom, Harold Sutphin, Chet Howser, Helen I. Hansen, F. D. Armington, Jr., Wilma Foster, John J. Pilmaier, Howard T. Dunn, Margaret Rowson, George M. Baumeister, Jerry McGlynn, Kay Taylor, Helen E. Hansen, Daryl Johnson, and, right, Bur- tus Bishop, Jr., midwest sales manager. REPORT, right, by 20th-Fox president Spyros Skouras, returned to New York from three weeks in Europe. He decried attempts to "dilute" CinemaScope in its components of screen, sound, and light, and pointed to records set by "The Robe", impending records of other hits, and to company's financial report. ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ 12 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 2, 1954 THE MONEY MAKING STARS OF THE YEAR SELECTED BY EXHIBITORS OF NA TION EXHIBITOR SELECTIONS COMBINED Gary Cooper Martin & Lewis John Wayne Alan Ladd Bing Crosby Marilyn Monroe James Stewart Bob Hope Susan Hayward Randolph Scott CIRCUIT Martin & Lewis Gary Cooper John Wayne Marilyn Monroe Alan Ladd Bing Crosby James Stewart Ava Gardner Bob Hope Susan Hayward INDEPENDENT Cary Cooper Martin & Lewis John Wayne Alan Ladd Bing Crosby Marilyn Monroe James Stewart Bob Hope Susan Hayward Randolph Scott by WILLIAM R. WEAVER Hollywood Editor THE technological revolution of 1953 didn't make a whoop of difference in the star situation. Nobody who appeared in the new sizes and shapes sky-rocketed to peak promi- nence in personal drawing power, and no- body who didn't appear in them skidded. Th is is the disclosure of standout signifi- cance in the results of The HERALD’s 22nd annual poll of American exhibitors to deter- mine the Money-Making Stars of the year. For Theatre Men Only Nobody votes in that poll but theatre owners. These men who have bought the pictures at the best price they could get and sold them to their neighbors know the score better than anybody. In 1953 they've had to run a spot-referendum on 3-D and anamorphic dimensional-itis, and the final returns are far from in, but there isn't a trace of that turmoil in the results of their balloting on players. The 1952 poll results are surprising only in their lack of surprises. There is one first-timer in the Top Ten echelon. That brings to a snug 56 the grand total of players who have earned this eminence in the entire 22 years of the poll's opera- tion. (That brings to 3.92 — by quickly dividing the actual 56 into the theoretically maximum 220 — the number of years in this select estate average by Top Ten talent.) There is one returnee to Top Ten listing, in again, with good cause, after a first inclusion in the 1947 poll. In all its phases the 1953 poll proves again that Fame is a far more constant wench than reputed. He’s a Marquee Giant On his 14th appearance on the Top Ten list Gary Cooper has taken over, for the first time, the Number One Spot. This man is a marquee giant. He started crash- ing lop Ten in 1936, taking 10th place. His record shows two seconds, one third, three fourths, two fifths, one sixth one seventh, one eighth and one ninth. Those aren't fractions. Those are winnings over the sternest competition the whole world of show business could throw against him. The Cooper supporting cast in his Top Ten stardom is made up, in this order, of Martin & Lewis, John Wayne, Alan Ladd, Bing Crosby, Marilyn Monroe, James Stew- art, Bob Hope, Susan Hayward and Ran- dolph Scott. Martin & Lewis, last year's toppers, are on the Top Ten list for the third consecu- tive year, having made it in 1951 as run- ner-up to John Wayne. They look like permanent residents. Third position on the 1953 list is occu- pied by the two-time winner of first place — 1950 and 1951 — John Wayne, now mak- GARY COOPER. Number One ing his fifth consecutive appearance in Top Ten category. Alan Ladd, who was out and around dur- ing 1953 in three other pictures besides the tremendous "Shane," namely "Desert Le- gion," "Botany Bay" and "Thunder in the East" is back in the Top Ten circle for the first time since 1947. Bing Crosby, casual incumbent of fifth position in the 1953 finals, is the only Top Ten star of the year who has made this mark on box office history as many times — M — as this season's Number One.* He was out in only two pictures during the year, Road to Bali," shared with his favorite co-star and sparring partner, and "Little Boy Lost," which was closely held as to public availability during most of the period covered by the poll. But no story of the Money-Making Stars poll, now or ever, can properly skip mention of the all- time championship run up by Bing in hold- ing Number One Spot for five consecutive years. Take all you can get at whatever odds you can scare up that this record will stand as long as movies last. Marilyn Monroe's placement in sixth po- sition on her first inclusion in the Top I en list cannot be classified as unexpected. She had been voted a swift Number One posi- tion in the 1952 Stars-of-Tomorrow poll, conducted at midyear by this periodical in the same manner and among the same exhibitors as this older, original poll of ( Continued on page 16) MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 2, 1954 13 jjjgfsJjt wsm YOU SEE IT WITHOUT GLASSES «\V /M40m 56 PAGES packed with in- formative data about CinemaScope. A valuable guide for a prosperous future for theatres large and small! OMSJi3 Ji3 leM THE NEXT FIFTEEN COMBINED CIRCUIT INDEPENDENT Doris Day Gregory Peck Esther Williams Esther Williams Burt Lancaster Doris Day Kilbride and Main Doris Day Kilbride & Main Gregory Peck Clark Gable Abbott & Costello Ava Gardner Esther Williams Gregory Peck Clark Gable Randolph Scott Ava Gardner Burt Lancaster Jeff Chandler Clark Cable Jeff Chandler Stewart Granger Jeff Chandler Jane Wyman Kilbride & Main Jane Wyman Abbott & Costello Jane Wyman Burt Lancaster Stewart Granger Montgomery Clift Jane Russell Jane Russell Humphrey Bogart June Allyson Charlton Heston Charlton Heston Stewart Granger Humphrey Bogart Jane Russell Charlton Heston Rita Hayworth Rita Hayworth Humphrey Bogart HcUiSMSMSJSMSISMSISJSMSf ( Continued from page 13) American theatre owners. She had been seen in the much-discussed "Niagara," the sensationally successful "Gentlemen Pre- fer Blondes" and, less widely as to number of theatres, but more productively within that limitation, the CinemaScoped "How to Marry a Millionaire," during the 1953 twelve-month. Plenty of reason, to men- tion these alone, why she should succeed, as topmost feminine personality in the 1953 Top Ten standings, to the leadership of her -| gender previously held, and longer than by any other, by Betty Grable. James Stewart's third appearance in Top Ten rating accrues from performances in "Thunder Bay," "Naked Spur," "Carbine Williams" and "Bend of the River," a quartette of remarkably consistent por- trayals which are to be topped head and shoulders (bank on it) by his work in the forthcoming "Glenn Miller Story." With the already completed "Far Country" and the in-production "Rear Window" to fol- low that .one in 1954, the Stewart standing figures tH| spar by next poll time. Bob Hope, who was Number One in 1949, is present in 1953 for the 13th time in Top Ten? territory. His films in general distribution during the poll period were "RoacL +o j Bal i," which he shared with his favorite co-star and sparring partner, and "OfM-irnits," with Mickey Rooney. Susan Hayward’, who made her first Top Ten appearance a year ago, taking ninth place in the poll, repeats that accomplish- ment this year. Her pictures in circulation, during 1953 were "White Witch Doctor," "The President's Lady," "The Lusty Men" and "Snows of Kilimanjaro." Randolph Scott, scoring his fourth con- secutive placement among the Top Ten, earned it by grosses-building performances in "The Stranger Wore a Gun," "Hang- man's Knot," "Man in the Saddle" and "Thunder ’Over the Plains." Room dt the top for the ascending Ladd and Monroe careers was made by Doris Day and Gregory Peck, who dropped to I Ith and 14th respectively, in the Ameri- can poll, although still doing very well, thank you, in the neighborly dominion to the North. The Canadian exhibitors' experience in the matter of box office values is never quite the same as their American brothers . This year they list their leaders in this ACE OF WESTERNS ROY ROGERS, Western Winner order: John Wayne, Bing Crosby, Gary Cooper, Martin & Lewis, Alan Ladd, Bob Hope, Marilyn Monroe, Gregory Peck, Doris Day, Burt Lancaster. And the Cana- dians omit these American Top Ten-ners of 1953: Susan Hayward, Randolph Scott, James Stewart. Thus democracy. And thus the Western situation: Back in 1936 the then four-year-old Money-Making Stars poll was broken down, in recognition of conspicuous circumstances of product and attendance, into the two divisions which have been maintained since then — the general and the Western — with Buck Jones riding off with the first Top Ten Western Star championship. For all those pleasant intervening years the "went that-a-way" heroes rode the screen in keen but contented competition for supremacy in a field of activity where flourished a plenty for all. In the recent past, however, and that includes the year just completed, the West- ern has come to have a somewhat less conspicuous place in the theatre program. That does not mean, though, that the Western was not still a staple of screen diet in many a section of the nation. The winners this time, who enjoy a certain qual- ity of the hardy perennial, look like this: Roy Rogers, first place for I Ith time; Gene Autry, second place for sixth time (he had racked up six firsts before leaving the plains for the Air Force); Rex Allen, a close third, Bill Elliott fourth and Allen Rocky Lane fifth. CHAMPION SHORTS For the ninth consecutive year, the inde- fatigable Bugs Bunny is the leader in the realm of short subjects. In fact, Warner Brothers' rambunctious rabbit received more votes in this category than did the Top Money-Making Star, Gary Cooper. The 10 winners are as follows: i Bugs Bunny, Warners MGM Cartoons, MGM Walt Disney Cartoons, RKO Pete Smith Specialties, MGM Popeye, Paramount Stooge Comedies, Columbia Mr. Magoo, Columbia Merrie Melodies & Looney Tunes, Warners Joe McDoakes, Warner True Life Adventures, Disney-RKO The MGM Cartoons, guided by Fred Quimby, have won the Academy Award for the best cartoon for two years running. This past year it was for "Johann Mouse" and the year before for "The Two Mouse- keteers." The Walt Disney Cartoons have been at the top ever since the poll's incep- tion in 1939 and they've never placed lower than their current third. Pete Smith and his Specialties are also veterans of 1939 and have never finished below fourth. Pop- eye has moved up one notch to fifth. rangirsng[flligiign?igMgiMi?]E!lii!Meileligjc^^ 16 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 2, 1954 j^fgfSf3J3iSfHiSfs/srsJSf3iS®]s/sfSJ^Js®JSJSfSf3J3JsrsfSf3/^iSfS/s [sisj3jW3JSi^rs/sr3JsrsfSfSfsrsrsLfsr2JSJ&f&r3J&rsr&rs/sfSJsr3Jsisrsjsrs.i ^ ? iriusisMffls VIII. BOB HOPE ®M3M3MSJ3ISM3M3f2IM3M3MSJSM3EMSISE13Ic IX. SUSAN HAYWARD X. RANDOLPH SCOTT 3M3M3MSMMaMaii®M3J3M5®®Sf3JaMaja3-a®rSMSM3MaMlMll'BM3iaEM3Mi'SM2Jar2J'3J' MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 2, 1954 17 HAWKINS SWEEPS TOP HONORS IN BRITISH CHAMPION POLLS by PETER BURNUP LONDON: There was no kind of doubt among the Showmen of Britain as to who was their Champion Money-Maker of 1953; nor did they need the benefit of soothsay- ing or crystal-gazing in making their choice. By a majority unprecedented in the Poll's history this side Jack Hawkins was named Champion of Champions. For a number of years Mr. Hawkins has been hammering confidently at Fame's door. (Last year he ranked fourth in Britain's voting). There is indeed a quality of high consistency in all he does but excellence and integrity also, and, with it all, a world of experience. From Hamlet Down On the stage he has played everything from Hamlet downwards. More than twenty years ago Manhattan saw him in "Journey's End." He has figured in scores of films but all that came to fruition when Carol Reed put him in "Fallen Idol." The abounding accomplishment became manifest and bur- geoned in a line of notable things like "No Highway," "Angels One Five," "Mandy." This year came "Planter's Wife," "Cruel Sea," "Malta Story," "Intruder," each of them an infallible money-spinner; but box office customers had begun to speak of them also as "Jack Hawkins' films." The portents were there to be read by the veriest dullard. Hawkins is there to stay, but also to be regarded is the circum- stance that on the suffrages of shrewd show- men he leads the country's International Poll. The actor is snugly tied up on a long- term J. Arthur Rank contract. There's . a remarkable steadiness in the top echelon of the Poll. The four leaders — Hawkins, Alec Guinness, Ronald Shiner, Alasfair Sim — made up 1 952 s top four. That need not be taken as evidence of un- due loyalty among theatre men. For none of the four is to be denied on the current year's showing. Not only on this side of the Atlantic, Alec Guinness is looked upon as a "rare" actor with unerring instinct. In "Kind Hearts and Coronets," "Lavender Hill Mob," et ai., he struck a rich lode of comedy. But comedy is not his only line. In "Malta Story" he put over an exceedingly subtle study of a man bewildered in the beleaguered island. His Own Private Line Alastair Sim likewise has his own private line. He brings a sly, informed pawkiness to his work which in lesser hands would descend to banal mediocrity. Ronald, Shiner, last year's: winner, obvi- ously treated 1 953 as a turning-point in his career. His stage play, "Seagulls Over Sorrento," continued to play the dizzy grosses. One of his films, "Top of fhe Form," had a similar pleasant fate. In the JACK HAWKINS midst of which cozy good fortune he took the plunge into a film of totally different calibre; namely, Herbert Wilcox's "Laugh- ing Anne." His achievement therein was no less notable. Not for the first time in this place com- ment is demanded on the poor showing made by women in the Poll. Newcomer Dinah Sheridan is the only actress in the roster of the chosen. She is indeed worthy and mighty welcome. Anna Neagle, for six years Britain's unchallenged Leading Lady of the Screen, was not a candidate in this year's contest. For nearly two years she has eschewed the studio for the stage. But it is understood that she contemplates making a film in the coming Spring. It's all Lombard Street to a China Orange that she'll figure high in next year's Poll. She still holds audiences in her personal fief. Heads went tumbling in the International field. Five of the eminents in last year's choice — Betty Hutton, Mario Lanza, James Mason, James Stewart, Humphrey Bogart — figured nowhere in the hurly-burly this time. The fabulous Mr. Hawkins, as in the domestic Poll, led the field by lengths but there were very good reasons for the appearance of the other four newcomers. Stalwart Alan Ladd clearly became entitled by his magnificent showing in a magnificent film, "Shane." Bing Crosby touched hearts all over this land for his rare and touching performance in "Little Boy Lost." Expatriate Stewart Granger's nomination might be taken as a reward for the indus- trious rather than the brilliant; for the actor was to be seen in a whole string of diverse but well-mounted films. There are no two words about the Danny Kaye choice. He was seen in one film only during the year. But "Hans Christian Andersen" is one of those comfortable happy things you can sit through time after time. The Britons cer- tainly did so. Surprise to many was the nomination of Metro’s Tom and Jerry as the Champion in the Shorts market. But there was no kind of question in the manner they overhauled and beat the Disney product, particularly in the big provincial cities. Showmen in those parts speak of them as real money- makers. Footnote . Exhibitors, had they had their way, would have nominated another Great Lady of the Screen; none other than Her Gracious Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. For none matched the loveliness of Her Majesty in those Coronation films; none drew great- er or more eager hosts to the box office. THE MONEY-MAKERS British exhibitors participating in the ” Motion Picture Herald”-"Fame” poll vote for three groups: the top ten British players, the top ten international players, including both American and British stars, and Western stars. The vote: BRITISH Jack Hawkins Alec Guinness Ronald Shiner Alastair Sim Dirk Bogarde Dina Sheridan Jack Warner Nigel Patrick Ralph Richardson Anthony Steel INTERNATIONAL Jack Hawkins Bob Hope Alan Ladd Gregory Peck Martin & Lewis Bing Crosby John Wayne Stewart Granger Doris Day Danny Kaye WESTERN Gary Cooper Randolph Scott John Wayne James Stewart Audie Murphy Roy Rogers Rock Hudson Gene Autry Rod Cameron Rory Calhoun [jOjigjSJiiJIigjajjDjajSJSjjarSMia^^ 18 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 2, 1954 A NATURAL FOR JUNGLE EXPLOITATION! USE THE TICKET-SELLING CAMPAIGN BOOK! ( Available at National Screen JUNGLE SERIAL! Carol Hughes * Janet Shaw Original screenplay by Andy Lamb and George H. Plympton Produced by SAM KATZMAN • Directed by LESLEY SELANDER A COLUMBIA SERIAL REPRINT %:,.W V m ■ jfi§ mfc' "*' r jjj COMPO Dues Collection Up GOLDWYN ASKS CODE REVISION Suggests “Modernization” of Rules; Johnston Calls It “Living Document” Samuel Goldwyn, in a letter to Eric Johnston, president of Motion Picture As- sociation of America, made public Tuesday, recommended revision of the Production Code for the motion picture industry. In answer to Mr. Goldwyn, the MPAA presi- dent declared that the “Code regulations were not intended at the beginning, and they are not intended now, to lay a dead hand on creative and artistic endeavor and integrity. And they have not done so.’’ [An editorial by Martin Quigley on the Production Code con- troversy will be found on page 7.] Mr. Johnston said, “The Code, like the Constitution of the United States, is a living document for living people. That has been demonstrated, I think, through the amend- ments and the interpretations, all within the basic principles of the Code, that have been made since the Code’s adoption.” Mr. Goldwyn suggested that a meeting be called of “all the producers who are signatories to the Code to discuss the need for modernization of the Code and the specific manner in which it can best serve not only our industry but the public. I am sure that out of this would come a better and sounder Code and an end to the present movement to disregard and nullify it. It is vital that this be done before it is too late,” Mr. Goldwyn said. In his letter, Mr. Goldwyn reaffirmed his confidence in and support of the Code of which he described himself as “one of its initiators.” Calls It “ Essential ” “I have never for a moment wavered in my belief — nor do I now — that the principle of the Code is essential to the well being of our industry. It is only through sound self-regulation that, as an industry, we can avoid the excesses that lead to unbridled censorship.” “Nevertheless,” he said, “we must realize that in almost a quarter of a century since the Code’s adoption, the world has moved on. But the Code has stood still. Today there is a far greater maturity among audiences that there was 25 years ago — and this is true of the young people as well as of the older ones.” Mr. Goldwyn declared that audiences to- day realize what creative people always have known, “that drama is worthless unless it has integrity and resembles life. To por- tray life honestly on the screen requires a greater degree of latitude, within the bounds of decency, than exists under the Code. The time has come to recognize this fact.” He pointed out that there are many aspects of life that can not be portrayed on the screen and the Code seal must never serve as a license for filth or vulgarity or for the violation of the basic principles upon which it is founded. He also said the Code must not serve the purposes of pressure groups which have “a special prejudice” on particular matters. Mr. Goldwyn said that unless the Code is brought “reasonably up to date, the ten- dency to by-pass it, which has already be- gun, will increase.” “This,” he said, can lead to “excesses which will do our industry a great deal of harm. I want to see the Code continue as a respected guide of conduct which is ob- served, not disregarded, by picture makers. But to preserve it as such, we must bring it into harmony with the times.” Calls Principles “ Unchanging ” In his reply to Mr. Goldwyn, Mr. John- ston said, “It must be deeply gratifying to everyone who believes in the American motion picture to know of your reaffirma- tion of faith in the principles of the Produc- tion Code. These principles, rooted in the Ten Commandments are, as you surely recognize, eternal and unchanging moral verities. “You will recall, I am sure, that our board of directors, meeting this fall, also strongly and unequivocally reaffirmed its support of and faith in the Code. Members of our board feel that, in adhering to the Code, they are fulfilling a solemn and un- breakable obligation to the public to provide decent and moral entertainment on the screen.” Mr. Johnston pointed out that over the years regulations under the Code “have been amended as the necessity arose to meet new and changing conditions.” He said “This is as it should be.” Concluding his letter, Mr. Johnston said to Mr. Goldwyn that he obviously has given “a good deal of study to the Code. It would be most helpful to us all if you would let me have your specific and detailed recom- mendations to bring the Code up to date, as you suggest. I think this should be a starter in consideration of the subject.” Agrees on Need of Code Replying to Mr. Johnston’s letter, Mr. Goldwyn said Wednesday that he agreed on the necessity for the Code and added “that is why I so firmly believe a reasoned reex- amination of the provisions of the Code, within the framework of its fundamental truths, is necessary at this time.” He added that he would “be very happy to present” his detailed recommendations as to changes in the Code at any meeting of producers which “you may call to discuss this important problem. I hope you will call such a meet- ing promptly.” The Council of Motion Picture Organiza- tions’ dues collection and its poll of Con- gressmen and Senators for their support of industry efforts to eliminate the Federal admissions tax have been moving along toward what are expected to be highly satis- factory results. Robert Coyne, special counsel for COMPO, said in New York this week that while all tabulations in the dues drive have not been compiled, figures to date indicate that “we will be able to operate.” This means that COMPO will be able to carry on its efforts with a comfortable margin. The dues drive started November 30 and ended December 7, with the intensive work carried out by regional chairmen. Mr. Coyne said that some areas had been slow in reporting on their activities, in soliciting Congressional opinion on the tax situation, but that information gathered to date indicates a justified feeling of optimism on the final results. State and regional chairmen of COMPO have been contacting personally and by mail Congressional representatives in their re- spective areas under the direction of Pat McGee and Col. H. A. Cole, COMPO’s co-chairmen of the tax repeal committee, and Mr. Coyne. "French Line" Opens in St. Louis Without Seal RKO’s “The French Line” opened at the Fox theatre in St. Louis Tuesday without a Production Code Seal. The film, in 3-D, stars Jane Russell. Negotiations between RKO and the Production Code Administra- tion concerning revision of the film to con- form with the Code were continuing at midweek. The immediate results of the opening were record crowds at the box office of the theatre and RKO, the distributor, a member of the Motion Picture Association of America and a signatory to the Production Code, making itself liable to a $25,000 fine by the Associa- tion for breach of its agreement not to dis- tribute a film lacking a seal from the Pro- duction Code Administration. Lea Suit Against Majors Is Formally Dismissed Leonard Lea’s three-year-old anti-trust suit against major distributors having been settled, the suit last week was dismissed in Federal Court at Washington, by Judge Walter Bastian. Mr. Lea is an exhibitor at Danville, Va. He alleged his two houses were damaged by assigned clearance. The settlement involved payment of money to Mr. Lea on the day of dismissal, December 23, after the settlement was formally an- nounced. The check having been handed to Mr. Lea, an Internal Revenue agent declared Mr. Lea owed back taxes and that the Government was attaching the check he had just received. 20 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 2, 1954 THERE’S CANDY ON THE EXHIBITOR’S XMAS TREE Holiday Week Finds a Big Package of Box Office Gross Tidily Wrapped Theatre grosses soared to new highs on the box office graph of the nation with the arrival of the Christmas holidays. Circuit representatives and theatre executives re- ported greater business this Christmas week- end than last year. Broadway in New York reflected the gen- eral business upswing, with Radio City Music Hall establishing a new high for a Saturday. Other key houses in New York showed exceptional vitality with such at- tractions as “Beneath the 12-Mile Reef,” “Miss Sadie Thompson,” “The Eddie Can- tor Story” and “King of the Khyber Rifles.” AB-Paramount Had High Level Grosses Among the circuits that reported a higher level of Christmas business this year were American Broadcasting-Paramount Thea- tres and the Stanley Warner circuit. RKO Theatres, which had “The Robe” opening Christmas Day, reported the circuit enjoyed a weekend box office record in the New York metropolitan area. It was learned from other quarters that “The Robe” had grossed $735,000 during the weekend in the 82 neighborhood situations in the Metropolitan area, among which are 27 RKO houses. MGM’s “Knights of the Round Table” was reported to have garnered close to $250,000 in the first four days of seven Christmas Day openings and including the six days of the picture at the Egyptian thea- the in Los Angeles, marking record-breaking business. The film did a smash $45,700' in the first week in Los Angeles. For four days each, in the following cities, the picture grossed $19,405 in Atlanta; $27,150 in New Orleans; $24,190 in Kansas City; $35,210 in St. Louis; $33,401 in Cleveland; $27,640 in Detroit, and $34,700 in Pittsburgh. New York’s Radio City Music Hall, with “Easy to Love” on the screen and the an- nual Christmas show on the stage, was ex- pected at the beginning of the week to hit an enormous $181,000 in the fourth week. Lines of thousands covered more than four blocks daily. The Saturday business, which was $31,500, established a new Saturday record for the Hall. Broadway Houses Showed Box Office Power At the Roxy, a solid $130,000 was esti- mated for the second week of “Beneath the 12-Mile Reef,” in CinemaScope. “Miss Sadie Thompson” in 3-D was expected to ring up nearly $100,000 for its first week at the Capitol, an outstanding gross. At the Paramount a fine $86,000 was indicated for the first week of “The Eddie Cantor Story.” GROSSES JOYOUS IN GREAT BRITAIN TOO LONDON: Britain's cinemas Monday enjoyed their most fabulous day in years. London's West End piled up dizzy grosses. "The Robe" at the Odeon in its sixth week grossed £1,385 to mark the theatre's second biggest gross, excelled only the first Saturday of "The Robe" run. Other West End houses shared the glad har- vest, notably Metro's Empire with "All the Brothers Were Valiant." Rank's Haymarket Gaumont playing "Kidnappers" did SRO business. A midnight roundup of suburban houses revealed similar record-making marks. Another CinemaScope production, “King of the Khyber Rifles,” at the Rivoli was gross- ing a resounding $75,000 for the first week. “How to Marry a Millionaire” in Cine- maScope ended its run at Loew's State Sun- day with $25,000 for the last six days of its seven-week run. The same picture at the Globe was expected to do a good $22,000, and was continuing there. “This Is Cine- rama” was expected to do $65,000 for the 30th week with extra performances slated for the holidays. A good $35,000 was indicated for the first week of “Here Come the Girls” at the May- fair and “Cease Fire !” was expected to hit $15,000 for its fifth week windup at the Criterion. Many off-Broadway first run houses also enjoyed good business. William W. Howard, vice-president of RKO Theatres, commenting on “The Robe,” said that during its first three-day showing it broke all weekend records of the circuit for the last five years. Christmas Weekend Was Among Best Ever Edward L. Hyman, vice-president of American Broadcasting-Paramount Thea- tres, said that business Christmas weekend was higher in AB-PT theatres than the holiday business done last year. He pointed out that this was true for the circuit despite the “Bwana Devil” grosses last year, which swelled the business done in the circuit’s Texas and southwest affiliates. From a Stanley Warner spokesman came the report that grosses during the weekend were “much better than last year.” A Loew’s official commenting on week- end business, said that Loew’s neighborhood houses did “very well,” about the same as last ‘year. He saw an upsurge later in the week with “From Here to Eternity” open- ing in Loew’s metropolitan situations. “Lure of the Sila,” an IFE release, was expected to hit a big $12,000 for the first week at the New York theatre following a three-day record gross of $6,475. In Chicago the first runs snapped out of their pre-holiday slump with several new bills opening well and some holdovers bouncing up from the previous week’s fig- ures. Among the newcomers, “Kiss Me, Kate,” topped $60,000 at the Chicago. “Walking My Baby Back Home” was head- ing for a strong $20,000 plus at the United Artists; “The Living Desert” bettered the opening week of “Martin Luther" at the Loop with a fine $22,000 expected. “Here Come the Girls” and “Those Redheads from Seattle” went over $30,000 at the Mc- Vickers; “Easy to Love” turned in a good $16,000 at the RKO Grand and “Anna- purna” lifted the Surf to a strong figure of $6,308. The top holdovers are “This Is Cinerama’ winding up a $31,000 week at the Palace, but expecting to go higher during the week in which nine extra performances were scheduled. “The Robe,” back over $30,000 in its 14th week at the State Lake; “How to Marry a Millionaire,” also still topping $30,000 at the Oriental and “The Captain’s Paradise” holding steady with $3,500 at the Ziegfeld in its ninth week.” U-l Holds Promotion Talks On "Glenn Miller Story" Universal Pictures field exploitation per- sonnel met in New York Tuesday and Wed- nesday for a series of promotion conferences on “The Glenn Miller Story” under the di- rection of Charles Simonelli, the company s eastern advertising and publicity manager. On the agenda are the key city tour of James Stewart ; the Clarinda, Iowa, obser- vance of “Glenn Miller Day, and the film s world premiere January 19 at the Miami, Carib and Miracle theatres in Miami. The film will open in mid-February at the Capitol theatre, New York, and will be re- leased nationally on Febrary 22, Washing- ton’s Birthday. Allied Artists Prepares "Riot" Saturation Dates Saturation bookings in New England of Allied Artists’ “Riot in' Cell Block 11” will begin with openings February 25 at the Paramount and Fenway theatres, Boston. They will coincide with other openings in the area, and be preceded by heavy televi- sion and radio campaigns. Terry Turner of General Teleradio, Inc., has been retained by the company to prepare the radio trans- cripts and television films which will sup- plement newspaper advertising. Harry Goldstein, Allied Artists eastern publicity manager, will go to Boston shortly for the exploitation campaign. MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 2, 1954 21 Terr^ Ramid^e • • HOT STATIC IN COLOR TV THERE'S fur and feathers in the air over "compatible" color television. It is fun to have glimpses of it in the paid public utter- ances, and to observe some of it from other points of vantage. It is the big techno- logical whodunit of the period. There are fighting words in it. And how we all like a "clem," especially in such a big arena. To the corners: Friday, December 18 — Full page adver- tisements in New York's big papers pro- claimed in studhorse headline: "RCA Wins Fight for Compatible Color Television; FCC Decision Benefits Public and Tele- vision Industry — RCA-NBC Pioneer a New Era in Television. . . ." RCA's advertising, of course. Wednesday, December 23 — Full page advertisement, signed by Philco Corpora- tion of Philadelphia, proclaimed in bel- ligerent type: "Facts the American People Should Know About Color Television" and discussion of its standards as approved by the FCC. "They are not the work of any one company." And thence on to a quote from the FCC, "a tribute to the skill and ingenuity of the electronics industry." There are some interesting details, of varying degrees of significance. It was clear enough the Radio Corporation of America was taking over with an advertising bow the credit for compatible color television. There was a casual phrase: "RCA has fur- nished competing manufacturers with cir- cuit diagrams and technical information which enable them to manufacture color receivers and tri-color tubes. . . ." That's for the anti-trust sensitivity. There is further a probable notion that the farther and faster the color development comes the better for RCA and its marketing in its position of aggressive dominance. The initial break of proclamation was in- evitably in the nature of a flourish of personal triumph for David Sarnoff, inde- fatigable for years in his persistent and lavish support of the RCA research and policies. For several years the pressures and suggestions of that program have been manifest to interior observers at every con- vention, or event which RCA could reach directly or indirectly. Many a speaker was planted, many others were briefed. The RCA splash page was decorated with a modestly sized picture of Mr. Sarnoff, top left. Uniquely, and curiously, for the first time in official copy, and on this august occasion he was named and signed just David Sarnoff, with no inclusion of that Brigadier General title, with which he has seemed so pleased. This contributed to the dignity of the document: The Philco advertisement recorded: "Here are the names of some of the or- ganizations whose combined knowledge and strength are responsible for the sys- tem that won final F.C.C. approval." The listing, running to some forty-odd names, alphabetically from Admiral to Zenith, named such as Dupont, Dumont, Eastman Kodak, General Electric, General Analine, Technicolor and Westinghouse. In that list- ing Ph ilco came in thirtieth position and RCA thirty-third. Phil co was emphatic that the standards now approved were those recommended by the National Television Systems Com- mittee in July. "You will understand that much work still remains to be done, and color receivers will not be available in quantity for a long time. In the face of the popular figures of a fourteen-inch "pic- ture size" Philco says: "At present the in- dustry has developed only small screen color tubes with approximately I M/2-inch viewing screens, giving only 89 square inches of picture. . . . Contrast this with today's 2 I -inch black and white set with an approximate 250 square inch picture. . . ." There are said to be about 85 competing set makers and 70 tube makers in operation today. From RCA's figures one gathers that the corporation spent fifty million dollars de- livering television, and now on top that twenty-five millions more in pursuit of color. No doubt they intend to get it back. STILL WORKING — Amid the racing de- velopments of the day and sitting at the center of the maelstrom of change, we can easily forget what a backlog treasure of entertainment reposes in films still in in- ventory. In mid-August "Lives of a Ben- gal Lancer" — and a very good picture, too — played the Odeon in Cardiff, Wales. It was promoted with a street parade and with local acclaim and all the success of a new production. Way back yonder in the "program" days before radio, fan press, television and such, we rated pic- tures first run, regardless of age, until they had played the town. Fox to . f it! Theatres an CinemaScope Mobilization of division and branch man- agers, salesmen, field exploitation represen- tatives and home office executives in a program designed to aid exhibitors in the proper presentation of CinemaScope pictures has been announced by 20th Century-Fox. Executives and representatives of the company will make periodic theatre visits to see CinemaScope shows, and confer with managers on ways and means of maintain- ing at highest quality level performances of films lensed in the new medium. Information regarding latest scientific de- velopments regarding CinemaScope, screens, stereophonic sound, and suggestions for better programming will be discussed at these meetings. Among the technical subjects to be stressed will be proper illimination of the theatre auditoriums in connection with the vaster screen and greater amount of light being reflected via CinemaScope; proper presentation of CinemaScope to new audi- ences via the company’s progress reports and special introductory messages ; also the maintenance of natural sound levels to pre- sent four-track magnetic stereophonic sound at its best, the company said. Maryland Lifts Ban on "The Captain's Paradise" United Artists’ “The Captain’s Paradise” has been licensed by the Maryland State Board of Censors, which on November 23 had refused the approval seal. The board based its reversal on Baltimore City Court Judge Herman M. Moser’s ruling on the board’s ban of “The Moon is Blue.” The Judge said the censors were “arbitrary and capricious.” The censors said continuance of the ban on the first named picture would probably find the case in court. "Captain" Gets Seal HOLLYWOOD: A Production Code seal has been issued to “The Captain’s Paradise,” London Films’ production, distributed in the U. S. by United Artists, following revisions in the film suggested bv the Production Code Administration. Monogram International Also Changes Name Effective January 2, Monogram Inter- national Corporation was to begin function- ing under its new name of Allied Artists International Corporation, Norton V. Rit- chey, president of the Allied Artists foreign subsidiary, announced. “It is appropriate,” Mr. Ritchey said, “that this change be made at the start of a New Year — a time of fresh endeavors and new beginnings ; a time also when Allied Artists is forging ahead as never before, filming in all media with streets on bigger properties, bigger stars and bigger box office.” 22 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 2, 1954 pressbook unusual campaigns around.. screen s most amazing plunge into i the ® unusual ! entire industry's ALLAN DOWLING PRESENTS p^NNIVERs The best-seller that startled millions now shocks the screen! GENE EVANS- NANCY DAVIS co-starring with STEVE BRODIE and TOM POWERS • LISA HOWARD SCREENPLAY BY FELIX FEIST • PRODUCED BY TOM. CRIES, • DIRECTED BY FELIX FEIST A DOWLING PRODUCTIONS .PRESENTATION • RELEASED THRU UNITED ARTISTS iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii by WILLIAM R. WEAVER Hollywood Editor ON ACCOUNT of an eligibility rule im- posed by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, to the effect that a picture must have been exhibited publicly and under paid-admittance conditions within the corporate limits of Los Angeles and within the calendar year if it is to be con- sidered a candidate for Academy Award-ing, it is a local custom for producers to press for bookings of their proudest works around this time of year. Some years this has worked out somewhat sadly for local exhibitors, and their cus- tomers, when the art-y section — producers, writers, directors too — has been having its way so undisputedly that the local scene has wound up the year with a wide variety of artistic achievements on display before a happily un-artistic multitude of plain people looking for a good movie instead. Holidays were dull days here in those years. Situation This Year Is Very Different But this year is different. The arty-y sec- tion has been in the dog house this past twelvemonth — two twelvemonths, for that matter — and everybody’s been making pic- tures conceived, designed and executed for the plain purpose of entertaining people and making money. So this year the proudest works of the producers who, with undimin- ished vim, have pressed for holiday book- ings, are not only very proud works indeed, but very profitable works also. And this year, happily for both the un-artistic and the artistic customers, and ditto exhibitors, the business (over the first long weekend, this is) has beaten every year’s since early post- war. Here is some of the product, not all of it pointed at Academy consideration, on which the population hereabouts feasted and, in most cases, is feasting still : ‘‘Knights of the Round Table,” MGM’s first production in CinemaScope, is making Hollywood Boulevard history at the his- toric, but muchly modernized, Egyptian theatre ; List Others That Are Prospering A short walk up the street, at the Chinese, and also at the Los Angeles in the down- town area, Twentieth-Century-Fox’s “Be- neath the 12-Mile Reef” is prospering hand- somely ; In midtown the Fox Wilshire likewise is coining money with another film in Cinema- Scope, the long-running “How to Marry a Millionaire,” with no end of a run in sight; On the 3-D front the Wayne-Fellows production of “Hondo,” a Warner release, has the turnstiles spinning at the two Para- mounts, the Hollywood and the downtown bearers of the name, and a new chapter is being written into the book of “Whither— and Whether — 3-D Now?” Other chapters are being inscribed by “Kiss Me Kate” and “Miss Sadie Thompson,” each of which is playing in two theatres, and doing very nicely, thank you. Other Features Also Doing Lusty Business Other features doing a thriving business are “Julius Caesar,” which perhaps could be described as more artistic than commercial if it were not for that baker’s dozen of marquee names in the cast ; “The Living Desert,” living its second lusty week at the not outrightly artistic Fine Arts, “Act of Love,” another single booking, and "Here Come the Girls,” playing upwards of a dozen theatres on its second local round. That’s the way the holiday product on display here is averaging out. Which is not to say, of course, that any of these pictures are of necessity going to win any Academy Awards. On the contrary, a good many of the year’s most challenging attractions were given their Los Angeles runs a good while back, as the calendar flies. Some of those which have been highly regarded by the professionals who do the Academy voting, and by the non-professionals who cast their votes in coin of the realm in exchange for admittance tickets, are : “Shane,” the George Stevens production for Paramount which, in many opinions, told the whole story of the West as fully as it need ever be told; “War of the Worlds,” the brilliant George Pal materialization of H. G. Wells’ ever- fresh account of inter-stellar conquest ; “ Queen Is Crowned” Popular Documentary “The Robe,” the 20th-Fox picturization of Lloyd C. Douglas’ tremendous book for in- troduction of the company’s tremendous CinemaScope process ; “A Queen Is Crowned,” easily the most popular documentary (or newsfilm) ever re- leased ; “Lili,” to many the most delightful ex- perience in a rich season ; “From Here to Eternity,” the box office record-breaker ; and — Your favorite picture, whatever it may be. The list of titles submitted to the mem- bers of the Academy at voting time — with no purpose save to notify that the pictures on this list qualify for voting so far as the fact of their having been exhibited properly within the prescribed time and territory is concerned — usually runs between 300 and THIS WEEK IN PRODUCTION: COMPLETED (3) INDEPENDENT Tender Hearts (Haas) SHOOTING (15) MGM Prisoner of War Story (Ansco Color) Brigadoon (Cinema- Scope; Ansco Color) Student Prince (Cinema- Scope; Ansco Color) Bride for Seven Brothers (CinemaScope; East- man Color) PARAMOUNT Conquest of Space (Technicolor) Rear Window (Techni- color) RKO Big Rainbow (Techni- color) U-l Black Shield of Falworth REPUBLIC Hot Heiress Shanghai Story (CinemaScope; Tech- nicolor) Sign of the Pagan (CinemaScope; Tech- nicolor) Playgirl WARNER Talisman (Cin emaScope; WarnerColor) Ring of Fear (Wayne- Fellows; Cinema- Scope; WarnerColor) Lucky Me (Cinema- Scope; WarnerColor) Star Is Born (Cinema- Scope; WarnerColor) High and Mighty (Wayne - Fellows: CinemaScope; War- nerColor) iiiiiiiiiimiiimiiiiiiiiiiiimimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii 400. This year it will run nearer the former figure than the latter. But the Academy member’s voting will be a complicated pro- cedure this time, for two principal reasons. First, the year has witnessed release of more high-quality pictures than last year. Second, they weren’t all alike, dimensionally, and in some degree that has to mean they were not all strictly comparable objects. Up to this late hour in an expiring year the Academy has not divided up the pictures as to dimensions, in the way it divides them into “color” and “black and white” for the purposes of awardings in several divisions — photograph, art direction, etc. — and there has been no public discussion of doing so. Yet it is quite as difficult to say with finality that a certain picture in 3-D is better than another in CinemaScope, for instance, as it is to argue that a cinematographer who shot his picture in Technicolor, for another in- stance, did a better job than one who shot his picture in black and white. A Big Problem Faces Academy Now the Academy, in its 25 illustrious years of earnest endeavor and complete dedication to the advancement of the motion picture art and science, has run the count of its regular awards up to the neighborhood of 30 or so. And if it elects to split up the 1953 product along dimensional lines it will need to double, perhaps treble, that number. This is a frightening prospect, and hedged around with more thorns than meets the casual eye. But it is also a big and proper problem — big and proper enough to engage the Academy Board of Governors very earnestly for a good way into the Happy New Year. 24 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 2, 1954 A LIVELY . ANAMORPHIC ASPECT YEAH WAS 1953 by VINCENT CANBY As 1953 drew to a close, it was quite evi- dent that it had been a year dominated by the new screen techniques. The evidences were diverse and conclusive : C[J Sophie Tucker, celebrating her 50th year in show business, added to her repertoire a number entitled “I’m A 3-D Mama With A Big Wide Screen.” Miss Tucker, who was not born yesterday, knows a trend when she sees one. €J Moody’s Investors Service, an au- gust financial house of Wall Street, in its year-end survey, placed mo- tion picture company stocks among “groups in most favorable position,” noting that the “industry is still feel- ing the impact of television and ad- justing itself to new techniques de- signed to lure customers. The stocks advanced spectacularly in the last weeks, with 20th-Fox and Universal common on Monday hitting the year’s peaks. At the same time, Moody’s placed television and radio stocks among “groups in least fa- vorable position.” Enough said. Today’s oaks are, of course, yesterday’s acorns. In the case of new techniques, the acorns were two, both sown in the last days of 1952: the September opening of “This Is Cinerama” in New York and the Los An- geles opening in September of Arch Oboler’s 3-D “Bwana Devil.” In the ensuing 12- month no less than 35 3-D films were made and this week exhibitors had available for holiday showings no less than five top- budget CinemaScope features. Television ad men, too, have jumped on the band wagon. They now are pushing the 27-inch screen for its glorious “panoramic” qualities. The new screen in New York’s Music Hall is 70 feet wide and 28 feet tall. Although 1953 was not marked by deci- sive action in the field of trade practice har- mony, the year did see corporation history made, by S. H. Fabian, 20th Century-Fox, American Broadcasting-Paramount Theatres and RKO Radio. These involved large and optimistic stock purchases, a merger of ex- hibition and television interests and a vic- tory by 20th-Fox veterans in a proxy battle with a stockholder. Industry Cooperated In Tax Campaign The year also saw an example of unpar- alleled industry cooperation in the heart- breaking drive for repeal of the Federal admissions tax, a drive marked by unhoped for success until President Eisenhower’s last minute veto of the Mason bill August 6. The drive, however, gave COMPO its spurs and promise of favorabel action in 1954. "SCREEN TECHNIQUES" VITAL CONTRIBUTION Marking 1953 as the year of prog- ress in film production and projection systems was the publication of "New Screen Techniques," a volume of 26 articles by industry leaders edited by Martin Quigley, Jr. Enthusiastic reac- tion to the volume is still coming in from all quarters. The December issue of the "American Cinematographer" calls it "a clear, concise, profusely il- lustrated guide" while the December issue of the "Journal of Franklin In- stitute" suggests that "those who wish a factual and impartial presentation of this new art form would do well to read this book." In Australia, "Film Weekly" in its December 10 issue, editorialized that the volume "will help managers to tell the story of new dimensions, and get their facts right . . . too many know too little of what they are talking. And it is time to get on your feet and talk." High-grossing pictures this year broke all previous records. Strong managers grew weak in anticipation, reading the reports on “The Robe,” “House of Wax” and “From Here to Eternity,” to name a few. Adolph Zukor, at 80, issued a book of reminiscences and travelled the world to receive tribute on his Golden Jubilee. Marilyn Monroe, hav- ing started as a press agent’s dream, became an institution. The year has been a calendar of events to remember. As 1953 got under way, talk of new tech- niques revolved principally around a third dimension. In January, Spyros P. Skouras of 20th-Fox had just returned from a global trip and was synthesizing all he had seen. On February 1, however, he dropped his anamorphic bombshell. Within several weeks the process, originally called by the tongue-twisting name of “Anamorphosis” by its inventor, Professor Henri Chretien of Paris, was renamed CinemaScope and “The Robe” was before the cameras. The climax of the first stages of the great endeavor came September 16 when “The Robe” received its world premiere at New York’s Roxy theatre. Intervening were CinemaScope demonstrations throughout the world, one of the greatest re-tooling programs ever undertaken by the industry, as well as one of the greatest gambles. The announcement by 20th-Fox in March that it was converting to an all-CinemaScope policy, implemented by a $35,000,000 pro- duction program, was shortly followed by scheduling of CinemaScope productions by MGM, Columbia, Allied Artists, Universal and various others. The Brothers Warner, who had been true 3-D’s greatest boosters, in July announced their own anamorphic process, Warner Su- perScope, later shortened to WarnerScope, and still later abandoned in favor of Cine- maScope and standardization. At year end, the Warner CinemaScope program rivaled that of 20th-Fox. 3-D and Aspect Ratio Talk Starred Early in Year Concurrent with all this, of course, was the activity in the 3-D field and the begin- nings of the battle of the aspect ratios. By February of the year, there were three 3-D programs playing simultaneous engagements on Broadway. These included “Bwana Devil,” the British-made Stereo-Techniques shorts and a Bolex-Stereo program called Triorama. Columbia won the major studio race to see which would be the first to place its own stereo film in a Broadway showcase. It’s “Man in the Dark” opened April 8 at the Globe, followed two days later by War- ners’ “House of Wax” at the Paramount, the latter being the first of the new type films to be released with stereophonic sound. The early 3-D films made fabulous grosses, but they declined in favor as a num- ber of undisguised “quickies” went into cir- culation. It wasn’t until the end of the year, with the improvement of the polarizing viewers and release of quality product (“Kiss Me, Kate,” “Hondo,” “Cease Fire!” “Miss Sadie Thompson”) that 3-D could be said to be approaching maturity. The hubbub caused by all the 3-D and CinemaScope talk led to open and healthy discussion about the so-called standard screen’s dimensions. Seeking ways to give a new look to the backlog of conventional product, studio technicians began masking the aperture plate and coming up with new aspect ratios which they urged on exhibitors. Paramount and Republic backed the 1.66 to 1 ratio; MGM the 1.75 to 1 ratio and Col- umbia and Universal the 1.85 to 1 ratio. The end effect was often more footless and top- of-the-headless than panoramic, but it did serve to get more new screens into more theatres than had been installed in years. Formed Magna to Produce Films on 65mm Stock In work, too, were other innovations. In March Joseph M. Schenck and Michael Todd announced the formation of the Magna Cor- poration to make films on 65mm stock. Carl Dudley in June announced the availability of Vistarama, an anamorphic process similar to CinemaScope. By the end of the year, at least two one-strip 3-D systems were in the immediate offing, Matthew Fox’s Morop- ticon and the Nord system. The exhibitors, as usual, took all this in ( Continued on following page ) MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 2, 1954 25 NORWALK CITIZENS REOPEN THEATRE CLOSED 3 YEARS Reopening of the Norwalk theatre, Nor- walk, Conn., was a local event of import- ance and also attracted some national comment, as an indication of community interest in the theatre as an institution. Citizens from all types of endeavor, and in some instances representing business in- terests determined to maintain and im- prove local property standards, worked on the project voluntarily. The house had been dark three years. In reopening it, Norman Bialek, manager, had the help not only of citizens but also of the Motion Picture Association of Amer- ica, and MGM, which was pleased to have the Connecticut premiere of "Easy to Two Buffalo Actions Postponed by Court BUFFALO : The suit of the Martina Corp., of Albion, N. Y., against 14 distributors and exhibitors and three individuals, again has been postponed, this time to January 18. The corporation seeks treble damages against the defendants, charging they are acting in restraint of trade. The postpone- ment was agreed to by Judge John Knight, Love" in the "new" house. Hollywood per- sonalities who graced the evening, Satur- day, December 26, were director Robert Rossen and Paramount star Pat Crowley. Many of the best known citizens and offi- cials of Norwalk also turned out. In the top picture, above, some of the planners are shown. They are Howard Hall, of the local lighting company; Mr. Bialek; Dr. Harry H. Heffernan, dentist, a main- spring of citizen cooperation; Abner Sibal, attorney, and Phillip Young, banker. Be- low, on the "reopening night", Mr. Bialek, at the right, is shown with some guests: Robert C. Spodick, Philip Gravitz and Leonard Sampson, MGM, and Mr. Rossen. in Buffalo Federal Court. The Schine Cir- cuit divestiture hearing, which has been scheduled for trial before Judge Knight, also has again been postponed to January 25. Percy R. Doe Dies ARCADIA. NEB.: Percy E. Doe, 74, owner of the Arcadia theatre for nearly 30 years before his retirement several years ago, died here December 27 after a long illness. Survivors are his widow and a son. A LIVELY YEAR (Continued from preceding page ) stride, converting first to two-projector 3-D, thence to CinemaScope and stereophonic sound, and even finding time for an increas- ing number of theatre TV programs. All hope of arbitration was pretty well scuttled for the year when Allied in Janu- ary turned down the distributors’ draft at the association’s Chicago convention. Senate Small Business Committee hearings on trade practices recessed in the summer, having and later recommended arbitration. Grainger Became Head Of RKO Pictures 1 he corporation news was made by James R. Grainger, who in February became presi- dent of RKO Pictures, following Howard Hughes’ reassumption of the company’s stock sold earlier to a phalanx working out of Chicago. Also in February, the Federal Communications Commission approved the merger of the American Broadcasting Com- pany and United Paramount Theatres, which became American Broadcasting-Paramount Theatres under the leadership of the indus- try’s own Leonard Goldenson. The following month Warner Brothers Pictures and the company’s theatre inter- ests were divorced, with the brothers’ 24 per cent stock interest in the latter firm go- ing to S. H. Fabian of Fabian Enterprises for an undisclosed price. Four months later, in July, the thriving new theatre company took over all exhibition and production rights for Cinerama. By the end of the year a second Cinerama feature was in produc- tion and the original program had been opened — and was still playing — in Detroit, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington and Pittsburgh. The year-end saw another spectacular re- affirmation of faith in the industry when a group headed by Albert List and David J. Greene bought up Howard Hughes’ 929,020 shares in RKO Theatres Corporation, con- trolling some 90 theatres. The purchase, consummated in the second week of Novem- ber, involved upwards of $3,370,000 in cash and the transfer of a large block of RKO pictures’ stock for theatre company shares. Color TV and Telemeter Coming Up in 1954 While the year came to an end with new techniques bursting out all over the nation’s screens, exhibitors were keeping their eyes on new competitive forces scheduled to play an increasing part in the entertainment scheme of things in 1954: color television and pay-as-you-go TV. There seemed to be no immediate fear that color TV, a compatible system which had been ap- proved by the Federal Communications Commission in December, would comprise any new or particularly stiff competition. It still is mighty expensive, for small sized screens, in limited quantities of production. Pay-as-you-go TV was demonstrated in Palm Springs by Paramount’s Telemeter Corporation. Results and reactions were being studied by all concerned. 26 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 2, 1954 Eternity 99 A. I . Critics Best Film Columbia’s “From Here to Eternity” was the best picture of 1953, the New York Film Critics voted last week. The group, com- prising film writers and editors of major New York newspapers, also cited Fred Zin- nemann, director of that picture, as the best director of the year ; Burt Lancaster, also in the picture, as the best actor, and Audrey Hepburn as the best actress, for her role in “Roman Holiday.” Other “candidates” in these categories, the newspaper writers said, were “Conquest of Everest”, “The Robe”, “Roman Holiday” and “Moulin Rouge” ; George Stevens, Joseph Mankiewicz, William Wyler, and John Huston; William Holden, Spencer Tracy, John Gielgud, and James Mason; and Ava Gardner, Anna Magnani, Jean Simmons, Leslie Caron, and Colette Mar- chand. The critics also declared “Justice Is Done” was the best foreign film of the year ; and they cited specially “A Queen Is Crowned” and “Conquest of Everest.” Both are in color. Dozen Big Openings Set for "Cease Fire!" A dozen gala military-style openings have been scheduled for the Paramount-Hal Wal- lis film of the Korean war, “Cease Fire!” in six cities during the first five weeks of the new year. Each local opening will be patterned after the arc-lighted Army-sponsored world pre- miere at New York’s Criterion theatre November 24 and coast premiere at the St. Francis theatre, San Francisco, Decem- ber 22. The Paramount theatre in Newark, N. J., January 1 will lead off the openings. Then on January 13 seven key Los Angeles first- runs will open the picture. The following day, January 14, the picture will open at the Ontario theatre, Washington, D. C. The Metropolitan theatre, Boston, will open the film with military trimmings January 15, and on either that day or January 22 it will make its bow at the Stanley theatre, Phila- delphia. On February 4 “Cease Fire !” will have an Army-sponsored opening at the Palm State theatre, Detroit. RKO Signs Deal for Release Of Stillman's "Americano" RKO Radio Pictures this week announced the signing of a distribution deal with Rob- ert Stillman Productions for the release of “The Americano.” The film, which has a Brazilian background, stars Glenn Ford, Arthur Kennedy, Ursula Thiess and Cesar Romero. It is the fifth independent film in as many weeks to be placed on RKO’s 1954 agenda. Massachusetts Circuit Head Shares with Employees Samuel Goldstein, president of Western Massachusetts Theatres, Inc., Springfield, announced last week he is giving part of his organization to between 15 and 20 of his top employees. Word of his plans accom- panied the announcement that his 226 em- ployees were receiving Christmas bonuses ranging from $100 to $800, depending on length of service. Under the reorganization, Western Massachusetts Theatres will serve as a holding company, owning the 15 thea- tres involved. He will head this firm. Thea- tre Managers, Inc., will be the name of the company which will operate the theatres and stock in this firm will be held by 15 or so administrators, or former employees of Mr. Goldstein. Becca to Buy "V" Stock WASHINGTON : Decca Records has noti- fied the Securities and Exchange Commis- sion that it proposes to increase its holdings of Universal Pictures common stock. Decca filed a registration statement with the Commission to increase its own out- standing capital stock to offer to Universal stockholders Decca stock in exchange for their Universal stock. The Decca statement sought registration of 145,842 shares of 50 cents par value capital stock, “to be issued only in exchange for shares of $1 common stock of Universal Pictures Co., Inc.” The ratio of exchange is to be filed later. According to the prospectus, Decca now owns 600,075 shares of the outstanding Universal stock. Issuance of the additional 145,842 shares of Decca capital stock would increase its outstanding stock to 1,500,000 shares. Decca declared the ratio of exchange would be determined by Decca’s board of directors some time in January, upon the basis of the earning records of the two com- panies, the dividends paid, the book value, the market history, the prospective earnings of the two companies, and other similar matters. Columbia Buys "Joseph And His Brethren" “Joseph and His Brethren” a Biblical classic, has been acquired by Columbia Pic- tures from Louis B. Mayer. It will be made in 1954 and according to Columbia president Harry Cohn will be one of the most important and costly productions the company has attempted. The screenplay, by John Lee Mahin, will be made by execu- tive producer Jerry Wald and directed by William Dieterle. It will be in color by Technicolor, and be made on ffications in Europe, and the Holy Land, and in Holly- wood. Mr. Mayer is said to be pleased at the eventuation. He originally acquired and prepared the story. He will have an interest in the production, Columbia said. J Loetr Single Truck Sound Is Expluined LONDON : Details of Loew’s International Corporation’s new single optical track ster- eophonic sound system were discussed here by Arthur M. Loew, president. The system, called Perspect-A-Sound, will be used first with British and Continental prints of “Knights of the Round Table,” MGM s first production in CinemaScope which will have its overseas premiere at the Empire in London some time in February. Sound from the single optical track, said Mr. Loew, “is distributed through the center and side screen horns by means of a small piece of equipment in the projection booth. There is no necessity to make any changes in the standard projection sound heads.” “It is simple ad foolproof, ’ he continued. “From the renters’ point of view, it makes stereophonic sound an easier and less ex- pensive process. For the exhibitors it has all the advantages of the new sound, with none of the difficulties.” He said, in effect, that it was an all purpose system since theatres not equipped for stereophonic reproduction can run the sound through their single horns without any adjustments. A trade demonstration of the device is expected to be held at the Empire some time early in January, followed by demon- stration in other European countries. For U. S. engagements, prints of “Knights” are equipped with the four-track magnetic sound which 20th-Fox is using with all its Cinema- Scope features. Chicago Tribune Lists Neighborhood Films CHICAGO: Regular editorial coverage of motion pictures shown at neighborhood thea- tres was begun by the “Chicago Tribune ’ recently, as a weekly feature of the paper. The neighborhood film column, consisting of a brief comment about the stars and themes of films scheduled throughout the Chicago area that weekend, is to appear on the same page with neighborhood theatre advertise- ments every Friday. Rosenberg Buys Story HOLLYWOOD : Frank P. Rosenberg, in- dependent producer, has purchased “Steeper Cliff” from 20th Century-Fox, where it was on his production agenda during his term at that studio, and will produce it in Germany next summer. Drive-Ins, RENEW SPEAKERS NOW! Any make in-car speakers recondi- tioned "just like new". Repainted, all defective or doubtful parts replaced, tested in service. Get complete de- tails! In lots of 40, only $2.98 each! fir si ‘American pWuzts .Tic. 1717 Wyandotte St., Kansas City 8, Mo. MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 2, 1954 27 Ampex Offers 3-Channel San ml l nit The Ampex Corporation of Redwood, Calif., has developed a new three-channel stereophonic sound system, for theatres up to 1,500 seats, to sell complete for $3,995, with installation costs the only additional charges to be met by exhibitors. This was announced in New York Mon- day by Spyros Skouras, Jr., sales manager of the Circuit Construction Corporation, which will distribute the system. At a press conference, Mr. Skouras said the system was “unique” in its safety factors. It is so arranged that should there be a failure in any one or two of the three stage speakers or three power amplifiers during a performance, the channels will be mixed into the remaining speaker or speak- ers. Thus, he said, there is no reason for the performance to be interrupted during the course of the showing. Besides the Master Series, which Ampex calls its new system, the company also puts out two higher priced sound systems, the Deluxe Series and Super Series. Mr. Skou- ras said first deliveries on current orders on the Master Series will be made January 15, while full deliveries are promised on or after February 1. He also said that approximately 40 theatres of the Skouras circuit will be equipped with the Ampex system by January 15 and that approxi- mately 100 other theatres around the country have ordered the Ampex systems. Ross Snyder, Ampex engineer, who sat in on the press conference with Mr. Skouras, said that the design of the Master Series had been engineered with the purpose of simplifying as many complicated electronic parts as possible and to derive greater ef- ficiency from the component parts of the system. Zukor Inducts 42 Into Paramount 25-Year Club Forty-two employees of the Paramount home office newsreel, laboratories and field staffs who this year completed 25 years with the company, last week were inducted in New York into the firm’s 25-Year Club by board chairman and company founder Adolph Zukor, who has spent 50 years in the industry. The new members received citations and gold watches and heard a speech by president of the company Barney Balaban. "Rob Roy" to Open Feb. 4 Walt Disney’s all-live action motion pic- ture, “Rob Roy, The Highland Rogue,” will have its premiere at the Criterion theatre, New York, February 4, it was announced by Charles Boasberg, general sales manager of RKO Radio Pictures. FOR HIGHER GROSSES . . . POLAROID’S-PERFECTED 3-D Experience proves PATRONS WANT 3-D when they are assured COMFORTABLE [ VIEWING. ® Patrons find 3-D a highly satisfying experience when they are furnished with top-quality viewers. Comfortable Polaroid optical-quality viewers both standard and clip-on type (for patrons who wear corrective glasses) are your answer to patron acceptance of 3-D motion pictures. • GENUINE OPTICAL-QUALITY POLAROID VIEWERS • POLAROID “SYNC” KIT FOR PERFECT SHOWINGS (AT NO EXTRA COST) At Your RCA THEATRE SUPPLY DEALER'S THEATRE EQUIPMENT RADIO CORPORATION of AMERICA ENGINEERING PRODUCTS DEPARTMENT. CAMDEN. N.J. In Canada: RCA VICTOR Company Limited, Montreal Communion Breakfast •Manna rtf 31 Plans for the motion picture industry’s Fourth Annual Communion Breakfast were launched this week at a meeting of the com- mittee of sponsors held in the Paramount board room Tuesday afternoon. The Break- fast, to be held January 31 at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel following Mass and Com- munion at 9 A. M. at St. Patrick’s Cathe- dral, is for Catholic members of the industry and their families. Starting four years ago in New York, the movement for annual Communion Breakfasts for Catholics in the industry has spread to other cities. Last year similar affairs were held in Los Angeles and New Orleans, as well as in several Canadian cities. Tickets for the affair will be distributed starting next week in all the home offices by the various members of the sponsoring committee. List Committee Members Members of the committee are : Frank J. Alford, MPEA; John W. Alicoate, “Film Daily” ; William E. Barry, Shea Enter- prises ; Marguerite Bourdette, Paramount ; Frank Bryan, Skouras Theatres; Frank E. Cahill, Jr., Warner; Francis X. Carroll, 20th Century-Fox ; Patrick Casey, Casey Enter- prises; John Confort, Jr., Confort and Com- pany; Robert W. Coyne, COMPO; Thomas Crehan, RKO Theatres ; William Cronin, Comerford Theatres ; John Dervin, Allied Artists ; Edward C. Dowden, Loew’s ; Albert A. Duryea, Pathe Laboratories; Joseph Eagan, Fabian Theatres. James M. Franey, United World Films; Joseph M. Geoghan, Century Theatres ; Ed- mund C. Grainger, RKO Theatres; James R. Grainger, RKO Radio Pictures ; Agnes Mengel Grew, Paramount Pictures; William J. Heine- man. United Artists ; Walter F. J. Higgins, Associated Prudential Theatres; John Hughes, United Artists; James David Ivers, Quigley Publishing Company; James J. Jordan, Univer- sal Pictures; John Kane, Columbia Pictures; Frank J. Kiernan, Stanley Warner; Austin C. Keough, Paramount. Fred Leo, American Broadcasting-Paramount Theatres; Mrs. James Looram, International Federation Catholic Alumnae ; Fred J. Lynch, Radio City Music Hall ; Thomas J. Martin, Warner; Joseph A. McConville, Columbia Pic- tures; International; Joseph McMahon, Repub- lic ; William J. McShea, RKO Radio Pictures ; William Moclair, Roxy Theatre ; Paul C. Mooney, Sr., National Screen Service ; Peter J. Mooney, Audio Productions ; James A. Mul- vey, Samuel Goldwyn Productions; John F. Murphy, Loew’s; Thomas Murtha, IATSE, Local No. 4. L. Douglas Netter, Jr., Altec Service; Paul D. O’Brien, O’Brien, Driscoll & Raftery ; Robert H. O’Brien, American Broadcasting- Paramount Theatres; John J. O’Connor, Un- iversal Pictures ; Thomas F. O’Connor, RKO Theatres; Edward K. O’Shea, Paramount; Martin Quigley, Quigley Publishing Company ; Edward C. Raftery, O’Brien, Driscoll & Raf- tery ; Charles M. Reagan, MGM ; C. J. Scol- lard, National Screen Service ; Edwin J. Smith, Jr., RKO Radio Pictures; Nick Trono- lone, 1775 Broadway; Frank C. Walker, Com- erford Theatres ; Eugene Walsh, Universal Pictures; Richard F. Walsh, IATSE; William A. White, Skouras Theatres. 28 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 2, 1954 BUFFALO ALBANY Strong product release schedules for the first several months of 1954 make executives of several circuits optimistic about the New Year, but some of the smaller theatre own- ers are worried about the possible shortage of good pictures which will be available to them and the installation cost problem posed by CinemaScope. . . . Drive-in operators seem to think next season will be a profit- able one. . . . The Palace had “Miss Sadie Thompson’’ as its New Year’s Eve attrac- tion, while the Strand showed “Hondo” — both at advanced scales for the day. . . . Visitors here included: Louis W. Schine, Gloversville ; Louis J. Lieser, Buffalo. . . . Jules Perlmutter, president of Perlmutter Theatres, became the first man in Albany Variety Club history to be elected for a second consecutive term as chief barker. . . . Neil Heilman was in town for groundbreak- ing on a 20-room addition to the Mt. Vernon Motel which he opened last spring adjacent to Auto-Vision theatre in East Greenbush. ATLANTA Bill Knight, formerly with Florida State Theatres, Tampa, Fla., has resigned to go as branch manager of Roy Smith Conces- sion Co. there. . . . The Pal Amusement Co., Vidalia, Ga., has opened its new 400- car Glen drive-in, Glenville, Ga. . . .The Alamo theatre, Alamo, Ga., has a new owner : Harold Robinson, also owner of the Brox, Broxton, Ga. . . . Martin Theatres, Columbus, Ga., has taken over the Morris Road drive-in there. . . . Rube Joiner, Joiner Booking Service, was in booking. . . . Sydia Knight, for the past 30 years with RKO, has resigned. . . . Gault Brown, former manager of the Hollywood theatre, Madi- sonville, Tenn., was in visiting with friends. . . . The State theatre, Bradenton, Fla., was destroyed by fire. ... In for a visit with J. E. Hobbs, branch manager, Monogram, was John Derbin, Stafford Pictures, on his way to Miami, Fla. . . . L. H. Howell and R. C. Corsey are the new owners of the Piedmont drive-in, Piedmont, Ala. . . .Ted Mendellssohn, of Concordia Pictures, was a visitor here. . . . John Jarvis, of the Dixie Printing Co., has moved into his new offices at 160 Walton St. BALTIMORE Boots Wagonheim and Mrs. Wagonheim, executive for Schwaber Theatres, celebrated their sixth wedding anniversary. . . . M. Robert Rappaport, Town theatre, is spend- ing a week in Miami. . . . Chauncey Wolfe, Uptown theatre, is recuperating at home after leaving John Hopkins Johns Hospital. . . . Rodney Collier, Stanley manager, has been elected chief barker of the Variety Club for the third time, although not con- secutively. ... 49 managers and owners completed the Civil Defense instruction course for theatres. They represented 90 theaetrs in the area. . . . Jack Sidney, Loew manager, in cooperation with the Baltimore News Post and Sunday American, the Ad- vertising Club of Baltimore and Radio Sta- tion WCAO, held the 23rd annual Christ- mas party for underprivileged children at the Century theatre. Entertained were 3,500 children. . . . J. Lawrence and Fred Schan- berger, in cooperation with the News Post, held their 25th annual Christmas party for crippled children at Keith’s theatre. BOSTON A special midnight screening of “This Is Cinerama” for local projectionists, electri- cians and stage hands was held at the Bos- ton theatre the evening preceding the public opening. The Stanley Warner Cinerama Corp. hosted the affair with each member of the Locals of IATSE given two tickets. Rudolph F. Kuehn who has had managerial experience in New Jersey Theatres was brought on to become the managing director of the Boston for the run of the Cinerama films. . . . Lockwood & Gordon Enterprises and Sam Rosen of New Haven have taken a long term lease on the East Windsor (Conn.) drive-in and will operate it in the spring. . . . The engagement has been an- nounced of Adeline Struzziero, secretary at Independent Exhibitors, Inc. to Paul A. Carter of Braintree, with the wedding set for Feb. 13. . . . Richard B. Rubin, exhibitor and drive-in designer and engineer, was married December 27 to Mrs. Edith Saturn of Washington, D. C. They will live in Newton Center and spend the summer at Falmouth, Mass., where Rubin is building the Falmouth drive-in. WHEN AND WHERE January 27: Annual convention and board meeting, Virginia Motion Picture Theatre Association, Jefferson Hotel, Richmond. February 2-4: National Allied Drive-in Theatre Association convention, Nether- lands-Plaza Hotel, Cincinnati, Ohio. February 2-4: Annual meeting, Independent Theatre Owners of Ohio, Netherlands- Plaza Hotel, Cincinnati. February 5-6: National Allied board meet- ing, Netherlands-Plaza Hotel, Cincinnati. March 28-30: Annual convention, Allied Theatre Owners of Gulf States, Edge- water Gulf Hotel, Edgewater Park, Miss. April 6-8 : Annual convention, Allied Inde- pendent Theatre Owners of Wisconsin, Hotel Shroeder, Milwaukee. May 2-7: Semi-annual convention, Society of Motion Picture and Television Engi- neers, Staffer Hotel, Washington, D. C. Dalton Burgett has added the Winter- garden theatre in Fredonia, N. Y. to his circuit and not the Wintergarden in James- town. . . . Howard McPherson, for fifteen years a member of the Monogram local sales staff, covering Buffalo and Rochester, has been engaged by Jack Chinell, RKO branch manager, to cover the Syracuse territory, where he succeeds Ed Smith, who has re- tired and is going to Florida to reside. . . . It is reported that the Hayman interests in Niagara Falls will build a new drive-in within the city limits and that it will be ready for next season. . . . Rumor has it that the interests behind the Transit drive- in on the Transit Road near Lockport, in association with others, are going to build an outdoorer in the vicinity of the Transit road-Middleport cut-off. . . . Basil’s LaSalle closed two days in advance of Christmas to permit employes to prepare for the big Yule- tide show which opened Xmas Day. . . . Charlie McKernan of the Seneca and Bill Colson of the Niagara put on special holi- day matinee performances on Wednesday. . . . The Paramount and Center, downtown UPT first-runs, started their New Year’s Eve midnight show at 2 P. M. Thursday and ran through the midnight shows. The Paramount had a preview presentation of Martin & Lewis in “Money From Home” and the Center, “His Majesty O’Keefe.” CHICAGO Ed Wolk, projection equipment dealer, will head for Florida on January 2 with Mrs. Wolk. . . . Mr. and Mrs. Robert Lub- liner of the Clark and Four Star theatres, entertained her sister, Jan Sterling, and brother-in-law, Paul Douglas, over the Christmas holiday. . . . Marcia Koerner, daughter of G. W. Koerner, of Koerner Motor Express, downstate film delivery ser- vice, was married to Robert Raymond Dec. 19, in a ceremony at the Methodist Church, Park Ridge, 111. Mr. Raymond is attending Elmhurst College. . . . Cinema Lodge, B’nai B’rith, entertained 60 patients and ten staff members of the U. S. Marine Hospital the day before Christmas at Paramount Pic- tures’ Recreation Room. . . . B. & K. adver- tising publicity chief, William K. Hollander, and his wife became grandparents for the second time as their son and daughter-in- law, Mr. and Mrs. Marshall Hollander, an- nounced the birth of their second child, a girl. . . .The Colony, operated by Joe Stern and his sons Mike and Arnold, has been completely renovated and is being equipped for CinemaScope. CINCINNATI Shifting road show-policy entertainment from downtown to the outlying districts, the Hyde Park Art theatre, operated by ( Continued on following page ) MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 2, 1954 29 ( Continued from preceding page ) Vance Schwartz in suburban Hyde Park, is currently playing MGM’s “Julius Caesar” for two shows daily. . . . Keith’s theatre, unit of the S. & S. Amusement Co., of which Ruben Shor is at the head, made its Cinema- Scope bow on Christmas Day with “How To Marry a Millionaire.”. . . The Salem theatre, in Dayton, Ohio, opened 23 years ago, has been closed after a long-term operation by J. M. Curl, of Dayton and Mrs. Ethel Miles, a Columbus, Ohio, cir- cuit operator. The building owners now are seeking new tenants. . . . Damage estimated at $10,000 was caused by a fire at the Ronnie drive-in theatre, near Lily, Ky. . . . Approxi- mately 750 members of the Vlai'k County 4-H Club were guests of Mr. and Mrs. Wil- liam Settos, operators of the Liberty theatre, in Springfield, Ohio, the occasion being a special Christmas party December 29. CLEVELAND Theatre admission tax was up this year for the first time since 1948, according to Stanley P. Nemec, commissioner of licenses and assessments, with the 1953 admission tax revenue hitting about $400,000 as com- pared with $394,000 in 1952. . . . Robert Ancell has rejoined the Hippodrome as assistant to Jack Silverthorne in the man- agement and publicity for the Hippodrome and Tower theatres. . . . Frank Masek, NTS branch manager, has installed Sim- plex Stereophonic equipment in the Harris theatre, Warren, for a scheduled Jan. 14 opening of “The Robe.”. . . Cleveland Mo- tion Picture Exhibitors Association will hold its annual business meeting for elec- tion of officers, preceded by a luncheon, in the association rooms Jan. 12. Ernest Schwartz, who has been president for 19 years, has no opponent for reelection. . . . I. J. Schmertz, 20th-Fox local branch man- ager, was in New York to confer with home office officials. . . . Connie Knighton, 62, porter at Loew’s Valentine theatre, Toledo, died. COLUMBUS Fred Rowlands has installed a new 38- foot wide Astrolite screen at the Main neighborhood. . . . Charles Reeder has been named manager of radio station WCOL. Reeder has been acting manager of the ABC outlet since the death of Neal Smith Oct. 10. Reeder came to WCOL from WING, Dayton, Ohio, where he had been program manager for 17 years. . . . The Sherman theatre at Chillicothe, Ohio will be razed to make way for a highway devel- opment. The Sherman was erected during World War I on old canal lands which the state turned over to the city on condition that the site be used for public purposes. Closing of the Sherman leaves Chillicothe with only two theatres — the Majestic and Royal. . . . Charles L. Eckelberry, 59, father of Harriet Eckelberry of the office staff of Loew’s Ohio, died in University Hospital. . . .“Knights of the Round Table” is ex- pected to be a January booking at the Ohio or Broad. DENVER As usual, business among the first runs snapped back with the coming of Christmas, and most of the downtown houses had lines at the cashier windows. An unusual twist, as far as Denver is concerned, is that six of the 10 first runs currently have single bills. . . . Russell Allen is adding 300 seats to the Aztec, Aztec, N. M.; to double its size. . . . Mrs. S. E. Allen expects to open her new 300-car drive-in at Lordsburg, N. M., in the early spring, and about the same opening date has been set for J. C. West’s 300-car drive-in, Grants, N. M. . . . A. G. Edwards, formerly booker and office manager at Lippert’s Pictures, is still seri- ously ill in General Rose memorial hospital. . . . Tom Bailey, Lippert and Filmakers franchise owner, heads for New York next week to look for product. DES MOINES Atty. Gen. Leo Hoegh notified county at- torneys in the state last week that he won’t order the banning of theatre bank nights until after a rehearing is held in the bingo case, which started the whole thing. . . . Christmas parties were the order of the day along Film Row during the week before Christmas. . . . Variety club has elected its new crew here. Byron Shapiro will con- tinue as chief barker; Don Conley and Bill Feld have been named first assistant and second assistant, respectively. Leon Men- delsohn is dough guy and Don West prop- erty master. The following are Crew mem- bers: Rudy Faulds, Dave Gold, Charles lies, Boh Sandler, Stan Soderberg, Ed Utay and Larry Wegener. . . . On vacation this week are Paul Leatherby and Lu Hummel, Columbia salesmen. . . . Mable Brady, con- tract clerk for RKO, is resigning to take a job near her home in Rising Sun. . . . S. E. Theiss is a new salesman for Na- tional Theatre Supply. He also owns the Waverly Drive-In theatre. DETROIT Still one of the biggest things in town is “Martin Luther” at the Krim in Highland Park. . . . “How to Marry a Millionaire,” “This Is Cinerama” and “The Robe’ are all holding long runs in downtown theatres. . . . “The Robe” did very well in Pontiac at the Oakland although its stay was limited to two weeks due to chain bookings. . . . Re-elected president of Local 94, International Alliance of Billposters, was John Carano. Walter Frank, vice-president; Matt Kolbe, secre- tary-treasurer; A. J. Halley, board chairman and Peter Miglio and Wm. Noch, trustees, make up the new slate. . . . “Men of Con- flict” will be handled in Chicago and Detroit by Albert Dezel with Detroit opening at the Broadway Capitol. . . . IATSE Local 199 president Frank Kinsora added duties as business agent due to the illness of Roger Kennedy. HARTFORD Edward J. Noble, Greenwich, Conn., chairman of the finance committee of Amer- ican Broadcasting - Paramount 4 heatres, Inc., has announced another gift of $2,000,- 000 to the Edward John Noble Foundation. The Foundation was organized in 1940 as a philanthropic agency. . . . The Middle- town (Conn.) Zoning Authority has given Sal Adorno, Jr., assistant general manager, M&D Theatres, authority to build a drive- in theatre on Saybrook, Rd., Middletown, at an estimated cost of $125,000. . . . Sal Adorno, Sr., general manager of M&D Theatres, and Mrs. Adorno, leave Jan. 15 for their annual winter vacation in Phoenix, Ariz. . . . Edward Harwood, formerly assis- tant manager of the Warner theatre, Lynn, Mass., has been named assistant manager of the Strand, Hartford, replacing Irving Davis, resigned. INDIANAPOLIS Howard Rutherford, manager of Loew’s, inaugurated his new CinemaScope screen with “Knights of the Round Table” New Year’s Eve. . . . The Indiana previewed a Martin and Lewis picture as its New Year’s Eve attraction for the fourth consecutive year. This time it was “Money from Home.” . . . Contest winners in five Syndicate thea- tre cities will be sent to Hollywood Jan. 18 on all-expense tours for two, Trueman Rembusch announced Christmas Day. Three of the five are children. . . . Harry Stephen- son, booker at Warners, has resigned. His successor is Caroline Webb. . . . Johnny Stearns, manager of Keith’s, organized a New Year’s Eve stage show featuring local musicians formerly with “name” bands. . . . The Allied Theatre Owners of Indiana di- rectors will hold their next monthly meet- ing in the Hotel Lincoln at noon Jan. 5. KANSAS CITY Missouri-born Felix D. Snow, business manager of Local No. 31 of the Interna- tional Alliance of Theatrical Stage Em- ployes and Motion Picture Operators, and third vice-president of the International, died Christmas Day, aged 66. He had suf- fered a heart attack after the annual meet- ing of the Motion Picture Association of Greater Kansas City December 7 and was in the hospital at the time of his death. . . . The Midland opened its first CinemaScope film Christmas Day — “Knights of the Round Table — with steady inflow all afternoon and evening. It is estimated that it will rank with the three previous top-grossers ; at $1 and $1.24 for adults and 50c for children. . . . “The Sea Around Us” (“The Alaska Eskimo” second feature) is in its third week at the Kimo. . . . The Vogue, now showing “The Captain’s Paradise,” ran con- tinuous shows Saturday. . . . The Boulevard was the only drive-in showing over the weekend in Kansas City. LOS ANGELES Film Row was the scene of many Christ- mas parties with Universal, Columbia and Warner Bros, holding their affairs in the club rooms of the exchanges. . . . Frank Reimer, Warner Bros, sales manager, re- turned to his desk after being confined to the hospital for surgery. . . . Henry Herbel, district manager for Warner Bros., returned from a two-day meeting of district managers at the home office in Manhattan. . . . Norma Cain. Warner Bros, biller, off to San Fran- cisco to greet her husband, who is return- ing from service overseas in the Armed Forces. . . . Alex Cooperman, Western sales manager for IFE Films, checked in after a business jaunt to San Francisco. ... Joe Sarfaty, Warner Bros, salesman, is in the hosptial to undergo emergency surgery. . . - Out of town exhibitors on the Row were Roy Lemmucci, Bakersfield; Moses Her- nandez, Guadalupe ; Joe Markkwitz, Encini- tas ; and Ben Bronstein, Palm Springs. ( Continued on opposite page ) 30 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 2, 1954 MEMPHIS Memphis Censor Board dominated the Memphis news this week. The dance scene, featuring Rita Hayworth, in Columbia’s new "Miss Sadie T hompson” film was shown twice on the television network during Dave Garroway’s “Today” program over WMCT in Memphis. . . . This was the scene which Memphis censors ordered cut out before the picture could be shown at Malco. Columbia refused to cut the film and the Memphis showing was cancelled. . . . Now the film is expected to be booked in West Memphis, Ark., theatres, just across the Mississippi river from Memphis. . . . J. J. Sharum, who owned and operated Chandelle and Metro theatres at Walnut Ridge, Ark., and was president of the Citizens National Bank, died in Baptist Hospital at Memphis of a heart ailment. Mr. Sharum was 57. He formerly served as lieutenant governor of Arkansas. MIAMI Bill Dock, public relations chief for the Florida State Theatres in southeastern Florida, was elected chief barker for Variety Club, Tent 33, succeeding Ed Mel- niker. . . . Don Tilzer, publicist for Claugh- ton’s, planned a gala New Year’s Eve party at the Royal, with favors and refreshments added to the premiere of "Money From Home.” . . . With Frank Galgano resigning, Diana Tarpin is now assistant in advertising at the Claughton office. . . . Warner-Pathe’s Washington cameraman, Clarence Ellis, was a visitor at the Bel Aire. . . . Vandals broke into the Paramount Theatre recently, with the destruction damage estimated at $3,000, according to George Hoover, district man- ager. MILWAUKEE Gene Autry will bring his troupe here for a benefit performance at the auditorium sponsored by the Milwaukee Journal Janu- ary 17. . . . H. Olshan, branch manager of Columbia here booked one of Autry's latest movies “Saginaw Trail” at the Alhambra January 14 tying up Autry’s personal ap- pearance. . . . Bill Burke, RKO home office representative, was at the branch office this week. ... In town next week will be A1 O’Keefe from Pola-lite. . . . Outside of the Christmas parties things were quiet in the territory this week. MINNEAPOLIS Minneapolis theatres are continuing to advertise in the strike-bound Star and Tribune , although the papers are being sold at the plant only. Truck drivers at the papers went on strike Dec. 19 halting all street sale and home circulation. . . . Min- nesota Amusement Co. is using radio and TV spot announcements to inform the pub- lic what is showing at its theatres. . . . Station KFYR-TV at Bismarck, N. D., has begun telecasting. . . . Axel Borreson, for- mer owner of the Comfrey at Comfrey, Minn., has purchased a clothing store at Comfrey “Quo Vadis” will return to the Gopher on a wide-screen. . . . Chet Le- Voir, former salesman at Republic, will han- dle South Dakota for Universal. Fred Bun- kehnan, Universal salesman, has been trans- ferred to the northern Minnesota and Wis- consin territory. . . . Mannie Gottlieb, Uni- versal district manager, was in for a sales meeting. . . . Leo Murray, 50, former man- ager of the Lyceum, passed away. . . . Helen Feigel is the . new clerk and Lois Rosendahl, the new receptionist at 20th-Fox, replacing Elrene Kunde and Joan Hennings- gaarcl, who have both moved their homes to California. NEW ORLEANS Jack Sanders of the Olla, Olla, La., has taken over operations of the Princess, 1 ulles, La. It was formerly operated by George Shelton. . . . The management of the Do drive-in, in co-operation with the Metairie filled many a stocking for the communities needy families by donating receipts from a special movie program arranged to appeal to every member of the family. . . . Travis Madden will open a 600-seater for all-colored patronage in Bossier City, La., January 16. The new theatre is named the Bossier. . . . Frank and Bob deGrauuw’s Bob is under- going extensive renovations and new equip- ment installations. . . . Mr. and Mrs. Henry J. Waguespack, parents-in-law of F. G. Prat, Jr., rounded out 50 years of wedded bliss re- cently. . . . Milton White, office manager, Exhibitor Poster Exchange, flew to Denver to spend Christmas Day with his son and family. OKLAHOMA CITY Paul Ketchum, 44, resident of Texarkana, Texas, and former city manager, died Dec. 17 at Veteran’s hospital here. He had been ill and hospitalized since October of this year. Ketchum worked as a theatre manager here for Standard (now Cooper Foundation) theatres. He left Oklahoma City about 15 years ago to work in the east and later to own and operate theatres in Texas. In re- cent years he had become associated with the United Artists Corp. . . . The Midwest thea- tre, held a big cartoon show Monday morn- ing for the kiddies. Admission price was 20 cents. . . . Cooper Foundation Theatres are presenting a big holiday entertainment. At the Criterion, “Beneath The 12-Mile Reef” is shown in CinemaScope. At the Harber, "Here Come The Girls.” At the Plaza, “A Christmas Carol” with 35 minutes of Tom & Jerry. . . . The Vaska theatre in Lawton, Okla., opened Christmas Day with the show- ing of “The Robe” in CinemaScope. PHILADELPHIA A test special Saturday morning show at the Boyd for “Cinerama,” restricted to stu- dents at all local schools with special student prices, was such a success that the special showings for students will be repeated. . . . The Circle, 3,200-seat key neighborhood house in the Frankford section of the city, has been sold for commercial purposes. . . . The Liberty, neighborhood house, was sold by the Stanley Warner company to Jack Indictor for $75,000. . . . The appeal of the Independent Poster Exchange against the recent decision of U. S. District Court Judge William H. Fitzpatrick, dismissing its action against National Screen Service, will be heard on Feb. 1, by the U. S. Circuit Court of Appeals here. . . . Variety Club joined with the Philadelphia Daily News in staging a holiday party for 120 crippled children at the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel, with chief barker Jack Preis in charge. . . . Melvin J. Fox, head of the independent Fox Theatres chain, and pioneer exhibitor Leo Posel, were named co-chairmen of the Motion Picture Division for the annual campaign of the Philadelphia Fellowship Commission starting Jan. 8. . . . The World officially shifted to the Trans-Lux Theatres chain with the new year. . . . Sam Milgram, of the Milgram Theatres chain, announced the marriage of his daughter on Dec. 27. PITTSBURGH The three new CinemaScope attractions, all Christmas Day openings, look set for extended runs based on their first day re- ceipts. They are “Knights of the Round Table’’ at the Penn, "King of the Khyber Rifles” at the Fulton and "Beneath the 12- Mile Reef” at the Harris. . . . The holiday season found the ticket sale for “This Is Cinerama” perking up impressively too. . . . The Stanley gets its first CinemaScope offer- ing, “The Command” in January, following “Miss Sadie Thompson” in 3-D. . . . The Enright theatre, largest neighborhood house in the Stanley Warner chain, re-opened Christmas Day after being shuttered several months. . . . Art Cinema rushed in Anna Magnini’s “Bellissima” when the censor seal on the French “Fan Fan the Tulip” failed to arrive. . . . Rave reviews on “The Little Fugitive” at the Squirrel Hill presage a healthy run for that art house film. . . . Henry Burger, Stanley Warner ad head, and Bernie Elinoff, shorts booker, are both vacationing. PORTLAND Business at first run theatres has been in the dumps for the past several weeks, but strong product, single billed, should increase the take at the boxoffice this week. . . . Broadway theatre manager Keith Petzold has given his resignation to Mrs. J. J. Parker. . . . The 26-year-old will become manager of the Jesse Jones circuit of five houses. . . . The Broadway installed Cinema- Scope and stereophonic sound this week and opened “Knights of the Round Table" New Year’s Day. . . . The Liberty is sched- uled to install a new curved Astrolite screen and stereophonic sound next week. . . . The Orpheum and Oriental both have had equipment for some time now. . . . Oriental manager Oscar Nyberg had a big Xmas party for underprivileged kids. . . . Evergreen’s Fox theatre should be com- pleted in March. PROVIDENCE The Christmas holiday season opened auspiciously with the New England premiere of “Beneath the 12-Mile Reef” taking place at the Majestic. . . . Loew’s State featured Joan Crawford in “Torch Song” on the new panoramic screen. . . . The Boston theatre, where the New England premiere of Cine- rama was scheduled for December 30, made a bid for Rhode Island patronage by run- ning the largest newspaper advertising pro- gram ever attempted by any out-of-town theatre in the local press. . . . Many leading Rhode Island houses used good sized space in the special Christmas Issue of the Provi- dence Visitor, Diocesan newspaper, extend- ing Season’s Greetings to their patrons and friends. . . . “Martin Luther” held for a fifth week at the Avon Cinema. The popu- lar East Side art house, for the first time, ( Continued on following page ) MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 2, 1954 31 (Continued from preceding page ) will present a New Year’s Eve midnight show, offering Alec Guinness, local favorite, in ‘‘Captain’s Paradise.” SAN FRANCISCO New managers on the street are Walter Chenoweth who went from treasurer of the Curran to manager of Cinerama, and as- sistant manager Wendell Thurman who returned to United Paramount Theatres and will be stationed at the Paramount. . . . The Paramount has ordered CinemaScope equipment. . . . The State has been reno- vated and outside of the building steam- cleaned and fitted with permament floodlights. It reopened Christmas Day under UP ban- ner. Manager Eugene Sabo III has taken Cashier Amelia Kittleson and Louisa Toni (upped to cashier) from the Paramount for his box office attendants. . . . Sid Cahen went from the New Fillmore to manage the Vista at Rio Vista. . . . Charles Oliphant is expected back in the shipping department of National Screen Service as soon as he is discharged from the Army in February. . . . Business in San Francisco was generally good on Christmas Day. The Paramount with ‘‘Here Come the Girls” and the St. Francis with “Cease Fire” were busy. . . . The Fox in fourth week “How to Marry a Millionaire” reported good business and Cinerama, opening Christmas Day, sold out. TORONTO Sam Hebscher has resigned as manager of Odeon’s Palace, Hamilton, first run house, to become manager of the Hamilton Forum. He will also act in an advisory capacity for the buying of TV film for Hamilton TV station in which his boss, Ken Soble, has an interest. . . . Harry Hurwitz was re-elected president of the Winnipeg district of the Canadian Picture Pioneers. J. Biggerstaff is back as vice-president and A. Feinstein as secretary-treasurer. . . . Gerry Collins has returned to his post as director of publicity for Loew’s theatres here, taking over the spot vacated by Jim McCracken’s resigna- tion. Collins’ post as manager of the Uptown goes to Gerry Mooney, assistant manager at London Loew’s. . . . Charlie Cashman, well- known industryite, returned as deputy reeve in the municipal elections. VANCOUVER Groups of teenage vandals are giving thea- tres plenty of grief over the holidays and go out of the way to make trouble for theatre staffs especially. . . . 10,000 British Columbia loggers from up north are in town for Christmas to spend the festive season with their friends and relatives. . . . Maynard Joiner of Famous Players was elected vice- president of Vancouver Tourist Association. . . . The Capitol and Cinema Christmas par- ties were held at Love’s Supper Club. . . . Theatre Properties (Hamilton) Limited has purchased five Vancouver suburban theatres (the Windsor, Alma, Kerrisdale, Regent and Victoria Road), all under long leases to the Famous Player chain, from General Theatre Investment Company Ltd., headed by Paul Nathanson, son of the founder of Famous Players. Price was $1,100,000. . . . George Annable opened his 500-seat Jewell theatre at Stettler, Alberta. ... A new suburban theatre built by Rueb and Kian, the Jasper, a 550-seater, was opened in Edmonton, Al- berta. WASHINGTON “Julius Caesar” has finally been booked in Washington, to open at the Playhouse thea- tre, bebruary 1. . . . The Variety Club in- stallation ceremonies have been changed to January 4 in the club rooms at the Willard Hotel. International chief barker Jack Bere- sin will be present. . . . The Colosseum of Motion Picture Salesmen elected Martin Kutner, Columbia, president; Sidney Eck- man, MGM, vice-president; Jimmy White- side, Columbia, secretary-treasurer. . . . The Ontario theatre will have a premiere of “Cease Fire” January 14, under the sponsor- ship of General Matthew B. Ridgway. . . . Frank M. Boucher, president of the District United Cerebral Palsy Association, an- nounced that Harry F. Bachman, president of the Circle Amusement Co., will be chair- man of the 1954 fund campaign. Bachman will attend a regional meeting of the national association January 9-10 in Miami. FCC Cites Obstacles To Pay TV WASHINGTON: Substantial legal, engi- neering and public policy questions must be determined before the Government could okay any subscription television system, the Federal Communications Commission said this week. Issuing its annual report for the fiscal year ending last June 30, the Commission noted that it had pending various proposals to authorize pay-as-you-see television. “In addition to the basic policy question whether the authorization of a subscription TV ser- vice would serve the public interest,” the report said, “substantial legal questions must be determined, particularly, whether such a specialized service is ‘broadcasting’ within the meaning of the Communications Act, or common carrier or some other special radio service. Also, there is the engineering prob- lem of where such a service could be squeezed into the crowded radio spectrum.” Other features of the FCC report were these : As of October 31, there were 545 commer- cial television stations authorized and 315 actually on the air. There were also 22 edu- cational TV stations authorized, of which four were on the air. As of June 30, there were 601 applications pending for new com- mercial TV stations. Of 398 new TV sta- tions authorized during the 1953 fiscal year, the first year after the lifting of the freeze, 256 were in the new UHF band and 142 in the VHF band. The report noted that during the year the Commission had disposed of the film industry’s request for special theatre tele- vision frequencies, holding that this service should be performed by common carriers using existing common carrier frequencies. COLUMBIA PICTURES ANNOUNCES THAT PRINTS OF THE FOLLOWING PICTURES ARE NOW AVAILABLE IN OUR EXCHANGES FOR SCREENING CHARLES STARRETT in THE STRANGER FROM TEXAS reprint BiLL TEX ELLIOTT- RITTER in BULLETS FOR BANDITS reprint CHARLES STARRETT m OUTLAWS OF THE PANHANDLE reprint BILL TEX ELLIOTT -RITTER in THE LONE STAR VIGILANTES reprint SING ME A SONG OF TEXAS with THE H00SIER HOTSHOTS HAL MclNTYRE and his ORCHESTRA reprint MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 2, 1954 People in Dke U e in ^/ne a lews iimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii Canada Had 1009 090 Seat Gain in 19 5 IS TORONTO : An examination of theatres opened in Canada in the past year seems to indicate there were an additional 100,000 seats provided in 1953 in about 123 new 35mm situations. The Dominion Bureau of Statistics in- dicated for the period ending in 1952 that 1,843 “regular” theatres had 1,106,316 seats. The 1952 figure showed an increase of 22,279 over the figure for 1951. Therefore, while 1952 showed a healthy increase in business in Canada, 1953 certainly is better than the 1952 gross of over $100,000,000. It is reported that 45 “regular” theatres and 78 new drive-ins opened in 1953. To these totals may be added the figures for the 16 drive-ins under construction ; 14 drive-ins projected; 10 theatres in work and 19 houses planned. The number of seats is based on the theory by provincial tax departments with a seat tax, that drive-ins may be proportioned at two-and-a-half persons per car, giving the total figures for drive-ins. This is parti- cularly important in the light of the number of drive-ins opened in 1952 — 100 — which brought the total operating to 182. There were 82 in operation at the end of 1951. To the 954,813 must be added 1,309 “walk- in’’ seats in the country’s 104 drive-ins, and the 150,194 to be found in 657 community enterprises. Community enterprises are made up of 505 with 16mm equipment and 152 with 35mm. A community enterprise is a situation operated in very small centres by local non-profit organizations, such as the Canadian Legion or board of trade branch. Its aim is to keep the local shoppers at home, instead of going to a nearby town, where they combine theatre-going with shopping. Clarke, Stanzler on Real Estate Board Albert J. Clarke and Meyer Stanzler, of Clarke and Stanzler, Providence, have been appointed to the city’s Real Estate Board. Mr. Clarke till last May and for 13 years was manager of the Majestic Theatre there. Mr. Stanzler also has been in theatres. Both men have been active in charities and civic efforts. Mr. Clarke was a member of the Chamber of Commerce; Mr. Stanzler, a “Jimmy Fund” aide. Less than 300 of some 1,500 realty men have been voted into what city observers say is a select group, the Real Estate Board. Audrey Hepburn Cover Girl Audrey Hepburn, Paramount’s newest star, is the cover girl of the February issue of “Motion Picture and Television Maga- zine.” In recent months she has been simi- larly honored by other national periodicals, including “Life” magazine. Charles Skouras, head of Fox West Coast Theatres, and Fred Stein, managing di- rector of United States Theatres, have been presented citations by the U. S. Treasury Department for “outstanding service to the Government in presenting the case of United States Defense Bonds.” Felix Guggenheim has been elected a new member of the board of directors of King Brothers Productions, Inc., at the annual stockholders meeting in Hollywood last week. Leo V. Seicshnaydre, Republic’s New Or- leans branch manager, has been awarded the company’s “Man of the Month” cita- tion for November. Cecil B. DeMille Tuesday celebrated his 40th anniversary as a producer. Durwood Wins Circuit After Eight-Year Fight A Kansas City circuit court last week decided Edward D. Durwood of that city was a victim of “conspiracy to defraud” and is entitled to acquire at cost theatre properties obtained by his brothers, Irwin and H. W. Dubinsky from 1946 through 1949. It had been charged that the two men while in his employ and with other partners achieved control of the Starview, Lincoln, Neb., the River Lane, Rockford, 111., and the Altwood, Wood River, same state, and managed them from St. Joseph, Mo., headquarters. Court appointed referee Paul Barnett said the Dubinskvs violated their employment contract by not giving exclusive time to the business. Mr. Dur- wood, if he takes the houses, would be en- titled to rentals from 1949 to purchase date, estimated by the end of 1954 at $384,000. He also was awarded $121,000 for contract violation. - New Boy Seoul Film Is Shown in Three Cities "Jamboree 1953,” a film record of the Third National Jamboree which brought to- gether 50,000 Scouts, Explorers and Lead- ers last July, was given a premiere this week simultaneously in New York, Wash- ington and Los Angeles for leaders of the motion picture industry and the press. The Jamboree took place in a huge 3,000-acre “tent city” on the Irvine Ranch, near Santa Ana, Calif., with members participating from all over the world. The film was created with the complete cooperation of the Hollywood studios and many stars. Be- cause the democratic way of life is por- trayed so well, the State Department has arranged for international distribution. No theatrical distribution has been set as yet. Benjamin Lorber, insurance manager of Universal Pictures, will be the first wit- ness before the Congressional Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce in Washington January 6, when the com- mittee’s health inquiry gets under way. Dan Schneider has been appointed Sydney branch manager for RKO Radio, succeed- ing Tom Walcott, resigned. Al O’Keefe, distribution vice-president of Pola-Lite Co., has moved his headquar- ters to the company’s office in the Film Center Building, 630 Ninth Ave., New York City. David J. Hopkins, son of the late Harry L. Hopkins, has been named director of sales for CBS-Columbia, TV-radio manu- facturing division of Columbia Broadcast- ing Co. Scant Drive Ca-Cha innen A re Named Arthur Klein, theatrical producer, has been named third co-chairman to head the amusement division for the Greater New York Councils of Boy Scouts’ fund-raising campaign. Mr. Klein joins Charles Boas- berg and Spyros S. Skouras who previously were announced as co-chairmen of the in- dustry’s part of the drive. Mr. Klein will appoint field chairmen cov- ering performers, producers, legitimate thea- tre owners, managers, press representatives, talent agents, play brokers, theatrical cos- tumers, designers and prop suppliers, ticket agencies, music publishers and allied fields. Ed Gage of the Walter Reade Theatres will be in charge of the music fields, and Ted Husing, sports commentator, will super- vise the sports division. Other committees in the amusement division are headed by Leon J. Bamberger, for motion picture pro- ducers and distributors ; Harold Rinzler, for exhibitors, Richard Walsh, guilds and unions ; Phil Harling, theatre equipment and laboratories; John Bergen, film trade papers. Chairmen in the exhibitor division include Gene Picker, Loew’s Theatres ; Mr. Gage, Mr. Reade ; Charles Hacker, Music Hall ; Sid Markley, Paramount; Louis Vorzimer, William Brandt Circuit, and Morris Seider, Prudential Circuit. All committeemen and their campaigners will gather in the Waldorf Astoria at 8:00 A. M. January 6 for a “Dawn Patrol” breakfast, at which Mayor-elect Robert Wagner and U.N. delegate Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr., will be speakers. MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 2, 1954 33 Color TV Claint Starts Controversy Now that a compatible color television system has been approved by the Federal Communications Commission, there seems to be a falling out, public relations-wise, at least, among the interests. It all began last week when Commander E. F. MacDonald, president of the Zenith Radio Corporation, wrote a letter to the FCC taking exception to newspaper ads run throughout the country by Radio Corpora- tion of America. In these ads RCA said it was “proud of the leadership its scientists and engineers achieved in developing — the all-electronic black-and-white television sys- tem— the all-electronic compatible color tele- vision system — and the RCA tri-color tube, which made the latter practicable.” Commander MacDonald said his company was “shocked when we saw the misleading manner” in which RCA sought “to create the impression that this National Television System Committee system of color television which you approved was the sole and entire product of RCA.” “Nothing could be further from the truth,” said the Commander. “The system was developed by the joint efforts of many TV manufacturers, of which RCA was only one.” RCA, in turn, issued a statement, saying in part: “We know of no significant con- tribution of the Zenith Radio Corporation to the creation and development of compat- ible color television. This is not the first time that Mr. MacDonald has been wrong.” The RCA statement then went on to quote remarks made in 1946 by the Zenith head to the effect that TV would fail unless “it finds a box office to pay the huge cost” and also to the effect that Zenith would not manufacture black-and-white sets (in 1946) because such sets would become obsolete within a year or two. The RCA statement concludes : “Zenith is now in patent litigation with RCA and Mr. MacDonald’s last ill-chosen blast is an obvious maneuver on his part related to the action now pending in Federal Court.” In its ads on the color TV situation, the Philco Corporation emphasized that the ap- proved system was “not the work of any one company.” It then listed more than 42 “organizations” as “some” of those “whose combined knowledge and strength are re- sponsible for the system that won final FCC approval.” Gregory Forms Company HOLLYWOOD: Paul Gregory, stage pro- ducer, has formed Paul Gregory Productions and has said he will personally produce two pictures annually under that insignia. Charles Laughton, who has been associated with Mr. Gregory in his theatrical enterprises, will be similarly related to his film produc- tions. Columbia Sets 3-Film Deal with Warwick Columbia Pictures has concluded a three- picture deal wtih Warwick Productions, headed by Irving Allen and Albert R. Bro- colli. The first picture they will make is “Prize of Gold,” screenplay by R. C. Sher- riff with Mark Robson directing. The sec- ond property will be “Cockleshell Hills” and the third is as yet untitled. Warwick already has completed two films for Colum- bia release, “Paratrooper” and “Hell Below Zero,” both starring Alan Ladd. The third, ‘The Black Knight,” also with Ladd, is currently in production. Gross Ginn I In Canada TORONTO : Despite the introduction of television in some areas of Canada during 1953, motion picture theatre attendances throughout the country have held up re- markably well, with better quality films and the introduction of new screen techniques boosting attendances especially in the latter months of the year, according to the year- end message sent to stockholders by John J. Fitzgibbons, president and managing di- rector of Famous Players Canadian Cor- poration. Mr. Fitzgibbons said he expected 1954 attendances to hold up as well as those in 1953 and maybe even to better them, since favorable economic conditions and high em- ployment levels are expected to continue during the coming months. Reporting on the recent Telemeter tests in Palm Springs, Calif., Mr. Fitzgibbons said: “Your company has the Canadian franchise for Telemeter and the time is not far distant when Telemeter experiments will be conducted in Canada.” He reported that the company is interested in two television stations now under con- struction. One is in Quebec City and the other at Kitchener, Ontario. Mr. Fitzgib- bons also pointed out that the final quarter disbursement “brings the total dividend pay- ments per share for 1953 up to the total amount paid per share for the year ending December 31, 1952.” "Eddie Cantor Day' Sparks Premiere The day having been designated “Eddie Cantor Day” in Beverly Hills, Warners’ “The Eddie Cantor Story” opened at the Warners’ Beverly Theatre there Tuesday evening, with the comedian and 800 others of prominence attending. Among guests were Governor Goodwin Knight, Lieutenant Governor Harold J. Powers, Mayor Norris Poulson of Los Angeles, Mayor F. E. Fisher of Beverly Hills. David Tannenbaum, Beverly Hills councilman, presented Mr. Cantor with a scroll, noting his charitable activities. Lobby events included an NBC radio network coast-to-coast program, and TV over ABC. TV Set Total 7.2.70.000 in Year 1953 WASHINGTON : Production of television sets in 1953 will total about 7,250,000 sets, according to a prediction by Robert C. Sprague, chairman of the board of the Radio- Electronics-Television Manufacturers Asso- siation. This would compare to the 1950 record of about 7,460,000 sets and to a 1952 pro- duction of 6,096,279 sets. Mr. Sprague predicted that 1953 retail sales would set a new record, topping the 1950 record of about 6,500,000 sets. Sales last year totaled 6,144,990. “With good merchandising,” and without any major general economic recession, sales in 1954 should run at least 6,000,000, the RETMA official declared. He said most manufacturers felt that black and white receivers would continue to constitute the bulk of set sales “for years to come.” "All agree,” he continued, “that relatively few color receivers will be available in 1954, and that these of necessity will be very high priced and will have screens that are small in comparison with the larger screen black and white sets available at one-third the price or less. “Certainly, color TV programs will be distinctly in the minority for a long while, despite understandable ballyhoo that will attend color broadcasts in 1954. Sponsors will be slow to spend money for color pro- grams so few persons will be able to see, except in black and white. Color with all its advantages is not likely to displace black and white telecasts for many years, if ever.” Newspaper Strike Cuts Down Grosses in Minneapolis Minneapolis “Loop” and neighborhood houses suffered an estimated 25 to 40 per cent loss in business in the pre-Christmas week as a result of a strike of “Minneapolis Star Tribune” truck drivers which halted newsstand and home deliveries for six days. Both circuit and independent exhibitors agreed, however, that the strike couldn't have been better timed, coming at a period when business is usually bad in any case. The Minnesota Amusement Company, oper- ator of four Loop and four neighborhood houses, softened the blow somewhat by buy- ing extra radio and TV spots and charter- ing a sound truck. Other houses did the same. Buy Half Interest in KOIN PORTLAND , ORE.: M. J. Frey, publisher of the Portland “Oregonian,” has purchased a half interest in the Mt. Hood Radio and Television Broadcasting Corp., operators of KOIN, AM and FM, and television station KOIN-TV. Ted Gamble is president of the corporation. 34 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 2, 1954 ttcMij CxpectA to Cxploit ISO JiltnA a tfeat CHARLIE JONES said it again, but he was talking about all the short- comings in the pressbooks, when he remarked that you couldn’t sell all of the pictures he runs at the Dawn theatre, Elma, Iowa, on any proper exploitation basis. Of course, you can’t, and nobody expects the manager of the theatre that uses three changes a week to do so. Pressbooks are not perfect, but we’ve said it before, and we say it again — there’s not so much wrong with the pressbook makers as with the pressbook users. If any manager expects to find 150 different varieties of sell- ing approach in a year’s pressbooks, he is doomed to failure. Nor should he expect any such thing, for his audience couldn’t take it, even if he batted his brains out, trying for the impossible. We’ve been in small towns enough to know that the loyal public who patronize their own local theatres, don't expect any such display of pure showmanship. It has to be maintained as salesmanship for the theatre itself, rather than for an oncoming horde of masterpieces, with strategy to match. Theatres that change three times a week have an opportunity to offer their preferred time on Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays for top pictures ; they can provide the best possible adult entertainment on Wednesday and Thursday, and give the family action and excitement on Friday and Saturday. Most theatres in this class are without competition in their own areas. With such an opportunity — sell the thea- tre, first, last and always. Build — and hold — your place in community affairs. Keep that close personal touch with your patrons, and you’ll never run dry at the box office. Ideas for special handling are for films that deserve special treatment — and to any one who knows this business, small town thea- tres can’t afford to oversell any attraction. Their business consists of hills and valleys — if they drive too hard for one picture, they drop into a decline on the next. If that sounds like heresy to big-town operators, just remember that it’s the small towns that GOOD MANAGEMENT When RKO Theatres in New York recent- ly sold two of their oldest houses, the RKO Orpheum, Brooklyn, and the RKO Proctor's 125th Street, they made it clear that these theatres were being abandoned — because they were "too old to be economically sound, and their neighborhoods had de- teriorated." The buildings are to be con- verted to non-theatrical purposes, since each has been operated for more than forty years. Thus, the public is spared another false report of theatres closing, for it is cheer- fully admitted that theatrical real estate does wear out, and neighborhoods do change, to make further theatre operation unprofitable. Leaving such a matter in midair as an unanswered question dis- credits film industry, raises the point that there must be something wrong with mo- tion pictures — instead of proving, as in this instance, that there was something very correct in the management. All over the country, there are worn-out theatres, and outmoded management that continues to pile up the deficit accumulat- ing in the record of theatre closings. Actually, the management is worn out; the theatres are decrepit. Just because such houses were good three or four decades ago is no sign that motion pictures as enter- tainment are deteriorating now. have the closest contact with the public, and deserve loyal support. Some small town operators make the mis- take of increasing the number of changes to stimulate business. That is a mistake, for there is no theatre, anywhere in the world, that should offer more than three programs a week and those, preferably single feature bills with the proper short subjects. If they want more, let ’em spend 7y2 hours a day looking at television — but you keep your stability and your sanity. tj THE ROUND TABLE has always be- lieved in the use of heralds, which some showmen neglect because they think they are old-fashioned. But the opposite is true, for real old-fashioned showmanship often depends on heralds, and small situations literally ‘‘key their campaigns” with the use of heralds, which contain all the best sell- ing approach. Now, we’re glad to print a rumor that reaches this desk — that exhibitors showing the independent film, “Martin Luther” have ordered the tremendous total of 9,900,000 heralds ! The picture, produced by Louis de Rochemont and distributed by National Screen Service, has set an all-time record. The nearest approach to it was 8,000,000 heralds for “The Greatest Show on Earth” — then six million for “Samson and Delilah” and 4,500,000 for “Battleground.” In 1945, at Metro, we discovered that a previous high in distribution for heralds had been 1,500,000 but that the then-current print-order was only 150,000. Since that time, over and over again, -we have urged managers who would be showmen, to re- discover and use heralds. CJ WE ARE REMINDED of a unique theatre, which has been reported in The Herald that seems to be ideally situated for a test of the relative merits of different projection techniques, in these changing times. The Wyandotte theatre in Detroit has two auditoriums, and one box office. You pay your way in and pick your pro- gram by turning either left or right — or, if you wish, you may move from one to the other at your leisure. The house was origi- nally designed to solve the problem of double-bills — but now it offers a great op- portunity to see two versions of the same picture, either in 2-D or 3-D, when the productions are available both ways. They say that seven out of ten prefer to pay an additional dime for special viewers, to see the 3-D variety. — Walter Brooks MANAGERS' ROUND TABLE SECTION, JANUARY 2, 1954 37 Smart Showing Of Sponsored Street M*€iraile includin9 the match Horses, horses, lots of nice horses, TOM MUCHMORE, writing from Canoga Park, California, says this is the best Christmas Parade they ever had. With 108 members of his local Chamber of Commerce cooperating with the theatre, they pulled a crowd of 20,000 in a town of half that population, for a grand event, with plenty of popular appeal and sales approach. ed teams, at right- with the prize horses and riders that you may find in many situations, and the High School Bands, to make it a com- munity affair. 38 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 2, 1954 SHOWMEN IN ACTION British VI in World Trips Two letters in the Round Table mail, from opposite sides of the globe, reveal the world travels of two prize-winning British man- agers. From Lim Keng Hor, of Associated Theatres, Ltd., manager of the Cathay Cin- ema, Singapore, comes the interesting news that old friend and Round Table member. F. J. Smidmore, manager of the Odeon cin- ema, Manchester, England, has just arrived in Singapore, en route to Australia. Mr. Smidmore was first prize winner in Odeon’s International Showmanship compe- tition for the exploitation of “A Queen Is Crowned” — and he won a trip to any coun- try of his choosing in the sterling area. So, he went by Comet jet plane, flying eastward from London, and was guest of honour at a welcoming party given by the Cathay organ- ization in the exclusive Hollywood Room, which is one of the attractive features of the new $4,000,000 super-Odeon theatre, during the one-night stop-over in Singapore on his way to Sydney. Since it’s just as far, coming home via Canada and New York, we hope to see him here. The Cathay organization, headed by Mr. Loke Wan Tho, operates three major first run theatres in Singapore, and is well known in cinema circles through- out America and the United Kingdom. Also, a bulletin from Peter Burnup in London, tells us that Douglas Ewin, whose picture appears below, will take bis prize- winning trip to New York in the near future. The report of his award as the Champion Showman of the Associated British Cinemas, appeared in the Round Table recently. And, if he gets across Canada to Vancouver, he will meet more prize-winning showmen and be half way around the world on his way home. We admire the style of the presenta- tion at the classic Royal Pavillion in Brigh- ton, with Mr. D. j. Goodlatte, head of England’s largest theatre circuit, presiding. Associated British Cinemas have the largest number of Round Table members of any single circuit in the world. Earle Holden's Christmas Ad From Staff of His Theatres Earle M. Holden, city manager for the Lucas, State and Avon theatres in Savan- nah, sends us a copy of his Christmas Greeting advertisement as published in Sav- annah papers, which extends the compli- ments of the seasons to friends and neigh- bors, with appreciation for their patronage, over the signatures of nine members of the managerial department, seven members of the projection staff, six of the concessions staff, 22 members of the service staff, 16 members of the cleaning department and one member each of the art department and engineering- department. It shows the public the size of the local employed force in three theatres, and gives some idea of the dimensions of the job they do, at a time when the public is conscious of dimensions as to pictures. Matt Saunders, manager of Loew’s Poli theatre, Bridgeport, used a big publicity mat, six columns wide, as the basis for a special layout in the Bridgeport Sunday Post, for "How to Marry a Millionaire.” V Lou Cohen and A1 Lessow of Loew’s Poli theatre, Hartford, worked with Ed Laurie of the United Artists field exploitation staff, on the New England premiere of “Capt. John Smith and Pocahontas.” y Col. Bob Cox, of Scbine’s Kentucky thea- tre, Lexington, Ky., has a continuing, co- operative ad contest running in the local Leader, using full pages, with prizes for those who find clues. ▼ Bob Carney, manager of Loew’s Poli theatre, Waterbury, Conn., files some snap- shots of his front display and window tieups on ‘‘Kiss Me Kate” and “Quo Vadis.” ▼ Max Cooper, manager of Skouras’ Cove theatre Glen Cove, L. I., got a double play with cooperative advertising for the open- ing of ‘‘Kiss Me Kate” and of the new Bohack super-market. ▼ Murray Spector, manager of Skouras’ Plaza theatre, Englewood, N. J., had good newspaper breaks and excellent publicity for his tieup with local schools, as exploita- tion for ‘‘All American.” T Jack Foxe repeating that huge Cinema- Scope poster display in the lobby of Loew’s Capitol theatre, Washington, for “Knights of the Round Table” — which he introduced originally for “The Robe.” It utilizes 24- sheet poster cut-outs, with ’Scope. Geo. J. Forhan, manager of the Belle theatre, Belleville, Ontario, used a sponsored herald on “Gilbert and Sullivan” — and had 4000 of them printed and distributed by a cooperative advertiser. ▼ George Pugh, manager of Schine’s Rialto theatre, Glens Falls, N. Y., has made an ar- rangement with St. Mary’s Academy to pre- sent their senior play in the theatre, on Feb. 24th. ▼ And Stanley Rowland, manager of Schine’s Ritz theatre, Granville, N. Y., has a benefit set for the senior class of the Granville High School, with the attraction to be the film, “All American” — and the students selling the tickets, door to door. T John Balmer, manager of Walter Reade’s theatres in Plainfield, N. J., provided a neat and effective newspaper ad for “Little Boy Lost” at the Strand theatre. The 4-column space also has room for reference to other Reade theatre attractions, and Reade theatre ticket books for Christmas. ▼ Pearce Parkhurst’s campaign books, covering the last weeks of his 1953 season at the Lansing Drive-In, Lansing, Mich., entered for the Quigley Awards in the fourth quarter. Pearce and family, mean- while, are en route to the East Coast of Florida. V John Burke, manager of Fabian Fox Brooklyn theatre is another whose final cam- paigns for the year are in hand, to be en- tered for the Quigley Awards in the last quarter. Closing date is just around the corner — right after New Year’s. D. J. Goodlatte, managing director of Associated British Cinemas, Ltd., congratulates Mr. Douglas Alfred Claude Ewin, who is declared "Champion Manager of the Circuit" — high honors for a highly personable and capable young man from the largest chain of theatres in England, for the six points of good management — good showmanship, good housekeeping, public relations, salesmanship, staff relations and administration. We're expecting Doug in New York, on his prize-winning trip. MANAGERS' ROUND TABLE SECTION, JANUARY 2, 1954 39 COMMUNITY SPIRIT 80 Disc Jockeys In Iowa Salute "Glenn Miller" MUST BE You’ll find Tom Muchmore’s Christmas Parade on the picture page in this week’s Round Table, but it takes discussion of an affair like this to bring out the salient facts. We have been listening for the inevitable question from those who can’t believe that this is of importance to themselves. In the first place, Tom Muchmore is an accomplished publicist and promotion man, and a member of the Round Table since 1936. He stepped out, three years ago, to take the Sonja Henie show, but now he’s back in our business. A year ago he bought the Canoga Park theatre in a suburban town of 10,000, outside of Los Angeles. Perhaps it was one of those desirable theatres that had to be divested, and it gives him a chance to demonstrate what he so firmly believes, that the theatre in a local trading area must be the center of community events, if it is to survive and prosper. His Idea Was to Build Community Service His first move in public relations was to run a co-op campaign for the Catholic Youth Foundation, which returned $600 for their benefit and was profitable to the house in dollars as well as in diplomacy. Then, he did the same thing, in a variation, for the Boy Scouts, which netted them $195 for their own purposes. Then, he donated the use of the theatre on Sunday mornings to the Baptist Church, until they were able to build a new church. So, in a year, he got around over the community and managed to make friends in all quarters, and for all and sundry of the groups involved. Then, came up this matter of the Christ- mas Parade, to stimulate business for Ca- noga Park merchants, and to inaugurate the Christmas season. There were 108 mer- chants who belonged to the local Chamber of Commerce. They were all “willing” — but they weren't pulling together, and there was no leadership, nor showmanship. That’s where the theatre manager fits in. It re- quired his personal effort, and an obligation on his part to see it through, to get things going. Now, these same merchants can gloat over the fact that the parade was the best ever, but when the idea was born, they were dragging their feet. The pictures show how excellently he has used horses as a theme, in much the same way that Willis Shaffer has done it in Kansas. There are other Round Table members who have overcome the lethargy of mori- bund Chambers of Commerce and Business Associations — for their own profit. One is Harry Wiener, who staged a great Christ- mas event when he was located at the Smal- ley theatre in Johnstown, N. Y. Those merchants had nothing to start with — they wound up with a “Santa Claus Workshop” that was a huge success, and they raised $4,000 by their inspired efforts, to trim and CREATED decorate in a town that was languishing- after 18 months of strikes and depression. It was all in the personal energy and en- thusiasm of the theatre manager. Dan Dandrea, one of the very best who ever tackled a community job, did it at the Stanley theatre, in Bridgeton, N. J. His Chamber of Commerce was dead on its feet. It was hard to get more than four members out for a meeting, although they had a large membership of ostensible members, waiting for somebody else to move. Dan created the idea of breakfast meetings — and the Busi- ness Men’s Association picked up the check for each man’s breakfast, at a cost of eighty- five cents each. It was remarkable what a free breakfast did for the turnout ! Soon they were having capacity meetings, on the way to work in the morning, and the treas- uary was running over with funds for things they planned and executed, under the leader- ship of a natural showman and a manager. Tom Muchmore enters his campaign book on the Christmas Parade in Canoga Park as an entry for the Quigley Awards, which is welcomed. He says, “The theatre is a part of the community, it belongs to them, to be looked up to. It must be part of all charities, all club and organization activi- ties.” He has no teen-age problem, because they respect the theatre. He has a substan- tial Saturday morning show, and on Friday nights the teen-agers get special concessions for their good conduct. He suggests that his fellow theatre managers go into their own houses “as a customer” — and they may be surprised, and scared, to find how many things are wrong, from the patron's point of view. Running a theatre is a responsibility to the community which pays off in sus- tained business at the box office. Neglect the community angle, and you fight every kind and sort of competition. Eighty disc-jockeys in the sovereign state of Iowa have formed a special network to exploit “The Glenn Miller Story” in the state’s radio stations. Ray Starr, of station KWWL, Waterloo, is the chairman of the statewide committee. More than forty of them are scheduled to attend the “Glenn Mil- ler Day” ceremonies at Clarinda, Iowa on Wednesday, January 13th, and to see a spe- cial preview of the Universal picture at the Clarinda theatre. State and civic leaders, headed by Governor Beardsley, will parti- cipate in a special network hookup. Must be Glenn Miller was an Iowa boy, and we’ve been told that Jimmie Stewart looks like him. Duane Marks Tells Managers How He Sells Shows Duane Marks, manager of Schine’s Strand theatre, at Senaca Falls, N. Y., tells how he provided the sponsorship for his two Christmas shows, on December 21 and 22. He sold 44 merchants on the idea of sub- scribing $7.50 each, for the cooperative advertising value that would accrue to them. Each show was to consist of either Roy Rogers or a western, plus eight cartoons. The total underwriting gave him $330, which he applied as being his receipts ot $150 for each show, with $30 overage for advertising materials. What makes this a better story is that he had already sold two previous shows, for December 19 and 24, one to the Souhan Dairy and the other to Sylvania Products, both outright, and for similar revenue. Schine showmen have set a new record for sponsored Christmas shows. Charles Tamme, manager of the Kent theatre, Kent, Ohio, has just signed the first one for Christmas, 1954. Can anyone beat that? T W. S. Samuels, from his new location at the Rita theatre, Longview, Texas, submits bigger and better examples of his distinctive roto-process heralds. 3 lore "Lucky 7" II i utters We are happy to introduce, at left above, Ted Irwin, manager of the Electric theatre, Larned, Kansas, receiving his $100 check as the winner in small situations for Metro's "All the Brothers Were Valiant" contest; next, Jesse B. White, good Round Table member, gets $250 as the winner in the middle category, towns of 10,000 to 100,000 population. Jesse is city manager for Martin theatres in Columbus, Ga., and he has the congratulations of Judson Moses, MGM field man in the Atlanta territory. And at right, Matt Saunders, manager of Loew's Poli theatre, Bridgeport, is handed a $500 check by Phil Gravitz, MGM manager in New Haven, for his prize campaign in large situations. 40 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 2, 1954 . . . the original exhibitors' reports department, established October 14, 1916. In it theatremen serve one another with information about the box office performance of product — providing a service of the exhibitor for the exhibitor. ADDRESS REPORTS What the Picture Did for Me, Motion Picture Herald, Rockefeller Center, New York 20. Allied Artists HIAWATHA: Vincent Edwards, Yvette Dugay— Not exactly an inspired effort, but good entertainment all the same. Played with the Bowery Boys’ “Jalopy” (AA) to business which definitely helped us out on the week. Played Thursday, Friday, Saturday, No- vember 5. 6, 7. — W. R. Shepherd, Regent Cinema, South Shields, England. LOOSE IN LONDON: Bowery Boys — Double billed this one with an old Rogers’ and played them on Beggar’s night and Hallowe’en night, expecting “nothing.” Had a big carnival on Hallowe’en night which everybody in the county attends annually, but the box office receipts held up regardless. From now on I’ll hold to the belief that this combination can’t be beat! Played Friday, Saturday, October 30, 31. — Marcella Smith, Vinton Theatre, McArthur, Ohio. Columbia CHINA VENTURE: Edmond O’Brien, Barry Sulli- van— A very good war operations picture and O.K. for small town exhibitors. Did fairly well on Saturday, but down on Friday. Played Friday, Saturday, Decern - \ ber 4, 5. — Dick Smith, Albany Theatre, Albany, Ind. PARIS MODEL: Marilyn Maxwell, Paulette God- dard— We were able to get this hot and thought we might be getting something, but it turned out to be lower half double feature material. Running time was first given as 90 minutes; the print we received ran 81 minutes. Now I see by the latest Herald that it has been cut to 59 minutes. If you are a small town and depending on a single feature, my advice would be to skip it. Did poor business. Played Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, December 15, 16, 17. Dick Smith, Albany Theatre, Albany, Ind. Metro-Gold wyn-Mayer BRIGHT ROAD: Robert Horton, Dorothy Dandridge — Teamed this with the reissue of “Challenge to Lassie” (MGM) and the audience was most enthusi astic. We had three ministers, who usually are very critical, return to see “Bright Road” a second time. Although an all-Negro cast, you forget all that as you become so engrossed in the picture. Wonderful for kids’ matinee and adults also. Did above usual week- end business. Small town and rural patronage. Played Friday, Saturday, December 11, 12. D. P. Savage. Capitol Theatre, Listowel, Ont., Canada. LILI: Leslie Caron, Mel Ferrer — Don’t pass this pic- ture up. It has everything your customers will like. Also do not bill it as a kids’ picture. The adults will rave more than the juveniles. MGM can go along any time on pictures like this. It’s great. Small town and rural patronage. Played Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, December 2, 3, 4.— D. P. Savage, Capitol Theatre, Listowel, Ont., Canada.. LILI: Leslie Caron, Mel Ferrer — A picture with a different angle. All who saw it liked it. Lots of appeal for children in the puppet show. Didn’t do very well at the box office, but it’s a good picture just the same. Played Sunday, Monday, December 6, 7. — Dick Smith, Albany Theatre, Albany, Ind. LOVELY TO LOOK AT: Kathryn Grayson, Howard Keel — Good picture with good color. Favorable remarks from customers. — W. P. Brown. Nifty Thea- tre, Waterville, Wash. SMALL TOWN GIRL: Jane Powell, Farley Granger — Good picture with good color and good stars, but I made a mistake in showing this picture during local “County Fair’’ week. Played Wednesday, September 16. — W. P. Brown, Nifty Theatre, Waterville, Wash. PLYMOUTH ADVENTURE: Spencer Tracy, Gene Tierney — Not so good for my town. Picture scenes good, but my patrons just did not care for it. Re- ceipts below average. Played Saturday, Sunday, Sep- tember 12, 13.— W .P. Brown, Nifty Theatre, Water- ville, Wash. Paramount BLAZING FOREST: John Payne, Susan Morrow — Good forest fire type of picture that my patrons like. Good color. Had many favorable remarks. Best log- ging picture in four years with good forest scenes. Tough competition by local benefit firemen’s dance kept receipts down. — W. P. Brown. Nifty Theatre, Waterville, Wash. CADDY, THE: Martin & Lewis, Donna Reed — Silly as ever, but they seem to have a following. The first show to have any extra drawing power in several weeks. Played Sunday. Monday, December 13, 14. — Rowell Brothers, Idle Flour Theatre, Hardwick, Vt. CARRIE: Jennifer Jones, Laurence Olivier — Good acting but very poor show for small towns. Very much over-rated — my customers came out holding their noses. Lost my shirt on this one. — W. P. Brown, Nifty Theatre, Waterville, Wash. COME BACK. LITTLE SHEBA: Burt Lancaster, Shirley Booth This is a natural for any situation. Wonderful acting. Did above average at the box office. Very small town, rural patronage. Played Saturday, Sunday, November 28, 29.— J. R. Snavely, Leith Opera House, Leith, N. Dak. DARLING, HOW COULD YOU: Joan Fontaine, John Lund — No competition on this one and no com- plaints. Good picture, receipts average. — W. P. Brown, Nifty Theatre, Waterville, Wash. JUST FOR YOU: Bing Crosby, Jane Wyman— Good entertaining picture which was well received by my audience. Above average receipts. — W. P. Brown, Nifty Theatre, Waterville, Wash. ROMAN HOLIDAY: G re gory Peck, Audrey Hep- burn—An excellent film, generally enjoyed. However, it did not have any drawing power and' did a poor gross. Played Sunday, Monday, December 6, 7. — Rowell Brothers, Idle Hour Theatre, Hardwick, Vt. Republic QUIET MAN, THE: Maureen O’Hara, John Wayne — Played this one too late but did better business than T expected. This is a very beautiful picture with beautiful color. Comments good from all who saw it. Played Sunday, Monday, November 15, 16. — James Hardy, Shoals Theatre, Shoals, Ind. Twentieth Century-Fox GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES: Marilyn Mon- roe, Jane Russell — There is growing resistance in smaller communities to increased prices, and patrons did not think this picture worth the advance. Had more complaints on this than any for some time. Film good but maybe too subtle for rural communi- ties. Played Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thurs- day, December 7, 8, 9, 10. — D. P. Savage, Capitol Theatre, Listowel. Out., Canada. Universal ABBOTT & COSTELLO GO TO MARS: Bud Ab- bott, Lou Costello — All I can say for this picture is that it did above average business both nights. Just a fair comedy. These two are beginning to get old and they don’t do so well any more. Played Thurs- day, Friday, November 12, 13. — James Hardy, Shoals Theatre, Shoals, Ind. CITY BENEATH THE SEA: Robert Ryan, Mala Powers — If your patrons like water pictures with a little suspense, this will please them. Did just average at the box office here. Good color and novel plot. Very small town and rural patronage. Played Sat- urday, Sunday, December 5, 6. — J. R. Snavely, Leith Opera House, Leith, N. Dak. CRUEL SEA, THE: Jack Hawkins, Donald Sinden — An excellent picture which will make you feel proud of the industry. You won’t have any gripes on this one. Don’t miss playing it. Small town and rural patronage. Played Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, De- cember 2, 3, 4. — D. P. Savage, Capitol Theatre, Listo- wel, Ont., Canada. EAST OF SUMATRA: Jeff Chandler, Marilyn Maxwell — Another good Universal production in color. Plenty of action and comedy relief. Well liked and did a fairly good business. Played Sunday, Monday, November 29, 30. — Dick Smith, Albany Theatre, Al- bany, Ind. FRANCIS COVERS THE BIG TOWN: Donald O’Connor, . Yvette Dugay — This series always brings extra business here. Same routine of acting, but still brings them in. Played to above average busi- ness both nights. Played Sunday, Monday, Novem- ber 22, 23. — James Hardy, Shoals Theatre, Shoals, Ind. IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE: Richard Carl son, Barbara Rush — Good enough science fiction type of picture, but did only a fair business. Played Fri- day, Saturday, December 11, 12. — Dick Smith, Albany Theatre, Albany, Ind. MISSISSIPPI GAMBLER: Tyrone Power, Piper Laurie — Good color, and that is all — the lowest grosser we’ve had in a long time. It certainly doesn’t de- serve the percentage Universal is charging for it. Small towns should leave this one alone. Very small town, rural patronage. Played Saturday and Sunday, November 21, 22. — J. R. Snavely, Leith Opera House, Leith, N. Dak. REDHEAD FROM WYOMING: Maureen O’Hara, Alex Nicol — Another good western from Universal with excellent color. Good for any small town; play it, you can’t go wrong. Universal westerns are all good and the price is also right. Had average busi- ness both nights. Played Wedneday, Thursday, November 18, 19. — James Hardy, Shoals Theatre, Shoals, Ind. Warner Bros. BY THE LIGHT OF THE SILVERY MOON: Doris Day, Gordon MacRae — Here is a picture that should go well in any situation. This one is full of lively entertainment with lots of cowboys — just what my patrons like. Play it — you can’t go wrong — it will please young and old. Just made to order for small towns. Play it by all means. Played Thurs- day, Friday, November 26, 27. — James Hardy, Shoals Theatre, Shoals, Ind. LION IS IN THE STREETS: James Cagney, Bar- bara Hale — Another “Kingfish” story which was not liked much here. Did very poor business. Played Sunday. Monday, November 22, 23. — Dick Smith, Al- bany Theatre, Albany, Ind. SO BIG: Jane Wyman, Sterling Hayden— This is the third make of this picture, and it’s good. Perfect for small town exhibitors. Anyone who doesn’t like this picture wouldn’t like any picture. The producers should dig up some more of this kind. Did fair busi- ness. Played Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Novem- ber 17, 18, 19. — Dick Smith, Albany Theatre, Albany, Ind. MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 2, 1954 FILM BUYERS RATING Film buyers of independent circuits in the U. S. rate current product on the basis of its performance in their theatres. This report covers 126 attractions, 5,697 play dates. Titles run alphabetically. Numerals refer to the member of en- gagements on each attraction reported. The tabulation is cumula- tive. Dagger (t) denotes attractions published for the first time. Asterisk (*) indicates attractions which are listed for the last time. EX means Excellent; AA — Above Average; AV — Average; BA — Below Average; PR — Poor. EX AA AV BA PR A. & C. Meet Mr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Univ.) _ 1 1 40 15 1 Actress, The (MGM) - - 1 17 27 Affairs of Dobie Gillis, The (MGM) - 2 9 17 2 Affair With a Stranger (RKO) - - 4 5 3 All-American (Univ.) - 5 23 15 7 All the Brothers Were Valiant (MGM) - 6 6 3 - All 1 Desire ( Univ.) - 20 28 29 5 Appointment in Honduras (RKO) - 2 2 5 - Arena ( MGM ) 2 6 6 16 7 Arrowhead (Para.) - 13 33 12 “ Back to God's Country (Univ.) _ 2 1 1 2 1 Band Wagon, The (MGM) 4 12 35 46 21 Big Heat (Col.) - 9 10 4 - Big Leaguer, The (MGM) - - 12 24 8 Blowing Wild (WB) 8 10 18 23 5 Blueprint for Murder, A (20th-Fox) - - 8 6 - Botany Bay ( Para.) - 1 7 6 Caddy, The ( Para. ) 8 48 25 3 1 Calamity Jane (WB) 1 13 10 3 1 Charge at Feather River, The (WB) 8 10 8 9 7 City of Bad Men (20th-Fox) - 8 51 28 4 City That Never Sleeps (Rep.) - - 4 10 2 Clipped Wings (AA) - 8 6 1 - Conquest of Cochise (Col.) - - 6 9 4 Cruel Sea, The (Univ.) 1 6 10 - 1 Cruisin' Down the River (Col.) 1 4 15 27 9 Dangerous Crossing (20th-Fox) _ - 9 10 5 Dangerous When Wet (MGM) 5 44 65 17 - Devil's Canyon (RKO) - 6 1 1 6 7 Dream Wife (MGM) - 10 22 55 12 East of Sumatra (Univ.) _ 6 1 1 7 2 Escape from Fort Bravo (MGM) - - 4 3 “ Farmer Takes a Wife (20-Fox) _ 21 30 28 17 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T., The (Col.) - - - - 6 Flame of Calcutta (Col.) - - 1 - 5 Flight Nurse ( Rep.) - 1 2 3 1 Flight to Tangier (P'ara.) - - 1 5 4 49th Man, The (Col.) - 7 3 2 Francis Covers the Big Town (Univ.) 7 39 27 1 1 - From Here to Eternity (Col.) 30 23 4 - 5 Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (20th-Fox) 44 43 13 14 1 Girl Next Door, The (20th-Fox) 1 1 14 30 1 1 4 Glory Brigade, The ( 20th - Fox ) - 6 17 12 2 Golden Blade, The (Univ.) - 4 9 12 3 Great Sioux Uprising, The fUniv.) 1 5 25 37 7 Gun Belt (UA) 6 16 6 Half a Hero (MGM) _ 1 13 16 16 Hondo (WB) 36 - - - - Houdini ( Para.) 7 29 30 9 - How to Marry a Millionaire (20th-Fox) 14 - - - 1, the Jury ( UA) 1 5 10 12 2 Inferno (20th-Fox) 1 4 17 2 19 Island in the Sky ( WB) - 28 33 36 15 It Came from Outer Space (Univ.) 2 4 13 10 5 Jamaica Run (Para.).. - 8 17 24 6 Kid from Left Field, The (20th-Fox) Kiss Me Kate (MGM) Last Posse, The (Col.) Latin Lovers (MGM) Let's Do It Again (Col.) Lili (MGM) Lion Is in the Streets, A (WB) . Little Boy Lost (Para.) Main Street to Broadway (MGM) Man from the Alamo (Univ.) Marry Me Again (RKO) Marshal's Daughter, The (UA) Martin Luther (de Rochemont) Master of Ballantrae, The (WB) Maze, The (AA) Melba (UA) Mission Over Korea (Col.) . . Mister Scoutmaster (20th-Fox) Mogambo (MGM) Moon Is Blue, The (UA) Moonlighter, The (WB) Nebraskan, The (Col.).. 99 River Street (UA) Pickup on South Street (20th-Fox) Plunder of the Sun (WB) Return to Paradise (UA) Ride Vaquero (MGM) Robe, The (20th-Fox) Roman Holiday (Para.) Sabre Jet (UA) Sailor of the King ( 20th- Fox ) Salome (Col.) Scandal at Scourie (MGM) Scared Stiff (Para.) Sea Around Us, The (RKO) Sea Devils ( RKO ) Second Chance (RKO) Shane (Para.) Shark River ( UA ) Sins of Jezebel ( Li p pert ) Siren of Bagdad (Col.) f Sky Commando (Col.) Slight Case of Larceny, A (MGM) So Big (WB) So This Is Love (WB) Son of Belle Starr (AA) South Sea Woman (WB) Split Second (RKO) Stalag 17 (Para.) Stand at Apache River (Univ.) Story of Three Loves, The (MGM) Stranger Wore a Gun, The (Col.) Sweethearts on Parade (Rep.) Sword and the Rose, The (RKO) Take the High Ground (MGM). Take Me to Town (Univ.) Tarzan and the She-Devil (RKO) Those Redheads from Seattle (Para.) Thunder Bay (Univ.) Thunder Over the Plains (WB) Torch Song (MGM) (Tumbleweed (Univ.) Valley of Headhunters (Col.) Vanquished, The (Para.) Veils of Bagdad (Univ.) Vice Squad ( UA) Vicki (20th-Fox) War Paint ( UA) War of the Worlds (Para.) White Witch Doctor ( 20th- Fox ) Wings of the Hawk (Univ.) EX AA AV BA PR _ _ 18 28 7 3 5 3 8 - _ 1 2 12 12 3 1 1 1 39 3; - 8 27 34 34 8 26 20 25 1 1 - 1 12 20 24 17 28 10 1 1 _ 2 _ 17 1 1 - 1 1 8 19 10 - 1 1 3 3 - 2 13 2 - 7 10 2 - - I 1 16 33 1 1 1 2 8 12 4 - - - 10 2 - 4 2 2 6 3 13 52 28 10 28 17 8 - - 35 29 19 9 3 - 1 1 3 15 _ 2 3 3 _ - - 2 4 - 13 48 21 12 5 - 2 9 28 6 _ 12 34 50 2 3 16 50 32 8 17 3 2 - - - 8 33 28 6 _ 4 1 1 1 2 - - 1 5 4 1 1 61 27 12 1 - 7 18 30 9 25 45 12 5 - 1 1 13 - - - 3 7 13 4 2 7 15 8 2 51 43 5 2 - - 5 - 1 1 - 2 4 1 - - - 6 8 10 - 2 2 - 1 - 1 6 16 2 1 1 1 36 5 1 - 1 1 19 27 19 - 5 9 2 5 - 13 34 38 5 - 1 21 19 14 8 43 29 10 - _ 2 10 9 2 - 10 19 19 12 4 16 8 1 4 _ - 2 3 3 - 8 13 17 7 5 30 9 4 1 - 10 28 14 1 - 13 16 18 1 - 3 5 6 2 3 13 45 33 10 14 2- 7 8 8 15 - - 4 I - --552 - i 19 20 6 - - - 2 3 - i 14 13 3 - i 2 13 8 _ 5 8 8 3 2 6 13 30 18 14 48 26 10 - - 4 9 10 16 36 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 2, 1954 Baesel Again A Contender H. G. Boesel, manager of the Palace thea- tre, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and a Quigley Grand Award winner, is a contender in the fourth quarter with several campaign books, representing his showmanship. He gets superior publicity pictures in the Milwaukee Journal on “Sabre Jet” and an excellent lobby display of materials supplied by the Air Force. On "The Big Heat” he shows ads that we have never seen in any press- book, mostly appearing in tall single column sizes. For “Pal Joey” the Palace theatre changed a policy of twenty years’ standing. For that length of time, the theatre had a straight picture policy; for “Pal Joey” they returned to the use of their stage — because ‘‘Pal Joey” was the stage version, the touring- company, from Broadway, the Rodgers and Hart production. Knowing- Milwaukee as we do, we think it’s about time there was another legit stage opportunity in that town, where stage plays have been under wraps for twenty years for lack of reasonable legit showmanship. If we are to have the op- position of the League of New York Thea- tres to any reduction in admission taxes for film theatres, it’s time for us to book their attractions on our terms; in available theatres. For “Crazylegs” he had a tieup with Miller Brewing Company, to provide a “High Life” treatment — it’s good beer and certainly a good picture, with plenty of foot- ball stunts to gag up the proceedings. R. E. Agle, district manager for States- ville Theatre Corporation at Boone, N. C., sends a throwaway which tells the kids that children are free, at the Car View (in case they didn’t know ! ) . Bob Helm, manager of the United Artists theatre, San Jose, Calif., introduces Duncan Renaldo to his audience and says he is one of Hollywood's most cooperative stars. Dun- can appeared as Grand Marshal in the com- munity's annual "Balloon Parade" with spon- sorship of the Junior Chamber of Commerce. There” s More Than Ateets The Eye— in CinetnaScope Shareholders in 20th Century-Fox Film Corporation have received copies of (the company’s new issue of “Dynamo” — avail- able to every theatre owner, anywhere in the world, telling the extraordinary story of CinemaScope, and how it has been sold and is being sold, as “the most forward step in the 59 years’ history of motion pic- tures. The common stock of the company has hit a new high, and coupled with the split-up whereby stockholders received a share of National Theatres for every share of the parent company, the total represents a new value in terms of appreciation. Our reason for this introduction is to convey the fact that CinemaScope is a really valuable contribution to film industry — to its stockholders and to theatre owners down the line who partake of the benefits of this new device. We review the substantial book which is offered to prove that the company is ahead of schedule in providing this benefit, and keeping up with its obligations to ex- hibitors in a sincere attempt to hold both quality and quantity to the proper level. We predict that the world revolution in motion picture practice will reach down to the smallest situations, because this is our pro- tection against and fortification for the in- evitible changes that will follow. Biggest in Film History A1 Lichtman calls it “a design for pros- perity.” Darryl Zannuck says it is “an unparalleled new vista of entertainment potentialities.” A majority of exhibitor leaders have hailed it, and as this is written, 83 theatres in New York City alone, are playing “The Robe” simultaneously, in Cin- cmaScope. The company’s letter to share- holders cites the fact that 260 theatres in the United States and Canada have been equip- ped' for the first-run of ‘‘The Robe” and that the picture has grossed more than $15,000,000 in these preliminary engagements. “The Robe” is expected to be seen by more people than ever witnessed any motion picture, and also to outgross any other picture in film history. In November and December alone, “The Robe” has opened in scores of cities abroad, on every continent, across the seven seas. A phenominal job has been done of reaching the world market with a new de- vice, in the face of insurmountable obstacles, and making the result secure. There has been criticism of Spyros Skou- ras for his firmness is demanding uniform quality, and to that policy we subscribe, for all the benefit of CinemaScope in smaller houses could be lost. and the whole objective imperiled by permitting very small theatres to roll their own. The foretaste of 3-D was hurt as much by errors in projection as in production. We are faced with a crisis in our industry which must be met with a firm stand for quality ,and if anything so new is to run the risk of mediocre presenta- tion, home-made and generally inferior equipment, then we will all face the loss of the benefits obtained. You may consider the present and future status of the equally new process, Cinerama, controlled by the Stanley-Warner Corp. This is one of the country’s largest circuits, operating more than 300 houses, but they move slowly in making absolutely perfect installations, thus far limited to less than ten, anywhere in the world. Cinerama .must be handled on a “legitimate theatre” basis, it requires a large staff and it cuts down on seating capacity in large theatres. But it has grossed $6,500,000 in its first year of operation, with only one attraction playing at advanced prices. There is no hurry to push it into situations where it cannot be maintained as pure Cinerama. We Can’t Afford to Miss We don’t believe that small theatres need or want too much stereophonic sound, which, after all, was a development of Walt Dis- ney’s “Fantasia” a dozen years ago. But the CinemaScope screen can be installed in houses that seat 300 and be quite as effective as in a house seating 3,000. The public is highly sensitive of what the recording fans call “Hi-Fi” — for high fidelity, so sound is in the public mind. But wide-screen, properly handled is our true and most effective answer to television. We can lick ’em, our business adversaries, on these grounds, and we sug- gest that every Round Table member read up on CinemaScope, and be well grounded in a new art as it applies in their particular situations. The book, “Dynamo” is a text- book and forecast of things to come, in this industry. — W . B. MANAGERS' ROUND TABLE SECTION, JANUARY 2, 1954 41 CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING Fifteen cents per word, money-order or check with copy. Count initials, box number and address. Minimum insertion $1.50. Four insertions for the price of three. Contract rates on application. No borders or cuts. Forms close Mondays at 5 P.M. Publisher reserves the right to reject any copy. Film and trailer advertising not accepted. Classified advertising not subject to agency commission. Address copy and checks: MOTION PICTURE HERALD, Classified Dept., Rockefeller Center, New York (20) NEW EQUIPMENT BOOKS USED EQUIPMENT MASONITE MARQUEE LETTERS. FIT WAG- ner, Adler, Bevelite sivns, 4" — 35c; 8" — 50c; 10" — 60c; 12"— 85c; 14"— $1.25; 16"— $1.50 any color. S. O. S. CINEMA SUPPLY CORP., 602 W. 52nd St., New York 19. WIDE SCREEN PRESENTATION PAYS OFF! Metallic screens 90c sq. ft. Prompt shipments Koll- morgen lenses. Everything for Cinemascope. S. O. S. CINEMA SUPPLY CORP., 602 W. 52nd St., New York 19, N. Y. HELP WANTED EXPERIENCED GENERAL MANAGER FOR new deluxe 1200-car Indianapolis outdoor theatre. Good salary and earnings participation for right active man with experience in drive-in theatre operation plus big food and concession business. No film buying. Year round employment. P'aid vacation. Reply giving qualifications, references, availability. JOE CANTOR, 3225 N. Meridian St., Indianapolis. THEATRE AND CONCESSION MANAGER. Large independent Pennsylvania drive-in. No film buying or booking. Highly competitive situation re- quires digging for business. $100 per week, all year. No off season duties. Outline experience and state what you can and are willing to do. Replies con- fidential BOX 2754, MOTIO'N PICTURE HERALD. WANTED: MANAGERS WITH EXPLOITATION and promotional experience by theatre chain situated in Eastern States. Top salaries paid, Vacations, Group Insurance and Hospitalization. Interviews will be held in Chicago and New York City during January. If interested, give complete resume and availability for interview. BOX 2756, MOTION PICTURE HERALD1. SEATING S. O. S.— SAVE ON SEATS! ALL TYPES THE- atre chairs from $4.95. Send for chair bulletin. S. O. S. CINEMA SUPPLY CORP., 602 W. 52nd St., New York 19. BUSINESS BOOSTERS RECORD BREAKING KIDDIE GIVEAWAY. JET Airplanes $25 per 1000, $13 per 500. No C.O'.D. Checx with order. BOX-OFFICE STIMULATOR CO., 9760 South 50th Court, O'aklawn, 111. “NEW SCREEN TECH NIQUES” — the new book that is a “must” for everybody in or connected with the motion picture industry— the clearly presented, authoritative facts about 3-D, Cinerama, CinemaScope and other processes — covering production, exhibition and exploitatioru-contains 26 illustrated articles by leading authorities — edited by Martin Quigley. Jr. 208 pages. Price $4.50 postpaid. QUIGLEY BOOK- SHOP, 1270 Sixth Ave., New York 20, N. Y. RICHARDSON’S BLUEBOOK OF PROJECTION, New 8th Edition. Revised to deal with the latest tech- nical developments in motion picture projection and sound, and reorganized to facilitate study and refer- ence. Includes a practical discussion of Television especially prepared for the instruction of theatre pro- jectionists, and of new techniques for advancement of the art of the motion picture. The standard textbook on motion picture projection and sound reproduction. Invaluable to beginner and expert. Best seller since 1911. 662 pages, cloth bound, $7.25 postpaid. QUIGLEY BOOKSHOP, 1270 Sixth Avenue, New York 20, N. Y. MOTION PICTURE AND TELEVISION ALMANAC —the big book about your business — 1953-54 edition. Contains over 12,000 biographies of important motion picture personalities. Also all industry statistics. Com- plete listing of feature pictures 1944 to date. Order your copy today, $5.00, postage included. Send remittance to QUIGLEY BOOKSHOP, 1270 Sixth Avenue, New York 20, N. Y. DRIVE-IN EQUIPMENT REPLACE INADEQUATE. OUTWORN EQU1P- ments with DeVry, Simplex and Century outfits re- built like new. (Send for lists). Time deals arranged. Incar speakers w/4" cones $15.95 pair w/junction box; underground cable $59M. S. O. S. CINEMA SUPPLY CORP., 602 W. 52nd St., New York 19. STUDIO EQUIPMENT MAKE MONEY MAKING MOVIES — SHOOT local newsreels, TV commercials, documentaries. Ar- range advertising tie-ups with local merchants. Film Production Equipment Catalog free. Sv 0. S. CINEMA SUPPLY CORP., 602 W. 52nd St., New York 19. SERVICES WINDOW CARDS, PROGRAMS, HERALDS photo-offset printing. CATO' SHOW PRINTING CO.. Cato, N. Y. DEVRYS’ BEAUTIFULLY REBUILT LIKE NEW $895.00; Holmes $495.00. All dual outfits with amplifier and speaker. Time deals arranged. S. O. S. CINEMA SUPPLY CORP., 602 W. 52nd St., New York 19. THE RATIO IS RIGHT AT STAR! BIG SCREEN — small cost! Lowest prices on screens and lenses! Write us! Ashcraft lamphouses. 14" reflectors, re- built, $489.50 pair; E-7 mechanisms, 6 month guar- antee, $475.00 pair ; pair Simplex- Acme projectors, 50 ampere Suprex lamphouses RCA. rotary stabilizer sound, heavy bases rebuilt, $1,450.00; Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! STAR CINEMA SUPPLY. 447 West 52nd St.. New York 19. POSITIONS WANTED MANAGER 10 YEARS EXPERIENCE IN ALL phases of theatre operation. Now managing 2 houses, both downtown, first run, one is second largest in the state. Proven ability with advertising and ex- ploitation. Excellent references. Available after first of year. Reason: desire change. Minimum salary $100 per week. BOX 2752, MOTION PICTURE HERALD. THEATRE EXECUTIVE AVAILABLE. PARTIAL investment possibility. Handle complete chain opera- tion. BOX 2753, MOTION PICTURE HERALD. THEATRES FOR SALE: MONTANA THEATRES. ROUND-UP and Martin City. Mone}'makers. No television. Wire McADAM, Livingston. VERY PROFITABLE MODERN THEATRE RE- luctantly offered far lease or sale by absentee owner because of military service. Has 600 seats, air-condi- tioned, 3-D equipped, off-street parking. Serves grow- ing community of 20,000 near midwest metropolis. Exclusive, early run, ncn-ccmpetitive film booking. Huge candy sales volume. 1953 gross $75,000. Can net over $10,000 annually. Only serious, experienced, am- bitious, personable individuals need inquire. References ani equity required. BOX 2755, MOTIO'N PICTURE HERALD. NORTHERN ILLINOIS, NEW 500 CAR DRIVE - in, modern high power equipment. Modern apartment on premises. Reasonably priced. BOX 2757, MOTIO'N PICTURE HERALD. Legion Reviews I 7 Films And Condemns One The National Legion of Decency has con- demned “Three Forbidden Stories” because of “gross suggestiveness in situations and costuming.” It also deems morally objec- tionable in part for all “The Captain’s Para- dise,” “Lure of the Sila” and “Man in the Attic.” Morally unobjectionable for adults are “Both Sides of the Law,” and “Captain John Smith and Pocahontas.” Unobjection- able for all are “Annapurna,” “Beneath the Twelve-Mile Reef”, “Fighter Attack”, “The Fighting Pimpernel”, “Geraldine”, “The Great Diamond Robbery”, “Heidi”, “Red River Shore”, “Texas Bad Man”, “Two Gun Marshall” and “War Arrow.” Felix D. Snow, an IATSE Vice-President, Dies Felix D. Snow, third vice-president of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees of the United States and Canada, died December 25 in a hospital in Kansas City following a recent heart attack. He had been business agent of Stage Em- ployees Local 31, Kansas City, since 1925, and a member of the general executive board of the International since 1940. He had helped organize many unions throughout the middle west and traveled widely as an IATSE field man until his recent illness. James Sharum MEMPHIS : James J. Sharum, 57, former Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas and owner of the Sharum theatre at Walnut Ridge, died December 23 of a heart ailment. Federation Will Honor 4 At January 14 Luncheon Eddie Fisher, Deborah Kerr, Edwin R. Murrow and Bishop Fulton J. Sheen will he honored at the annual luncheon of the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies of New York, at the Hotel Astor January 14. The four, according to Leonard Lyons, columnist who will preside at the luncheon, were chosen “because of their outstanding achievements in the media of radio, TV, re- cording, motion pictures and the legitimate theatre.” Harry Brandt is chairman of the amusement industry drive. On the dais at the luncheon, from the film industry, will be Barney Balaban, S. H. Fabian, Robert S. Benjamin, Harry Kalmine, William Ger- man, Fred J. Schwartz, Spvros Skouras and Harry Mandel. Party at Brooklyn Hospital Harry Garfman, Brooklyn and Queens business representative of the Moving Pic- ture Operators Local 306, New York City, and the Movie Social Club of Kings County, December 21 entertained underprivileged children of St. Giles Hospital, Brooklyn, at an annual Christmas party. Short Gets Syndicate Play “Wild Birds Winging,” RKO - Pathe Sportscope, has been accorded an unusual publicity break with the release by King Features Syndicate of a full page of photos and text based on the film. n MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 2, 1954 JAMES MASON • AVA GARDNER "PANDORA and the FLYING DUTCHMAN " ★ HUMPHREY BOGART • KATHARINE HEPBURN "The AFRICAN QUEEN " ★ HUMPHREY BOGART JOSE FERRER JEHHIFER JONES - GINA LOLLOBRIGIDA "MOULIN ROUGE " * "BE A T the DEVIL " also starring ROBERT MORLEY ★ THIS SAME BRITISH COMPANY IS PROUD TO PRESENT AN ALL- STAR CAST IN YET ANOTHER GREAT ANGLO-AMERICAN PRODUCTION LAURENCE HARVEY GLORIA GRAHAME RICHARD BASEHART JOAN COLLINS JOHN IRELAND • STANLEY BAKER and MARGARET LEIGHTON ROBERT MORLEY "The GOOD DIE YOUNG" ★ FILMED FOR WIDE SCREEN ROMULUS FILMS LTD. Nascreno House • 27/28 Soho Square • London • W.l Buck up, brother . . . and look at the bright side ... of the “good new days” just ahead ! . . . There’s a whole new era in motion pictures on the horizon ...with CINEMASCOPE, 3D, WIDESCREENS and STEREOPHONIC SOUND setting the pace! . . . And some new HIT PICTURES, too . . . that have been setting some neiv records . . . and breaking some old ones! . . . And the PRIZE BABY’s keep- ing right in step, too, brother . . . with the TRAIL- ERS, ACCESSORIES and special display items . . . that herald the coming of this new era in motion picture history! Look ahead, brother . . . and start selling what you’ve got coming . . . some BIGGER and BETTER Movies ... in a BIGGER and BETTER way! Sell the Bigger SHOWBUSINESS with Bigger SHOWMANSHIP! service ' J PR/Zf Bn BY Of THf mo USTRY JANUARY 9, 1954 at, too, with joi at matter have ture Herald i and responsib con- name, for JANUARY A FUNCTIONAL WIDE-SCREEN SETTING ' January xt, d weekly by Quigley Publishing Co., I ar in the Americas, $10.00 a year Foreii wo Sections, Section One JOYOUS START TC IGHTS /A Cine M-G-M!s FIRST MA TRADE PAPER RAVES! "King size all the way.” — Variety ★ "Masterwork of movie making.” — Film Daily ★ "Tremendous. To make box-office history.” — M. P. Daily ★ "A true record smasher.” — M. P. Herald ★ "Long runs! Capacity ! Profits!” — Boxoffice M-G-M presents in CinemaScope “KNIGHTS OF THE ROUND TABLE” • ( In Color Magnificence) starring Robert Taylor • Aua Gardner • Mel Ferrer • with Anne Crawford • Stanley Baker • Screen Play by Talbot Jennings, Jan Lustig and Noel Langley • Based on Sir Thomas Malory's “Le Morte IT Arthur” • Directed by Richard Thorpe • Produced by Pandro S. Bwovn See Insert on Page 15 T )| • ' i ' V M G A1S 30- <> 'ERSARY* ■' W£i>m, vtilircg ^ ' X- 1|1||§2& *aS»ta^2*4-i9S4- OR\G\N^1 oR\G\N^l RELtASt M-G-M’s JUBILEE! THE FIGURES HAVE EXHIBITORS WIDE-EYED! OPEH TO THE TOP GROSS OF AHY WARHER PICTURE IH PRE-REIEASED IH PHILLY, HEW YORK, BEVERLY HI fTOm Warner Bros. COLOR BY Technicolor STARRING Keefe Brasselle Marilyn Erskine s™. Musical Numbers Staged and Directed by LeRoy Pnrw , Musical Direction by Ray Hemdorl • produced bv SIDNEY SKOLSKY • directed ev ALFRED E GREEN WARNER aROS.TECWflCOLOR MUSICAL "THE EDDIE AnTOR STORY" _ AUSfJHs ECU CAT 1 0 Jp A tALLJAHCLj mmmjmrn-r-% x i# j ’» t w COMP- CAN BE EXHIBITED ON WIDE SCREENS :d sherdeman SIDNEY SKOLSKY ^ On “This Is Your Life’ ^ over NBC TV- also covered by ABC TV! Total of 34 Radio and TV shows plugged the picture day by day, week by week to 270 million listeners -with more to come! NEVER IN HISTORY HAVE DONE THE BUSINESS THAT RKO, SKOURAS, CENTURY, RANDFORCE, BRANDT, PRUDENTIAL, FABIAN CIRCUITS ARE ROINfi WITH MOTION PICTURE HERALD MARTIN QUIGLEY , Editor-in-Chief and Publisher Vol. 194, No. 2 MARTIN QUIGLEY, JR., Editor January 9, 1954 The Pendulum Swings THERE are a number of signs on the anti-trust front indicating that the pendulum has started to swing back towards a central position. The time seems to be coming when the attractions of the motion picture exhibition field for lawyers will wane. The courts seem to be less interested in pursuing pet theories regard- less of the realities of industry. Perhaps soon the courts will revert entirely to deciding breaches of the law and punishing wrongdoing. This would mean that the occu- pied judges would have to withdraw from constant super- vision of motion picture affairs. A significant example of the trend is that the master provision of the Jackson Park decree — which ruled that downtown theatres could play pictures only for two weeks — is being suspended. The two week restriction was unworkable. On many occasions it was necessary for the lawyers of the distributors to seek court approval of longer downtown runs. This put a federal judge in the position of a film critic called upon to decide which pic- tures— through investment, artistic work or other con- siderations— deserved special treatment. It is to be hoped that the Jackson Park two week first run time limit will never be reimposed. The laws are to be obeyed but dis- tributors and exhibitors — not federal judges — should work out matters of playing time. This week in the Crest case the Supreme Court has decided perhaps for all time that a parallel business behavior was not enough to establish a violation of the anti-trust laws. In that case the distributors all refused first run pictures to the Crest, a neighborhood house in Baltimore. The plaintiff asserted that the parallel action implied a conspiracy and violation of the law. While chances of the organization of a formal arbitra- tion system in the motion picture industry during 1954 seem dim, all reasonable efforts should be made to settle by negotiation, conciliation or special arbitration griev- ances between exhibitors and distributors. From an over- all industry point of view there is no doubt that settle- ment of differences in the past by such methods would have been better than that obtained by litigation. ■ ■ ■ What the Public Wants SOME understanding of the wonderful job Holly- wood is doing in the difficult task of supplying popular entertainment may be gained by speculat- ing on what the effect would be if prints of the eight top grossing pictures of 1953 were wafted to some other world inhabited by intelligent beings curious about the people of the earth. At first thought it might be assumed that the most popular attractions of a single year might fall into a definite pattern. If this were the case, the fabricating of film entertainment would be a much easier occupation. Reflection about the diversity of the hit attractions of 1953, or any other year, can bring amazement not only to “space men” but to critics at home who decry Holly- wood for allegedly falling into the rut of sameness. As recorded in The HERALD last week the eight outstanding attractions during the year of 1953 are of an almost unbelievable variety in character and treatment. It would be difficult to conceive of more diverse films than these : “From Here to Eternity”, an intense drama, filmed in black and white ; “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes”, a gay musical comedy; “Hans Christian Andersen”, a delightful fairy tale with music ; “House of Wax”, a thriller melodrama in 3-D; “Moulin Rouge”, a biography of an artist unheard of by most movie patrons; “Peter Pan”, a fairy tale cartoon ; “The Robe”, a religious spectacle in rich color by Tech- nicolor and, most especially, in the sweeping majesty of CinemaScope ; “Shane”, a great Western. The only attribute the films on that list have in com- mon is that each is a well-made production. The group is also a splendid refutation of the assertion that Holly- wood makes pictures for the adolescent mentality. Most of the pictures — but not all of them — are suitable for the family. Yet even those of particular appeal to the young, the fairy tales, also have broad appeal to the mature. It is certain that audiences at home, abroad — or even in other worlds — exposed to the most popular attrac- tions of 1953 are ready to give a warm welcome in 1954 and the years ahead to equally fine entertainment Neither the stage nor book publishers — and certainly not television — can point to a comparable collection of quality products in relation to its annual production. FCC Views on Fee TV BEFORE any form of subscription television such as Phonevision, Telemeter or Subscriber Vision may be approved, the Federal Communications Commission wants the answers to these questions: 1) Is it in the public interest to charge viewers for programs sent over the air? 2) Is there room for such a service in the crowded spectrum? and, 3) Does a “pay-as-you-see” service meet the legal definition of “broadcasting”? Ex- hibitors and others interested in the subject eventually will have an opportunity to express their viewpoints on these questions. — Martin Quigley, Jr. PROCRAM FOR THE FUTURE To the Editor: 1954 can be a banner year in the history of motion pictures if both distribution and exhibition take inventory of their deficien- cies and resolve to correct them without delay. Both sides have tremendous invest- ments at stake and they must correct their shortcomings if the industry as a unit will survive and prosper. I suggest the following 10-point program for both distribution and exhibition to in- sure the prosperity that lies on the imme- diate horizon. 1. Every exhibitor must train personnel on the “lost art” of service. From the small- est town to the largest key runs, our man- agers, cashiers, doormen and ushers should receive a training course on how to make our patrons feel at home in a friendly at- mosphere. 2. Every exhibitor must eliminate “rowdyism” and noise from their audi- toriums. We are allowing a few undesirables to keep good family groups and potential steady patrons from our theatres. 3. Every exhibitor should freshen up the theatres. Soap, water and paint can produce miracles in some run-down theatres. 4. Every exhibitor must apply “showman- ship” and exploitation. The day of putting a trailer on our screen and running a news- paper ad expecting people to rush to our box office is long gone. 5. There should be one exhibitor organ- ization. We cannot gain common objectives if we don’t agree among ourselves. 6. Every exhibitor should make up his mind that he will have uniform admission prices if he wants to retain his regular patronage. We must cater to the masses. When an occasional road show comes along, increase your price but let them know what the admission will be and be sure it is within the average patron’s means. 7. Every exhibitor should plan an “all out campaign” to improve public relations in his local community. 8. Every exhibitor should plan a youth movement for his theatre. Our manpower pool is weak because we haven’t interested enough young people to become indoctri- nated and exposed to the romance and ex- citement of theatre business. 9. All exhibitors should profit from their sad experience with 3-D. We practically put a new-born baby in its grave by showing inferior 3-D pictures at increased prices, with inferior glasses and poor projection. Let’s not make the same mistake with CinemaScope or any new process. 10. All exhibitors should do everything possible to get more children into our theatres today. Once they acquire the habit they will be our adult admissions of to- morrow. I firmly believe in the above-mentioned 10 points and will try to apply same in all theatres in our circuit. I sincerely hope that other exhibitors share my views and try to apply them to their business for our com- mon good. The following 10-point program is sug- gested for distribution for bigger and bet- ter business in 1954: 1. More advertising at the local level. If the advertising dollar is allocated more to the local exchange areas better results can be achieved. Saturation bookings have swelled box office receipts in many in- stances. 2. The drastic reduction of print quotas is false economy. When key runs are forced to play 30 and 60 days after the territorial release they can’t possibly deliver their full gross potential. 3. Distributors should have more con- ferences with exhibitor leaders to get their views on what type of pictures their patrons want. 4. All distributors should agree on a single system of wide screen presentation to eliminate confusion and save on equip- ment costs. 5. Some say the “star system” is dead. It's far from dead. A vigorous effort should be made to build up new personalities. 6. Should use established TV person- ifies in motion pictures. They have a follow- ing of millions. Personalities such as Mar- tha Raye, Imogene Coca and many others could be a big asset. 7. Exhibitors should be treated as “allies.” Production problems should be presented to them and an open mind should listen to the exhibitors’ views. By understanding each other’s problems, more harmony can be achieved. 8. Hollywood will always have its glam- our but they must assume responsibility for their public relations. It is a community of fine citizens instead of a group with loose morals, as some gossip columnists try to make the public believe. 9. Drive-in theatres are a vital factor to- day. They have succeeded in capturing part of a lost audience. Therefore, just as a pro- ducer considers the foreign market potential MOTION PICTURE HERALD January 9, 1954 GROSSES prove strong over New Year holiday weekend Page 12 20TH-FOX plans to release six films soon, all Technicolor Page 12 DISTRIBUTORS win vital decision in Su- preme Court test Page 13 MYERS of Allied sees Crest decision bar to excuse for bidding Page 13 INDUSTRY submits briefs to high court in two censor tests Page 14 SCHWALBERG indicates Paramount has a new film technique Page 14 BOX OFFICE Champions for the month of December Page 19 TRUST law I iability questioned with regard to film companies Page 19 TERRY RAMSAYE Says — A column of com- ment on matters cinematic Page 22 RKO plans to release eleven features early in 1954 Page 22 O'CONNOR voted best on TV in year, with Benny top in radio Page 23 INDUSTRY watching closely as Congress reconvenes; tax first Page 30 NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT — Notes on indus- try personnel across country Page 33 SERVICE DEPARTMENTS Film Buyers' Rating 3rd Cover Hollywood Scene Page 28 Managers' Round Table Page 37 People in the News Page 32 What the Picture Did for Me Page 31 IN PRODUCT DIGEST SECTION Showmen's Reviews Page 2133 Advance Synopses Page 2135 Short Subjects Page 2135 The Release Chart Page 2136 of a production, they must likewise con- sider its gross potential in drive-in theatres. 10. Last, but not least, the production end of our business should try to deliver top pictures in the new mediums. They should not make the mistake they did with 3-D, when a few distributors, crabbing for the fast dollar, delivered inferior product. — S. J. GREGORY , Alliance Theatre Cor- poration, Chicago, III. 8 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 9, 1954 LOOKS as if there’ll be another Mason Bill. Noah Mason of Illinois still is an industry friend. He said Monday in Washing- ton he intended to submit another measure to the House of Represen- tatives to lift the 20 per cent Federal admissions tax. His colleagues in the House and the Senate passed his bill last year. President Eisenhower vetoed it. ► In spite of production lulls and studio shutdowns caused by the executive uncertainty brought on periodically during 1954 by the gen- eral indecision regarding dimensions, the members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will have to make their annual “best picture” selection from a total of 425 features that were exhibited commercially in Los Angeles dur- ing the calendar year. For anybody fearing a day when the industry won’t have pictures enough to go around, without reissuing old ones, that stacks up as a decidedly re- assuring statistic. ► More persons than ever will see industrially sponsored 16mm films during 1954. So says J. R. Bingham, president of Association Films, Inc., national film distributors. He added there are now 90,000 non-theatrical exhibitors. In 1946, there were 36,000. Also, he said, television takes not a few of such films. Of 140 sponsored film his firm is distribut- ing, 69 are cleared for television. Most of these, he asserted, have been used a minimum of 100 times. ► This time it’s the landlord, who not only wants his rent, but wants the theatre back in operation. Warner Theatres last week in Chi- cago Superior Court faced not an ordinary anti-trust suit, but one filed by Mrs. Blanche Sarasin, oper- ating the property housing the Grove Theatre in that city. She seeks damages of $2,500,000 for vio- lation of lease, and an injunction forcing the company to reopen, and also forcing it to book pictures of “a high calibre.” She charges the circuit played inferior pictures in the 1,847-seat house which it closed in 1951. She also charged it booked “better” pictures into the nearby Capitol and Rhodes theatres. Thus, she continued, receipts dropped be- low $8,500 per week, enabling the circuit to use a clause cancelling the lease. The latter was to be in force till 1960, and called for a base rent of $2,000 per month, plus percentage of annual gross over $140,000. ► Mervyn LeRoy, who severed his connections with MGM two weeks ago, will return to the Warner Brothers studio, where he directed many successes extending as far back as 1928, it was announced Wednesday by Jack L. Warner. The announcement was made in a statement which “welcomed Mr. LeRoy home” and cited his brilliant record as a director and producer. The Bureau of Labor Statistics this week said motion picture admis- sion prices rose again in the month ending in mid-November. Issuing its monthly cost of living index, the Bureau said a three tenths of one per cent rise in the index for reading and recreation was due to “an in- crease in the number of theatres showing special attractions at in- creased rates.” SEVEN STUDIOS REAFFIRM ADHERENCE TO CODE RULES HOLLYWOOD: Seven studios have reaffirmed their adherence to the Production Code and said they "deplored violation by any producer." Eric Johnston, president of the MPAA, said at a news conference Wednesday: "I have been requested to make a statement on behalf of the following studios that are members of the Association of Motion Picture Producers: Columbia, MGM, Paramount, Republic, 20th-Fox, Universal and Warner Brothers. These studios re- affirmed their complete faith and confidence in the principles of the Production Code and in its Administration. They deplore violation of the Code by any producer." Mr. Johnston forestalled questioning on RKO's action in opening "The French Line" in St. Louis without a PCA certificate, explaining that anything he might say could be construed as a pre-judging of a matter on which he will sit as presiding officer in any MPAA board meeting before which it may come. However, he pointed out that an MPAA resolution adopted in 1942 provides that any member company releasing a picture which has not been approved by the PCA shall be fined $25,000 automatically. Such a member company may appeal to the board, Mr. Johnston said, and the board may take whatever action is deemed appropriate up to a request that the member withdraw from the Association. On the recent exchange of communications with Samuel Goldwyn concerning the latter's assertion that the Production Code is due for modification, Mr. Johnston said that his reply to Mr. Goldwyn had already been published and that the producer had not submitted to him any specific recommendations for changes. He reiterated an earlier statement to the general effect that he considers the Code "a living document" and he called attention to its having been amended upon various occasions heretofore. MOTION PICTURE HERALD, published every Saturday by Quigley Publishing Company, Inc., Rockefeller Center, New York City 20. Telephone Circle 7-3100; Cable address, "Quigpubco, New York", Martin Quigley, President; Martin Quigley, Jr., Vice-President; Theo. J. Sullivan, Vice-President and Treasurer; Raymond Levy, Vice-President; Leo J. Brady, Secretary; Martin Quigley, Jr., Editor; Terry Ramsaye, Consulting Editor; James D. Ivers, News Editor; Charles S. Aaronson, Production Editor; Floyd E. Stone, Photo Editor; Ray Gallagher, Advertising Manager; Gus H. Fausel, Production Manager. Bureaus: Hollywood, William R. Weaver, editor, Yucca-Vine Building, Telephone HOIlywood 7-2145; Chicago, 120 So. LaSalle St., Urben Farley, advertising representative, Telephone, Financial 6-3074; Washington, J. A. Otten, National Press Club; London, Hope Williams Burnup, .manager, Peter Burnup, editor, 4 Golden Square. Correspondents in the principal capitals of the world. Member Audit Bureau of Circulations. Other Quigley Publications:* Better Theatres, published thirteen times a year as Section II of Motion Picture Herald; Motion Picture Daily, Motion Picture and Television Almanac and Fame. ■H MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 9, 1954 9 HKt M-a IssSp r / f i wmim y-i\ ON THE SET of Paramount's "Living It Up," comedian Jerry Lewis, left, is a friendly host to visitor Bene Stein, co- owner and operator of the Rockne The- atre, Chicago. SLOGAN FOR 1954. In Boston, Martin J. Mullin, left, New England Theatres, Inc., president, and Harry Browning, right, district manager, unveil the banner announcing the new patronage drive. They are assisted by (left to right) Ray- mond T. McNamara, Allyn Theatre, Hartford; James E. Darby, Paramount Theatre, New Haven; John Patno, Jr., Paramount, Springfield, Mass.; and Leo A. Lajoie, Capitol, Worcester. ACCEPTANCE, left, by Silas F. Seadler, right, MGM advertising man- ager, New York, of a plaque from Henry Roberts, Nostradamus So- ciety president. MGM is releasing three Carey Wil- son shorts based upon Nostradamus prophecies. CINERAMA COMES TO BOSTON, filling the 1,354 seats of the Boston Theatre the evening of December 30 for the benefit of the Variety Club sponsored "Jimmy Fund." Above, at the premiere: S. H. Fabian, Stanley Warner president; New Hamp- shire Governor Hugh Gregg; Lester Isaac, Cinerama exhibition director; and Samuel Rosen, Stanley Warner vice-president. The Jimmy Fund benefits the Children's Cancer Research Foundation. 10 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 9, 1954 PRESENTATION, in New York, by Cash Box magazine music department general manager Bob Austin, left, of a citation for "The Song from Moulin Rouge" as the best song of 1953, to Max E. Youngstein, vice-president of United Artists, dis- tributors of "Moulin Rouge." MEETING THE NEW STAR. Pat Crowley, about whom the public and exhibitors will be hearing much in 1954, is greeted at Paramount's home office in New York by Adolph Zukor, left, board chairman, and Barney Balaban, president. Miss Crowley, whose debut is in "Forever Female," is now on a 35-city tour, part of her "build-up." CELEBRATING 40 years as producer-director, Cecil B. DeMille poses in Hollywood with granddaughter Diane, veteran actress Julia Faye, and the camera he used in his first, "The Squaw Man." OPENING "The Eddie Can- tor Story" at the Warners' Beverly Hills Theatre, Beverly Hills, Cal. At the left, top picture, at the lobby cere- monies attendant to the premiere, Tab Hunter, Mari- lyn Erskine; Keefe Brasselle, who plays Mr. Cantor in the film; and Mrs. Brasselle. Be- low, Mr. Cantor himself in a bit of promotion. He ap- peared on TV's "Strike It Rich." He is seen with War- ren Hull, center; and Walt Cramer, right, producer of the show. MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 9, 1954 II ’Twas Very Happy Grossing New Year Grosses on Broadway and in Other Spots Strong for Holiday Weekend A merry box office jingle ushered in the New Year as lively business on Broadway and representative circuit houses through- out the country added to the good grosses enjoyed during the Christmas weekend. In New York a spokesman for Loew’s said that theatres in the Metropolitan area had one of the best New Year’s weekends in years. Playing Loew’s Metropolitan cir- cuit was “From Here to Eternity” and “The Caddy,” both opening for the New Year holiday. Good business was also enjoyed by American Broadcasting-Paramount Thea- tres, a spokesman said, adding that the New Year weekend compared favorably with grosses of last year. Times Square at Capacity In the Times Square area capacity busi- ness was chalked up during weekend by Radio City Music Hall, featuring “Easy to Love” on the screen and the traditional Christmas show on the stage. For the fifth and final week of the Hall’s holiday show a tremendous $170,000 was estimated. Des- pite excellent business the picture and stage show was changed to make way for Cinema- Scope at the Hall, where “Knights of the Round Table” opened Thursday. “Beneath the 12-Mile Reef” at the Roxy did strong business with $100,000 estimated for the CinemaScope film in its third week. Other CinemaScope productions also did very well, with $60,000 seen for the third week of “King of the Khyber Rifles,” at the Rivoli. A big $50,000 for “How to Marry a Millionaire” at the Globe was estimated. The film climbed to $50,000 in its eighth week at the Globe, following the end of its engagement at Loew’s State, where it also had been playing. “Sadie” and “Eddie” High “Miss Sadie Thompson,” the 3-D repre- sentative on Broadway at the Capitol, also proved itself a grosser with $70,000 indicated for the second week. “The Eddie Cantor Story” gave an excellent account of itself with $70,000 forecast for the second week at the Paramount. For the 30th week of “This Is Cinerama” at Warners a tremen- dous $65,000 was registered. A fine $35,000 was estimated for the first week of “Paratrooper” at the Criterion while only a fair $35,000 was predicted for the first week of “All the Brothers Were Valliant” at Loew’s State. At the Astor a good $23,000 was expected for the second week of the “The Bigamist,” while a nice $15,000 was expected for the seventh week of “The Man Between” at the Victoria. “Here Come the Girls” at the Mayfair in its second week was due to hit a good $33,500. In Chicago grosses also were healthy. “The Robe” went over $35,000 in its 15th week at the B & K State Lake; “How to Marry a Millionaire” drew better than $40,000 in its seventh week at the Oriental ; “This Is Cinerama” wound up the holiday week with $47,000; “Julius Caesar” climbed to $18,000 in the second week of its two- a-day policy at the Selwyn. “Living Desert” Strong “The Living Desert” was up to $23,000 in its second week at the Loop, after an inital session at $22,000; and “Mogambo” bounced back to $20,000 in the final week of a long run at the Essaness Woods, where it was followed by “Beneath the 12-Mile Reef.” “The Captain’s Paradise” hit a rousing $4,500 in its 11th week at the Ziegfeld; “Annapurna” clicked off a great $6,500 at the Surf, in its second week ; “Easy to Love” held well at $15,000 in the RKO Grand also for the second week, and “Here Come the Girls” and “Those Redheads from Seattle” gave the McVickers a pleasing $25,000 in the second week of the run. In St. Louis “The French Line” in six days at the Fox theatre grossed $57,000. Commenting on the gross, Charles Boasberg, RKO Pictures general sales manager, stated the figure was the largest six-day gross in the history of the theatre. Another sturdy grosser was Walt Disney’s “The Living Desert,” which at the Playhouse in Wash- ington, D. C., racked up $2,175 December 29, the biggest opening day in the theatre’s history. AMPA Launches 2nd Term of 1953-54 Showman School Jack Williams, Gerald Tasker and An- thony Shevins, of the Cunningham & Walsh advertising agency, Thursday addressed the first session of the 1954 Showmanship School conducted by Associated Motion Pic- ture Advertisers at the United Artists home office in New York. Mr. Williams, vice- president of the agency, discussed the im- portance of the advertising agency to the film industry. Mr. Tasker spoke on research in conjunction with film advertising, and Mr. Shevins on creative advertising. The meeting launched the second part of the 1953-54 term, comprising six sessions. Mau- rice Bergman is chairman of the school. Universal Preferred Dividend The board of directors of Universal Pic- tures Company, Inc., has declared a quar- terly dividend of $1.0625 per share on the 4J4 per cent cumulative preferred stock of the company. The dividend is payable March 1, 1954 to stock of record February 15. Fox *.* (i for 3 Months in Technicolor All 20th Century-Fox releases during the first quarter of 1954, both CinemaScope and standard films, will be in color by Techni- color, it was announced this week. The product slate will include three CinemaScope productions and three regular features produced for 20th-Fox release by Panoramic Productions to be offered during the January-February-March period. January releases are “King of the Khyber Rifles” in CinemaScope starring Tyrone Power, Terry Moore and Michael Rennie, produced by Frank P. Rosenberg and di- rected by Henry King; and “Three Young Texans,” a Panoramic Production starring Mitzi Gaynor, Keefe Brasselle and Jeffrey Hunter, produced by Leonard Goldstein and directed by Henry Levin. February releases are “Hell and High Water” in CinemaScope, starring Richard Widmark and Bella Darvi, produced by Raymond A. Klune and directed by Samuel Fuller; and “The Siege at Red River,” starring Van Johnson and Joanne Dru, pro- duced by Leonard Goldstein and directed by Rudolph Mate. March releases are “Night People” in CinemaScope, starring Gregory Peck, Brod- erick Crawford, Anita Bjork and Rita Gam, produced and directed by Nunnally John- son ; and “Gorilla At Large,” to be made available both in 3-D and 2-D, starring Cameron Mitchell, Ann Bancroft and Lee J. Cobb, executive producer Leonard Gold- stein produced by Robert L. Jacks and di- rected by Harmon Jones. "Glenn Miller Day" Is Set in Clarinda, la. “Glenn Miller Day” will be observed next Wednesday at Clarinda, Iowa, where the late band leader was born. The day, marked by numerous and well covered civic events, is part of a statewide Glenn Miller Week. Its feature will be an invitational showing of the Universal-International picture, “The Glenn Miller Story” at the Clarinda Theatre. National coverage is assured through a Mutual Broadcasting System special events broadcast and attendance of national syndi- cate and wire service representatives. Pope Warns on TV Pope Pius XII on the occasion last week of the inauguration of network television broadcasting in Italy called on the bishops of Italy to organize a committee of ecclesias- tics and members of the laity to advise on programming. In an apostolic letter pro- posing the committee the Pope called TV a “wonderful medium offered by science and techniques to humanity” but nonetheless warned that necessary safeguards must be taken. 12 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 9, 1954 DISTRIBUTORS WIN VITAL TEST IN SUPREME COURT MYERS SEES DECISION BAR TO EXCUSE FOR BIDDING Denying Crest Plea, Court Finds Parallel Act Not Anti-Trust Violation by J. A. OTTEN WASHINGTON: The U. S. Supreme Court ruled Monday that the major dis- tributors had not violated the anti-trust laws when they refused to license first run films to the neighborhood Crest theatre in Baltimore. The Court’s decision was a ma- jor victory for the distributors and should have important effects on other private anti-trust suits still pending in lower courts in which neighborhood theatres are trying to obtain first run films. By a seven to one vote, the Supreme Court denied Crest’s appeal from a similar adverse decision by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. The high court ruled that proof of parallel business behavior was not enough to establish an anti-trust law viola- tion, and that theatres suing the majors must establish that the parallel activity was positively the result of a conspiracy and not merely of independent but similar busi- ness judgment. Moreover, the Justices said it was not enough for a plaintiff to cite the conspir- acy established by the Goverment in the Paramount case and expect that to win the plaintiff's case, too. Rather, the court ruled, a plantiff must prove that the Paramount case conspiracy was still operating in the plaintiff’s case. Clark Gives Decision; Douglas Withdraws Justice Clark delivered the seven-page court opinion Monday. Justice Douglas withdrew from the case after it was argued and took no part in the final decision. Justice Black noted briefly that he would have ruled in favor of Crest on the ground that the District Court Judge should have given more weight to the Paramount case evidence. The Crest suit, brought by Theatre En- terprises, Inc., owner of the Crest, charged that the eight major distributors had vio- lated the anti-trust laws by conspiring to restrict first-run pictures to downtown Baltimore theatres. A District Court jury found against Crest, the Fourth Circuit Court sustained this decision, and Crest ap- pealed to the Supreme Court. Justice Clark’s opinion said all the dis- tributors advanced much the same reasons for denying Crest first-run films. He said they argued that Crest, even though a neighborhood theatre, was in substantial competition with downtown theatres, thus ruling out any day and date first-runs. WASHINGTON: The decision in the Crest theatre case should clear the court dockets of “flimsy cases” and in addition it emphasizes the point that distributors need not resort to bidding for their protection, Abram Myers, Allied general counsel, said Tuesday. The statement, issued from National Al- lied headquarters here, said: “The decision upholds the position out- lined in my speech at Allied’s Pittsburgh convention, October 3, 1950 and thereafter unsuccessfully urged upon the film com- panies by an Allied committee that in the absence of collusion or conspiracy film com- panies may safely select their customers for sound business reasons and it is not neces- sary for them to institute bidding for their protection. “While the Court did not expressly so state I think the rest of Allied’s contention Moreover, he said, no downtown theatre would have waived its own exclusive license to permit the Crest to get day and date showings, even if the distributors had wanted to license it. Thus the Crest would have had to receive an exclusive license of its own, Justice Clark observed. However, he continued, “an exclusive license would be economically unsound” be- cause the Crest is a suburban theatre, located in a small shopping center serviced by limited public transportation facilities. The distributors all said, Justice Clark noted, that the downtown theatres offered much greater opportunities for the exploita- tion of newly-released films and therefore much greater return on subsequent runs as well as on first-runs. “The crucial question,” the opinion then declared, “is whether respon- dents’ conduct toward petitioner stemmed from independent decision or from an agreement, tacit or express. To be sure, business behavior is ad- missible circumstantial evidence from which the fact finder may infer agree- ment. But this court has never held that proof of parallel business behavior conclusively establishes agreement, or, phrased differently, that such be- havior itself constitutes a Sherman Act offense. Circumstantial evidence of conciously parallel behavior may have made heavy inroads into the tradi- tional judicial attitude toward con- follows as a corollary that bidding is essen- tial only when an independent exhibitor de- mands pictures on a run formerly monop- olized by a circuit theatre and the refusal to sell is a hangover of conditions con- demned by the Supreme Court in the Para- mount case. “However, our distributor friends should not get the idea that the way has been cleared for a resumption of discriminatory practices against independent exhibitors and in favor of presently or formerly affiliated theatres such as were condemned in the Paramount case because, if they do, the decrees in that case will supply the neces- sary proof of conspiracy. The Crest deci- sion should have the effect of clearing the court dockets of flimsy cases involving only parallel action but cases involving overt acts of conspiracy or which button on to the Paramount case will not be affected.” spiracy, but ‘conscious parallelism’ has not yet read conspiracy out of the Sherman Act entirely.” Justice Clark said Crest realized this and therefore sought to bolster its case by bringing in the Paramount case and sug- gesting that since a uniform system of runs and clearances had been used there, use of the same device in the Crest situation should be “legally equated to conspiracy.” “But the Paramount decrees, even if ad- missible, were only prima facie evidence of a conspiracy covering the area and exist- ing during the period there involved,” the decision said. “Alone or in conjunction with the other proof of the petitioner, they would form no basis for a directed verdict. Here each of the respondents had denied the ex- istence of any collaboration and in addition had introduced evidence of the local con- ditions surrounding the Crest operation which, they contended, precluded it from be- ing a successful first-run house. They also attacked the good faith of the guaranteed offers of the petitioner for first-run pictures and attributed uniform action to individual business judgment motivated by the desire for maximum revenue.” Justice Clark said the District Court judge had instructed the jury that the Paramount decrees alone could not support a verdict for Crest, and that additional evi- dence was required to relate the presumed Paramount conspiracy to Baltimore and to the claimed damage period. MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 9, 1954 13 CENSOR TO HIGH Industry Files Argument in Crucial Action Aimed to Outlaw State Bodies WASHINGTON : “Motion pictures, as a part of the press, cannot remain half slave and half free,” the Motion Picture Associa- tion of America and the Independent Theatre Owners of Ohio have declared in a joint amici curiae brief filed with the United States Supreme Court on the “M” case. The brief, filed last week, called on the Supreme Court to reverse a decision of the Ohio Supreme Court which upheld the ban- ning of the film “M” by Ohio censors. Argu- ments challenging the constitutionality of both Ohio and New York state film censor- ship laws were to be heard by the high court here Wednesday and Thursday. Censors Emphasize Impact Following the MPAA-ITOO statement, the Ohio censors submitted a brief to the Supreme Court wherein it was argued that the tremendous impact of the motion picture as a medium of communications requires some state censorship to protect citizens against some dangerous films. “The vividness of the medium,” stated the Ohio brief, “and its extraordinary capacity for conveyance of thought and emotional stimulus make it the most effective of all expressions, with the concomitant dangers involved in its abuse.” Arguing that Ohio regulates only obscene and immoral films or those tending to incite crime or license, the state added that “the impact of the motion picture, the unrestricted audience and the subject matter of those films which may be rejected, considered in combination, present an area of danger which Ohio as a state has constitutionally regulated.” The Ohio brief added that the Supreme Court’s “Miracle” decision permitted some prior film censorship. It declared that this was justified by a long-standing principle that the protection of the 14th Amendment was not absolute, but rather “varies as the expression, the place, the time, the manner of regulation and the impact of the medium varies.” Argue No Exceptions The brief of the Motion Picture Associa- tion, on the other hand, cited evidence to “refute the notion that the framers of the original state constitutions and First Amend- ment contemplated exceptions to the prin- ciple of absolute immunity from censorship. . . . The immunities which the Constitution provides for the protection of the press ex- tends to such improvements of communica- tion as motion pictures to the same extent as earlier forms of the press.” BRIEFS COERT The brief emphasized that Ohio theatre owners oppose state censorship “not only because they consider censorship a violation of their constitutional rights, but because they feel it imposes an inordinate economic burden upon the usual and customary pur- suits of their business.” The MPAA brief pointed out that Ohio’s censorship fee ($3 per thousand feet of each print) has an adverse effect right down the line on the distribution and exhibition of motion pictures in the state. As example, the brief said that the censorship fees “are such a penalty on the distributor that he often finds it economically prohibitive” to supply an adequate number of prints to Ohio ex- changes. Cite Excessive Costs “And were censorship not the stumbling block in transporting prints from one state to another, trucking charges could be dras- tically reduced,” the brief continued. It also pointed out that many motion pictures banned or cut by the Ohio censors are shown on television in the state with full constitu- tional freedom from censorship. “From 1948 to 1952,” said the MPAA, "1,836 motion pictures were shown over television in Ohio. Of these, 546 had never been submitted to censors ; 484 had been submitted and cut when originally shown (im theatres), but were shown in unexpur- gated versions in the home; five films were totally rejected by the Board of Censors for theatre showing, but were shown in homes by the television broadcasts.” The joint brief was signed by Sidney A. Schreiber, general attorney of the Motion Picture Association, and Philip J. O’Brien, Jr., formerly on the legal staff of the MPAA. Two Justices Take Issue Two Supreme Court justices Wednesday took sharp issue with a plea that the Court declare unconstitutional all censorship of motion pictures prior to showing. During oral argument on the banning of "M,” Jus- tices Frankfurter and Jackson flung ques- tions and comment at John C. Harlor, attorney for Superior Films, Inc., distribu- tors of the picture. Justice Frankfurter asked why it would be necessary to rule the Ohio censor statute unconstitutional. Justice Jackson indicated that he did not think an absolute rule that nothing could be barred would be possible. Arthur, New SCTOA Chairman, Urges Lower Admissions Harry C. Arthur, Jr., Tuesday assumed the board chairmanship of the Southern California Theatre Owners Associations, succeeding Gus A. Metzger, chairman since the organization’s formation in 1944. Schu?albery Hints at JXen? Technique HOLLYWOOD: Paramount Pictures has “developed a filming method which provides more camera angles, size and scope and the greatest picture definition and clarity of any method yet provided in the history of the industry,” A. W. Schwalberg, president of Paramount Film Distributing Corporation, announced this week at the end of a two- week stay at the studio. The distribution executive predicted that "this new method will be a revelation when disclosed," and added “we will be ready to show it to the trade some time this year.” While here he conferred with Y. Frank Freeman, Paramount vice-president and studio head, and Don Hartman, executive producer, and looked at new product. "I have never in my career been more enthusiastic or optimistic for the future oi Paramount,” he said. “What I have seen at the studio has gone far beyond my fondest expectations.” He said he had also been assured “by the studio that our new attrac- tions can be shown on any size screen and in any aspect ratio up to 1.85 to 1.” Among the new releases on which Mr. Schwalberg commented were “Red Garters,” a western musical comedy in color- by Tech- nicolor starring Jack Carson and Rosemary Clooney; “Elephant Walk,” a Technicolor drama filmed partly in Ceylon, starring Elizabeth Taylor and Dana Andrews; “White Christmas,” which Mr. Schwalberg called “the biggest musical Paramount has ever made,” Technicolor and starring Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney ; “Sabrina Fair,” a comedy starring Audrey Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart, and "Knock on Wood,” Technicolor and star- ring Danny Kaye. Also coming up are “The Naked Jungle,” Technicolor, with Eleanor Parker and Charlton Heston; “Bridges at Toko-Ri,” with William Holden and Grace Kelly, Technicolor; “Jivaro,” Technicolor, with Fernando Lamas ; Alfred Hitchcock’s “Rear Window,” Technicolor, starring James Stewart, and George Pal’s “Conquest of Space,” also Technicolor. Los Angeles Communion Breakfast February 14 HOLLYWOOD: The Third Annual Com- munion Breakfast for members of the mo- tion picture industry in the Los Angeles area will be held February 14 at 10 A.M. at the Hollywood Palladium, following 9 A.M. Mass conducted by Cardinal James F. McIntyre at Blessed Sacrament Church. 8661 Sunset Blvcl. A record attendance of 2,000 is expected. Tickets for the breakfast are available at all studios and film ex- changes. George A. Smith, Paramount west- ern division sales manager, is chairman for the third year. 14 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 9, 1954 THE BIRTHDAY CAKE THAT EVERY EXHIBITOR IN AMERICA WILL SHARE! "LET’S GET THE CASH AND LET THE CREDIT GO!” As our 30tk A nniversary commences, we want to thank our exhibitor friends whose mutal confidence and coop- eration has made it all possible. We’ve got countless medals, awards, statuettes. The annals of film business glow with the achievements of M-G-M attractions, M-G-M stars, M-G-M Showmanship. But our celebration is planned with only one thing in mind — your box-office! Let’s get the cash and let the credit go! We invite theatre men to join with us in what will he one of the hi ggest promotions of its kind ever keld in the industry, to launch a caval- cade of top entertainments, to stimulate your business! TIE-IN YOUR THEATRE WITH THE M-G-M PARADE OF GREAT "JUBILEE’ HITS! M-G-M provides tlie fireworks nationally and locally ! It's ^oing* to be the most publicized event of tbe Year. Get your slice of tbe Birthday Cake. It’s an unparalleled opportunity to give your Box-office a LIFT! Here is a partial list of availa ble M-G-M attractions for your local "JUBILEE." Showmanship accessories available FREE ! r KNIGHTS ” LEADS THE LINE-UP OF "JUBILEE” RELEASES! JANUARY "KNIGHTS OF THE W ROUND T ABLE” (Cinemascope) (In Color Magnificence) • Robert Taylor, Ava Gardner, Mel Ferrer JANUARY "EASY TO LONW (Technicolor) Esther Williams, Van Johnson, Tony Martin JANUARY "QUO VADIS” Greater In VIDE SCREEN ■ ( Technicolor ) Robert Taylor, Deborah Kerr, Leo Genn JANUARY "GIVE A GIRL A BREAK” C Technicolor ) • Marge and Gower Champion, Debbie Reynolds JANUARY "THE GREAT DIAMOND ROBBERY" Red Skelton FEBRUARY . SAADIA" ( Technicolor ) Lx Cornel Wilde, Mel Ferrer, Rita Gam FEBRUARY "THE LONG, LONG TRAILER" (Ansa, Color ) Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz MARCH "TENNESSEE CHAMP” ( Ansco Color) • Shelley Winters MARCH "ROSE MARIE” (Cinemascope) (In Color Glory) • Ann Blyth, Howard Keel, Fernando Lamas APRIL "GYPSY COLT” (Ansa, Color) Donna Corcoran, Ward Bond, Frances Dee, * and Gypsy !_ APRIL "RHAPSODY" {Technicolor) Elizabeth Taylor, Vittorio Gassman APRIL "FLAME AND THE FLESH” {Technicolor) Lana Turner, Pier Angeli AND THESE CURRENT PRODUCTIONS! MOGAMBO” (Technicolor) Clark Gable, Ava Gardner "TAKE THE HIGH GROUND!” (Ansco Color) ♦ Richard Widmark, Karl Malden, Elaine Stewart "THE ACTRESS” Spencer Tracy, Jean Simmons, Teresa Wright "KISS ME KATE” (Ansco Color) Kathryn Grayson, Howard Keel, Ann Miller "ESCAPE FROM FORT BRAVO” (Ansco Color) • William Holden, Eleanor Parker, John Forsythe "HALF A HERO” Red Skelton "ALL THE BROTHERS WERE VALIANT” (Technicolor) Robert Taylor, Stewart Granger, Ann Blyth "TORCH SONG” (Technicolor) Joan Crawford, Michael Wilding "TERROR ON A TRAIN” Glenn Ford, Anne Vernon AND MANY MORE OUTSTANDING M-G-M ATTRACTIONS! (Including The Industry's Greatest Line-up of Short Subjects) GREAT EVENT TO LAUNCH M-G-M's "JUBILEE M-G-M's FIRST GREAT PRODUCTION IN CINEMASCOPE! M-G-M's presents in CinemaScope “ KNIGHTS OF THE ROUND TABLE" • (In Color Magnificence) starring Robert Taylor • Ava Gardner • Mel Ferrer with Anne Crawford • Stanley Baker • Screen Play by Talbot Jennings, Jan Lustig and Noel Langley • Based on Sir Thomas Malory’s “ Le Morte D' Arthur" • Directed by Richard Thorpe • Produced by Pandro S. Berman V NEXT FROM M-G-M IN CINEMASCOPE "ROSE MARIE” (Color) Ann Blyth, Ho ward Keel, Fernando Lamas "THE STUDENT PRINCE" (A nsco Color) Ann Blyth, Edmund Purdom, John Ericson, Louis Calhern, an d the singing voice of Mario Lanza "BRIGADOON" (A nsco Color) Gene Kelly, Van Johnson, Cyd Charisse, Elaine Stewart "BRIDE FOR SEVEN BROTHERS" (A nsco Color) Jane Powell, Howard Keel, Jeff Richards AND THESE BIG FUTURE M-G-M ATTRACTIONS! EXECUTIVE SUITE” William Holden, June Allyson, Barbara Stanwyck, Fredric March, Walter Pidgeon, Shelley Winters, Paul Douglas, Louis Calh ern BETRAYED” (Color) Clark Gahle, Lana Tu rner, Victor Mature JULIUS CAESAR” Marlon Brando, James Mason, John Gielgud, Louis Calhern, Edmond O Brien, Greer Garson, Deborah Kerr HER TWELVE MEN" f Color) Greer Garson, Robert Ry an BEAU BRUMMELL” (Color) Stewart Granger, Elizabeth Taylor, Peter Ustinov CREST OF THE WAVE” Gene Kelly, Jeff Rich ards INVITATION TO THE DANCE” ( Tech nicolor) • Gene Kelly, and All-Star Cast VALLEY OF THE KINGS" (Color) Robert Taylor, Eleanor Parker PANTHER SQUADRON 8” (Ansco Color) Van Johnson, Walter Pidgeon Were Saying With Pictures # fBlNTf IN o. s. A. Box Office Champions For /Pecan her. 1953 The Box Office Champions are selected on the basis of the gross revenue at key city theatres throughout the country. Trust Caws Liability Is Questioned If ASHINGTON : Rep. Emanuel Celler (D., N.Y.), ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, is of the opinion that a recent Federal court decision raises the question of whether the motion picture in- dustry and other entertainment businesses are subject to the Federal anti-trust laws. He was sharply critical of a decision handed down last week in New York by Federal Judge John C. Knox. Judge Knox dismissed the Justice Department’s anti- trust suit against the Shubert theatre book- ing interests on the grounds that like base- ball, theatre bookings are not a business and therefore not subject to anti-trust laws. Rep. Celler said this decision may be fol- lowed by the dismissal of other anti-trust suits involving “all manner of activities both in and out of the entertainment world.” Pointing out that motion picture companies, the medical associations and press wire services have in the past all been held sub- ject to the anti-trust laws, he said that Judge Knox’s decision will “raise many eyebrows” and require a complete examina- tion of the question of what constitutes “business” under the anti-trust statutes. “When Congress reconvenes,” Represent- ative Celler said, “I shall insist that the House Judiciary Committee take a new look at the definition of ‘business.’ We must nail down a number of activities that now seem to be immune from our Federal anti-trust laws.” TOA AMay Ash Code Becision The possibility that exhibition, through the 1 heatre Owners of America, might ask for a voice in any reexamination of the Production Code as called for recently by Samuel Goldwyn, was indicated this week by Walter Reade, Jr., president of the TOA. In a statement issued Tuesday Mr. Reade said the matter would be discussed at the exhibitor organization’s next board meet- ing. The statement said : “At its annual meeting in Chicago in November of last year TOA’s board of directors reaffirmed its position that the highest moral standards should be the guide in the production and distribution of all motion pictures. It also reaffirmed its sup- port to the principals and purposes of the motion picture Production Code. “However, as with all credos, codes and statements of principal it becomes necessary from time to time to reanalyze, revaluate ALL THE BROTHERS WERE VALIANT ( Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) Produced by Pandro S. Berman. Di- rected by Richard Thorpe. Written by Harry Brown (based on a story by Ben Ames Williams). Technicolor. Cast: Robert Taylor, Stewart Granger, Ann Blyth, Betta St. John, Keenan Wynn, James Whit- more, Kurt Kasznar, Lewis Stone, Robert Burton, Peter Whitney. CALAMITY JANE (Warner Bros.) Produced by William Jacobs. Directed by David Butler. Written by James O'Hanlon. Technicolor. Cast: Doris Day, Howard Keel, Allyn McLerie, Philip Carey, Dick Wesson, Paul Harvey, Chubby John- son, Gale Robbins. HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE (20th Century-Fox) (CinemaScope) Produced by Nunnally Johnson. Di- rected by Jean Negulesco. Written by Nunnally Johnson (based on plays by Zoe Akins, Dale Euson and Katherine Albert). Technicolor. Cast: Marilyn Monroe, Betty Grable, Lauren Bacall, David Wayne, Rory Calhoun, Cameron Mitchell, Alex D'Arcy, Fred Clark, William Powell, George Dunn, Percy Helton, Robert Ad- ler, Harry Carter, Tudor Owen. and perhaps revise. It may well be that the time has now arrived in the industry to do just that with the existing Production Code. If that is so, I feel that TOA will be in favor of such action. And if that is the deci- sion of the producers and distributors, and if the board of directors, at its meeting later this month, votes that exhibition should have a voice in the process of reanalysing, re- valuating, and possible revision, then the board will undoubtedly do what ever may be necessary to pursue its decision.” Columbia Signs Warwick For 3 More Pictures A three-picture releasing and financing program this week was agreed to by Colum- bia Pictures and Warwick Productions. The latter’s latest three, all made in England with Alan Ladd the star, are being released by Columbia. Of the new series, the first will be “Cockleshell Heroes,” to be made in Eng- land and France; the second will be “Prize of Gold,” to be made in England and Ger- many. Both will be in CinemaScope. The three completed films are “Paratrooper,” “Hell Below Zero” and “The Black Knight.” HONDO (Warner Bros.) (3-D) Produced by Robert Fellows. Directed by John Farrow. Written by James Ed- ward Grant (based on a story by Louis L'Amour). WarnerColor. Cast: John Wayne, Geraldine Page, Ward Bond, Michael Pate, James Arness, Rodolfo Acosta, Leo Gordon, Tom Irish, Lee Aaker, Paul Fix, Rayford Barnes. KISS ME KATE ( Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer ) Produced by Jack Cummins. Directed by George Sidney. Written by Dorothy Kingsley (based on the play by Samuel and Bella Spewack). Technicolor. Cast: Kathryn Grayson, Howard Keel, Ann Mil- ler, Keenan Wynn, Bobby Van, Tommy Rail, James Whitmore, Kurt Kasznar, Bob Fosse, Ron Randell. THE ROBE (20th Century-Fox) (CinemaScope) Produced by Frank Ross. Directed by Henry Koster. Written by Philip Dunne. Adapted by Gina Kaus from the novel by Lloyd C. Douglas. Technicolor. Cast: Richard Burton, Jean Simmons, Victor Ma- ture, Michael Rennie, Jay Robinson, Dean Jagger, Torin Thatcher, Richard Boone, Betta St. John, Jeff Morrow, Ernest Thesiger, Dawn Addams, Leon Askin. ( Champion for the third month.) Screen Directors' Guild To Present 14 Awards HOLLYWOOD : A record of 14 awards will be made by the Screen Directors’ Guild of America at its third annual awards dinner-dance to be held January 24 in the Biltmore Bowl of the Biltmore Hotel, ac- cording to George Sidney, Guild president. Heading the list will be the critic’s award to be made to the outstanding critic in the United States whose reviews have been both constructive and beneficial to the industry. For the first time, an award will be made to the best TV director and assistant di- rector. Also to be given this year will be the D. W. Griffith award for long and distin- guished achievement in motion picture direction. One award will be given for the most outstanding directional achievement of 1953. A similar award to the assistant director wil\ be presented. Four awards for outstanding directorial achievements during 1953 and similar awards to assistant directors will also be given. MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 9, 1954 19 The best loved picture of our time! • Tr^COING to be interesting to reissue of De:> Previously the reissue of a good P'C- Je'ry, been a reissue P-o-P^ either by a void in. “"J^^es i^,r^w,,,beo„adi, ferent plane. Coldwyn will do -t as Goldwyn does most thmgS’ ,oit stops out. He-ll tSlSwTahV^“^»br,e- turn of U.S. Cl’s to their home d.ggmgs and their look at a new life. Because of the great shortage °t new pictures and because of the fac that Coldwyn i^goi^P^--^ Thr^tuS reissue should become something of a boxoffice ^ tha , nmvided the theatremen take the pic C ln the same stride that inspires Coldwyn in its new run. We saw the picture the other night in its new screen form — on the big screen — and liked it even better than when we first saw it. The S-at W of the returning three Cl s from Th laoanese war fits currently like a glove The story is not worn, to any exten , I^d .ho show could have been ns.de today and released tomorrow. t “Roct Vesrs should The return of Best^ operators be welcomed y greeted as, we are certain, .» w.U f picture, and there aje ^ cOU|d, with^pX" handling. SO-.^nd at- "I’thYexhS will give them .he proper support. OBoytq iht 1 cot PHIL M. DALY “Best Y ears" Is Still Best 0 9 0 SOME SEVEN YEARS and a few days ago "The Best Years of Our Lives" first appeared on the screen. . . . Immediately it was recognized as a monu- mental production achievement by Samuel Goldwyn. . . . William Wyler's striking direction of the Mackinlay Kantor story, scripted by Robert E. Sherwood, was a noteworthy effort. . . . The cast was just about the best selection ever. . . . The picture went on to bow throughout the world and everywhere it created profound impress. . . . Now Goldwyn is again about to issue the noted Academy Award winner. . . . Viewed the other night in an RKO neighborhood spot, the 172-minute film is still a profoundly affecting experience with pointed realism, tremendous emo- tional impact and high dramatic register. . . . The effect upon the audience was greot— as great, Phil M. ventures to say, as it was upon audiences in 1946. . . . The varied messages contained in "The Best Years" are as timely and as potent seven years later as they were the first time around, and maybe more so. . . . So, it must be said and said emphatically, that if ever a film rated a comeback it is "The Best Years." . . . From this preview demonstration, said comback is going to be quite something to watch and report. — Besl “Best Years nf « Award winner js Lives>’’ Samuel rnu HolIywod, Dec ft ipElSSsSS mrnmm 3 — Scho. u THE BEST YEAR * The most honored picture of all time! ffICE Good Timing An important factor in the success of motion pictures often is timing of release. A fine pro- duction, such as “The Best Years of Our Lives,” was sensationally successful, doubtless because it was initially released at a time when its story was given added impact by its timeliness and appeal to virtually every family in America. That factor should add in good measure to the drawing power of this production which Samuel Goldwyn has wisely timed for re-release around the first of the year. Conditions today, after the Korean war, are much the same as they were seven years ago, after World War II. Re- turning GIs, many with newly-acquired families, are experiencing the same problems attendant to their return to civilian life. The realistic aspects of the “Best Years” story made it one of the great motion pictures of our time. It should, again, prove to be a great attraction. Because of its great entertainment , “The Best Years of Our Lives " is the only picture ever to receive nine Academy Awards and an avalanche of honors and prizes from all over the world. I picture DAILY. HestYears ' Stilt a Very Timely Motion Pieture -pi. JAMES pm,. — The still vivid memo®,s Sd kCUNN1NGHA»* *« Vea„ * to its re-release in rr utbe Press Prior ‘hose memories of fhe ^ Rather> tale about the ho me"USUa,Jy hu- tno of World War rr COm,n« of a added lustre from the ^eterans gained ^re is one ofThe few"0*'^ t,!a‘ masterpieces about f„Igreat screen tfhat is as timely odav ?1P°rary ,ife the day it made its defT * was on ago. For there are not ^cT’" years where returning fr ° J^1 s every- hves, home-life anT K°r5a whose Pretty much thee and Problems are of the returnees from u/PaiijS ‘hose - *pic,ed World War "The B'stTe',r?l,er ,1? the same manner as'a npbe han^,ed in >s merchandised and n Production complete campaigns tnd ^Toted- wi‘h treatment. Justifiablv d sh°wmanship made of the' fact in tu much wiI1 be $250,000 promotional e, COnt.emPlated ‘his Samuel Goldwvn Carnpai&n ‘hat William Wyler dir^ JProduced ar’d ‘he “most honored mW Pr?ducti°n is with nine AcademvP ^ ^ 3,1 time,” “tally every oihTr n ^3 5 and “vir- a motion picture.” Pnze avai,able to all ad vert i sbig.Tcce ssorf * be made to Co-operative adverf ° s and ‘railers production “sfrong^sur!^ T" ™ «£ men will operate and held manner as they do eo the same behalf of a brand newT" y"wide in We left the theatr^nlT^,0^1’0"- Pressed with the pictnrI’tlCU-ar,y im- and significance mad^ i? “meliness drawn-out partkS S° by the long- ue negotiators °f the arni- Cd. s stood by tedio i rea while our start of their triuy a waiting the been trek^faS to°Z ^ have moMh” ^/.«rtrttorepsart The Best Years »A drews mspire in We are told that a cession of demands fn ™°un‘mg suc- have been voiced bv ™ l.K re'release organizations like the pPokesmen from “on of Women's CluebsGef"era' Fede™- orgamzations and fm’ fr°m ve‘erans’ and writers, especially ?h newsPaPers h-^P from circulation sonreTve Tamtliar Goldwyn Ma„„er. Ta,lvs “revSv 'of P,ct"« said: “The The Bes‘ Years” audience . . wil/Vu. motion picture ove-makin g ' its J tl ,ts humor, its We, its small r* g pses of family W* It is quTte /ike,vCiT CS a"d **iall t0 i‘ for many months ** rv SWarm Production is in the r-, ‘ i-‘ ^be en‘ire manner of excellent m‘ !fr Go,dwyn ness. . . -p. nc? and complete- ‘hroughout.” Not^a'^ ’a excehent Ru “ll!^f“i*s0“»rehCaAndre o Donnell, Hoagy fa ^a^°’ Cathy G«orgc. Steve foc&'t"'’ and Victor Cutler to ’ Ray Collins The production ’ mention some. 50 minutes ; we enjoyed* W° hours and ‘hem, on this, our third °"e °f This time Rkrn n • rd “me around, screen; it’ enhanrer°JeCted U 0,1 wide- not need it. Robert but if does ‘he screenplay. Sherwood wrote S OF OUR LIVES” I err? Ramsa^c S«it« THESE lines fall on paper in the after- glow of a New Year's fireside in a mood of retrospect across vistas includ- ing four decades of the motion picture. And now it appears we have come, as one of the details of a mad world scene, into a period of confusions and ordeal far be- yond any precedent in the strenuous years that have gone across the screen. Largely external developments in the Electronic Revolution for a half a dozen years have forced upon the industry an amazing complex of technological adven- tures. They in turn have created disturbing problems for both the art and the merchan- dising thereof. This maelstrom of frenetic efforts at readjustment in the nature of things has had to be as public as the screen itself. But now atop all that has come a most disturbing thrust at the status of the Pro- duction Code, the principal public relations instrument of the motion picture. Putting aside for the moment the stated issues, this addition to the confusions of the day and impairment of relations with a public al- ready far from sure that the screen knows what it is about, appears to have been most unnecessarily superimposed on the scene at this time. This has come from inside, initiated with an explosion of publicity in the lay press. No necessity for this erup- tion has been apparent. It can do the sweating, striving motion picture no good. Further, there is no crisis involved. There can be no defense that this has been inescapable. The organized industry has often demon- strated its capacity of taking action on im- portant ryiatters in camera. For instance, there was a secret settlement of a suit by an independent who in the early period menaced the Code application. There was that hushed decision to remove the penalty of a $25,000 fine on an affiliated theatre which should venture to run a picture with- out the Code seal. When a year later that fact became known the stated reason was that such a ruling by the organized industry could be, it was feared, interpreted as a violation of anti-trust laws. Then there was that star chamber decision to let down the Code prohibition of screen presentation of subjects pertaining to the drug habit or its traffic. A picture was made, no hit. Almost as quietly the indulgent ruling was re- scinded. It now appears to be the contention of the current movement ■‘■hat the public and the audiences have in the last twenty years arrived at a "far greater maturity," on all age levels. That obviously is not correct. Much depends on what one considers "maturity." Also much depends on where one takes the audience samples. There is considerable scientific and expert opinion that research indicates that the traits of adolescence, undisciplined adolescence, persist for the many for a lifetime. In sequel utterances much is made of the contention that there is of course no intent of impairing the basic moral order implied by the Code, just a matter of interpreta- tion and application, one is given to under- stand. It may be pointed out that it has been obvious in the administration of the Code these many years that there has been a rule of reason and elasticity. Also it is the opinion of this observer that there has indeed been, despite all Code precautions, an increase in the dar- ing innuendo and leering of the screen. This has appeared in imposing, pretentious productions amid a flying flurry of color, glamour and music. One familiar with the camera and the art of film montage and cutting inevitably discerns it. In the main it has been unimportant, but represents the continuous edging-up. The industry adopted and finally instru- mented the Code as a course of refuge from the consequences of a flow of un- discipled production, resented by its public. That resentment can be incurred again — unless the public should cease to care very much about the pictures. W'*' DEFENSE ECONOMY — Sensationally, we discover that in its motion picture labora- tory operations each year: "The United States Navy recovers 10,000 dollars in silver and 15,000 dollars in reusable fixer." The process takes out the silver by an elec- trolytic or plating process on cathodes, and then the fixing solution, mainly hyposul- phite of sodium, is slightly refortified. Twenty-five thousand dollars saving a year is not to be scorned by the taxpayers who daily read of billions spent and spending. That darkroom policy might be expanded. The item comes from that amazing monthly abstract bulletitn issued by Kodak Re- search Laboratories which seems to record the essence of most everything that it printed about photography, a service little known in this industry. II Films Hue From II KO in Early 1954 RKO Radio announced this week that it will release 11 major productions, three of which are in 3-D and all but two of which are in color, during the first part of 1954. James R. Grainger, president, said Monday the schedule will be supplemented by nine reissues and that of the 11 new films, three are now before the cameras and the others are completed or in the editing stage. First to go into release will be “Killers from Space,” science-fiction drama, Jan- uary 23. This will be followed by “The French Line," 3-D and Technicolor, star- ring Jane Russell, February 8; “She Couldn’t Say No,” with Robert Mitchum and Jean Simmons, February 15; and “Rob Roy,” Walt Disney live action drama in color by Technicolor, February 27. “Dangerous Mission,” in 3-D and Tech- nicolor, starring Piper Laurie and Victor Mature, goes into release March 6 ; “Carni- val Story,” in color with Anne Baxter and Steve Cochran, March 27 ; “Son of Sinbad,” 3-D and Technicolor, with Dale Robertson and Sally Forrest, April 3; “The Saint’s Girl Friday,” with Louis Hayward, April 17, and “Susan Slept Here,” Technicolor, with Dick Powell and Debbie Reynolds, May 8. The latter is now before the cameras. Also currently shooting are “Desperate Men,” Technicolor, starring John Payne, set for mid-May release, and “The Big Rainbow,” Technicolor, with Jane Russell, set as the company’s big June release. February reissues include “Rachel and the Stranger” and “Valley of the Sun.” These will be followed in March by “Tall in the Saddle” and “The Enchanted Cot- tage”; April, “Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House” and “They Won’t Believe Me”; May, “Spanish Main” and “Badman’s Territory”; June, “The Thing”; July, “Gunga Din” and “The Lost Patrol.” Republic Regional Meetings For Its Jubilee Year Regional sales meetings are being held by Republic Pictures in connection with its high budget product to be released during the first months of its Jubilee Year. Tues- day and Wednesday, metropolitan division manager James V. O’Gara met in Wash- ington with managers and salesmen. Tues- day, eastern division sales manager John P. Curtin held a meeting in Boston, and Thurs- day another in Detroit. This week also, midwest division sales manager Paul Web- ster met with his staffs in St. Louis and Chicago. C. Bruce Newberv. director of sales, is visiting with staffs in Charlotte, Atlanta, and Dallas. He is to join Herbert J. Yates, company president, in New Orleans January 14 for the premiere of “Jubilee Trail” and then join western division man- ager Francis Bateman for coast meetings. 22 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 9, 1954 O’CONNOR 1953 TV BEST BENNY RADIO TOP AGAIN TELEVISION EDITORS, critics and columnists on American publications, voting in the fifth annual "Motion Picture Daily"-"Fame" poll on the best of 1953, picked CBS's "Omnibus" as the Best Network Television Program, thereby putting in second place NBC's "Your Show of Shows," the previous winner for three years in a row. The new Champion of Champions, a Sunday afternoon omni- bus of all kinds of drama and entertainment, is presided over by master of ceremonies Alistair Cooke and is presented by the Television Radio Workshop of the Ford Foundation. Donald O'Connor, featured on NBC-TV's "Colgate Comedy Hour," was named Best Television Performer of the year. Meanwhile, the corresponding 18th annual radio poll finds Jack Benny continuing to reign as radio's Champion of Cham- pions. The "Jack Benny Show" (CBS) was voted the Best Net- work Radio Program and Benny himself named Radio's Best Performer of the year. DONALD O'CONNOR JACK BENNY Following are the “ Motion Picture Daily” — “Fame” television poll winners. BEST NETWORK PROGRAM 1. Omnibus (CBS) 2. Your Show of Shows (NBC) 3. Dragnet (NBC) BEST TELEVISION PEFORMER 1. Donald O’Connor (NBC) 2. Jack Webb (NBC) 3. Jackie Gleason (CBS) MOST PROMISING STAR Male 1. Julius La Rosa (CBS) 2. George Gobels (NBC) 3. Brandon DeWilde (ABC) Female 1. Audrey Meadows (CBS) 2. Jill Corey (NBC) 3. Maria Riva (Guest) BEST COMEDIAN 1. Jackie Gleason (CBS) 2. Jimmy Durante (NBC) 3. Sid Caesar (NBC) BEST COMEDIENNE 1. Imogene Coca (NBC) 2. Martha Raye (NBC) 3. Lucille Ball (CBS) BEST COMEDY TEAM 1. Sid Caesar & Imogene Coca (NBC) 2. Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis (NBC) 3. Lucille Ball & Desi Arnaz (CBS) BEST COMEDY SHOW 1. Colgate Comedy Hour (NBC) 2. The Jackie Gleason Show (CBS) 3. I Love Lucy (CBS) BEST VARIETY PROGRAM 1. Toast of the Town (CBS) 2. Your Show of Shows (NBC) 3. Colgate Comedy Hour (NBC) BEST PANEL DISCUSSION 1. Meet the Press (NBC) 2. American Forum of the Air (NBC) 3. Author Meets Critics (DuMont) BEST NEW DRAMATIC PROGRAM 1. United States Steel Hour (ABC) 2. Medallion Theatre (CBS) BEST DRAMATIC PROGRAM 1. Studio One (CBS) 2. Robert Montgomery Presents (NBC) 3. Television Playhouse (NBC) BEST MYSTERY PROGRAM 1. Dragnet (NBC) 2. Suspense (CBS) 3. The Web (CBS) BEST VOCALIST (Male) 1. Perry Como (CBS) 2. Eddie Fisher (NBC) 3. Julius La Rosa (CBS) BEST VOCALIST (Female) 1. Dinah Shore (NBC) 2. Jane Froman (CBS) 3. Gisele Mackenzie (NBC) BEST MUSICAL SHOW Classical 1. Voice of Firestone (NBC) 2. NBC Opera (NBC) 3. Chicago Symphony (DuMont) Popular 1. Your Hit Parade (NBC) 2. The Fred Waring Show (CBS) 3. The Dinah Shore Show (NBC) BEST QUIZ SHOW Audience Participation 1. Groucho Marx Show (NBC) 2. Dollar a Second (DuMont) 3. Break the Bank (NBC) Panel 1. What’s My Line (CBS) 2. 20 Questions (DuMont) 3. I’ve Got a Secret (CBS) BEST MASTER OF CEREMONIES 1. Ed Sullivan (CBS) 2. John Daly (CBS) 3. Alastair Cooke (CBS) BEST ANNOUNCER 1. George Fenneman (NBC) 2. Tony Marvin (CBS) 3. Dennis James (ABC) BEST NEWS COMMENTATOR 1. John Cameron Swayze (NBC) 2. Edward R. Murrow (CBS) 3. Douglas Edwards (CBS) BEST SPORTSCASTER 1. Mel Allen (CBS) 2. Red Barber (CBS) t . v 7 tic Rus Hodges (all networks) / 3. Bill Stern (ABC) BEST DAYTIME PROGRAM 1. Garry Moore Show (CBS) 2. The Kate Smith Show (NBC) 3. Today (NBC) BEST CHILDREN'S PROGRAM 1. Ding-Dong School (NBC) 2. Kukla, Fran & Ollie (NBC) 3. Ho-wdy Doody (NBC) BEST COMMERCIAL (Audience Viewpoint) 1. Ford Theatre (NBC) 2. Kraft Theatre (NBC-ABC) 3. Lucky Strike (NBC-CBS-ABC) BEST NETWORK PUBLICITY 1. NBC 2. CBS 3. ABC BEST INDIVIDUAL PUBLICITY 1. Young & Rubicam’s Bureau of Indus- trial Service 2. Batten, Barton, Durstine & Osborn, Inc. 3. J. Walter Thompson, Inc. Following are the “Motion Picture Daily” — “Fame” radio poll winners. BEST PROGRAM 1. Jack Benny Show (CBS) 2. Lux Radio Theatre (CBS) 3. Dragnet (NBC) ( Continued on page 26) MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 9, 1954 23 Old style shooting... new style showing “Law and lawless meet on the street and shoot it out.” Time-honored script . . . new style, wide-angle handling — giant figures, cause-and-effect in action, sense of depth — all in one. Made for today’s projection — sound and picture — on today’s wider screens. Technical problems, there are . . . problems of film selection, processing and projection . . . problems which Kodak is helping the industry solve through the facilities of the Eastman Technical Service for Motion Picture Film. Branches are located at strategic centers, inquiries invited. Address: Motion Picture Film Department, EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY, Rochester 4, N. Y. East Coast Division Midwest Division West Coast Division 342 Madison Avenue 137 North Wabash Avenue 6706 Santa Monica Bivd. New York 17, N. Y. Chicago 2, Illinois Hollywood 38, California ■ TV, RADIO POLLS ( Continued from page 23) BEST PERFORMER 1. Tack Benny (CBS) 2. Jack Webb (NBC) 3. Arthur Godfrey (CBS) MOST PROMISING STAR Male 1. Julius La Rosa (CBS) 2. Eddie Fisher (NBC) 3. Bill Cullen (ABC) Female 1. Gale Storm (CBS) 2. Rosemary Clooney (CBS) 3. Lou Ann Simms (CBS) BEST COMEDIAN 1. Jack Benny (CBS) 2. Bob Hope (NBC) 3. Groucho Marx (NBC) BEST COMEDIENNE 1. Eve Arden (CBS) 2. Marie Wilson (CBS) 3. Mary Livingston (CBS) BEST COMEDY TEAM 1. Fibber McGee & Molly (NBC) 2. Amos "n" Andy (CBS) 3. Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis (NBC) BEST VARIETY PROGRAM 1. Arthur Godfrey Time (CBS) 2. Jack Benny Show (CBS) 3. The Breakfast Club (ABC) BEST POPULAR VOCALIST Male 1. Eddie Fisher (NBC) 2. Perry Como (CBS) 3. Bing Crosby (CBS) Female 1. Dinah Shore (NBC) 2. Rosemary Clooney (CBS) 3. Peggy Lee (CBS) BEST CLASSICAL VOCALIST Male 1. Thomas L. Thomas (NBC) 2. Ezio Pinza (NBC) 3. Gordon MacRae (NBC) Female 1. Rise Stevens (NBC) 2. Patrice Munsel (NBC) 3. Dorothy Kirsten (NBC) BEST DRAMATIC PROGRAM 1. Lux Radio Theatre (CBS) 2. Dragnet (NBC) 3. NBC Star Playhouse (NBC) BEST MYSTERY SHOW 1. Dragnet (NBC) 2. Suspense (CBS) 3. Crime Classics (CBS) BEST MASTER OF CEREMONIES 1. Art Link letter (CBS) . 1 : 2. Groucho Marx (NBC) 3. Arthur Godfrey (CBS) BEST NEWS COMMENTATOR 1. Edward R. Murrow (CBS) 2. Fulton Lewis, Jr. (MBS) 3. Morgan Beatty (NBC) BEST ANNOUNCER 1. Don Wilson (CBS) 2. George Fenneman (NBC) 3. Ken Carpenter (all networks) BEST SPORTSCASTER 1. Bill Stern (ABC) 2. Red Barber (CBS) 3. Mel Allen (CBS) BEST ORCHESTRA Classical 1. NBC Symphony (NBC) 2. N. Y. Philharmonic (CBS) 3. Voice of Firestone (NBC) Popular 1. Sauter-Finegan (CBS) 2. Les Brown (all networks) 3. Ray Anthony (all networks) BEST MUSICAL SHOW Classical 1. N. Y. Philharmonic (CBS) 2. Firestone Hour (NBC) 3. Telephone Hour (NBC) Popular 1. The Railroad Hour (NBC) 2. The Vaughn Monroe Show (CBS) 3. The Bing Crosby Show (CBS) BEST COUNTRY MUSIC SHOW 1. Grand Ole Opry (NBC) 2. Saturday Night Country Style (CBS) 3. Midwestern Hayride (NBC) BEST QUIZ SHOW 1. Groucho Marx Show (NBC) 2. 20 Questions (MBS) 3. Two for the Money (ABC) BEST CHILDREN'S PROGRAMS 1. Let’s Pretend (CBS) 2. Big John and Sparky (ABC) 3. The Lone Ranger (ABC) BEST DAYTIME PROGRAM 1. Arthur Godfrey Time (CBS) 2. The Breakfast Club (ABC) 3. Dial Dave Garroway (NBC) BEST EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM 1. Meet the Press (NBC) 2. Invitation to Learning (CBS) 3. The American Forum of the Air (NBC) BEST PUBLIC SERVICE 1. Meet the Press (NBC) 2. CBS Special Events (CBS) 3. Town Meeting of the Air (ABC) BEST NETWORK PUBLICITY 1. CBS 2. NBC 3. ABC BEST INDIVIDUAL PUBLICITY 1. Young & Rubicam’s Bureau of Indus- trial Service 2. David O. Alber Associates Australian Circuit Meet Murray Silverstone, president of 20th Century-Fox’s International Corporation, and Ernest Turnbull, head of Hoyts Thea- tres, will preside at the annual sales conven- tion of the Australian circuit, January 14-15. Seek Pacts In East far M Eacats The Motion Picture Council of New York, composed of east coast studio locals of IATSE, has swung into operation, and according to members of the various crafts, the organization will get a drive under way this year for basic agreements with inde- pendent producers of both theatrical and television films there. In many respects the Council is patterned on the lines of the Motion Picture Industry Council of Holly- wood. The 13 east coast locals are: Motion Pic- ture Cameramen, Local 644; Motion Picture studio Mechanics, Locals 52, 59 and 366 ; Film Editors and Cutters, Local 771 ; Mo- tion Picture Projectionists, Locals 306, 650 and 640; Studio Technicians and Mechanics, Local 340; Motion Picture Assistant Di- rectors, Local 161 ; Motion Picture Ward- robe Attendants, Local 764; Makeup Artists and Hair Stylists, Local 798, and Motion Picture Laboratory Technicians, Local 702. Under the basic pact, the producer agrees that an employee associated in the produc- tion of a picture in the east shall be or be- come a member of one of the east coast locals on or after the 30th day of employ- ment and that he will be selected from ex- perienced personnel among the crafts in the New York area. Preference of employment will be given to those with experience in production in the east and with seniority, the definitions of which will be incorporated in new con- tracts which currently are being drafted. United Artists Begins With Five In January United Artists is starting off the new year by releasing five new film productions — “Gilbert and Sullivan,” “Wicked Woman,” “Go, Man, Go !”, “Riders to the Stars” and “The Conquest of Everest” — and reissuing the Charles Boyer-Hedy Lamarr hit, “Al- giers,” during the month of January, ac- cording to William J. Heineman, vice presi- dent in charge of distribution. “Gilbert and Sullivan” will go into release January 5 ; “Wicked Woman” January 8; “Algiers” January 15; “Go, Man, Go!” January 22; both “Riders to the Stars” and “The Con- quest of Everest” January 29. “Wicked Woman” and “Riders to the Stars” have been moved up from the December schedule. UFA Safety Short Screening United Productions of America, Academy Award cartoon producers, whose theatrical product is released through Columbia, has made a safety short, “Look Who’s Driving, ’ for Aetna Casualty & Surety Company, which will screen it for news writers Tues- day, in New York. Cartoon animation is used. Aetna states the eight-minute subject will be loaned gratis. 26 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 9, 1954 322 HAPPY EXHIBITORS REPORT BIGGEST N EW YEAR S EVE BUSINESS EVER! MARTIN ANB LEWIS + 30+ TECHNICOLOR MONEY FROM HOME ALL-TIME RECORDS! ' HAL Walliq Mw/f mu * id ■ mm m,m ViKm by WILLIAM R. WEAVER Hollywood Editor THERE IS g'ood reason to watch closely the exhibition career of a comedy entitled “The Long, Long Trailer,” which was pre- viewed here last week to an unexpectant audience which laughed itself into happy hysteria. For if its reception across country is as indicative of customer-satisfaction as was the case in this instance — an unanimous outburst of wholesome appreciation — the picture very well might mark a turning point in production policy. May Turn Studios Again To Making Series Comedies It might turn the major studios back to the making of series comedies, and that might be a very good thing for the motion picture theatre business at this point in the road. “The Long, Long Trailer” is not a series comedy. It is a production in color of a book of the same name by Clinton Twiss. But it has in full plenty the characteristics of a series comedy, and it is related directly to that kind of picture in two important respects. It co-stars Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, two of the most successful perform- ers in series comedy ever offered the public, and it is a joint creation of Pandr o S. Berman, Vincente Minnelli, Albert Hackett and Frances Goodrich, the amiable and con- genial creators (as producer, director and co-writers) of that great two-picture series, “Father of the Bride” and “Father’s Little Dividend.” Thus favored, it fits perfectly the pur- poses of a possible reconsideration of studio policy with respect to (1) series comedies and (2) television talent. No Similar Comedies Since Days of “Hardy” Family With the exception of the Ma and Pa Kettle comedies that came from the Univer- sal-International in the wake of “The Egg and I,” Hollywood hasn’t done a straight- out job of producing and presenting series comedies since the Hardy Family was whisked away from the trade and public for whatever reasons at that time were deemed sufficient. Yet the Kettle pictures, which were budgeted at a fraction of the Hardy Family costs, piled up abundant proof of the un- slaked public thirst for homespun humor, as well as prodigious profits, monetary and pub- lic relations-wise. It was not so many long years ago that the major studios were putting out series pictures in steady supply — Dr. Kildare, Charlie Chan, the Jones Family, the forever unforgettable Harry Sherman Hoppies, and so on — and the theatres of the land could count, sure as sunshine, on a firmly fixed amount of revenue on the day it ran the current release in a contracted series. They have had no such rent-paying certainties since. Several Reasons Named, Including High Costs Three or four general reasons are men- tioned around town, if one presses for ex- planation, for the termination of series-pic- ture production. Possibly the most tangible among them is the rise in production costs, indubitably tremendous over the past decade, which is cited as placing the print-delivery price at a figure impossible to retrieve. (Offset against that is, naturally, the sin- gularly fixed nature of the series-picture return, one of the few fixed figures in a typically fluctuant business, and mighty use- ful to have around when talking a banker or an angel into a state of mind to foot a production bill.) Another explanation is that players — Mickey Rooney is the chief exhibit in sup- port of this contention — grew up, grew out of character, or tired of it, and in one way or another (death took a couple of Chans; certain other series-picture players hiked their stipend requirements) made going ahead too difficult to be undertaken. It is maintained by some, also, that the format, the story line, the characters, or all three, wear out, but the Bowery Boys (nee Dead End Kids) have blown that theory to smith- ereens long since. The other side of this fascinating coin may be seen by turning on television set, or running a casual eye over the television log in your local newspaper, at any given time and place. In a word, the series type of comedies that the theatrical motion pic- ture producers are not making any more, for whatever reasons, are flourishing lustily in the video field — more lustily than any other type of entertainment. TV can’t begin to do them as well as" cinema used to do them — and could again — but the television medium, with a considerable degree of suc- cess is doing them. May Lure Back Some Now Hugging TV Receivers How many of the millions who used to love the Hardy families and their kind in the theatre are staying home from the theatre to see them on television nowadays is a figure nobody can name with complete accuracy, up to now, but a more interesting and valuable figure would be the number iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiimimiiiiiiiii THIS WEEK IN PRODUCTION: STARTED (2) COLUMBIA Human Beast COMPLETED (I) MGM Prisoner of War Story (Ansco color) SHOOTING (20) COLUMBIA Waterfront INDEPENDENT Bullet Is Waiting (Welsch; Techni- color) MGM Brigadoon (Cinema- Scope; Ansco color) Student Prince (CinemaScope; Ansco color) Bride for Seven Brothers ( CinemaScope; Eastman color) Beau Brummell (Eastman color) Valley of the Kings (Technicolor) PARAMOUNT Conquest of Space (Technicolor) Rear Window nicolor) RKO Big Rainbow (Technicolor) independent Desperate Men (Bogeaus; Eastman; ScenicScope) Susan Slept Here (Technicolor) 20TH-FOX Garden of Evil (CinemaScope; Technicolor) Universal Black Shield of Falworth (CinemaScope; Technicolor) Sign of the Pagan ( CinemaScope; Technicolor) Playgirl WARNER Talisman (Cinema- Scope; WarnerColor) Ring of Fear (Wayne- Fellows; Cinema- Scope; WarnerColor) Lucky Me (Cinema- Scope; WarnerColor) Star Is Born (Cinema- Scope; WarnerColor) High and Mighty ( Wayne-Fellows; CinemaScope; W arne rColor) II 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 m s i • 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 of those former theatregoers who might resume that happy habit if the theatres resumed production of series-comedies. Idle speculation? For the moment — yes. But watch “The Long, Long Trailer.” Its box office record may take this whole matter out of the realm of speculation into the sunlight of plain dollar-and-cents arithmetic. And it may shed valuable light, also, on the question of the usefulness of TV stars in motion pictures. Two pictures were started during the last week of 1953. Lewis J. Rachmil started “The Human Beast,” Columbia, directed by Fritz Lang, and with Glenn Ford, Gloria Grahame, Broderick Crawford and Edgar Buchanan in the cast. Benedict Bogeaus launched “Desperate Men,” for RKO release, in Eastman color and in what he calls ScenicScope, a process concerning which there will be a story in these columns at a later date, and with Allan Dwan directing John Payne, Lizabeth Scott and others. 28 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 9, 1954 in big cities-sraall cities. ..big theatres -smab theatres THE TWO-TIMING CAPTAIN IS MAKING BOXOFFICE TIME EVERYWHERE! LONDON FILMS present The Captain's paradise starring ALEC GUINNESS • YVONNE DE CARLO • CELIA JOHNSON with Charles Goldner • Miles Malleson • Bill Fraser • Nicholas Phipps AN ANTHONY KIMMINS PRODUCTION • Screenplay by ALEC COPPEL and NICHOLAS PHIPPS • PRODUCED AND DIRECTED BY ANTHONY KIMMINS A Lopert Films Release • Distributed thru United Artists “■Should do hefty gross!” — Varieiy “Wonderfully funny!” — Time “The tills should jingle merrily!” —Ind. Film Journal “Sure to be one of Guinness’ biggest money-makers!” — M. P. Herald “Bright, frisky, pungent fare!” — Film Daily ‘One of the merriest of the mischievous Guinness films!” — N.Y. Times ‘Great fun on all counts!” — Cue ‘A natural for long runs!” — Boxoffice Doing smash business in all first engagements ! SYRACUSE— Eckel; BOSTON— Astor; DAYTON— Art; NEW HAVEN— Lincoln; CHICAGO— Ziegfeld; STAMFORD— Plaza; LOS ANGELES— Ritz; HARTFORD— Art; MEMPHIS — Warner; NEW YORK— Paris; CLEVELAND — Stillman; DENVER— Esquire; BUFFALO— Cinema; SALT LAKE— Tower; RICHMOND, VA.-Lee,- MILWAUKEE— Strand; SAN DIEGO -Mission; ROCHESTER-Cinema; SEATTLE— Blue Mouse; SAN FRANCISCO — United Artists; KANSAS CITY— Vogue; PHILADELPHIA— Studio; CINCINNATI— Guild; HOUSTON -River Oaks; DALLAS— Esquire; FT. WORTH-Bowie; PORTLAND, ORE.— Guild; DETROIT— Madison; ST. LOUIS— Shady Oak, Pageant; SPRINGFIELD— Art. NOW watch for hundreds more general- audience <■ situations coming up! INDUSTRY EYES NEW CONGRESS Tax Repeal Plea the Chief Interest ; Chance Seen for Part Exemption WASHINGTON : The film industry will be directly or indirectly affected by a dozen major pieces of legislation likely to be acted on in the session of Congress which got under way Wednesday, but the tax field will again take top billing. Most important in this field will be another industry fight to elimi- nate the 20 per cent Federal admis- sions tax. The President, in his veto message of the Mason tax repeal bill last year, promised to recommend at least a reduction in the tax, but the industry will fight for its complete elimination. Chances are considered promising for elimination of the tax at least on the lower-priced tickets. It is not clear whether the theatre tax will be handled in a separate bill, as it was last year, or wrapped into a general excise meas- ure, covering the theatre tax and other excises, too. There will be many more bills introduced to repeal the admissions tax, and all those not acted on carry over from last year, but the final decision as to procedure will be up to the House Ways and Means Committee. The timetable indicates late February or early March for consideration. Film industry firms will also be affected by what Congress does about the corporate tax rate. This rate is scheduled to fall, un- der present law, from 52 per cent to 47 per cent on April 1, 1954. However, the Treasury Department is almost certain to ask that the 52 per cent rate be continued, and it is considered likely that Congress will go along with either a 50 per cent rate or the full 52 per cent. A sweeping technical tax revision bill will also have many provisions of interest to the industry. This bill has been prepared by the staff of the Congressional joint committee on Internal Revenue Taxation and by the Treasury staff, and will be the first order of business for the Ways and Means Com- mittee, with voting scheduled to start next week. Provisions Diversified Some of its provisions likely will liberal- ize depreciation policies, ease double tax- ation of corporate dividends, give some re- lief on the tax treatment of overseas income, overhaul the present rules for corporate re- organizations, liberalize the provisions for averaging income over several years, and make other changes affecting industry firms and workers. Social Security legislation also will come up befor,e the Ways and Means and Senate Finance Committees. There’ll likely be a fight as to whether to put the social security tax rate, which went up to two per cent on January 1, back to 1 J4 per cent. There may also be attempts to make the tax apply to more than the $3,600 a year it now applies to, and to broaden coverage of the social security system. Another item of major interest will be in the anti-trust field, where a House Judiciary sub-committee plans to have early hearings on whether Federal judges should be given discretion to award less than treble damages in private anti-trust cases. Distributors favor this change, while exhibitors generally oppose it. There are also pending proposals to set up a uniform Federal statute of limi- tations on private anti-trust actions and also to increase the fines for violating the anti- trust laws. Other Items Scheduled Other items which may come up for action during the coming months include these : Small Business: The Senate Small Busi- ness Committee may continue to follow up on its earlier report on film industry trade practices. Television: Hearings may be held on the status of pay-as-you-see television, to determine whether it should be considered a common carrier, with all rates subject to Federal control. Minimum Wage: The Administration may ask Congress to extend provisions of the Federal minimum wage law to theatres and other service groups not now covered. Taft-Hartley : Any attempt to revise the Taft-Hartley law likely will include sev- eral provisions affecting film industry labor relations. Unemployment Compensation: The Ad- ministration is reported considering asking Congress to make the unemployment com- pensation program cover all establishments with three or more employees, rather than eight or more, as at present. Reciprocal Trade: The reciprocal trade program, strongly supported by the pro- ducers, expires again in June, and there’ll be another fight over extending it. 1 6mm Suit Defendants Receive Court Delays The Government’s anti-trust suit against the major companies and 16mm subsidiaries drags on in Washington, in the interroga- tories stage. Monday, Columbia, and Screen Gems, its 16mm subsidiary, were given until January 15 to file their replies to interroga- tories. The replies had been due Monday. At the same time, Republic Pictures Cor- poration and Republic Productions, Inc., were given until February 2. Networks Ready for Color TV Equipping of television channels to carry national color programs is being under- taken by the American Telephone and Tele- graph Company long lines department. Ralph L. Helmreich, director of that department’s operations division, said the transcontinental radio relay route had been equipped just in time so it could carry the Tournament of Roses New Year’s Day Parade at Pasadena, Cal., to some IS east- ern cities. The new color signal on several previous occasions has been carried by the Bell Sys- tem. On October 15, a test program was carried from New York to Washington and back, on both radio relay and the coaxial cable. A color program was carried experi- mentally November 3 from New York to California. Mr. Helmreich remarked that more than added equipment was necessary. Personnel must be trained in new techniques. The long lines department has 50,000 miles of tele- vision channels. They service 261 stations in 159 cities. Bernhard Rejoins New Stanley Warner Circuit S. H. Fabian, president of Stanley Warner Corp., announced Tuesday the appointment of Joseph Bernhard as consultant on man- agement relations for the company. Mr. Bernhard joined Warner Bros, in 1930 and two years later was made general manager of Warner Bros. Theatres. He later became vice-president and director of Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc., and took leave of absence in 1942-43 to serve as a civilian expert with the U. S. Navy. In 1945 he switched to produc- tion, becoming the president, treasurer and co-founder with Milton Sperling of U. S. Pictures, Inc. Resigning from this company in 1947 he became president of Film Classics and the next year also was elected president of Cinecolor Corp. He gave up the direction of Cinecolor in 1949 to devote his whole time to Film Classics. Since 1951 he has been in independent production, having launched such productions as “Journey Into Light,” “Japanese War Bride” and “Ruby Gentry.” Florida Exhibitors File $600,000 Trust Suit JACKSONVILLE: A $600,000 anti-trust damage suit has been filed in Federal Court here by John R. Sutton, Jr. and L. K. Kasa, partners in the Vogue theatre, Orlando, claiming they were denied first run pictures. Triple damages are asked. Defendants are Florida State Theatre, Florida Costal The- atres, 20th Century-Fox, Paramount, RKO Pictures, Columbia, United Film Exchange, Warner Brothers, Loew’s and United Artists. 30 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 9, 1954 . . . the original exhibitors' reports department, established October 14, 1916. In it theatremen serve one another with information about the box office performance of What the Picture Did for Me, Motion Picture Herald, Rockefeller Center, New York 20. product — providing a service of the exhibitor for the exhibitor. ADDRESS REPORTS Columbia CRUISING DOWN THE RIVER: Dick Haymes, Audrey Totter — Pretty good little picture, but not good enough to single on good time like I didl — S. T. Jackson, Jackson Theatre, Flomaton, Ala. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer BAND WAGON, THE: Fred Astaire, Cyd Charisse — In our small town this is considered a “stinker.” It is another in a series of unprofitable shows, and at top rental. Played Sunday, Monday, December 27, 28, — Rowell Brothers, Idle Hour Theatre, Hardwick, Vt. MOGAMBO: Clark Gable, Ava Gardner — Played to above average business which did not justify the high film rental. Looked wonderful on our wide screen. Played on Sunday and Tuesday. — Elstun Dodge, Elstun Theatre, Cincinnati, Ohio. Paramount AARON SLICK FROM PUNKIN CREEK: Alan Young, Dinah Shore — Gave this baby the go-by a dozen trips until one day Tom Poulos told me how wonderful corn looks when they tint it with Techni- color. So, since there’s a scarcity of seat-filling corn coming off the assembly lines this year, I let the salesman sell it to me last trip. All it needs is selling — it’s got everything else. We didn’t set the world on fire, but it pleased enough customers to make Bank Night stay in the black on a rough date. Played Wednesday, Thursday, December 16, 17.- — Bob Walker, Uintah Theatre, Fruita, Colo. SHANE: Alan Ladd, Jean Arthur — A very good outdoor picture with plenty of beautiful scenery, espe- cially with Technicolor. Alan Ladd was at his best in the part that he played. Did average business for a three day run in this neighborhood house. Played Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, December 13, 14, 15. — O'. P. Tucci, Victory Theatre, Spring Hill, W. Va. STOOGE, THE: Dean Martin. Jerry Lewis — I read where everyone else cleans up with these guys. Now I’ve tried them on every change and holidays, with the same old results — they’re just mediocre. Seem to give me strong midweek, but poor business any place else. This is a terrific comedy and those who came seemed to love every second of it, but I’d have en- joyed the laughs more if there had been more folks to enjoy them with me. Played Friday, Saturday, December 11, 12. — Bob Walker, Uintah Theatre, Fruita, Col. RKO-Radio I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE: James Ellison, Frances Dee — Pretty fair program reissue. Played Friday, December 11. — S. T. Jackson, Jackson The- atre, Flomaton, Ala. SECOND CHANCE: Robert Mitchum, Linda Dar- nell— Double billed this with “Devil’s Canyon” (RKO) in 2-D to below average business. Played on Sunday and Tuesday. — Elstun Dodge, Elstun Theatre, Cin- cinnati, Ohio. Twentieth Century-Fox MY PAL, GUS: Richard Widmark, Joanne Dru — Very good picture, - but failed to do average Sunday business. — S. T. Jackson, Jackson Theatre, Flomaton, Ala. TONIGHT WE SING: David Wayne, Ezio Pinza — I love you, George Jessel, I love you Fox for making such a wonderful, wonderful movie. We played it for a week to capacity houses, and how proud can an MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 9, 1954 exhibitor get when you walk the streets, play golf, play poker, etc., and all the congratulations and bou- quets are simply heaped on one! I have played good and excellent movies here. Have been complimented and congratulated left and right after “The Quiet man” (Rep.), With a Song in My Heart (Fox), but I have never been so embarrassed as with all the fine things said to me about “Tonight We Sing”! This is a wonderful motion picture. Raw miners who have never seen ballet before — who perhaps don't even know how to spell the word — were held com- pletely spellbound by Toumanova’s “Dying Swan” sequence. At every single performance you could hear a pin drop. They even forgot to smoke — which is saying plenty! The color by Technicolor was beauti- ful, the music well chosen, the acting and humor first rate — what else could one wish for? I say play it — • play it in any situation. Fox has brought ballet and opera to the millions who have been starving for it, and they have brought it in a near perfect manner. More from you, Fox, more from you, Georgie, and even I’ll give you a job! Small town exhibitors, don’t let trailer or concert names upset you. We are a small town and have miners, government officials and a little of everybody. They lapped this up, so why not your audience? Play it!!! Played Sunday through Saturday, November 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21. — Dave S. Klein, Astra Theatre, Kitwe/Nkana, Northern Rhodesia, Africa. Universal DUEL AT SILVER CREEK: Audie Murphy, Faith Domergue — It takes a real champion to buck Christ- mas spirit, a basketball game on Friday and a wrestling match on Saturday, with dances in town both nights and kids dancing at school after the game. While this picture lacks a lot of being a real “biggy,” the popu- larity of Murphy handled the “pull” department — and miracle of miracles, we ended up this rough weekend with this in the black. The guy who knocks out the Dick Tracy strip must have put the “handles” on this cast — well anyway, folks got a chuckle out of the names. Played Friday, Saturday, December 18, 19. — Bob Walker, Uintah Theatre, Fruita, Colo. JUST ACROSS THE STREET: Ann Sheridan, John Lund — This is a little sweetheart that anyone will enjoy — unless he’s being kicked around as I was. Wednesday night at six a blinding snowstorm set in. By show time, streets were glazed and snow was piling up. Had my annual Christmas party for the volunteer fire department and city employees and their wives, so they braved the storm and enjoyed the show, with $6.30 worth of hardy paying cus- tomers. Thursday it was very cold, but a fair crowd turned out to make up a little for the night before — but a little kid had to win the Bank Night pot for the second week in a row, so I took it in the neck, but good. Played Wednesday, Thursday, December 9, 10. — Bob Walker, Uintah Theatre, Fruita, Colo. LAW AND ORDER: Ronald Reagan, Dorothy Ma- lone— Ronald Reagan well liked here. — S. T. Jackson, Jackson Theatre, Flomaton, Ala. MA AND PA KETTLE ON VACATION: Majorie Main, Percy Kilbride — I think a laugh meter would have labeled this a shade better than the one before it in the series, but using one each year for the past three years in the corresponding week shows either the series is slipping or reflects the general business trend. This just barely earned its rental — but anyway, it made its own way during the rough days of December, so it gave us something to be thankful for even if we didn’t make up for some of the “dogs” on the contract, as this series once had to do. We are thankful the “dogs” have just about disappeared in Universal’s line-up. Played Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, December 13, 14, 15. — Bob Walker, Uintah Theatre, Fruita, Colo. Shorts Columbia CAPTAIN’S OUTRAGEOUS: Mr. Magoo in Techni- color— Beautifully drawn, as most of the Mr. -Magoo series are, but the humor seems to go with the art direction. — W. R. Shepherd, Regent Cinema, South Shields, England. LITTLE BOY WITH BIG HORN: Jolly Frolics in Color — Me, I think all of these are precious. The kids, to put it in their own words, say, “They're too unfunny.” My audiences (adult) generally say nothing about them, a few, though, go into raptures over them, but they’re too few. I thought this was won- derful— but I didn’t buy a ticket.— Bob Walker, Unitah Theatre, Fruita, Colo. Paramount GREEN MOUNTAIN SPEEDSTERS: Grantland Rice Sportlights — Good short with very good skiing by men and women- Thrilling speed and spills by women skiers. Scenes clear and visible. — W. P. Brown, Nifty Theatre, Waterville, Wash. LITTLE BOO1 PEEP: Casper — This has extra good color. The children screamed with glee at it. — W. P. Brown, Nifty Theatre, Waterville, Wash. NO PLACE LIKE ROME: Kartune — Good color and comedy in this one, good bouncing ball music also. — W. P. Brown, Nifty Theatre, Waterville, Wash. PHILH ARMAN IACS : Kartune — Very good short in color. Some wonderful musical scenes. Paramount color cartoons getting better every month. You can’t go wrong on this. — W. P. Brown, Nifty Theatre, Waterville, Wash. Twentieth Century-Fox CARMEN’S VERANDA: Terrytoon — Poor as most of the cartoons which Fox sends me in with a pro- gram.— W. R. Shepherd, Regent Cinema, South Shields. England. Warner Bros. BRAVE LITTLE BAT: Merrie Melody Color Car- toon— Small fry and teen-agers have been imitating the litrle bat all week. This, plus the way they laughed, is a sign it was worth more than usual mention. — Bob Walker, Unitah Theatre, Fruita, Colo. STREET CAT NAMED SYLVESTER: Merrie Melo- dies and Looney Tunes — The people start laughing just as soon as they see the title, and the laughs keep on until the end. Tweety and Sylvester are at it again, with the help of the bulldog, and the situations are hilarious. Book this cne and have a good laugh your- self.— Mel Edelstein, Lybba Theatre, Hibbing, Minn. 3! People in Oke U e in ^/ne t lewd iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiimiiiiimimimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiim Eddie Cantor has been appointed lifetime chairman of the “March of Dimes of the Air” by Basil O’Connor, president of the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis. Charles L. Casanave, Sr., long a member of the industry as exhibitor, producer and distributor, has been elected president of Fred Astaire Dance Studios, Inc., replac- ing Fred Astaire, who moves up to chair- man of the board. Alfred Starr, former president of the The- atre Owners of America, was in New York from Nashville this week. George Robey, widely known vaudeville comedian and film actor in England and G. Darnley Smith, managing director of J. Arthur Rank’s Cinema Television Ltd., were among those honored in London last weekend in the annual New Year’s honor list. The former received a knighthood and the latter was made a commander of Telenews to Metrotone An expansion program under which Tele- news news film services for television will be owned and produced henceforth by Hearst Metrotone News, Inc., has been an- nounced jointly by Hearst, International News Service and Telenews Productions, Inc. Metrotone News is owned jointly by the Hearst Corporation and Loew’s, Inc. In accordance with the terms of an out- right purchase agreement concluded by the companies, ownership and production of the Telenews daily TV news film, Telenews Weekly News Digest and the Telenews Sports Weekly, will be transferred to Metro- tone News. They will continue to bear the Telenews label and will be distributed exclusively through the television sales department of INS, as they have been for the last six years, ever since the debut of the first Tele- news syndicated TV news films. Telenews Productions, Inc., will continue in existence as an independent company and will concentrate on the development of its other TV activities such as the production of special TV film programs of a non- newsreel character and commercial films. "Killers” Opens Feb. 10 RKO Radio’s “Killers from Space,” science-fiction story about an invasion of earth by supermen from another planet, will have its world premiere February 10 at the Golden Gate theatre, San Francisco, Charles Boasberg, general sales manager, announced this week. the Order of the British Empire in re- cognition of his pioneering achievements in the development of television in Eng- land. The Rev. S. Franklin Mack of Bound Brook, N. J., has been elected executive director of the broadcasting and film commission of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U. S. A., suc- ceeding Dr. Ronald Bridges, who will retire February 1. George. J. Schaefer has signed an agree- ment with the newly organized Stanley Kramer Pictures Corp., to represent the firm as general sales representative. Leon J. Bamberger, sales promotion man- ager, and Rutgers Neilson, foreign publicity manager, both of RKO Radio Pictures, will be honored by the Amer- ican Legion as two members holding con- tinuous membership for the longest time. Scrolls will be presented January 20. Two Promotions and an Appointment for UA Abroad United Artists’ foreign sales depart- ment this week disclosed two promotions and an appointment. Terry M. Lindner has been named India, Singapore, and Thailand district manager. He had been special rep- resentative in India. Tony Chok, former acting manager in Singapore, now is man- ager. Charles Moses, publicist, has been appointed Continental publicity manager. He will have Paris headquarters. His work will be in cooperation with Pierre Weill, publicity manager in France, and with Rich- ard Condon, home office liaison in Continen- tal Europe with producers making films for UA release. OF BRITISH TOP 12, SIX ENGLISH-MADE LONDON: Newspapermen and com- mentators here are happily impressed with the results turned up by this Bureau's survey of the 12 top money- making pictures in Great Britain last year. The survey revealed that no fewer than six of the top 12 had been made in Britain and that, indeed, of the first five, four were British. The Golden Group is as follows: "A Queen Is Crowned" (British), "The Cruel Sea" (British), "Road to Bali," "Genevieve" (British), "The Red Beret" (British), "Because You're Mine," "Shane," "Quo Vadis," "Moul- in Rouge" (British), "Malta Story" (British), "Hans Christian Andersen" and "Snows of Kilimanjaro." British Film Tax Cut Flea Next Month by PETER BURNUP LONDON : Arrangements have been made for J. Boyd Carpenter, Financial Secretary to the British Treasury, to discuss the in- dustry’s claim for entertainment tax remis- sion with representatives of the four trade associations early in February, it was an- nounced here this week. Meanwhile, the Associations’ memoran- dum to the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the subject has been issued. It reminds the Chancellor of his promise, during the debate on the 1953 Finance Bill, to watch the trend in declining attendances and states, “the ad- verse trend in admissions has continued and competition has increased from other forms of entertainment which are either exempt or bear a much lower rate of taxation.” Statistics are cited in support of the claim for remission on three counts and the mem- orandum runs : II) If the fall in the net earnings of cinemas is to be stopped, enter- tainment tax must be reduced by approxi- mately £8.9 million ; (2) If the annual in- crease in cinema wages and overhead alone is to be recovered, entertainment tax must be reduced by £8 million; (3) If the figures originally aimed at when seat prices, tax and Eady levy were all increased in 1951 are only to be achieved, entertainment tax must be reduced by approximately £6.8 million. V Adolph Zukor has sent a donation of £1,000 to the Trade Benevolent Fund here to endow a bed at Glebelands, the rest home for the Fund’s beneficiaries. The gift is made in a letter to Reginald Bromhead, chairman of the Fund, in which Mr. Zukor says: “Mr. Barney Balaban (Paramount president) and I have known for a long time the very fine work being done by the Benevolent Fund under your guidance, and we are particularly pleased to make this contribution on the occasion of your thirtieth anniversary as chairman.” Screen Extras Get Wage Increase in New Pact Screen extras on January 2 began receiv- ing five per cent more in daily wages, as a result of a new agreement between the Screen Extras and the Association of Mo- tion Picture Producers. They also were given an increase in their automobile allow- ance from $7.50 to $10, and granted a special “business adjustment” from $6.75 to $7.08. Thus, under the new scale, extras now will be receiving $19.43 a day for general work. Dress extras, riders, and dancers will be getting $26.25; and stand-ins, $18.85. The understanding runs to January 2, 1958. Either party may reopen negotiations Jan- uary 2, 1956. The SEG membership is still to ratify, by mail. 32 MOTION PICTURE HERALD. JANUARY 9. 1954 ALBANY The box office effect of layoffs in defense centers such as Schenectady and Watervliet, plus the possibility of further business con- traction there or elsewhere, have caused some deep thinking in industry circles. Belief is that Albany, a capital city and a distribution rather than a manufacturing point, will feel any general shrinkage less, proportionately, than other exchange area cities. . . . With “Hondo” booked as top feature in the Strand, the Warner musical, “3 Sailors and a Girl,” was spotted at the Ritz. . . . Variety Club, through Chief Bark- er Jules Perlmutter, accepted a $900 check contributed by Automobile Auction Pavilion, Albany-Schenectady Rd., from a sale of used cars, to Camp Thacher Fund. . . . Sam Shain visited this city and Gloversville. . . . J. Myer and Louis W. Schine gave a holiday party for 200 home office employees and guests in Gloversville. ATLANTA John R. Sutton, Jr., and L. K. Kasa, owner of the Vogue theatre, Orlando, Fla., have filed a $600,000 anti-trust suit in Federal Court, Jacksonville, Fla., against the following exchanges and theatres: Florida State, Costal Theatres, 20th Century-Fox, Paramount Florida Distributing Corp., RKO Radio Pictures, Columbia Pictures, United Film Exchange, Warner Bros, and United Artists. . . . Ray McCullough has been appointed manager of the Lyric and Roxy theatres in Russellville, Ala. . . . The Atlanta Variety Club held its annual New Year’s party at the club room in the Hotel Atlanta. . . . The Town Hall theatre, Bald- win, Fla., has been reopened by Babe Bush- inell. . . . The 81 theatre here has installed a new wide screen. . . . The Strand theatre has closed. ... In for a visit were James E. Clay, Clay theatre, Conyers, Ga., and John Moffett, of the Moffett cricuit in Alabama. BOSTON Norman Glassman, owner of the Rialto, Lowell, has installed a new Astrolite screen. . . . Ansel Sanborn, owner of several thea- tres in New Hampshire, died December 26 in Wolfeboro and is survived by a son, Norris. . . . Jack McCarthy, Warner sales- man, is recovering from a kidney operation at the Bon Secours Hospital, Methuen. . . . Anita Counsell, secretary to Eddie Klein at Bay State Films, is in Haines Memorial Hospital with an attack of mumps. . . . George Kraska, who recently went under the surgeon’s knife at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, is now recovering at his Brookline home. . . . Arthur Rosenbush has been named manager of the Eggleston Square Theatre, Roxbury. . . . Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Sack, owner of the Beacon Hill theatre, and two in Fitchburg, are parents of a new-born son. Burglars entered the Riverside theatre the other evening and took $175 in bills and change from a safe in the office. It was the second theatre burglary in three days. Two days earlier, the Cinema was entered by burglars who took $2,162 in cash and $548 in checks from an unlocked safe in the office. . . . The Paramount with a pre- view of “Money From Home” and the Center also with a preview of “His Majesty O’Keefe” did terrific business last Thurs- day. . . . And the same goes for the La- fayette with its presentation of “Sadie Thompson” and Shea’s Buffalo with “Kiss Me Kate” in 3-D. . . . The Center, by the way, inaugurates its first CinemaScope at- traction, “King of the Khyber Rifles” Fri- day. . . . Charles A. McKernan, manager of the Seneca, big South Buffalo UPT com- munity theatre, has been elected chairman of the board of the South Buffalo Business- men’s Assn. He was president in 1953. . . . Ben Felcher, manager of the Columbia ex- change and Herb Gaines, WB salesman, are vacationing in Miami Beach. . . . Howard McPherson, formerly with Monogram, has taken over the Syracuse territory for RKO Pictures, succeeding Ed Smith, retired. CHICAGO Start of the new year finds Chicago ex- hibitors in the forefront of the industry’s equipment revolution, with at least 30 thea- tres planning to play “The Robe” in its first subsequent run here and more plan- WHEN AND WHERE January 27: Mid-winter convention and board meeting, Virginia Motion Picture Theatre Association, Jefferson Hotel, Richmond. February 2-4: National Allied Drive-in Theatre Association convention, Nether- lands-Plaza Hotel, Cincinnati, Ohio. February 2-4: Annual meeting, Indepen- dent Theatre Owners of Ohio, Nether- lands-Plaza Hotel, Cincinnati. February 5-6: National Allied board meet- ing, Netherlands-Plaza Hotel, Cincinnati. March 28-30: Annual convention, Allied Theatre Owners of Gulf States, Edge- water Gulf Hotel, Edgewater Park, Miss. April 6-8: Annual convention, Allied Inde- pendent Theatre Owners of Wisconsin, Hotel Shroeder, Milwaukee. May 2-7: Semi-annual convention, Society of Motion Picture and Television Engi- neers, Statler Hotel, Washington, D. C. ning to install systems calculated to handle the new wide-screen techniques. . . . Indus- try old-timers are mourning the passing of A. George Gordon, 71, manager of the Balaban and Katz Liberty, Libertyville, 111., for the past six years. He was a veteran of more than fifty years in show business. . . . Sanford Wolff, attorney representing many theatres here, and his wife, June, be- came the parents of a boy, David, born here last week. . . . The Green Valley thea- tre, Green Valley, 111., is going to a part- time operation and will be open only on Saturdays and Sundays. . . . Lou Smerling, former midwest manager for Confection Cabinet Corporation, was a holiday visitor in Chicago, bringing his wife with him from their home in St. Paul, Minn. CINCINNATI Services were held January 3 for Rudolph Benson, 66, widely known publicist and advertising man, who died in Jewish Hos- pital following an operation performed four weeks earlier. . . . Local neighborhood houses again have broken into the first run category with the current showing at the RKO Paramount, Ambassador, Covedale, Norwood and Valley theatres of the Univer- sal-International “Walking My Baby Back Home.” . . . The Cincinnati Variety Club, Tent No. 3, will conduct its installation of officers at a dinner in the Contential Room of the Netherlands Plaza, January 11. Of- ficers of the newly-organized Variety Ladies Auxiliary will be installed at the same time. Edward B. Salzberg is the new chief barker, while Mrs. Faye Weiss heads the female contingent. . . . William C. Dodds, manager of the Northio Paramount theatre, in nearby Hamilton, Ohio, reports that a new 22 by 45 foot screen is to be installed for Cinema- Scope. . . . Phil Chakeres, president of the circuit which bears his name in Spring- field, Ohio, distributed 17,000 complimentary tickets as Christmas gifts to school children. COLUMBUS George O. Doyle, newly-appointed city safety director, said that gambling and charity bingo would continue to be banned because he intends “to carry out the tough assignment of enforcing all city and state laws.” . . . The Uptown theatre escaped damage in a fire which destroyed a six- story warehouse nearby. At one time it was feared the spectacular blaze would spread to the theatre and Chittenden and Reid hotels. . . . Jay McGee, manager of the Gayety, is recovering following an opera- tion. During his absence his wife has been managing the theatre. . . . Richard S. Wolfe, 46, president of Radio Ohio, Inc., operators of WENS and WBNS-TV, died while on a West Indies cruise. . . . Marjorie White, former director of the Lake White Little Theatre and the Gallipolis, Ohio, Little Theatre, has been named publicity manager ( Continued on follcnving page ) MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 9, 1954 33 ( Continued from preceding page ) of radio station WVKO here. . . . Frank Marzetti reopened the Indianola after the North Side neighborhood had been closed for several days for remodeling. A new lounge and concession stand have been added. DENVER Lem Lee, of the Lee Theatres, announces that they will open their new “Wadsworth Indoor drive-in theatre” in a Denver sub- urb on Feb. 15. The theatre will have space for 900 cars, along with a 600-seat building for walk-ins, or for folks who come in their cars but prefer to indoor seats. There will be two acres of parking for indoor patrons. The setup will cost about $325,000. . . . Business at the New Year’s eve shows was not all that was looked for, with most houses merely running a midnight show of the film being currently shown. Flowever, those that had a special film on pre-release arrange- ment, did a fine business. . . . Ray Davis, Fox Inter-Mountain Metropolitan district manager, was m.c. on a half hour program on KLZ one evening last week. The pro- gram has a prominent person act as m.c. each week. DES MOINES The Sutherland theatre building and equipment at Sutherland, la., is to be put on the auction block Jan. 18 by Donald C. Flenry, owner. Henry, who will keep the theatre open until the sale, has taken a position with a manufacturing firm in Illi- nois. . . . The Manilla Theatre at Manilla has been closed for an indefinite period by L. R. Howorth, owner and manager. Howorth blamed a drop in patronage for the closing. He did not say if or when he plans to reopen. ... A man who worked in a Shenandoah theatre in 1910 is back in Shenandoah again employed at a theatre. He is Percy Thomas, whose father, Ed Thomas, operated the Airdrome theatre, a forerunner of the present-day drive-in houses. Thomas has a post now as projec- tionist for the Page. At the Airdrome, Thomas hawked popcorn and ice cream cones. . . . Lois Stroud, NSS biller, was married to James Lattimer in a ceremony at her home. She will continue on her job at NSS. . . . Another holiday wedding was that of Lt. Bob Peterson, son of RKO sales- man Henry Peterson, to Miss Marilyn May Music in a candlelight ceremony at Union Park Methodist church. DETROIT Year’s end found the Fox with record long runs. The big 5,500-seat house closed “The Robe” New Year’s Eve with sixteen weeks under the belt. “Moulin Rouge” started the trend last May with a six week run. “Pickup on South Street” in August also hit six weeks. Previous long record was set in 1947 when “The Egg and I” held four weeks. . . . Marilyn Davis who saved two boys she was sitting with received a (season’s pass to the UDT Birmingham (Mich.) theatre. Birmingham Kiwanis and manager Richard Sklucki did the presenta- tion. . . . IATSE Local B-25 re-elected Nellie Arnold president. A general increase of $4 retroactive to Dec. 1952 has been awarded local exchanges. . . . Jake Gross is back at the Fisher. He had been in California for some time. HARTFORD The 850-car capacity drive-in theatre being built by Perakos Theatre Associates at Plainville, Conn., will have a 114-foot wide screen, largest of its type in Connecti- cut, according to Sperie Perakos, general manager. An Easter Sunday opening is planned for the $200,000 project. . . . Op- ponents of the proposed Fred Quatrano- John Sirica drive-in theatre at Watertown, Conn., have disclosed plans for request of a permanent injunction. . . . Douglas Amos, Hartford district manager for Lockwood & Gordon Theatres, is on a month’s vacation in the Caribbean area. . . . Sam Rosen of Rosen’s Film Delivery, New Haven, is vacationing in Florida. _ . . Joseph Giobbi, manager of the Crown Theatre, Hartford, will be married in February to Miss Loretta Dominie of Hartford. . . . Bernard E. Levy, formerly associated with Amalgamated Buy- ing and Booking Service, and at one time Hartford division manager for Fred E. Leiberman Theatres, is now in the furniture business in the territory of Springfield, Massachusetts. INDIANAPOLIS Lawrence J. McGinley, former U-I branch manager here, became general manager Jan. 1 of the Fourth Avenue Amusement Com- pany, half owner of Greater Indianapolis and operator of houses throughout Indiana and Kentucky. . . . Services were held here Jan. 5 for Mrs. Gertrude McCleaster, who died Dec. 31 in Florida. She was the mother of Tommy McCleaster, 20th-Fox district manager. . . . First-run theatres opened the New Year with a bang. “Knights of the Round Table,” “Beneath the 12-Mile Reef” and “Hondo” are expected to gross above $25,000 each for the week. . . . Dean Brown, manager of the Lyric, has added a hillbilly show to his regular program on Sundays only. JACKSONVILLE Billy Wilson, former theatre manager in Jacksonville, St. Petersburg, and Orlando, has been named manager of the Carib, new deluxe indoor house of 1,200 seats opened in Clearwater on Christmas day by the Carl Floyd circuit. . . . Tom Wingate has replaced Bob Ancell as manager of the Palms theatre, West Palm Beach. . . . Ken- neth Holson is managing the Paramount the- atre in Palm Beach, which re-opened for the winter season on Christmas night. . . . An- other re-opened theatre, the Delray, Delray Beach, is under the management of Arnold Chester Holt. . . . Jerry Evans has replaced Jerry Mayburn as manager of the Lake the- atre, Lake Worth. ... Ted Young is now managing the Warner theatre, Ft. Lauder- dale, ir place of Tom McConnell, who re- signed. . . . Ben Newman, New York City confectioner who serves a large group of Florida theatres, visited Mr. and Mrs. Harry Botwick of Florida State Theatres. . . . Nel- son Grunther, New York City, vice-president of the Banner Candy Company, was vaca- tioning in nearby Sanford. . . . Film Row was quiet over the year-end holidays, with many persons bedridden as a result of a local epidemic of the flu virus. . . . Fred Hull, Metro branch manager, pleased his staff with raises and promotions for the following : Max Stetkin, Robert E. Capps Sr., Alfred Terranova, Sarah Keller, Ross Allen, Char- lotte Ayers, and Charlie Turner. KANSAS CITY Three editorials in recent issues of the “Kansas City Star” (and its morning edi- tion, “The Times”) comment on film in- dustry events and situations. One is ad- verse to the idea of censorship of films in Kansas City and anywhere. Another re- marks on “top films and processes,” hopes for more top productions in 1954. The other comments on the record of the late Felix Snow, union official — “He was a credit to unionism.” . . . The “polio” fund drive has started in Jackson county, with Senn Lawler of Fox Midwest campaign chairman. . . . The Paramount theatre provided, as usual, a special one-day attraction for New Year’s Eve — “Money From Home.” . . . The fun- eral of Felix Snow, business manager for 28 years of the local of International Al- liance of Theatrical Stage Employes and Motion Picture Operators, third vice-presi- dent of the International, was largely attend- ed, by film industry representatives and others. . . . KCTY, the single UHF TV sta- tion at Kansas City, -which started operations June 6, 1953, has been sold to Du Mont. . . . Archie Josephson, early-day leader in motion picture theatre operations in and near Kan- sas City, who died December 30 in Holly- wood, is remembered for two companies : the Josephson Amusement company and the Josephson-Finkelstein circuit. LOS ANGELES Joe Sarfaty, Warner Bros, salesman, is resting at home after undergoing surgery. . . . Frank Shindler, RKO office manager, has been promoted to sales manager of the company’s San Francisco office. No succes- sor to Shindler has been named. . . . Lou Astor, Columbia home office executive, flew in from New York. . . . Tom Muchmore, Canoga Park exhibitor, has assumed the operation of the Arroyo, Los Angeles. . . . Jack Sherriff, Realart, returned from a business trip to Ojai. . . . Ted Karatz, of the Cinema Park drive-in, was in town to confer with the Earl Johnson office, which handles the buying and booking for the Ozoner. . . . Norman H. Moray, Warner Bros, short subjects sales manager, was in Los Angeles on company business. MEMPHIS The city commission has named Mrs. F. B. Edwards to fill the vacancy on the Memphis Board of Censors. Mrs. Edwards said she was “past 50.” Mrs. Edwards said she had an “extreme interest in what’s good for Memphis.” . . . L. E. Robinson, driver for Film Transit, Inc., saw smoke pouring from Rialto Theatre on Jackson Avenue in Memphis at 11:20 one night recently. He called the fire department. Sure enough, Rialto was on fire. Robinson’s call enabled the fire to be extinguished with only minor damage. . . . Bel-Air drive- in, Centerville, Tenn., has closed for the season and Skylark drive-in, Newport, Ark., has gone into a weekend only operation for the winter. . . . Salesman Travis Carr, Para- mount, is vacationing in Texas. . . . Tom Donahue, another Paramount salesman, is on vacation. . . . Bob Kilgore, third Para- mount salesman, is in Arkansas on vacation. MIAMI Settling down to the usual winter season activities after the holiday, plus Orange ( Continued on opposite page) 34 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 9, 1954 ( Continued from opposite page) Bowl festivities, the area had a number of hold-overs. Among them were "The Robe" in its 5th week at Lincoln, Town; "Beneath the 12-Mile Reef,” 2nd week Carib, Miami, Miracle; "Easy to Love,” 2nd week Florida, Flamingo; "Here Come the Girls,” 2nd week Embassy, Roosevelt and "Escape from Fort Bravo,” a 2nd week tenant at Royal and Variety. . . . January 7th at the Lord Tarleton, the installation of officers of the Variety Club was to take place, with In- ternational Chief Barker, Jack Berenson expected to attend. . . . Florida State Thea- tres’ president, Leon Netter, was down from Jacksonville recently, and in conference with George Hoover, division manager of the southeastern district. MILWAUKEE A projectionist for some 30 years, Ejdwin A. Borchardt, 56, died of a heart attack at work at the Oriental theatre here. He was a native of Milwaukee and a member of Richard Wagner Lodge 42, Knights of Pythias. There are no immediate survivors. ... A one-time stage and film star, in the days of silent pictures, passed away at her home in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Mrs. John H. Folger, 66, who was known as Violet MacMillan, the “Cinderella girl.” . . . It was quiet along film row during the Holidays. . . . Business on Christmas day was fair with theatres doing better if they had good bookings. MINNEAPOLIS The 744-seat Suburban World, formerly the Granada, opened Jan. 1 with an art policy. House is being operated by Ted Mann, who also owns the World theatres in downtown Minneapolis and St. Paul. . . . Dick Stahl has been named northern Min- nesota salesman for Republic. He formerly was branch manager for North Star Pic- tures. . . . Pat Halloran, Universal branch manager in Milwaukee, was in for a week visiting his wife and family. The Hallorans hope to be reunited in Milwaukee as soon as they sell their home here. . . . Joseph Crown is the new assistant shipper at War- ners, replacing Don Ellwood, resigned. . . . Ben C. Ferriss, 68, the first advertising manager of the old Finkelstein and Ruben chain, forerunner of Minnesota Amusement Co., died. He set up the original F & R publicity department in 1919. . . . “Knights of the Round Table” in CinemaScope has been set for Radio City, Minneapolis, and the Paramount, St. Paul, opening Jan. 15. Another CinemaScope film, “Beyond the 12-Mile Reef,” will open at the Orpheums in both cities Jan. 20. NEW ORLEANS Bob Roberts, advance representative of movie and stage roadshow attractions, cur- rently connected with the Civic theatre, is recuperating after a three-week siege of pneumonia. . . . Norman Calquhorn, manager of Columbia’s Memphis branch, was a visitor here during the holiday season. . . . E. E. Shinn, Paramount salesman, spent the Christmas holiday in Salisbury, N. C. . . . Gay, Ferriday, La. closed December 28, ac- cording to owner W. G. Pullon. . . . A. M. Randall closed the Fern drive-in, Woodville, Miss. December 24, until futher notice. . . . Dome, Hattiesburg, Miss, reopened Jan- uary 5 after several weeks’ closing during the holiday season. . . . Page Baker, buyer- booker representative of Claude drive-in, Eunice, La., announced that it will continue in operation weekends only from January 3 until spring. . . . Reo, Golden Meadows closed on December 31. L. W. Dantin, man- ager, said reopening depends on weather conditions. . . . The Hill Top, Clinton, Miss, reopened on January 4. OKLAHOMA CITY The “77” drive-in, the Bomber drive-in and the Tinker drive-in have been closed for the winter. The drive-ins are members of Barton Theatres, and will reopen in the spring. . . . “Money From Home” was shown at three theatres here on New Year’s Eve: the Criterion, the Tower and the Plaza, all are Cooper Foundation Theatres. The picture will not be shown here regularly until February. ... A new screen has been installed at Twilight Gardens drive-in thea- tre. . . . The Starlite drive-in theatre, Ard- more, Okla., held its last bargain nite last week when a carload or truck load was admitted for 50 cents. . . . Eight employes of Sullivan Independent Theatres at Wich- ita, Kas., were awarded two-year service pins Sunday at the Sullivan annual Christ- mas party. Recipients included were Phil Silvernail, Bill Mitchell, Les Wilhite, Esther Royalty, Lawrence Buchanan, Doris Logan, Bill Feigley. OMAHA The Nebraska Society for Crippled Chil- dren announced the appointment of J. Robert Hoff as head of the newly-formed Douglas County chapter. Hoff, general manager of Ballantyne Company, also has been a leader in the Omaha Opportunity Center and the Dr. Lord School and is the new chief barker of Variety Tent 16. . . . Ernest Van Wey, son of exhibitor Glenn Van Wey at the Gothenburg Sun, had charge of the Masonic Lodge’s toy collection project in that area. . . . A large number of film row bowlers contributed to The World-Herald's annual Good Fellows Christmas Fund. . . . 20th-Fox office manager Regina Molseed was hostess at an open house for her sister and brother- in-law, Mr. and Mrs. E. M. Kerrigan, on their silver wedding anniversary. . . . Mr. and Mrs. Harold Dunn are putting in wide screen and much new equipment at the Jewell theatre in Valentine. . . . The Ne- braska crops statistics department reported a 16 per cent increase in the state’s pop- corn production in 1953 over 1952, with 31,000,000 pounds compared with 26,000,000 the previous year in spite of drougth con- ditions. PHILADELPHIA With the new year, 20th Century-Fox moves from its present location to a next- door building while United Artists goes to a new two-story structure being built by A. M. Ellis to house the offices of his in- dependent theatre circuit. . . . Motion Pic- ture Associates planning for a large industry dinner at the Hotel Warwick Feb. 15 for its welfare fund with Sam E. Diamond, 20th Century-Fox branch manager, the com- mittee chairman. . . . City Council in Harris- burg, Pa., told theatre managers that the eight per cent city tax on theatre admissions, which grosses about $140,000 a year, could not be abolished without imposing other levies or increasing present taxes. . . . Chief Building Inspector Michael J. Fidahce in Wilmington, Del., making his annual in- spection of all theatres and projection booths in compliance with the city’s Building Code. . . . Managerial changes at the Comerford Theatres upstate: Chester Budzenski, who resigned as manager of the Palace, Avoca, Pa., to join the Signal Corps, was replaced by Bernard Drexinger. Sam Miles went from the Rex, Dickson City, Pa., to the Orient, Dunmore, Pa., succeeding George Morris, who will be the manager of the Granada, Olyphant, Pa. PITTSBURGH Cool, brisk weather and tojpnotch' attrac- tions gave the downtown first-run houses their best business in months, paced by “Knights of the Round Table,” which is soaring- to an amazing $42,000 in its first week in Loew’s Penn. . . . The two other CinemaScope features, “Beneath the 12-Mile Reef” and “King of the Khyber Rifles” are also strong holdovers in the Harris and Fulton respectively. . . . Jimmy Stewart, whose home is in nearby Indiana, Pa., will be in Pittsburgh Feb. 5, to plug his “Glenn Miller Story.” . . . “Miss Sadie Thompson” in 3-D, now at the Stanley, is the second Columbia picture to play the Stanley in recent months: “From Here to Eternity” also played the big house. . . . “The Robe” is cleaning up in the suburbs. It set up a new house record in A1 Weiss’ Liberty theatre, McKeesport, and will remain at least three weeks in that 1,200 seat house. . . . “The Little Fugitive,” mopping up in the Squirrel Hill, will be followed by “The Titfield Thunderbolt” and then, a re-issue of “Hamlet.” PORTLAND Business has started on the upgrade after pre-holiday season blues. . . . Keith Petzold took over duties as g-eneral manager for the Jesse Jones chain. . . . Veteran showman Herb Royster became manager of J. J. Parker’s Broadway theatre and publicity director for the Circuit. . . . Mrs. J. J. Parker is off to film land for a short busi- ness trip. . . . Hamrick’s Liberty theatre installed an Astrolite screen and stereophonic sound. . . . The Broadway installed Cinema- Scope and stereophonic sound last week and is showing “Knights of the Round Table” as the first attraction. . . . Portland now has four first run houses with this type equipment. . . . Willard Coughlin, newly appointed field man for Warners in the NW, took over his territory from Max Ber- cutt. . . . Oscar Chiniquy has resigned after 20 years with National Theatre Supply. For the last 11 years, he has been manager of the NTS Seattle office. . . . Work is progressing on the remodeling of the May- fair theatre to be renamed the Fox when it relights in March. PROVIDENCE Christmas holiday business, with excellent film fare on tap, was reportedly more than . satisfactory. The Strand, using double the amount of normal newspaper advertising, presented Bob Hope in “Here Come The Girls,” to large houses. . . . The Majestic used half-pages in the local papers, heralding another CinemaScope attraction, the New England premiere of “Beneath the 12-Mile Reef,” goodly houses were noted. . . . “Quo ( Continued on following page ) MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 9, 1954 35 ( Continued from preceding page ) Vadis” returned to Loew’s State on their new “Wide-Vision Screen,” while the RKO x\lbee offered a holiday bill that included Jane Powell in “3 Sailors and a Girl,” with six of the year’s outstanding cartoons in color. . . . The Metropolitan, long-shut- tered except for an occasional roadshow stage attraction, usually for a single even- ing performance, re-opened with ‘‘Escape From Fort Bravo,” and “Trent’s Last Case.” . . . Despite the fine films featured for the holidays, tariffs were not greatly in- creased by any of the downtown first-runs. SAN FRANCISCO James Cox, 50, assistant manager, Fox California, Stockton, died following a heart attack at his home in Stockton, the last week of December. He had been on the staff of the theatre for the past 27 years. . . . Alvin Hatch announced he will soon reopen the Half Moon Bay theatre he closed several months ago. . . . Jacquelyn Stevens resigned as cashier, Sea Vue, to remain home as a housewife. . . . William Strange is assistant manager, Sea Vue. . . .Theatres here are cooperating- with Variety’s Blind Babies fund by theatre collections during January. . . . Irving Levin, divisional director, San Francisco Theatres, Inc. has inaugurated “a bonus night” for Friday’s at his neighbor- hood Balboa. TORONTO Alterations and refurbishing of the Capi- tol, Middleton, N. S., including new seats and heating and air-conditioning systems, has been completed. . . . R. Babcock has been re-elected president of the IATSE local in Sudbury and district. All other officers were returned with the exception of L. Fox, who was named vice-president. . . . Paul E. Viau has acquired J. L. Murphy’s Garry theatre in Alexandria, Ont. . . . Medicine Hat’s Empress theatre has been re-opened and will show a double bill on Fridays and Saturdays for the time being. . . . Dr. Paul Kowalishin and C. Hochman have purchased Regal Amusement Company’s Roxy in Canora, Sask., in a deal that involved the proposed drive-in. . . . Management of the Stanley theatre, Stouffville, Ont., Sid Schmidt and his daughter, Mrs. Margaret Wagg, recently celebrated their 30th anniversary in show- business. VANCOUVER Bob Billings, 20th-Fox office manager, resigned and will return to his former job as shipper at United Artists, replacing Stan Richardson. . . . Dot Graham, manager of 16mm at JARO, reports a record year’s business in the narrow gauge market in B. C. . . . 2 B. C. drive-in theatres are up for sale and the asking prices are out of this world. . . . Eva Spill, of the Capitol staff, is rated as the top jitterbug in local show business. . . . “The Robe” opened at the Royal Victoria on New Year’s Day SCREEN TOWERS and ADDITIONS Pre-fab steel. Engineered for 90 M.P.H. wind load plus 50% safety factor. With or without horizontal wood nailers. Also additions for existing towers. Call us! firsi -American jpWucfo ,'unc. 1717 Wyandotte St., Kansas City 8, Mo. and “How To Marry A Millionaire” is play- ing the Capitol, Vancouver. . . . Owen Bird, of the Toffy-Bird circuit, and Washington Thorn, of the Steva, Steveston, were on film row for the Christmas parties. . . . Perry Wright, Empire-Universal manager, took his staff to the Barn Supper Club for their annual party. . . . Bob Lightstone, Paramount manager, enjoyed his first green Christmas for many years, having moved here from frigid Winnipeg recently. . . . One of British Columbia’s motion picture pion- eers, Fred Bannister, who opened the first theatre at Mission City in the Fraser Val- ley 40 years ago, died in his 78th year at his West Vancouver home. WASHINGTON International chief barker Jack Beresin was in Washington January 4 for the Va- riety Club of Washington’s installation of officers for 1954. Sworn in were : chief barker, Jack Fruchtman; 1st assist., Alvin Q. Ehrlich; 2nd assistant, Joseph Gins; property master, Phil Isaacs, and dough guy, Sam Galanty. . . . The White House Correspondents Association will serve as hosts for a special Washington showing on February 3 of “The Best Years of Our Lives” at RKO Keith’s. . . . The National Boy Scouts 1953 Jamboree film was pre- miered at the Johnston office. . . . Friends of Alvin L. Newmyer, Variety Club counsel and prominent Washington attorney, were to pay tribute to him January 8 at the Mayflower Hotel, on the occasion of his 70th birthday celebration. . . . Mr. and Mrs. Fred Sapperstein are the parents of a baby daughter, Robin Lynn. Sapperstein is of- fice manager for Columbia Pictures. Altec Offers New Device Through 20th Century-Fox, Altec Service Corporation is making available to the mo- tion picture industry its new Altec De- magnetizer Kit as well as all information concerning the ways of demagnetizing parts in theatre film machines. E. S. Seeley, Altec chief engineer, said that action was being taken “in the interest of the entire industry as a contribution to the successful use of magnetic sound tracks in theatres.” He explained that in November “kits con- taining several types of demagnetizers of improved form, as well as instruments to indicate magnetic fields, all designed ex- pressly for the use of specially trained tech- nicians, were issued to each member of Altec’s technical field personnel. Analysis of subsequent experience on the part of Altec’s field staff has now confirmed the effectiveness of this tool and the general procedure.” Tom H. Boland Dies Tom H. Boland, 75, former manager of the Empress theatre, Oklahoma City, and executive in the Powell-Croak Amusement Company and the Midwest Enterprise Com- pany, died in Los Angeles December 23. He had been retired and living in that city. He leaves a daughter and two sons. Fiberglass Heels. Cans Save Casts Fiberglass film cans and reels are here. Years of research and experiment have yielded results. The results to the industry will be savings in weight and cost of trans- portation. The news comes this week from the U. S. Fiberglass Industrial Plastics, Inc. A spokes- man in New York declared the cans and reels will be on the market the middle of this year. He added his company is now preparing its manufacturing tools, and that the scale of production will be large. Fiberglass standard three-reel cases will each weigh between five and six pounds. Metal cases weigh from 16 to 18 pounds. A fiberglass case with three fiberglass reels and film will weigh less than 39 pounds. Ordinarily, weight would be 53 pounds. The company says its product will last 25 per cent longer than product of metal, and be as strong or stronger. It adds fiber- glass is buoyant, resistant to heat, cold, and fire ; unstretchable, unshrinkable, inabsorb- ent, weatherproof and shatterproof. Harry Greenman, managing director of the Capitol Theatre, New York, heads In- dustrial Plastics. Philadelphia Variety Annual Dinner Features Fabian, Skouras Spyros Skouras, president of 20th Cen- tury-Fox, and S. H. Fabian, president of Stanley Warner Theatres, were to be prin- cipal speakers at the 20th annual dinner, Monday evening, of the Variety Club of Philadelphia, Tent 13, at the Bellevue Strat- ford Hotel, in that city. The new crew, headed by Norman Silverman, Republic branch manager, was to be inducted. The evening also was to close the current wel- fare drive, funds from which go to the club’s principal charity, a camp for handi- capped children. Industry Helps Scouts' "Dawn Patrol" Breakfast The annual Dawn Patrol Breakfast, sig- nalling start of the New York Boy Scouts Fund Raising Campaign, was aided early Wednesday morning, as it has been in the past, by a large turnout from the industry. The breakfast was at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, New York. Among industry person- alities scheduled for attendance at special tables sponsored by the campaign’s amuse- ment divsion were Spyros Skouras, Harold Rinzler, Leon Bamberger, Richard Walsh. SDG Voting TV "Bests" Balloting Friday in Hollywood by mem- bers of the Screen Directors Guild was to determine the first annual award of that unit for best direction in television. Six directors and assistants were nominated. 36 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 9, 1954 'tie Outyrmn the Old Picture ” fcaifJ AROUND the country, attending exhibi- tor conventions, we have occasionally ■ encountered the type of theatre man- ager who told us — "We have a little old pic- ture show down the street" — and usually, it s just that — an old-fashioned store show, with swinging lobby doors that had once been painted white. Inside, you got an impres- sion of what the movies were like in 1915. Back home in Pennsylvania, we started in that type of theatre, and we can grow nostalgic, just inhaling deeply when we enter such a place. It smells the same — and the “picture show’’ atmosphere continues, just as it was in the beginning. There are too many theatres of that kind, across the country, for the good of motion picture in- dustry, in this year of 1954. If we can’t meet and match the new competition of today with reasonably modern exhibition and showmanship standards, then we carry a burden which will result in the gradual loss of loyal patronage. The "lost audience" simply spends more of its amuse- ment and recreational dollar elsewhere — we get a far smaller share, because we fail to deliver in comparison with new dimensions in entertainment. - - We are reminded of these new standards by the fact that some exhibitor groups are fighting both state authority and local influ- ence in their communites, to restore “bank nght” as a theatre give-away. “Bank night” should have gone out with the distribution of free dishes, years ago. There are many rea- sons why “bank night” is degrading and diminishing to motion picture prestige, and those who defend it are neglecting the busi- ness we are in, for another sales approach, which is the pitch of the carnival, the mid- way and the shooting-gallery. Our current film programs don’t require a crutch as an aid for lame showmanship. We can be proud of our real audience attractions. The Attorney General in Iowa has ruled that “bank night” is a lottery if it consists of three elements: (1) a consideration, (2) for a chance, (3) to win a prize. Reluc- tantly, he grants approval if the drawing STATE OF THE UNION There's not only more money to spend, but more people are spending it than ever before. 1953 will go down as the best busi- ness year in our history.. Output of goods is higher; individuals are getting more in- come; people, generally, are better off. There are sixty-six million more Americans , since the turn of the cen- tury, according to FORTUNE for Janu- ary. Population has grown more in the past three and a half years than it did in a whole decade of the 1 930's., In this brief space, the American market has been en- larged by the size of Texas and Nebraska. Postwar babies have changed the U. S. market as much as they have changed the lives of their parents, says the magazine. "The Baby Boom" has one market ingredi- ent more basic than money — people. Government figures released last August 10th showed a population of 161 millions, and since that August day, there has been a net gain of another million and a quarter! But film industry is losing its young audi- ence on its own grounds! Have we failed to keep faith with the families who are our strength and support for the future? takes place at a time when the theatre is not open, or if the theatre is open, then any per- son may participate, without paying admis- sion. Theatre patrons may “register" as members of a pool, if clearly established that there is no tie-in sale of theatre tickets and that anybody is eligible as a -contender. In other words, you- can’t charge admis- sion to a lottery — as “bank night” has been defined — so how do you figure this can be a victory for exhibitors and their lawyers? Far better to work with local merchants along lines that have never been questioned, for the logical and desirable sponsorship of many things that can be given away in thea- tres, as cooperative advertising. • hL. Jl EQUIPMENT FURNISHINGS DESIGN PHYSIEAL OPERATION VENDING JANUARY ISSUE: Section 2 of Motion Picture Herald of January 9, 19S4 Customers come in 3-D. First, they buy tickets. Profit for you. Second, they buy refreshment while in your house. More profit for you. And in the third dimension, they come back if they like what they get. 1 heater patrons enjoy the combination ol entertainment and refreshment when you sell delicious Coca-Cola . . . and satisfied customers come back. For the money-making details on a va- riety ol vending equipment, write The Coca-Cola Company, P. O. Box 1734, Atlanta, Georgia. COPYRIGHT 1954, THECOCA-COLA COMPANY Here's why you get . . . ALL-OVER COVERAGE with ALL-NEW RCA SPEAKERS » • ALL-NEW HIGH-FREQUENCY HORNS— New units offer 60° or 90° angle for perfect coverage of any house. New mounting system permits perfect aiming of horns. • ALL-NEW RADIAL-TYPE FLARE— Mathematically correct horn shape spreads sound over the entire house. Same coverage pattern as high-frequency horns —another RCA “first.” • ALL-NEW ACOUSTIC CHAMBER— Treated chamber in baffle augments bass notes — improves distribution. • ALL-NEW BAFFLE— The first really new design offered to the industry in many years. • ALL-NEW HIGH-POWER DRIVER MECHANISM Power to spare for the large house and the small house. These new speaker mecha- nisms drive brilliant, realistic RCA sound to every seat in your house. Here’s why RCA Stereoscope Sound is your best equipment buy Every penny you invest in RCA Stereoscope Sound begins paying divi- dends the day your system is installed , . . by adding new brilliance to every picture you show ... by simplifying your projectionist’s job ... by putting you in a position to book any of the new films whenever you want them. With RCA’s new “Button-On” Soundhead, Audio-Sync Amplifiers, and the All-New line of speakers, you’re ready for today — ready for the future — with the finest, and the latest, in theatre sound equipment. See Your RCA Theatre Supply Dealer To- day for details THEATRE EQUIPMENT RADIO CORPORATION of AMERICA ENGINEERING PRODUCTS DEPARTMENT. CAMDEN. N.J. In Canada: RCA VICTOR Company Limited, Montreal RCA Stereoscope Sound costs less than you think For the larger theatre — two low-frequency horns and a single 90 -degree high-fre- quency horn. For the medium-sized house — one low-frequency horn, one 90° and one 60° high- frequency horn. For the smaller house — low-cost, full-fidelity speaker system. s' 4 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 9, 1954 The Finest Color Rendition of Any Screen Today . . . . . . Now brought to you by AST ROUTE Spectrophotometer Laboratory Tests Prove It! Color reflection can be accurately measured by the Spectro- photometer. There’s no guesswork about it— no opinion. The figures speak for themselves. If you look at the chart above — you will see why Radiant can make the claim that Magniglow Astrolite Screens give the finest color rendition of any screen on the market today. When you see a demonstration of the Astrolite Screen, you will see that every color value throughout the visible range of the spectrum is reproduced precisely as it appears on the film. This means beautiful, true-to-life color that thrills your patrons. This amazing rendition of color on Astrolite is no acci- dent. It comes from the use of a pure silver reflection base! Astrolite has the only reflecting surface made with pure silver! It comes from the use of the one optically engineered pattern that assures "perfectly controlled light distribution’’ — with no wasted light, with all reflected light aimed into More MORE Theatres Install ASTROLITE "For yogr records we made the installation in the Fayette Theatre in Connersville, Ind. on November 13, 1953 and in the Princess Theatre in Rushville, Ind. on Novem- ber 18, 1953. We opened the picture MOGAMBO in each situation and the results have been' most gratifying. I believe that your claim re theatre audiences enjoying projection at its best is justified. The distribution of light on such a highly reflective surface is mast .amazing. We are obtaining a picture of roughly 400 square feet in each theatre using 7’s and 8’s, carbons at 60 amperes which I would hqvs thought impossible.” JOHN ft. PELL » Harrold and Pall Theatres, Rushville, Ind. *Trod* Mart, U. S. & Foreign Potentj Applied For the desired area in front of the screen by the 6% million perfect curved mirrors in every square yard of Astrolite. In addition to the finest color, Astrolite Screens give you: More Light Energy Return — Actual laboratory tests show Astrolite screens give a light energy return of 91.5% against a maximum possible energy of about 93% for any reflective surface. Astrolite provides greater brightness for 2-D or 3-D projection than is available from any other existing pro- jection surface. That's why in most instances, no amperage boost is required when an Astrolite Screen is installed! More Uniform Light Distribution — Actual laboratory tests show Astrolite Screens control light reflection more effec- tively than any existing projection surface. This insures uniform illumination throughout the seating area of theatre —with no visible fall-off. That means no dark corners, no empty seats, no dissatisfied patrons ! Don’t buy a new screen until you have seen a demonstra- tion of the Astrolite All-Purpose Screen! Write, wire or ’phone us today — or contact your dealer. Exclusive World-Wide Licensee under Glowmefer Magniglow Developments ASTROLITE RADIANT MANUFACTURING CORP. World's Largest Projection Screen Manufacturer 2627 W. Roosevelt Road, Chicago 8, Illinois • CRawford 7-6300 RIBUTED BY S A BRANCH NEAR YOU EXTRA Motion (Picture cNews extra USEFUL INFORMATIO N for the theatre man FOR THE GREATLY INCREASED VOLUME OF LIGHT DEMANDED BY 3-D, CINEMASCOPE and other wide screen processes you thej!0 need NATIONAL EXCEL1TE "135' PROJECTION ARC LAMP Burns 10 mm “Hitex” carbons at 135 amperes, or 1 1 mm regular carbons at 120 amperes. For the FULL HOUR RUNNING PERIOD of 5000-ft 3-d reels, the 10 mm “Hitex” can be burned at 120 amperes, or 11 mm regular carbons can be burned at 115 amperes. The color value and intensity of the light at the screen is maintained constant throughout a full trim WITHOUT MANUAL ADJUSTMENT by an automatic arc crater positioner. Positioned in the path of the light beam, National’s new Reflect-O-Heat Unit permits great increase in light at the screen WITHOUT A CORRESPONDING INCREASE IN HEAT AT THE A P«R T U R E •K® °nal Theatre SuW>w obou' ,Ws new lamp nowl NATIONAL MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 9, 1954 UNISTRUT CinemaScope screen frame and speaker supports UNISTRUT CinemaScope Screen installation at B & K State-Lake Theatre, Chiccgo, showing "The Robe." THE FIRST FULLY ADJUSTABLE CinemaScope, Curved and Wide Screen Frame! Built of Versatile UNISTRUT0 Steel Framing Prefabricated — Erected Quickly, Easily, at Low Cost — Right on the Job! At recent T.E.S.M.A. meeting in Chicago UNISTRUT was hit of the show. *47 theatres in the midwest alone have installed UNISTRUT frames. Here is the one framing system that’s designed for today and tomorrow — made for wide screen use, quickly adjustable for any size or shape screen — any height, tilt, or curve radius de- sired. It can be located on stage or in front of proscenium arch. UNISTRUT all-steel, fire-resistant framing is quickly assembled and constructed on stage. All parts are short enough for convenient transport, and are 100% reusable. The entire framing structure, including sound equipment supports, is movable, with or without casters. UNISTRUT framing is lightweight, provides maximum strength without bulk. It’s neat and trim, gives positive anchorage and protection to screens without sagging, wrinkling, or stress. PROVED! UNISTRUT does the job best in CinemaScope, Curved and Wide screen installations throughout the country! • Immediate delivery • Made for any aspect ratio • Lightweight — maximum strength without bulk • Adjustable for any tilt and any curve radius • Low cost any theatre can afford • Built to protect your screen • No drilling, no welding, fire resistant The UNISTRUT system of mechanical sup- ports, leader for years in the construction and materials handling industries, consists of interlocking steel channel, parts and fit- tings which combine to form the world’s most flexible system of support or suspension. *List of theatres upon request. T he World’s Most Flexible All-Purpose Metal Framing • Movable • All-steel construction U. S. Patent Numbers 2327537 2363382 2405631 2329815 2380379 2541908 2345650 Other Patents Pending •' I V BE SURE to get the full amazing story of UNISTRUT framing before you purchase any screen framing! UNISTRUT PRODUCTS COMPANY Dept. 2B 1013 W. Washington Blvd., Chicago 7, Illinois Please send your illustrated folder and full information about the UNISTRUT CinemaScope, Curved and Wide Screen Frame Installation. NAME m T THEATRE ADDRESS CITY_ NAME AND ADDRESS OF MY_ ZONE STATE . THEATRE SUPPLY DEALER^ I Today’s theatre patron expects LIVING ROOM COMFORT She wants attractive surroundings as well as an EASY CHAIR Hey wood -Wakefield’s popular TC 700 ENCORE Chair offers smart, modern design to dress up any theatre and deep, spring cushion comfort for its patrons. 09S. HEYW00D- WAKEFIELD The seat of the ENCORE is constructed with steel coil springs, properly graduated in compression for all-over comfort. The hack, comfortably padded and protected by the all-steel edge around the top and sides, has a scientifically determined back to seat ratio for proper posture comfort. For further information, contact your Hey wood -Wakefield representative or write for the fully illustrated catalogue on Heywood -Wakefield Theatre Chairs. Comfort is our business . . . in theatre seating as in Haywood's famous household furniture like the Ashcraft Tub Chair at top. HEYWOOD -WAKEFIELD Theatre Seating Division Menominee , Michigan Sales Offices: Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, New 1 ork 8 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 9, 1954 GAUMONT-KALEE C|NemaScOPE EQUIPMENT IN LEADING CINEMAS ALL OVER THE WORLD (OUTSIDE THE U. S. A.) IS BEING USED FOR SCREENING “THE ROBE" AVAILABLE NOW FROM THE STERLING AREA • • • G.B-Kalee Ltd can supply anamorphic lenses with associated high definition projection lenses, an entirely new range of short-focal-length projection lenses, stereophonic magnetic sound equipment and all ancillary equipment for CinemaScope and other large-screen systems. Please write for details. STEREOPHONIC SOUND- REPRODUCING EQUIPMENT Ferrosonic synchronous magnetic Portable Studio- Recording Equipment MORTIMER HOUSE, 37-41 MORTIMER ST., LONDON. W.l. ENGLAND A Member of the British Optical & Precision Engineers’ Group — Everything for the Cinema, Theatre and Studio THE GAUMONT-KALEE "20" PROJECTOR Fitted with type P anamorphic lens and 4-way magnetic soundhead for CinemaScope presentation. Totally enclosed mechan- ism All mechanical parts run- ning in oil bath Scientifically sprung paral- lel gate, quickly detach- able for cleaning Two-blade pattern rear shutter gives exceptional light efficiency Pressure rollers self-sus- taining in open position. Electrically operated pic- ture changeover incorpo- rated with fire shutter and arranged for remote con- trol This outstanding Gaumont-Kalee “20” projection and sound equipment combines maximum efficiency with long, trouble-free service. And, to ensure easy maintenance, everywhere, all the main sections are built on the unit principle. Write to-day for illustrated brochure containing detailed specification. All Gaumont-Kalee Cinema- Scope equipment is manufac- tured, by agreement with Twentieth Century-Fox, in the B.O.P.E. Group of fac- tories— the largest European manufacturers of motion pic- ture equipment. HARD WEARING EQUIPMENT SOFT CURRENCY sm PRICES wm mmmm. m Type 577 Auditorium Speaker Type 912 Soundhead Type 905 4-Way Coupled Fader Power Amplifier Assembly Cabinet Cr Ca G. B-KALEE LTD. Export Division BETTER THEATRES SECTION 9 Reseat with AMERICAN BODIFORM, CHAIRS American Bodiform Chair No. 16-040 cSmetican Seating fmipang WORLD'S LEADER IN PUBLIC SEATING Grand Rapids 2, Michigan Branch Offices and Distributors in Principal Cities Manufacturers of Theatre, School, Church, Auditorium, Transportation, Stadium Seating, and Folding Chairs ALSO DISTRIBUTED BY NATIONAL THEATRE SUPPLY MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 9, 1954 far JANUARY 1954 GEORGE SCHUTZ, Editor A New Phase For the New T echniques . . EDITORIAL INDEX: 3D: ITS PROGRESS AND ITS PROSPECT Page 12 by Charlie Jones 16 THE JOB of overhauling the motion picture as a theatrical medium — and, it seems inevitable, os a business — now enters its second year. Scarcely dis- cernible on the horizon twelve months ago, it nevertheless came near to spanning 1953. This year does not need to be so furious to be quite as momentous as the one whose innovations we now carry over for more studied decisions. To enlargement of the picture in a "wide-screen" technique the industry ap- pears committed. Yet to be determined, however, is the form of its impact on the drive-in, and on the hundreds of small thea- tres, particularly in small towns, through which the motion picture so long has per- formed so much of its mission. Along with issues concerning the screen and disposition of an audience before it, there is the ques- tion of stereophonic sound. Above all, for the small theatre, there is the critical prob- lem of cost. The very function of the industry gave it a large body of small theatres where plant as well as film costs had a sub-standard ceiling under the best of conditions. The new technical developments, coming after five or six years of depressed attendance, have put many, if not most, of them in the position of one trying to pull himself up by his own bootstraps. Decisions concerning techniques of sound will affect them most. And for other reasons, that area of 1953's developments produced a puzzling question for the drive-in. Not only with respect to sound, but rather all along the line, a period of tran- sition has to be accepted in which "wide- screen" technique must be applied under less than the best of conditions for it. It is sometimes difficult enough, without a very substantial outlay of money, to provide suitable accommodations for the screen, while the extremely important factor of surround has to be more or less ignored, and the seating plan is in about the same status. In these matters, the size of the task, considerations of real estate, plus the normal uncertainties of innovation, figure importantly along with cost to project the changeover a long way into the future. But there ought not to be long-term compromises with progress along the way. -G.S. WHAT ABOUT MOVIES ON MAIN STREET? A FUNCTIONAL SETTING FOR THE "WIDE-SCREEN" PICTURE, by Ben Schlanger, Fifth and Concluding Article of a Series on Theatres and the New Techniques 18 DRIVE-IN department: WE'RE GOING "WIDE-SCREEN" WITH TESTS FOR GUIDANCE— AND WINTER OPERATION ... UP NORTH! 22 THEATRE REFRESHMENT SALES department: INDOOR SNACK SERVICE FEATURING TWO STANDS: THE TERRACE THEATRE IN MINNEAPOLIS 25 VENDER VANE: Market News 28 METHOD IN MANAGEMENT department: ATTENDANTS, STOCKS AND REPORTS, by Curtis Mees. Part Two of the Refreshment Service. Eleventh Article of a Series on Motion Picture Theatre Management 37 ABOUT PRODUCTS 37 BETTER PROJECTION department: ALERTNESS AND CHECKING ASSURE GOOD 3D PROJECTION, by Gio Gag liardi 48 INSTALLING SCREEN AND SOUND FOR CINEMASCOPE 54 ABOUT PEOPLE OF THE THEATRE 60 is published the first week of each month, with the regular monthly issues, and an annual edition, the Market & Operating Guide, which appears in March, issued as Section Two of Motion Picture Herald. QUIGLEY PUBLICATIONS, Rockefeller Center, New York 20, N. Y., Circle 7-3100; RAY GALLO, Advertising Manager; CHICAGO: 120 S. LaSalle Street, Financial 6-3074; URBEN FARLEY & COMPANY, Midwest Representatives. BETTER THEATRES SECTION 1 1 To enable projectionists to keep 3D films in syn- chronization the Polaroid Corporation, Cambridge, Mass., has developed the equipment shown here. The "3D Sync Monitor" (above) detects small mis- synchronizations by the variation in strobe stripes visible through the view window and larger sync errors by means of the "tell-tale" filter mounted at the top of the unit. To be used in conjunction with the monitor is the "3D Sync Control" (below) which is wired between the selsyn motors of the two projectors. It permits the projectionist to make relative adjustments in the projectors in 1/6 frame steps by turning the switch in either direc- tion, depending upon which projector is leading the other. When the strobe stripes in the monitor line up, the picture is in pe-fect sync. . . . its progress and its prospect First of the “new techniques,’’ third-dimension has survived abuses of hasty production and technical inexperience to continue its trial with greater promise than ever in product and implements. stereoscopic pictures for theatrical entertainment have had a year of trial. That hasn’t been much time. Nevertheless, the intricate technique of 3D cinematography and projection, with its strange demand of the public to collabo- rate in the process of exhibition, has vig- orously survived to attract and please large audiences today, and to sustain serious pur- suit of further technical progress. That summation jibes with the facts much better than opinion that the trial has been a failure. Theatres throughout the nation and be- yond it this January are presenting a siz- able group of 3D productions with the kind of box-office effect which some lin- guists of the business call socko. Some of these productions are also being shown 2D — and the 3D versions are marking up heavier grosses in many areas. “ ‘Hondo’ on Way to New 3D Records,” said a re- cent trade headline. Approval of both pub- lic and critics are similarly reported for “Cease Fire,” “Kiss Me Kate,” “Miss Sadie Thompson,” and the others. These productions display the better tools and greater savvy acquired at the studio end in the adaptation of cinematog- raphy to stereoscopy. It was to be expected that the first batch of 3D features would allow unfamiliarity with the medium and makeshift equipment to show through. The marvel is that studio technicians imple- mented them fast enough to establish the tremendous gap that lies artistically and technically between the early productions and those on theatre screens today. But significant work is being done to remove difficulties in exhibition which so long conspired with production crudities to make the trial of 3D unfair. There already are two systems for placing the disparate images on a single film, and sufficient prog- ress is authoritatively reported on the vec- tographic method to give assurance of its ultimate feasibility for theatrical motion pictures. In the meantime, the effective 3D prod- uct available need not suffer from the two- strip method with synchronized projectors. It is estimated that some 5,000 theatres in the United States alone are equipped for 3D projection, and others are joining them, with the rate of installation possibly to be accelerated under the encouragement of the new 3D product. More experience and better equipment installations in projection rooms now can remove defects which have been blamed arbitrarily on the two-strip system. Stereoscopic projection was handed to projectionists with amazing confidence in their ability to understand mysteries only half explained. Certain mechanics of the process seemed simple enough ; but just how delicate was the relationship between two projection systems operating in synchroni- zation was pretty much left to the ordeal of trial and error. Films out of sync as little as three-quarters of a frame disturb fusion of the images enough to reduce the effect of depth and to set up severe eye strain. “Yeah, now you tell me!” many a projectionist has muttered disgustedly, and with good reason. In some cases, the projector hookup couldn’t maintain re- quired synchronization even when the two mechanisms were threaded properly. Synchronization also has been simplified to the point of positive control throughout the projection of a two-strip picture by doing nothing more than turning a knob, The Polaroid Corporation has developed an electronic monitor which reveals an out- of-sync condition automatically, and a con- trol which permits the projectionist, merely by actuating a switch, to bring the two 12 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 9, 1954 Pola-Lite glasses are shown above in the three models available for adults and children who do not wear correction glasses to see the picture, and lor adults who do. All are of plastic construction with the filters crimped into the frame. The clip-on type has small knobs which effect easy attachment to spectacles. Of stiffened cardboard construction, the Magic Vuer glasses pictured at right have full-vision filters with a dark sur- round to aid viewing, while temple bars are designed to prevent back reflections. The fold of the bows creates a slight tension for firmness in place.. Adult bow types include one (upper right) with plastic bow extensions for extra firmness. A clip-on type is at lower left. The juvenile size above it has frames with intriguing space-cadet pictures. films back into synchronization. And the cost, considering the function, is nominal. Light sources also have been often inade- quate. Many of the high-intensity installa- tions using suprex carbon trims were al- ready being operated at least close to ca- pacity for 2D pictures; 3D brought about replacement with larger lamps, but that was far from the usual thing. Moreover, 3D is exacting in its brightness require- ments: it causes a diminution of objects which reduces acuity, while overall detail is important to a full rendering of the third-dimensional effect. Gradually, in- stallation of more powerful light sources and faster lenses, with the prospect of wide- screen further encouraging it, has made many more theatres able to apply the two- strip method effectively. Then, among critical factors, there were the early spectacles. Considering the way the little stranger was sent into the house, only dimly announced and through the back door, it is understandable that not much money was risked on accessories for a long visit. The first glasses were deli- cate cardboard affairs. They were odd things to a movie patron. How do you put ’em on? Not knowing, they bent the paper bows in the wrong places, and in trying to keep the things on, put finger marks all over the filters, which were scarcely big enough to see through anyway. Sweating somewhere between con- fusion in the projection room, a picture going awry on the screen, and an audience fumbling with glasses, many an exhibitor began to think, “Even if it was good, I wouldn’t like it!’’ But this difficulty, too, has been removed from the exhibition of 3D. Throw-away type glasses available today provide an ade- quate filter area, they are fabricated for firm placement over ears or clipping on the rims of sight correction spectacles, and are available in juvenile and adult sizes. SINGLE-STRIP SYSTEMS While the vectographic method has long been under development, the Nord system BETTER THEATRES SECTION 13 In the Nord single-strip system the optical device which rotates the two images is mounted in front of the projection port. The drawings indicate the frame transfer scheme by which the standard image (upper sketch) is placed head-to-toe with its mate in a 1.75-to-l ratio. was the first to bring 3D projection with one film into close prospect. Developed by Roy Clapp, this method prints the dis- parate images on one 35mm film, with the dual frames turned longitudinally and placed head-to-toe — that is, in direct series, the bottom of one opposite the top of the other (see accompanying drawing) . This is a distinction between the Nord system and the Moropticon. Another difference between those two methods lies in the reduction of the stand- ard negative frame in transferring it to the dual film. The Nord system prints the two images in proportions of 1.75-to-l, ex- tending the frame area (width in this case) beyond the four sprocket holes. The result is a single frame (any one of the disparate pair) that is seven-eighths the size that a standard frame would have if it were printed in the same aspect ratio. In projection, the dual frames are beamed into an optical device placed in front of the port, where a prism arrange- ment rotates the two images to upright po- sition and superimposes them. The Moropticon functions according to comparable principles, with the optical de- vice attached, however, to the projector immediately in front of the lens (see ac- companying illustrations) . The Moropticon takes its name from Boris Morros, Hollywood producer, who developed it in association with Vienna technicians. The equipment is manufac- tured in Rome and Vienna. In transferring the related images to a single print, the frames are placed toe to toe, or bottom ad- joining bottom. THE VECTOCRAPH In the vectographic method of printing two disparate images for stereoscopic pro- jection, the pictures are placed one over the other. Work in this field has been con- ducted bv the Polaroid Corporation for many years, and it has produced vecto- graphic prints in black-and-white for mili- tary and other purposes. T he Polaroid Corporation now has in prospect an ar- rangement with the Technicolor Corpora- tion for processing vectograph motion pic- ture film in color. As to the practical possibility of 3D mo- tion pictures by the vectographic method, Edwin H. Land, president of Polaroid and a pioneer in this field of research, has ad- vised the writer that the work already done "Alertness and Checking Assure Good 3-D Projection," by Gio Gagli- ardi, begins on page 48. The Moropticon projection device is attached by a bracket to the projector with the optical system immediately in front of the lens. The standard images (exemplified in the upper drawing at left) are placed toe-to-toe in the dual print. “has confirmed our confidence in the com- mercial feasibility of the process.” “Our recent work has also given us abundant evidence of the picture quality that can be expected. Since the basic re- search has been completed for a long time, we have been able to devote our year’s effort to the systematic exploration of the problems involved in large-scale commer- cial processing of the film.” The progress already made, plus the sim- plifications and refinements in prospect, substantiate the place of 3D in the scheme of the motion picture, at least technically. What the industry can do with it to give interest to the entertainment supplied by theatres would seem to depend largely on the kind of creative effort it puts into 3D productions, and the showmanship it em- ploys to exploit them. — George Scliutz. 14 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 9, 1954 ASHCRAFT &UPER POWER NOW OPERATING IN THE LARGEST THEATRES USING GIANT SCREENS 70-100 FEET WIDE* Recent tests have definitely proved that the Ashcraft Super- Power at currents of 95 to 105 amperes produces far more light and of a better quality than other lamps using from 135 to 180 amperes— (the complete Super-Power range is 85 to 135 amperes). There is no film buckle with the Super-Power— equipped with the Ashcraft Air-Cooled Heat Deflector. The Super-Power is especially engineered and constructed to meet the present-day requirements of the largest and widest screens or for large screen 3-D— whether for Indoor or Drive-In projection. ■^•The Super-Power is in daily operation in indoor theatres projecting 70 ft. pictures. Drive-In theatres, with 96 ft. screens, are in year around operation using the Super-Power. ASHCRAFT HYDRO-ARC' 75-85 AMPS The first cost and operating ex- pense of the Hydro-Arc is low and well within the reach of exhibitors who demand high- powered, economical projection. Hydro-Arcs are ideal for large screen 3-D (long burning over one hour) or . for Drive-In the- atre screens up to 50 ft. wide. PRODUCES MORE LIGHT THAN NEEDED FOR 30- 45 FOOT WIDE SCREENS USED IN SMALLER THEATRES The Ashcraft Hydro-Arc is of the same high quality and efficiency as the Super-Power, yet is specifi- cally designed for those theatres not adaptable to enormously large screens. The Hydro-Arc supplants and is far more power- ful than the outmoded Suprex type lamp which used short copper coated carbons. Suprex is not adaptable to present-day wide screen projection standards yet costs more to operate than the pow- erful Hydro-Arc. The Ashcraft Hydro-Arc uses 9 m/m x 20" un- coated High-Intensity Carbons (which do not re- quire rotation due to double magnetic arc stabili- zation). The long 20" carbon costs substantially the same as the Suprex 14" copper-coated carbon yet burns more than twice as long. A genuine Bausch & Lomb High-Speed Reflector assures maximum light efficiency. Distributed U.S.A.: Through Independent Theatre Supply Dealers * Foreign: Westrex Corp. * Canada: Dominion Sound Equipments, Ltd C. S. ASHCRAFT MANUFACTURING COMPANY, INC. 36-32 THIRTY-EIGHTH STREET • LONG ISLAND CITY I, N. Y. BETTER THEATRES SECTION 15 What About tylodieJ oh fftaiit Street? A plea for recognition of the small community theatre in the reshaping of the industry in its technigues and policies. ARLIE JONES hat about these small towns? . . . A lot of lip-service has been given to the small town and small theatre in the past few months by people who claim to be acting for the good of the little operator. Almost invariably, with the exception of an occasional outburst by a few more or less voluble souls, they laud, praise and recognize the importance of the small theatre and give with the promises that the minor revolution equipment-wise is going to be the salvation of these small theatres. Cutting through all the verbiage and double-talk, their stand is praiseworthy, for it can all be nut-shelled in one thought : The nations movie-going habit is formed in the small theatre. Cities are made up of a lot of small towners who outgrew their britches and were attracted to the lights. We’ve raised quite a swarm of kids in the past 40 years right here in Elma. But our population keeps right on dwindling at the rate of about 1% per year. It’s not that people are getting tired of fun, but rather the national tendency to urbanize. We are quite typical of most small towns through- out the country. Cities are growing. They are being filled with a generation that learned its movie-growing habit in the small town and the neighborhood theatres of the city, for kid attendance at the downtown first- runners is so small that no habit-forming tendency could develop there. It would seem (that the long range policy in the movie industry should be to encourage and keep operating the small theatre as a spawning ground for its own Proprietor of the Dawn theatre in Elma, la., Charlie Jones has distinguished his name far beyond the limits of that small town I pop. 9 001 through Allied States activities, and as a regular writer in Better Theatres. future welfare. Let us have a chance with the elimination of the admissions tax, good small town product (we don’t demand many epics — we want family stuff), terms that we can live with and improve our theatres with — Then we’ll get by. That’s all most of us expect to do in these “breed- ing grounds” anyway. We don’t have dividends to pay, legal staffs to support, or mammoth exploitations to promote. We could make it quite happily under the above provisions. So far this seems to make sense. How- ever, the belief among small town opera- tors continues to grow that we are con- stantly becoming the poorest of the poor relations in this industry. It could be that we just constitute a hypersensitive group that is being devoured by its own self-pity. There may be an element of truth in that, but the record of closed theatres, lost savings, shattered investments would deny that that hypothesis can be proven. Orphans in a Storm It is indeed a crying shame that hun- dreds, perhaps thousands, of people devoted to this industry, carrying all they own wrapped up in one pile of brick and mortar, should through changing economic condi- tions, competitive enterprises, oppressive taxation and shortsighted industry policy be compelled to lock the doors, lose their savings, and deprive their communities of the greatest entertainment medium the world has ever known. We have joined the industry in grasp- ing at the proverbial straws that were going to snatch us from the myriad named and unnamed causes constituting the Char- ybdis that has been sucking the life blood from our veins since we started living off popcorn back in 1948. We had only gone down twice when, about a year ago, 3-D hit the market and scores of us, against better judgment, went off the deep end and plunged into over-priced equipment to play under-made product at over-inflated terms to unfair, unequal and un-Godly grosses. We soon discovered that the straw floating on the surface was a mirage. Gadgets to the Rescue Scarcely had we paid the first installment on the loan to buy gargantuan magazines and gears and connecting rods, et cetera, when late in the winter we grasped at the new straw that broke with dramatic front page notice about a new process which would give you depth without glasses. We felt that third-dimension should be a considerable aid to the presen- tation and enjoyment of pictures. Here was CinemaScope coming up with exactly what we’d dreamed of. It was probably our own fault for think- ing that CinemaScope was going to be third-dimension without glasses. Of course it isn’t, even though it is so advertised by implication, by some theatres eager to get one more quick buck from a gimmick-con- scious public. The fact that CinemaScope is a new, different and courageously in- 16 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 9, 1954 spired process is not the subject of this article. This reference to it is to call at- tention to the fact that the number of us, all potential users, who cannot afford, or who could ill-afford to buy it, would constitute a capacity house for two or three of the biggest theatres now play- ing it. Good, Yes — But the Cost! Whether or not CinemaScope becomes the standard process by which all future pictures will be made and shown nobody knows. Among the small town owners, the cost of it has possibly had some bearing on the opinion that simply a larger, more elongated picture is not worth the asking price. Many small theatres are already throwing a large picture on the screen simply with short focal length lenses. If CinemaScope is going to be the process of the future, and if we are going to get to use it in small towns, it must reach a price level that justifies the investment and prove it can do things which can’t be ac- complished with wide-angle lenses. As for stereophonic sound, that is some- thing that is beyond the reach of many really small situations. The price is, and may always be, prohibitive for them. The fact that it adds to the dramatic impact of the picture is subject to the same con- ditions as that older fact, that a three- manual pipe organ added to the screen presentation. A lot of small houses had to get by with nothing better than a tinny player-piano. We’re Habit-Forming We don’t pretend to be a self-appointed spokesman for the “down-trodden.” We realize that we personally, and thousands just like us, are an insignificant portion of the whole — that we are very unimport- ant dollar-wise. But we are important as part of the habit-forming breeding grounds for a future generation of movie-goers. Maybe the most important. What vitally concerns us, not only for the sake of our own investments in real property, is the future of this wonderful business that has meant so much not only to us, but to our communities. We hope that assurances of watchfulness over the welfare of the little theatre are sincere words, that our impatience with procure- ment, policy and prices will be productive in due time. Let it not go unsaid that the Dawn theatre, as an example of the thousands of small town houses, is as important in Elma as the Music Hall is in New York. It just could be that we small towners are as important to the future of the industry as our city brothers. REMODELING'S EASY WITH MARLITE PLANK & BLOCK Save installation time and labor with this beautiful new Marlite prefinished paneling! You’ll save money, time, and labor when you modernize with new Marlite Plank and Block. Quickly installed over old walls or furring strips with concealed nails or clips, this new paneling elimi- nates division mouldings. Maintenance costs are drastically reduced. The baked Marlite finish needs only an occasional wiping with a damp cloth, stays like new for years. Planks (16" x 8 ) and Blocks (16" square) are available in 10 new 11 companion colors" styled by Raymond Loewy Associates plus 4 dis- tinctive wood patterns. For fast, economical remodeling with- out the usual muss or fuss, install Marlite Plank and Block in entrances, lobbies, lounges, rest rooms, offices, and other service areas. See your building material dealer or write Marsh Wall Products, Inc., Dept. 169, Dover, Ohio. Subsidiary of Masonite Corpora- tion. The F & Y Building Service is the outstanding agency in Theatre Design and Construction in Ohio and surrounding territory. THE F & Y BUILDING SERVICE 319 East Town Street Columbus 15, Ohio “The Buildings We Build Build Our Business” YOU'LL SAVE TIME and be able to detail your requirements, by writing advertisers direct. Many of them provide coupons specifying literature for your conve- nience. . . . However, if you prefer to use the service of the Theatre Supply Mart, you need only to indicate the items by reference number on the detachable postcard provided in the Mart insert on page 35. BETTER THEATRES SECTION 17 A Functional Setting for the “Wide-Screen” Picture The fifth and concluding article of “Theatres and the New Techniques” By BEN SCHLANGER Theatre Architect & Consultant throughout the tech- nical progress of the motion picture, the main objective has been to increase the realism of the performance. If all of the conditions of real life could not be repro- duced, it was hoped to represent the critical ones so convincingly that the spectator experienced sensations of real life, accord- ing to the effect desired by the film creators. CURTAIN SCHEME: Plan of screen area in half-sections to show two different treatments. The Zone C areas (see Figures K-l and K-3) can be treated with permanent finishes as described in the text. The Zone B areas may be made up of light framework covered with diffusive screen material to provide a luminous screen surround (structures for this purpose are available prefabricated to scale). In Scheme B (right-hand side of drawing) the curtain follows the curve of the screen, with use of movable dark masking to change projected picture sizes. While this is a practical method, it causes a break in the continuity of light intensity from the picture to its surrounding area. Scheme A is a method of avoiding this by employing secondary light projected in color by a stereopticon on to the surplus screen when a picture narrower than the screen is projected. If a screen surround of the "synchronous" type indicated abov& (illuminated by reflected light of the picture) is used, its surfaces should be included in areas covered by the stereopticon border when a picture less than screen width is projected. In Scheme A the curtain is indicated at the junction of Zones B and C, which should be the position with use of a "synchronous" luminous surround, for this position avoids a curtain pocket between it and the picture, where it would otherwise interfere with the luminous continuity of picture and surround. Increasing the picture size, as now being done with “wide-screen” technique in its various forms, contributes to that objective in a number of ways. Through wide-angle cinematography and stereophonic sound, it affects the production material itself. Then by virtue of its magnitude relative to the size of the audience, it gives the perform- ance “presence” (in contrast to the tradi- tional presentation, which made the picture seem remote), and it fills so much more of the field of vision than former practice allowed that less extraneous material (such as stage fittings, architectural devices, etc.) is included in the spectator’s view to under- mine the illusion which the performance is trying to produce in his mind. The less there is of such extraneous material, the better chance the performance has to give a sense of real experience. While the scale of the performance introduced by “wide-screen” is a great advantage over that obtaining in the past, it cannot prac- ticably occupy the entire field of vision. Horizontally, that field is normally 180°; fortunately, however, the effective field is considerably smaller than that, so that for a part of the audience, that nearer the screen, the picture can occupy enough of the field of vision to dominate it regardless of its immediate surroundings. OTHER AREAS AFFECTED But a large portion of an audience is too far away from the screen to be oblivious of the areas around it. Patrons at extreme sides are similarly involved in the influence of the surround. Another factor is head shift, which at various points in a perform- ance may be demanded by “wide-screen” technique. Thus it is, that even though the effective visual angle is only about 60°, the surfaces around the screen and of forward walls and the ceiling of the auditorium (see Figure K-l) are properly subject to treat- ment that will reduce them to a minimum as visual competitors of the picture. These auditorium surfaces have become a part of the problem to a greater degree because there is a decided increase in the amount of light reflected from the larger screens on to the walls and ceiling. A way 18 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 9, 1954 An Important Statement from Ray tone Screen Corporation We have once again met the Challenge of a new medium and stand ready to supply the theatres of the world with a screen that the Exhibitor wants for his theatre. Raytone is equal in MEASURE to any screen on the market today! Weigh all factors — and RAYTONE’S NEW HI-LUX SCREEN will emerge as the Exhibitor’s choice! 1. BETTER Light Intensity (for Wide Screen, 3D and Anamorphic use.) 2. Clearness of Image — No graininess. 3. Seamless construction. 4. No streaks, blemishes, or visible shadings. 5. Tearproof — Longer life. 6. Lab. Tested. NO FINER color reflection available. 7. Guaranteed flameproof. HI-LUX Screens now available for any CinemaScope pro- duction— nowAnjase for CinemaScope in all sizes both large and small — will comply with all requirements for proper pre- sentation. Accepted and preferred by leading Circuits and Independent Exhibitors! DAVTAUE CTDEEil r ADD clermont avenue lift I I VUE SVlfEEN Wit r» BROOKLYN 5, NEWYORK BETTER THEATRES SECTION 19 to handle this problem might seem to be to “black out” the invasive surfaces with a black matte (non-reflective) finish. A major functional objection to that method is the eye fatigue caused by high contrast between picture light and a dark surround. In addition, it would create a forbidding effect and produce an unsafe condition for normal as well as emergency traffic. It is desirable, therefore, to accept the screen light that is reflected on and re-reflected from auditorium surfaces. In most theatres, these surfaces have been designed primarily for decorative values rather than to provide a suitable sur- round for a screen image. And when screen light illuminates them, their decorative patterns is ordinarily sufficiently outlined to enter actively the field of vision of most of the audience. Avoidance of this condi- tion is simple enough in designing a new theatre ; it can be readily corrected if the wide-screen installation is to be accom- panied by comprehensive modernization of the auditorium. It presents a problem, however, under most circumstances of in- stallation during these beginnings of wide- screen technique. Often, however, these auditorium forms and surfaces can be made less objectionable without drastic changes. The surfaces should be without projections or indenta- tions that create patterns by the shadows they cast on immediately surrounding areas. It is easy, of course, to remove non-struc- tural mouldings and similar decorative appendages. It also should not be difficult in most cases to eliminate invasive light sources. Such fixtures often are more decorative than functional. Wall fixtures needed toward the rear of the auditorium for traffic illumination, can be retained, since they would not be within the effective field of vision. The best traffic lighting from all points of view, however, is downlighting directed into the seating and aisle area exclusively. Where differences in levels of forward surfaces are of such structural nature that FIGURE K-3: Plan of an auditorium similar to that of Figure K- 1 , showing a method of treating surfaces in Zone C for neutraliza- tion of the screen area. See text. it would be costly to remove them, it is possible to eliminate the shadow by apply- ing a ramped surface from the high to the low point of the break (see Figure K-3). 1 he angle of the ramped part to the general surface should not be more than 30°. All breaks in surface which do not cast a shadow due to screen light, do not need this treatment. The texture of all of the critical surfaces should be non-glossy. A matte, or diffusive, finish is desirable because it will reflect the general tone and color of the picture light and avoid specular and spotted references to photographic details of a particular scene. The latter type of reflections can be distracting; it is desirable to have the sur- rounding illumination level in key with the picture, and not to have it extend or dis- tort picture patterns. These surfaces should be painted in a light gray color. LOCATING THE SURFACES Figures K-l and K-2 show how to locate those auditorium surfaces which will be seen along with the projected picture. The position of the row of seats farthest from the screen is applied in these diagrams. Viewing positions closer to the screen would include less ceiling and side wall area for the critical zones ; but considera- tion must be given to the remote rows be- cause increase in picture size has put yet a larger portion of the total seating capacity toward the rear of the auditorium. Figure K-l is a plan of seating area comparing the location of the critical sur- faces of an auditorium 60 feet wide with those of an auditorium 90 feet wide. The large black dots at the intersection of the side wall lines, and the 60° angle subtended from the last row of seating, show where the critical surfaces begin. All wall surfaces between these points and the screen should be neutralized. Sur- 4. OF I^SCREEN FIGURE K-l (above): Plan of seating area showing which of the wall surfaces near the screen are involved in the environment of the projected picture. See text. FIGURE K-2 (left): Longitudinal section through a typical mo- tion picture theatre auditorium, showing ceil- ing areas to be con- sidered in providing a setting for the screen. See text. 20 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 9, 1954 faces between these intersecting points and the rear of the auditorium can have archi- tectural decoration. Figure K-2 is a longitudinal section of an auditorium showing the portion of the ceiling area which falls into the critical area. A comparatively small portion of the ceiling area is affected in a single-floor theatre. The viewer will not be conscious of any ceiling area which falls above a 15° angle subtended from a true horizontal eye line, as indicated in the diagram. WITH UPPER TIER SEATING Figure K-2 also shows the amount of ceiling area affected where an upper tier of seating exists, in which case a consider- able amount of the ceiling area is affected. In general, however, ceiling areas that are more or less parallel with the floor are seen in what might be termed a “skim view” (foreshortened), in which case it is not necessary to make changes in shadow- forming breaks. In both of the plan and section diagrams, the material within visual angles are shown as Zones A, B, and C. The projected pic- ture is Zone A; Zone B is the immediate picture surround (for a picture width occu- pying a subtended angle of 20°, the sur- round would occupy a 5° subtended angle at each side of the screen ; and its angle should be increased to 7° if the screen occupies about a 25° subtended angle). This Zone B is shown as a shaded area in the diagrams. The light intensity in Zone B should provide a transition from screen light intensity to the intensity of screen light reflected from auditorium sur- faces in Zone C. Figure K-3 indicates existing and altered wall surfaces in Zone C. The surfaces marked X are the most troublesome because they are completely turned away from light reflected from the screen, and in addition to making a dark area, they cause a shadow to be cast on the adjacent wall surfaces. A surface (Y in the same drawing) can be erected to eliminate this shadow condition. Such an angled surface will re-reflect screen light. CONSIDERING EXIT DOOR In some instances there may be exit doors included in the surfaces marked X, in which case the new surfaces Y would have to start above the height of the exit doors. Since the enlarged screens have most of their height above the top of such exit doors, it is still advantageous to provide these angled surfaces starting at the top of the doors. Sketch SK-\ illustrates an auditorium having conventional screen with black masking, and with Zone C untreated for use and control of re-reflected screen light. SKETCH SK-l: An auditorium in the conventional picture having dark masking, as it appears during the projection period. Auditorium surfaces show a dim but discernible decorative pattern, which invades vision actively enough to weaken illusion. Compare with Sketch SK-2. SKETCH SK-2: An auditorium with projection as in Sketch SK-l, but with synchronous picture light surround and neutralization of adjoining auditorium surfaces. Under these conditions the picture can dominate perception and therefore have "presence" and optimum realism. In contrast, the conditions illustrated in Sketch SK-2 contribute to concentration on the picture and thus to realism. It is highly desirable to place the bottom of the picture as close to the platform floor as possible in further aid to realism. Where this is not possible, the space between the bottom of the picture and the platform should be treated as prescribed for the X and Y surfaces as indicated in Figure K-3. In Sketch SK-2 is indicated the Zone C area shown in Figure K- 1. Note the com- plete elimination of all decorative detail. The auditorium as a whole need not have an undecorated feeling since, as can be de- duced from Figure K- 1, there are many surfaces to which decorative material can be applied. BETTER THEATRES SECTION 21 ^HEATERS What we have to say can Save you Money! Solve your Speaker i • s ' I Problems with Reconing J V You GAIN in every way / 2 3 4 Any speaker can be re- coned. A speaker can be reconed again and again. Outdoor theatre speakers are reconed with weather- proof components. The performance of Re- coned Speakers is equally as good, and in many cases better than original speakers. Reconing costs less. WHO recones speakers? There is a reconing station located near you. Write today to — UJflLDOm ELECTRONICS INC. 909 B. Larrabee St„ Chicago 10, Illinois Suppliers of Component Parts to Speaker Reconers 'Ar A Department Conducted by WILFRED P. SMITH . . . for many years manager of regular theatres, then drive-in manager and later drive-in circuit executive in charge of planning, construc- tion and operation; now operator of his own drive-in at Ledgewood, N. J. We're Going "Wide-Screen" With Tests for Guidance while on my recent trip visiting drive-ins, I found that nearly every owner and manager whom I talked to would bring up screens, picture sizes for a particular car capacity, and lenses before we got to trading words very long. Well, after all I’ve seen and heard about, I have no chart to offer that would provide all the important answers. These matters are on our minds in the drive-in as well as in the indoor field be- cause we outdoor operators are contem- plating “wide-screen” installations, too. Conditions vary greatly among drive-ins, even when capacities are comparable. Projection booths are located all the way from the second down the line to the twelfth ramp. At Ledgewood during the past month we have been experimenting with lenses to see what focal length gave us the best picture. We concluded that for a 600-car theatre like ours, a 70-foot picture is beau- tiful with use of 4Lj-inch lenses having a spread of // 1.9. Ours is 330 feet. Pull- ing 85 amps on our “Mighty 90” lamp, with 9mm carbons, we projected a picture that was bright enough and one that we felt had a definition that was quite satis- factory. We are now extending our screen to give us a 70-foot picture with a 1.85 ratio. We found a larger picture too “grainy.” If we permit a picture to get beyond the stage of sharp definition we undoubtedly will hinder the effectiveness of wide-screen presentation. A 70-foot picture in a drive- in of 650 cars takes the picture out of the “postage stamp” classification without noticeable loss of clarity. We got our answer by testing, so it is our advice that you get the co-operation of your dealer to experiment with lenses to determine the best performance for your individual theatre before erecting an addi- tional structure to your present screen tower. Due to the scale of drive-ins, I don’t believe we can “go by the book” for the successful development of “wide-screen” in the outdoor field. The setup best suited to your individual theatre must rather be “guinea-pigged” by you right on your premises. . . . and Experimenting with Winter Operation . . . Up North! BEFORE HEADING for home on my recent trip, I visited Rube Shor at his Twin Drive-In at Cincinnati. This was in late November, but the Twin was still very much in business. The tem- perature was 38°, nevertheless patrons were actually sitting in cars in tee shirts! Mr. Shor has installed Arvin in-car heaters, and after seeing hundreds of cars at the Twin on a Thursday night, I pur- chased one of the heaters from Rube and brought it back to Ledgewood to try it out on my patrons. We have kept the Garden Auto-Torium opened through December this year, and one car each night is parked where I have the heater installed. 22 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 9, 1954 best 9'° 7 ineHe* htqh, 0btU«t“‘on- bocUg*°uod me«t- the goW«I'**e' *»*«« CtiS* street Ho»c-— thee”6 fssemb/y Sold by theatre equipment dealers everywhere TV EH THE At ASS A Cm * AND PORT HURON TAILED TO DIST08D M ra i,„ y°^w^7^ — ^ ADve*t!siSncc°sCtTIVe' -- nd ert,P{>as;s, e,,er* in « Vafietv y Y °» size "AGNe**Z^, . *— ,„4No gl*ss J£L! '*a*ib ‘on be . . °,r 5f‘ontJPr W*TS -tvr "■•■' *.. ” W,ndows tor s\g« 'B5~ ^eftse sbov.*^ttin9 on »©«*• IWV & Slate - onJnWahthn °f ine*f>on ■ ' I fedora/ Enf( BETTER THEATRES SECTION DRIVE INS!!! 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If you have a problem of design or maintenance, the editors of BETTER THEATRES will be glad to offer sugges- tions. Please be as specific as possible so that questions may be answered most helpfully. Address your letter to BETTER THEATRES SERVICE DE- PARTMENT, Rockefeller Center. New York. We then inquire of the occupants how the heater performed. Temperatures at night during the past month have ranged all the way from 40° comfort, individual in-car heaters operating nightly The results were so satisfactory that we announced through a special screen trailer, down to 8°, and we have yet to experience one unfavorable reaction, and mostly the users have said they were quite comfortable. Located in the “ice-box” of New Jersey, we have never previously kept open so late in the year. As it turned out, we continued to develop an audience that made it a challenge to stay open in spite of the cold weather. First, people attended as a novelty, then it developed into a special kind of fun to sit in their cars with temperatures outside 20° or less and watch a movie. Recently a middle-aged couple drove up to the box- office, and the lady shook her first out of the window and jovially shouted, “Mr. Smith, if you close this theatre this winter, I’ll kill you.” Well, that set us to work to exploit the fact that we were still open. We increased our newspaper space, even took on publica- tions we had never used before. Our psychology was to “put the monkey on the patrons’ backs.” COPY FOR THE ADS We headed our ads, “You keep coming — we’ll stay open.’’ Another pointed up the angle, “Even if we only take in enough to meet the payroll, light bill and film rental each week, the Garden Auto-T orium will be open every night.” Of course, in every ad, in bold copy, we said, “For your one month in advance, a special New Year’s Eve show, this program to consist of five features and to continue from 7 p.m. to midnight “at the low bargain price of only $1.20 per person,” with free coffee and free hot chocolate to everyone. All the local newspapers gave us prom- inent free space, playing up the fact that this was the first time in the history of any drive-in theatre in northern New Jersey that such a program had been undertaken. Who knows, maybe we can go through the entire winter ! • NEW DRIVE-IN DISPLAY SIGN The attraction panel (above) erected tor the new Twin Vue Drive-in theatre at Odessa, Tex., has two openings, measuring 57 inches high by 24 feet long. Frames and glass background made by Wagner Sign Service, Inc., Chicago, were used by Martin & Company, Sweetwater, Tex., who fabricated and erected the display. Wagner 17-inch green plastic and 10-inch red plastic letters form the copy. 24 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 9. 1954 Indoor Snack Service Featuring Two Stands Describing and picturing plans of the refreshment service at the Terrace theatre in Minneapolis, which includes a main stand and soft drinks bar. opened two years ago last summer, the Terrace theatre, located in Robbinsdale, Minn., a suburb of Minne- apolis, provides an example of a theatre whose facilities for refreshment service have been skilfully integrated into the general architectural scheme. The importance that Sidney and William Volk, owners of the Terrace, attach to refreshment operation is further demonstrated in the fact that they included two separate units in the theatre — one general stand and a “soft drinks bar.” The 1300-seat Terrace is part of a shop- ping development extending over 10 acres overlooking Lake Crystal. There are a number of parking areas within the plot, which are reached by landscape drives that connect two highways and give direct ac- cess to the theatre on two sides. (A gen- eral description of the design and construc- tion was published in Better Theatres for August, 1951.) Architects for the thea- tre were Liebenberg & Kaplan of Minne- apolis ; the refreshment units were designed by them in collaboration with the owners and Lee Bennett, manager of Vendex, Inc., Minneapolis, which operates the Terrace stands. Both the stands are pictured in ac- companying photographs, and the service arrangements are charted in drawings. Entrance into the theater is through two banks of all-glass doors directly into the lobby. Here the main refreshment stand has been placed, immediately beyond the box-office, both thus forming conspicuous installations extending along one side. As BETTER THEATRES SECTION 25 BARBECUE SNACK BAR PLAN ENTRANCE MAIN REFRESHMENT STAND Diagrams showing the service arrangement of the soft drinks bar (top) and main stand (below) of the Terrace theatre. the patron walks toward the stand, the first refreshment item to meet his eye is a glass- enclosed case of candies, selling at 10c, 25c and 35c. Next in line is the popcorn ma- chine, which has butter dispensers on each side. As the patron turns the corner he is met successively by a popcorn warmer, the 5c candy counter and the ice cream bar. Popcorn is sold in 10c and 25c sizes, while ice cream ranges in price from 10c to 20c. In keeping with the decor of the lobby, this main stand has a base and back wall of light tan and grey flagstone. The 10c candy case is trimmed with bleached oak, which is also the material of the case between the popcorn machine and the 5c candy unit. The canopy over the stand is made of Alsynite (corrugated sheets of glass, fibre- reinforced plastic) with the “frames” also of bleached oak. The popcorn warming unit was built by the Cretors Corporation, of Chicago and Nashville, especially for the Terrace. It has a circulating fan and special sliding racks of stainless steel to hold the popcorn boxes. The racks were designed by the architects and built by Ettel and Franz of Minne- apolis. The popcorn machine is a Cretors’ “Super 60” model with a 16/18 ounce kettle. Both a warmer and a popping machine were deemed necessary by the owners be- cause of the large volume of business this product does. In addition, it has been found that the warmer acts as a sales stimulant since the popcorn can be displayed in it. Ice cream is dispensed at the main stand from an “Ice Creamolator” which is equipped with a display top. THE SOFT DRINKS BAR The soft drinks bar is located on the opposite side of the lobby at the far end. It is equipped with a number of stools made of wood with woven leather seats. The counter of this bar is constructed of oak, and it has a dark brown Formica top. The wall behind this stand is of redwood, and the door leading to the supply room is of wood stained black. Offered to patrons at this counter are several soft drinks, coffee, malted milk shakes, “Snow Crop” orange juice, frank- furters, barbecued beef sandwiches and a variety of ice cream novelties. The latter include ice cream bon bons, ice cream sand- wiches, an “Alaska” bar and “walkaway” chocolate sundaes. Ice cream is dispensed at this bar from a stainless steel freezer. Frankfurters are sold from a Connolly roller grill, and the bar- becue serving unit is a “Toasty Bun made by the Madison Products Company of Brooklyn, N. Y. All beverages are sold from manual units due to the management’s belief that there is an important “personal touch in having 2b MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 9, 1954 Illinois Candy Makers Denounce Federal Farm and Trade Policies attendants pour a drink into a paper cup for each patron. There are three stock rooms for the Ter- race refreshment operation — one by each stand and one in the basement. The two main floor rooms have elevators going down to the basement to facilitate the movement of supplies. In the main stand’s supply room, located adjacent to it, candy and pop- corn supplies are stored. In addition there is a small freezer for extra ice cream and butter. The soft drinks bar’s supply room is behind the counter and has facilities for storing coffee, condiments and cups and a refrigerator for frankfurters and other perishables. Coffee makers and bread boxes are also kept here. In the basement stock room paper cups and bottled goods are stored. It also has a bottle cooler to pre-cool soft drinks and a large freezer where frozen oranges, frozen weiners and buns and extra butter are kept. Suppliers can drive their trucks from the street directly into the basement. Since the Terrace stands have been in operation, there have been no major changes in the original equipment installed or in the service arrangement. Vendex maintains the equipment ; theatre employees clean the stands every evening and oil the motors periodically. This minor servicing requires only about two hours a month of the em- ployees’ time. It is the management’s policy to keep enough refreshment merchandise in stock to last a period of approximately 10 days. FILM TRAILERS BOOST SALES In promoting products sold at the snack stands it has been found that film trailers shown right after the main feature bring the best results. T he trailers generally run from 30 to 45 seconds and often are fur- nished by a supplier such as Armour & Company. In addition a few signs are used at the stands, though these are considered subordinate in their power to stimulate sales to that which can be achieved by a person- able sales attendant. Special promotional efforts are sometimes employed on occasions such as the introduc- tion of a new candy bar. Techniques used for the latter include mentioning the new product in the theatre’s advertisements in daily newspapers and also giving a free bar to the first 500 children attending the thea- tre the following day. "Attendants, Stocks and Reports," second article in the series, "Motion Picture Theatre Management," on "The Refreshment Service," by Curtis Mees, is in the Method in Management department, beginning on page 32. criticisms and proposed revisions of government policies in agricul- ture and foreign trade as they affect the confectionery industry are being presented to their congressmen by a group of candy manufacturers in Illinois following a meet- ing held by the latter in Chicago last month. The subjects covered include sugar; pea- nuts; other candy ingredients supplied by farmers; and distribution and consumer acceptance. Administration of the Sugar Act of 1948 was condemned by Theodore Stempfel, vice-president of E. J. Brach & Sons, Chi- cago, as having been performed in the in- terest of the growers — “and not in the public interest.” He also said that the pro- posed International Sugar Agreement con- stitutes a form of government regimentation which “would unwarrantedly restrict the operation of our private enterprise system and the ratification of it should be opposed by the Senate.” Speaking on peanuts for the industry, Charles F. Scully, president of the William- son Candy Company, Chicago, said they are not a basic crop and should not be “priced off the market by a high-price support pro- gram.” He also called attention to the “fact that the present program has forced farmers to decrease their peanut acreage from 3.4 million acres in 1948 to 1.5 million acres in 1952 and has resulted in a decrease in the farm value of peanuts from 246.5 mil- lion dollars in 1948 to 149.7 million dollars in 1953.” The dependence of the confectionery in- dustry upon products of farms both here and abroad was stressed by W. F. Olsen, president of the Curtiss Candy Company, Chicago, who called for development of a program that will be “helpful in the long run to the American farmers, the processors of their products, and the public. “I firmly believe,” he said, “that a gov- ernment program which prices products off the market, restricts production, discourages initiative, and prohibits the individual from exercising his freedom of choice, conflicts with the economic philosophy under which agriculture and industry have progressed.” He further declared that in his opinion the candy industry cannot be expected to meet the competition of manufacturers in other countries “where much lower rates prevail, if the domestic manufacturers can- not purchase their ingredients at prices which may prevail in free and open world markets. “At present,” Mr. Olsen said, “the manufacturers abroad are able to purchase ingredients at much lower prices than those which prevail here under a government pro- tected and a high-price support program.” He then cited figures from the Department of Commerce to show the “dependence of our industry upon agriculture.” The aver- age candy bar, he said, represents 26% dairy products, 25% sugar, 15% corn syrup, 5% peanuts, and 3% fruit, eggs and oils — most of which come from American farms — together with 21% cocoa bean products, and 5% coconut and other nut meats, which are imported. “We support the policy of promoting in- ternational trade and international good will, but it cannot be carried on successfully in the interest of the American public on the basis of one-way trade or one-way reciprocity,” he concluded. EFFECT ON THE CONSUMER The effect of “ill-conceived” legislation on the consumer as well as the producer of agricultural products and the processor was cited by Victor H. Gies, vice-president and director of sales of Mars, Inc., Chicago. He said that 53% of confectionery sold is in the form of items selling to the consuming public for 10c or less, and that 76% sold the consuming public is less than 50 cents per pound. “According to extensive surveys,” Mr. Gies pointed out, “the consumption of candy is greatest in the low-income groups, among industrial workers where it is recognized as a valuable quick source of caloric food energy, which is accounted for by increased sales through vending machines in industrial plants. “The tremendous increase in the cost of raw materials such as the farm products incorporated in candy, as well as other costs, have made it extremely difficult for the confectionery manufacturer to maintain production on his 5- and 10-cent items. In fact, the industry’s present profit has been severely reduced, and any additional cost occasioned by legislative action must be passed on to the food cost of the American working man.” An introductory statement was made at the meeting by Philip P. Gott, president of the National Confectioners’ Association, Chicago. In a concluding speech Col. John D. Peterman, commandant of the Quarter- master Food and Container Institute for the Armed Forces, reviewed the develop- ment of rations for the armed services and cited the reasons for including different confections in all of the rations. BETTER THEATRES SECTION 27 iPlili 1 inHI : i i I ER-V. News and Comment about fftfln Merchandise Sold in the Salty-Cracker Cones To Serve Hot Chili salty cracker-flavored cone cups in which to serve “a generous portion” of hot chili con carne have been marketed by the Chili Cone Company of Kansas City, Mo. In addition the company is offering a special chili designed for the cones by the Rutherford Food Corporation of the same city, manufacturers for 35 years of “Hy-Power” chili and tamales. The chili cones, which were perfected in five years of research by the National Cone Company of St. Louis, have also been trade- named “Hy-Power.” The cup-type cones It's pure peanut oil! gives com j true j butterlike / have been especially reinforced to remain sturdy and crisp and are eaten just like an ice cream cone. The chili is provided in No. 10 cans holding 104 ounces. The only other equipment required for service is a heating unit and a dipper. Special market tests of the cones were conducted last summer in several drive-in theatres with great success, according to J. A. Thomas, head of the Chili Cone Com- pany and formerly advertising and sales manager for Rutherford. He states that sales of 250 to 300 of the cones were made a night during a 20-minute intermission in spite of such adverse conditions as extremely hot weather and no advance promotion or advertising. Other advantages revealed by the tests, Mr. Thomas reports, include the speed with which the cones can be served ; elimi- nation of the cleanup problem which use of spoons and dishes entails ; and the exact control of sales permitted by the 104-ounce chili cans. It was further shown, Mr. Thomas points out, that the chili cones did not cut into hot dog sales. And there were no com- Equipment set-up for the "Hy-Power" chili includes salty-cracker cones, a heating unit and a dipper. One of the new "Hy-Power" chili cones is sampled by Jack Braunagel (left) executive in charge of the Drive-in Division of Commonwealth Theatres, Kansas City, and Bennett England, vice-president of the Chili Cone Company, also of Kansas City at a meeting of the Missouri-Kansas Theatre Asso- ciation in Kansas City recently. plaints, he adds, of the cups “leaking or getting soggy before the customer had fin- ished eating one.” "3-D Popcorn Kits" Help ioost Sales in Theatres over 5000 motion picture theatres from coast to coast are currently using the “3-D popcorn promotional kit” to increase their sales of popcorn at the snack bar provided them by the Pop- corn Institute, Chicago, according to Clark Rhoden, Institute chairman. “Theatre man- agers interviewed have been enthusiastic as to the value of point-of-sale pieces in boost- ing popcorn sales,” Mr. Rhoden declared. The theatre promotion is part of a huge fall popcorn campaign sponsored by the In- stitute and now in full swing throughout the country. The Institute and its asso- ciated member companies are conducting merchandising efforts in retail grocer out- lets in a tie-in with the sales organizations of the Seven-Up Company, the Morton Salt Company and Wesson Oil and Snowdrift Sales, Inc. The program is being spear- headed by a vast advertising campaign spon- sored by Seven-Up, Morton and Wesson. In addition an extensive publicity drive is now underway with the Institute cooperat- ing with the Can Manufacturers’ Institute an d Peniclc & Ford. The giant consumer publicity program is featuring popcorn with all of the related items. It is being highlighted by national magazine coverage, including editorial fea- tures in “Seventeen”, “Woman’s Home Companion”, “Look”, and “American Weekly”. News stories and illustrations are being carried in the national press services. Illustrated articles are currently scheduled in 74 leading metropolitan dailies, 275 smaller city dailies, 648 small town dailies and large weeklies. Television scripts have been supplied to 108 leading foodcasters and radio scripts have been channeled to 28 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 9, 1954 No Other Popcorn Machine Like It On The Market! Here it is — the Manley DIS- PLAY CONSOLE MODEL — a sensational new pop- corn machine to boost your sales to a new high. The Manley DISPLAY CONSOLE MODEL is the only popcorn machine available today that offers conventional theaters easy over-the-counter service . . . more attractive display features . . . plus a deep well for big storage capacity, that keeps popcorn in top tasting condition. Up to now, theater managers have always want- ed— but could never get — a machine that combined quick, efficient counter service with adequate storage and conditioning capacity. Now it’s here! The new Manley DISPLAY MODEL has a huge deep well storage that holds 72 to 82 boxes of popped corn . . . keeps it in top condi- tion with forced hot air . . . and is equipped with a spe- cial elevator to keep the fresh, hot corn at counter height for easy service and attractive display. Better Display Builds Bigger Popcorn Profits! This new, modern Manley DISPLAY CONSOLE MODEL will fit neatly into the counter of any conces- sion and provide the best possible point-of-sale attraction . . . a big, eye-catching display of the product itself. This inviting mass of fresh, hot, delicious popcorn is made doubly effective by the easy-to-clean glass display case of the machine. The DISPLAY CONSOLE MODEL combines new dispensing and display advantages with all the other famous Manley features — giant ca- pacity' Cascade kettle . . . auto- matic seasoning well and pump . . . top-quality Manley construction. Send coupon right now for complete details. FILL OUT AND MAIL RIGHT NOW! GET ALL THE DETAILS ON THE NEW MANLEY DISPLAY CONSOLE MANLEY, INC. Dept. 1920 Wyandotte St. MPH-1 54 Kansas City 5, Mo. MANLEY, INC. 1920 Wyandotte St.. Kansas City 8, Mo. ["] Send me complete information on the new DISPLAY CONSOLE MODEL. | | Please have a Manley representative call. Name Address- City -Zone- -State- BETTER THEATRES SECTION 29 nearly 400 women’s program broadcasters. “The Popcorn Institute, the promotional arm of the popcorn industry,” Mr. Rhoden declared, “now represents a great prepon- derance of all of the companies processing corn and packaging and selling the com- modity on a nation-wide basis. Processors doing over 90% of the volume of this coun- try’s business have joined hands to promote popcorn throughout the medium of the Institute. Almost every national packer is supporting the Institute and tying-in ag- Display material available to theatres in the Pop- corn Institute’s "3-D promotional kit," is demon- strated above by starlet Betty Becker. The material can be used individually or in a set-up giving a "Jack-in-the-box" effect. Theatre managers report the kit has been highly successful In helping to boost popcorn sales. popcorn seasoning butterlike flavor and color k C. F. Simonin's Sons, Inc. Philadelphia 34, Pa. gressively in publicity, advertising and mer- chandising to increase the sale of this deli- cious commodity.” "New Horizons" Seen For Bottling Industry THE INTRODUCTION of “Dietricious Dad’s,” a calorie-free root beer drink to be placed on the market early this year, was a highlight of the convention of the Dad’s Root Beer Company, Chicago, held in that city in November. The keynote of the convention was “New Horizons,” a theme which Barney Berns, executive vice-president of Dad’s, empha- sized in the opening address. Mr. Berns reviewed the growth of the beverage indus- try over the years and predicted a number of changes to come within the near future. One of the latter was the return of the “no-deposit, no-return” bottle as the answer to the “ever-increasing question of maintain- ing steady and higher production without the difficulty of locating, returning and processing glass.” The trend toward dis- posable glass will eliminate this return problem, he said. Plans for the largest advertising campaign in Dad’s history in 1954 were outlined by Walter Sala, advertising manager for Grant Advertising, Inc., and Glen Shears, Grant account executive. The campaign will include point-of-sale programs and newspaper, radio, television and magazine advertising. This was followed by an in- formal discussion among district managers of problems of production and product con- trol, led by Forbes Ryder, national sales manager of Dad’s Bottling Division. CUP VENDINC DEFENDED A defense of the cup-vending industry was conducted by I. W. Houston, president of Spacarb, Inc., New York, and also of the National Automatic Machines’ Asso- ciation. Mr. Houston said he wished to “break down the long-standing antagonism mm aomwsing tCC7 COnVtQi Of COMPUTE DIST MB ttiPMWSM CCMfii ETE OUT WF MMmm* Of COMPLETE DIST. MsI COMPUTE DISTRIBUTION 10(11 KWH UVtfIT/SING W8CMWM ADDITIONAL DiSTP.TB VtfTlEiCATiOH Of ADD OISTRlB i) Y’OML distribution . I^Ot/iV* CONTROL /xnr!fictTics 0f ' MlRiWiON COMPANY product*^ y ” STANDARDIZATION QUALITY CONTROL Prominent delegates to the Dad’s convention were Barney Berns, executive vice-president, and Beverlee Wilson, who is "Miss Dad’s of 1954." Delegates to the recent convention of Dad’s Root Beer Company in Chicago were told that the cup vending and bottling industries can be help-mates rather than competitors in an address by I. W. Houston, (above) president of Spacarb, Inc., New York. (See text.) bottlers have held toward automatic cup vendors.” In tracing the history of the cup- vending business, he said that while it had nearly floundered for a while, it now was an important factor in the retail sale of soft drinks to the consumer. He reported it to be the preferred method of dispensing in many locations where empty bottles present a problem or a safety hazard around ma- chines. Cup vendors are not competitors with bottlers, Mr. Houston declared, but instead conduct a sampling operation which can only result in helping the bottling industry — particularly those who pack not only the 10-ounce bottles but the 32s and 64s for home use. A brief review of the sampling campaign conducted by Dad’s was presented by Wil- liam Russell, national sales manager of the Fountain Flavor Division. Disposable cans, wh ich are soon to be adopted by Dad’s, were described by C. H. Buckley, product sales manager of the Continental Can Company. Automatic French Fryer And Stoneware Roaster TWO AUTOMATIC food cooking appliances, one a french frying unit and the other a crock-lined roaster, have been placed on the market by the Naxon Utilities Corporation, Chicago. The “Naxon Frymaster” is an automatic french fryer and cooker. The proper temperature and time-limit for all foods is selected by means of the “Menustat,” a mechanical pointer that automatically sets these as the pointer knob is turned. The unit is constructed of insulated chrome and has bakelite appointments. Its interior is of spun-aluminum, and the capacity of the well is more than a full gallon. The baskets are of aluminum. The company 30 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 9, 1954 points out that this appliance is also de- signed to be used as a casserole, corn popper, bun warmer and food defroster. The “Naxon Automatic Flavor Crock” is designed to cook foods automatically in The Naxon french fryer and cooker. stoneware without the use of water, so that they retain their natural juices. With a capacity of 3j/2 quarts, the unit is finished in gleaming chrome. Six-Flavor Drink Unit For Carbonated and Flat a six-flavor automatic drink dispenser designed to serve both carbonated and non-carbonated beverages has been added to its line by the Cole Products Corporation, Chicago. Called the “Cole Spa 6,” the new unit has a capacity of 1200 cups and 2400 drinks in four syrup tanks. Incorporating a hermetic design, it has the company’s “ Microthermic Refrigeration ” system, which is designed to prevent both warm-up and freeze-up and to provide instantaneous recovery of cold water as soon as a drink is served. The dispenser is built on an all-steel welded chassis. Other models of the “Cole Spa” provide 3, 5, or 8 selections of drinks. All models are available with either a white lucite panel on the front featuring a “thirst” scene or a standard mirror. Display Dispenser for Non-Carbonated Drinks A self-contained cooler and dispenser for non-carbonated beverages, equipped for display purposes with a plastic dome at the top in which the liquid is showered down over cascades, has been marketed s by the Mayer Re- frigeration Engi- neering Corpora- tion, Lincoln Park, N. J. The company reports that the unit was developed in cooperation with Nedicks, Inc. which tested 250 of them in its “quick lunch” stands. The results showed a sharp in- crease in sales, according to the companies. Standing about five feet high, the dis- HIRES’ SNACK BAR PRAISED Modern methods of merchandising beverages and food on a large scale were described to represen- tatives of the Charles E. Hires Company, Phila- delphia, recently at their eastern sales meeting there by P. A. Sandow (standing above) manager of luncheonettes for the W. T. Grant Company. Seated are C. D. Clark (left) general sales man- ager of Hires' National Accounts and Fountain Division and W. W. David, president of the Hires Company. Mr. Sandow told the meeting that his company has placed "Hires Snack Bar," a beverage and food unit, in many of its stores and found it to have numerous advantages. Among the latter which he cited are the ease with which the snack unit can be installed; its compact service and storage space; and its attractive appearance and low cost. penser is 15 inches square and has a capa- city of six gallons. It has rubber pumps, stainless steel piping and deep drawn tanks with rounded corners. The plastic cascade and dome are removable and thus can be easily cleaned. Cooling temperatures are adjustable to suit the beverage used and to meet varying climatic conditions. After they have been set the temperatures are held within 2°, according to the manufacturer. A NATURAL For Movie Theatres! CONNOLLY AUTOMATIC ROLL-A-GRILL Now operaiing in thousands of • INDOOR THEATRES • DRIVE-INS 1 . . . Boosting Frankfurter Sales and Profits! NO SMOKE— NO ODORS No installation needed — just Plug In! Saves time and labor — No attendant to watch or turn franks — no scraping of grill. And it’s EASY to CLEAN! Gleaming stainless steel ROLL-A- GRILL remains bright, attractive- grills clean, wholesome-looking franks! STOPS TRAFFIC with its fascinating slow rotary motion. SELF-BASTING, seals in juices, barbecues frankfurters even- ly on all sides, retains natural flavor — frank expands in size — looks worth more, and you GET MORE for it! Turns out up to 500 de- licious barbecued franks per hour. ••LIKES IT VERY MUCH!" SKY-VUE DRIVE-IN THEATRE, East Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, writes in: “We have been using one of your Model A Roll. A-Grills, 1 10 AC. since we started opera- tions . . . and like it very much, so much so. in fact, that we would like you to send us another machine of the same type ” MANUFACTURER 457 W. 40th St., N. Y. 18, N. Y. Consult your local dealer or use coupon for further information. Phone: CH 4-5000 Cable JAYCONLEY L JDe^nn"^y'| ,nc“ 457 w- 40th St., N. Y. (8 J Send Connolly Automatic Roll-A- Grills literature to: ' Name . City. BETTER THEATRES SECTION 31 method in Management ★ staff supervision institutional advertising exploitation equipment housekeeping & maintenance mmmmmm and related activities THE REFRESHMENT SERVICE: Part II Attendants, Stocks and Reports Eleventh Article in Series, MOTION PICTURE THEATRE MANAGEMENT by CURTIS MEES just as in the selec- tion of cashiers, care must be taken to select the right type of girl to handle concession sales. You tvant young ladies of some refine- ment who like dealing with the public and selling, and can do so with a ready smile. The breezy, talkative, gum chewing girl frequently found behind a drug store soda fountain will not measure up to these standards, in the long run. They are “floaters” who cannot be depended on in a pinch, and will not lend the dignity desired to a theatre refreshment stand operation. Where any number of girls are working together, there is bound to be some jealousy of one another, and for that reason it is advisable to have the supervisor remain somewhat aloof from the girls outside the theatre, and keep relations on a strictly business basis inside the theatre. That is desirable if the supervisor is a girl or mature woman ; if the supervisor is a young man, it is doubly so. There do not have to be too many rules and regulations binding the concession employees, but certain basic points should be included in all such rules, and we are listing below the primary rules which come to mind immediately in connection with this department: 1. HEALTH CARDS — All employees connected with the handling of concession goods must be examined regularly by the proper authorities and provided with a health card certifying freedom from any contagious disease. 2. UNIFORM AND APPEARANCE — The theatre provides uniforms for all concession employees. These are to be kept neat and turned in regularly for cleaning and repairs. No costume jewelry, flowers or special adornment is to be worn in con- junction with the uniform. The hair should be neatly combed in conservative manner. No unusual cosmetics are to be used. 3. PERSONAL CONDUCT— While on duty, employees will not flirt with either patrons or employees of the theatre. To further the atmosphere desired, em- ployees are urged to smile and be pleasant. Do not enter into any arguments with patrons — call the supervisor, or manager, if any dispute arises. Away from the theatre employees are expected to conduct themselves as ladies and gentlemen. Male and female employees are forbidden to fraternize either on or off duty. 4. DUTIES — When two or more attendants are on duty at the same time, the work at the stand will be divided so that each will have certain duties to per- form. The supervisor, or manager, will outline these duties. 5. STOCK — Attendants will see that the candy stock is always maintained at a high level. She will request additional candy from storage when she finds it necessary. 6. HANDLING MONEY — All em- ployees of the theatre handling money are bonded by a commercial insurance firm. In the event they are responsible for any serious shortage, the bonding company may hold them liable for criminal prosecution, and employees are advised to conduct them- selves as to be free of any adverse comment. ACCOUNTING PRINCIPLES Strict control over the entire concession operation cannot be too strongly empha- sized. The following basic principles, with accompanying sample forms, supply a guide in the formulation of individual bookkeeping procedure for refreshment service operation. PURCHASES Starting with the initial purchase of candy for the stock room, it will be found that the various sources of supply will have their own forms for making up orders for concession supplies. Our primary worry at this point is to insure correct and prompt delivery to the theatre of all supplies ordered. If possible, the same person should con- stantly be responsible for receiving and checking in these supplies, which must be tallied for the totals in each price range, 32 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 9, 1954 and for the total number of pieces for entry on the weekly report. In purchasing candy, it is well to buy only as much as can be sold in a short length of time to insure freshness of your product. This is particularly true of the soft candies and chocolates, which are even more perishable in the summer months. THE COUNTER ORDER You may be interested in the makeup of an order blank similar to the one accom- panying this discussion, as a means of accounting for candy and other concession concession stand attendant should then check in the candy, placing a check mark in the final column beside each item. The attendant should then receipt the order and turn it in to the supervisor or man- ager, at the end of the day with the daily report, so that the figures may be properly entered and made a part of the weekly record. DAILY REPORT This record is made out in duplicate by the supervisor, retaining one at the stand for the next day’s opening report figures CONCESSIONS ORDER FOR, DATE 5 / Candy No. Ord. No. Iss • 10/ Candy No. Ord. No. Iss. 25/ Candy No. Ord. No. Iss. ✓ (V 9° 2 h Ay S’ iv jo 1/ s It is fyfc. S' IV P ? o IfeO. wLy 4* IS 11 % -m Z+ is if K Zj H V TOTAL M ✓ TOTAL s TOTAL Drink Cups Ordered Buttercups Ordered 122. 12. Cups Issued B. Cups Issued ZOO 1± items needed at the counter. This should be made out by a responsible person who knows which items are most needed and the quantities desired. This order is made out in duplicate and sent down to the store room to be filled. There the items will be listed in the “No. Issued” column and totaled before return- ing, with the candy, to the stand. And the and turning in the original, with the copies of the orders received during the day. We have filled out this report, taking for the “open” figures an imaginary set of numbers which would have been the “close” numbers on the preceeding day’s report. The figures in the “Reed” column must match those on the concession order, and the two “Open” and “Reed” columns REACHES into every seat Stretches up oisles — down rows — CUTS cleaning time IN HALF CI[ancr ULTRA FLEXIBLE Highly maneuverable, low cost vacuum cleaner with the power and ca- pacity for big jobs. Extremely^ flexible Ac- cordion (R) Hose cleans larger area without moving the machine, stretches from 6' to 16' and can be coupled for longer reach. Converts to wet pick-up and power blower. Pullman Vacuum Cleaner Corp. Boston 19, Mass. I would like more information about the Pullman Theater Vacuum Cleaner with Accor- dion Hose. SIGN COMPANY STREET CITY STATE BETTER THEATRES SECTION 33 thBnmr attraction in town ! & n — \ Generally, after one of our seating "treatments,11 your theatre has a feature attraction every show! Our rehabilitation work is a delight to patrons as well as to you! Let us examine your needs and estimate the cost for you, Your show goes on while we work. Manufacturers — Foam rubber and spring cushions, back and seat covers Distributors — Upholstery fabrics and general seating supplies theatre seat service co.- 160 Hermitage Avenue Nashville, Tennessee For The Best Signs You'll See . . . ADLER CHANGEABLE LETTER DISPLAYS ADLER CLASS-IN-FRAME DIS- PLAYS—“REMOVA-PANEL” — ‘THIRD DIMENSION” PLASTIC & CAST ALUMINUM LETTERS ADLER “SECTIONAD” LOW COST CHANGEABLE LETTER DISPLAYS WRITE FOR FREE CATALOG Adler Silhouette Letter Co. 11843 b W. Olympic, Los Angeles 64, Calif. 30 West Washington, Chicago, III. are added together to give the “Total” column. For small stands, a nightly inventory is easily made, and from the totals obtained can be added to the daily report the “Close” figures. These are subtracted from the “Total” column in each price range, and that gives us the “Sold” figures, from which multiplication by the various prices gives the dollars and cents “Amount,” which is brought down and added for “Total Sales.” Frequently this figure will not jibe with the amount of cash actually “Turned In,” and the difference must therefore be entered underneath as “Over (or Short).” If shortages are an extreme problem, it opening number is the previous day’s closing number ; subtracting, we have the number of boxes sold and the amount due from these sales. Buttered popcorn cups are not numbered, so we pick up the previous day’s closing total as the “Cups Open.” We next list the total cups issued during the day, and combining the two we have the “Total” for the day. Our closing tally is listed under this and subtracted to give the number of cups sold for the day, followed by the monetary “Amount.” If you have two or more stands, you may wish to do as shown on this report and have a breakdown on some of the items sold there. In this instance, we see entries Location DAILY CONCESSION REPORT £7j /ypi/, j, ITEM OPEN RECD. TOTAL CLOSE SOLD AMOUNT 5/ Candy nl 7^5 an 10/ Candy )%d /if 71* 7. CD 25/ Candv yo A b z 3L. 10/ Drinks 7? ZOO All 17 3 IVL jv, ^ o 10/ Popcorn b A % v 2.00 20/ Popcorn 7 Bank 7/p, ^ 0*^. 7\ Attendant TOTAL SALES _ TURNED IN _ (Short). may help to have each incoming attendant “check out” his predecessor and fill out separate “Daily Reports.” Certainly this will tend to minimize such shortages and help pin them down to the proper person. For large stands it is not practicable to run a nightly inventory on all the mer- chandise items, in which case the physical inventory may only cover such items as drink cups, popcorn boxes (from serial numbers, if possible), etc. These figures will be properly entered in the daily report, and the supervisor will transcribe them (together with reports on any remote automatic vending machines in the theatre), on the Consolidated Daily Concession Report. A specimen of the latter is shown for your guidance in preparing a similar form for your use. CONSOLIDATED DAILY REPORT To give a brief rundown on this report, let’s start at the left side with popcorn. The closing number comes from the daily report, being the last number in the series for the day. (If your boxes are not num- bered, deduct the total on hand at closing time from the total at opening). The for total figures for matinee and night on drinks and candy alone (popcorn was boxed from the main stand, hence needn’t show). At the right hand side of the form, starting at the top, we list the fountain drinks, first by the cups on hand at open- ing time, plus the number of “Cups Issued,” and adding for the “Total.” Again we subtract the total cups at closing to get the number “Sold” for the day, and the money due. We now reach the point where we calcu- late the portion of the day’s receipts which will be credited to candy, since we have not (in this case) made nightly inventories of the candy stock at the main stand. First, we count and enter as “Total Received” all the day’s receipts from all sources at the stands (except tax pennies). Dropping down into the “Box-Office Report” section below, we have added the totals of both popcorn and buttercorn and listed it as one amount under popcorn. Drinks were similarly treated, totaling the amount from the gallery stand with the fountain drinks for “Total Drinks.” If we add these two columns in the B. O. ( Continued on page 58) 34 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 9, 1954 THE Index to Products Advertised £l Described in this issue, with • Dealer directory • Convenient inquiry postcard Firms are numbered for easy identification in using postcard. Dealer indications refer to listing on following page. ADVERTISERS NOTE: See small type under advertiser's ..ame for proper reference number where more than one kind of product is advertised. Reference Adv. Number Page 1 — Adler Silhouette Letter Co. 34 Changeable letter signs: Front lighted panels for drive-ins (IA), back-lighted panels (IB), and changeable letters (1C). All dealers. 2 — American Seating Co 10 Auditorium chairs. NTS and direct. 3 — Ashcraft Mfg. Co., C. S 15 Projection arc lamps. Unaffiliated dealers. 4— Ballantyne Co., The 53 4-runner magnetic soundhead. Dealers I, 3, 8, 10, 18, 19, 20, 34, 36, 43, 57, 64, 67, 72, 74. 87, 89, 94, 100, 103, 108, III, 119, 125, 129, 130, 132. 5— Carbons, Inc. 49 Projection carbons. Franchise dealers. 6 — Coca-Cola Co., Inc 2nd Cover Soft drinks (6A), beverage dispensers (6B). Branches in principal cities. 7 — Connolly, Inc., J. J 31 Frankfurter grill. Direct. 8 — Depth Viewers, Inc 51 3-d glasses. Direct. 9 — F & Y Building Service, The 17 Architectural design and building service. 10 — G. B.-Kalee, Ltd. 9 Stereophonic sound system (I0A), projection lenses (I0B), auditorium chairs (IOC). Direct. I I — Goldberg Bros. 42, 52, 60 Box-office speaking tube (I I A ) , projection room tables and cabinets (MB), film rewinder (1 1C). Unaffi- liated dealers and direct. 12 — Griggs Equipment Co 24 Auditorium chairs. Direct. 13 — Heyer-Shultz, Inc 50 Metal projection arc reflectors. All dealers. 14 — Heywood-Wakefield Co 8 Auditorium chairs. Dealers 8, 10, 23, 31, 54, 97, 101, 125 and branches. 15 — Ideal Seating Co 42 Auditorium chairs. Unaffiliated dealers. 16 — Imperial Electric Co 52 Motor-generators. Direct. 17 — International Projector Corp 4th Cover Stereophonic sound system. NTS. 18 — Kollmorgen Optical Corp 50 Projection lenses. NTS and all dealers. 19 — LaVezzi Machine Works 52 Projector parts. All dealers. 20 — Manley, Inc 29 Popcorn machines. Offices in principal cities. 21 — Marsh Wall Products, Inc 17 Decorative wall paneling. Direct. 22— Mi nneapolis Speaker Reconing 52 Drive-In speaker reconing. Direct. 23 — National Carbon Co., Inc 4 Projection carbons. All dealers. 24 — National Super Service Co., Inc 38 Vacuum cleaners. All dealers. 25 — National Theatre Supply 6, 39 D istributors. 26 — Poblocki & Sons 24 Drive-in screens. NTS. 27 — Projection Optics Co 41 Projection lenses. Distributor: Raytone Screen Corp. 28 — Pullman Vacuum Cleaner Co. 33 Vacuum cleaners. Direct. Reference Adv. Number Page 29 — Radianf Mfg. Corp 5 W ide-screens. Direct. 30 — Radio Corp. of America 3 Stereophonic sound system. Dealers marked . 31 — Raytone Screen Corp 19 Projection screens. Direct. 32 — RCA Service Co. 53 Projection and sound equipment maintenance service. 33 — Robin, Inc., J. E 48 Wide-screens (33A), motor-generators (33B), projec- tion lenses (33C), rectifiers (33D). Direct. 34 — S. O. S. Cinema Supply Corp 24 Distributors. 35 — Simonin's Sons, Inc., C. F 28, 30 Popcorn seasoning. Unaffiliated dealers. 36 — Strong Electric Corp., The 47 Projection arc lamps. Dealers I, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 16, 17, 18. 19. 20, 21. 23, 24, 25, 27. 31, 34, 35, 36, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43. 45. 46, 48. 49. 52, 53, 54. 55. 56, 57, 58, 60. 61. 62. 64, 65, 67, 69. 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77. 78, 80. 81, 87. 88, 89, 90 93, 94. 95, 97, 99, 100, 101, 102, 105, 104, 106, 108. 109, 110, III. 112, M3, 114, 121, 126, 127, 128, 129. 37 — Theatre Seat Service, Inc 34 Theatre chair rehabilitation service. Direct. 38 — Unistrut Products Co 7 Screen frames. Unaffiliated dealers. 39 — Vallen, Inc 42 Curtain tracks and controls. Direct. 40 — Wagner Sign Service, Inc 23 Attraction frames (40A), glass windows (40B), enamel panels for drive-in signs (40C), plastic letters (40D). Dealers I, 8, 10 12, 13. 14 15. 16. 20, 21, 22, 23, 24. 25. 27. 28. 29, 31, 33. 34. 35. 39. 40. 41, 42. 43. 49. 51. 52. 54, 55. 57, 53 60 62. 64. 65, 66. 67, 69. 70, 71. 72, 74. 76. 77. 91. 83. 85, 86, 87. 88. 94. 96, 97. 101, 102, 103, 104. 1 09. M0. M3, 1 14, 115. 116, 1 17, 1 19, 121, 125, >26. >27 and NTS Detroit. 41 — Waldom Electronics, Inc. 22 Drive-in speaker reconing. Direct. 42 — Wenzel Projector Co 41 25-inch magazines (42A), projector heads (42B), projectors (42C), projectors (42D), soundheads (42E). Unaffiliated dealers. 43 — Westrex Corp. 38 Foreign distributors. 44 — Williams Screen Co 38 Projection screens. Direct. EDITORIALLY . . . CONES FOR HOT CHILI, page 28 Salty cracker-flavored cone cups tor serving hot chili marketed by the Chili Cone Company. Post- card reference number E45. FOOD COOKING APPLIANCES, page 30 Automatic french fryer and crock-lined roasfer from the Naxon Utilities Corporation. Postcard reference number E46. SIX-FLAVOR DRINK UNIT, page 31 Drink dispenser for both carbonated and non- carbonated beverages announced by Cole Products Corporation. Postcard reference number E47. NON -CARBON AT ED DISPENSER, page 31 Self-contained cooler and dispenser for non- carbonated beverages from the Mayer Refrigera- tion Engineering Corporation. Postcard reference number E48. WIDE-SCREEN FRAME, page 37 Wide-screen frame with special adjustable fea- tures available from the Raytone Screen Corpora- tion. Postcard reference number 31. SELENIUM RECTIFIERS, page 37 Selenium rectifiers with a capacity range of 70 to 135 amperes added to its line by Strong Elec- tric Corporation. Postcard reference number 36A. MULTIPLE SOUND SYSTEM, page 39 Automatic distribution of single optical track signals among several channels of reproduction provided in "Panaphonic" equipment of Dorsett Laboratories, Inc. Postcard reference number E49. ADJUSTABLE STEEL FRAME, page 40 Adjustable wide-screen frame of steel announced by First American Products, Inc. Postcard reference number E50. NEW WALL PANELING, page 42 New tongue-and-groove prefinished wall panel- ing made in both planks and blocks by Marsh Wall Products, Inc. Postcard reference number 21. For furthr information concerning products referred to on this page, write corresponding numbers and gour name and address, in spaces provided on the postcard attached below, and mail. Card requires no addressing or postage. TO BETTER THEATRES Service Department: Please have literature, prices, etc., sent to me according to the following reference numbers in the January 1954 issue — NAME — THEATRE or CIRCUIT _______________ STREET ADDRESS — CITY. — - — — STATE Theatre Supply Dealers Dealers in the United States listed alphabetically by states, numbered or other- wise marked for cross-reference from Index of Advertisers on preceding page ALABAMA 1 -1 1— Queen Feature Service. 1 9 1 2 '/a Morrle Ave., Birmingham. ARIZONA 2— Girard Theatre Supply. 532 W. Van Buren St.. Phoenix. ARKANSAS 3— Arkansas Theatre Supply. 1008 Main St.. Little Rock. 4 — Theatre Supply Ce.. 1021 Grand Ave.. Fort Smith. CALIFORNIA Fresno: 5— Mldetate Theatre Supply. 1906 Thomas. Los Angeles: 6— John P. Filbert, 2007 S. Vermont Ave.* National Theatre Supply, 1961 S. Vermont Ave. 7— Pembrex Theatre Supply. 1969 S. Vermont Ave. 6 — B. F. Shearer. 1964 S. Vermont Ave. San Francisco: National Theatre Supply, 255 Golden Gate Ave. 9 — Preddey Theatre Supplies, 187 Golden Gate Ave. 10 — B. F. Shearer, 243 Golden Gate Ave. 131 — United Theatre Supply, 112 Golden Gate Ave. 11 — Western Theatrical Equipment, 337 Golden Gate Ave." COLORADO Denver: National Theatre Supply, 21 II Champa St. 12 — Service Theatre Supply, 2054 Broadway. 13 — Western Service & Supply, 2120 Broadway.* CONNECTICUT New Haven: National Theatre Supply, 122 Meadow St. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA (Washington) 14 — Brient & Sons, 925 New Jersey Ave., N. W. 15 — Ben Lust. 1001 New Jersey Ave.. N. W. 130 — R & S Theatre Supply. 920 New Jersey Ave., N. W. FLORIDA 16— Joe Hornsteln, 273 W. Flagler St., Miami. 17 — Southeastern Equipment, 206 E. Bay St., Jacksonville.* 18 — United Theatre Supply, NO Franklin St., Tampa. 19 — United Theatre Supply. 329 W. Flagler St., Miami.* GEORGIA Albany: 20 — Dixie Theatre Service &. Supply. 1010 N. Slappey Dr. Atlanta: 21 — Capital City Supply, 161 Walton St., N. W. National Theatre Supply, 187 Walton St., N. W. 22 — Southeastern Theatre Equipment. 201-3 Luckie St., N. W.* 23 — Wil-Kin Theatre Supply, 301 North Ave., N. E. ILLNOIS Chicago: 24 — Abbott Theatre Supply, 1311 S. Wabash Ave." 25 — G. C. Anders Co.. 317 S. Sangamon St. 26 — Gardner Theatre Service, 1235 S. Wabash Ave. 27 — Movie Supply, 1318 S. Wabash Ave. National Theatre Supply, 1325 S. Wabash Ave. INDIANA Evansville: 28 — Evansville Theatre Supply, 2900 E. Chandler Ave. Indianapolis: 29 — Ger-Bar, Inc., 442 N. Illinois St. 30 — Mid-West Theatre Supply Company, 448 N. Illinois St.* National Theatre Supply, 436 N. Illinois St. IOWA Des Moines: 31 — Des Moines Theatre Supply. 1121 High St. National Theatre Supply. 1102 High St. KANSAS Wichita: 32 — Southwest Theatre Equipment. P. O. Box 2138. KENTUCKY Louisville: 33 — Falls City Theatre Equipment, 427 S. Third St. 34 — Hadden Theatre Supply, 209 8. 3rd St. LOUISIANA New Orleans: 35 — Hodges Theatre Supply, 1309 Cleveland Ave. 36 — Johnson Theatre Service, 223 S. Liberty St. National Theatre Supply, 220 S. Liberty SL 37 — Southeastern Theatre Equipment, 214 S. Liberty St.* Shreveport: 38 — Aloo Boyd Theatre Equipment, P. O. Box 362. MARYLAND Baltimore: 39 — J. F. Dusman Co., 12 East 25th SL National Theatre Supply, 417 St. Paul Place. MASSACHUSETTS Boston: 40 — Capitol Theatre Supply, 28 Piedmont St.* 41 — Joe Cifre, 44 Winchester SL 42 — Independent Theatre Supply, 28 Winchester SL 43 — Massachusetts Theatre Equipment. 20 Piedmont St. National Theatre Supply, 37 Winchester St. 44 — Standard Theatre Supply, 78 Broadway. 45 — Theatre Service &. Supply, 30 Piedmont SL MICHIGAN Detroit: 46 — Amusement Supply, 208 W. Montcalm St. 47 — Ernie Forbes Theatre Supply, 214 W. Montcalm St. 48 — McArthur Theatre Equipment, 454 W. Columbia St. National Theatre Supply, 2312-14 Cass Ave. Grand Rapids: 49 — Ringold Theatre Equipment 106 Michigan St.. N. W. MINNESOTA Minneapolis: 50 — Elliott Theatre Equipment, 1110 Nicollet Ave. 51 — Frosch Theatre Supply, II II Currie Ave.* 52 — Minneapolis Theatre Supply, 75 Glenwood Ave. National Theatre Supply, 56 Glenwood Ave. 53 — Western Theatre Equipment, 45 Glenwood Ave. MISSOURI Kansas City: 54 — Missouri Theatre Supply. 115 W. 18th St.* National Theatre Supply, 223 W. 18th St. 55 — Shreve Theatre Supply, 217 W. 18th St. 56 — Stebbins Theatre Equipment, 1804 Wyandotte St. St. Louis: 57 — McCarty Theatre Supply, 3330 Olive St. National Theatre Supply. 3212 Olive SL 58 — St. Louis Theatre Supply Co.. 3310 Olive SL* MONTANA 59 — Montana Theatre Supply, Missoula. NEBRASKA Omaha: 60 — Ballantyne Co., 1712 Jackson St. National Theatre Supply. 1610 Davenport SL 61 — Quality Theatre Supply. 1515 Davenport St. 62— Western Theatre Supply. 214 N. 15th St." NEW MEXICO 63 — Eastern New Mexico Theatre Supply, Box 1009. Clovis NEW YORK Albany: 64 — Albany Theatre Supply, 443 N. Pearl. National Theatre Supply. 962 Broadway. Auburn: 65 — Auburn Theatre Equipment, 5 Court St. Buffalo: 66 — Eastern Theatre Supply. 496 Pearl St.* National Theatre Supply, 498 Pearl St. 67 — Perkins Theatre Supply. 505 Pearl St. 68 — United Projector & Film. 228 Franklin St. New York City: 69 — Amusement Supply, 341 W. 44th SL 70 — Capitol Motion Picture Supply. 630 Ninth Ave. 71 — Crown Motion Picture Supplies, 354 W. 44th St 72 — Joe Hornstein. 630 Ninth Ave. National Theatre Supply, 356 W. 44th St. 132 — Norpat Sales, Inc., 113 W. 42nd St. 73— S.O.S. Cinema Supply. 602 W. 52nd SL 74 — Star Cinema Supply, 447 W. 52nd St. Syracuse: 75 — Central N. Y. Theatre Supply, 210 N. Salina St. NORTH CAROLINA Charlotte: 76 — Bryant Theatre Supply, 227 S. Church St 77 — Charlotte Theatre Supply, 116 S. Poplar. 78 — Dixie Theatre Supply, 213 W. 3rd SL National Theatre Supply, 304 S- Church St. 79 — Southeastern Theatre EquipmenL 209 S. Poplar St.* 80 — Standard Theatre Supply, 219 S. Church St. 81 — Theatre Equipment Co., 220 S. Poplar St. 82 — Kil-Kin Theatre Supply, 229 S. Cnurch St. Greensboro: 83 — Standard Theatre Supply, 215 E. Washington St. 84 — Theatre Suppliers, 304 S. Davie St. OHIO Akron: 85 — Akron Theatre Supply, 120 E. Market St. Cincinnati: 86 — Mid-West Theatre Supply, 1638 Central Parkway.* National Theatre Supply, 1657 Central Parkway. Cleveland: National Theatre Supply, 2128 Payne Ave. 87 — Ohio Theatre Equipment, 2108 Payne Ave. 88 — Oliver Theatre Supply. E. 23rd and Payne Ave.* Columbus: 89 — American Theatre Equipment, 165 N. High St. 90 — Mid-West Theatre Supply. 962 W. Third Ave. Dayton: 91 — Dayton Theatre Supply, III Volkenand St. 92 — Sheldon Theatre Supply, 627 Salem Ave. Toledo: 93 — American Theatre Supply, 439 Dorr St. 94 — Theatre Equipment Co., 1206 Cherry St. OKLAHOMA Oklahoma City: 95 — Century Theatre Supply Co., 20 N. Lee St. 96 — Howell Theatre Supplies, 12 S. Walker Ave. National Theatre Supply, 700 W. Grand Ave. 97 — Oklahoma Theatre Supply, 628 W. Grand Ave.* OREGON Portland: 98 — Modern Theatre Supply, 1935 N. W. Kearney St.* 99 — Portland Motion Picture Supply, 916 N. W. 1 9th St. 100 — B. F. Shearer, 1947 N. W. Kearney St. 101 — Inter-State Theatre Equipment, 1923 N. W. Kearney 8t. PENNSYLVANIA Philadelphia: 102 — Blumberg Bros. 1305-07 Vine St.* National Theatre Supply Co., 1225 Vine St. 103 — Superior Theatre Equipment 1315 Vine St. Pittsburgh: 104 — Alexander Theatre Supply, 84 Van Bramm St.* 105— Atlas Theatre Supply, 402 Miltenberger SL National Theatre Supply. 1721 Blvd. of Allies. Wilkes Barre: 106 — Vincent M. Tate, 1620 Wyoming Ave., Forty-ForL RHODE ISLAND 107 — Rhode Island Supply. 357 Westminster 8t., Providence. SOUTH DAKOTA 108 — American Theatre Supply, 316 S. Main St., Sioux City. TENNESSEE Memphis: 109 — M-onarch Theatre Supply, 492 S. Second St.* National Theatre Supply, 412 S. Second SL 110 — Tri-State Theatre Supply, 318 S» Second St. TEXAS Dallas III — Hardin Theatre Supply, 714 South Hampton Rd. 112 — Herber Bros., 408 S. Harwood SL 113 — Modern Theatre Equipment, 1916 Jackson St. National Theatre Supply, 300 S. Harwood St. 114 — Southwestern Theatre Equipment. 2010 Jackson SL* 115 — Sterling Sales & Service, 2019 Jackson SL Houston: 116 — Southwestern Theatre EquipmenL 1622 Austin St.* San Antonio: 117 — Alamo Theatro Supply, 1363 Alamotee SL UTAH Salt Lake City: 118 — Intermountain Theatre Supply, 264 E. First South 8t. 119 — Service Theatre Supply, 256 E. First South St. 120 — Western Sound & EquipmenL 264 E. First South SL* VIRGINIA 121 — Norfolk Theatro Supply, 2700 Colloy Avp., Norfolk. WASHINGTON Seattle: 1 22 — American Theatro Supply, 2300 First Ave., at Bell St. 123 — Inter-State Theatre Equipment Co., 2224 Second Ave. 124 — Modern Theatre Supply. 2400 Third Ave.* National Theatre Supply. 2319 Second SL 125 — B. F. Shearer. 2316 Second Ave. WEST VIRGINIA 126 — Charleston Theatre Supply, 508 Lea St., Charleetoa. WISCONSIN Milwaukee: 127 — Manhardt Co.. 1705 W. Clybourn St.* National Theatre Supply, 1027 N. Eighth SL 128— Ray Smith. 710 W. Stato SL 129 — Theatre Equipment 4 8upply, 841 N. 8eventh SL FIRST CLASS (Sec. 34.9, P.L.&R ) PERMIT NO. 8894 NEW YORK, N. Y. BUSINESS REPLY CARD No Postage Stamp Necessary if Mailed in the United States Postage will be paid by — QUIGLEY PUBLISHING COMPANY ROCKEFELLER CENTER 1270 SIXTH AVENUE NEW YORK 20, N. Y. about Products . . ★ news and views of the market and its sources of supply inn iiiii— iimi ■iiiniiin mi i mm hi i m mrwn— — wwwii11 m n> . - > .• - , Booklet Tells Values Of Stereophonic Sound THE ADVANTAGES of stereophonic sound to motion picture tech- nique and the wide appeal it has demon strated to the theatre public are cited in a new booklet called “The New Look in Motion Picture Presentation,” by Fred C. Matthews, vice-president in charge of sales for Motiograph, Inc., Chicago, and newly elected president of Tesma. In describing the special qualities of stereophonic recording and reproduction, Mr. Matthews states that it is “so realistic you can close your eyes and follow the ac- tion with your ears. The actor at the left hand edge of the screen actually sounds as though he is where you see him, and as he moves across the screen the sound follows him. Stereophonic sound reproduction alone has this lifelike quality.” Summing up the status of the new sound, Mr. Matthews states the belief that al- though “there has been a lack of unity among motion picture producers as to what picture ratio should be used in wide-screen presentation, there is complete unity that stereophonic sound must be a definite and permanent part of all wide-screen processes. The booklet also contains a description of Motiograph’s five different models of stereophonic sound equipment for the vari- ous sizes of theatres and a list of its many installations in theatres in 1953. Adjustable Frame for Wide-Screen Projection A wide-screen frame with special features designed to provide quick and easy original installation and to permit changes that may be required in the future has been marketed by the Raytone Screen Corporation, Brooklyn. Known as the “Raytone-Thompson all- purpose wide-screen frame,” its degree of tilt is adjusted after lacing and can be changed later as desired. The radius of curvature is set at the factory. The frame is made of tubular alloy steel. The frame is available with casters or it can be flown. It can also be secured with an attachment to raise or lower the frame off the floor. The frame is lightweight, the manufacturer points out, with a 50-foot one weighing less than 1,000 pounds and a 35-foot one weighing 750 pounds. Dia- grams and color markings are included with instructions for installing the frame. Redesigned Line of Packaged Air Conditioners complete restyling and re-engineering of its line of packaged air conditioners has been announced by the United States Air Conditioning Corpora- tion of Minneapolis. The new equipment, available in 2, 3, 5, and 10 h.p. sizes, is designed to permit a choice of air intake and discharge panels for fronts, side or rear installation to fit any field requirement. T he units are of sectional construction, comprising compressor, blower and plenum, each of which can be ordered separately. For year-round operation a heating coil can be mounted in the blower cabinet. Among the other design changes are a new airfoil louver discharge grille; free and open air intake, designed for easy cleaning; a single filter section, handling both fresh and re- circulated air; a central control panel, in- cluding manual reset high pressure cutout; and new spring mounting. The restyled cabinet features a two-tone blue finish. A vinyl plastic decorative moulding seats the front panels, which are held in place by roll point spring catches fo r easy removal and replacement. Selenium Rectifiers with 70- to 135-Amp. Range selenium rectifiers with a capacity range of 70 to 135 amperes have been added to the line of the Strong Electric Corpora- tion, Toledo. Two sets of trans- former taps are pro- vided for adjusting the output current over a wide range of amperages and to compensate for vari- ations in line volt- age from 200 to 250 volts. Fine taps on the primary are con- nected to an eight- point external, manually controlled switch which permits current adjustment while A Raytone wide-screen frame has been installed at the Fox theatre in Atlanta as shown above. For specifications of the Raytone frame see text above. BETTER THEATRES SECTION 37 ¥ ■ 1 WILLIAMS All-Purpose SCREENS i ■ WILLIAMS SCREEN CO. 1675 Summit Lake Blvd. Akron 7, Ohio , You Need a Super To Meet Bigger Cleaning Problems New costly installations, expanding screens and stereo- phonic sound systems increase cleaning requirements. These new problems can he met squarely without in- creased cost by the specialized Super Heavy Duty Theatre Cleaner and its efficiently designed tools for cleaning the theatre, its furnishings and equipment. Easy to operate. Men and women both like it. No excessive employee fatigue —no repeated effort. Ask your supply house for a demonstration or write 1=?^/ for complete specification data. Model M general Model JS — Quiet, com- pact, low- priced. Same power, pick- up, perform- ance as all Supers. cleaning and blowing. Readily portable. NATIONAL SUPER SERVICE CO.. INC, 1941 N. 13th St. Toledo 2, Ohio In Canada: Plant Maintenance Equipment Co. Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver "Once Over Does It" SUPER SUCTION SINCE 1911 "THE DRAFT HORSE OF POWER SUCTION CLEANERS” Sales and Service in Principal Cities *R£«AP n&uxi/ the arc is burning and without the neces- sity of reconnecting wires. Ventilation is by forced draft provided by the single-phase, ball-hearing fan which cools the plates to room temperature. The plates are sufficiently spaced so that the draft passes between them and in direct contact with the rectifying surface, the manufacturer points out. Unit construction permits the easy re- moval for inspection of any of the various Removable chassis mounting transformer, switching and fan unit for the Strong rectifiers is shown above, while below is a set of selenium stacks mounted in a removable tray. component parts. The transformer, switch and fan form the top assembly and the rectifier elements a separate unit in the base. A remote control relay permits con- venient starting from the projector and an air-flow switch is designed to assure protec- tion against ventilation failures. 1 he rectifiers are built in single-lamp units and in three sizes adjustable from 70 to 90 amperes, 90 to 110 amperes, and 1 10 to 135 amperes. FOR THEATRES OUTSIDE U. S. A. AND CANADA FOR STUDIOS EVERYWHERE— No Matter What You Need .. .Westrex Has It! Westrex maintains a complete supply and service organization to meet the needs of studios throughout the world and of theatres outside the United States and Canada. Look to Westrex. Westrex Corporation 111 EIGHTH AVENUE, NEW YORK 11, N. Y. HOLLYWOOD DIVISION: 6601 ROMAINE STREET, HOLLYWOOD 38, CAL. Research, Distribution and Service for the Motion Picture Industry • AMPEX SOUND INSTALLATIONS Some 45 theatres in the New York-New Jersey area have been equipped with “Ampex Multi-Directional Sound” in preparation for showing the CinemaScope production, “The Robe,” according to Harrison Johnston, sales manager for the Ampex Corporation, of Redwood City, Calif. At the same time Mr. Johnston reported that Ampex sound was used for 38 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 9, 1954 the world premiere of M-G-M’s Cinema- Scope production, “Knights of the Round Table,” at the Egyptian theatre in Holly- wood on December 22nd. The distributor for Ampex sound in the New York area is the Circuit Construction Corporation, and installations are under the supervision of the Altec Service Corporation. Multiple Channel Sound From Single Optical Track automatic distribution of single optical track signals among sev- eral channels of reproduction is provided in the “Panaphonic” equipment, which has The sensor box in the "Panaphonic" equipment is shown above installed on a projector. The film passes between an exciter lamp and two photo- cells on its way to the aperture. been placed on the market by Dorsett Laboratories, Inc., Norman, Okla. Unless a film distributor were to provide cues on prints, the picture would be cued by the theatre. Product with sound on a single optical track could thus be presented with multiple channel reproduction for wide-screen presentations. The equipment consists of a small sensor g *SESi 7 Jj Diagram illustrating the "Panaphonic" sensor head, which is mounted above the projector. Shown through the cutaway are the twin exciter lights and photo- tubes. Threading is done by sliding the film between the spring-loaded guides as indicated by the arrow. □ r: j [ ; ill v. . i I "l TRU-FIDELITY STEREOPHONIC SOUND u ta: Oft MAGNETIC SOUNDHEAD io be sure! The soundhead chosen by exhibitors through- out the country for first runs of the new stereo- phonic sound features! "Brush" pick-up head plugs in for instant replacement. Tight loop system tested and approved by major studios. ^ Compact, easy to install, fits any standard projector. * Proven Perhmme! NATIONAL T H E A TRE SUPPLY Division of National • Simplex • Blud worth, I n c. A fig BETTER THEATRES SECTION 39 One of the new "Bodiform" chairs of the American Seating Company, recently installed on the main floor in the Metropolitan Opera House in New York is tried out by famous soprano Rise Stevens (above) as Francis Robinson (left), box-office head, and George Sloan, chairman of the board, explain its features. In addition to the new chairs the opera company has revised its seating arrangement for the main floor at the suggestion of Martin E. Kornbluth, American representative in New York. By eliminating the orchestra circle and the several right-angle rows of chairs on both flanks of the main floor, the new seating plans permit "across-the-house" rows of chairs. The "Bodiform" chairs selected for the installation feature spring-cushion backs with curved rear panels. Backs and seats are upholstered in mohair, and the chairs are finished in red and gold to conform with the Opera's decorative scheme. Seats are 21 by 33 inches in area, and the backs rise 32 inches from the floor. Each chair is equipped with a foam-rubber seat cushion over spring-arch construction. an adjustable wide- screen frame of steel, so designed that the portion in which the screen is mounted for curving and tilting is a separate part from the supporting structure which stands on the stage floor, has been announced by First American Products, Inc., Kansas City, Mo. Called the “Adjust-a-Curve,” the frame unit to be mounted above the projector mechanism ; a console containing the cue amplifiers, filters and relays ; and speakers. The equipment operates on a binary signal system from darkened spaces between the sprocket holes at both sides of the film. These darkened areas are sensed by two New Wide-Screen Frame With Adjustable Parts Portfolio and File For Equipment Data The "Panaphonic” console contains cue amplifiers, filters and relays. small photocells. The amplified outputs of these photocells operate relay tubes and provide four “modes” or loudspeaker com- binations. The “modes” generally used are center-screen horns, right-side horns, left- side horns, and all supplementary speakers, A COMBINATION portfolio and file for theatre operators made in the form of a binder that expands on the “accordion” principle has been announced by First-American Products, Inc., Kansas City, Mo. Called the “Theatre Owner’s Manual of Equipment and Supplies,” the binder is designed to provide theatremen with a con- venient system for collecting and employing AMERICAN SEATING CHAIRS FOR OPERA HOUSE including those at the sides and rear of the auditorium. The cue lead may be adjusted by the timing circuit to conform to any type of projector, according to the manufacturer. This timing circuit, together with the filter, also serves to eliminate false cues due to film splices or other causes. Special effects can be cued-in through the use of a marking brush pen, a special “instant- drying” dye and a pair of rewinds. Such markings can be removed quickly by means of a cloth dampened with a solvent, it is pointed out. tion in bold letters, followed by sublists, lhe leading divisions include Genet al, Projection and Sound, Screens, Lighting and Signs, Marquees, Playgrounds and Patios, Refreshments, Buildings and Fur- nishings and Maintenance. Under each of these divisions, there is a detailed break- down of subjects pertinent to the general classification. All data collected by theatremen — such as articles from trade magazines, equipment circulars, and clippings from any source — can be quickly inserted into the proper pocket and then easily removed when needed. The portfolio-file is being offered by the company free of charge to theatre owners, managers and circuit executives who request it on business letterheads. Some sheets and folders on the company’s equipment for both indoor and drive-in theatres are already filed in the proper pockets. They include information charts and tables, and other sheets will be mailed at intervals to theatres having the binder. (The com- pany’s address is 1717 Wyandotte Street, Kansas City 8.) data on theatre operation and equipment. It contains nine pockets for inserting material, all identified by a projecting tab which carries the main subject or classifica- 40 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 9, 1954 Is equipped with four adjustment bars each at the top and bottom, which permit selec- tion of the desired curvature setting at all points across the arc. 1 hese settings can be changed after installation if desired and the frame can also be converted to flat. 1 he rear suoport members can be anchored in a choice of positions to provide tilt to any angle desired. The frame is fabricated of heavy-gauge steel painted with flat black lacquer. It is available with or without casters and also with “eyes” for flying. Complete installa- tion instructions are provided by the com- pany, which also reports it will design frames for special requirements to indivi- dual order . NEW LITERATURE Stereophonic Sound Systems: A new 12-page, illustrated booklet describing its stereophonic sound equipment “packages” has been issued by the Ampex Corporation, Redwood City, Calif. Trade-named the “Ampex Multi-Directional Sound,” the equipment is furnished in three basic system packages and with five different power rat- ings for various sizes of theatres. New Steel Frames For Wide-Screen Use curved, metal wide- screen frames, constructed to individual order with the tilt and radius specified permanently built-in, have been marketed by the Drive-in Theatre Manufacturing Company, a division of Dit-Mco, Inc., Kansas City, Mo. Vertical members of the frames are of heavy-gauge square steel tubing with angle bracing in all four corners of each of the YES, “MOVIES ARE BETTER THAN EVER” WITH THE NEW mm with the brightest clearest picture y£r/ NEW FORMULA ANASTIGMAT ONE PIECE HERMETICALLY SEALED ANODIZED MOUNT NO CEMENTED OPTICS -NO RECEMENTING, EVER ALL AIR-GLASS SURFACES HARD-COATED MINIMUM VIGNETTING Now your patrons can enjoy the brightest, clearest pictures ever projected — with the sen- sationally fast f/ 1.8 Super-Lite HILUX! Just note the exclusive features of the new HILUX — a true fully corrected anastigmat of the finest quality with absolutely no cementing to fail from the extreme changes encountered in today's hi-intensity projection. Comes in a one-piece hermetically sealed mount, permanently preventing oil, moisture and dust from entering. Send for literature today on the amazing new Superlite HILUX — truly designed for today's projection. PROJECTION OPTICS COMPANY, INC. 330 LYELL AVENUE « ROCHESTER 6, NEW YORK Distributors: RAYTONE SCREEN CORP. S?oSk"y»“new Vo.« 25" MAGAZINES with New type Brakes, '/z shafts and double Ball Bearings on both Up- per and Lower Maga- zines, Oilite Bearing take-up. Write for Information WENZEL Time-Tested Theatre Equipment Manufacturers of: Projec- tors, Sound Heads, Bases, Magazines, Accessories, Parts, etc. Send for descriptive literafure WENZEL PROJECTOR CO. 2505-19 S. State Street Chicago 1, Illinois BETTER THEATRES SECTION 41 1 CURTAIN CONTROLS AND TRACKS f POPULARITY can be embarrassing! Cinerama and CinemaScope call for a new type of curtain track. VALLEN was ready for it — but hardly ready for the flood of orders that have been pouring in for this latest addition to the world-famous Vallen line. Working day and night, we are unable to keep up with the tremendous demand for this new equipment. Deliveries are being made as rapidly as it is humanly possible to make them. We appreciate this tribute to Vallen leadership, and ask that our clients under- stand the pressure of the present log jam. We are making deliveries. We'll take care of your order — but not "yesterday." Vallen sets the world's standard for curtain controls and tracks. Y Inquire about the sensational new ROLL-O-LONG Track for draw cur- tains and draperies. VALLEN, INC. AKRON 4, OHIO U. S. A. Projection Booth TABLES & CABINETS Made by GOLDBERG BROS., Denver, Cole. Sold thru Theatre Supply Dealers Exclusively in MODERN THEATRE SEATING IDEAI SEATING COMPANY sections. The top and bottom horizontals are constructed of a channel, into which the proper arc is rolled, and then the channel is secured to a stiffner plate. File complete frame is painted flat black. Lacing hooks are on the face of the frame, placed on the standard 6-inch centers, and there are studs every four feet on all four sides for easy installation of the masking frame. “Eye” bolts are installed at the top for flying, and mount- ing plates are furnished for permanent installations. The supporting frames, also constructed of steel, are each mounted on three heavy- duty drop pin hinges so that they may be folded in for flying or for additional room when the frame is rolled to the back wall for stage shows. Plates are furnished for the rear of each of the supporting frames should it be desired to secure the rear of the frame to the floor. • “BOWLINE” FRAMES INSTALLED Recent installations of its adjustable “Bowline” screen frame for wide-screen pro- jection are reported by the H. R. Mitchell & Company, Hartselle, Ala., to have been made in the following theatres : the Mc- Combs, Mt. Clemens, Mich.; Haven, Brookhaven, Miss.; Oriental, Indianapolis; Loew’s New Rochelle, New Rochelle, N. Y. ; Tooga, Summerville, Ga. ; Hilan, Atlanta, Ga. ; Coronado, Rockford, 111.; Polk, Columbia, Tenn.; and San Benito, San Benito, Tex. New Wall Paneling In Planks and Blocks A new tongue-and-groove prefinished wall paneling, manufactured in both planks and blocks, has been introduced by Marsh Wall Products, Inc., Dover, Ohio. Designed for speedy installation in both new construction and remodeling, the materials are available in a variety of colors and patterns. The size of the planks is 16 inches wide and 8 feet long while the blocks are 16 inches square. Both are 3/1 6-inch thick. Pen different colors especially styled for Marlite by Raymond Loewy Associates are provided and four wood pattern finishes. Application of the materials can be made over furring strips or to a continuous back- ing such as plaster or plywood. The panel- " UNISTRUT " ADAPTED TO TV INSTALLATION The versatility of the "Unistrut" system of metal framing, which has been adapted to wide-screen frames for theatres (see BETTER THEATRES for December, 1953) is again demonstrated in this grid installation at the KGO-TV station of the American Broadcasting — Paramount Theatres, Inc., in San Francisco. Faced with the extremely limited space in this "Studio C" of their temporary quarters for programming two live shows "back-to-back," ABC engineers found they had to light the entire area from above. Grid installations in the ceiling or walls are impractical in such cases, since they must also be re-used at other locations. So the engineers selected the prefabricated, adjustable scaffolding of "Unistrut" metal framing to support the I ^-inch nominal black pipe sections which carry the actual lighting units. Complete assembly and erection required only 80 man hours on the part of the station's crew, who worked without special tools or training, the company reports. "Unistrut" has also been used by other television studios across the country to mount, hang, suspend and support lighting, sound projection and other stage production equipment. 42 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 9, 1954 The new "Marlite" tongue-and-groove prefinished wall paneling made by Marsh Wall Products is available in both planks (as shown being installed above) and blocks (below). The planks are 16 inches wide and 8 feet long; the blocks are 16 inches square. Both are 3/16-inch thick and come in ten colors and four wood pattern finishes. The use of "Marlite" prefinished wall panels, manufactured by Marsh Wall Products, Inc., Dover, Ohio, to modernize theatre interiors is demonstrated in these applications at the remodeled Mohawk theatre in Waynesburg, Ohio. In the lobby (above) black and gold marble panels were used on the side wall. The same pattern was used for the stairway (below) and the wall area behind the snack bar is paneled in plain color "Marlite". Other locations where the panels can be used include entrances, foyers, lounges, rest rooms, offices, candy cases, displays and fixtures. The office at right illus- trates how "Marlite" panels can be used to produce a luxurious ef- fect. Gray prima vera wood panel was used on the walls and doors to blend with the natural grains of the office in- terior. The panels are easy to install, requiring only ordinary carpen- ter's tools. They have a baked finish which needs only a damp cloth for cleaning. ing is held firmly in place by nails or clips and the tongue-and-groove joint conceals all fastening in the finished installation. Business need not be interrupted during re- modeling, it is pointed out. In addition to being easy to clean, the panels are resistant to moisture, heat and stains, according to the manufacturer. Modernizing Theatre Interiors With Prefinished Wall Panels BETTER THEATRES SECTION 43 New Central Station Air Conditioning Units new central station air conditioners, provided in 14 models in both horizontal and vertical types, have been added to its line by McQuay, Inc., Minne- apolis. (A vertical model is pictured here- with.) Trade-named the “Seasunmasters,” the units have been designed to provide flexibil- ity in the location of coil connections and air openings. There are also many com- binations of cooling and heating coils and a wide variation of accessories. The cabinet framework of the units is fabricated of heavy gauge galvanized steel channels securely bolted and braced to form a rigid structure. To this framework are fastened removable panels to permit ac- cessibility for inspection or service. panels are finished in a neutral grey paint and are internally insulated with a j/2-inch thickness of rigid thermal-acoustic insula- tion, which is designed to protect against moisture, fire and vermin. Forward curved, blade-type fans are en- closed in housing designed to deliver quietly the rated c.f.m. with minimum horsepower demand. Spark-proof wheels are available upon special order. The fan shaft is of high-carbon steel, turned, ground and Dolished. On single fan units bearings used are sleeve, self-aligning, bronze, oil lubricated, and pillow-block type. On multiple fan units these are ball, self-aligning, grease lubricated, flange-type bearings. All coils are made with the McQuay ripple fin construction designed for maxi- mum heat transfer. The ^8-inch o.d. seam- less copper tubes are expanded in two wide, smooth collars of aluminum fins. Headers are heavy wall, seamless copper tube. Joints are copper brazed. The casing is gal- vanized steel. Steam coils are pitched to the return end to insure proper drainage of condensate. All coils are removable. The drain pan is constructed of heavy gauge galvanized steel and coated with a sealer for added protection against cor- rosion. Standard belt duty type, 1725 r.p.m. open motors are furnished unless otherwise specified. Totally enclosed and two-speed motors are available upon special order. The motor mounting base is adjustable for tightening the belt tension. An adjustable V-belt drive is standard on all motors up through iy2 h.p.; and a fixed drive is standard on larger motors. A flat type filter section is available for all units; and a V-type for all multiple fan units. Throwaway or cleanable filters 2 inches thick are also available. Internal (filtered air) bv-pass is pro- vided by the face and by-pass damper sec- tions and by-pass duct. Damper blades rotate on oil-impregnated bronze .bearings, /and dafnper rod extensions are provided at ' both ends. Mixing boxes are furnished with bal- anced dampers, which interlock and rotate on oil-impregnated bronze bearings. Com- bination mixing boxes and filter sections are available. Two types of humidifiers are available — spray and steam pans. The spray unit has mist type, self-cleaning brass target noz- zles. The steam unit has copper coil and copper tank. The float valve is brass with a copper float and a bronze inlet orifice. The company has prepared an illustrated catalog (No. 505) containing features and specifications of the air conditioning units along with instructions for selecting the proper model, the direct expansion coil, the water cooling coil, motor horsepower, the water heating coil and the steam coil, and other information. It is available upon request to the company (1660 Broadway, N. E., Minneapolis, 13). Plastic Fabric Makers Plan Special Designs MANUFACTURERS of plas tic fabrics in 1954 will again place heavy emphasis on designing and production of their products to fill the special use-and-care requirements of specific markets as they did in 1953, according to a report made by the Plastic Coatings and Film Association, New York on a survey it conducted of the field. In anticipation of an increase in sales, the manufacturers report plans to install new processing equipment that is “larger, of higher speed, more versatile, and capable of closer control.” In addition new ma- chinery for finishing will be purchased, pri- marily multi-color presses and embossing equipment. Only a small part of the new equipment is to replace obsolete machines, the report stated, with most representing an increased production potential. The survey also showed that vinyl-coated fabric, the top volume material in the plastic fabric industry, finds its largest mar- kets in flat upholstery, which includes audi- torium chair fabric, and auto seat covers. From 90 to 95% of this vinyl sheeting is calendered, according to estimates of PCFA members. A constant demand for new sur- face effects and colors in vinyl sheeting was also reported, and the producers “have kept these elements in constant view in their de- velopment work directed toward improving the inherent properties of this type of material.” The opinion of manufacturers producing pyroxylin-coated materials continued to be that this material has about found its level — despite the increased shipments in 1953. Book bindings, case coverings and similar products were listed as major outlets for it. Pyroxylin was once the principal type of "leatherette” used on theatre chairs. PORTABLE 1 6MM FILM UNIT A portable projector unit for the continuous show- ing of 16mm films for industrial use has been announced by the Triangle Continuous Daylight Motion Picture Projector Company of Skokie, III. The unit will show up to 1,600 feet of film on a 1 3-by- 1 8-inch screen through rear projection, the manufacturer explains. It is designed to repeat a film continuously for up to 200 hours with no rewinding or, by means of an automatic stop at the end of the film, it may be set to run only once and repeated by pushing a button. A shadow box frame is designed to make the picture clearly vis- ible in an undarkened room. The portable unit comes in three cabinets: a heavy-duty case with a handle, a "knock-down" console cabinet on casters and an imitation television cabinet (above). The device has been used by industrial firms at con- ventions, exhibits, and sales meetings to instruct and entertain employees. 44 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 9, 1954 MOTION PICTURE SCREENS TODAY Wide-screen and 3D have made the screen a critical element of a projection system. The tendency in exhibition until now to give it the status of a piece of painted canvas has persisted from the time when it was precisely that among the crude contrivances of the early motion picture. Rising standards of picture bright- ness were met by improvement of light sources, while screens, despite their relative cheapness, continued to be kept in service, perhaps with some "repainting," for years. But the great increase in light demanded by wide-screen and 3D projection calls for efficient adjustment of all of the factors of screen brightness — the lamp, the optical system and the screen. "To bring brightness levels up to the values now obtained in accepted practice," said the Motion Picture Research Council in its August 1953 report, "it is necessary to increase the brightness of wide screens or of screens used for 3D projection, either by increasing the total light reaching the screen from the projector, or by increasing the brightness of the screen for a given illumina- tion, or both." The report gave the amount of increase required "for typical situations" as follows: ANAMORPHIC LESS APERT. HT. ASPECT RATIO 2D 3D 2D 3D 1.33+0 1 same 3.33 same 3.33 1.66+0 1 1.25 4.17 1.56 5.20 1.75+0 1 1.31 4.36 1.72 5.75 1.85 to 1 1.39 4.63 1.92 6.40 2.00 to 1 1.49 4.97 2.27 7.55 2.66 to 1 2.00 6.67 Below are described screens for 3D as well as wide-screen pro- jection of manufacturers who have responded to a request for such data. The "Miracle Mirror" Screen CinemaScope Products, Inc., New York From the CinemaScope Manual “miracle mirror” screens are made with a cotton base which is overlaid with several coatings of plastic surfaced with aluminum and accurately embossed with a fine detail pattern. The pattern is designed so that very little light is reflected to the average theatre audi- torium where there are no seats but within the theatre seating regions the distribution is quite uniform. The uniform area of distribution includes 30° above and below and 50° to each side of a line perpendicular to the screen. It will be recognized that the typical theatre is adequately covered. By concentrating all of the incident light only to the regions of the audience, a screen is obtained which is at least twice as bright as the usual theatre screen for the same value of projector illumination. By virtue of the metallic surface the screen supplied for CinemaScope is ex- cellent for 3-D polarized projection. The screen material is purposely made light in weight to facilitate hanging and to minimize the demands on screen frames and, because of this, it cannot be handled roughly; it is adequately strong if treated with reasonable care. The finely detailed surface can be damaged by severe rubbing or pressing which will be evidenced by dark spots which cannot be removed. No attempt should be made to clean or resurface the screen but it may be dusted with a soft dusting brush. The surface is such that it does not collect dust readily and does not discolor or oxidize easily. Experience has shown that the useful life of these screens is several times that of the ordinary white screen. The screens conform to the appropriate federal specification applicable to the test- ing of such materials for fire resistance and flameproofing and although they will char and smolder when subjected to flame, combustion will not be supported. The “Miracle Mirror” screen is avail- able in two patterns: one for head-on (or small-angled) projection, and a tilted design for high-angled projection. The choice of pattern depends on the specific theatre conditions. A further choice resides in the possibility of tilting the top of the screen away from the projector a few degrees, up to 5° or 6°, to minimize pic- ture keystone effect and to give more control of the vertical light distribution. • The Raytone "Hilux" Screen Raytone Screen Corporation, Brooklyn, N. Y. By LEONARD SATZ A SO-CALLED “all-pur- pose” screen is now in demand. The screen manufacturer today must carefully con- sider the requirements for wide-screen 2-D and for 3-D in practicable sizes. The least amount of light gain is required by the anamorphic system of achieving “wide- screen,” since its lenses transmit wide-angle lighting more efficiently. This is somewhat tempered by the fact that two lenses are needed. A regular lens plus the attach- ment of a six-element anamorphic lens results in slower speeds and light losses. The system still transmits more light than other wide-angle techniques, however. 3-D on a wide-angle screen requires the most light. Here, according to unquestion- able .authority, brightness gains on the order of five times are required to overcome the deficiencies of filters in the booth and eyeglasses. A compromise is in order, and the writer believes in brightness gains of three, approximate- ly. In other words, the screen must be capable of reflecting 300% more than a “white” screen at peak performance. No screen can do this at all angles, but one must be practical. E lie Raytone Hilux screen is made of all-vinyl plastic, coated with vinyl plastic containing a com- bination of metallic powders, including aluminum, to produce an all-purpose sur- face. It is tearproof and seamless. Brightness curves are like electrical characteristic curves for the tuning of a sound system. With the latter, add high frequencies and it is the same as eliminating the lows. W ith the former, add brightness at the sides and the center will suffer. 1 lie writer believes that a screen must return the maximum possible amount of light to the greatest number of desirable seats in any auditorium. It must also distribute light evenly enough to avoid “hot spot” and too rapid fall-off beyond useful viewing angles. (In diagram “A” and “B” represent the most desirable seats while to reach “C” areas would mean a further sac- rifice of light, which is not advisable.) In its progress report on screens issued last August, the Motion Picture Research Council said, “Two general methods are available for increasing screen brightness. One is to increase the light from the source. The other way is to increase the brightness gain of the screen. This can be done by increasing the reflectivity of the BETTER THEATRES SECTION 45 surface, or bj^ changing the reflection cnaracteristics so that more light is re- flected into those directions where it will be useful Either method can be used with success, in the opinion of the writer. The question of uniformity of surface enters the pic- ture, which is the manufacturer’s problem. As for polarization defect, the Polaroid Corporation would like to see screens with a polarization defect of only 0.5, or one- half of 1%. This is attained by certain screens at direct viewing angles, but varies considerably at 45° viewing angles. The polarization defect of the Raytone “Hilux” is 0.4, or less than one-half of 1% at zero angle; and at 45° it does not exceed 2.2%. The “Hilux” screen is cleanable by use of a soft, long-bristle brush. It should be brushed lightly and evenly, with a mini- mum of pressure. This should be done at least once a week. • The Walker "H-l” Screen Walker American Corporation, St. Louis By DICK WALKER THE WALKER AMERICAN Corporation makes a complete line of theatre screens, but we are concentrating most of our efforts on the production of Walker “High Intensity” screens, due to the great demand for these screens. Of all the qualities of the “High Intensity” screen, we pride ourselves most on its seamless construction and uniformity of surface. We know that any picture can be ruined if it is projected on a screen with visible seams and a streaky or uneven surface. The “High Intensity” screen is a modification of a screen made by us during the war for the Navy’s Mark One Gunnery Trainer, which used polarized 3-D to simulate actual combat conditions. To meet the requirements of 3-D at the present time, as did its predecessor during the war, the “High Intensity” screen has an extremely high retention of polarization, which eliminates double image and “ghosting,” which can be caused by a screen not properly designed to handle projected polarized light. Besides this, the uniform seamless surface of the “High Intensity” screen brings out the best in 3-D projection as annoying visible seams and surface streaks become even more objectionable in 3-D than in 2-D. The surface of the “High Intensity” screen is a plastic compound, molded in one continuous piece over a cloth backing. The surface is not flat, but is composed of thousands of elliptical contours. This elliptically-contoured surface aids in the distribution of light over a wide angle, which is so necessary with wide-screen projection. 1 o meet the need for additional picture brightness for wide-screen projection, the "High Intensity” screen has a brightness gain over twice that of a white screen. I his brightness or reflectivity is controlled so as to give as bright a picture as possible without specularity, which would result in an objectionable “hot spot” or glare. The “High Intensity” screen is designed to maintain its reflective efficiency over a long period of time. This is done by using metallic pigments made of an alloy which does not oxidize or tarnish, combined with plastic materials which do not oxidize or discolor. Not only does this keep up the reflective efficiency of the screen, but it keeps the screen from changing color, which is as harmful to good projection as the loss in reflective efficiency. The “High Intensity” screen has a uniform reflectivity over the entire visible spectrum. The color of the reflected light is the same as the color of the projected light, which gives a faithful reproduction of color in color pictures. Blues are blue and not greenish blue, reds are red and not washed-out or off-color reds, and as the screen does not change color with age, this faithful reproduction of color continues throughout the life of the screen. The “High Intensity” screen has a smooth, hard, metallic surface which is almost impervious to dirt. It can easily be kept clean by frequent brushing. The surface of the screen, while contoured, is smooth and lends itself to cleaning with a dry brush. How often the screen must be brushed will depend upon the local con- ditions and how rapidly dust collects on the screen. Holes for the transmission of sound are molded as tiny flaring horns with smooth plastic walls. Each miniature horn starts at the back of the screen and flares smooth- ly outward. These molded holes reduce the friction of sound waves passing through, do not clog with dirt, and result in high fidelity sound transmission during the life of the screen. The Walker “High Intensity” screen is made in any proportion and can be in- stalled either flat or curved, as desired. • The Williams Screen Williams Screen Company, Akron, Ohio THE “ALL-PURPOSE” screen of the Williams Screen Company is manufactured by all-vinyl plastic with a manufactured of all-vinyl plastic with a powders including aluminum, to give it a specular surface. This finish, in addition to supplying the polarization for 3-D projec- tion, gives increased reflectivity for sharp and brilliant pictures in wide-screen pro- jection. I he panels of the screen are put together with electronic seaming to render the seams imperceptible. Sizes are produced up to 55 feet. Perforations of the screen are clean cut with no projecting fibres to impede sound or collect dirt. In addition they are fungus-proof and unaffected by moisture. The screen can be cleaned by brushing, using a very fine, long-textured brush. The "Astrolite" Screen Radiant Manufacturing Corp., Chicago By HARRY ELLER, president as most exhibitors re- alize full well, the introduction of 3D and wide-screen motion pictures, combined with the widespread use of technicolor, has placed a tremendous load on motion picture screens. Those screens that were good enough to get by in the ’20s, ’30s and ’40s, even screens that did an outstanding job for conventional motion pictures, were Showing the layers of the "Astrolite'' screen. noticeably inadequate and inefficient when the load of wide-screen and 3D was placed upon them. I am going to describe briefly the de- mands that are made upon a motion picture screen today and then tell how the “Magni- glow Astrolite” screen, developed after many years of research by the Glowmeter Corporation of Buffalo, N. Y., and now manufactured by Radiant, meets them. The standards a screen must have for full view- ing satisfaction today are as follows: 1. It must reflect light efficiently — so as to provide adequate light for the extra illumination for wide-screen and 3D. 2. It must provide controlled reflection so as to stop wasting the light that is or- dinarily reflected off the sides, top and bottom of the screen to areas in your the- ( Continued on page 57) 46 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 9, 1954 1TH A LIGHT METER! WL "SUPER 135 "°™° . Each :r o/sf^tr: r krs * p«- - depo>'’ of* cotTon the redectoc. co„ponent. are tail conttrection, whe'eb,^'h.^v« ^ ^ Mure d.velopmen — -SW __ , itten. A—, service at < o-> r ^ 1^— " Projects a Much Higher Level of Illumination Than Any Other Lamp In impartial tests the foot candle meter proves that it is the most powerful of all lamps, and you can’t argue with a light meter. Accommodating a 20-inch carbon, the “Super 135” is the only Reflector Arc Lamp which can burn the 10 mm “Hitex” carbon at 120 amperes or 11 mm regular carbons at 115 amperes for a full hour as required by 3-D 5000-foot reels. The increased volume of light projected by the “Super 135” is especially important with 3-D because of the 60% light lost to the viewer, resulting from the use of Polaroid filters. The “Super 135” furthermore maintains a screen light that, in itensity and color value, is constant and identical to that of the associated lamp which is burning simultaneously. For further information on projection arc lighting of 3-0 or wide-screen pictures by any [ system, address Uepartmenf 3-9 THE STRONG ELECTRIC CORPORATION The World’s Largest Manufacturer of Projection Arc Lamps 1 City Park Avenue Toledo 2, Ohio Please send details on Strong "Super 135” Projection Arc Lamps. NAME THEATRE, STREET CITY Sc STATE NAME OF SUPPLIER BETTER THEATRES SECTION 47 ROBIN-ARC’ 3-Phase Selenium RECTIFIER Engineered WIDE SCREEN 3-D PROJECTION SYSTEMS A dependable, effi- cient, uniform D.C. power source. Engi- neered by pioneers in the motion pic- ture field. Designed specifically for 3-D and wide-screen pro- jection. Model K 100 100 Amps. • Model K 100X40 60 & 100 Amps. • Model K 150 1 35 Amps. ROBIN-ESCO Super-Power MOTOR GENERATORS A quality product built especially for wide screen service and is available in 60 volts — 145 amperes, 80 volts — 135 amperes. These units may be operated on a continuous basis at these ratings. Write, wire or phone for details Sold through independent supply dealers of q J. E. ROBIN, INC Motion Picture Equipment Specialists 26 7 Rhode Island Avenue EAST ORANGE, N. J. Manufacturers of RECTIFIERS • MOTOR-GENERATORS SCREENS • PROJECTION LENSES Metier Projection A Department on PROJECTION SOUND Alertness and Checking Assure Good 3D Projection By CIO CAGLIARDI Projection of stereo- scopic motion pictures burst upon the industry about a year ago and sparked a new program of tech- nical development. Box-office results of 3D were phenomenal at first. Then a suc- cession of productions, coupled with a lack of consistent skill and care in projection, un- dermined confidence in stereoscopy as a source of added entertain- ment value. Luckily, before the public could really make up its mind about 3D pictures, the industry brought forth new devices — the large screen, new aspect ratios, stereo- phonic sound. This “change of pace” gave Hollywood producers time to evolve better techniques for making good-quality stereoscopic pictures. During this same time, improved metallic screens, and new projection lighting and current rectification equipment were in- stalled in more and more theatres, while projectionists gained experience which will be extremely beneficial in the future presentation of stereoscopic pictures. Several new productions are now giving 3D a fairer trial. The public not only has accepted them, but has acclaimed them where they have been presented with proper technical observance. Everyone in the industry must realize the importance that lies in the success of this second trial. The exhibitor, the engi- neer and the projectionist must use every skill and the best of equipment to give the public a perfect presentation of stereoscopic pictures. It should be helpful to this effort to recheck the various links in the chain of good 3D projection. I. THE FILM All 3D pictures today are still being presented with the two-film method — that is, two projectors operating simultaneously and in synchronism. These films must be closely examined, by rewinding, or by actual screening. In rewinding the film, pay special atten- tion to the footage numbers before and after every splice. Since there are 16 frames to one foot of film, there should be 15 unnumbered whole frames between every two numbers on the film. If any frames are missing, add the proper amount of black frame line leader, making allow- ance for the frames which are cut out. After the new splices are made, or leader inserted, recheck by counting off the frames between footage numbers. Improper splic- ing, which is the greatest single source of 3D projection defects, may be eliminated by following the above mentioned simple precautions. 2. INTERLOCKS Selsyn type interlocks should be care- fully checked to make certain that align- ment is correct, mounting bolts are tight, sprockets are firmly fastened, and chains or belts have correct tension. The regis- tration marks on the selsyn sprockets and the motor flywheels should be checked and freshened if they have become worn or smudged. The framing knobs of both projectors should be set at approximately center posi- tion, then the projector shutters should be synchronized perfectly with each inter- mittent movement. After these steps have been taken and rechecked, then the selsyn motor chains or belts should be attached GIO GAGLIARDI 48 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 9, 1954 and the selsyns should be energized from their master switch. The projector motors should then be operated from a single master switch to make certain that both of them are energized at the same time. The individ- ual motor switches should be carefully covered, or locked, in place to prevent acci- dental operation. All fuses in the motor circuits should be examined, and electrical circuits be so arranged that the sum of the starting current of the two motors will not blow fuses in any of the electrical panels. Loss of synchronism due to power failure to motors and selsyns, need never happen if those simple precautions are observed. 3. ALIGNMENT One of the major causes of poor stereo- scopic or depth perception is the improper alignment of the two pictures projected on the screen. When 3D pictures are made, the pro- ducers and studio technicians predetermine the amount of separation (parallax) which the corresponding pictures on the two films should have during presentation. This amount of separation has been arranged to permit the spectator to fuse the two pictures properly. Any changes in this dimension may degrade the quality of New SMPTE Test Films For CinemaScope Sound TEST films to be used by theatres in the installation and servic- ing of sound equipment for Cinema- Scope showings are being produced by the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers, according to an announcement by Herbert Barnett, presi- dent. Th ree different types of the films were to be available in December with others to be announced as soon as pro- duction arrangements can be completed, he said. The first types of the new sound test films are multi-frequency test film in 426- foot lengths, 8000-cycle azimuth test film in 50-foot lengths, and 1000-cycle bal- ancing test film in 50-foot lengths. In announcing the films, Mr. Barnett urged theatre owners, theatre service companies and equipment manufacturers to submit their requirements without de- lay so that efficient production schedules can be established. All inquiries should be directed to Boyce Nemec, SMPTE Executive Secretary, 40 West 40th Street, New York City. the stereoscopic effect and may destroy it. For this reason it is imperative that the two projectors be aligned on the screen exactly. This cannot be done with just blank light. It must be done with a proper type of 3D target film. The two images pro- jected from this film should- superimpose perfectly (be exactly identical in size, and lie completely, one upon the other, verti- cally and horizontally). This alignment procedure must be fol- lowed at the beginning of the run of each new 3D picture, and should be checked as frequently as possible during the rest of the run. 4. POLARIZING FILTERS Since we depend upon the separation of the two 3D pictures by means of light polarization, it is imperative that we use the best polarizing filters available in the projection room. Good polarizing filters give the brightest and clearest pictures pos- sible with a minimum amount of light leak- age. When good filters are opposed one against the other, they should black out nearly all light. In mounting the filters in front of the projection lenses, they should be kept per- fectly level, and the plane of the filter should be at right angles to the projection axis. The filters should be kept cool to pre- vent bulging, and be kept clean and free from scratches. Stains and dirt may be 3D, Drive-ins and other wide area screen projection systems Amp. Pos. Grade Neg. Grade 4cT- 50 7 x 14 544C 6x9 545C 50-65 8 x 14 544C 7x9 545C 65 - 72 8 x 14 544 - 1 0C 7x9 545C 65-75 9 x 14 544C 7x9 545C 75-85 9 x 14 544 C 8x9 545C Amp. Pos. Grade Neg. Grade 75- 90 9x20 552-09 5/16x9 557C 90-1 15 10x20 552-09 1 1/32x9 557C 115-130 11x20 552-09 3/8x9 557C 130-150 13.6x22 553-01 7/16x9 557C 140-160 13.6x22 553 1/2x9 555C 160-180 13.6x22 583-08 1/2x9 555CN • Cooler burning • Uniform distribution C A R BO N S, I N C. - BOONTON, N. J. BETTER THEATRES SECTION 49 Lens Showmanship I II Ml M ' ^ I I P\l ' \ ; :/y_ , , \1 , , , , I)/ Ml/, / > \ / \'i/^ AF- with svrar aucun li.;, ■ l,r -W< PROJECTION LENSES . . . and "Showmanship" includes your plant equipment. Super Snaplite f/1 .9 Projection Lenses give your patrons maximum viewing satisfaction. use Super Snaplites. True speed of f/1 .9 in all focal lengths up to 7 inches. Ask for bulletin #212 KULMlUilil Plant: Northampton, Massachusetts Boxoffice You get more Light with Super Snaplite 4* OKPOKATION New York Office: / 30 CHURCH ST., NEW YORK 7, N. Y. HEAP T-H£ ~~ k&uxl/ removed with facial tissues dampened in carbon tetrachloride. Make sure that the right filter is at right port , the left filter at left port, both facing properly. Follow instruction on frames. 5. SCREEN BRIGHTNESS When 3D projection began in theatres, there were very few manufacturers who produced good metallic screens. Since we are projecting two different pictures on the screen simultaneously, and depend upon polarizing filters to keep each distinct, it is absolutely necessary that the screen sur- face reflect the two pictures towards the spectator without destroying the separation effect of the filters. Good aluminum-sur- faced screens can do this. Because of the recent research in screen surfacing, we now have available screens which not only are properly non-polarizing, but which help materially to recoup the FIGURE I: To check lamp lineup during projection, brightness filters are available. As explained in the Polaroid Corporation manual: Hold filter at arm's length, close one eye, and watch screen. Any differ- ence in screen brightness between the two projectors will show up as in- dicated in the filter drawings below. Left Projector Right Projector Projectors Dim Dim Equally Bright loss of light sustained in the polarizing filters. Some screen now produce reflection gains twice that of “white” screens. It has been found that illumination of about 10 foot-candles on a good metallic screen will produce proper brightness for colored film. Remember that this light value should be obtained from each pro- jector alone, with its proper polarizing filter in position. While on the subject of screen bright- ness, we should remember that for good 3D performance it is necessary to maintain equal light from both projectors at all times. If one image is projected on the screen darker then the other, the spectator will lose the depth effect and his eyes will become fatigued. Simple gauges are now available (from the Polaroid Corporation — see Figure 1 ) to check this condition. 6. FOCUS AND FRAMING There are two other operating faults which can cause a deterioration of 3D 50 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 9, 1954 Polacoat-Polarized i FOR NEW 3-D PROFITS THE ONLY 3-D VIEWER WHICH DOES NOT CHANGE COLOR PICTURE VALUE • Sees Color Best • Dark Surround Improves Viewing • Eliminates Back Reflection • Exclusive Wide-View Polarization REGULAR Model Ml-A NEW DUAL-FOLD SELF-ADJUSTING DESIGN Adjusts automatically on fold lines, which creates spring tension to keep glasses on. CLIP-ON Model Ml-B For the patron who normally wears glasses,3D MAGIC- VUER CLIP-ONS permit full vision, stay in place, very light weight. AVAILABLE FOR YOUR NEXT 3 D ATTRACTION : : •; VIEWING COMFORT guilds repeat Kiddie Tra de Seven brilliantly decorated themes. Spaceman • Police- in a n ‘Western Sheriff • Lucky Horseshoe • Rocket Ship • Cowboy * Circus Clown • Be first in your area with Lucky “7” and triple your kiddie trade. ORDER NOW FROM THE 29 BRANCHES OF NATIONAL THEATRE SUPPLY 92 Gold St., New York 38, N. Y. DEPTH-VIEWERS Inc. MANUFACTURERS OF POLACOAT-POLARIZED 3-DIMENSIONAL PRODUCTS P. O. BOX 6, CINCINNATI 36, OHIO FOR ENGINEERED APPLICATIONS OF POLARIZED LIGHT WRITE TO: POLACOflT INC., BLUE ASH, OHIO BETTER THEATRES SECTION SI "THE POWER BEHIND THE SCREEN IMPERIAL STEDYPOWER ** special motor generators for every arc projection imperial Stedypower M-G sets are ready for today’s requirements and tomorrow’s demands! Your Stedypower set can be used for standard intermittent service with either the conventional or new wide screen projection. This same set can also be used for continuous operation for one lamp or two lamps simultaneously. Every Imperial Stedypower M-G set offers you this wide range of application. Here's real insurance on your investment today against tomorrow's demands. STEDYPOWER CONVENTIONAL OR CONTINUOUS DUTY M-G SET LINE WIDESCREEN INTERMITTENT l-LAMP 2-LA M PS MODEL VOLTAGE AMPERES AMPERES AMPERES 4B 60 80-160 120 60 6B 00 o 1 10-220 165 82 7A 90 125-250 190 95 The Chart below shows just 3 Imperial Stedypozver M-G sets and hozv each set can be adapted to 3 different projection applications. Distributed by Independent Theatre Supply Dealers or Write to: THE IMPERIAL ELECTRIC COMPANY GENERAL OFFICES: AKRON, OHIO BOTHERED WITH THE JUMPS? 3-D demands rock steady projec- tion in both machines. Your dealer can show you the advantages of using LaVezzi parts in your projec- tors and sound heads. Unexcelled for high precision and long life. Write for complete catalog LaVezzi Machine Works 4635 W. LAKE ST., CHICAGO 44, ILL. effect and which produce bad eye strain. When the two images on the screen are out of frame with respect to each other, the viewers’ eyes try to rotate, producing muscular eye strain. The screen should be checked often during operation); without wearing 3D glasses, look at similar objects in the fore- ground and frame up or down until both images line up vertically. When either of both pictures is out of focus, it is very difficult to fuse them properly. Each machine should be focused FIGURE 2: Focus of each projector can be matched without putting on 3D spectacles by using a focus filter, one for left port, one for right port. It is further pointed out in the Polaroid Corporation manual, from which these illustrations were taken, that field- glasses help to assure sharp focus. separately and as sharply as possible. Binoculars or special viewing scopes may help in doing this. Simple porthole focusing filters are avail- able which may be installed at each observa- tion port. These are sheets of right-eye and left-eye filter stock which are large enough for the projectionist to look through with both eyes at once, thereby using his full vision for proper focusing of the projec- tor (See Figure 2). 7. SYNCHRONIZATION Sold thru Theatre Supply Dealers Exclusively DRIVE-IN SPEAKERS REPAIRED! COMPLETELY REBUILT AND TESTED— RETURNED TO YOU WITHIN TEN DAYS Modern facilities and top quality WEATHER-PROOF components mean satisfaction! Get set for next season, have your drive-in speakers repair- ed now! All workmanship and / materials fully guaranteed. 3", 4"— $1.40 each 5" — $1.50 each 6" — $1 .65 each Prices on all other sizes avail- able on request. Write to: MINNEAPOLIS SPEAKER RECONING CO. 2312 CEDAR AVE. SO. • MINNEAPOLIS 4, MINN. In order to obtain the greatest amount of realism from 3D pictures, perfect syn- chronization of the tzm films must be main- tained at all times. It is obvious that if the film be perfectly matched as to length ; if it is threaded in both machines at the correct start mark; if the intermittents, shutters, and framings devices are in correct alignment ; and if the projector interlocks do not permit any slippage — then perfect synchronism of the two films will be maintained during the full run of the reels. Unfortunately, however, mistakes can be made, or time may not be available for checking film, then out-of-sync trouble may develop. Normally there are no means 52 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 9, 1954 at hand for clearing this trouble except a forced stop and the necessary rethreading The Polaroid Corporation has made available an equipment kit containing de- vices which, when installed in the electrical interwiring of the selsyn interlocks, will give the projectionist a simple means fnr resynchronizing his projectors during opera tion and without stopping the performance The equipment consists of a special multi- pole switching device. Inserted in the selsyn wiring, this switch permits the rapid changing of the phase relation between the various fields in the two control selsyns. In this manner one machine may be ad- vanced, or retarded, with respect to the FIGURE 3: To -facilitate maintenance of projector synchronization, the Polaroid Cor- poration has developed a "sync monitor and control" device (described in BETTER THE- ATRES of December, 1953). If out-of-sync conditions develop during projection, syn- chronization can be restored by merely turn- ing a knob. The company's manual explains that films out-of-sync are indicated when the screen image has (I) a watery "floating" look, (2) double images, and jerky action, especially in fast-moving scenes and close- ups, and (3) loss of the effect of depth. other in steps of a fraction of a frame at a time until perfect syncronism is re-estab- lished (See Figure 3). A special monitoring viewer is also provided to determine the exact condition of synchronism. 8. VIEWERS The final link in good 3-D projection is the glasses, or viewers, which are sup- plied to the audience. These viewers must be constructed properly. They must have good transmission so as not to cut down the picture brightness; they must also be very selective so as to eliminate double image, or “ghost effect.” If you are planning a new drive-in theatre ask for full details on the Ballantyne Complete package plan. 4-Runner Magnetic Soundhead Interchanges between three and four track magnetic sound systems. .^erchangeofc/ You can show "How to Marry a Millionaire”, in Cinemascope at one performance in four track magnetic sound and "Kiss Me Kate” in 3-track magnetic sound with 3-D at the next. And you do it at a cost that is only slightly more than for a single system alone. It is the practical, economical ap- proach to the new techniques. And make no mistake, this sound system gives you the superb tone and range at least equal to any separate system. Talk with your Ballantyne Dealer or write Finest Theatre Service— Anywhere Back of every RCA Theatre Serv- ice engineer are all the resources and facilities of the Radio Corpo- ration of America. No technical problem in theatre sound or pro- jection is too difficult for RCA Service engineers to tackle and solve . . . for You! For over 25 years, RCA Theatre Service has been consistently of the highest quality . . . thoroughly dependable . . . and friendly. RCA Service Company, Inc. A Radio Corporation of America Subsidiary Camden, N. J. BETTER THEATRES SECTION 53 Marquee announcement of the introduction of CinemaScope. Installing Screen and Sound for CinemaScope Step-by-step picture-story of a wide-screen-stereophonic sound in- stallation in a theatre. The photos show the equipping of the Globe in New York for the CinemaScope production “How To Marry a Millionaire” by Altec Service under direction of George Evans and Fred Hall of office of C. S. Perkins, northeastern division manager. PHOTOGRAPHY BY JIMMY POWERS INSTALLING AMPLIFICATION EQUIPMENT: In preparation for converting the projection booth of the Globe from a single to a multiple sound system, George Evans (left above), Altec field representative, studies the room's layout with Globe projectionists Charles Beal (center) and David Shapiro. It was decided to install the pre-amplifiers on the left wall and the main amplifier rack on the rear wall. Equipment previously in that location (center photo above) was moved to the rear wall and rewired. Photo at far right above shows the same location following installation of the pre-amplifier cabinets and the main amplifier rack. The pre-amplifier units, the switch unit and the main amplifier unit are shown in photo at left below prior to conducting the multiple wiring through tubing and with control panels on directly below. TIME OUT FOR STUDY: Altec field engineer Hans Neuberger (at right above) and Mr. Evans take time out to read Ben Schlanger's article in BETTER THEATRES for October 1952 on "Sizing the Picture for Wide-Screen." 54 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 9, 1954 MOUNTING PENTHOUSE REPRODUCERS: Altec field engineer S. P. McGuigan (left above) and the Globe's chief projectionist Paul Ricci consult with Mr. Evans on installations of the Motiograph penthouse reproducers. One of the "Simplex X-L” projectors is shown at right before and (at far right) after mounting of the magnetic reproducer. AUDITORIUM SURROUND" SPEAKERS: In the Globe's auditorium (above) eighteen special "surround" speakers were installed — ten on the lower floor, four in the mezzanine, and four in the balcony. They are Altec "600B" speakers. INSTALLING THE STAGE SPEAKERS: Placement of the three "Voice of the Theatre" stage speakers is discussed above by Harry Goldstein (left), general manager of the Globe; Fred Hall, Altec northeastern branch man- ager, and Mr. Evans. In the rear Mr. Neuberger is shown working on one of the three speakers, which are placed on either side and in the center behind the screen. Below stagehands move the right speaker into position. ERECTING THE FRAME: Workers of Artkraft-Strauss Corporation (above) begin erection of the screen frame which will hold the curved "Miracle Mirror" screen. Made to exact specifications, the frame is joined and bolted in numerous sections with the four sides of the frame carrying 150 grummets each, thro ugh which is passed cording to be attached to the curved hooks. BETTER THEATRES SECTION 55 INSTALLING SCREEN AND SOUND FOR CINEMASCOPE, continued INSTALLING THE SCREEN: The first step in installing the "Miracle Mirror" screen is supervised by Morris Werner, chief electrician of Brandt Theatres, in photo at far left above. The screen is placed from left to right on the framework, which tilts forward six degrees to adapt reflectance char- acteristics to projection and bal- cony angles of the Globe. The process is laborious with a pause necessary every few feet to lace and fasten the cording. Gloves are used by the workmen to prevent marring of the screen's surface. The screen is shown directly above drawn three-quarters of the way across the frame, obscuring all but one of the three speakers placed in back of it. At left the new screen is shown upon completion. It measures 37 feet, 6 inches in width by 21 feet in height, as com- pared with the theatre's former screen (below), 24 by 18 feet. The wide-screen is at the apron of the platform, with draping substituted for the proscenium opening. 56 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 9, 1954 The Astrolite Screen ( Continued from page 46) atre where such light is not needed. After all, there are no seats on the walls or ceil- ing of your theatres. 3. It must assure uniform distribution of light so that light is reflected evenly at all angles of vision without a sharp or sig- nificant drop-off. Otherwise certain seats in your theatre sijnply will not be used by your patrons, of if used, will create a very bad reaction. 4. It must reflect color accurately so that all visible colors in the original film are shown so perfectly that the human eye cannot detect the difference. 5. It must be an “ all-purpose ” screen so that it is suitable for all existing and proposed projection systems — conventional 2D, 3D, wide-screen, color and black-and- white. How the “Astrolite” meets these de- mands has been told in detail in a paper called “A New Concept of Good Screen Performance,” prepared by John L. Curtin, director of research of the Glowmeter Corporation. Mr. Curtin is a member of Association for Advancement of Science and is only one of a number of outstanding physicists who have worked on developing the “Astrolite” fabric. I shall try to sum- marize the paper in the everyday layman’s language. PURE SILVER SURFACE First, the “Astrolite” uses a pure silver surface. Every “Astrolite” screen consists of an eight-layer sandwich, one layer of which is a pure silver layer, similar to that which is used in mirrors. (See illustration.) Pure silver is the most efficient reflective light surface known. The highest possible light return for any reflective surface is about 93%. Aluminum, properly applied returns 89.4%. Labora- tory tests have proved that “Astrolite” screens give a light energy return of 91.5%. This is just one of the basic reasons why it reflects light so efficiently and why, in many cases, no amperage boost is required to pro- duce additional illumination when “Astro- lite” is used. Secondly, the “Astrolite” screen is a fully optically engineered screen. What do I mean by “optically engineered”? There are two types of reflective surfaces — the painted or coated type which diffuses light, wastes light and has limited brilliance. Then there is the lenticular or engineered type which controls light, increases brilliance, spreads light evenly' and gives maximum reflection efficiency. A lenticular reflective surface has mil- lions of tiny lenses, actually processed on the surface in a scientific, geometric pattern. There is only one correct pattern and “Astrolite” uses it. No lenticular screen is better than the design of the lenticles and the efficiency of the basic reflector. Through patient research and developmental work, using the outstanding physicists in this country, and employing the most efficient basic reflecting surface — silver — “Astrolite” has developed the most efficient possible lenticle. There are 6% million perfect curved mirrors in every square yard of the pure silver “Astrolite” screen surface. As a result of this optical engineering plus the use of the pure silver reflective surface, the “Astrolite” screens not only maintain full brightness but maintain a uniform brightness throughout the entire field of observation. That is why when an “Astrolite” is used every seat in the house is a good seat. It means that audiences seated at the sides see bright pictures over the entire screen. It means that full polari- zation is maintained on 3D and there is good illumination across the entire screen for wide-screen projection. It also means that the light reflection is controlled so that none of the important light is re- flected up toward the ceilings or towards the side walls where it is not needed. It also means that there is resistance to light from outside sources other than the pro- jector. The combination of the pure silver sur- face and optical engineering also assure effective color projection. In addition “Astrolite” has other valuable character- istics: it is flameproof and also it is easily washable. The “Astrolite” screen has been officially approved for CinemaScope by 20th-Cen- tury Fox. NEW ANAMORPHIC LENSES The Bell & H owell Company, Chicago, has made available to theatre supply houses its new 3bmm anamorphic lens, which A. H. Bolt, director ot retail and industrial sa.es, holds in his left hand above. The company reports that it will also manufacture a 16mm lens for taking and projecting films in the anamorphic process to be available in March. 6 NEW BOLTA-WALL DISTRIBUTOR Appointment of the Whitman Company in the Bronx, New York, as a distributor of “Bolta-Wall” vinyl wall covering has been announced by Bolta Products Sales, Inc., of Lawrence, Mass. The Whitman firm will serve the following territory: in New York, the counties of Richmond, Manhattan, Bronx, Orange, Westchester, Putnam and Rockland ; and nine counties in New Jersey. Basic to an understanding of developments in film product! NEW SCREEN TECHNIQUES . . . written in non-technical language by 26 authorities on CinemaScope and other wide-screen methods, and on 3D and stereo sound. • Hailed by exhibitors, film critics and producers as a “must book’’ for the industry in these times. BELOW IS AN ORDER COUPON — Quigley Publishing Company, 1270 Sixth Avenue, New York 20, N. Y. — SEND COPY/COPIES OF “NEW SCREEN TECHNIQUES” Enclosed is my NAME check or money order for S4.50 ADDRESS per copy □ Bill me □ BETTER THEATRES SECTION 57 Refreshment Attendants, Stocks and Reports CONTINUED FROM PAGE 34 Report section, this will give the amount we can definitely account for on the day, and this (going back to the Cash Collec- tion group) is listed as “Less Acctd. For” and subtracted from the Cash “Total Received” to give us the amount which will be “Credit Candy,” and then brought down to the box-office section for entry, as will also the sales tax. The other lines in the Box-Office Report section are for items such as scales, ciga- rettes, ice cream, sanitary napkins, etc., which must be accounted for on the weekly report, but are not accounted for daily. Once or twice a week is often enough to empty these various machines and deposit their collections. You can see from the foregoing method of accounting that any shortage (or over- age) that comes up at the end of the week will be shown, largely, on candy, since it is not accurately accounted for each day. In the event of serious shortages, it should be remembered that the figure reflected as a candy shortage could just as easily have actually occurred in the popcorn or drink departments. ( T his may help in tracing missing stock, or correcting errors.) At the end of each accounting period, it is necessary to run a physical count of the inventory of all items covered in the con- cession report. This should be broken down according to each type of merchandise handled, and if individual brands are listed, they will also serve as a check list for your next requisition to replace depleted stocks. WEEKLY REPORT The weekly concession report must be very detailed to give a true picture of each phase of the operation and to prove which items are profitable, as well as over or short. The principle of this check is very simple. The daily concession figures are grouped according to each primary item (candy, popcorn, drinks, etc.) and the total obtained for each column, which is later cross-checked with the total deposited for the week. After these totals are obtained, follow the same procedure as outlined in the Daily Concession Report, with the exception that the figures used are the opening and closing numbers for the entire period covered. If the results obtained as the total amount of sales do not check with the total of the daily receipts under each column, then there is either a mistake in your calculations, or an overage or shortage exists in that particular item. GROSS PROFITS Gross profits on each primary item must be arrived at by figuring all the basic costs of the merchandise involved. A set per- centage can be arrived at which will aver- age out for the year, after which this should be re-figured. Of course, any sub- stantial change in product prices during the year will call for a re-examination of your gross profit figure. EXPENSES Having proved our popcorn, candy, drink and other sales with the deposits made daily, and calculated the gross profit for each item, we come to the point of accounting for the other expenses which vary from week-to-week, such as payroll, paper napkins, shipping charges, carbona- tion gas and similar items. These might be listed under the primary headings used previously, so that we may know the expenses for each group, and we will at this time list shortages as expense and deduct overages so that a proper balance may he had. Sales taxes are prop- erly shown here, according to your situa- CONSOLIDATED DAILY CONCESSIONS REPORT MAIN FLOOR DAY / POPCORN: Closing No* Opening No® 9339 AY bl 9 FOUNTAIN DRINKS: Cups Open Sold _ / 0 Clips Issued Total Closed Amount $ IL p Q BtITTERCOBN : Cups Open Cups Issued bTp. Sixtk Avenue, Rockefeller Center, New York 20, N. Y. Subscription pri. tie copy, 25 cents. All contents copyrighted 1954 by Quigley Publishing C THE GREATEST HOLIDAY ATTRACTION IN YEARS! NEVER BEFORE SUCH PROMOTION! Perfect timing for Washington’s Birthday! By the utmost careful planning, every phase of the gigantic promotion of "THE LONG, LONG TRAILER” in magazines, news- papers, radio and TV and countless other out- lets is TIMED TO SYNCHRONIZE WITH WASHINGTON’S BIRTHDAY BOOK- INGS IN HUNDREDS OF THEATRES. ★ M-G-M MULTI-MILLION READERSHIPS In its "Picture of the Month” Column alone more than 93 million people will see M-G-M’s ad in top national magazines: Woman’s Home Companion, Collier’s, Look, True Series, Good Housekeeping, McCall’s, Red book, Cosmo- politan, Parents’ , American, Seventeen. Many more millions will see M-G-M’s ads in all fan magazines, plus smash teaser and display ads in newspapers. FABULOUS AD CAMPAIGN ASSIST! The New Moon Trailer Company, Mercury Cars and Youngstown Kitchens will each run full-page, 4-color ads in: Modern Romances, Modern Screen, Screen Stories, Additionally, The New Moon Trailer Company will run full page ads in 4-colors topped by great display for the picture in terrific-circulation Sunday supplements: American Weekly, American Magazine; also Look, Woman’s Day, Family Circle, American, Argosy, Red book, T rue, Mechanics’ Illustrated , Christian Herald, Popular Mechanics, Popular Science, Lifetime Living. Also, The New Moon Company will schedule local advertising to be placed through dealers at time of playdates. ★ KEY CITY OPENING BALLYHOO! Duplicates of the exact big New Moon trailer used in the picture will be available to spark the ballyhoo launching of the ( continued on next page ) ( continued) picture in all key-city openings. Local dealers will work with M-.G-M field men and theatre Managers for widest exhibition publicity in area around key cities. ★ M-G-M STARLET TRAILER TOUR! Two beautiful starlets will make national tours, each in an exact duplicate of the New Moon trailer. Each star will make newspaper, radio, TV and other promotional publicity appearances. A New Moon representative accompanies each trailer as MC and all field men have itinerary and special kit for plan- ning glamorous promotion. ★ NEW MOON REPRESENTATIVES READY! See press book for 3 full pages of names and addresses of New Moon trailer dealers. Contact the one in your locality for show- manship tie-up. Inquire about display ac- cessories available for mutual profit. ★ CO-OPERATIVE AD LAYOUT! Co-operative ad layout in press book shows how you can get your newspaper to solicit space from local New Moon dealers, Mercury car agencies and others. ★ PHILIP MORRIS GIANT PLANS! Philip Morris, sponsors of the No. 1 TV program "I Love Lucy” starring Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz will promote the M-G-M movie that stars these great favorites in an unprecedented campaign. ★ TV PLUGS "LONG, LONG TRAILER” REACH 50 MILLION WEEKLY! During February and March there will be plugs for "THE LONG, LONG TRAILER” on the TV program "I Love Lucy” over CBS -TV reaching 50 million every week. Contact your Philip Morris man for local tie-ins and dates. ★ 500 FIELD MEN READY! .Philip Morris representatives will work with you. Their names and addresses are in the press book. 500 field men and salesmen are ready for you! CARDS BLANKET NATION! Philip Morris have prepared tie-in window cards and posters in several sizes which they will plant by the thousands in tobacco stores, supermarkets, drug chains. ★ MERCURY DEALERS ACTIVE! Mercury car dealers nationwide will coop- erate in promotion for their car used in the picture. Contact local agency. ★ 7-FOOT STANDEE! Wait till you see the smash standee, 7 -feet high, 4-feet wide in 6-colors! At N.S.S. Branches. It’s a wow. ★ 29 NATIONAL TIE-UPS! A list of 29 national tie-ups of Desilu Man- ufacturers (featuring Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz) is shown in the press book. A wealth of promotional possibilities in this. ★ USE THE PRESS BOOK! The showman campaign book on "THE LONG, LONG TRAILER” is a treasure chest of tie-ups, complete plans easy to apply to any situation, sock advertising. ★ EVERYTHING SYNCHRONIZED FOR HOLIDAY BOOKINGS! Read These Trade Press Raves! Then Call Your M-G-M Branch ! "Funniest in a long time. Figures to equal box-office sensation 'Father of the Bride’.” — M. P. Daily. "Big box-office. Exploitation natural.” — Variety. "Sock entertainment.” — Film Daily. "Excellent. A rare and won- derful thing. Will attract all customers.” — M. P. Herald. "Shrewdly timed piece of cast- ing. Top business. Happy customers. Satu- rated with merchandising opportunities.” — 'Boxoffice. "Hilarious comedy. Record -break-, ing returns.” — Showmen's Trade Review. ★ M-G-M presents LUCILLE BALL , DESI ARNAZ in “ THE LONG, LONG TRAILER ” with Marjorie Main • Keenan Wynn • Screen Play by Albert Hackett and Frances Goodrich • Based on the Novel by Clinton Twiss Photographed in Ansco Color • Print by Technicolor • Directed by Vincente Minnelli • Produced by Pandro S. Berman (Vvx as the lost Pe£r,-tri from Savannah, Ga became ruler of savage Fiji warriors Actually filmed in the splendors V and |\ mysteries | of the || fabulous IfFiji Islands! ■ 8HHK , * ■ : 'V FOP rue wee ' ClHEMAScO»»e PICTURE IBm si x | «S1 7 / ^Have you seen the grosses, in theatres large and small, on 20th’s "THE ROBE,” "HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE,” "BENEATH THE 12-MILE REEF” and KING OF THE KHYBER RIFLES”! MOTION PICTURE HERALD w MARTIN QUIGLEY, Editor-in-Chief and Publisher MARTIN QUIGLEY, JR., Editor Vol. 194, No. 3 •' • j January 16, 1954 What the Code Is About IT is not to be expected that all who currently are criticizing the Production Code and its administra- tion do actually know what it is all about. It there- fore is doubly important that members of the industry should understand its principles and purposes. When asked, or the occasion indicates, they should be able to explain what the Code is and what it is not. The fact that the Code has been at work for the benefit of the industry for nearly a quarter of a century does not mean that it is well or widely comprehended. The cur- rent controversy may be of lasting benefit if as a result exhibitors, distributors and the creative workers of Hollywood — and the so-called “opinion makers” among the general public — gain a fundamental grasp of what is involved in the Code system. Much of what has been said and written about abolish- ing, revising or amending the Code has tended, deliber- ately or indeliberately, to confuse. The heart of the matter is simple. The Code’s purpose and the means adopted to attain its end are not occult or complex. The whole aim of the Code may be reduced to one short sentence: Motion pictures should not be produced which tend to lower the moral level of spectators. All the principles and specific applications of the Code document are simply guides in applying the purpose of the Code summarized in that sentence. Motion pictures of an entertainment character have no direct obligation to educate or morally elevate. They do have an obligation not to lower the moral standards of members of the audience. In the same measure pur- veyors of food have an obligation to make sure that their products do not physically harm consumers. The Code answers broadly the question of what in motion pictures may lower the moral level. The basic point is that incidents of a picture which discredit human or divine law or arouse sympathy for the violation of law are those which harm viewers morally. Those who deny that motion pictures can affect the moral standing of spectators either have little or no belief in or loyalty to morality of any kind or assume that films are without influence on thought and behavior. Neither viewpoint is tenable. All personal, business, national and international life depends on general ac- ceptance of moral standards. The great power of the screen is not to be denied by experienced persons. The specific provisions of the Code are intended to help producers handle the subject matter of films in ways that are calculated not to do moral damage to audiences. Motion pictures made by the member companies of the Motion Picture Association which subscribe to the Code are intended for universal exhibition to audiences of all ages. Therefore the application of the Code gives due weight to these circumstances. If some motion pictures were made for exhibition exclusively to mature persons, application of the Code principles would differ in em- phasis. Within the framework of the Code there are some subjects but not many which are not acceptable for screen entertainment. With most stories it is a matter of treatment which determines whether moral harm may be done. Obviously sympathetic and triumphant treat- ment of violations of law could lead to an increase in juvenile, and in adult, delinquency. Critics of the Code are singularly quiet when asked for specific suggestions for revision. This may mean that most of them want no Code at all — no restraints. The Code has never been viewed as a perfect and un- changeable document. Provisions concerning specific applications have been changed and will be changed from time to time. In fact a number of these suggestions have been made by the Production Code Administration itself. Whether a Code existed or not, producers of motion pictures would still be under the same obligation to make films that would not harm spectators. Adoption of the Code represented a solemn pact between the American industry and the American public that wholesome films would be made. The faithful administration of the Code for more than two decades by Joseph I. Breen and his associates has been of outstanding public relations and dollars-at-the-box-office benefit to the American motion picture industry. Neither the Code nor its administration will be scrapped to satisfy the purposes of those who, despising all regula- tion and restraint, would like to encourage the industry to policies of license that would be disastrous — morally and economically. ■ ■ ■ C] An indication of the growing acceptance by the American public of British motion pictures is given in a year-end report by Harry Fellerman, executive sales head of the special films division of Universal. It was noted that J. Arthur Rank productions received over 15,000 bookings in the United States during the past year. The record is especially significant when it is pointed out that there are fewer than 500 of the so-called “art theatres” which show regularly pictures made outside the United States. Such pictures must have a particular appeal in order to obtain general circuit and small-town bookings. So far as the U.S. was concerned the top British stars of 1953 were Queen Elizabeth II for “A Queen Is Crowned” and Alec Guinness for three of his comedies. — Martin Quigley, Jr. MOTION PICTURE HERALD Confidence To the Editor: There are too many showmen who have thrown up their hands in despair. I for one have great confidence in the future of the movie industry. — ARTHUR J. SIL- BERMAN, Exhibitor, Chicago, III. Keep ’em Coming To the Editor: All I can say at this time is that Holly- wood is making pictures the public wants. Keep them coming. — ANTHONY COUT- SOUMBIS , Manager, Loeis/s Ritz Theatre, Pittsburgh, Pa. Can Be Beat! To the Editor: Television can be beat. We should have more like “Shane” and “From Here to Eternity.” 3-D is dead, except for young- sters. Give ’em glasses, speakers, wide screens, screens on the ceiling, etc., but if we don’t have something to put on the screens, poof!!! — JOE WALSH , Smalleys Theatre, Johnstown, N. Y. More Comedy To the Editor: More comedy is needed. Be it corny or otherwise, more comedy. The color cartoons draw almost as well as the features. I think the drive-ins have proved this. — GEORGE M. SLAUGHTER, Auburn-0 pelika Drive- In, Opelika, Ala. Shooting Abroad To the Editor: Don’t make so many of our pictures abroad !— JOSEPH J. GREENE , Manager, Harbor Drive-in Theatre, Torrance, Calif. Shorter Films To the Editor: Why a ninety-minute feature on six reels when five reels would be perfect? More human true life features in the price range for the smaller theatres would be welcome. — DON L. TRACY, Manager, Grand Theatre, Carrington, North Dakota. Drop “Gimmicks” To the Editor: Here’s a tip to producers ! Stop fooling around with gimmicks and get down to the business of making good pictures. Every- one in the industry knows that current re- leases and those from a few years back EXCELLENT JOURNAL TO THE EDITOR: I look forward each week to your excellent journal and enjoy reading it immensely from cover to cover. — DAVE S. KLEIN, Managing Director, Astra Theatre, Northern Rhodesia. are not nearly as consistent as those of 10 to 15 years ago. It is my opinion from an exhibition standpoint, going back to 1935 and taking them over again as they come, would be preferable to accepting those com- ing through now. — Exhibitor, McIntosh, Fla. Family Pictures To the Editor: Let’s have more pictures for the family. Good musicals, comedies, Westerns and good drama would help fill our theatres. Give us good pictures and we won’t have to worry about TV — Exhibitor, White River, South Dakota. Get the T ax Off To the Editor: Get the admission tax off and Cinema- Scope into the drive-ins ! — Exhibitor, Kings- ville, Texas. Modernization To the Editor: All theatre owners should take a look at the big department stores, super-markets, etc., then look at their theatres and ask themselves just one question: “Have I kept up with modernization in my theatre as much as these other businesses have?” — Exhibitor, St. Petersburg, Florida. Need More Comedy To the Editor: We need more comedy — less drama! — Exhibitor, Nevada, Mo. 3-D “Goofed Up” To the Editor: Spend more money on production and stories. We had a good thing in 3-D until they goofed it up with a bunch of sorry pictures. — Exhibitor, Arlington, Texas. January 16, 1954 JUSTICE Department sees no need of changes in Consent Decrees Page 12 FABIAN urges united exhibitor front, pro- poses six points Page 13 MEDIATION committee is set up by local exhibitor unit Page 13 TERRY RAMSAYE Says — A column of com- ment on matters cinematic Page 16 NATHANSON acquires control of Associ- ated Screen News, Canada Page 16 VARIETY CLUB total of charity aid to date put at $50,000,000 Page 16 TAX fight best hope during current session seen in reduction Page 17 LEVY of TOA sees dangers in recent high court Crest case verdict Page 17 RKO understood re-submitting "French Line" to PCA scrutiny Page 20 NEWSPAPER and state censor defend trade's Production Code Page 20 SUPREME COURT studying state censor issue following arguments Page 22 DISNEY Productions reports net profit gain to $510,426 Page 23 EISENHOWER asks Taft-Hartley relaxation for amusement industry Page 23 RANK pictures reported having best year in U.S. exhibition Page 23 REPUBLIC announces plans for release of twenty-nine features Page 24 BRITISH industry to take tax cut plea to Government Feb. 4 Page 26 MEXICAN production industry in 1953 showed sharp decrease Page 30 NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT — Notes on indus- try personnel across country Page 32 SERVICE DEPARTMENTS Film Buyers' Rating 3rd Cover Hollywood Scene Page 28 Managers' Round Table Page 37 People in the News Page 23 What the Picture Did for Me Page 41 IN PRODUCT DIGEST Showmen's Reviews Advance Synopses The Release Chart Release Chart by Company SECTION Page 2141 Page 2142 Page 2144 Page 2149 8 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 16, 1954 PEOPLE like Sadie Thompson flat as well as round. So says Columbia. It ran the film last week in 3-D at the Byrd, in Rich- mond, Va., and in 2-D at the State there; and, in Sacramento, at the Tower and Del Paso in 3-D and at the Esquire in 2-D. Whatever the medium, the results were about the same. Couple this with the fact that many exhibitors not equipped for 3-D want “Miss Sadie Thompson” — and you have a reason for Colum- bia changing its policy of exhibiting the picture only in 3-D. ► Drive-in exhibitor Ben Bronstein, out in Palm Springs, where they ran that Telemeter test, is asking the Justice Department to investigate the matter. He says he was told by Paramount, half-owner of Tele- meter, that he must allow Telemeter, going into people’s homes, to buy Paramount pictures, day and date or even before. He also adds that Paramount’s agreement with Palm Springs theatre owner Earl Strebe — whereby the picture at Mr. Strebe’s theatre was Telemetered into homes — puts Paramount into exhibition and therefore violates the Federal consent decree. ► Research in motion picture adver- tising was pointed up last week in New York by three executives of the Cunningham and Walsh agency, which handles the Universal ac- count. The men, Gerald Tasker, Anthony Chevine, and John S. Wil- liams, suggested to the Showman- ship School of the Associated Mo- tion Picture Advertisers that man- agers be instructed to use “panels” of patrons to ascertain opinion; and they also noted the necessity of as- certaining the influence of certain types of advertising. Mr. Williams commented that research had upset some traditional art and copy ap- proaches. ► MGM’s first CinemaScope effort, “Knights of the Round Table” ap- pears to have obtained a gross of over a million dollars in 21 engage- ments. Sixteen of these were held a second week; eight, a third. ► A New York Assemblyman this week is trying to put through a bill requiring theatres with 3-D to post a sign “at least one foot high” near the boxoffice. The sign would read: “Polaroid glasses required to view picture”. Assemblyman Daniel Kelly says merely that his measure is re- quired because there are many tech- niques which the public may con- fusedly believe to be 3-D. At this point, the measure could be a plug for Polaroid, for 3-D — or for CinemaScope. ► The social security tax will ap- parently stay at the increased 2 per cent rate. The Administration said it would not renew its request of last year that the rate go back to 1 y2 per cent, and House Ways and Means Committee chairman Reed (R., N. Y.) says he sees “absolutely no possibility” of any change now. ► New York’s new mayor, Robert F. Wagner, Jr., has had some pretty startling things to say lately. He’s against some taxes. For one thing, he’d like to reform the city’s finan- cial methods. Writing to Governor Dewey about the city’s problems, in extenso, he even asked that the city’s unused authority to levy a five per cent tax on amusements, be withdrawn. Such a tax, he said, “would hit industries already taxed to the hilt by the Federal Govern- ment and possibly would drive many of them, faced with TV competition, out of business entirely.” ► Those curfew proposals are with us again. Theatre managers want to strangle vandals and curb crime ; but curfews raise problems. As the “Kansas City Star” pointed out the other day in comment about a pro- posed curfew considered by the City Council there, because the law would ban persons under 17 on streets after midnight, a manager would have to clear his house by midnight or be guilty of a misdemeanor. In fact, he’d have to begin much before mid- night ; and he’d have to ascertain the ages of his patrons, itself an im- probability. ► The television industry will ask Congress to spell out in greater de- tail just what the industry’s obliga-j tions are in providing free time for the airing of controversial public issues. Press Features Fame Poll The Ten Best Money Making Stars of 1953, 22nd annual poll of exhibitors by The HERALD for "Fame," this year was accorded wide newspaper, magazine and radio coverage upon its publication December 31. In New York and Hollywood newspapers ran feature stories on the results of the poll on their amusement pages with special coverage in the "New York Times," the "Los Angeles Mirror," and the "Hollywood Citizen News." In addition, nationally syndicated columnists like Louella Parsons and Edwin Schallert featured it; the "Detroit Free Press" critic Helen Bower wrote a column about it; the "New York Daily News" made it the subject of a Sunday editorial, and "Time" magazine covered the results in its cinema section. The Top Ten this year were Gary Cooper, Martin & Lewis, John Wayne, Alan Ladd, Bing Crosby, Marilyn Monroe, James Stewart, Bob Hope, Susan Hayward, and- Randolph Scott. MOTION PICTURE HERALD, published every Saturday by Quigley Publishing Company, Inc., Rockefeller Center, New York City 20. Telephone Circle 7-3100; Cable address, "Quigpubco, New York", Martin Quigley, President; Martin Quigley, Jr., Vice-President; Theo. J. Sullivan, Vice-President and Treasurer; Raymond Levy, Vice-President; Leo J. Brady, Secretary; Martin Quigley, Jr., Editor; Terry Ramsaye, Consulting Editor; James D. Ivers, News Editor; Charles S. Aaronson, Production Editor; Floyd E. Stone, Photo Editor; Ray Gallagher, Advertising Manager; Gus H. Fausel, Production Manager. Bureaus: Hollywood, William R. Weaver, editor, Yucca-Vine Building, Telephone HOIlywood 7-2145; Chicago, 120 So. LaSalle St., Urben Farley, advertising representative, Telephone, Financial 6-3074; Washington, J. A. Otten, National Press Club; London, Hope Williams Burnup, manager, Peter Burnup, editor, 4 Golden Square. Correspondents in the principal capitals of the world. Member Audit Bureau of Circulations. Other Quigley Publications:. Better Theatres, published thirteen times a year as Section II of Motion Picture Herald; Motion Picture Daily, Motion Picture and Television Almanac and Fame. MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 16, 1954 9 raSBM'iai by the Herald DAY AND NIGHT the lines continued, at the Warfield, San Francisco, after a campaignon MGM's Knights of the Round Table" which for intensity was un- usual, and which had as climax a parade of knights in armor. NORMAN PANAMA, above, and Mel Frank, producers of the Para- mount release, "Knock on Wood," starring Danny Kaye, are in New York planning promotion. They be- lieve strongly in television advertis- ing, Mr. Panama said, disclosing trailers for that medium were filmed during production. He added he and Mr. Frank, aided by Mr. Kaye, intend to promote the picture personally during its openings. MONDAY MORNING "Coffee Hour" in Lubbock, Texas — a forum during which the town's showmen discuss common problems. Above, in order, are Marvin McLarty, Circle Drive-In; Preston Smith, Smith Theatres; J. B. Rhea, Video Theatres; master Frank Baker, Fred Baker, Midway theatre; Wallace Blankenship and Wesley Blankenship, Wallace Theatres; W. O. Beardon, Beardon Theatres; J. B. Beeson, Red Raider Drive-In. PAUL N. LAZARUS, JR., left, and Leo Jaffe last week were named vice-presidents of Columbia Pictures. Mr. Lazarus is in charge of advertising and publicity. Mr. Jaffe has been assistant treasurer. 10 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 16, 1954 nmmaian CEREMONIES, above, as Calvin Johnson, center, head of the Paramount New Orleans branch shipping department, was inducted into the company's 25-Year Club and received an engraved wrist watch and stickpin. With him, left to right, are branch manager William Holliday, head inspectress Lillian Flick, booker Irma Rogers and sales- man Edgar Shinn. THE FIRST PRINT of Warners’ "Born to Ski," a two-reel subject, is pre- sented at the Wakefield theatre, Wakefield, Mass., to David Hodgdon, manager, right, by John W. Roberts, who photographed and directed. At the left are Gardner Campbell and Clayton A. Ballou. IN PUERTO RICO, at the opening of 20th-Fox's "The Robe." Receiving guests at the Music Hall theatre, in San Juan, are Rafael Ramos Cobian, left, owner of Cobian Theatres, and Henry King, manager of the 20th- Fox exchange. IN WASHINGTON, at installation ceremonies for new Variety Tent No. I I officers in the Willard Hotel clubrooms. Above, Victor J. Orsinger, right, retiring 1953 chief barker, receives a plaque from Morton Gerber, 1951 chief barker. The new chief barker is Jack Fruchtman. Other officers are Alvin Q. Ehrlich, first assistant; Joseph Gins, second assistant; Phil Isaacs, property master; Sam Galanty, dough guy. ttttttttttt I ) MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 16, 1954 SCALE STIPULATION NOT PRICE FINING, U.S. SAYS Justice Department Sees No Decree Violation in Complaints to Date by J. A. OTTEN in Washington The Government is not going to put its foot in the industry’s machinery at this time, either to help the small exhibitor, or for any other reason. Furthermore, it appar- ently feels some of the business practices of which the exhibitor complains, are not at all bad, or exaggerated, or repairable with some small mending, or unprovable. This came at mid-week from the Department of Justice, authoritatively, and at length. Particularly featured was the fact that the Department does not feel that discussion of admission price charged by motion picture thea- tres violates the decree. Assistant Attorney General Stanley Barnes, who runs the Department’s anti- trust division, wrote the Senate Subcommit- tee on Small Business that the division doesn’t plan now to reopen the Paramount anti-trust suit decree by which the industry currently is governed. He also added opin- ions which make bad reading for the people who have been complaining about price fix- ing, forced clearances, and pre-releases. These opinions are in answer to questions submitted some time ago by the Subcom- mittee. For one thing, apropos of the RKO Radio instructions to salesmen on “Peter Pan” and “Hans Christian Andersen,” Mr. Barnes outlined the preferred licensing system and said it “does not constitute the fixing of minimum prices for admission by the parties to the license agreement ; and hence it is a proper method by which to determine film rental to be paid by an exhibitor to the dis- tributor.” Furthermore, about the asking of infor- mation from an exhibitor — this, too, Mr. Barnes sees as proper, if “germane” and is not price fixing. He explained that good pictures are licensed in early runs on per- centage— and that, therefore, what the ex- hibitor charges will be important to the distributor. He said, in his letter : “Therefore, when a distributor asks an exhibitor for this information for the purpose of evaluating the ex- hibitor’s bid, this does not, without more, constitute the fixing of admis- sion prices, for the information is ger- mane to such an evaluation. “However, the exhibitor cannot be re- quired to charge the admission prices which he advised the distributor he proposed to charge. That would be the fixing of mini- mum admission prices.” SIX ATTORNEYS WATCHING DECREE Although there were only 17 com- plaints about industry business prac- tices from July to November 17, when he wrote the opinion-packed letter which makes the news story on this page, there are plenty of Department of Justice attorneys available for the film business, Assistant Attorney Gen- eral Stanley Barnes said. Six men give all or almost all of their time to film matters. Five more spend part of their time on it. "We believe at least a fair share of personnel have been assigned to motion picture matters," Mr. Barnes said. Mr. Barnes also told the Subcommittee that Ruben Shor, of Cincinnati, who had complained of the matter, had no more trouble with “Peter Pan” prices after the Department wrote RKO. RKO wrote Sam- uel Goldwyn, and the latter issued a state- ment. RKO reviewed the subject, and in- structed its salesmen anew that there were to be no agreements with exhibitors about admissions. Anent the situation of the small exhibitor, Mr. Barnes commented that only 17 com- plaints were received by his Department between July, 1953, and November 17, when he wrote his letter. And, he declared : “Many of these, we feel after study, properly should be left for de- termination by negotiation between the par- ties concerned. Delivered Opinion Also About Pre-Releases Mr. Barnes also delivered an opinion about pre-releases, which exhibitors contend have been violating the decree. Whether they do, he said he believes, depends on whether there is agreement between the dis- tributor and the exhibitor that the pictures may not be shown for a period of time in other theatres. “Since the distributors,” he said, “when pre-releasing a picture, have refrained from specifying how long a time must elapse be- tween the pre-release run of a picture and other runs in other theatres, it cannot be categorically stated in the absence of proof of such an agreement that the pre-release practice involves the granting of improper clearances.” Mr. Barnes conceded the validity of ex- hibitor complaints about pressures and agreements in pre-releases in a discussion of “what we believe to be the dangers in the pre-release practice.” Exhibitors have complained to him that distributors attempt to force them to put prices at certain levels during pre-releases. They have added if they resist, they don’t get the picture. According to Mr. Barnes, whenever any picture is pre-released : “There is a serious danger that conduct may take place from which agreements be- tween the exhibitor and the distributor re- lating to admission prices can fairly be implied.” Also, he added, there was danger of con- duct “taking place” from which agreements on illegal clearances “might be implied.” The increase in pre-releases is “of con- cern,” he wrote, because it accentuates the dangers to which he referred. It accentuates these because the opportunities are increased. “Moreover,” he added, “it also accentuates them because the very fact that a large num- ber of pictures are being pre-released, which play at only advanced prices and which are licensed for other runs only after a period of time substantially in excess of when they would normally play on such runs, tends to establish a pattern of doing business on the part of the distributors which of itself fur- nishes some basis for inferring a purpose to enter into agreements with exhibitors to fix admission prices and to grant improper clearances.” New York Newspaper Begins Movie Contest The second annual “New York Journal- American” Annual Movie Contest began January 10, with the assistance of the Hearst interests in that city, and the Organ- ization of the Motion Picture Industry, a unit comprising the exhibition interests there. Readers are asked to scrutinize the columns of movie critic Rose Pelswick and choose the best three films of 1953 ; the best male star, best female star; the best male supporting player ; best female supporting player; and best discovery. Top prize is $500; the total is $1,000. First-run Broad- way houses are donating 25 passes daily to early letter writers. The winners also will be guests at a cocktail party. Publicists Win Five Per Cent Increase on Coast HOLLYWOOD : Retroactive to October 26, a new contract between the Screen Pub- licists Guild and the Association of Motion Picture Producers has been agreed to. It provides a five per cent salary increase and other benefits, is subject to reopening Octo- ber 25, 1955 or at any earlier date if living costs in Los Angeles rise five per cent above those of October 15, 1953, and runs to October 25, 1957. Senior publicists are given $210 weekly, instead of an hourly rate of pay. Publicists also are taken into the industry’s general pension plans. 12 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 16, 1954 URGES UNITED EXHIBITOR FRONT, 6-POINT PROGRAM Fabian Asks ‘Enlightened’ Distributor Policy and Arbitration System PHILADELPHIA : A six-point program, comprising the needs of a more successful exhibition industry, was outlined here Mon- day night by S. H. Fabian, president of the Stanley Warner Corporation and the Stan- ley Warner Cinerama Corporation, at the gala 30th Anniversary Dinner of the Phila- delphia Variety Club. Sharing the speaker’s spotlight with Mr. Fabian at the Bellevue-Stratford was Spyros P. Skouras, president of 20th Century-Fox. The dinner also was an occasion to honor Tent 13’s retiring chief barker, Ralph Pries, an executive of the Berio Vending Company, and to mark the induction of Mr. Pries’ successor, Norman Silverman, Re- public Pictures’ local branch manager. Max Youngstein, vice-president of United Art- ists, was toastmaster. City and State Leaders Present at Dinner The presence of Mr. Fabian, a top exhibi- tion figure, and Mr. Skouras, the man re- sponsible for CinemaScope, attracted to the dinner not only hundreds of members of the film trade, but city and state leaders in addi- tion to numerous delegates from neighbor- ing states. Mr. Fabian’s six-point program climaxed a very optimistic speech in which he de- scribed the industry as recently having come through 20 months of “upheaval, turmoil and revolution . . . still alive, with a greater future than its wonderful past.” In the six points he : 1. Called for abolition of the Federal admissions tax; 2. Cited the need for exhibitors to “cohere into a strong united exhibitor organization 3. Demanded more enlightened pro- ducer-distributor policy toward exhibi- tors; 4. Backed Leonard Goldenson’s sug- gestion that exhibition interests finance their own production “if the present seller’s market is not cured in a reason- able time;” 5. Suggested that exhibitors take the initiative in theatre TV if current proj- ects do not “get off the ground;” and 6. Called for establishment of an ar- bitration system “whether exhibitor unity is delayed or not.” Of all the roadblocks facing exhibition, the strongest are the ones posed by distribu- tor-producers who “do not have enough en- lightened self-interest to help exhibitors stay in business,” Mr. Fabian charged. “Ex- MPA COMMITTEE TO WEIGH ARBITRATION S. H. Fabian's call for the establish- ment of an arbitration system, one facet of a six-point program outlined by him in a speech before the Phila- delphia Variety Club Monday, is among the top items of importance on the early 1954 agenda of the dis- tributors committee of the Motion Picture Association of America. The committee, under its new chairman, Charles Boasberg, general sales man- ager of RKO Radio, also will give early consideration to a proposal, made by Theatre Owners of America, for periodic exhibition-distribution meetings, and to a plan to set up central shipping centers in key cities. hibition set the pace that led this industry from the dime store theatres to the de luxe picture palaces. ... As exhibitors made money, they poured it back into bigger and better houses. ... It was this audience build- ing exhibition policy which enabled studios to earn the film rental which made possible the expansion and development of Holly- wood as the world’s movie center. “It was the size of the audience, not the size of the film percentage which made this wonderful growth possible.” The Stanley Warner chief called for the establishment of “more normal film rentals,” describing the current period as a seller’s market for distributors with films in the new techniques in short supply. “As the public demonstrates they’ll buy these new pictures, more features will be made in the new media,” he said. “As more theatres equip, the cost of equipment drops. With more picture product, the price of film must fall. We then move into a more normal market with supply and demand in better balance . . . that is why in my mind there can be hope and optimism ahead for exhibi- tion.” Welcomed Multiplicity of New Screen Techniques Mr. Fabian said he welcomed the multipli- city of new screen techniques, but added that the conventional form should not be neg- lected. Hollywood should choose the media to suit the stories without abandoning any method of proved worth. “The more media the better,” he said, describing the theatre of the future as being “all-purpose, all- media.” Concerning television, Mr. Fabian said ex- hibition’s demands up to now have been only negative, revolving principally around the fear that television would get some studios’ film libraries. But, he added, “it is not enough to hold our ground. “We must make a positive demand upon the studios; that through selec- tion, foresight and deliberate planning they concentrate upon subject matter and story material which is non-com- petitive and outside the limits of tele- vision.” Theatre TV, he predicted, with a far- flung network of installations, could bring together “the greatest audiences ever as- sembled for a single performance — an audi- ence of a million for one attraction, one time, is not impossible.” The circuit executive said that the exhibi- tors’ hand would be enormously strength- ened if theatre owners stood together “in one national organization. Distributors must lis- ten to the voice of the exhibitor — if it is a voice from all exhibitors.” Further along he added that “whether ex- hibitor unity is delayed or not, the establish- ment of an arbitration system is indispen- sible.” It is, he said, “basic to mutual good will within the industry.” Mr. Skouras, in his talk to the Philadel- phia group, expressed certainty that the downward trend of the last six or seven years at the box office has now been re- versed, crediting CinemaScope with the up- swing. Mr. Skouras said that the disadvan- tage which motion pictures have suffered because of the competition of television has been largely overcome. The 20th-Fox presi- dent also mentioned the future application of the Eidophor theatre TV system to Cine- maScope. Mediation Unit Named NEW ORLEANS : Allied Theatre Owners of the Gulf States has appointed a committee to mediate any bidding situation in which one or more of the parties involved are in- terested in effecting a “split deal” settlement. In appointing the committee Abe Berensen, president of Gulf States Allied, said that while his organization did not propose to “stick its nose into other people’s business,” it stands ready to help solve so-called im- passes and “impossible” situations. The committee consists of T. G. Solomon, head of Solomon Theatres, McComb, Miss.; E. R. Sellers, co-owner of a drive-in circuit in Louisiana; L. E. Downing, Brookhaven, Miss., and L. C. Montgomery, president of Delta Theatres. At a board meeting at which the commit- tee was appointed, plans also were made for the unit’s annual convention scheduled for March 28-April 30 at Edgewater Park, Miss. MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 16, 1954 13 on’s three most exciting creen s 11,1 c i young stars. mir Productions presents Panoramic Pro , Kttft NICOLOR lillil y«M! r ? >/ ■ ■ II Uonard Goldstein presents '' JflCK PAUKCE in SMITH PALME fi Produced by ROBERT I HUGO FREGONESE-Srr ^ ’ °,rected b> PRES/VELL JR anri oT Play by R0BERT A Pa"°r™“ fronuction • J e“R"E 1™D°N eleasM »> 20th Cent»».f0, Goldstein presents technicolor (\ panoramic Big Stars! Big Outdoi VAN „ ms : I X err^ Ram«a?e $a^s SELLING THE CUSTOMERS— Considera- tions that can be of importance to all showmen including the motion picture ex- hibitor appear in the experience of the Broadway musical "Kismet" which opened during the newspaper strike without benefit of publicity or reviews. The producers, however, took to Television and the morn- ing after the broadcast found a lineup at the box office. Some producers began to see an escape from what has been deemed the life-or-death decisions of the drama critics of the dailies. Of course, the critics themselves never sought such power. It was wished upon them by the curious inertias of the producers, including their endless, and often garbled quotations of the critics in their advertising. There seems to have been no recogni- tion of the fact that the critics themselves represent a level of intelligence and cul- tural interests in general scmewhat remote from those of the mass customers. The drama critics do not in general write shopping guides. That is almost equally true for the upper screen critics in the same media. Alike, they write for readers who variously share their view- points and interest, and are not mass customers. Perhaps from the box office point of view the largest value of the critics is in priming the process of the word-of-mouth that sells the show. All publicity in print best performs in supplying that word-of-mouth with some- thing to say. Once again let it be said that "they say" is the great power, every- where all the time. When "Kismet" took to the air and TV it shunted out missing middlemen of report and opinion and went direct. This is obviously an isolated adventure in a particular set of circumstances. It indi- cates no magic formula. It does, however, suggest that some of the accepted grooves have been worn very deep. The individual retailer, from cigarettes to cinema, buys and sells a lot of "they say" which is promoted in national adver- tising and cultured like a vaccine in a tube, somewhere else. He and his customers both want the assurance of a "hit," pre- judged for them. That probably has to be, the control by mass being what it is. What the individual retailer can do about this is painfully little. He has to paddle his own canoe in the rapids, and he can only dodge the local rocks and go with the current. SHOOTIN' IRONS— While reviewing "All the Brothers Were Valiant" Bosley Crow- ther of the "New York Times," with a tol- erant casualness, had a grin at the appear- ance of a revolver in the hands of a whaler in a scene of 1850. This reminds one again that in this military period with mil- lions bearing arms the general ignorance of them is amazing. It is a commonplace for Westerns to present lever action Winchester repeaters as of the days of the single shot carbine. Neither news- paper writers, editors and script writers and directors seem to know that pistol may mean anything from a flint-lock to a per- cussion-lock or to a cartridge-loaded weapon and that the automatic and the revolver are both pistols but not identical. Daily journalism continuously uses bullet as a synonym for cartridge. One is to be impressed to observe that fathers who ought to know better have been making Christmas presents of firearms to their youngsters and then writing to rod-and-gun editors to find out in one easy lesson how to teach the kids to handle them. Until the firearms cease to be a desperate fact of life and death it would be appropriate to treat them with both respect and pre- cision. There is probably as much shooting every year in metropolitan New York as in the whole history of Tombstone, Cripple Creek, Dodge City, Cheyenne and Santa Fe. A SPLENDID coincidental timing appears to obtain in the public relations events of the motion picture. Consider for example how, just when the air is laden with issues about the Code and the proprieties of the screen, there come such striking contribu- tions as Terry Moore's ermine bathing suit, Jane Russell's so vastly revealed charms and Marlene Dietrich's transparent and be- spangled appearance in a Las Vegas night club. These manifestations of new triumphs in art, one must assume, are in answer to that new "maturity" that the audiences and our public are alleged to have developed in the last twenty years. /♦S'C- WE HAVE a report that Governor Dewey of New York is minded to have a commis- sion set up a code of ethics for public officials. Sounds like a radical idea, revo- lutionary in fact. Screen Aetrs Control to ]\athunson TORONTO: Interests of Paul Nathanson, already considerable in the industry, have been broadened still further with the acqui- sition of the controlling interest in Asso- ciated Screen News, Ltd., from Canadian Pacific Railway Company. Mr. Nathanson has interests in Empire- Universal Films, Ltd., distributors of Re- public and Universal in Canada, Columbia Pictures of Canada, Ltd., Sovereign Film Distributors, Ltd., a 16mm distributing com- pany, Motion Pictures for 1 elevision, Thea- tre Properties (Hamilton), Ltd., and Gen- eral Theatre Investment Company. Associated Screen News is one of the oldest companies of its kind in the business in Canada. It prints 35mm and 16mm films for standard motion picture theatres and non-theatrical uses, respectively. It is also engaged in making industral productions and a variety of short subjects and news releases for various Canadian and U. S. agencies. Holdings of 8,994 shares of Associated Screen News, with a book value of $377,748, were listed among the assets of Theatre Properties (Hamilton), Ltd., on a balance sheet dated September 26, 1953. Associated Screen News recently went through some major executive changes as Ben E. Norrish became board chairman and W. J. Singleton managing director. How- ever, further executive changes in the com- pany’s organization are reported. $50*000*000 Variety Club Aid Total More than $50,000,000 has been spent by Variety Clubs to take care of underprivi- ledged children. This is the estimate of Rob- ert J. O’Donnell, Ringmaster of Variety International, general manager of the Inter- state Circuit of Texas, and a chief speaker Saturday night at presentation of the Club’s Heart Award to Tent 34, Houston. Mr. O’Donnell cited some of the statistics of such aid. The clubs now have $22,000,- 000 invested in equipment, buildings, and properties. They have the services, free, of more than' 10,000 doctors. Five million chil- dren have already benefited. The annual average of cash expended is $3,000,000. The clubs’ 10,000 members have, in his estima- tion, accumulated 169,000,000 man-hours in time, energy, and service. The Houston tent received the award be- cause of an “outstanding contribution” to the city, this being its program of guidance of youths towards cleaner living and better citizenship. 16 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 16, 1954 Levy Cites Crest II in **Danyers 99 The distributors’ victory in the Crest theatre case can be a dangerous instrument in view of distribution’s “already tremen- dous discretionary powers,” Herman Levy, general counsel for Theatre Owners of America, wrote last week in a special bul- letin stating TO A reaction to the Supreme Court decision. The latter gave distributors the right to restrict first run showings to downtown houses in a ruling which stated that the major companies had not violated anti-trust laws when they refused to license first run films to the Crest, a neighborhood theatre in Baltimore. “The Crest decision,” said Mr. Levy, “is no green light to distribution to indulge in discriminatory tactics. Nor should the deci- sion be taken by distribution as an indirect suggestion that competitive bidding between theatres for first run is either permissable or advisable. There is no more occasion now than there was before the Crest case for distribution to use competitive bidding ex- cept in those rare instances where particular distributors sincerely and honestly feel that only through the use of competitive bidding can a threat of litigation be dispelled.” He asserted that the Crest decision strengthens the distributors’ position at a time when theatres in general are “pathetic victims of a sellers’ market,” and also widens the “no-man’s land” area that has been developing rapidly between first run and subsequent run operations. The cumulative effect of “unenlightened and uneconomic distributor practices,” he said, “is taking its toll, and chaos may well result unless distribution alerts itself to the plight of the subsequent run theatre owner and unless distribution makes its primary objective a change in its policies to insure the subsequent run theatre owner a fair and reasonable opportunity to exist.” Carlisle, Friedman, Schneider Set for Warner Reelection Reelection to the Warner Brothers board of directors will be sought for Stanleigh P. Friedman, Samuel Carlisle and Samuel Schneider, according to the company’s proxy statement mailed to stockholders in prep- aration for the annual meeting February 5 at Wilmington, Del. Terms of the other five directors are not expiring now. Salaries of officers for the six months past also were disclosed. They are: Mr. Friedman, a vice- president, $32,550; Mr. Carlisle, controller and treasurer, $25,010; Mr. Schneider, a vice-president, $52,050; Harry M. Warner, president, $52,000; Jack L. Warner, vice- president, $52,000; Benjamin Kalmenson, vice-president, $52,000; Albert Warner, vice- president, $39,000; and Robert W. Perkins, vice-president, $45,550. SEE REDUCTION BEST HOPE NOW IN TICKET TAX FICHT WASHINGTON : President Eisenhower’s “State-of-the-Union” message to Congress last week made no mention of the 20 per cent admission tax or any excises besides those currently slated for reduction April 1. But his emphasis on the Treasury’s need for revenue, plus the decision to ask for can- cellation of all the scheduled April 1 tax reductions, indicated strongly that the Ad- ministration will oppose complete elimina- tion of the admission tax and will — at best — go along with a reduction of the 20 per cent levy. Citing the Government’s “present need for revenue,” President Eisenhower asked Con- gress to continue the 52 per cent corporate tax rate instead of permitting it to drop to 47 per cent April 1, as scheduled, and also to cancel a scheduled April 1 reduction in certain excise tax rates. The President promised detailed tax recommendations later in the month. Meanwhile in Washington it was consid- ered that middle or late February was the likeliest time for the House Ways and Means Committee to turn its attention to deciding what to do this year about the admission tax and other excises. That was the best pre- diction of committee members and Capitol tax observers. They think the committee will take a month or more working on the technical tax revision bill which it was to take up this week. On the other hand the committee must do something about excises slated to drop April 1 to permit both House and Senate to act by that time. A warning against expecting action on the admission tax before late February or early March was issued by Col. H. A. Cole and Pat McGee, co-chairmen of the National Tax Repeal Campaign Committee, to all state and Congressional district committee members. Talks with members of the House Ways and Means Committee made it clear that the industry’s campaign for tax relief faces far more competition this year than last year from other industries also seeking excise re- lief. Most committee members say they favor cuts this year in the excise field, but they also cite many excises which they want to see cut along with the motion picture ad- missions tax. Rep. Simpson (R., Pa.), a key committee member, says for example that he will prob- ably suport a move to reduce to 10 per cent all excises now levied at a higher rate. Other committee members say pressure for tax re- lief is mounting from phone companies, laundry equipment manufacturers, the fur and jewelry industries, railroads and other businesses. Paramount Opens "Forever Female" in New York Paramount opened the new picture star- ring its new feminine player, Pat Crowley, “Forever Female” at the Victoria theatre, New York, Tuesday night. Miss Crowley personally welcomed some 500 celebrities representing leadership in stage, screen, mo- tion picture industry, television, radio, news- paper, and publishing fields. These are, the company stated, the entertainment industry’s “star builders.” Miss Crowley is currently on a 35-city personal appearance tour in advance promotion. Cinerama in Chicago At $1,000,000 Mark The million mark for “This Is Cinerama” was recently passed in Chicago, where the attraction opened at the Palace theatre July 29, 1953, S. H. Fabian, president of Stanley Warner, said in New York last week. Chi- cago thus joined New York, Detroit and Hollywood in passing the $1,000,000 gross mark, Mr. Fabian said. Since “This Is Cin- erama” opened in New York September 30, 1952, it has grossed an estimated $6,500,000 in its seven-city engagement. Stanley War- ner plans to open Cinerama theatres in 10 foreign cities by the end of June of this year. Mt/M Opens Jubilee Year “Knights of the Round Table” has launched MGM’s 30th Anniversary Jubilee. This first essay in CinemaScope heads a list of pictures for which intensive promotion is planned. The others are the first Cinema- Scope musical, “Rose Marie,” “The Long, Long Trailer,” “Rhapsody,” “Executive Suite,” “Flame and the Flesh” and “Saadia.” During the four-month Jubilee, a series of special events will focus attention on the studio’s growth since its organization in 1924 through every medium of communica- tion— newspapers, magazines, radio and tele- vision. This program has been completed after months of planning by Nicholas M. Schenck, president of Loew’s, Inc. ; Arthur M. Loew, president of Loew’s International ; Charles Reagan, general sales manager, and Howard Dietz, vice-president of publicity and advertising, with Dore Schary, studio production head, and ether executives. Critics Choose Swerdlin Dr. Nathan Swerdlin, editor of the “Jew- ish Day- Journal,” New York, is the new head of Foreign Press Film Critics’ Circle. MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 16, 1954 17 57,000,000 INDIVIDUAL ADS ON THE PAGES OF 25 LEADING PUBLICATIONS! ^roHoe-rr tA«s4C nuu&JueA : {***> ■miiiW z A LOV& WONDERFUL MUSIC! S«« ****** *??**«* «««ORA*.{ GiSNN M»U«1 HITS: STORY” BIGGEST ERSAL TORY Paced fo appear during the months of January, February and March! 4$ eWml ever* man’s success there’s a womans love... Kl’ttiJn ™««« »*• * LIFE LOOK SAT. EVE. POST COLLIER’S WOMAN’S HOME COMPANION McCALL’S PARADE AMERICAN WEEKLY REDBOOK SEVENTEEN CORONET PARENTS’ TRUE CONFESSIONS PHOTOPLAY MOTION PICTURE & TV MOVIELAND DOWNBEAT METRONOME MOVIE LIFE MOVIE STAR’S PARADE MODERN SCREEN SCREEN STORIES SCREENLAND SILVER SCREEN WEEKEND PICTURE MAGAZINE (Canada) O /***?£ •O&0‘ RESUBMIT RKO “LINE” TO PCA Censor and Newspaper Defend Cade Picture Will Be Withdrawn from St. Louis House as Arthur Protests Ban Revisions in Howard Hughes’ “French Line” were made and the controversial RKO release was resubmitted this week to the Production Code Administration. Earlier in the week it was announced that the picture, playing in Fanchon & Marco theatres in St. Louis since December 30 without a Production Code seal, was to be withdrawn from the Missouri theatre there next Monday on orders from J. R. Grainger, president of RKO Radio. To Be Held Accountable The announcement followed notification by the PCA to the distribution company last week that it will be held accountable under Association regulations which call for a $25,000 fine for violations by member com- panies of the Association. The distributor is entitled to appeal from the fine to the Motion Picture Association board. The MPAA board would be required to determine what action should be taken against RKO Radio in the event it refused to pay the $25,000 fine, should the fine be appealed and upheld. Possible penalties in- clude suspension or cancellation of a com- pany’s membership in the association. Repercussions were heard in St. Louis. Asserting that it does not question “the pur- poses of the Production Code Administra- tion,” Fanchon & Marco, in whose Fox theatre first, and currently in the Missouri, “French Line” has been shown, charged the Code administration with “discrimination among producers in the same circum- stances.” Wrote to Archbishop Letters containing the charge, made public this week, were written by Edward B. Ar- thur to Archbishop Joseph E. Ritter of St. Louis and to heads of the St. Louis Councils of Catholic Men and Catholic Women. All three publicly opposed exhibition of the pic- ture and directed adherents not to see it. “We know that it (the PCA) has issued seals to many pictures which, in our opinion, are not different in subject matter and treat- ment from ‘The French Line’,” Mr. Arthur asserted in the letter. “Having arrived at such a conclusion, it must follow that we cannot deny to a private businessman (RKO) the ordinary right of contract.” "Golden Coach" to Open Jean Renoir’s “The Golden Coach,” made in Italy, in color by Technicolor, and star- ring Anna Magnani, has been booked by Italian Films Export into the Normandie Theatre, New York, on a two-shows-a-day reserved seat policy, opening January 21. « Allied Artists Arranges One-Year Bank Loan HOLLYWOOD: Allied Artists has signed a new one-year lean agreement with the Security First National Bank of Los Ange- les, and participated in by Bankers Trust Company, New York, which provides for a revolving loan of $1,250,000, and also per- mits guaranties up to $500,000 covering bank loans to producers releasing through Allied Artists. The loan replaces the pre- vious arrangement with the same banks, which was for $1,000,000. Allied Artists in February will put into national release three films, including Wal- ter Wanger’s “Riot in Cell Block 11,” Morey R. Goldstein, vice-president and general sales manager, announced this week. The Wanger picture goes out February 28. The other films and their release dates are “Highway Dragnet,” starring Richard Conte, Joan Bennett and Wanda Hendrix, February 7, and “Bitter Creek,” starring Wild Bill Elliott, February 21. Warners' "Boy" to Have 6 1 5 Dates in 1 2 States Six hundred and fifteen theatres in 12 states of the southwest and midwest will play Warners’ “The Boy from Oklahoma,” following its world premiere January 26 at the Yale Theatre, Claremore, Okla. The saturation dates will be given tremendous publicity in all media. The opening itself will receive similar attention. It will help the opening of the March of Dimes drive in the area. Will Rogers, Jr. and very many notables from politics, stage, screen, radio and television will attend. Majors Settle Parkway Theatre Anti-Tust Suit Settlement before trial was achieved last week in the anti-trust suit by the Parkway Theatre, Spring Valley, N. Y., against the majors, excepting Columbia and United Artists, and the Spring Valley Theatre Corporation. The theatre asked $450,000 and alleged it was forced, after opening June, 1946, to close two months later because it couldn’t obtain pictures on any run. Set "Ana-Ta-Han" Release Josef von Sternberg’s newest release, “Ana-Ta-Han” which he filmed in Japan with Daiwa Company will have its Ameri- can premiere in New York early next month. A year and a half in production and said to be the costliest picture made in Japan, the film derives its title from an island in the South Pacific. An English narration is spoken by Mr. von Sternberg. Mrs. Edna Carroll, chairman of the Pennsylvania Board of Censors, struck out at Samuel Goldwyn for his proposed revi- sion of the Production Code in an article in the “Philadelphia Evening Bulletin.” Also in an editorial the “Columbus Dispatch,” Columbus, Ohio, advised producers to stick “with the present Production Code with its minimal restraints.” Making the point that the Code now is flexible enough to allow the handling of al- most any topic, Mrs. Carroll said “The mo- tion picture has matured to a point where almost any topic can be presented with the proper direction and handling. However, the same things could do the people of the commonwealth and the motion picture in- dustry irreparable harm as exhibited on the community level without such proper con- trol. Official censorship of motion pictures is a regulatory legal function which is pro- tective of the people.” “ Might Be Stiffened ” The editorial in the “Columbus Dis- patch” said the code “might be stiffened a bit.” “The Code has served the industry well in protecting the public against grossly salacious pictures,” said the editorial. In asking for a “stiffening” the newspaper added that “we’ve seen some pictures in re- cent years that hewed about as closely to the line of decency as they could get without stepping over.” From Hollywood last weekend F. Hugh Herbert, president of Screen Writers Guild, released a letter to Eric Johnston, president of the Motion Picture Association. Said the letter in part: “There are rumors current that revisions in the Code are con- templated. If this is true, the Guild, whose members, write the material which will have to conform to this revised code, offers its services to you in drafting such a revised code.” Must Have Board Approval In reply Mr. Johnston said: “As you are doubtless aware, the board of directors of the MPAA has the responsibility for the Code and any changes in the Code would therefore have to be passed upon by the board.” He said that if the Guild had any proposals to amend the Code, he “would like to suggest that you send them to me in writing.” Last week Wilbur Snaper, president, of Allied States, declared that because exhibi- tion is said to be in the most vulnerable position in regard to the public reaction to pictures that violate the Code he believes that it would be advisable to have exhibitor opinion reflected in the Code itself. He said he believed the Code was necessary but that it should be reexamined from time to time and should be realistic at all times. 20 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 16, 1954 Woriclerfui! SPRINGFIELD ★ Fine! BURLINGTON * Smash! PHILADELPHIA tended Rut Fine * STEUBENVILLE Ayp£*$Ot4 Excellent! Great? INDIANAPOLIS * Wonderful! NORFOLK Great! * DES MOINES Strong! Raleigh Great ! ★ ST. LO Holding * GREENVILLE Excellent ! LAREDO * Exceptional! Pictures with that Universal appeal COURT WEIGHS STATE CENSOR Disney Year Net Profit Up To s.no. rjti Supreme Bench Expected to Render Verdict Late in February or March by J. A. OTTEN WASHINGTON : For three hours last week the justices of the United States Su- preme Court pondered the evidently per- plexing problem of state censorship of mo- tion pictures. The biting remarks of Justice Frank- furter, the genial questions of Chief Justice Warren and the indignant inquiries of Jus- tice Jackson indicated a strong feeling that current state censorship laws were vague and unsatisfying. On the other hand, the bench showed just as strong a feeling that the complete removal of state censorship was not the answer to the problem. A court de- cision is not likely before late February or March. New York and Ohio Involved Focus of the court’s consideration were the pictures “M” and “La Ronde.” The for- mer had been banned in Ohio, the latter in New York. The case for “M” was argued by Columbus attorney John C. Harlor, with Ohio represented by State Attorney General C. William O’Neill. Attorney for Commer- cial Pictures Corp., distributing “La Ronde” was Florence Perlow Shientag; Charles A. Brind, Jr., argued for the New York State Board of Regents, under whose jurisdiction the Censor Board falls. A few minutes after Mr. Harlor opened the argument, Justice Frankfurter took the ball away from him by asking if he wanted the court to declare unconstitutional the Ohio statute under which “M” was censored. When Mr. Harlor replied that this was what he wanted, Justice Frankfurter stated that the court had not done so in other similar cases. “When you’re asking for an absolute rule that nothing can be stopped,” Justice Jack- son said, “you’re asking for a lot.” Justices Frankfurter and Black pointed out the similarity to “The Miracle” case, previously decided on narrow grounds by the court. “We have to consider your case under the same thing as ‘The Miracle’ case,” Justice Frankfurter said. And Justice Black declared that “if ‘The Miracle’ case governs the ‘M’ case, we don’t have to go all the way on this case.” Makes Crime Repulsive On the other hand, when Attorney Gen- eral O’Neill began to argue Ohio’s case, Justice Jackson told him flatly, “I didn’t see much in the picture that would incite a normal mind to crime and make crime at- tractive. The picture made it repulsive.” Mr. O’Neill replied that both the Ohio Board of Censors and the state Supreme SAYS OHIO COURT NEVER SAW "M" WASHINGTON: The Attorney Gen- eral of Ohio gave the Supreme Court a possible backdoor exit for deciding the "M" case. C. William O'Neill told the court that the Ohio appellate court, which found that the Ohio board of censors had rightly banned "M1' in the state, had never seen the picture. "If our court make a mistake and didn't look at the picture but only at the script," Mr. O'Neill said, "per- haps the case should be remanded to our court for further consideration." Court had found, under the terms of the Ohio statute, that “the picture tended to promote crime.” When Justices Jackson and Frankfurter questioned the Ohio statute and asked how it “avoided vagueness” Mr. O’Neill gave as his answer that the industry Production Code was “at least as indefinite and vague” as the Ohio statute. During the argument on “La Ronde,” which followed “M,” the justices hammered away at the same points. Several justices vigorously questioned Mr. Brind’s assertion that there is “general common agreement” on the meaning of the term “immoral,” as used in the New York State statute. “Anyone can say what the term ‘immoral’ means to him,” Justice Frankfurter said, but along with Justices Warren and Jack- son indicated he felt it was an ambiguous words with many possible interpretations attaching to it. Mrs. Shientag characterized the wording of the statute as “indefinite and inexact,” asking that the court declare it unconsti- tutional. A large portion of her argument, as well as that of Mr. Harlor, was a plea that motion pictures, as communications media, be granted the same protection from censorship under the first amendment as that granted newspapers and other types of pub- lications. "New Screen Techniques" Receives Good Press “New Screen Techniques,” the volume of 26 articles on new production and projection techniques, edited by Martin Quigley, Jr., continues to receive a “favorable press” at home and abroad. The January issue of “Films in Review,” the monthly publication of the National Board of Review, says the volume “is informative and future historians will find it as useful as do we.” The British Film Academy’s December “News Letter” says of the book : “It is the best guide that there is at the moment to the new dimen- sions with which the cinema is beset.” HOLLYWOOD : Consolidated net profit of Walt Disney Productions in the fiscal year ended October 3, 1953, was $510,426, equal to 79 cents per share on the 652,840 com- mon shares outstanding, Roy O. Disney, president, reported to stockholders. This compared with a profit of $451,809, or 69 cents a common share in the preceding year. Tax provision in the 1953 fiscal year amounted to $365,000, compared to a provi- sion of $75,000 a year ago. Gross income for the 1953 fiscal year to- taled $8,365,861, an increase of $643,042 over the $7,722,819 reported for the preced- ing year. Mr. Disney stated that much of the increase was attributable to “Peter Pan,” which was released in February, 1953. During 1953 outstanding debentures were reduced by $24,590 and at the fiscal year end there remained outstanding $244,040 from the original obligation of $1,364,200 in- curred in 1945. Disney will release a highly diversified program in the next two or three years, the report stated. In addition to a variety of short subjects and special material, the pro- gram includes three basic kinds of feature- length films, ranging in production cost from less than $100,000 to over $3,000,000, all- cartoon, live action and nature pictures. An investment of nearly $1,000,000 over the last five years in rounding out the company’s physical facilities has made this diversifica- tion possible, the report said. New York Theatre Asks $7,500,000 in Trust Suit Seeking treble damages totaling $7,500,- 000, the Harlem-Grand Amusement Co., operating the Star theatre at 107th St. and Lexington Ave., New York, has filed an anti-trust suit in New York Federal Court. The plaintiffs claim that eight major dis- tributors have demanded unreasonable clear- ance since 1931 and that they have been denied the right to bid for first-run product. It is charged the distributors follow a pat- tern of fixed runs, clearances and admission prices as part of a conspiracy with affiliated circuits. Warners "The Command" Opens in New York Warners’ first production in Cinema- Scope, “The Command,” opened in New York Friday evening, at the Paramount theatre. It also is the theatre’s first pro- duction in the new medium. The house was closed to the public Friday morning and afternoon for installation of a double sized wide and curved screen and a changeover of already elaborate sound equipment. The new screen extends the full width of the proscenium arch. 22 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 16, 1954 J-^eonle in ^Jhe ^I jewi iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii Taft-Hartley Shift Would Aid Industry WASHINGTON : President Eisenhower asked Congress Monday to relax the union shop provisions of the Taft-Hartley law as applied to the motion picture and other amusement industries. He urged that employers be allowed to enter into pre-hire contracts with unions and, more important, that union-shop con- tracts be allowed under which a film indus- try employee must become a union member within seven days after the beginning of his employment, instead of 30 days as at present. This change has long been sought by studio unions, who argue that because of the temporary character of much film work, many industry workers need never join unions under the present 30-day grace period. The President’s recommendation was one of 14 points in a special message sent to Congress on revision of the Taft-Hartley law. Due to the highly controversial nature of the subject, odds are no better than 50-50 that Congress will do anything in the Taft- Hartley field this year. However, there is a better possibility that some limited re- vision bill might get through. "Employees engaged in the construction, amusement and maritime industries have unique problems because their employment is usually casual, temporary or intermittent,” the President declared. “I recommend that in these industries the employer be permitted to enter into a pre-hire contract with a union under which the union will be treated ini- tially as the employees’ representative for col- lective bargaining. I also recommend that in these industries the employer and the union be permitted to make a union-shop contract under which an employee, within seven days after the beginning of his em- ployment, shall become a member of the union.” Among other points urged by the Presi- dent were these : there should be a secret ballot, under Government auspices, before any strike ; employees should be permitted to revoke their authorization for check-off of dues; Congress should make a thorough in- vestigation of union welfare and pension funds; communist affidavit provisions should be repealed providing Congress enacts gen- eral anti-Communist legislation urged by the President; injunctions should be dis- cretionary with the courts in secondary boy- cott cases; secondary boycott provisions of the present law should be relaxed; and pro- visions should be enacted to safeguard the representation rights of striking unions. Oklahoma Group to Meet OKLAHOMA CITY: Allied Theatre Own- ers of Oklahoma, Inc., will hold its annual convention at the Biltmore Hotel here March 9 and 10, it has been announced by Glen D. Thompson, president. Maurice Bergman, executive in charge of public relations for Universal-Interna- tional, in New York, will add to his duties those of home office studio representative. Turner B. Shelton, former west coast production official, has been appointed deputy chief of the Government’s over- seas film program. Douglas D. Rothacker, Jr., has been ap- pointed general manager of the Rothacker production and distribution operations throughout the United States and Canada, due to the continued illness of Douglas D. Rothacker. William Twig, assistant branch manager for Warner Brothers in Boston, has been Industry Leaders Are Named Brotherhood Vice-Chairmen Thirty-two leaders of the industry have been named for and have accepted positions as national vice-chairmen for the 1954 Brotherhood Week, February 21-28. Chair- man is Emanuel Frisch. Publicity for the campaign and for a dinner to be held at the Waldorf-Astoria February 4 will be han- dled by Max Youngstein. The vice-chair- men are : Barney Balaban, Robert S. Ben- jamin, Charles Boasberg, Steve Broidy, Jack Cohn, Alfred E. Daff, Russell V. Downing, Jack Frye, James R. Grainger, William J. Heineman, William W. Howard, John Reed Kilpatrick, Arthur B. Krim, A1 Lichtman, Harry Mandel, A. Montague, Louis Nizer, Edward J. Noble, John J. O’Connor, Thomas F. O’Connor, Milton R. Rackmil, Charles M. Reagan, Sam Rinzler, Herman Robbins, Samuel Rosen, A. Schnei- der, A. W. Schwalberg, George P. Skouras, Spyros P. Skouras, Nate B. Spingold, Jo- seph R. Vogel and Herbert J. Yates. Gulf Showmen Honoring Sol Sachs at Luncheon A testimonial luncheon is being prepared at Houston for S. M. “Sol” Sachs, RKO Dallas manager. Sponsor is the Houston Theatre Owners Association. Chairman of the luncheon committee is Jack A. Farr. The luncheon will be January 22 at the Frontier Restaurant. There will be guest speakers. Communion Breakfast In Canada January 3 I TORONTO : The third annual Communion Breakfast of the Canadian film industry has been arranged for January 31 at the King Edward Hotel here, following mass at St. Michael’s Cathedral. Co-chairmen for the breakfast are John J. Fitzgibbons, Jr., and Clare J. Appell of the Canadian MPDA. promoted to branch manager of the Pitts- burgh office. Larry Graburn has been appointed west coast assistant to Paul N. Lazarus, Jr., Columbia vice-president in charge of ad- vertising and publicity. Prior to joining Columbia he was director of advertising, publicity and exploitation for the Odeon Circuit, Canada. William J. McShea has been promoted to branch operations manager of RKO Ra- dio, succeeding the late Aage Schurart. Geza Polaty, Warner International man- ager in Cuba, has been appointed manager in Indonesia, with headquarters in Dja- karta. Hunk 9s Films In Best Year Universal reports that its J. Arthur Rank pictures had their best year here. More than 15,000 bookings were made during 1953. This is the largest number for any year since 1946 when the company undertook distribution of the British product through- out the United States. The company also notes more large cir- cuits are taking the Rank films. During the year, 145 theatres were recorded as special- ists in foreign films. Some 350 subsequent run houses had a similar policy. It is termed “noteworthy” by the company that the ma- jority of bookings were obtained in large or conventional theatres. Some of the pictures have been “The Queen Is Crowned,” “Lavender Hill Mob,” “The Man in the White Suit,” "The Pro- moter,” "Ivory Hunter,” “The Cruel Sea.’ Coming are “Genevieve” and a re-release of “Hamlet.” "Glenn Miller Day" Marks Iowa Opening Clarinda, la., Tuesday had its “Glenn Miller Day.” The Universal-International feature about the town’s native son, the late band leader, Glenn Miller — “The Glenn Mil- ler Story”— opened at the Clarinda theatre after a day-long celebration. Jimmy Stew- art, star ; Mrs. Lou Miller, mother of Glenn Miller; Governor William Beardsley; Iowa National Guard chief, Major Gen. Fred C. Tandy ; Mayor Donald Drake — all these and others were on the list of notables at the theatre. The event was part of a statewide Glenn Miller Week. Fifty press representa- tives attended. One of the highlights of the day was dedication of the new Glenn Miller Armory, at which 5,000 persons joined in a special dance. MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 16, 1954 23 Census II ill Chech U. S. REPUBLIC SETS 29 THIS YEAR Yates Says $15,000,000 Is Already Spent on Eight Pictures Completed Republic plans to release 29 pictures in 1954, Herbert J. Yates, president, announced Wednesday. Keeping pace with the increase in production budgets, he disclosed that an appropriation of $4,700,000 has been allo- cated to advertising, publicity and exploita- tion. Twenty-two of the pictures were cited as “de luxe attractions.” More than $15,000,- 000 has already been spent on eight pictures of the group which have been completed. Declaring that ‘‘our faith in the industry has been substantially proved” in the past year, Mr. Yates said the company has “searched thoroughly the publishing field for best-selling novels, and has secured top box office stars and production personnel for its new program, a majority of which will be filmed in Trucolor by Consolidated.” * Jubilee Trail ” to Be First On New Release Schedule Launching the 1954 schedule will be “Ju- bilee Trail,” a Literary Guild selection, with Vera Ralston, Joan Leslie and Forrest Tuck- er, in Trucolor. Joseph Inman Kane is associate producer. Joan Crawford stars in “Johnny Guitar,” melodrama in Trucolor, with Sterling Hayden, produced and di- rected by Nicholas Ray. Other productions awaiting release in the lineup are : “Make Haste to Live,” suspense drama with Dorothy McGuire and Stephen McNally, with William Seiter as associate producer-director; “Hell’s Half Acre,” with Wendell Corey and Evelyn Keyes, with John H. Auer as associate producer-direc- tor; “The Outcast,” Trucolor, John Derek, Joan Evans, with William J. O’Sullivan as- sociate producer, William Witney director; “Laughing Anne,” produced and directed by Herbert Wilcox, in color by Technicolor, Wendell Corey, Margaret Lockwood and Forrest Tucker; “The Shanghai Story,” Frank Lloyd associate producer-director, with Ruth Roman and Edmond O’Brien ; “Trouble in the Glen,” filmed in Scotland in Trucolor with Margaret Lockood, Or- son Welles, Forrest Tucker. Top Budget Production To Be Directed by Ford Augmenting the completed lineup, Repub- lic’s 1954 production program will be the most imposing in the company’s history, Mr. Yates said. Highlighting this forthcoming schedule will be a top-budget production to be directed by John Ford. Important on the roster is “The Big Whisper,” to be produced in Berlin by Virginia Van Upp. “Brother Van,” by Alson Jesse Smith, will be brought to the screen in Trucolor. “The Life of Richard Wagner,” and “The Passion Play” in Trucolor, are also slated for production. The company now is setting plans for “The Vanishing American,” “Santa Fe Passage”; “The Great ‘H’ Bomb Robbery,” “Man from Texas,” “The Mighty Melvin,” “Jesse James Was My Neighbor,” “The Alamo,” “Timber Jack,” and a science-fic- tion story, “Tobor.” Judy Canova will star in three features geared to appeal to large audiences. Rex Allen will star in four outdoor action pic- tures. The 1954 schedule is rounded out by four serials. Uphold Jury Award to Colorado Exhibitor DENVER : The U. S. Circuit Court of Ap- peals here, with three judges, affirmed the award given by a U. S. District Court jury in February, 1952, of damages of $300,000 to Cinema Amusement Co., operating the Broadway. Cinema had sued Loew’s, 20th Century-Fox and RKO Pictures for $1 ,000,- 000 trebled damages for alleged inability to get a proper run or moveover for the Broad- way at a reasonable price for several years prior to the trial. Attorneys for the defend- ant companies said they would study the de- cision before determining whether to appeal further. Memphis Still Doesn't Want "Sadie Thompon" Censors for Shelby County and the city of Memphis, Tenn., still won’t allow the residents to see Columbia’s “Miss Sadie Thompson.” They saw the film last week the second time. The picture was reported on this trip to have been cut slightly. M. A. Lightman, Malco circuit chief, said at the week’s end he would put the film this Fri- day into his circuit’s Avon and Sunset thea- tres, the latter a drive-in. H. B. Price, new mayor there, has approved the picture with- out question. Legion Reviews 17, Puts One in Class C The National Legion of Decency, this week reviewing 17 pictures, placed “Vio- lated” in its Class C, condemned, listing. In Class B, morally objectionable, are “Act of Love,” “The Bigamist,” “The Pleasure Garden,” “Sins of Jezebel,” “Tanga-Tika,” and “Wicked Woman.” Termed morally un- objectionable for adults are “Border River,” “Drums of Tahiti,” “The Golden Coach,” “His Majesty O’Keefe,” “Spice of Life.” Morally unobjectionable for general patron- age are “The Eddie Cantor Story,” “Horses Mouth,” “Path to the Kingdom,” “King of the Khyber Rifles,” and “Knights of the Round Table.” Exhibition WASHINGTON : About the middle of this month the Census Bureau hopes to send out to exhibitors the questionnaires used to gather vital information about motion pic- ture theatre business in 1953. This will be the first Government survey of film exhibition since the census taken in 1949 to cover 1948 business. Due to Con- gressional appropriations cuts last year, the current survey won’t be as all-inclusive as the 1949 survey. Census Bureau officials said the current forms would go out to all firms operating 11 or more theatres and to a large, representative sampling of remaining exhibitors. The 1949 census polled every exhibitor. Also due to appropriations cuts, no survey is being taken this year of either production or distribution. Surveys for both fields had been planned before lawmakers chopped the Census Bureau budget. Finally, the budget cuts have forced the Bureau to cut down the number of questions they had planned to put to exhibitors. The forms will ask only for the total number of paid admissions in 1953, total receipts from admissions, total Federal admission taxes, total state admission taxes, total city admission taxes, total receipts from con- cessions and seating capacity. Information will be compiled separately for indoor and drive-in theatres, and Bureau officials said they hoped the results would be available some time in May. SEC Report Shows Loew's Officer Salaries WASHINGTON : Nicholas M. Schenck, president of Loew’s, Inc., received $116,902 for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 1953, while Dore Schary, vice-president in charge of the studio received $146,799 for the same period, according to a company report to the Securities and Exchange Commission. The 1953 salary schedule as compared to the remuneration oi officers in 1952 showed a cut of $317,928 in salaries and $28,036 in bonuses. Other officers received the following sal- aries for the last fiscal year: J. Robert Rubin, vice-president and counsel, $95,185; Edgar J. Mannix, vice-president, $127,750; William F. Rodgers, vice-president, $66,485; Charles C. Moskowitz, vice-president and treasurer, $131,143; Joseph R. Vogel, vice- president, $132,508; Leopold Friedman, vice-president, secretary and counsel, $111,- 897. All directors and officers as a group received $1,534,679. "Fugiiive" to Loew's “The Little Fugitive,” after 15 weeks at the Normandie theatre in New York, has been booked into the Loew’s circuit in New York and New Jersey starting February 4. 24 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 16, 1954 PARAMOUNT* EXCITING NEW ADVENTURE HIT... SET IN AN EXCITING NEW ADVENTURE LOCALE BOOK IT NOW. . .THE BIG STORY OF THE PLUNDERING BRAWLERS OF THE NORTH FRONTIER WHERE NO MAN OR WOMAN IS SAFE FROM THEIR TERROR! BRITISH PLEA OI¥ TAX FEB. 4 Proposed Taxation Scale Seen Cutting Revenue by £7 Million Annually by PETER BURNUP LONDON : Date of the all-trade entertain- ment tax delegation’s meeting with J. Boyd Carpenter, Financial Secretary to the Trea- sury, have now been fixed at February 4. In the meantime, the C. E. A. has sub- mitted to the Customs and Excise authorities a new scale of taxation, seat by seat, which it suggests wdhld result in tax reduction to the order of £7 million annually. Based on Year to Last June The scale is based on admissions for the year to June 30, 1953. The cost to the Ex- chequer of the proposed remissions on that basis would be £7,416,000. But the Associa- tion anticipates that attendances will decline by six per cent in the current year and estimates accordingly that the actual relief will approximate to the £7 million for which the trade asks. The scale aims to benefit cheaper-priced seats and it is claimed that if the scale is accepted by the Chancellor, 84 per cent of the benefit would accrue to seats up to and including 2s 3d. Producers made it a condition of their joining exhibitors in an approach to the Treasury that care should be taken of the Eady Fund yield. They have always main- tained that an annual minimum of £3 mil- lion Eady money is necessary if production is to be sustained here on its present scale ; whereas the Fund is likely to yield £2]A, million only this year. Depends on Attitude Although all depends on the Chancellor’s attitude toward the industry’s claim, much back-stage haggling goes on already in re- gard to the division of the ultimate spoils. Producers seek to insist that their Eady £3 million be restored whatever remission be accorded by Mr. Butler. Exhibitors, on the other hand, take the line that £7 million tax remission is necessary if their businesses are to be hauled out of the red. Producers, on that argument, must do with whatever exhibitors can spare after their deficits are corrected. Theatre men in- deed are consistent therein for a clause was inserted at their instance in the recent agree- ment extending the Eady scheme in the fol- lowing terms: “Failing any reduction in the rate of cinema entertainment duty becoming avail- able before or at the day when the existing levy scheme expires (that is, July 31, 1954), the levy will be modified as follows . . . . ” In other words, unless tax relief comes their way they will insist on a drastic reduction in even the present Eady levy. 100-HOUSE CIRCUIT IN BRITAIN HAS CINEMASCOPE LONDON: Sol Sheckman, managing director of the Essoldo circuit, an- nounced here last week three of his key theatres will be equipped with CinemaScope, with others to follow as soon as he is assured of a flow of films in the process. Essoldo, with its 100 theatres, is the third largest and the largest independent circuit in Great Britain. Mr. Sheckman's decla- ration and his decision to adopt the extended play-time principle in con- nection with CinemaScope films is ex- pected to have considerable influence among his fellow independents. CinemaScope films will have opened in about 60 theatres here by the end of February. John Davis, managing director of the J. Arthur Rank Organization, made an un- expected attack here last week on the thea- tre managers’ trades union, the Society of Cinema Managers, which currently is press- ing for a new wages and working agree- ment. Speaking at the annual Good Manage- ment Contest presentation luncheon he said that annual pay increases and promotions of his managers had been held up because of the “unreasonable attitude” of the union in its discussions with C. E. A. in regard to a proposed new agreement. He pointed out that of their 580 managers, 423 were already receiving remuneration in excess of the provisions of the present agreement. That cost the Organization no less than £33,000 a year but the men re- ceived this for good work and the Organiza- tion was happy to pay out, Mr. Davis added. The Rank attitude to the managers’ union was made clearer in a subsequent speech at the gathering by J. Arthur Rank himself. Serving Two Masters Mr. Rank said he was a great believer in unions and the part they played in bring- ing forward the workers’ point of view but managers’ were employers’ men and it was the employers who looked after them. Man- agers could not in their position have the union as master and the employer as well. That is the first occasion when blunt words of the sort have been addressed to the managers’ union by a powerful circuit. Reactions thereto will be closely watched. Piquancy is lent to the situation by reason of the fact that this year’s national presi- dent of the union is one of the Rank Or- ganization’s top managers, Roy G. Mason. Awards to the total of £12,485 were pre- sented to winners in the just concluded Good Management Contest. Recipients in- cluded 427 managers, 14 assistant managers, 11 district managers and 303 members of theatre staffs. V Renters here are gleefully counting their blessings. Typical example thereof concerns a J. Arthur Rank knockabout comedy, “Trouble in Store,” starring a newcomer to the screen, Norman Wisdom. Following a two-weeks West End showing, which evoked surprisingly ecstatic notices from the majority of national critics, the picture went on suburban release December 29. G. F. D. reports that in the course of the week the film set up 25 new all-time records out of the 30 Gaumont theatres it played during that period. Another which scored heavily was Metro’s “Julius Caesar.” Business on the film has mounted throughout its nine weeks run at the Carlton. The eighth week gross, for example, exceeded the fifth week by 15 per cent and the sixth by 26 per cent. V Cable advices from Sydney, Australia, show that “The Cruel Sea” took a net of £14,028 in its first week at the State thea- tre there. This is an all-time record and is £3,453 in excess of a record established at the theatre 10 weeks ago. “The Cruel Sea” came second in The HERALD’s box office survey of 1 953’s big grossers in Eng- land. "Robe1 Breaks Records in 12 Key British Openings LONDON: “The Robe,” 20th-Fox’s first CinemaScope picture, Monday opened to big business in 12 key provincial houses in Great Britain. Typical was the reaction in Leeds, traditionally one of the exhibitors’ toughest selling areas, where all records were shattered and the evening paper car- ried a five-column picture of queues waiting five hours to get in. The results were the same at the Plaza in Swansea, largest the- atre in south Wales, another tough selling area. With such patron reaction, exhibitors here are expected to convert to the new process in growing numbers despite their antipathy to the expenditures required for stereophonic sound equipment. 20th-Fox to Tell Exhibitors How to Handle CinemaScope Twentieth Century-Fox will tell exhibitors how to exhibit in CinemaScope. Special re- ports on recommended projection practices will be issued to exhibitors by the com- pany’s Research and Development Division, under Earl I. Sponable, director of re- search. These reports will be compilations of information from the field and from con- ferences with major services and equipment companies. The first deals with picture damages, splices and sound damage. The Research and Development Division also will answer exhibitor questions. It is dis- tributing a 36-page handbook on equip- ment, installation, maintenance and opera- tion of the equipment. 26 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 16, 1954 The crazy-mixed-up "Born Yesterday” cutie . . . in the comedy of the year! Columbia Pictures laughingly presents Judy Holliday in "It Should Happen To You” co-starring Peter Lawford with Michael O’Shea and introducing Jack Lemmon • Story and screen play by Garson Kanin • Produced by Fred Kohlmar and directed by George Cukor .... To Be Released In March iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiimiiimitHiiiiiiii by WILLIAM R. WEAVER Hollywood Editor Two Hollywood organizations whose ag- gregate membership embraces nearly every- body engaged in the making of pictures, and whose governing bodies have been as- sessing a large measure of the local unem- ployment to the production of pictures abroad by American producers, were told by two guest speakers in two days last week that there is no likelihood of a change of policy in that regard for quite some time. Johnston and Lippert The Guest Speakers The two organizations are the Motion Picture Industry Council, an over-all type of organization comprised of 11 individual organizations, and the AFL Film Council, which is made up of all the AFL or AFL- affiliated unions and guilds in the production community, a grouping of an officially esti- mated 20,000 persons employed in the Holly- wood branch of the industry. The guest speaker who addressed the MPIC was Eric Johnston, president of the Motion Picture Association of America and principal negotiator of this industry’s trade agreement with some 67 countries. The guest speaker who addressed the AFL Film Council was Robert L. Lippert, president of Lippert Pictures, Inc., and a producer who turned away from Hollywood a couple of years ago for somewhat special reasons and since then has learned about overseas production at first hand. Mr. Johnston said the Hollywood com- plaint about unemployment in production is duplicated in every other film-producing country in virtually identical terms and for very similar reasons. He said he had no formal, statistical explanation for this state of affairs, but was personally inclined to believe the worldwide decline of demand for what has been called in-between product is principally responsible, pointing out that, while the pictures in demand play longer and more profitably than ever before, the others fall disastrously short of paying for themselves. Thus, although theatre business in most countries is prospering tremen- dously, the number of pictures being pro- duced is lower than previously. Industry Drew 43% of Revenue from Overseas Mr. Johnston told his listeners that only one American-made picture in four recouped its investment during 1953, although some of those that did recoup it have run up grosses such as haven’t been witnessed here- tofore in all the history of the industry. Nevertheless, he said, the American in- dustry drew between 43 per cent and 44 per cent of its revenue from overseas exhibition during the year, which was 10 per cent more than it received in 1952, and the per- centage promises to be higher for 1954. The problem of the American studio worker takes on different proportions, Mr. Johnston made clear, when it is realized that 40 cents of his wage dollar comes from abroad, and that his wage level couldn’t be maintained if the trade’s foreign income were destroyed. Mentioning that the MPAA companies produced only 12 or so pictures abroad in 1953, and that these were pictures benefiting greatly from foreign setting, the MPAA executive pointed out that this pro- duction policy served several purposes. Enabled Use of Blocked Funds in Other Countries It enabled the companies to utilize blocked funds and to provide employment for na- tionals of the countries concerned. And it enabled the companies to take advantage of governmental subsidies in some of those countries. Mr. Johnston’s address, extem- poraneously delivered, wound up with the observation that any restrictive action by the American industry or government, such as quotas, tariffs or trade limitations, would be most disadvantageous to our interests. Mr. Lippert’s extemporaneous address to the AFL Film Council narrowed the subject of overseas production by American pro- ducers considerably. Since ceasing his pro- duction activities in Hollywood some two years ago, following sharp differences with the Screen Actors Guild arising from the sale of some of his theatrical motion pictures to television without observing SAG regu- lations concerning payment to actors in films thus disposed of, Mr. Lippert has been co- producing abroad with European producers. He told the Council members he had found that it takes about twice as long to make a picture abroad as here, and that although the wage scales are about half as high as in Hollywood, this does not mean that you come out even on that score due to time loss. Government Subsidies Make Filming Possible Abroad Mr. Lippert told his listeners there would be no overseas production of pictures by American producers, especially the indepen- dents, if it were not for the governmental subsidies available there. He told the Coun- cil members these subsidies sometimes amount to as much as 40% of the budget. The two speakers, citing different facts and figures but making the same point, so far as continuation of overseas production is concerned, gave 1954 a pretty clear out- lining for individuals and studios dependent on Hollywood production activity. THIS WEEK IN PRODUCTION: STARTED (3) PARAMOUNT Bridges at Toko-Ri (Eastman color) REPUBLIC Tobor (Dudley Prod.) COMPLETED (5) INDEPENDENT Bullet Is Waiting ( Welsch; Technicolor) MGM Valley of the Kings (Technicolor) PARAMOUNT Conquest of Space (Technicolor) SHOOTING (17) COLUMBIA Human Beast Waterfront INDEPENDENT Four Desperate Men (Bogeaus; Eastman) MGM Brigadoon (Cinema- Scope; Ansco color) Student Prince (Cinema- scope; Ansco color) Bride for Seven Brothers ( CinemaScope; Eastman color) Beau Brummell (Eastman color) PARAMOUNT Rear Window (Technicolor) RKO Big Rainbow Susan Slept Here llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllltllllllllllllllll THREE PICTURES were started during the first week of 1954, a slow beginning for a year expected to start off with a rush after those two holiday weeks that cut down pro- duction activity at year’s-end. Maybe next week will be livelier. William Perlberg and George Seaton started the important “Bridges at Toko-Ri” for Paramount, with Mark Robson direct- ing William Holden, Grace Kelly, Fredric March, Mickey Rooney, Robert McGraw and others. It’s going in Eastman color. Dudley Productions began filming “To- bor,” for Republic release, with Richard Goldstone producing and Lee Scholom di- recting. Charles Drake, Karen Booth, Ar- thur Shields and Billy Chapin are in the cast. “The Raid” is a Panoramic Productions enterprise in color by Technicolor for 20th- Fox distribution, with Van Heflin, Anne Bancroft, Richard Boone, Tommy Retig and Peter Graves in a cast directed by Hugo Fregonese. Robert L. Jacks is listed as producer. 20TH-FOX Raid (Panoramic; Technicolor) UNIVERSAL Playgirl WARNER Ring of Fear (Wayne- Fellows CinemaScope; WarnerColor) 20TH-FGX Garden of Evil (CinemaScope; Technicolor) UNIVERSAL Black Shield of Falworth (CinemaScope; Technicolor) Sign of the Pagan (CinemaScope; Technicolor) WARNER Lucky Me (Cinema- Scope; WarnerColor) Star Is Born ( CinemaScope; WarnerColor) Talisman (Cinema- Scope; WarnerColor) High and Mighty ( Wayne-Fellows; CinemaScope; WarnerColor) 28 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 16, 1954 Academy Award Winner • ••directed it... on location in Africa and Europe, topping anything he’s ever done before, including “Moulin Rouge” and “African Queen”! Academy Award Winner . . • stars in it • • • the Academy Award adventurer in his biggest adventure of all! Academy Award Winner ... co-stars in it... a great actress in the most challenging role of her career! Pirebrand . • smolders in it... a torrid new talent makes her American debut in a role as fiery as the Mediterranean sun! SANTANA PICTURES presents HUMPHREY BOGART JENNIFER JONES 1 GINA LOLLOBRIGIDA .JOHN HUSTON'S production of And a Cast Headed By with PETER LORRE - EDWARD UNDERDOWN Screenplay tty JOHN HUSTON and TRUMAN CAPOTE A ficm tit* novel "Beat the Devil" tty JAMES HEIVICK o»eciM|nUM Ul lOTTWt as a sinister, treasure- hunting conspiracy ruthlessly battling for the greatest fortune of the age! MNU it’s backed by a high-powered, showmanship campaign that beats them all . . . newspapers, national magazines, radio, TV, tie-ups . . . everything and anything you need tor SURE-FIRE, BIG BOXOFFICE GROSSES! MEXICAN FILMS OFF LAST YEAR by LUIS BECERRA CELIS in Mexico City Last year turned out as the worst for the Mexican film trade in its 23-year modern history, which dates from the production of the first spoken film in 1930. That grim forecast is based upon the re- port of the National Cinematograph Board that of the 53 pictures produced during the first half of 1953, only 16 have been released, all only fair at the box office. Trade opinion is increasing that total 1953 production won’t exceed 78, a new low for recent times, and worse, that there has been a drop in quality. With the exceptioii"bf “Mr. Photographer,” starring Cantinfias, top money-making come- dian, there has not been an important money- making picture this year. Hollywood Dominates Hollywood is more than ever dominating the local screens, according to the National Exhibitors Association. In October, U. S. films enjoyed 58.1 per cent of total playing time here. Mexican product could do no better than 20 per cent. Spanish films oc- cupied 9.3 per cent; Italian, 6.3; French, 6.5, and British and Guatemalan, 3.2 each. Last month saw the exhibition of the first Guatemalan picture in Mexico. It played two subsequent run theatres simultaneously. V A form of Government subsidy for the picture industry, a permanent special fund to “stimulate the national cinematograph busi- ness,” starting with 1954, was asked of the Federal legislature by Congressman Rodolfo Landa Echeverria, an actor who also is an executive of the National Actors Union and chairman of the Congressional Cinemato- graphic Stimulation Committee. The amount of the fund is to be left to the discretion of the President. Mr. Echeverria explained that his motion is founded on Article 32 of the new Cine- matographic Law which allows Government money aid for the trade. This money aid, according to Mr. Eche- verria, would assure production of films of national interest, as well as of higher artis- tic quality which would make them more acceptable in Mexico and for export. V V, Finance Minister Antonio Carrillo Flores has promised a delegation of exhibitors that he would discuss with President Cortines the exhibitors’ protest against the projected 10 per cent increase in the tax on theatres’ gross, which would increase these levies to 26.67 per cent. The exhibitors told the min- ister that if the increase is enacted, it, along with the higher income tax for exhibitors, would take 95 per cent of their profits. They warned that if that happens, the Mexican picture trade “will suffer the greatest col- lapse in its history.” The 3-D exhibition problem here is being partially solved with the manufacture in Mexico of polarizing spectacles at 4.07 cents a pair by Samuel Granat who, with his brother, operates a large local theatre cir- cuit. Imported spectacles cost 17 cents a pair, including shipping, import duty and insurance charges. The availability of the 4.07-cent spectacles make local exhibitors a little less cool toward 3-D films. The City Amusements Super- vision Department still insists that each patron be provided a pair of viewers free. AUSTRALIA by FRANK O’CONNELL in Sydney Concerning its CinemaScope, Ernest Turn- bull has announced that 20th-Fox will send a unit to Australia this year to film the Royal Tour in that process. He also said that Australia Movietone is being geared to produce newsreels in CinemaScope next year, to meet requirements of Hoyts, which is making installations in 70 theatres. National Theatres Corporation of Amer- ica, which owns the bulk of the 500,000 ordi- nary shares in Hoyts Theatres, Ltd., will receive its first dividend payment on these shares this year. Hoyts will pay 2s. (ap- proximately 25 cents) per share, so that National should get more than $100,000 from these shares. The corporation also owns the 10 per cent “C” preference shares which were converted to ordinary status last Feb- ruary. Original ordinary shares had never received a dividend, although the “C” share's last year received 10 per cent, first payment since 1927. Hoyts consolidated net profit for the year to June was £274,479 (approximately $617,- 577) or an increase of £23,224 (approxi- mately $52,254) over the previous year. The parent company profit was $450,000. ITALY by ARGEO SANTUCCI in Rome Import of foreign films by Italy dropped 20 per cent during the first six months of 1953, compared with the corresponding 1952 period. Between January 1 and June 30, 1953, only 147 films were imported by Italy, compared with 185 the year before. The figures were revealed by Senator Tero- sio Guglielmone during a recent debate on the foreign trade budget. The Senator also revealed the worldwide audience for Italian films numbered about 516,000,000 people in 1952, of which 270,- 000,000 were in Italy and the remaining 246,000,000 abroad. The total in 1948 was said to be 207,000,000, of which 87,000,000 were in Italy and 120,000,000 in various countries abroad. V Beginning January 1, 1954, Italian TV audiences now have to pay a so-called sub- scription rate, which is practically a tax. The amount is 15,000 lira ($24) yearly, as established by the Interministerial Commit- tee for Prices (C.I.P.). The rate for TV sets also includes the rate for radios, which is 2,450 lira ($3.90). TV, as well as radio broadcasting, services are a Government monopoly entrusted to the Government’s R.A.I. agency. The number of TV sets here is not known exactly, but is estimated at 18,000 approxi- mately at the present time. V The International Federation of Film Producers Associations, meeting in London recently, decided to grant its cooperation to international film exhibits and festivals pro- vided : ( 1 ) that they are approved by the IFFPA itself, (2) that the government of a country where a particular festival takes place permits the free release of the ex- hibited pictures, and (3) that producers will be granted free transfer of all proceeds from the exhibited pictures. Presiding over the meeting was Dr. Renato Gualino, head of Lux Films. In attendance was F. W. Allport, representa- tive of the Motion Picture Association of America, as well as representatives of Great Britain, France, Germany, Spain, Sweden and Mexico. The board also approved the following schedule of festivals for 1954 : Class A (competitive exhibits), Cannes, March 25- April 9; Venice, August 25-September 10; Class B (non-competitive), Sao Paulo, Brazil, February 12-26; Mar Del Plata, Argentina, March 7-16; Berlin, June 18-29; San Sebastian, Spain, July 10-27 ; Class C (special films), Cortina D’Ampezzo, Italy, sport pictures, February; Brussels, tourist films, October; Class D (national exhibits), Punta Del Este, Uruguay, March 1-7; Lo- carno, Switzerland, July ; Cairo, Egypt, October. ARGENTINA by NATALIO BRUSKI in Buenos Aires In contrast with the aggregate number of exhibition permits granted during the course of last year, at which time each American company was only twice granted two per- mits, the authorization to exhibit four films as was granted to each one of the 10 Ameri- can firms last September 2, has brought back an air of optimism here. It is even predicted that the situation will return to normal and that American films will be ex- hibited freely. The dollar situation here continues un- changed, and no American companies have been able to effect any remittances. Large quantities of raw stock have been received from abroad. 30 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 16, 1954 X (( with the new RCA BUTTON- ON” SOINRHEAB SOFT- LOOP SYSTEM — 'available from RCA only — offers flutter-free sound — filters out irregularities in film motion caused by bent reels and defective film splicing. SINGLE FILM carries four sound tracks and picture — eliminates necessity of extra film for sound. MU-METAL SHIELD. — Guards magnetic cluster (RCA’s precision sound pickup device) from extraneous noises. Assures reproduction of the sound tracks exactly as recorded. LONG-WEARING MAGNETIC HEAD- — Actual perform- ance in hundreds of theatres verifies unusual last- ing qualities of this critical element. RCA's HIGH STANDARDS of engineering are reflected in every detail of the new “Button-On” Sound- head. From the sturdy case to the precision mechanism, this is the quality you’ve learned to expect from RCA — the quality that only RCA’s broad background in magnetic sound and film recording can offer. Get ready now for today’s big box-office produc- tions— the new single-film, four-magnetic-track presentations. These are the films that are mak- ing today’s headlines — the films that are packing theatres all over the country. Now’s the time to take advantage of this effec- tive new way to attract patrons. You’ll find it the simplest way to handle stereophonic sound— the surest way to today’s big box-office increases. It will pay you well to order your RCA “Button-On” Soundhead and Stereoscope Sound system now. Contact Your RCA Theatre Supply Dealer Today. RCA STEREOSCOPE SOUNR costs less than yon think THEATRE EQUIPMENT RA DIO CORPORA TIOM of A ME RICA ENGINEERING PRODUCTS DC PA R TM ENT. CAMDEN. N.J. Ir Canada: RCA VICTOR Company limited, Montreal ALBANY The smash business attracted by “Hondo” at the Strand in Albany, Troy in Troy, Stanley in Utica, Plaza in Schenectady, and Rialto in Amsterdam bolstered the faith of those exhibitors who had insisted the future of 3-D was bright, and shook the skepti- cism of those who held the process’ chief appeal to be a rapidly disappearing novelty. . . . Fred Shiter, 20th-Fox salesman here, is vacationing at Hot Springs, Ark. . . . Fabian’s Palace screened its second Cinema- Scope feature, “Beneath the 12-Mile Reef.” Engagement was the third here for Cinema- Scope. . . . Charles Gordon’s Olympic, Utica, holds the exchange district record for a CinemaScope run — 29 days with “The Robe.” . . . Visitors included : Louis W. Schine, Gloversville ; Edward L. Fabian, New York, and F. Chase Hathaway, Fair Haven, Vt. ATLANTA Lee J. Bhel has purchased the Sunset Drive-in theatre, Miami, Fla., from John Berado. . . . William Korask is building a 700-seat theatre in Opa-Lacka, Fla., at a cost of approximately $100,000. ... In for a visit were: Bill Yarbough and Georga Beasley, theatre in Hartwell, Ga. ; W. Welch, Dallas, Dallas, Ga. ; Sidney Laird, Al-Dun Amusement Co., West Point, Ga. ; and Ebb Duncan, theatres in Georgia. . . . Cpl. Jack Lancaster, son of Mrs. Rose Lancaster, Astor, Pictures, has returned to his base in Miami, Fla., after a trip here. . . . The Cresent Amusement Co., Nashville, Tenn., on Jan. 21 will inaugurate major stage en- tertainment policy with a run of “South Pacific,” according to president of the cir- cuit, R. E. Balch. . . . Lonnie Lowe, former sales reprsentative at major exchanges here, was on the row visiting with friends. . . . Merrill Moore has been appointed cashier at United Artists, replacing Mrs. B. Finch, who resigned. BOSTON The Wakefield theatre, Wakefield, Mass., held a world premiere of the Warner skiing short “Born To Ski,” which tells the story of Andrea Mead Lawrence of Vermont, and which was produced, directed and photo- graphed by two Wakefield lads, John Roberts and Clayton Ballou. . . . The en- gagement has been announced of Sonia Zarsky, secretary at Interstate Theatres, to Charles G. Waxman, of Danvers, Mass, with an early summer wedding planned. At that time, Sonia will retire from busi- ness. ... At an auction sale, E. M. Loew, of E. M. Loew Theatres, and I. Jerome Ricker have purchased the downtown busi- ness property at 39-41 West Street from Philip and Courtney Bird. The property will not be used for theatrical purposes. . . . William M. Kumins, salesman at Warner’s, has been promoted to sales manager, re- placing William Twig, who has been trans- i2 ferred to the Warner Pittsburgh office as branch manager. ... A daughter, Amy Joy, was born recently to Mr. and Mrs. Richard Smith, vice-president of Smith Management Co. BUFFALO The Center is showing its first Cinema- Scope attraction this week — “King of the Khyber Rifles.” .... The Paramount in Rochester showed its first CinemaScope picture, starting Thursday night, "How to Marry a Millionaire,” in connection with the premiere of which Francis Anderson, city manager, put on a Hollywood type opening. . . . Carl E. Bell, manager of the Buffalo office of Perkins Theatre Supply Co., Inc., announces the installation of wide screens in the Allendale, Amherst, Bailey, and Circle, Buffalo; the Arnett, Lincoln, Webster, and Lyell, Rochester; the Batavia, Batavia ; the Bradford, Bradford ; the Cat- aract, Niagara Falls; the Diana, Medina; the Elmira, Elmira ; the Morris, Morris- ville; the Plaza, Malone; the Riviera, North Tonawanda and the Plaza, Erie, Pa. . . . George H. Mackenna, general manager, Lafayette, wearing a broad smile over the business being tacked up with his 3-D at- traction, “Miss Sadie Thompson,” now in its third week. . . . Bob Dame, former man- WHEN AND WHERE January 27: Mid-winter convention and board meeting, Virginia Motion Picture Theatre Association, Jefferson Hotel, Richmond. February 2-4: National Drive-in Theatre Association convention, Netherlands- Plaza Hotel, Cincinnati, Ohio. February 2-4: Annual meeting, Independent Theatre Owners of Ohio, Netherlands- Plaza Hotel, Cincinnati, Ohio. February 5-6: National Allied board meet- ing, Netherlands-Plaza Hotel, Cincinnati. March 9-10: Annual convention, Allied Theatre Owners of Oklahoma, Biltmore Hotel, Oklahoma City. March 28-30: Annual convention, Allied Theatre Owners of Gulf States, Edge- water Guff Hotel, Edgewater Park, Miss. April 6-8: Annual convention, Allied Inde- pendent Theatre Owners of Wisconsin, Hotel Shroeder, Milwaukee. May 2-7: Semi-annual convention, Society of Motion Picture and Television Engi- neers, Statler Hotel, Washington, D. C. ager of several local community houses and one time head of the Shea’s Buffalo service department, back in town with his family, after a few years in the West with the Ford Motor Co. Has not as yet made a connec- tion here. CHICAGO The number of theatres in and around Chicago scheduled to play “The Robe” in its first outlying run now has risen to 33. . . . Mr. and Mrs. Jim Gorman became the parents of a girl Dec. 31. He is the manager of the Loop. . . . Aaron Jones of Jones, Linick, and Schaffer, who operate the McVickers, has left for his annual vaca- tion in Florida. . . . The Lee theatre, Three Oaks, Mich., has gone to a two-day, Satur- day and Sunday, operation. . . . James Cos- ton, of Coston Enterprises, and Mrs. Coston will leave for a 2 and month Mediter- ranean cruise January 29. . . . The Alamo and Imperial anti-trust suits both are on the verge of out-of-court settlement. . . . The invitational screening of “Cease Fire !” at the B. & K. Century Wednesday after- noon was attended by over 1,000 persons. . . . Rose Dunn, managing director of Schoenstadt’s Hyde Park, has recovered from a recent illness after three weeks’ convalescence in Florida and is back. CINCINNATI This could appropriately be termed “Hold- over Week,” since four out of the five down- town first runs are playing a second and third week, the RKO Capitol being the only house showing a new arrival. ... In the suburbs, the Hyde Park Art theatre is in its second week of “Julius Caesar” which is being roadshown and the Guild is hold- ing over “The Captain’s Paradise,” both first run bookings. . . . Marc J. Wolf, past international Variety chief barker, installed the new officers of Cincinnati Variety Club, Tent No. 3 and the new organization, the Ladies Auxiliary, at the installation dinner, January 11. . . . The Rialto theatre, in nearby Hamilton, Ohio, a unit of Northio Theatres, has discontinued matinees except Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, and is opening at 5 P.M. . . . John Schwalm, vet- eran retired exhibitor of Hamilton, and his wife are vacationing in Florida. . . . Chak- eres Theatre Co., with headquarters in Springfield, Ohio, has closed the Orpheum theatre, oldest downtown house there be- cause, according to Phil Chakeres, president, the town is overseated. CLEVELAND Theatre business, up in most spots in this area during the past six months, will be progressively better during the new year, a majority of exhibitors predict. . . . John F. Kumler, veteran Toledo exhibitor, builder of the Pantheon theatre and who has been retired the past 15 years, died of a cerebral ( C ontinued on page 34) MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 16, 1954 GUARANTEES DEPENDABILITY far above any other sound equipment ever devised, optical or magnetic, with absolute safety against sound failure. DEVELOPED TO PERFECTION by Ampex research engineers, recog- nized world leaders in the field of mag- netic sound. HIGH QUALITY OF CONSTRUCTION of precision equipment characteristic of any Ampex Stereophonic Sound System. Every part designed and constructed by Ampex. BEST AT LOWEST PRICE installed and maintained at lowest cost. No other system offers so much for so low a price - THE MASTER SERIES IS BEYOND COMPARE CORPORATION WIRE... PHONE... WRITE.. .TODAY! For complete information SPYROS S. SKOURAS, JR. 233 WEST 49th ST., NEW YORK 19, N. Y. PHONE: JUDSON 6*0500 CIRCUIT CONSTRUCTION CORPORATION , Distributors ( Continued from page 32) hemorrhage. He was 72. . . . Blair Russell of the Russell theatre, Miller sburg, and Mrs. Russell became parents of a baby boy on Dec. 31, same date on which, two years ago their daughter was born. . . . Jacob Kerner, father of MGM booker Gerry Ker- ner, died suddenly of a heart attack in New York. . . . Two theatres notified local ex- changes of closing until further notice — the Main, Cleveland and the Dillon, Dil- onvale. . . . Jack Shulman of the Lexington theatre, Cleveland; Lake, Painesville ; Lyric, Fairport Harbor, and the Mentor drive-in, has opened an office in the Warner Bldg. COLUMBUS H. & S. Theatres partnership of A1 and Charles Sugarman and Lee Hofheimer has been dissolved. Sale of the North Hi Drive- in to Mrs. Ethel Miles concluded the asso- ciation. Last year H. & S. sold the Waverly, Ohio, drive-in and closed the Champion and Avondale theatres and sold the Indianola to Frank Marzetti, owner of the Linden. A1 Sugarman retired and turned the World and Little over to his son, Charles, who operates them in association with Vance Schwartz. . . . The Ohio Public Utilities Commission set Jan. 25 and 26 as dates for hearing of a protest by the Independent Theatre Owners of Ohio against higher truck rates in the Cleveland exchange area. The higher rates, “up to 200%,” became effective Dec. 25 because a PUCO clerk failed to post an order by commission mem- bers which would have suspened the rates. . . . Business has been good over the holi- days in first runs. “How to Marry a Mil- lionaire” went into a third week at RKO Palace and two-week runs were recorded by “Easy To Love” at Loew’s Broad and “Miss Sadie Thompson” at Loew’s Ohio. “The Cruel Sea” had a third week at the World. DENVER Jean Dubois, freelance newsreel camera- man, is in St. Joseph’s hospital, recuperat- ing from an operation. . . . George Smith, Paramount district manager, here for sales meeting at exchange with branch manager Jim Ricketts, and salesmen John Vos, John Thomas and Dick Ivy. . . . Chas. P. Webber, projectionist at the Paramount screening room, father to first child, Charlene Kay, born at St. Luke’s hospital. . . . Tom Bailey has formed the Bailey Distributing Co. to handle “Martin Luther.” Rights were ac- quired for Denver and Salt Lake City ter- ritories on a visit to New York. . . . Lone gunman got $45 from David Townsend, box office attendant, at the Lakeshore drive- in. .. . C. J. Duer, Allied Artists branch manager, reports the exchange is in second place in the Branch Manager’s drive. . . . Lun Fetz, manager of the Denver Shipping and Inspection Bureau, has mailed out his up-to-date annual list of wanted phone num- bers to theatres and others in the industry. DES MOINES Scores of theatres throughout the state held free movies for the public during the recent holiday season. At Waukon, Mr. and Mrs. P. D. Cote had their 40th annual free holiday show. The first was given in 1913 when 62 children attended. This year there were 586 guests. . . . More than 6,000 attended free shows at the Coed in Fair- MANAGES BIG HOUSE IN PORTLAND AT 25 PORTLAND, Ore. When M. M. Mesher, president of the Portland Paramount Thea- tres Corporation, took over the 3,400-seat Paramount recently, he named Richard Newton house man- ager. This was quite a spot for a 25- year-old, managing the largest theatre in the Pacific North- west. Mr. Newton came to Portland from the Northgate theatre in Seattle, where he was man- ager of Sterling's 1, 500 - seat ace neighborhood unit. Northgate is the largest planned shopping center in the world with the big theatre as the hub. While there for two years, Mr. Newton was very active in civic organiza- tions, having served as president of the Chamber of Commerce, Rotary and others. He organized and ran various en- tertainment projects, then went to Sterling as an assistant manager and m.c. for the Palomar's vaudeville-film policy.. He was moved to the Roosevent as manager, and then opened Northgate. He and Mrs. Newton have two children. field, with more than 900 at the Carroll theatre party in Carroll. . . . Jack Harris, former Warner salesman, visited the ex- change during the last week. . . . Leon Men- delson, Warner branch manager, has re- turned following a 7-day vacation. . . . Pat Patrick, Universal salesman, entertained at a New Year’s party in his new farm home. . . . Jim Ricketts, Columbia booker and office manager, was feted on his recent birthday. The office employees held a party in his honor. . . . Metro employees held a special holiday festival at Topper’s supper club. . . . Ivan Fuldauer, MGM, spent a few days in Cleveland. DETROIT The downtown Broadway Capitol was taken back into the United Detroit Theatres fold after two years of sublease to Sol Korman. Public announcement was not made due to extensive refurbishing plans now being started. Management will re- main in the hands of Wayne Parsons who has been managing the last couple years. . . . Temporary change of policy will put Disney’s “Living Forest” into the Telenews January 28th. . . . Charles Wade, 11, of suburban Grosse Pointe, received a gold pass to the Woods theatre in recognition of his bravery in getting two children out of the path of an automobile while on crossing duty. . . . Last of the long, long runs has left the downtown section with only the perennial “Cinerama” still holding. . . . Nearby Pontiac has booked four Cin- emaScope pictures into the Butterfield Oak- land but Birmingham in the country club district, which usually books between De- Richard Newton troit first and second runs, has no place to put them. HARTFORD R. J. Maurello of the Star theatre, Hart- ford, is back from a 10-day stay in Miami Beach. . . . Charles Goldner has joined the Sampson-Spodeck-Bialek circuit as man- ager of the newly-acquired Empress, Nor- walk, Conn. He formerly managed tbe As- tor, Bridgeport, Conn. . . . Judge of Probate Joseph A. Adorno, son of the Sal Adorno, Sr., of the M & D Theatres, Middletown, Conn., is serving as Middlesex county chair- man for the current March of Dimes cam- paign. . . . Joseph E. Tinty, owner of Plain- ville, Conn., property on which Perakos Theatre Associates, New Britain, Conn., is building on 850-car, $200,000 drive-in thea- tre, has announced plans for a $20,000 shopping center adjacent to the drive-in site. . . . Key New England film critics will attend a Boston press luncheon on Jan. 25, honoring James Stewart, star of “The Glenn Miller Story.” INDIANAPOLIS The Allied Theatre Owners of Indiana will hold their spring meeting at the South Shore Hotel, Lake Wawasee, June 15 and 16, their fall convention at the Marott Hotel here Nov. 16-17. . . . The ATOI board presented Trueman Rembusch with a desk set at the January meeting in recogni- tion of his service as president from 1945 to 1953. . . . Dale McFarland, general man- ager of Greater Indianapolis, has been named chairman of a new ATOI public rela- tions committee, with Roy Harrold, Rush- ville exhibitor, as assistant. . . . Reports from over the state indicate excellent holi- day business and optimism for the new year. . . . Indications are that Indiana will be heavily represented at the drive-in con- vention in Cincinnati Feb. 2-4. . . . “Hondo,” “Knights of the Round Table” and “Be- neath the 12-Mile Reef,” all New Year’s starters, are playing second weeks at down- town theatres. JACKSONVILLE Supporting COMPO’s drive against ad- mission taxes, LaMar Sarra, legislative chairman of tbe Motion Picture Exhibitors of Florida, said that all nine members of Florida’s delegation in Congress have an- nounced their endorsement of tax relief. . . . Verdjie Golezzi, veteran Warner film inspect- ress, died after a short illness. . . . Carroll Ogburn, Warner branch manager, revealed that “Hondo” has become Warner’s top 3-D grosser in his territory. . . . The St. Johns theatre will have the Florida premiere of “Miss Sadie Thompson.” . . . Ollie Wil- liamson, Warner branch manager in Atlanta, left here for New Orleans. . . . Walter McCurdy, Paramount executive from New York, spent two weeks with Harry Botwick, general sales manager of Florida State Theatres, observing confections and popcorn policies. . . . Elias Chalhub, Carefree Center, West Palm Beach, and Harry Gordon, Car- ver theatre, Orlando, visited booking offices. . . . Walt Woodward, Wil-Kin Theatre Sup- ply salesman, was here from Miami. KANSAS CITY The appeal of the producer, the distrib- utor, and a prospective exhibitor, against ( Continued on opposite page ) 34 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 16, 1954 ( Continued from opposite page ) barring of “The Moon Is Blue” from show- ing in Kansas City, Mo., has been taken under advisement, after hearing, in the Cole ' County, Mo., circuit court. ... A protest committee in Independence, Mo., (nine miles from Kansas City) is circulating petitions for opposition to rezoning of a section to per- mit erection of a drive-in theatre. The As- sociated Theatres has asked for the business classification of the section. . . . The Heart and the Boulevard drive-ins, both near the city, are opening week-ends. . . . “Knights of the Round Table” is in its third week at the Midland. . . . “Hondo” is in several subse- quent runs — in some cases the advertise- ments do not mention that it is 3-D. . . . Don Tillotson has been elected president of the Chamber of Commerce of Holton, Kan., where he is manager of theatres for Com- monwealth Theatres. LOS ANGELES John Howard, 50, former special repre- sentative for David O. Selznick, passed away. . . . Charles Maestri, of the Lippert organization, was in town on a buying and booking stint. . . . Jack Jacobs, the National Screen, has entered the Midway Hospital for a third operation on his eyes. . . . Bob Bernhard, Favorite Films booker, was the recipient of a surprise birthday party held at his home. The birthday cake depicted a scene from “The Little Fugitive,” which Bernhard’s office is distributing. . . . Jack Cooper, Warner Bros, booker, became the proud father of a five-pound, fifteen-ounce baby girl, named Caren Lyn. . . . Jack Sher- ri ff, Realart Pictures, returned from a busi- ness trip to Ojai. . . . George Tripp, Warner Bros, salesman, off to Nevada on company business. . . . Lou Federici, who operates the Cinema and Playhouse Theatres in L. A., is plotting a re-opening of the long shuttered Sunset theatre, Hollywood, which was an art house under the Rosener banner. MEMPHIS Meanwhile “Miss Sadie Thompson,” banned last week by Memphis censors, opened this week at Sunset drive-in and Avon theatre, West Memphis, Ark., just across the Mississippi river from Memphis, for Memphians to see. . . . Augustine Cianci- olo, owner, installed CinemaScope screen and stereophonic sound in Plaza theatre in Memphis, first neighborhood house to have this equipment. Plaza has booked “The Robe.” . . . Manager Arthur Groom of Loew’s State in Memphis reported four times normal business with the first week of MGM’s CinemaScope production. “Knights of the Round Table.” ... Ed Williamson, former Warner Bros., branch manager at Memphis and now district manager for the company at Dallas, was a Memphis visitor. . . . T. E. Shaw has leased Booth theatre at Hollendale, Miss. . . . Hugh Burnette has bought Broadway drive-in, Dickson, Term. • . . L. J. Denning will close YMCA theatre, Bemis, Tenn., April 1. . . . Mike Cullen, district manager of Loew’s theatres, St. Louis, was a Memphis visitor. MIAMI The January 7th Variety Club dinner at the Lord Tarleton had international chief barker Jack Beresin officiating at the instal- lation of the new slate of officers which in- cluded Bill Deck, chief barker; Maurey Ash- mann, 1st assistant; Sid White, 2nd assis- tant; Jay Morton, property master, and Sandy Bronstein, cloughguv. . . . Other crew members were Jimmy Barnett, Jesse Weiss, Lew Mercur, Hal Kopplin, Joe Lieber, Sonny Shepherd, and ex-Chief Barkers George Hoover, George Wintz, Jack Bell, Paul Bruun and Ed Melniker. . . . The Wometco art shop welcomed Eric Uuttu, who transferred from the maintenance department. . . . Cupid must be lurking in the Wometco-WTVJ quarters. The second bull’s-eye was scored recently : the engage- ment of executive Richard F. Wolfson and Elaine C. Reinherz. . . . Mitchell Wolfson, WTVJ president, announced plans for the third annual Telethon for Cerebral Palsy January 23. Robert Q. Lewis will me. MILWAUKEE Louie Orlove, MGM, wrote a congratula- tory letter to the Delft Theatres in regards to letting managers take active part in civic and local affairs. The writing of this letter was prompted because of the election of one of Delft's managers to the presidency of a local chamber of commerce. . . . Elroy Luedtke, manager of the Delft and Nordic theatres in Marquette, Michigan, will be the 1954 president of the Marquette Cham- ber of Commerce. Luedtke came to Mar- quette n 1945, as manager of the two houses and has taken an increasingly active part in community affairs. . . . Leonard Dorece is reopening the Crown theatre in Racine. . . . Art Heling, booker at the MGM exchange here, has returned from his two years in the Army. . . . Mrs. Charles Berenger is president of the Better Films Council of Milwaukee county. MINNEAPOLIS Ben Berger, president of Berger Amuse- ment Co., took over the semi-legit Lyceum on Jan. 15 from the Nederlanders. House will continue to have road shows when available, films and perhaps a stock com- pany. Lowell Kaplan, buyer and booker for the Berger circuit, will be acting manager of the house. . . . An all-night telecast to raise funds for cerebral palsy via WCCO- TV will eminate from the loop State Feb. 13. . . . Harry Weiss, RKO Theatres dis- trict manager, visited situations in Iowa and Denver. . . . Don Swartz, operator of Independent-Lippert exchanges here and in Milwaukee, was in New York on business. . . . A1 Stern, office manager at RKO, passed out cigars to announce the arrival of his first grandchild, Alvin III, born in Lorain, Ohio; . . . Kenny Adams, sales man- ager for Universal, and his family vaca- tioned in California. . . . Leo Molitor, opera- tor of the Superior at Superior, Wis., also returned from a California vacation. NEW ORLEANS It was a good New Year’s start for branch manager Lee V. Seicshnaydre who received the glad tidings from his company naming- him Republic’s “Man of the Month” for November. . . . Star Vue drive-in, a Fred T. McLendon theatre in McKenzie, Ala., closed Jan. 1. Reopening is scheduled for early spring. . . . Jimmie Bristow assumed ownership-operation of the State- line, Stateline, Miss, on January 1. Pre- vious owner Curtis B. Willard. . . . Travis Madden was to open his new Bossier, Bos- sier City, La., January 14. . . . George Pabst, U.A.’s southern district manager, says that the New Orleans exchange and the southern district are in second place in the company’s current 35th Anniversary Drive. . . . Leonard Boyer, urban and subur- ban exhibitors’ “Man Friday,” is seriously ill in Charity Hospital. . . . The Pat, Lafayette, La., celebrated its 5th anniversary with 5-day record-breaking crowds, with their initial CinemaScope presentation, “The Robe,” which opened Christmas Day. . . . Lonnie H. Davis, booker for Teddy Solo- mon Theatres, McComb, Miss., is the father of a new son, John Michael. OKLAHOMA CSTY The Board of Directors of Theatre Owners of Oklahoma held a meeting Janu- ary 4 at the Variety Club, at which 23 of the 28 members attended. . . . The Redskin theatre, has been redecorated, and new seats installed. The Redskin has a new wide screen installed, and is ready to show CinemaScope pictures. ... A bandit held up the Gaiety theatre cashier January 2 and escaped in downtown crowds with about $150. . . . “Here Come the Girls” has been held over for a 3rd big week at the Harber theatre. . . . The Tower theatre, one of Cooper Foundation Theatres, is the first suburban theatre in Oklahoma City, to install a screen for the showing of Cinema- Scope pictures. “Beneath the 12-Mile Reef" is now showing there. . . . The Lakeside Theatre has installed a new CinemaScope screen. OMAHA Robert Hoff, chief barker-elect of Tent 16, and other Variety Club officers will be installed at the Blackstone Hotel January 25. Col. Bill McCraw and possibly another celebrity are scheduled to be present. . . . The idle Berkley theatre was saved from destruction when two policemen answered a call that two boys were playing on the roof. The cops found a fire smoldering under a tarpaulin and the boys, 7 and 10, said they climbed up an old ventilator shaft to the roof to their “clubhouse”. . . . Evelyn Cannon, MGM office manager, said the com- pany’s Thirtieth Jubilee Celebration was off to a fast start in this territory. PHILADELPHIA Leon Cohen has taken over the industry projection room at 1225 Vine Street as a personal independent venture. . . . William Quinlivan, RKO booker, has recovered from a recent surgical operation in German- town Hospital. . . . Dave Weinstein, man- ager of the Atlantic drive-in near Atlantic City, N. J., announced that the open-airer will remain open the year round instead of closing down for the winter months as in previous years. . . . plans are being made for an industry reception to Hugh McGuire, who arrived from New Flaven, Conn., last week to assume duties as Paramount sales manager here. . . . Stanley Warner circuit is installing CinemaScope in its midtown ( Continued on following page ) UniSurface SCREEN FACING for Drive-ins. SEAMLESS, JOINTLESS! Picti/Tes as flawless as indoors. Ideal light efficiency and viewing quality from all angles. Low cost! Saves upkeep! lirsi - American jpWucfa. inc. 1717 Wyandotte St., Kansas City 8, Mo. MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 16, 1954 35 ( Continued from preceding page ) Palace, also changing the house policy to seven days after first run. . . . Tri-State Buying and Booking Service here takes over the handling of such services for John Ware Ill’s Met, Oxford, Pa. . . . With the Trans-Lux chain taking over the World, Bill Laird, assistant manager of the local Trans-Lux, becomes new manager of the World, succeeding Frank Pease. Charles Judge, Trans-Lux manager, becomes city manager, maintaining offices at both center- city houses and overseeing all advertising, publicity and exploitation. PITTSBURGH The Nixon theatre, the city’s sole legiti- mate house, is playing one of its rare movies, “The Conquest of Everest” rather than keep the house dark this week. . . . Gabe Rubin, Nixon operator, is still trying to get “Julius Caesar” for a run. . . . “Knights of the Round Table” holding to a firm $37,- 000 in its second week after setting a new house record of $46,000 in its initial seven days. . . . Alan Ladd’s “Paratrooper” fol- lowing “Beneath the 12-Mile Reef” now in its third week in the Harris, and giving that house its first non-CinemaScope picture since last September. . . . Bill Twigg of Boston has succeeded Jerry Wechsler as Warner branch manager in Pittsburgh. . . . “This Is Cinerama,” doing capacity busi- ness, is also doing well on advance sales in the Warner. . . . Bernie Elinoff, Stanley Warner shorts booker, back on the job after two weeks vacation in New York. PORTLAND Business has been zooming- at first run theatres for the past two weeks. . . . Mrs. J. J. Parker installed CinemaScope and stereophonic sound in her Broadway theatre last week “Knights of the Round Table” was first attraction and it racked up a record- breaking gross for the week and the opening day. . . . Harry Lewis has taken over the management of the National Screen Service office here. . . . Herb Royster has taken over as manager of the broadway theatre and publicity director for the entire circuit. . . . Keith Petzold has become general man- ager of the Jesse Jones chain of 5 houses. His office is in the St. Johns theatre. . . . Jack Braxton has been appointed manager of the Bagdad theatre. . . . Playhouse thea- tre is to be torn down to make way for a parking lot. PROVIDENCE Loew’s State theatre celebrated New Year’s for the children by offering a special Saturday morning show on the day follow- ing the arrival of 1954. With doors opening at 8 :45, a one-hour stage show was presented, featuring Theresa Landry and her Talented Young Artists. . . . After a special midnight preview, New Year’s Eve, of Martin and Lewis in their first Techni- color comedy, “Money From Home,” the Strand continued Bob Hope in “Here Come The Girls” for an additional four days. . . . The Children’s Civic Theatre of Providence, in conjunction with the Parent’s League of Providence, inaugurated a series of 10 Saturday morning film programs for young people at the Avon Cinema. . . . Unofficial reports indicate that 1954 got off to a banner start, locally, and much optimism has been voiced for the coming 12 months. While business conditions hereabouts are not particularly prosperous at the moment, President Eisenhower’s recent directive that more defense contracts be channelled in this direction, gives hope that Rhode Island’s dormant industries will soon take on new life. SAN FRANCISCO Neal East, assistant western division manager, Paramount, was at the exchange the past week for conferences on new prod- uct with salesmen. He left for similar meetings in Seattle and Portland before returning to Los Angeles. . . . Jack Slade, chief projectionist, Columbia Studios, was in town for the opening of “Miss Sadie Thompson” which had the biggest opening day gross at the St. Francis since "House of Wax.” . . .Ted Galenter, MGM western press representative, returned from a vaca- tion in Honolulu. . . . Personnel changes on the row include the resignation of Alyce Lofasso, cashier for the past 10 years at National Screen. Miss Lofasso is retiring. Elsie Gin, contract clerk, stepped up to cashier. Catherine Daubert, booker, NSS, resigned to live in New York City. . . . New at MGM and to the industry is Loma Lar- rinie, switchboard relief operator and office clerk. . . . Managerial changes include the appointment of Nathan Grossman to man- ager of the Paramount, replacing Donald Haley, who was given the post of manager, Downtown theatre, Los Angeles, replacing Mervin Davenport. . . . Gail Miller, door- man, St. Francis theatre, stepped up to assistant manager, Paramount, replacing Arnold Courtner. . . . Claude Plum has been made assistant manager of the Bridge. TORONTO Ian MacNeil of the National Film Board was named interim president of the Canadian Film Society at a meeting here. Purpose of the film society is to co-ordinate the opera- tion of some 40 community film organiza- tions in seven provinces. . . . Sponsorship of the 1954 trade show at Toronto may shift from the Motion Picture Theatres Associa- tion of Ontario to the Motion Picture Indus- try Council of Canada. . . . Roxy at Canora, Sask., operated by the Regal Amusement Co., of Regina has been sold. I. Reinhorn is president of Regal Amusement Co. . . . The new Jasper in suburban Edmonton, Alta., features a “cry room” and a pano- ramic screen. The house, built at a cost of $100,000 by William Rueb and Wallie Klak, has 528 seats. . . . Annual meeting of the Canadian Picture Pioneers will be held at the King Edward Hotel here Jan. 20. WASHINGTON Morton Gerber, Variety Club welfare chairman, reported welfare expenditures of more than $43,000 in 1953. . . . Catherine Marshall, widow of the Senate chaplain, Peter Marshall, is in Hollywood working on a screen version of her book “A Man Called Peter.” . . . Bill Hoyle, District Theatres, won a cup at the Washington Golf and Country Club for the second year in succession. . . . St. Mary’s theatre, Leonardtown, Md. is being redecorated. . . . International chief barker Jack Beresin, was speaker at the Tent No. 11 installation cere- monies January 4. ... A twice-monthly newspaper on current attractions will be put out by the Best Theatres, which include the Svlvan, Senator, Academy, Atlas, \ork. Strand, Jewel and Alamo. William Michal- son will will edit. . . . Fred Sapperstein, Columbia Pictures, and Mrs. Sapperstein, are the parents of a baby daughter. Goldwyn, Jr., Organizes Television Film Unit Samuel Goldwyn, Jr., is forming a new company for the production of television pictures, he announced this week in resign- ing from the Columbia Broadcasting System where he has been a television producer for the past year. Production of the television films is expected to get under way about April 1 at the Samuel Goldwyn studios in California. Sales headquarters of the new company have been established at 1270 Sixth Avenue in New York. M-G-M TRADE SHOW- JAN. 22nd u GYPSY COLT 77 ALBANY 20th- Fox Screen Room ATLANTA 20th- Fox Screen Room BOSTON M-G-M Screen Room BUFFALO 20th- Fox Screen Room CHARLOTTE 20th- Fox Screen Room CHICAGO Warner Screen Room CINCINNATI 20th-Fox Screen Room CLEVELAND 20th-Fox Screen Room DALLAS 20th- Fox Screen Room DENVER Paramount Screen Room DES MOINES 20th- Fox Screen Room DETROIT Max Blumenthal’s Sc. Rm. INDIANAPOLIS 20th- Fox Screen Room JACKSONVILLE Florida State Screen Room KANSAS CITY 20th- Fox Screen Room LOS ANGELES United Artists’ Screen Rm. MEMPHIS 20th- Fox Screen Room MILWAUKEE Warner Screen Room MINNEAPOLIS 20th- Fox Screen Room NEW HAVEN 20th- Fox Screen Room NEW ORLEANS 20th- Fox Screen Room NEW YORK M-G-M Screen Room OKLAHOMA CITY 20th- Fox Screen Room OMAHA PHILADELPHIA PITTSBURGH PORTLAND ST. LOUIS SALT LAKE CITY SAN FRANCISCO SEATTLE WASHINGTON 20th- Fox Screen Room M-G-M Screen Room M-G-M Screen Room B. F. Shearer Screen Rm. S’Renco Art Theatre 20th- Fox Screen Room 20th- Fox Screen Room Jewel Box Preview Thea. RKO Screen Room 1 052 Broadway 1/22 2 P.M. 197 Walton St., N. W. 1/22 2 P.M. 46 Church Street 1/22 2 P.M. 290 Franklin Street 1/22 2 P.M. 308 S. Church Street 1/22 1 :30 P.M. 1307 S. Wabash Ave. 1/22 1 :30 P.M. 1632 Central Parkway 1/22 2 P.M. 2219 Payne Avenue 1/22 1 P.M. 1 803 Wood Street 1/22 2:30 P.M. 21 00 Stout Street 1/22 2 P.M. 1300 High Street 1/22 1 P.M. 231 0 Cass Avenue 1/22 1 :30 P.M. 236 No. Illinois St. 1/22 1 P.M. 128 East Forsyth Street 1/22 2 P.M. 1720 Wyandotte St. 1/22 1 :30 P.M. 1851 S. Westmoreland 1/22 2 P.M. 151 Vance Avenue 1/22 12 Noon 212 W. Wisconsin Ave. 1/22 1 :30 P.M. 1015 Currie Avenue 1/22 2 P.M. 40 Whiting Street 1/22 2 P.M. 200 S. Liberty St. 1/22 1 :30 P.M. 630 Ninth Avenue 1/22 2:30 P.M. 10 North Lee Street 1/22 1 P.M. 1502 Davenport St. 1/22 1 P.M. 1233 Summer Street 1/22 2 P.M. 1623 Blvd. of Allies 1/22 2 P.M. 1947 N. W. Kearney St. 1/22 2 P.M. 3143 Olive Street 1/22 1 P.M. 216 E. First St., So. 245 Hyde Street 1/22 1 P.M. 1/22 1 :30 P.M. 2318 Second Avenue 1/22 1 P.M. 932 N. Jersey Ave., N.W. 1/22 2 P.M. in • Ward Bond • Frances Dee a nd Gypsy ♦ Play by Martin Berkeley ♦ Based on a Story by Eric Knight • Photographed in Ansco Color • Prints by Technicolor • Directed by Andrew Marton • Produced by William Grady, Jr. and Sidney Franklin, Jr. 36 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 16, 1954 What Sponsored £keu>A tflean To Theatre £aleA LAST week’s Round Table reference to Paul Brown’s big Christmas Show at Warner’s Fresno theatre, Fresno, California, carries an implication with re- gard to theatre sales that must cause you to stop and think. You will recall that he had 5,300 kids, in two performances, on one Saturday morning. None of these children paid their way in, because the whole propo- sition was underwritten by local merchants, with a gift for every child. But think what this terrific crowd of chil- dren must have done at the concession coun- ter. Since they didn’t have to pay for their tickets, they had that much more to spend for popcorn, Pepsi-Cola, candy and such. Nor was it a free show, for they had to obtain their tickets from cooperative mer- chants— which eliminates the bad reaction, both ways, of any free admission. But it is presumable that candy sales were high, and that the theatre might easily have dou- bled its take, in the combination of spon- sorship and theatre sales. It isn't Round Table policy to print figures, i. e., the amount in dollars of busi- ness that may be reported in connection with exploitation campaigns. And it is strictly the theatre’s business, the total of theatre sales in any situation. But you may remem- ber that when Earl R. Peterson reported his phenomenal Saturday morning show at the Fox theatre in Anaheim, California, which was sponsored by the local Optimists Club, he wrote that these were “First, and particu- larly in the smaller communities, revenue producing shows, bringing in $3,000 to $5,000 additionally each year, plus another $4,000 to $5,000 in extra merchandise gross income.” You will note that in his figures, theatre sales are estimated as a slightly higher amount than admission prices. Certainly, in these days when practically every theatre in the Schine circuit has any- where from one to four sponsored shows in December, during the Christmas buying season, then concession sales in Schine the- atres must run very high. The kids are there PASSING OF MR. LEE The theatre is a ruthless business, and the men of the theatre have been ruthless competitors with each other. With the death of Lee Shubert, we witness eulogies of a man who was cordially hated in his lifetime, and from the same sources. Now, they admit their respect for the man who had done more for the theatre than any of them, because he loved the theatre. Mr. Lee was respected because he fought for an "expansion" program — he believed in more theatres and more theatre opera- tion. He said, "We like many theatres be- cause we can charge off the losses of the failing ones against the earnings of the winning ones and thus keep them all open, for the productions and the people who will benefit from the employment." The legitimate theatre on Broadway has seldom had a better season than the cur- rent one. There are more shows playing, to more money, than is usual at this time of year. One attraction, advertised to open in February, is sold out into May. The admissions tax has never had anything to do with the success or failure of the parade of shows in Broadway houses. with their dimes and nickels in their hot little hands, and they are awfully thirsty and hungry as long as they are in funds. Ar- thur Hallock, also reported in last week’s meeting, is another who packed in 1,100 children for a show sponsored by the Lions Club at the Paramount theatre, Baltimore — and he knows, because he has ten of his own, at home ! Theatre managers who are not aware of the tremendous benefits of sponsored shows in combination with theatre sales are most certainly missing a weekly event that pays dividends on dividends. And you can be sure that the merchants like it, too. (In Product Digest): TOP BANANA, BEACHHEAD, GYPSY COLT, TAZA SON OF COCHISE, ^GNET, TURN THE KEY SOFTLY, KILLERS FROM SPACE, DRAGON'S GOLD, SECRET DOCUMENT- /E IN TRIESTE red as second-class matter January 12, 1931, at the Post Office, at New York City, U. S. A., under the act of Marco l, 1S79. /V::- d weekly ' ' “ year in the shed weekly by Quigley Publishing Co., Inc., 1270 Sixth Avenue, Rockefeller Center. New York 20, N. Y. Subscripiic t deices: $i.O c Americas, $ 10.00 a year Foreign. Single copy , 25 cents. All contents copyrighted 1954 by Quigley Publishing Company, "I saw EXECUTIVE SUITE’ I GREATEST ! '// tilfj: -V\ I . A . ' ? ' V ; ilU . V> ‘ 1 ’ . ^ -Ua, . % H The kind of picture that makes you want to go out and put up posters and banners, shout from the WATCH FOR THE SEE FOR YOURSELF” TRADE SHOWS! M-G-M’s production“EXECUTIVE SUITE was screened in New York last week* Reports that something unusual was coming, were syndicated by Hollywood columnists to the nation long in advance* The industry will soon see for itself this magnificent filming of the best-seller* It is an attraction in a class of its very own* M-G-M has penetrated powerfully behind the walls of a towering skyscraper where beauty’s wiles and man’s cunning are in primitive conflict, where office wives play their secret game and the fight for power and love is reckless and daring* The book that sold hundreds of thousands of copies and is still going strong has been brought to the screen with this carefully selected cast of stars: WILLIAM HOLDEN, JUNE ALLYSON, BARBARA STANWYCK, FREDRIC MARCH, WALTER PIDGEON, SHELLEY WINTERS, PAUL DOUGLAS, LOUIS CALHERN, DEAN J AGGER AND NINA FOCH* {Also Tim Considine • Screen Play by Ernest Lehman • Based on the novel by Cameron Haivley • Directed by Robert Wise • Produced by John Houseman) M-G-M is proud of“EXECUTIVE SUITE.” It joins “KNIGHTS OF THE ROUND TABLE” and other Big attractions to glorify our 30th Anniversary Jubilee. It is good news for the entire industry. “THE COMMAND’’— GUY MADISON •JOAN WELDON -JAMES WHITMORE are selling themselves short! Seldom has the screen y/k achieved such excitement] CinemaScope of A rip-roaring story American Frontier "Grandeur spread over a wide vista! Climbs to a new pitch of excitement! \ x y *•- //— the first to be offered /■ : ' yy\'.'/,yy \ .;■ */ in CinemaScope! Should make out handsomely at the box-office. Exhibitors who do not show this Xp^in CinemaScope N.Y. WORLD-TELEGRAM- SUN MP DAILY ereophonic Sound FIRST PRODUCTION IN does special things for The Command/ The Western takes on a new and impressive aspect. Constantly exciting and sharpened to a fine edge for fuller impact by the sweeping photography! A particularly good story by a writer known to millions of readers!' FILM DAILY SCREEN PLAY Br CARL BENTON REID- HARVEY LEMBECK ■ RUSSELL HUGHES Warners7 first CinemaScope venture keeps the big-screen process still hitting the bull's-eye 100 percent! An exciting, fast moving actioner that will hold any type of audience!' HOLLYWOOD REPORTER TO PRODUCER OF 9 presented by 20th CENTURY-FOX THE FIRST MOTION PICTURE IN jLIj! MOTION PICTURE HERALD MARTIN QUIGLEY , Editor-In-Chief and Publisher Vol. 194, No. 5 MARTIN QUIGLEY, JR., Editor January 30, 1954 The “Adults Only 99 Mirage IN the wake of discussions of motion picture censor- ship and of the industry’s Production Code system interest has been rekindled in the old — and many times rejected — idea of having all films classified either “For Family” or “For Adults Only.” While at first thought such a division of motion pic- tures into two classes might seem a convenient and suit- able solution to many public relations problems, closer examination shows that it is only a dangerous mirage. Any steps taken to encourage either governmental or industry grading of product are steps on the road to chaos. Such a practice would bring economic ruin to thousands of theatres. It is true that a limited number of theatres in the larger metropolitan areas and a single theatre in many cities are able to enjoy reasonable prosperity by cater- ing exclusively to adult audiences. To a considerable degree that is what the so-called “art theatres” have been doing for years. However, the majority of theatres in the United States and also in most parts of the world must live through patronage of persons of all ages. Confining attendance for any significant number of days of the week or weeks of the year to “adults only” would soon result in great financial loss in these theatres. Apart from practical considerations of screening poten- tial patrons in order to determine their age, the basic question arises as to what constitutes an “adult.” Ob- viously the term does not include all who pay “adult” admission prices. Most theatres charge such scales to persons over twelve, yet no one is an adult at that age. An adult is a person of maturity, reasonable intelligence and common sense, and of emotional balance. Many per- sons do not reach such a state until the mid-twenties or even later in life. (Some, of course, never do.) One of the strangest of the “adults only” grading schemes proposed recently is that suggested by Dr. Hugh M. Flick, head of the New York State censor board. He would grade pictures in four categories: 1) For the whole family; 2) A little less than entirely suitable; 3) For adults only, and 4) To be shown under very restricted conditions. His second and fourth categories are vague. No two persons could be expected to agree on the mean- ing of “a little less than entirely suitable.” Also no state or political subdivision should be in the position of at- tempting to police “very restricted conditions” for ex- hibition of a film. Dr. Flick has been quoted as saying that his suggested system has been used for many years in England. That is not precisely correct. In Britain the industry main- tains the British Board of Film Censors which enjoys quasi-official status although local governing bodies may do film censoring of their own when they wish. Pictures in Britain are classified as suitable for all; for adults and children when accompanied by adults and for adults only. In practice the intermediate classification is meaning- less because enterprising children are able to persuade adult friends or strangers to buy tickets and “accom- pany” them into the theatre. No exhibitor is in a posi- tion to determine whether the accompanying adult is responsible for the child so admitted. At present the American motion picture industry has enough problems without creating another — and one of complex and questionable character — in the form of any official or industry-sponsored system of grading motion pictures as a condition of attendance. ■ ■ ■ New Allies for 3-D THOSE observers both within and outside the indus- try who have heralded the death of 3-D motion pic- tures might note that stereo films have lately been winning new and powerful friends. It has been evidenced that the many earlier reports of the demise of 3-D were greatly exaggerated. Last week a motion picture organization with a most distinguished record of continuous research to improve its product technically, the Technicolor Corporation, and the Polaroid Corporation announced an agreement by which the Technicolor dye transfer process of mak- ing color prints will be combined with the Vectograph base film made by Polaroid. Vectograph film combines on one film strip the left and right eye images required in 3-D. In London Dr. Leslie Knopp, technical adviser to the Cinematograph Exhibitors Association, recently gave an address to the Royal Society of Arts in which he extolled the merits of 3-D and its promise of being an asset to improve the entertainment quality of pictures. The motion picture in its constant struggle with com- petitive forms of recreation needs every asset it can use effectively. Already, under the most difficult circum- stances, 3-D has demonstrated that it is a potential asset. Theoretically 3-D is compatible with every screen ratio. m ■ * CJ Exhibitors and their patrons throughout the world will be hoping that the announcement of the forthcom- ing resignation of Pete Smith from MGM does not nec- essarily indicate that the famed short subjects producer will remain inactive. Fortunately, enough subjects have been completed to keep the series going for more than a year. By that time Mr. Smith should again turn his talents to making movie audiences laugh and learn. For more than a decade Pete Smith specialties have been rated by exhibitors as the top live-action shorts in the HERALD-Fame poll. — Martin Quigley, Jr. MOTION PICTURE HERALD Should Standardize To the Editor: The industry should standardize some one way of showing pictures, either one wide screen or CinemaScope. Also, the distribu- tors should bend over backward to keep every theatre open. We have two theatres. The one in the town of 2,500 (television a big factor) is closing the end of the month due to not enough business to war- rant the cost of film and no relief is in sight. It seems to me the distributor wants to close up the small town theatres. — Ex- hibitor, Lake Mills, Wis. Tell About CinemaScope To the Editor: I have just played my first CinemaScope production, “How to Marry a Millionaire.” What a pity that we did not hare some short subject to play with it which would have described CinemaScope and stereo- phonic sound in non-technical language. The movie-going public is still confused, by all the wide screen, wide vision ads which theatres not equipped with Cinema- Scope are using and many of them do not know the difference. What we need now is a good short sub- ject describing in detail, but in language every patron can understand, just how Cin- emaScope operates. Not playing up any certain product, but a short on CinemaScope and stereophonic sound. Such a short should demonstrate stereophonic sound. Such a short should go behind the scenes to show the in- stallation of a Miracle Mirror curved screen, the horn units in back of the screen, the anamorphic Lens on the camera, how the film is squeezed, then spread out on the big screen. Such a short would then convince a patron that the theatre has invested quite a sum to bring them this new medium and that there is a difference in a CinemaScope attraction and a really big screen blown-up picture. Many theatres will reserve their wide screens exclusively for CinemaScope attrac- tions as it should be, with the possible ex- ception of using a 1.66 ratio, but anything bigger than that for regular pictures will certainly take away when the theatre does book and show a genuine CinemaScope attraction. The movie-going public should certainly be shown the difference between Cinema- Scope and so-called wide screen presenta- tions.— Georgia Exhibitor. Snappy Titles To the Editor: We need snappy film titles as well as star names. Please never use the words “love, “song” or “Broadway” in the name of a picture. — Exhibitor, Ryan, Okla. More Comedy To the Editor : We could use more comedy type pictures, less sex and lighter romance. The fans enjoy pictures with some laughter, even in the more serious type pictures. — Liberty Theatre , Chick amaitga, Ga. LETTERS" FIVE YEARS OLD With this issue "Letters to The Herald" enters its sixth year. Initiated January 29, 1949, and published thereafter without a break in continuity, this department of The HERALD continues to be a sounding board for the industry in all situations throughout the world. In five years, approximately 2,000 letters have been published. Although most of these have been from exhibitors, this page also serves as a meeting ground for the production and distribution branches. The points of view differ, quite naturally, but the goal for all is the same: a bigger, healthier industry. "Letters to The Herald" reflect the immediate tempo of the times. Last year the dominant subjects were new screen techniques and the tax campaign; several years ago it was the advent of television as new and formidable competition. Always, of course, there are the worries over various trade practices whether the product is in 3-D, CinemaScope or conventional form. Always, too, there is the realization that there is nothing wrong with business that good product won't cure. No one knows what turn events will take in 1954. It may be said with some confidence, however, that "Letters to The Herald" will continue to provide exhibi- tors, and others, with a valued outlet for their views. January 30, 1954 CENSORSHIP argument has repercussions through industry Page 12 PINANSKI calls Production Code great asset, urges no "tampering" Page 12 COMPO group discusses tax reduction with Secretary Humphrey Page 16 CIRCUITS for most part frown on use of "French Line" Page 16 TERRY RAMSAYE Says — A column of com- ment on matters cinematic Page 18 ARNALL says no new subsidies abroad according to Johnston Page 18 SOUND (Stereophonic) and fury continue to beset industry Page 19 "ROBE" sound with mixer called inferior to Stereophonic Page 19 CONGRESS gets measures on trust action time and damages Page 22 MGM announces release of fifteen films in seven months Page 22 BRITISH film financing bill advanced in Parliament Page 24 GOETZ closes deal for production of films for Columbia Page 25 TODD-AO system is praised highly by Elmer Rhoden Page 25 DAVIS of Rank Organization hits U.S. gross for product Page 30 DEPRECIATION formula measure seen of aid to theatre operations Page 34 COURT rules safety film makes two in booth unnecessary Page 34 COLUMBIA purchases half interest in Canadian release outlet Page 36 NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT— Notes on indus- try personnel across country Page 37 SERVICE DEPARTMENTS Film Buyers' Rating Page 32 Hollywood Scene Page 28 Managers' Round Table Page 41 People in the News Page 30 IN PRODUCT DIGEST SECTION Showmen's Reviews Page 2165 Advance Synopses Page 2167 Short Subjects Page 2167 The Release Chart Page 2168 8 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 30, 1954 mmmmmmam MUSICIANS Wednesday won five per cent more in studio wages. The four-year con- tract extension, signed in Miami by j James C. Petrillo for the musicians, and Nicholas M. Schenck for the producers, changes no other condi- tions. Mr. Petrillo is president of i, the American Federation of Mu-' I sicians and Mr. Schenck is president of Loew’s, Inc. The studios are Columbia, MGM, Paramount, 20th- Fox, Universal-International and Warners. RKO and Republic will negotiate separately. ► The newsreel companies during I 1953 covered 300 more events than in 1952, according to a Motion Pic- ture Association of America analy- sis. Some other statistics: The cameras operated in 78 countries. Nearly one half of the new stories, 1,686, dealt with foreign matters, also a gain over 1952, and a reflec- tion of a changing public attitude. Great Britain was first as a source of overseas news ; Korea, second. Political news was less than one per cent in domestic coverage. There were 24 newsreel issues devoted to one subject. There were 112 se- quences in newsrels on public wel- fare projects. ► The Russian campaign for trade with the West is having results on the European movie front. Eitel Monaco, president of the Italian Film Industry Association, was in Moscow this week discussing ex- change of product. He said before he left Italy he had no “formulas.” He also added he hoped the Italian industry would not be maneuvered into allowing the Soviet government to choose from its product only Italian “leftist” productions. I * !► Theatre Network Television, which has been doing well lately with business organization telecasts to theatres used temporarily as sales | meeting sites — has signed the Metro- politan Opera. That organization’s opening nights in November will be piped into theatres everywhere of importance except New York City, its home town. TNT hopes to enlist 100 theatres. ► The Astor and Victoria theatres, on Broadway’s Times Square, New York City, will be centers of a huge and unique remodeling in which the owner. City Investing Company, will invest $1,000,000. Their lobbies will be redone, their marquees joined and modernized ; and above them will be a huge facade, to be the largest unbroken surface in the ter- ritory. It will be of more than 26,000 square feet, 30 feet long, and eight stories high, of frosted aluminum. And it will be available on yearly rates, for advertising. Below the buildings will be a sub-structure in- tended for an exhibtion hall. ► Loew’s is expected to ask the gov- ernment for an extension of its February 6 divestiture deadline. ► The peculiar problem of the pro- fessional, varying earnings, on the yearly basis — coupled with steady taxation, so that his gains of good years are virtually confiscated — will be studied by a special group the Motion Picture Industry Council has formed in Hollywood. The group will attempt to foster “lean years tax legislation.” It will co- operate with other groups seeking similar relief, such as The American Bar Association, and the Screen Writers and Actors guilds. ► If the customers understand the business, they’ll support it. The Pix Theatre, Black Creek, Wisconsin, believing this, has been giving its patrons an alarmingly titled little pamphlet, “The End of Movies.” It explains this means the end of movies of mass production and low budget ; and that, however, there are better pictures now. It also tells of the struggle against the Federal ad- missions tax, and the problem of television. It then adds: “If your local theatres should close, our youngsters would be forced to take to many miles of dangerous night driving in search of amusement, and risk ending in less desirable places. These hazards can be kept at a minimum if you patronize your local community theatre to help it survive these critical times.” ► There’s one man around who’s not saying that stereophonic sound isn’t for the smaller exhibitor. He’s got a 383-seat house, and he put the system in, and he calls it marvelous. The man is Trueman Rembusch, Indiana circuit owner, past presi- dent of National Allied, and an In- diana showman of some influence. The house is the Vogue, at Elwood, in that state. ► How to decide whether the “kids” are “kids”? Bob Wile, executive secretary of the Independent The- atre Owners of Ohio, relays to mem- bers a suggestion from the field. When a male “kid” smokes in the lobby, tell him if he’s old enough to smoke, he’s old enough to buy an adult ticket. The showman who uses this method says once the boy discloses his age he seems impelled to disclose ages of others in his group. ► Motion Picture Association presi- dent Eric A. Johnston is expected to leave late in February for a return visit to the Near East as the Presi- dent’s special emissary to iron out Arab-Israel relations. A Paris stop- over to take a look at the French film negotiations is likely to be made by Mr. Johnston. ► Rough sledding is ahead in Con- gress on the Administration’s re- quest to more than double the budget for the government’s over- seas motion picture program. MOTION PICTURE HERALD, published every Saturday by Quigley Publishing Company, Inc., Rockefeller Center, New York City 20. Telephone Circle 7-3100; Coble address, "Quigpubco, New York", Martin Quigley, President; Martin Quigley, Jr., Vice-President; Theo. J. Sullivan, Vice-President and Treasurer; Raymond Levy, Vice-President; Leo J. Brady, Secretary; Martin Quigley, Jr., Editor; Terry Ramsaye, Consulting Editor; James D. Ivers, News Editor; Charles S. Aaronson, Production Editor; Floyd E. Stone, Photo Editor; Ray Gallagher, Advertising Manager; Gus H. Fausel, Production Manager. Bureaus: Hollywood, William R. Weaver, editor, Yucca-Vine Building, Telephone HOIlywood 7-2145; Chicago, 120 So. LaSalle St., Urben Farley, advertising representative, Telephone, Financial 6-3074; Washington, J. A. Otten, National Press Club; London, Hope Williams &urnup, manager, Peter Burnup, editor, 4 Golden Square. Correspondents in the principal capitals of the world. Member Audit Bureau of Circulations. Other Quigley Publications: Better Theatres, published thirteen times a year as Section II of Motion Picfure Herald; Motion Picture Daily, Motion Picture and Television Almanac and Fame. MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 30, 1954 9 AWARD, from the New York Critics Circle, to Columbia's "From Here to Eternity," "best" of 1953. Kate Cameron, "Daily News" critic and Critics Circle chairman, presents it to producer Buddy Adler, as Colum- bia's executive vice-presi- dent, Jack Cohn, watches. THE SUBJECT was the Florida opening of "The Glenn Miller Story," and the princi- pals, in Wometco cir- cuit's WTJV studio, Miami, are publicist Sonny Shepherd; Wal- ter Winchell, broad- caster, and Jimmy Stewart, the film's star. INTRODUCING "Riot in Cell Block II" and pro- ducer Walter Wanger to Boston. The scene is at the Allied Artists lunch- eon for exhibitors. In ar- ray at the head table are Harry Goldstein and Ai- leen Brenon, publicity; Ben Abrams, district man- ager; George Roberts and Herman Rifkin, Rif- kin Theatres; Mr. Wang- er; Maury Goldstein, gen- eral sales manager; Terry Turner, exploitation and Linus Travers, Yankee Network. IT WAS "WELCOME HOME" for Stanley Kramer last week. The producer who left the aegis of United Art- ists for Columbia, and now has returned, was guest of UA executives at a press and industry reception. He is seen at the left, possibly talking about his next, "Not As A Stranger." Above, George Schaefer, his repre- sentative; Arnold Picker, UA foreign sales chief, and Charles Smadja, Continen- tal manager. 10 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 30, 1954 ntmmnmnnmmmm by the Herald TONY OWEN, who has completed "Duel in the Jungle," which Warners will release, told newsmen in New York last week pro- duction abroad was the independent's only recourse. Not only is joint financing avail- able, and not only is initiative and ingenu- ity heeded and supported, but costs are far less, and nothing approaches the im- pact of shooting "on the scene," he said. "Duel" was made mostly in Africa. MARKING MGM publicist Bill Ornstein's latest book, "Deep Currents": a New York press luncheon. Above, reporter Mandel Herbstman, Mr. Ornstein, MGM advertis- ing manager Silas F. Seadler, and Loew's Theatres advertising chief Ernest Emerling. IN MEXICO CITY S new Roble Theatre, Loew's International president, Arthur M. Loew, right, felicitates owner-manager Manuel Espinosa. The house has MGM op- tical track stereo sound for CinemaScope. THE SCRIPT for Warners' "His Majesty O'Keefe" is presented, at Savannah, Ga., by Alderman Dan J. Sheehan to Walter C. Hartridge, right, president of the Georgia Historical Society, and Mrs. Lilia Hawes, its secretary. The film is about a famous sea-captain. ON THE GO for "Pi- nocchio." Walt Disney artists Al Bert ino, Da ve Detiege, and Roy Wil- liams arrive in New York for their 200-town New England tour in advance of the pic- ture's opening February 17 at Keith's Memorial, Boston. by the Herald THE JOSEPH BURSTYN AWARD is given by Otis Guernsey, Jr., center, New York "Herald Tribune" critic, to Fae R. Miske, of the Burstyn organiza- tion, for "Justice Is Done," at New York ceremonies last week. With the pair are Arthur Mayer, distributor, and Kate Cameron, New York "Daily News." The award is from the Independent Mo- tion Picture Distributors Associatioan, for the best foreign language film. by the Herald AT A PRESS BRIEFING, Monday in New York, preceding the arrival of Turkish president Celal Bayar, the 20th- Fox president, Spyros Skouras, whose company is cooperating with the State Department, greets Consul General Necdet Kent, left, and Ambassador Feridun C. Erkin. MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 30, 1954 1 1 SPARKS OF CENSORSHIP FIRE SHOWER INDUSTRY PINANSKI CALLS CODE CREAT ASSET, BARS "TAMPERING" Repercussions of Court's Verdict Bring Argument Into Sharp Focus Reverberations of last week’s Supreme Court decision ' reversing state censors on “M” and “La Ronde” were felt all over the exhibitor map in the United States and faint echoes were touched off as far as Mexico and Canada. In New York last Thursday and Friday, at a meeting of censors from six states, Dr. Hugh M. Flick, director of the New York State Censor board, declared the censors were of the belief that the Supreme Court decisions have “substantiated the constitu- tionality of pre-regulation of motion pic- tures.” Appeal to Public for Support of Regulation An open bid for public support of state censorship was made by the conference. It issued a statement defining the points of agreement reached by representatives of the six states which impose pre-regulation on motion pictures. The fourth point dealt with the public and read as follows : “Since the recent decisions of the United States Supreme Court have made the public increasingly conscious of the problems of pre-regulation of motion pictures, we wel- come the interest and support of all those who concur in our objectives.” The previous three points agreed to by the conference read as follows: 1. We are agreed that the U.S. Supreme Court has upheld the constitutional rights of the States to exercise pre-regulation on motion pic- tures. 2. We feel that our basic fundamental purpose is in no way weakened by the recent decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court. 3. We affirm our determination to con- tinue to bar objectionable films in terms of our respective State laws. Would Establish Four Categories In the statement of agreement no mention was made of Dr. Flick’s stated proposal to classify films in New York as to audience categories. The suggested system which would put four different types of tags on films is expected to be proposed by Dr. Flick to the New York Board of Regents. It is understood, however, that the category system is not expected to be presented in the immediate future. The categories are “for the whole family,” “a little less than entirely suitable,” “for adults only,” and “to be shown under very restricted conditions.” In Columbus, Ohio, the Supreme Court decision was regarded by religious leaders as an encroachment on state rights which WASHINGTON: Voicing the hope that there will be no serious tampering with the Production Code, Sam Pinanski, president of the American Theatres Corporation of Boston last week informed Eric Johnston, president of Motion Picture Association of America, that in his opinion the need for the Code is greater today than at any time since its adoption by the leaders of the film industry. Mr. Pinanski told Mr. Johnston that "with both producers and exhibitors made desperate by dwindling business, tempta- tion is stronger today than ever before to sensationalize story elements and adopt other methods which the Production Code may lead to a program under which the public would be urged to support only proper films. Meanwhile Loew’s Broad theatre there was to open “M” on Thursday on an “adults only” policy. The picture previously had been banned by Ohio censors. Religious Leaders Offer Support Asserting that the Supreme Court action was a challenge to leaders of all faiths, sev- eral of the religious leaders said they would support a program designed to discourage attendance at improper pictures. Dr. William Young, executive secretary of the higher education board of the Amer- ican Lutheran Church, said that he felt the church had an obligation to stand firm on the situation. Edward M. Dawson, presi- dent of the Columbus area of the Council of Churches, said the decision “represents a grave problem which should be given serious consideration by inter-faith groups to act to offset any ill effects that undesirable movies produce.” Bishop Hazen Werner of the Methodist Church in the Ohio area stated that Ohio censorship that has served with "liberality” has been questioned by the de- cision. This, he said, is a blow to the good life that means so much to Americans. “Freedom,” he added, “does not include the tolerance which would overthrow organized life nor tolerance of deterioration of moral life for which that every freedom exists.” Herman Levy, general counsel of the Theatre Owners of America, said that in his opinion the Ohio censorship statute is now ineffective and the New York statute now restrains." He added that "to do this would be ruinous." "It is true," Mr. Pinanski continued, "that some of the regulations adopted for enforcement of the Code may have be- come obsolete or never should have been adopted in the first place. But as I un- derstand it, there is ample opportunity to change these regulations and bring them into line with current thought. I do not ob- ject to this being done. But I most sin- cerely hope there will be no serious tam- pering with the Code itself. It has been one of the great assets of our business and will continue to be if we only have brains enough to keep it." has been left tottering as a result of the U.S. Supreme Court action regarding both films. In a “case digest” of the Supreme Court decision, Mr. Levy said last week that these verdicts are an admonition to all municipal, county and state censorship groups that the Supreme Court “will not tolerate censorship” by non-definitive, vague and indefinite standards. In all fairness, he added, “those governmental agencies that are now applying such standards in the censor- ing of motion pictures, should, of their own volition, remove the laws from their books and not require further appeals to the courts by distributors, producers and exhibitors.” Sees “ Great Advance ” Toward Freedom Mr. Levy asserted that the decisions handed down by the Supreme Court do not accomplish complete freedom from censor- ship. But he contended, “it must be re- garded as a great advance toward an ulti- mate goal. “Now, more than ever before, the entire industry has a great obligation to itself to guard zealously its rights in this field and to bring to the attention of the courts of the nation all infringements on freedom of ex- pression with the objective in mind that ulti- mately the U.S. Supreme Court will accept as its decision the philosophy and conclu- sions of the ‘concurring’ opinion,” Mr. Levy said. From Washington Senator Johnson (D., Col.) said that the people must now depend upon the motion picture industry to regulate itself, since the Supreme Court has denied ( Continued, on page 16, column 1 ) 12 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 30, 1954 NEW NEW High IN ENTERTAINMENT! NEW From London to Manila CinemaScope crashes through uncharted frontiers of high adventure . . . engulfs you in drama unprecedented ... of a beautiful woman in the captive-world of a sub- marine who had to be all things to 29 muti- nous men. ..as they defied hell and high water on the most desperate mission ever filmed! BELLA DARVI VICTOR FRANCEN as Prof. Montel as Comdr. Jones as Denise as Dugboat Walker Produced by RAYMOND A. KLUNE Directed by SAMUEL FULLER 20th CENTU World Premiere Presentation Vienna to the China Coast. . . THROUGH THE ATOMIC ARCTIC! -FOX presents and Here, on CinemaScope’s scientifically created screen, in the wonder of 4-track, magnetic Stereophonic Sound is action unparalleled, emotion unrivalled, as CinemaScope rides the crest of stagger- ing realism from depth charges to the collision of submerged submarines. if CAMERON MITCHELL as “Ski” Brodski GENE EVANS as Chief Holter RICHARD LOO as Fujimori HENRY KULKY as Gunner McCrossin Screen play by JESSE L. LASKY, Jr. and SAMUEL FULLER Based on a story by DAVID HEMPSTEAD Roxy Theatre, New York • February 2nd COMPO UNIT DISCUSSES TAX STATUS WITH HUMPHREY WASHINGTON : A Council of Motion Picture Organizations’ delegation met Tues- day with Secretary of the Treasury Hum- phrey to exchange views and furnish infor- mation on the industry’s problems linked to the Federal admissions tax. Mr. Humphrey told the delegation that the first order of business is to get the tech- nical tax revision bill out of the way and the next thing on the agenda is to handle the excises automatically scheduled for reduc- ion on April 1. The president has asked that these cuts be cancelled. After that, Mr. Humphrey said, they can see what they have developed in their general study. Members of the COMPO delegation got the impression that Mr. Humphrey expected that any changes in excises other than the April 1 excises would be handled in a sepa- rate, later bill. Key members of the House Ways and Means Committee have indicated their idea would be to handle any new ex- cise cuts, including any reduction in tlie CENSORSHIP ( Continued from page 12) states the right to ban “immoral” films. He inserted in the Congressional Record a tele- gram from the Legion of Decency announc- ing the Legion’s condemnation of RKO’s “The French Line.” In Albany a bill proposing a ‘‘jury plan” for New York State, under which appeals on the banning of a picture would be tried by a jury will be introduced in the state legislature by Senator Fred Moritt, of Brooklyn, he disclosed this week. Senator Moritt’s plan would change the New York State Censorship system by pro- viding a State Supreme Court jury trial in appeals from the refusal of the Board of Regents to issue a license for a picture. The present system call for an appeal to be heard by a court of judges only. Myers Suggests “For Adults Only ” Abram F. Myers, board chairman of Allied States, expressed wonder “if the in- dustry’s opposition to official censorship isn’t complicated by its adherence to the Production Code and the decisions of the Code Authority.” In a statement from Washington, Mr. Myers said: “Now is the time for the in- dustry to consider a new classification by the PCA; namely, “For Adults Only.” In Elizabeth, N. J., the City Council passed an ordinance, advocated by several Catholic organizations, banning “indecent” motion pictures, literature and other material from the city. In Chicago the State Supreme Court took admissions tax, in the same bill in which some of the April 1 excises are extended. Mr. Humphrey indicated that he was well aware of the President’s promise in the veto of the Mason bill to grant some relief but that he himself could not make any statement until the entire excise study was finished. The industry officials promised to submit fresh information bringing the Treasury up to date on theatre closings, prices, shift of business from subsequent to first runs, and other matters. Members of the COMPO delegation were : Col. H. A. Cole, Pat McGee, Sam Pinanski, A1 Lichtman, Walter Reade, Jr., Wilbur Snaper, A1 Sindlinger, Alfred Starr, Abram F. Myers and Robert W. Coyne. The industry outlook to obtain a cut in admission tax at least to 10 per cent im- proved Wednesday when House Speaker Joseph Martin said he hoped Congress this year could cut to 10 per cent all excise taxes above that level. under advisement the appeal of the State circuit court decision vetoing the banning of “The Miracle” there. In Canada, two provinces, Alberta and British Columbia, banned the showing of Columbia’s “The Wild One,” while protest on the banning of “Martin Luther” in the province of Quebec continued to mount. Also in Quebec Premier Maurice Duplessis announced in the legislature his intention to apply censorship to TV films. In Mexico City it was announced that pictures there would be subject to increased censorship. The Ministry of Public Educa- tion informed the Picture Producers Asso- ciation that it will assign an inspector to view all pictures while in production so as to avoid anything getting into them that “could harm the culture of the people.” Report 2.5% Attendance Decline in Britain LONDON : The Board of Trade Journal reported a 2.5 per cent decline in attendance at British theatres during the quarter ended September 26, 1953, compared with the cor- responding quarter of 1952. It placed the number of paid admissions for the 1953 period at 326,722,000. The decline is slightly less than that regis'- tered for the same period imgy'evious recent years. The Journal commented that the an- nual rate of decline in attendance appeared to be slowing down, adding that, in any case, there had been considerable improvement in the position from the last quarter of 1952 through the first quarter of 1953, when ad- missions ran between five and six per cent lower than the corresponding quarter a year earlier. 3 Most Circuit Mieuds Crown On dne9 Early reports from film buyers and circuit- heads in New York and the field indicate considerable opposition to playing RKO Radio’s “French Line” without a Production Code seal. Edward L. Hyman, American Broadcast- ing-Paramount Theatres vice-president, de- clared that the organization operates in a decentralized manner so that he could not speak for all units. He said that as far as he was concerned it “would not be played unless it gets a Code seal.” He pointed out that the same decision has been made by the men in the field. Joseph R. Vogel, Loew’s, Inc., vice-presi- dent in charge of theatres, declared forth- rightly that the circuit will not play the film "unless it gets a seal.” An executive of Skouras Theatres Corpo- ration expressed the same decision. He said the circuit will “not play it unless it is re- moved from the ‘condemned’ list and is given a Code seal.” An executive of Walter Reade Theatres, Inc., pointed out that no definite decision will be made until the picture is viewed, which was to have been Friday. He pointed out, however, that the circuit had previously informed RKO that it would not play the picture without a Code seal. Wiesenthal, Bagnall Resume Production HOLLYWOOD : Olympic Productions has been reactivated as an independent organiza- tion with Sam Wiesenthal as president and production head, in association with George Bagnall. Simultaneously with this announce- ment. Mr. Wiesenthal said that he has just acquired “Bitter Sage,” a Western novel by Frank Gruber, and has scheduled it as the first to roll on the new Olympic produc- tion schedule. Elmer Baulch, Crescent Head, Dies at 50 NASHVILLE : R. Elmer Baulch, 50, presi- dent of the Crescent Amusement Company since the death of Tony Sudekum, died at a local hospital Tuesday, apparently of a self- inflicted gunshot wound. A spokesman for the family stated that Mr. Baulch had ap- peared to his friends to be depressed for some time. He was a son-in-law of Mr. Sudekum, and was associated with many local organizations. Goldenson on Polio Drive Leonard H. Goldenson, president of Ameri- can Broadcasting-Paramount Theatres, has been named chairman of the motion picture division of the 1954 Greater New York appeal in behalf of the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis. 16 ' MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 30, 1954 TV»* i* i A.rat*^ u««e °* ^ DOUBLE-THRILL A little guy with a big gun- out to cut the world down to his size! The cold-blooded hot head who brass-knuckled * his way to the top of the Underworld! WARNER BROS. RE-RELEASE JEAN HARLOW • JOAN BLONDELL • WILLIAM A. WELLMAN DOUGLAS FAIRBANKS, Jr.- MERVYN LeROY ~ovel.,W.R. BURNETT- screen ion evFRANCIS EDWARDS FARAGOH m b The Two Most Ruthless Mob Monarchs Who Ever Terror-Reigned Across the Screeh! (5 WEEKS ON BROADWAY!) RE-REIEASEO BY T erry Ramsoye A SHOWMAN WHO CROSSES BILLIONS NOW WITH January behind us we've had the year's end reflections and forecasts of this and all the other industries. One finds more unanimity of promise than of deep- set conviction that everything is just fine and that 1954 is to be the big year. Any- way it will be about as long as any. Every- body in every industry with something to sell positively vibrates with optimism, in print. In point of fact the motion picture fig- ures that we are getting indicate that the last two or three months do show upturn for a lot of box offices, with encourage- ment in varying degrees for all the new techniques, and the old ones too. Progress is being made — and better be, or else. Meanwhile as we glance across the total scene it is to be observed there is a lot of that urgency manifest in every direction wherever anybody has anything to sell to anybody. Salesmen are the evangelists of the doctrine of eternally expanding econ- omy. The pursuit of the customer's dollars, and a lot of the customers have been lay- ing-by plenty of them, all of a sudden seems to grow more intense. And the more intense the effort the more it is obvious that salesmanship of everything becomes more and more de- pendent on showmanship. As has been observed here often enough before, our screen industry so far has had to live by selling entertainment while everybody else has been giving it away, somewhat in the old medicine show technique. It becomes of special interest just now to observe the most ornately skillful mer- chandising by showmanship campaign of this ardent 1954. It is the sales-gala ap- proach of the motor car industry led off and spectacularly, overwhelmingly key- noted by General Motor’s Motorama show in New York and accompanying publicity. The big pitch consists of the gay, gaudy, glamorous, scintillation, sparkle, names, fames and foibles, vanity, keeping-up-with- the Joneses., power, speed, "mastery of the road," first-away at the light, all hav- ing little indeed to do with economic, competent transportation per mile taking the driver from where he is to where he is going. The mad procedure is sensibly practical because the customer is not. The selling is on impulse, created and encour- aged by fermenting some wishing. It is that same order of impulse that sells most things, including admissions. Business has been a while learning from showmanship, but how it has learned! That all now makes a man relatively lit- tle known to the big public, Mr. Harlow H. Curtice, president of General Motors, industry's greatest showman so far. By the showmanship of his salesmanship he has become the head of the world's greatest manufacturing corporation — with I I bil- lion in 1953 sales. He sells style and razzle- dazzle, but also some good automobiles. It is also to be recorded that he gets up in the morning, actually works all day and seems to spend no time at all selling Mr. Curtice. Mostly if the press wants words out of him it has to go get them. There is entertainment in the observa- tion that General Motors has, probably automatically, evolved what we may call an "advance trailer" technique of its own, of profound effectiveness. It is that array of lush dream cars, sometimes spoken of as experimental models or "cars of to- morrow," specimens built for ballyhoo, not for sale, to exploit and titillate to the limit the gadget interest of the customers. There is no expectation of reducing these costly fantasies to processes of production, although they may contribute a notion or prepare the way for an advertising chal- lenge for a season ahead. They pertain to that order of promotional tease in which David Selznick engaged in his interminable campaign of alleged speculation about casting the role of Scarlett O Hara in his film. Another important aspect of the dream car device is that it generates a tremen- dous supply for subjects and picture ma- terial for the press in general and the auto- mobile editors, who are commonly not too well supplied with the makings of enter- taining copy. There is just one other aspect of the publicity and merchandising policy of the motor masters. They have their troubles and problems aplenty, but they do not elect to be continuously crying out loud about them in the presence of the cus- tomers. No matter what the travails they persist in offering their merchandise in an atmosphere of success and progress. That could be an example. Subsidies to End Ahrend* A r mill Told Assurances have been received from the Motion Picture Association of America that there will be no subsidies in future film deals with foreign countries, Ellis G. Arnall, president of the Society of Independent Mo- tion Picture Producers, disclosed this week. Hitting at what he called “the unwise and ruinous” trend, Mr. Arnall said he received Mr. Johnston’s assurances in a telephone conversation before he left for Washington. French Pact Not Included The pledge, it was understood, does not encompass the new French pact, which was initiated by Mr. Johnston last summer, but which has hit snags in its details. “The gravest danger to American motion pictures in the foreign market is the growth of a pattern of subsidies,” Mr. Arnall de- clared. “If subsidies continue to be granted to the foreign motion picture industry by the U. S. industry, a chain reaction will set in which ultimately will destroy the foreign market for American pictures. There is no reason why the U. S. industry should pay tribute for the privilege of doing business abroad. The grant of subsidy is extremely unwise, troublesome, hazardous and of ques- tionable legality,” he continued. “If the industries of some countries re- ceive subsidies from us,” Mr. Arnall argued, “how can we deny others in other countries the same treatment ? I believe subsidies are contrary to the Webb-Pomerene Act. I be- lieve subsidies are contrary to the pleas of our State Department. I’m glad that the Motion Picture Export Association and SIMPP are in agreement as to the opposi- tion to subsidies at the expense of the Amer- ican industry. I am delighted to have the assurance of Eric Johnston, president of MPAA, that there will be no subsidies in- cluded in future film negotiations and ar- rangements with foreign countries and their motion picture industries,” he said. Will Fight Trend Mr. Arnall went on to say that “the so- ciety will use all the means at its command to assist in the restriction and cessation of the unwise and ruinous trend towards sub- sidies of foreign motion picture industries by the American industry as the price of doing business abroad.” In his exposition, Mr. Arnall indicated that he regarded the granting of American dollars for the establishment of an agency to promote foreign pictures in the U. S., a subsidy, and would oppose the continuation of such a policy in a new Italian agreement, talks on which are slated to begin in March. In light of the subsidy provisions in the Italian and French pacts, Mr. Arnall argued, the Germans, Japanese and Indians are talk- ing about subsidies. 18 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 30, 1954 SOUND (STEREOPHONIC) AND FURY RESET TRADE "ROBE" SOUND WITH MIXER FOUND INFERIOR TO STEREO Planning Test of Methods; Claim Installations Up; See $71,000,000 Gross The sound of CinemaScope dominated the news again this week : ,*000 SUonQ m v^erever ,boo\a score except"0'' _SV\0VJ^ R K O RADIO *«, EDGAR BUCHANAN - WALLACE FORD • RAYMOND WALBURN Directed by LLOYD BACON • Screenplay by D. D. BEAUCHAMP, WILLIAM BOWERS and RICHARD FLOURNOY- Produced by ROBERT SPARKS y FILM BUYERS RATING Film buyers of independent circuits in the U. S. rate current product on the basis of its performance in their theatres. This report covers 131 attractions, 6,286 play dates. Island in the Sky (WB) It Came from Outer Space (Univ.) Titles run alphabetically. Numerals refer to the number of en- gagements on each attraction reported. The taindation is cumula- tive. Dagger (t) denotes attractions published for the first time. Asterisk ( ) indicates attractions which are listed for the last time. EX means Excellent; A A — Above A verage; AV — Average; BA — Below Average; PR — -Poor. A. & C. Meet Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde (Univ.) Actress, The (MGM) .... [Affair in Monte Carlo (AA) . Affairs of Dobie Gillis, The (MGM) All-American (Univ.) ... All the Brothers Were Valiant (MGM) All I Desire (Univ.) Appointment in Honduras (RKO) Arrowhead (Para.) Back to God’s Country (Univ.) Band Wagon, The (MGM) Big Heat (Col.) Big Leaguer, The (MGM) Blowing Wild (WB) Blueprint for Murder, A (20th-Fox) Botany Bay (Para.) Caddy, The (Para.) Calamity Jane (WB) Charge at Feather River, The (WB) China Venture (Col.) City of Bad Men ( 20th- Fox ) Clipped Wings (AA) Conquest of Cochise (Col.) Crazylegs — All-American (Rep.) Cruel Sea, The (Univ.) Cruisin’ Down the River (Col.) Dangerous Crossing ( 20th - Fox ) Dangerous When Wet (MGM) Decameron Nights (RKO) Devil’s Canyon (RKO) *Dream Wife (MGM) East of Sumatra (Univ.) Easy to Love (MGM) Escape from Fort Bravo (MGM) Farmer Takes a Wife (20th-Fox) 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T, The (Col.) Flame of Calcutta (Col.) Flight Nurse (Rep.) Flight to Tangier (Para.) 49th Man, The (Col.) Francis Covers the Big Town (Univ.) From Here to Eternity (Col.) Gentlemen Prefer Blondes ( 20th- Fox ) Girl Next Door, The (20th-Fox) Give a Girl a Break (MGM) Glass Web, The (Univ.) Glory Brigade, The (20th-Fox) Golden Blade, The (Univ.) Great Jesse James Raid (Lippert) Great Sioux Uprising, The (Univ.) Gun Belt ( UA) Gun Fury (Col.) Half a Hero (MGM) Here Come the Girls (Para.) Hondo (WB) Houdini (Para.) How to Marry a Millionaire ( 20th- Fox ) I, the Jury (UA) Inferno (20th-Fox) EX AA AV BA PR „ 1 1 40 15 6 _ - 2 19 31 _ - _ 3 2 _ 2 10 19 2 _ 9 27 13 13 _ 14 23 7 1 - 20 29 30 5 - 3 9 5 6 - 17 40 13 - 1 9 27 7 2 4 12 36 49 22 - 17 21 10 - - - 12 24 8 8 14 24 28 5 - - 8 6 1 - 1 20 18 1 8 56 30 3 1 1 27 20 5 1 8 10 8 12 7 - 2 1 2 - - 8 51 28 4 - 8 6 1 - _ 1 8 1 1 5 - 2 4 2 2 14 1 1 - i 1 4 21 29 9 _ _ 9 1 1 5 5 44 65 17 - _ - - 4 3 - 6 16 8 9 - 10 24 55 14 _ 7 21 15 4 12 13 7 - - - 3 1 1 8 - - 21 30 28 1 17 7 1 2 1 7 5 5 2 - 1 5 7 8 - 8 3 2 - 7 40 28 1 1 - 35 29 4 - 5 45 43 13 17 1 1 1 15 30 1 1 4 - 4 3 1 1 - 1 3 1 5 - 6 17 12 9 - 5 16 15 3 - 3 6 2 - 1 5 27 38 7 2 7 21 6 - - 3 4 1 - _ 8 20 21 19 2 4 6 4 1 42 9 1 - 1 8 40 30 10 - 14 2 - - - 1 5 10 19 2 1 4 18 5 20 Jack Slade (AA) Kid from Left Field, The (20th-Fox) .. Kiss Me Kate (MGM) . Last Posse, The (Col.) Latin Lovers (MGM) Let’s Do It Again (Col.) Lili (MGM) Lion Is in the Streets, A (WB) . . Little Boy Lost (Para.) Main Street to Broadway (MGM) Man from the Alamo (Univ.) Marry Me Again (RKO) *Marshal’s Daughter, The (UA) Martin Luther (de Rochemont) Master of Ballantrae, The (WB).. Maze, The (AA) Melba ( UA) (Miss Sadie Thompson (Col.) Mission Over Korea (Col.) Mister Scoutmaster (20th-Fox) Mogambo (MGM) Moon Is Blue, The (UA) Moonlighter, The (WB) Nebraskan, The (Col.) 99 River Street (UA) Plunder of the Sun (WB) (Private Eyes (AA) Return to Paradise [UA) Ride Vaauero (MGM) Robe, The ( 20th- Fox ) Roman Holiday (Para.) Sabre Jet (UA) Sailor of the King ( 20th- Fox ) Salome (Col.) Scared Stiff (Para.) Sea Around Us, The (RKO) Sea of Lost Ships (Rep.) Second Chance (RKO) Shane (Para.) Shark River (UA) Sins of Jezebel (Lippert) *Siren of Bagdad (Col.) Sky Commando (Col.) *Slight Case of Larceny, A (MGM). . So Big [WB) So This Is Love (WB) Stalag 17 (Para.) Stand at Aoache River (Univ.) [Steel Lady, The (UA) Stranger Wore a Gun, The (Col.) . . . Sweethearts on Parade (Rep.) Sword and the Rose, The (RKO) Take the High Ground (MGM) ...... Tarzan and the She-Devil (RKO) Terror on a Train (MGM) Those Redheads from Seattle (Para.) Three Sailors and a Girl [WB) Thunder Bay [Univ.) Thunder Over the Plains (WB) Torch Song (MGM) Tumbleweed (Univ.) Valley of Headhunters (Col.) Veils of Bagdad (Univ.) Vice Sauad (UA) Vicki (20th-Fox) Walking My Baby Back Home (Univ.) War Paint (UA) War of the Worlds (Para.) White Witch Doctor [20th-Fox) Wings of the Hawk (Univ.) EX AA AV BA PR _ 31 37 48 16 2 4 15 10 6 - 2 5 2 10 _ _ 18 28 7 3 12 1 1 10 - _ 1 4 13 12 3 1 II 39 39 - 8 28 35 34 8 27 20 25 1 1 - 1 16 26 26 18 41 18 2 1 _ 2 _ 17 1 1 - 18 9 19 10 - 2 2 5 6 - 2 14 2 - 8 12 2 _ - 1 3 16 34 12 1 2 8 12 4 - - - 10 2 4 - 2 - - - 6 2 5 6 3 16 53 30 10 35 56 17 - - 38 31 19 II 4 - 1 9 9 17 3 42 27 2 52 2 2 13 16 3 8 13 61 47 2 1 8 44 13 2 3 2 9 3 35 50 2 38 20 1 32 12 13 4 16 6 6 4 6 2 3 6 35 52 33 33 6 12 5 1 3 9 2 I 3 8 2 14 1 6 16 2 15 51 II 3 13 19 27 19 43 30 13 - 4 15 15 2 21 0 8 2 4 - 4 4 3 8 18 19 20 37 27 7 2 14 18 20 1 - 1 3 2 7 1 1 10 3 2 1 1 1 4 13 45 33 10 2 7 12 1 7 17 13 27 8 9 2 2 10 5 2 - 1 9 5 1 19 15 4 1 3 15 1 1 20 6 2 _ 8 10 12 3 7 15 37 18 48 26 II 4 5 14 16 31 32 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 30. 1954 THE CRUEL S=A SMASHES ALL-TIME RECORDS IN AUSTRALIA THE J. ARTHUR RANK ORGANISATION PAYS TRIBUTE TO A FINE BRITISH PRO DUCTION BY EALING STUDIOS AND AN OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT BY THE AUSTRALIAN SHOWMEN OF CREATER UNION THEATRES LTD. STATE THEATRE, SYDNEY L FIRST RECORD-BREAKING WEEK $31,467 STATE THEATRE, SYDNEY SECOND RECORD-BREAKING WEEK $25,628 J i i 1 L $ 57,095 IN TWO WEEKS FROM SYDNEY S POPULATION OF 1,621,040 PEOPLE i "CRUEL SEA STATE SYDNEY TOOK A NET FOURTEENTHOUSAND AND TWENTY-EIGHT POUNDS FIRST WEEK ENDED LAST FRIDAY STOP THIS IS AN ALL TIME RECORD AND IS THREETHOUSAND FOURHUNDRED AND FIFTY- THREE POUNDS IN EXCESS OF ALL TIME RECORD CREATED SAME THEATRE BY FROM HERE TO ETERNITY TEN WEEKS PREVIOUSLY" NORMAN RYDGE GREATER UNION THEATRES SYDNEY 5.1.54 "SECOND WEEK CRUEL SEA AT STATE SYDNEY REACHED A NET ELEVEN THOUSAND FOUR- HUNDRED AND TWENTYFIVE POUNDS STOP ANOTHER ALL TIME RECORD FOR ANY FILM FOR ANY WEEK STOP STILL FAR AHEAD OF TOTAL FOR ANY PREVIOUS FILM" NORMAN RYDGE "HEARTIEST CONGRATULATIONS ON SUCCESS OF CRUEL SEA STATE THEATRE SYDNEY STOP SUCH RESULTS CAN ONLY BE ACHIEVED BY OUTSTANDING SHOWMANSHIP AND THEATRE OPERATION" JOHN DAVIS JARO LONDON *THE$E RECORDS FOLLOW CLOSELY ON THE WORLD RECORDS ACHIEVED RECENTLY BY THE RANK ORGANISATIONS AMERICA and LATIN-AMERICA Distribution: Universal-International 445 PARK AVENUE NEW YORK, 22 “A QUEEN IS CROWNED” AND “GENEVIEVE” CANADA Distribution: J. ARTHUR RANK FILM DISTRIBUTORS (CANADA) Ltd. 277 VICTORIA STREET TORONTO, 1 Safety Film Avoids ATeetl Of 2 in Booth BOSTON : In what could be a precedental decision for other sections of the country, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court late last week ruled that motion picture theatres using safety film need no longer have two operators on duty in the projection booth during a show. The decision was made in a suit brought by more than 200 Massachusetts theatre owners against the Commissioner of Public Safety, Otis M. Whitney. Instituting the case were Nathan Yamins, W. Leslie Bend- slev and Irving A. Isaacs, all members of the Independent Exhibitors, Inc., of New England. The theatre owners charged that the pro- visions of the law concerning the employ- ment of two operators was “arbitrary and oppressive.” Urging the retention of two operators was the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees. Judge Harold P. Williams wrote the decision which ends the suit brought by the owners and voids the regulation requiring two projectionists in every booth in the Commonwealth. Lippert, Broidy Sign Production Contract HOLLYWOOD : Robert L. Lippert and William F. Broidy have concluded an ar- rangement by which the latter will produce 12 features for the former during the year, and Mr. Broidy will handle the sales of Lippert films to television. The deal will lift the Lippert release schedule to 24 for the season. The Broidy features will be budgeted from $100,000 to $350,000 each. Brennan Named Official Censor for Ireland DUBLIN : The Irish Government has an- nounced that Dr. Martin Brennan has been appointed official censor of films. He suc- ceeds Dr. Richard Hayes, censor for 10 years who has retired on reaching the age limit. Dr. Brennan from 1938 to 1948 was the elected representative for Sligo in the Irish Dail (Parliament) and since 1932 has practised medicine in Sligo. As a young man Dr. Brennan took a leading part in the Anglo-Irish War. He is an ardent philologist and folklore research worker and since his student days at Galway University has been active in amateur dramatic move- ments. "Redbook" Makes Awards to 6 Outstanding Producers “Redbook” Magazine in its February issue has announced the winners of its 15th an- nual Silver Trophy Awards, made to the producers of outstanding pictures of 1953. In listing the winners, “Redbook” com- ments : “At a critical time in motion picture history, they have proved Hollywood’s abil- ity to rise above a challenge . . . and to excel in the doing.” Named were William Wyler, producer of Paramount's “Roman Holiday,” best comedy of the year; George Stevens, Paramount’s “Shane,” best western ; Buddy Adler, Columbia’s “From Here to Eternity,” best drama; Jack Cummings, MGM’s “Kiss Me Kate,” best musical, and a special award to Walt Disney for his “Living Desert,” and other True-Life films. Buy "Spirit of St. Louis" Leland Hayward, in association with Billy Wilder, has completed negotiations which give them motion picture rights to “The Spirit of St. Louis,” Charles Lindbergh’s story of his flight across the Atlantic. Be previa tion Formula Aid To Theatres WASHINGTON : Theatres installing new equipment or doing substantial remodeling would benefit greatly under a new deprecia- tion formula approved by the House Ways and Means Committee last week. So, too, of course, would any other in- dustry firms installing any new equipment or buying any new property or buildings. The change would permit business men to write off more of the cost of the new items in the early years. Under the change, they could write off approximately two- thirds of the cost during the first half of the asset’s life, compared with only half the cost under present law. At present, taxpayers must use the so- called straight-line method, under which they write off each year the cost of an item divided by its expected useful life. The method approved by the committee is the so-called declining balance method. It would permit taxpayers to write off each year twice the percentage available under the straight-line method, but apply this per- centage each year to the unamortized bal- ance, rather than to the original cost. The committee said taxpayers could use any other method they wanted so long as the deduction did not exceed that available under the declining-balance method. Other com- mittee decisions on depreciation were aimed at giving the taxpayers more say in estimat- ing the useful life of an item. Another committee decision would permit taxpayers to carry back for two years, in- stead of the present one year, any net operating losses. These losses are carried back to get refunds on taxes paid in previous more profitable years. This, too, could be of major help to theatre owners undergoing temporary reverses. The five-year carry- forward of present law would remain un- changed. RKO Distributing USIA Film Here WASHINGTON : RKO Radio has begun distribution of the first United States In- formation Agency motion picture to be shown in this country. The two-reel picture, “Magic Streetcar,” was produced in Germany by the agency’s Motion Picture Service. According to A. W. Smith, director of the service, it shows a detailed comparison between life in East Germany and life in West Germany, with the details pegged on a love story. USIA officials explained that they are showing the picture here because they feel that from time to time the agency should acquaint American citizens with its overseas information program. The Motion Picture Service expects to distribute more of its films in this country, although not fre- quently. M-G-M TRADE SHOW- FEB. 12th TENNESSEE CHAMP u 11 ALBANY ATLANTA BOSTON BUFFALO CHARLOTTE CHICAGO CINCINNATI CLEVELAND DALLAS DENVER DES MOINES DETROIT INDIANAPOLIS JACKSONVILLE KANSAS CITY LOS ANGELES ^MEMPHIS MILWAUKEE MINNEAPOLIS NEW HAVEN NEW ORLEANS 20th- Fox Screen Room 20th-Fox Screen Room M-G-M Screen Room 20th- Fox Screen Room 20th- Fox Screen Room Warner Screen Room 20th-Fox Screen Room 20th-Fox Screen Room 20th- Fox Screen Room Paramount Screen Room 20th-Fox Screen Room Max Blumenthal’s Sc. Rm. 20th- Fox Screen Room Florida State Screen Room 20th- Fox Screen Room United Artists’ Screen Rm. 20th- Fox Screen Room Warner Screen Room 20th- Fox Screen Room 20th- Fox Screen Room 20th- Fox Screen Room M-G-M Screen Room *NEW YORK OKLAHOMA CITY 20th- Fox Screen Room OMAHA PHILADELPHIA PITTSBURGH PORTLAND ST. LOUIS SALT LAKE CITY SAN FRANCISCO SEATTLE WASHINGTON 20th- Fox Screen Room M-G-M Screen Room M-G-M Screen Room B. F. Shearer Screen Rm. S’Renco Art Theatre 20th-Fox Screen Room 20th- Fox Screen Room Jewel Box Preview Thea. RKO Screen Room 1052 Broadway 2/12 2 P.M. 197 Walton St., N. W. 2/12 2 P.M. 46 Church Street 2/12 2 P.M. 290 Franklin Street 2/12 2 P.M. 308 S. Church Street 2/12 1 :30 P.M. 1307 S. Wabash Ave. 2/12 1:30 P.M. 1632 Central Parkway 2/12 2 P.M. 2219 Payne Avenue 2/12 1 P.M. 1803 Wood Street 2/12 2:30 P.M. 2100 Stout Street 2/12 2 P.M. 1300 High Street 2/12 1 P.M. 231 0 Cass Avenue 2/12 1:30 P.M. 236 No. Illinois St. 2/12 1 P.M. 128 East Forsyth Street 2/12 2 P.M. 1720 Wyandotte St. 2/12 1 :30 P.M. 1851 S. Westmoreland 2/12 2 P.M. 151 Vance Avenue 2/8 12 Noon 212 W. Wisconsin Ave. 2/12 1 :30 P.M. 1015 Currie Avenue 2/12 2P.M. 40 Whiting Street 2/12 2 P.M. 200 S. Liberty St. 2/12 1:30 P.M. 630 Ninth Avenue 2/11 2:30 P M. 10 North Lee Street 2/12 1 P.M. 1502 Davenport St. 2/12 1 P.M. 1233 Summer Street 2/12 2 P.M. 1623 Blvd. of Allies 2/12 2 P.M. 1947 N. W. Kearney St. 2/12 2 P.M. 3143 Olive Street 2/12 1 P.M. 216 E. First St., So. 2/12 1 P.M. 245 Hyde Street 2/12 1:30 P.M. 2318 Second Avenue 2/12 1 P.M. 932 N. Jersey Ave., N.W. 2/12 2 P.M. rs • Keenan Wynn • Dewey Martin • : Screen Play by Art Cohn *Except Memphis which is Feb. 8 — New York, Feb. 11 M-G-M presents "TENNESSEE CHAMP" starring Shelley Winters « Keenan Wynn • Dewey Martin » Sci From "The Lord In His Corner" and Other Stories by Eustace Cockrell • Photographed in Ansco Color • Prints by Technicolor Directed by Fred M. Wilcox • Produced by Sol Baer Fielding 34 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 30, 1954 FEB. 2-3-4 1954 It’s the first! NATIONAL ALLIED DRIVE-IN-THEATRE ASSOCIATION CONVENTION NEW METHODS OF OPERATION! Projection — Speaker Control — Year Round See the Best Equipment Offered the Trade ADVERTISING METHODS! Adapted to the Present Market Hear the Latest Statistics! INCREASED BOX OFFICE RECEIPTS! Added Attractions — Competitive Situation < New Combinations TRADE PRACTICES! Buying and Booking Availability — Print Problems CONCESSION MANAGEMENT ! New Items Mean More Dollars To You! COMPLETE EQUIPMENT EXHIBITION ! Concession — Playground — Screen — Kiddie Land Rides Heaters — Equipment for Increased Efficiency l/UtUte, 'Wi/ie o*. phone. yeu4 PelenvcUion NETHERLAND PLAZA HOTEL CINCINNATI 10, OHIO DEVOTED ENTIRELY TO YOUR DRIVE-IN PROBLEMS Drive* in Men Get Set for Cincinnati CINCINNATI: A wide range of industry topics is set for the National Allied Drive-in Theatre Association convention here Feb- ruary 2-4 at the Netherland Plaza Hotel. Possible insistence on stereophonic sound by some exhibitors may highlight the conven- tion, according to Rube Shor, National Al- lied director for West Virginia and general convention chairman. Mr. Shor said that heavy advance registration was an indication that drive-in operators were “fighting mad’’ over the threat of being relegated to the status of “step-children’’ because of the pos- sible shutoff of “A” product. Other problems that will face the drive-in exhibitors, Mr. Shor said, will be Cinema- Scope as it applies to outdoor theatres, price- fixing, advertising methods, insurance rates, in-car heaters and equipment in general. The stock purchase plan recommended at the Allied convention in Boston last October also will be brought up at the convention and this topic probably will be discussed at the National Allied board meeting which will follow the drive-in convention. Among the speakers will be Herbert Bar- nett, president of the Society of Motion Pic- ture and Television Engineers; Albert Sind- linger, business analyst; Marc Wolf, one of the first to install in-car heaters, and Rex Carr, film buyer for drive-ins. Processing 16mm Pathecolor Pathe Laboratories, Inc., has expanded its 16mm Pathecolor processing operation and has entered the commercial field. SEIDLITZ STEPS DOWN; ZELENKO STEPS UP Maurice Seidlifz, division manager for Loew's New York theatres, associ- ated with the company 26 years, has requested a lesser assignment in order to clear the way for the promotion of several young men. Joseph R. Vogel, Loew's vice-president in charge of theatre operations, hailed the gesture as one reflecting the spirit of con- scientious loyalty. Bernard Zelenko, manager of Loew's Valencia, Jamaica, L. I., for the past 16 years, has assumed Mr. Seidlitz' post. Other promotions announced by Eugene Picker, in charge of N. Y. theatre operations, as a result, move Edward Brunner from Loew's New Ro- chelle to Loew's Valencia. He will be succeeded by Robert Camann, man- ager of Loew's Inwood. Margie Ernst, assistant at the Paradise, takes over at the Inwood. Mrs. Anna d'Amico, Mt. Vernon, becomes assistant at the Paradise. Aid for "Dimes" Drive Is Begun by Theatres Last Friday motion picture theatres throughout the country started in aid of the 1954 March of Dimes campaign by showing the special trailer, “Look for the Silver Lining,’’ featuring MGM’s Howard Keel. The short was distributed by National Screen Service to exhibitors who assured Basil O’Connor, president of the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, of their support. To call attention to the trailer, a special half-hour radio program, “The Silver Lining” was carried coast-to-coast by NBC. LOUDSPEAKERS . . . for the best stereophonic sound! 9356 Santa Monica Boulevard Beverly Hills, California 161 Sixth Avenue, New York 13, New York "Specialists in Motion Picture Sound” ALTEC Columbia Buys Half of Canada Unit TORONTO : Purchase of 50 per cent of the stock of Columbia Pictures of Canada, Ltd., by Columbia Pictures Corporation gives the American company more direct control over the operations of its Canadian counterpart. The purchase of the stock, completed nearly two months ago, was made from Henry L. Nathanson, the Jules Laine Estate, Arthur Cohen and Paul L. Nathanson. The Allen-Rosenfeld interests still control the other 50 per cent. Negotiations for the purchase were made directly with the individuals involved by Leo Jaffe, recently elected a vice-president of the American company. It was felt that the individuals from whom the stock was purchased were not too close to the opera- tions of the company, and the American company wanted to be more closely identi- fied with the operations of the Canadian operation. The Canadian operation is the only one in the world which has a franchise from Columbia. While Columbia has eliminated all its other franchise-holders, they have continued to grant a franchise to the Cana- dian operation for over a quarter of a century. Jack Cohn, executive vice-president of the American company, and Abe Schneider replace Henry L. Nathanson and Paul L. Nathanson on the board of directors of the Canadian company. Mr. Cohn becomes vice- president and Mr. Schneider treasurer. Louis Rosenfeld continues as president. Columbia Pictures of Canada, Ltd., was incorporated in August, 1926, and absorbed Independent Films, which had followed Dominion Films as the Allens’ successor company to Famous Players-Lasky. The Allens had distributed Columbia films under state rights arrangements. To Honor Red Buttons The three national B’nai B’rith Youth Organizations will pay tribute to Red But- tons, well-known television and radio star, for his contributions to the youth groups of America at a meeting to be sponsored by Cinema Lodge of B’nai B’rith at the Hotel Astor Wednesday evening, February 3, it was announced by Burton E. Robbins, president of Cinema Lodge. Warning to Exhibitors New Orleans territory showmen are warning fellow exhibitors of two men rep- resenting themselves corporatively as United Theatre Advertising, Chicago, and by name as G. E. Galbrath and Pat Sweeney, who allegedly have misrepresented circumstances in a theatre-merchant tieup scheme, so that the merchants have been defrauded and ex- hibitors have had to reimburse them. 36 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 30, 1954 ALBANY The trend toward placement of the buy- ing rights for Albany area theatres with large service offices in New York City took another turn when John Gardner announced that Affiliated Theatres, of Boston, would purchase film for his Turnpike drive-in at Westmere this season. Gardner will handle the bookings himself. Arthur Howard heads Affiliated Theatres. Brandt Theatres buy and book for a number of houses in this section, while Liggett & Florin do likewise for another group. . . . The engagement of Jean C. Conery, daughter of Mrs. Jean Con- ery Burgess, head of Conery Theatres, Ra- vena, N. Y., and the late Mitchell Conery, to Tom Pottenburgh, Ciena College basket- ball player, has been announced. Miss Con- ery, a nurse at St. Peter’s Hospital in Al- bany, and Pottenburgh will be married this summer. . . . Variety Club’s profit for Camp Thacher from the intersectional AAU box- ing championships may reach $5,000, chief barker Jules Perlmutter stated. . . . The Strand charged $1 top for “King of the Khyber Rifles,” its second CinemaScope presentation. . . . Fabian’s Grand was among the theatres showing the revived “Quo Vadis.” ATLANTA Charlie Lester, Southern district manager, National Screen Service, is back home after a spell at hospital. . . . Mrs. B. Finch, who resigned from UA accounting department sometime ago, has returned there. . . . Her- man Silverman, Wometco Theatres, Miami, Fla., has returned there after a visit to At- lanta. . . . Gene Dyer, Monogram Southern’s Charlotte branch manager, was in for a visit at the Atlanta branch. . . . The Starlight drive-in, Canton, Miss., has a new owner: W. R. Arnold. He was formerly with Alex- ander Films. ... In for a visit were: O. C. Lam and son, Lam Amusement Co., Rome, Ga. ; Sidney Laird and L. J. Duncan, Al- Dun Amusement Co., West Point, Ga.; Ed Duncan, theatres in Georgia, and W. Welch, Dallas, Ga. . . . Back at their Atlanta head- quarters are the Katz boys, owners of the Kay Exchanges. . . . The stork passed over the home of Mrs. Betty Patterson, former secretary at Astor Pictures, Charlotte, N. C. BALTIMORE Henry Hornstein, Regent & Carver Play- house theatres, is in an oxygen tent at home after suffering a heart attack some weeks ago. . . . Leon Back, Rome Theatres execu- tive, has returned from a flying trip to Cali- fornia where he visited his mother. . . . Fred Sapperstein, Columbia office manager, is the proud father of a new baby daughter. . . . Bud Rose, UA salesman, has returned from Hartford, Conn., where he visiited his mother. . .' . Sam Tabor, Republic, has an- nounced the marriage of his son, Neil, to Rhona Brenner. Young Tabor is a lieutenant in the Army. . . . Owen Schnepf, Century assistant, has returned from Wilmington, Del., where he had been relieving Edgar Doob, manager of Loew’s Aldine there. . . . Mrs. Grace Fisher, longtime Cumberland exhibitor, died in that city last week after an illness. Mrs. Fisher had operated the Maryland and Embassy theatres for many years. . . . Jack Sidney III, son of Loew manager Jack Sidney, has enlisted in the Air Force and is now stationed at Sampson Air Force Base, Geneva, N. Y. . . . Capt. Fred Schanberger, flew in from the Azores for a surprise visit with his father, J. Lawr- ence Schanberger, Keith’s theatre. BOSTON More than 150 friends of Joe and Marion Cifre turned out for a gay farewell party for them at the rooms of the Variety Club of New England where a buffet supper was served. Joe was presented with a complete fishing tackle and rods while Marion re- ceived an imported French purse. The affair was staged as a good-bye gesture to the Cifres who are making their permanent home in Coral Gables, Florida. . . . George Kraska, foreign film importer, is fully recov- ered from his recent operation and is back at his desk on a regular schedule. . . . Maur- ice Green, officer of Middlesex Amusement Company, and Mrs. Green have left for two months’ vacation in Hollywood, Florida. WHEN AND WHERE February 2-4: National Allied Drive-in Thea- tre Association convention, Netherlands- Plaza Hotel, Cincinnati, Ohio. February 2-4: Annual meeting, Independent Theatre Owners of Ohio, Netherlands- Plaza Hotel, Cincinnati, Ohio. February 5-6: National Allied board meet- ing. Netherlands-Plaza Hotel, Cincinnati. March 9-10: A nnual convention, Allied Theatre Owners of Oklahoma, Biltmore Hotel, Oklahoma City. March 28-30: Annual convention, Allied Theatre Owners of Gulf States, Edge- water Gulf Hotel, Edgewater Park, Miss. April 6-8 : Annual convention, Allied Inde- pendent Theatre Owners of Wisconsin, Hotel Shroeder, Milwaukee. May 2-7: Semi-annual convention, Society of Motion Picture and Television Engi- neers, Statler Hotel, Washington, D. C. June 15-16: Annual spring meeting, Allied Theatre Owners of Indiana, South Shore Hotel, Lake Wawasee, Ind. . . . Mrs. Herman Rifkin staged a surprise birthday party for her husband, head of Rifkin Theatres and Allied Artists fran- chise-holder in New England, at the Hotel Statler for a few intimate friends. . . . Samuel Bomes, retired Providence exhibitor, died. His two theatres, the Hollywood, East Providence, and the Liberty, Providence, have been operated for the past few years by his sons, Edward and Milton Bomes, who survive. BUFFALO The gossip of the week along First Run Row was the outstanding business done at the Paramount with the more than 20-year- old WB re-issues, “Public Enemy” and "Little Caesar.” These two oldsters rolled up a gross for seven days that would have been gratifying for a brand new super pro- duction. . . . D’Artega, one time conductor of Shea’s Buffalo orchestra, in the days of Publix revues, conducted the Buffalo Phil- harmonic orchestra’s Pop Concert last Fri- day evening in Elmwood Music Hall. . . . I he Center theatre put on the closed circuit big screen Television show for the National Dairymen’s Assn, the other morning. . . . Equipment has been ordered for the drive-in which the Hayman circuit interests of Niag- ara Falls soon will start constructing within the city limits of the Falls. . . . Martin Moskowitz, 20th Century-Fox district man- ager, was in town the other day for con- ferences with local branch manager Charlie Kosco. . . . Morrie Cheskin, son of Dave Cheskin, WGR music director and Variety club director, is a student manager at the Dipson Amherst theatre. . . . Perkins The- atre Supply has just completed the installa- tion of stereophonic sound and an Astrolite wide screen in the Star theatre in North Tonawanda and a similar sound system and a PanoramaScope screen in the Plaza in Erie. CINCINNATI For the first time as long as can be re- called, two local suburban houses are in their fifth weeks of continuous showings, the Hyde Park Art theatre playing “Julius Caesar” and the Guild theatre showing “The Captain’s Daughter.” Downtown, Keith’s is in the fifth week of the CinemaScope show- ing of “How to Marry a Millionaire.” . . . Members of the Cincinnati Variety Club, Tent No. 3, and the newly-organized sister organization, the Ladies Auxiliary, took over the collection of the March of Dimes on the downtown streets for one day, Janu- ary 25. . . . The Sherman theatre, in Chilli- cothe, Ohio, named after Camp Sherman for which it was primarily built during the first world war, has closed and will be razed. The town has two other theatres, the Royal and Majestic. ... At Sidney, Ohio, the 1,240-seat Ohio theatre and the 390-seat Capitol theatre are being offered for sale by the Stanley-Warner Corporation, of Pitts- ( Continued on following page) MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 30, 1954 37 (Continued from preceding page) burgh, Pa. ... It is somewhat doubtful whether the 500-seat Dixie theatre, at Rus- sellville, Ky., recently destroyed by fire, will be rebuilt, according to Mrs. Arthur Mitchell, the owner. ... Nat Turberg, operator of the Palace theatre, in nearby Hamilton, Ohio, who recently was a medical patient in the Jewish Hospital, in Cincinnati, has practi- cally recovered. CHICAGO Jack Kirsch, president of Allied Theatres of Illinois, has been appointed chairman of the Amusements Division of the Boy Scout fund drive for Chicago. . . . J. R. Gregory, of the Alliance circuit, is in Florida, having temporarily postponed his trip to South America. . . . Arthur Schoenstadt, head of the Schoenstadt Circuit, entered Michael Reese hospital for surgery. . . . Lou Harris, Alliance Theatres’ maintenance chief, headed for Florida to visit with his daughter. . . . Cinema Lodge of B’Nai Brith has scheduled an Amateur Night in May. Suggestions for a name for the event will be welcomed by Nat Nathanson, who is helping to organize it. . . . At least 44 theatres in and around Chicago will be equipped for CinemaScope by the end of January. . . . Lowell Thomas, visiting in Chicago, dropped in at the Pal- ace to look over Chicago’s Cinerama installa- tion. . . . Maurice Duke, film producer, was here to confer with Ralph Stolkin, who is interested in supplying financial backing, and Johnny Desmond, in line for the lead, on plans for a film based on the life of Russ Colombo. CLEVELAND A big drop in temperature over the week- end was reflected in a box office drop gen- erally but not such as to discourage hold- overs. “Julius Caesar,” “Knights of the Round Table” and “The Living Desert” are all in their fifth week. . . . Ten deluxe first suburban houses opened Jan. 21 with “The Robe” with full stereophonic treatment in- cluding auditorium speakers. . . . Nat Wolf, who has been inactive in local show busi- ness since he resigned as Warner Ohio thea- tre zone manager, is back in business. He bought the Columbia theatre, Portsmouth, from the Stanley Warner Corp. The Laroy and Lyric in Portsmouth are retained by the SW chain. . . . Akron, which has been slowly recovering from a long movie slump, now reports that business is again on the down grade due to lay offs in the rubber industry. . . . Meyer Fine, Associated Circuit head, has been ill with a virus, but resumed his activ- ities the beginning of the week. . . . Jack Silverthorne, Variety Club chief barker, says a 15 minute film of the club’s Cerebral Palsy Foundation School, sponsored by the club, has been produced and will be available to group showing. COLUMBUS Robert Wile, executive secretary of the Independent Theatre Owners of Ohio, said that the projected one-track sound tests of “The Robe” probably will not be held. . . . The Columbus Citizen will conduct another Broadway theatre party the week of March 21 with Norman Nadel, Citizen theatre ed- itor, in charge. The party will see several legitimate attractions plus Radio City Music Hall and Cinerama. . . . Loew’s Broad will play its second CinemaScope picture, “Be- neath the 12-Mile Reef” starting February 4. RKO Palace currently is snowing its sec- ond CinemaScope picture, “King of the Khyber Rifles.” DENVER Warner Bros, have moved their exchange to the other side of Film Row, at 2062 Stout St., and being pressed for space, have con- tracted with the Denver Shipping and In- spection Bureau for the shipping and inspec- tion chores. . . . Mr. and Mrs. Fred Ander- son, Eaton, Colo., theatre owners, spent three weeks touring western states. . . . J. J. Mor- gan, former branch manager for National Theatre Supply, and Mrs. Morgan, are re- cuperating from several week’s illness. . . . Lou Astor, Columbia circuit sales manager, was in conferring with Robert Hill, branch manager, and the two made a sales trip to Albuquerque, N. M. Harold Green, Salt Lake City branch manager, was also in. . . . The Panhandle drive-in, Kimball, Neb., is being readied to open May 1. With a 250- car capacity, the drive-in is being built by the Panhandle Theatre Corp., composed of Kimball business men. . . . Roy Carlson, Metro shipper, underwent an operation at St. Anthony’s hospital, and is recovering nicely. DES MOINES Two major changes have been announced on Des Moines’ Film Row. Herbert Blass, former Minneapolis Warner salesman, has been named manager of the Des Moines Warner exchange. He replaces Leon Men- delson, who has resigned. Carl Olson, who was a salesman for Fox here, is the new manager of United Artists. He takes the place of Stan Dudelson. Dudelson goes to Detroit where he and his father, Moe, will take over the franchise for National Tele- films Associates in Michigan and northern Ohio. Dudelson will serve as sales manager. . . . The Schaller theatre at Schaller, has closed following the resignation of manager Francis Whalen. The Schaller recently changed from a six-night weekly operation to four nights a week in an effort to solve the financial problems of operation. . . . And in Independence, the Iowa also has been closed leaving just one theatre, the Malek, left in operation. No plans for the future use of the theatre have been announced by R. L. Felix, manager. . . . Curt and Elsie Bigley, owners of the Humeston at Humeston, have sold the business to Mr. and Mrs. Dave Martin of Leon. The Bigleys operated the Humeston for four years. DETROIT Big plans are afoot for the first anniver- sary showing of “This Is Cinerama” at the Music Hall. Possibilities include a visitor calavcade. . . . “The Moon Is Blue” will open in its stage form at the Shubert Feb- ruary 14. So far no date has been set for film release although it has shown at nearby Pontiac with no excitement. . . . Broadway Capitol is doing top business with “Little Caesar” and “Public Enemy.” . . . Space was made in the dailies for “The Eddie Cantor Story” with stories of the return from Hollywood of Brenda Abramson. Brenda, 14, who plays one of the five daugh- ters is finishing school at Mumford High School. . . .^United Detroit continues their policy of honoring outstanding kids in then- theatres. Latest is Russell Langlet who pulled an eight-year-old girl out of Edison Lake. Russell was honored at the Mel. HARTFORD Doug Amos, Hartford district manager, Lockwood & Gordon Theatres, will return early in February from a month’s tour of Florida and the Caribbean. . . . Bernard Menschell, partner, Community Amusement Corp., Hartford, has checked out of the Hartford Hospital, following eye surgery. Albert V. Lamo, brother of Ann Lamo, manager of the Webster theatre, Hartford, and Ben Lamo, formerly with Warner Bros. Hartford Theatres, has returned from a 14-month tour of Korea as a U. S. Army Special Service entertainer with the rank of corporal. . . . Sal Adorno, Jr., assistant general manager of the M&D Theatres, Middletown, Conn., has been named to the executive committee of the Middletown USO Campaign. The Adornos have long partici- pated in community drives in that central Connecticut city. . . . UA has booked “The Joe Louis Story” into the 1800-seat Star theatre, Community Amusement Corp. sub- sequent-run house in downtown Hartford, for its northern Connecticut premiere. At- traction is initial first-run booking for the Star. . . . Local 84, IATSE of Hartford, the Hartford Stagehands’ Union, will spon- sor a two-and-a-half-hour vaudeville revue at the 3300-seat Bushnell Memorial Audi- torium March 9, with proceeds going to the union’s welfare fund, according to business agent Rube K. Lewis. JACKSONVILLE Jack Riggs, UA salesman, returned to Neptune Beach after a week in the Lake Okeechobee area. . . . Gene Hudgins, RKO office manager, reported that the first Flor- ida bookings for the re-issue of “The Best Years of Our Lives” have been set for Miami and Miami Beach. . . . Maurice Shaaber, projection technician for Wil-Kin Theatre Supply, is back after completing the conversion of the Beacham theatre, Or- lando, to CinemaScope. . . . Film Row vis- itors included Harold D. Popel, Telco The- atres, West Palm Beach, and R. L. Bangs, Florida theatre, Daytona Beach. . . . Mark DuPree, Daytona theatre, Daytona Beach, was here to see the new refreshment stands being built for his house by Allied Fixtures. . . . Doris Posten, former Columbia cashier, has moved to the UA office. . . . Crowded bookings on “Miss Sadie Thompson” have kept Paul Hargette, Columbia branch man- ager, busy in all parts of his territory. . . . Fred Hull, Metro branch manager, and Charlie Turner, salesman, were back from Miami to greet Jack Burns, of the New York office, and Rudy Berger, of the Wash- ington office. KANSAS CITY “Knights of the Round Table” is in its fifth week at the Midland. . . . Harold Guyett, with Fox Midwest nearly 10 years, recently as manager of the circuit’s Or- pheum, has been appointed by Leon Robert- son, city district manager, to the manager- ship of the Uptown, first run, succeeding Nick Sonday. Mr. Sonday resigned to be- come general manager of theatre operations for Consolidated Agencies Inc. . . . Donald Shriven, who was with Fox Midwest before his service in the Army, and now back from Korea, has been appointed manager of the Fairway, a suburban Fox Midwest first run, succeeding Roy Hill, now manager of the circuit’s downtown Tower. . . . “Public (Continued on opposite page) 38 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 30, 1954 ( Continued from opposite page) Enemy” and ‘‘Little Caesar,” now running at the RKO Missouri, are getting favorable attention from commentators on local the- atre offering's. . . . Second run of “How to Marry a Millionaire” began at the Fox Mid- west’s Plaza January 27. It is booked for other theatres later. . . . The third Cinema- Scope picture for Kansas City will he “Be- neath the 12-mile Reef,” at Fox Midwest’s first runs in February. . . . “Julius Caesar’ is in its second week at the Kimo. LOS ANGELES Paramount booker Ernest Kirkpatrick has resigned his post to take up new duties with the Hollywood Television Co. ... In town on business was West Becker of the Cactus drive-in, Tucson. . . . Lloyd Mc- Cullough is the new office manager of the RKO office here, succeeding Frank Schin- dler, who was upped to sales manager of the San Francisco office. . . . Stanley War- ner Corp. has re-opened the closed Cali- fornia, Santa Barbara. Completely redeco- rated, the latest in wide-screen equipment has been installed in addition to a new snack bar in the lobby. New pilot for the house is managing director Warren H. Le Compte, formerly of New Jersey, where he managed theatres for the Newbury circuit. . . . Wil- liam Z. Porter, Allied Artists home office field representative, left for visits to the Chicago and other middle west exchanges. . . . The third annual Communion breakfast for members of the industry in the Los Angeles area will be held Feb. 14 at the Hollywood Palladium, following Mass con- ducted by Cardinal James F. McIntyre at the Blessed Sacrament Church. MEMPHIS “Miss Sadie Thompson,” Columbia’s 3-D film banned by censors in Memphis, was held over for a second week at Avon and Sunset drive-in at West Memphis, Ark., just across the river from Memphis. Large crowds of Memphians have driven to West Memphis to see the film. . . . Mayor Frank Tobey of Memphis has asked the citv legal department to study the U. S. Supreme Court decisions that New York and Ohio bans of two films were unconstitutional. . . . Edwin Howard, Amusements Editor of The Press-Scimitar, suggested in his column that Memphis censorship laws be rewritten now. . . . M. A. Lightman, Sr., president of Malco Theatres, Inc., spoke before Memphis Lions Club and said the only censorship of movies needed was the Production Code. . . . W. O. Taylor, owner of Uptown at Dresden, Tenn., came to Memphis and bought 3-D equipment for his theatre. . . . Memphis Variety is or- ganizing a large delegation of barkers to attend Variety International at Dallas March 22-25. . . . Howard Strange, formerly man- ager of Orpheum theatre at Fulton, Ky., has returned to' this job to succeed R. M. Oliver, who is returning to Arkansas to make his home. MILWAUKEE The board of directors of Wisconsin Al- lied held a meeting last week. President Sig Goldberg appointed the committee for their annual convention to be held April 6-8 at the Schroeder Hotel here. . . . The board screened the short subject “Courtesy Is Con- tagious,” which they recommended showing to all members of the Wisconsin Association. . . . II . Olshan, branch manager at the Columbia exchange here, has sent out in- vitations to a preview showing of “It Should Happen to You.” The preview will be Feb- ruary 9 at the Varsity theatre here. . . . Some 25 exhibitors from Wis. are planning to attend the National Drive-in convention, Feb. 2-4, at Cincinnati, Ohio. . . . The Colonial theatre suit here against eight mo- tion picture firms, being tried in Federal court in Milwaukee, has been postponed until Feb. 2. . . . The National Screen Serv- ice office here, managed by John Mednikow, is finally getting a new coat of paint. The painting was finished this week, and is soft tones of grey. MINNEAPOLIS Bill Westerman, formerly with Reid H. Ray Industries, St. Paul, has been named booker at Warners, replacing Perry Smoot who will be salesman in South Dakota and southern Minnesota. . . . Jerry Safron, for- merly of Winnipeg, Canada, has been named sales manager at Columbia replacing Bill Woods, who will handle city sales. . . . Ben Marcus, Columbia Midwest district man- ager, was in. . . . Leslie Bird, former booker at Universal, has been named assistant to Martin Stein, operator of the suburban Edina and Westgate theatres. . . . George Gould, operator of the Crystal at Glencoe, Minn., has been vacationing in the South. . . . J. A. Walsh, in charge of exchange operations for Paramount, was in. . . . Thomas Toussaint is the new assistant man- ager at the RKO Pan, Minneapolis. . . . Delores Fortier, clerk in the 20th-Fox divi- sion office, was married recently. . . . Rich- ard Cvetic, formerly of Pittsburgh, has been named manager of the Lyric, Duluth, Minn., a Minnesota Amusement house. NEW ORLEANS Dixie Theatres Corp. shuttered the Louis- iana, subsequent run theatre, Baton Rouge, La. and W. S. Taylor will shutter the Jean in Laurel, also a subsequent run theatre on February 21. . . . The Kenner Cinema, Ken- ner, La., in Jefferson Parish adjacent to New Orleans, was destroyed by an early- morning blaze on January 19. . . . Abe Berenson has been appointed exhibitor area chairman for “Brotherhood Week” cam- paign and Warner Bros, manager, Lucas Conner, the distributor area chairman. . . . Mr. & Mrs. E. W. Brundell, Blundell’s Spook and Magic Show, were Film Row callers. . . . Lippert’s general sales manager, Arthur Greenblatt, was here on a two-day visit with territory franchise owner, Harold F. Cohen, and personnel. . . . “Jubilee Trail,” which had a world premiere at the Saenger before a jam packed house, is continuing to ring up top grosses in its second week. OKLAHOMA CITY “Three Young Texans” is now showing at the Plarber and Plaza theatres. . . . “Be- neath The 12-Mile Reef” was held over thru Jan. 26 at the Vaska theatre in Lawton, Okla. . . . “The Eddie Cantor Story” opened here at the Midwest theatre January 22. . . . “Forever Female” has been held over at the Tower. . . . Oklahoma Tax Commission report for the month of November, 1953, shows 284 returns and $30,508.30 tax, as compared with 294 returns, $32,483.04 tax for November, 1952. This indicates a de- crease of 6.08 per cent. . . . Jake theatre, Shawnee, Okla., had a special Kiddies Mat- inee Jan. 16. . . . Transfer of operation of the eight Sullivan independent theatres in Wichita, Kan., to the Consolidated Agencies of Kansas City was revealed by O. F. Sulli- van, general manager. The transfer was effective January 28. OMAHA Hal Bur right, owner of the Orleans, Neb., theatre, reported his wife was getting along nicely after a thyroid operation at Clarkson Hospital in Omaha. . . . Clarence D. Frasier, exhibitor at the Joyo theatre in suburban Havelock at Lincoln, will open with Cinema- Scope February 12. . . . Starlets Perry Shee- han and Kathryn Reed were in town in front of the Omaha theatre last week with a dupli- cate of the house on wheels used in “The Long, Long Trailer.” . . . Ras Anderson replaced Dean Wattonville as head of the MGM shipping department. . . . Wide screen is being installed by Curil Schulte, Anthon, la., Star; A. G. Miller, Atkinson, Neb., Miller, and Walt Bardley, Neligh, Neb., New Moon. ... A. W. O’Connell,, until recently with United Artists as office man- ager, has rejoined Universal at Salt Lake City. He formerly was on the U-I staff at Los Angeles, Denver and Seattle, where he was branch manager. . . . Reggie Gannon, Schuyler, has become engaged to Patricia Peterson of Omaha. PHILADELPHIA Harry Dressier, Paramount salesman, has been assigned to the Harrisburg, Pa., ter- ritory. . . . Sam Sculli, Warner shipper, is now a booker at Columbia. . . . Jack O’Rear, manager of the Colonial, Harrisburg, Pa., announced the installation of a new wide- screen. . . . Tri-State Buying and Booking Service here is now handling Floyd Scheib’s Halifax drive-in. . . . Donald P. Miller pur- chased the Fabian State, which has been closed for two years, and the Boyd Circuit’s Cinema, both in Allentown, Pa., for conver- sion to commercial use. . . . John Schaeffer resigned from the sales staff of the indepen- dent Boxoffice Attractions film exchange. . . . Jack Beresin, chief barker of the Interna- tional Variety Clubs, was named a member of the Greater Philadelphia Campaign Com- mittee for the Lhiion of American Hebrew Congregations. . . . Harold Brayson, mana- ger of the Fox, in the Albert Einstein Medical Center for a slipped disk, with the same ailment confining Ben Zimmerman, manager of the Carman, to the Doctor’s Hospital. . . . Cross Keys, closed for some time, has been sold by the Stanley Co. of America to Jack Feldman for $90,000, for conversion to commercial use. . . . Dr. Harry Schad, head of the Schad Theatres, Reading, Pa., was re-elected second vice-president of the Reading Fair. PITTSBURGH Bad weather, “The Ice Follies,” and three nights of the Sadler’s Wells Ballet cut heavily into movie grosses this week, but “Paratrooper” did well enough to rate a DIRECTIONAL SIGNS and LIGHTS for Drive-Ins. Widest selection and most desirable features available. An ideal light or sign for every purpose. Inexpensive! Let us help you plan for better business. Fast service. ¥irst •American pjcLcfe .cnc. 1717 Wyandotte St., Kansas City 8, Mo. MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 30, 1954 39 ( Continued from preceding page ) holdover in the J. P. Harris. That house looks for “Hell and High Water” as its next CinemaScope feature in a few weeks. . . . Film Row is mourning the passing of Jack Goldberg, head of the local United Theater Advertising Co., who died in Pres- byterian Hospital. . . . Beverly Michaels due here soon to plug “Wicked Woman,” sched- uled for Loew’s Penn. That house finally relinquished “Knights of the Round Table” after a healthy five weeks. . . . “Give the Girl A Break” giving the Ritz its second first-run in a row. ... A “Cinerama Special” train brought 200 persons from Canton, including its Mayor, to Pittsburgh to see the feature at the Warner last Saturday. PORTLAND The worst snowstorm in 4 years and below freezing weather are cutting into box office take despite the strong product being shown. . . . MGM’s Ted Gallenter in town for a couple of days from San Francisco publicity office. . . . MG|M field man for the NW, Allan Wieder, accompanied him here. . . . Jack Braxton is starting Friday night amateur shows on the stage of his Bagdad theatre. . . . Louis Armstrong Revue is set for the Paramount theatre on a Vaudeville- film policy for a week starting Feb. 5. . . . Marty Foster has “Julius Caeser” booked for his 400-seat art theatre on a $2.40 reserved seat policy. . . . Zolly Volchock, NW Releasing Corp., in town for a couple of days. PROVIDENCE The recent sale, and announced intention of razing the Carlton theatre, apparently gives Providence the dubious distinction of being the only city in the country, with a population in excess of 250,000 and a “drawing area” of close to 500,000, to boast only four first-run houses. A decided drop from the 14 theatres Providence once sup- ported in the downtown area. . . . Heralding “His Majesty O’Keefe,” the Majestic used many teaser and spot ads throughout the run-of-paper sections in the local press. . . . “Hondo” held for a third week at the RKO Albee. . . . The Strand drew goodly houses with a double feature program which in- cluded “Prisoners of Casbah” and “Paris Model”. . . . This city took on the appearanec of a “ghost town” during the recent 2-day blizzard. Most downtown houses had sparse audiences ; but a bitter cold wave following on the heels of the snowstorm worked to the advantage of local exhibitors when hundreds of would-be shoppers and strollers sought the warmth and entertainment of the silver screen instead of “window-shopping.” SAN FRANCISCO A1 Dunn, at one time manager of the Orpheum, is now in the City and County of San Francisco Hospital. George M. Mann, president, Mann Theatre Service, is heading a committee negotiating for Dunn to enter the Will Rogers Memorial Hospital. Hulda McGinn of the California Theatres Associa- tion is chairman of the Dunn Fund Raising Campaign. . . . Juanita Flynn, secretary to Columbia sales manager, Mel Klein, is at Aft. Zion Hospital. . . . Hal Honore returned to the Sea Vue, Pacific Manor, as manager. He left there a few months ago to return to Fox West Coast Peninsula, Burlingame. . . . Charles Af. Pincus, district manager, Blum- enfeld Theatres, Stockton, has taken over supervision of the Motor Movies drive-in for the chain, replacing Joseph Huff. Dee DeWitt, former Blumenfeld manager in Pittsburgh, is managing Motor Movies, Stockton. . . . Pincus inaugurated a new Winter policy for Motor Movies — it will remain open weekends (Friday, Saturday and Sunday). . . . Golden State’s State, Hay- ward, opened full time for run of “Martin Luther.” When the picture leaves, State will return to Saturday only opening for the showing of Mexican pictures. TORONTO Yearly session of the Association of Motion Picture Producers and Laboratories of Canada will be held here Jan. 30 with S. Dean Peterson, president, in the chair. . . . First member of 1954 of the Motion Picture Theatres Association of Ontario is Leo Vaillancourt, owner of the Plaza at Chelms- ford. New Association members are the Pembroke and Copper Cliff drive-ins, oper- ated in season by Twentieth Century Thea- tres. . . . Reginald Gazeley, son of W. G. Gazeley, manager of the F. G. Spencer Company Limited theatres at Campbellton, N. B., has enlisted with the RCAF. . . . Nicholas DeCoste, operator of the Maple drive-in theatre, in N. S., was fined five dollars and costs for operating on Sunday. . . . Annual meeting of the IATSE, Local 400, in St. John, N. B., elected Louis J. McCourt as president. He succeeds Charles W. Chase. . . . Ottawa theatre managers have had discussions with local newspapers regarding more favorable treatment. VANCOUVER Last year’s slate of officers of the Cana- dian Picture Pioneers (B. C.) branch were all re-elected. They are: Bill Myers, presi- dent; Jack Zaitzow, vice-president, and Steve Rolston, secretary-treasurer. Member- ship chairman is Jack Droy. . . . Purnell and Sons, who operate six theatres, mostly in Crows Nest Pass, District of Alberta, have added three more houses to the circuit. . . . Harry Pearson, stage manager at the Orpheum for 23 years, and president of Local 118 stage hands union for 30 years, and well-known for his efforts in the labor movement, died suddenly in his 75th year. He was a member of (B. C.) Canadian Picture Pioneers, and retired from show business a year ago. . . . Because of differ- ences between the two families who own National Drive-In Theatres Ltd., their in- terests have been equally divided. It built and operated the 700-car Cascades drive-in near Burnaby. . . . Old time exhibitor Frank Bailey, who opened the Lux in Regina, Sask., back in 1908, died in his 83rd year. His son operates the moving picture house at Humboldt, Sask. WASHINGTON The Branch drive-in has installed the latest in 3-D equipment. . . . The Metropoli- tan and Ambassador theatres brought back a double bill “Public Enemy” and “Little Caesar.”. . . . On January 30th, in the East Room of the Mayflower Hotel, the Variety Club will have its traditional “Thank You” luncheon for the ladies who worked on the annual Welfare Awards Drive. Present will be members of the Board of Governors. . . . KB’s Apex and Langley theatres are in- stalling CinemaScope equipment. . . . Rich- ard Carlson was in town on the 29th at the Women’s Forum on National Security meeting. . . . Claude Ringer was installed as president of Local B-13, Shipping Room Union, for his sixth term. Endico+t Buys Two The Endicott Circuit, operating theatres in Brooklyn and Long Island, in the New York area, has acquired leases from Ray- mond Theatres covering the Circle theatre, at Parkchester, in the Bronx, and the Globe, on Pelham Parkway South, also the Bronx. Mil! MARCH 22*23*24*25 1954 40 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 30, 1954 An International Association of Motion Picture Showmen — Walter Brooks , Director Junfor Hnifkts ^ @cutt4 7a(tle 'Itykt foelinquencif FRONT page news in Sunday’s New York Herald Tribune is the story of the organization of the “Junior Knights of the Round Table” to fight juvenile delin- quency, announced at a first meeting for distinguished guests at the West Side Y. M. C. A. in New York City. Among those attending were Mrs. Robert F. Wag- ner, wife of the Mayor of New York, with her two boys, Robert, ten, and Duncan, six. And Jackie Robinson, of the Brooklyn Dodgers, with his son, Jack, age seven. Any school boy under fourteen can become a member of the club upon application, if his nomination is properly approved by Knights in good standing, in any club chap- ter. The parent organization, sponsored by the national Y. M. C. A. boys’ clubs, is designed to create fresh interest in the pre- cepts and ideals of King Arthur and his Knights, to combat incipient juvenile delin- quency, and carry out projects of special aid. The knighting ceremony is complete with sword and buckler, and each young knight swears an oath of allegiance to the principles of good conduct, to hold himself true to the fellowship of Knights, in keeping with the Arthurian period in romantic history. All these things does he swear on the hilt of the good sword Excalibur, which defeats evil, protects the good, keeps the peace and fights for honor. We could ask for nothing more in keeping with the urgent necessity and sincere pur- poses of our own Round Table, and we hope that 5,786 members of this international association of motion picture showmen will take steps to organize their local chapters. It has been fifty years since we read avidly of King Arthur’s Knights and played dili- gently at these devices, back home in Penn- sylvania. We thank Sir Emery Austin for sending us a new book of the old tales, so long in memory. There is no question, much could be accomplished from this good beginning-. Boys of this age will embrace and grow up with an idea so thrilling, so idealistic, so honorable, that it will help our problems of A PLEA FOR CANADA For some time, we've been worried over the fact that so many of our good adver- tising accessories, available to exhibitors in the United States, are not provided on any similar basis in Canada, where there are so many good showmen. Time and time again, we note things listed in pressbooks that are marked "Not available in Canada" — and we wonder if there isn't anything that can be done about it. For instance, the excellent "economy mat" selling at 35c for small situations, which we so often praise under Selling Ap- proach— is not be be had, north of the border. They tell us that trailers are sold at a fixed price here, but for several times our price, when they reach the Dominion. Even pressbooks, given away freely in this country, are sometimes fifty cents each in Canada, if we are to believe the stories we hear. It's incredible — with so many good showmen, so hard at work, making business good by their own efforts. Why not a National Screen Service of Canada, Ltd., with proper affiliations to obtain materials and to permit entry of these business-building aids, duty-free, into Canada, for the substantial benefit that wi II follow? Who will sit down in a meeting, to create a new organization with National Screen and Canadian partners in a neces- sary enterprise? juvenile delinquency. The old-time western hero is fading, the new-type space-hero seems incredible, but the old-fashioned chivalry and bravery of King Arthur's Knights on the field of valour can make new history in motion picture theatres. Some smart merchandiser will hurry in with the accessories to match, for there is much equipment needed for the young Knights Errant. A cowboy star accounts for as much as $22,000,000 a year in accessory sales of his trademarked goods at retail. SJ ANOTHER item of news of interest to Round Table members is contained in the New York papers over the weekend. It tells of a “Mothers’ March on Polio” — and it launches a drive for the March of Dimes, not in motion picture theatres. But why not? Is it because the March of Dimes is losing its strong support from film industry ? Does it mean that this old story has grown monotonous, to many in this business? We jump to that conclusion because this excellent promotion, sponsored by Boy and Girl Scouts, is dedicated to Mother — and her fight to prevent polio. What could be more completely in line with our obligations in every community? Who is more vitally im- portant to our future than Mother, who leads the family group as regular movie- goers ? Perhaps we are unduly alarmed, but we think that we sense a diminishing interest in the March of Dimes in theatres, and that is where it should remain strong. Don’t let down, in the current drive. Gfl SUBSTANCE of all argument, for or against legal censorship, is contained in one small paragraph in last week’s Herald. It told of the surplus turned into the state treasury by the Maryland State Board of Film Censors, who had revenue amounting to $551,303 as their accrued income from censorship fees in 1953. There isn’t a State Board of Censors anywhere in these United States that is as interested in morals as they are in money. Take the profit out of censor- ship, and the legal censors will silently dis- appear into the limbo of forgotten things. Maryland, or any other State government, will relinquish a half million dollars in revenue, if there is a fighting chance to keep that income flowing into the treasury. In Maryland 2,172 films were reviewed, and deletions were ordered in fifty, a total cost of over $10,000 per subject so censored. Some day, we may discover that the Produc- tion Code shows a greater profit than the urgency of maintaining legal censorship before or after the fact. — Walter Brooks MANAGERS' ROUND TABLE SECTION, JANUARY 30, 1954 41 "Jubilee Trail9 in New Orleans Hollywood stars, civic dignitaries, company and theatre executives, paraded down Canal Street in New Orleans, designated as "Jubilee Trail" by Mayor de Lesseps Mor- rison, for the grand premiere of Republic's new picture at the Saenger theatre. Buddy Baer, the "handsome brute" of "The Jubilee Trail" is besieged by autograph seekers, standing in the rain for a glimpse of the Hollywood celebrities, as the parade reaches the Saenger theatre. At left, author Gwen Bristow autographs copies of her best-seller, at the Maison Blanche store. Hon. de Lesseps S. Morrison, Mayor of New Orleans, presents an antique silver trophy to Herbert J. Yates, president of Republic pictures, to commemorate the world premiere. At left, Joan Leslie and Com- missioner Douffer, change the name of Canal Street. John J. Corbett, manager of the Glove theatre, Gloversville, N. Y., throws the switch that starts Cine- maS cope as an audience attraction at Schine's home theatre, with Don- ald Schine, at far right. Harry Wiener, manager of Schine's theatre in Oswego, N. Y., obtained 16 pressbooks on "How to Marry a Millionaire" and had his staff contributing to the complete campaign, as a new technique. 42 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 30, 1954 SHOWMEN IN ACTION Max Cooper Wins Over His Public Max A. Cooper, manager of Skouras’ Cove theatre, Glen Cove, L. I., has been a frequent prize-winner in various contests of showmanship. We are glad to review the excellent campaign with which be became top winner in the Quigley Awards quarterly competition last Friday, because it was based almost entirely on public relations, and our judges proclaimed it the best community job they had seen. This was an exhibit of what he does regularly over the entire year, but was lim- ited to what actually had been done in the last weeks of the recent quarter. He had a blood bank, and it attracted plently of newspaper notice, with news pictures of neighborhood folks, as promotion for “Sabre Jet.” The Mayor and other civic leaders took part, and the military services were alerted to the occasion. He had a lobby stunt and a campaign for Greek Quake relief, with the cooperation of local organ- izations, and a cooperative opening of two supermarkets, for “Kiss Me Kate” — with no neglect of either premiere. He held a costume contest for Hallowe’en with the sponsorship of the Hobby Shop, and the ladies of the Glen Cove Film Committee. The “Little League Champions” came in for their turn, and there were food give- aways, with local merchants cooperating. The Boy and Girl Scouts showed the public “how to kick in” for the polio drive, and 500 kids enjoyed an outdoor contest with the Lions Club as a sponsor. The local alumni of the prison camps took part in his program for “Stalag 17” and the Clothes for Korea Committee met at Neighborhood House, and conducted their campaign at the theatre. Youngsters contributed 12,650 pounds of clothing for Korea as a result of this organized effort. A free show at the Cove was “paid for” in clothing. There were art exhibits at holiday time, and blondes, brunettes and redheads participated in bathing beauty contests for sponsored prizes, as part of his schedule through the latter part of 1953. Football teams had their day to see “The Rose Bowl Story,” and “The Quiet Man” was shown as a church benefit. A photography tieup was known as a “This Is I” contest — if you find yourself in the newspaper picture, bring it to the theatre and say, “This Is I” — and get in free. Youngsters loved to be so grammatical, for tickets. Local girls vied to match Silvia Mangano's measurements in “Anna” and neighbors were asked to join record con- tests for guest tickets given by local shops to advertise current attractions. An “ad quiz” for “Botany Bay” was different, and Glen Cove’s “Mother of the Year” was saluted. All in all, we’ve seldom seen so many ideas for public relations carried through so successfully, in one theatre. Larry Graburn is happily installed at the Columbia studio in Hollywood, as assistant to Paul Lazarus, Jr., handling the source material for Columbia advertising from the cameras to the screen. Larry had a trans- continental job, as advertising and publicity director for Odeon Theatres, Ltd., across Canada, and we think he is well placed in his new capacity, on this side of the border. ▼ Judge of Probate Joseph A. Adorno, son of Sal Adorno, Sr., of M. & D. Theatres, Middletown, Conn., is serving as chairman of the Middlesex County March of Dimes campaign, to top last year’s figures. T Murray Spector, manager of Skouras’ Plaza theatre, Englewood, N. J., promoted a terrific tieup with the 165th Armored Field Artillery Battalion, New Jersey National Guard, as exploitation for “Take the High Ground,” which resulted in news pictures in the Press-Journal. T Dan Krendel asks a pertinent question in his Ballyhoo bulletin from Famous Play- ers-Canadian’s Ontario “B” district. He says, “How late does your box office remain open ... or perhaps one should ask, how early does it close ?” It seems that some cashiers are in an awful hurry to get home. T Lou Cohen, manager of Loew’s Poli the- atre, Hartford, had a formal letter from the Board of Education, addressed to Senior High School Principals, attached to exhibits of material on “Knights of the Round Table” for English teachers and study groups. T Mel Jolley, manager of the Century the- atre, Hamilton, Ontario, has a tieup every year with the local Shrine, in a “Toys for Tots” campaign and it always results in lots of toys for under-privileged children, lots of business at the box office and lots of good will and good public relations for his theatre. The I.F.E. advertising campaign on “The Golden Coach” which opened January 21st at the Normandie theatre, with a two-a-day, reserved-seat policy, was kicked off by a half-page advertisement in the New York Times, two weeks before play-dates. The picture will not be shown elsewhere in New York this season. T Ray McNamara, manager of the Allyn theatre, Hartford, had Joan Fontaine in town for the opening of “The Bigamist” — with police escorts, screaming sirens, synco- pated ballyhoo ! ▼ T. Murray Lynch, manager of the Para- mount theatre, Moncton, N. B., is another who can find two colors on the press at the Moncton Transcript, and we’d like to see him experiment with two-color mats in placing co-op pages with local advertisers. V Bill Raulerson, manager of the Royal theatre, Blackshear, Ga., gives free tickets to the first 15 Plymouths, the first 15 Fords, etc., arriving on “Car Nights” — says it helps the snack bar. V Jim Darby, manager of the Paramount theatre, New Haven, had plenty of news- paper breaks for his opening of “Below the Twelve Mile Reef” as a new attraction in CinemaScope. ▼ Olga Sharabura, only woman manager in the Famous Player s-Canadian circuit, had a clever contest idea, to name “phobias” — as promotion for the juggler. Who would have thought that “Triskaidekaphobia” was “fear of Friday the 13th?” T Bernard Menschell, John Calvocoressci and Norman Maurello, of the Community Amusement Co., Hartford, gave the north Connecticut premiere of “The Joe Louis Story” some special treatment at the Star theatre, Hartford, with appropriate news- paper breaks. Don Hartman, Paramount executive producer, and R. J. O'Donnell, Interstate Theatres head (rear, center!, preside at a luncheon to set the world premiere of "Red Garters" at the Dallas Paramount and State theatres. Others pictured are Interstate's Frank Starz, William O'Donnell, J. H. Elder, Torrence Hudgins, Raymond Willy, Jim Skinner, Francis Barr, Al Lever, Conrad Brady, George Watson, Jack Chalman, Frank Weatherford, Dan Gould, Bill Farnsworth, C. H. Stewart, Bill Heilman, Dave Yates, Shorty Moss, Wally Akin, Truman Riley, Jim Neinast, Jack King, Fred Palmer, Lew Bray, and Paul Hudgins. MANAGERS’ ROUND TABLE SECTION, JANUARY 30, 1954 43 HEW YORK AND KANSAS TO SHARE QUARTERLY HONORS Good judges, in this quarter, complimented us for a good display of showmanship, and left us with a clean-cut decision in favor of two contenders whom they nominated for top honors. Max Cooper, manager of the Skouras Cove theatre, Glen Cove, L. I., won their highest praise for his fine exhibit of worth-while public relations in a New York suburb, and Willis Shaffer was equally a winner with his campaign on “The Thief of Venice”, which had extraordinary support by local merchants, at the Fox theatre, Hutchinson, Kansas. We are glad to honor both, for long sustained showmanship, and the applause of Round Table members for their contribution to these meetings. The runners-up presented a problem, as is so frequently the case, for they were so very close, and it was hard to decide after the first two, who stood next in line. Charley Doctor, of the Capitol theatre, Vancouver, is more than alphabetical as the third choice of these competent judges. Following, in the usual order, were the seven Scroll of Honor winners, and they were breathing down each other’s necks with the approval of those who viewed their campaigns. We can do no more than to cite them separately, as follows : Charles Doctor, Capitol theatre, Vancou- ver, B. C., Canada. Gerry Germain, Palace theatre, James- town, N. Y. W. T. Hastings, Orpheum theatre, Denver, Colorado. Al Jenkins, Vogue theatre, Vancouver, B. C., Canada. Ralph Lanterman, Community theatre, Mor- ristown, N. J. Jacques Martin, Mercier theatre, Montreal, Que., Canada. Victor Nowe, Hyland theatre, Toronto, Ont., Canada. We were honored in this quarter with a wonderful exhibit of campaigns from Odeon theatres, across Canada, and the judges were impressed with the fine showmanship dis- played, and the coordinated effort that was made with one fine picture, “A Queen Is Crowned.” There was also a group of cam- paigns from New York circuit theatres, beyond the usual in both quantity and qual- ity, and we are glad to see this increase of energy and enthusiasm. Overseas, the winner was Douglas Ewin, manager of the Savoy cinema, Stourbridge, England, who has already been designated by D. J. Goodlatte, managing director of the Associated British Cinemas, Ltd., as the “champion manager of his circuit.” Doug Ewin is well known, as a Round Table member and a Quigley Award contender, and we look forward to his early visit to New York, on the trip which he won in England as his award, over there. Seldom have we had judges with qualifications superior to these showmen and exec- utives who selected the quarterly award winners. They have seen many campaigns, over the years — and we were glad when they said that showmanship was improving. Left to right: Harry McWilliams, past president of AMPA now with Screen Gems; Harry Green- man, managing director of the Capitol theatre on Broadway, and Melvin C. Gold, adver- tising and publicity director for National Screen Service, in the New York home office. 4th Quarter Citation Winners JOHN BALMER Strand Plainfield, N. J. AGATHA BERINGER Roosevelt Flushing, N. Y. H. G. BOESEL Palace, Milwaukee, Wis. JOSEPH BOYLE Poli, Norwich, Conn. JACK BRIDGES Victory, Timmins, Can. ELLIOTT BROWN Odeon, Victoria, Can. JOHN F. BURKE Fox, Brooklyn, N. Y. JOSE CHENNAUX Columbia Pictures Brussels, Belgium JIM CHALMERS Odeon, Ottawa, Can. G. C. DILLEY Ritz, Edgware, Eng. HARRY DUNK Odeon, Kingston, Can. JOHN ENDRES Calderone Hempstead, N. Y. AL FORD Odeon, London, Can. H. E. GEORGE Plaza, Dundee, Scot. ADAM G. GOELZ Lido Michigan City, Ind. DIANE GORDON Fulton Jersey City, N. J. ART GRABURN Plaza, Vancouver, Can. BOB HYNES Mayfair Asbury Park, N. J. WALTER KESSLER Ohio Columbus, Ohio JULES KOENIG Midway Forest Hills, N. Y. JOHN E. LAKE Savoy, Luton, Eng. E. C. LAMOUREX Palace, Windsor, Can. NICKY LANGSTON Odeon, Brantford, Can. A. LOEWENTHAL David Marcus New York, N. Y. T. MURRAY LYNCH Paramount Moncton, Can. LEN MC GUIRE Odeon Port Arthur, Can. ROY MCLEOD Hastings Vancouver, Can. TONY MASELLA Palace Meriden, Conn. TOM MUCHMORE Canoga Canoga Pk., Cal. PEARCE PARKHURST Drive-In Lansing, Mich. GEORGE PETERS Loew's, Richmond, Va. OSWALDO ROCHA Plaza Rio de Janeiro, Brazil MORRIS ROSENTHAL Poli, New Haven, Conn. GENE SANTARAMO State Jersey City, N. J. G. SAVOIE Victoria Ossining, N. Y. F. B. SCHLAX Kenosha, Kenosha, Wis. IRVING SCHMETZ Forest Hills Forest Hills, N. Y. JERRY SCHUR Pelham New York, N. Y. IRVING SCHWARTZ Interboro New York, N. Y. HAROLD SHAMPAN Odeon, London, Eng. AL SMITH Capitol Hamilton, Can. ROBERT SOKOL Broad, Columbus, Ohio JOE SOMMERS Kingston Kingston, N. Y. MURRAY SPECTOR Teaneck, Teaneck, N. J. TRACY STAMATIS Bayside, Bayside, N. Y. A. H. STODEL African Cons. Theatres Johannesburg, S. Africa MRS. A. THOMPSON Park, Vancouver, Can. EVAN THOMPSON Fox, Hackensack, N. J. 44 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 30, 1954 "The Hollywood Premiere" (And How It Grew!) Seymour Morris points with pride, as he should, and we join him, in praise for Mel Gaitskill, manager of Schine’s Paris theatre, Paris, Kentucky, for his phenomenal “Hollywood Premieres” — which he has dem- onstrated enough times to make almost any manager sit up and take notice. The latest one, for the benefit of the music de- partment of Paris High School, met with wonderful success, and even brought Mel nice letters from the school superintendent and civic leaders as to how much they appreciated the feature. We’ve described it before, and it’s really simple. The young folks impersonate the Hollywood stars they think they almost resemble, and the rest of the program goes through as if the stars had just flown in, by American Airlines, or something. 1500 tickets were sold in ad- vance to a capacity audience, and no wonder, for even “Marilyn Monroe” was there, only this time — she was a boy ! Almost con- vincing, too. The rest of the group of 25 “stars” were well taken off in serious style, but with wild acclaim, and to get news pic- tures and stories in the local papers. "Coffee And" at 6 A.M. Sneak Breakfast Preview Dick Newton, manager of the Paramount theatre, Portland, Oregon, served free coffee and doughnuts at six o’clock in the morning as an inducement to business and profes- sional women, who got up that early to get their breakfast at the theatre, and see a sneak preview of Paramount’s “Forever Female” with lots of time to get to work. The picture didn’t really start until eight, but breakfast and gab session took up an hour in advance. Drama editors, who prob- ably stayed up for it, liked the idea, and reported that a good time was had by all. More than 100 showed for early breakfast, in spite of freezing temperatures and six inches of snow. Every gal enjoyed her breakfast and the picture. This Takes 40 Cakes Jack Mitchell, manager of Schine’s the- atre in Auburn, N. Y., has sold a local bak- ery on the idea of starting a Birthday Club at the theatre, and he’s really got himself a deal. The baker will assume the entire cost of the Club for a full year ! Every child registered gets a birthday cake, on the near- est Saturday morning date, and a free ticket to the kiddie’s matinee. 1900 are registered, so that means 30 or 40 cakes every week. British Bound Table bTI R. W. G. Bennett, assistant manager •1 of the Corona theatre, Great Crosby, Liverpool used blow-ups of the three stars in 'Abbott & Costello Go to Mars” to good ad- vantage. Pasting them on a large board, he displayed them in many different places the week before playdate. . . . C. F. Brodie, who manages the Regal cinema, Barrow-in-Furness, obtained valuable publicity from the largest local dance hall for ‘‘Everything I Have is Yours,” with colored posters placed on each of the music stands. . . . G. Chadwick, manager of the Playhouse, Colchester, used a fake news- paper man who toured the town with head- lined bills reading, “The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms Escapes.” He also used a tape re- cording of the “Beast’s” roar which had the people interested. . . . H. Clayton-Nutt, who manages the Broadway cinema in Eccles, built up interest in “The Captain’s Paradise” in ad- vance with a spread across two local news- papers and 6,000 throwaways. During playdate, a top of the newspaper page spread was used as a reminder that only three days remained to see the film — and this really did the trick ! . . . R. J. Crabb, manager of the Lyric, Well- ingborough, sends us photos of “Roman Gladia- tors” distributing heralds for “Quo Vadis” and of his Christmas gift distribution to Old Age Pensioners. . . . For “Young Bess,” Assistant Manager W. S. Crossan of the Regal cinema, Kilmarnock, Scotland, arranged with one of the largest stores in town for a large window dis- play which depicted both the first Elizabethan era and the present Elizabethan era. . . . John W. Ellis, manager of the Odeon theatre, Ches- ter, had the full cooperation of the local Vespa dealers for “Roman Holiday,” in which this little vehicle played so large a part. Fleets of Vespas toured the streets carrying theatre credit cards. . . . For “Take Me to Town,” J. B. Fenner, manager of Queen’s Hall, New- castle, promoted a contest to find the loveliest local redhead, with a night on the town for two as the top prize. . . . P1. H. Gaston, assis- tant manager of the Savoy, Sale, sent personal letters of congratulation to each of the chil- dren who were winners in the painting contest for “Master of Ballantrae.” Desmond McKay, manager of the Play- «■ house, Galashiels, Scotland, accepted the challenge of the local newspaper editor to write something original and exclusive on “War of the Worlds” and gained 20 inches with his first editorial. . . . Also from Scotland, we have C. G. Man hire’s report of record business on “The Desert Song” at his Savoy theatre in Edinburgh. Sheet music from the film was dis- played in radio and music shops and a thousand throwaways distributed. . . . G. R. Mapes, as- sistant manager of the Savoy, Stourbridge, proud of being the only Stourbridge cinema with a write-up in the entertainment column of the local newspaper on “Captain’s Paradise” and “Three’s Company.”. . . S. V. Murdoch, manager of the Gaumont theatre, Liverpool, placed a book in his lobby for names and ad- dresses of those desiring to see “White Witch Doctor.” A week before playdate, these 600 people were notified by letter that the film had been booked at their request. . . . And D. Moore, assistant to Mr. Murdoch, tells about a story telling contest held at a local dance hall, in fifteen minute breaks between dances, with a plug for "Hans Christian Andersen.” . _. . Sydney L. Sale, manager of the Granada cinema, Dover, contacted every school in Dover and the surrounding area, resulting in groups of 50 to 500 attending his showing of “Con- quest of Everest” and good press notices. . . . N. Scott-Buccleucti, manager of the Regent cinema, Norwich, arranged with the Chief Fire Officer to have the Fire Brigade van tour the city for ten days in advance of playdate with fire poster of “Quo Vadis.” He also contacted schools and heads of religious organizations. . . . Harold Shampan, who manages the Odeon theatre in Woolwich, London, sends several good campaigns and we regret space does not permit our reviewing all of them here. His photos of a town crier and man in King Henry outfit with parchment-like ad for “The Sword and the Rose” are proof of his good showmanship. . . . John L. Smith, manager of the Palace cinema, Arbroath, Scotland, ar- ranged with a local dance hall for a crooning contest. Tunes from “She’s Back on Broad- way” were sung by the 50 entrants. ■T John Walter Gerard, who manages the •J Tasma and Memorial theatres in Coffs Harbour, N. S. W., Australia, sends details of his campaign on “A Queen Is Crowned” which won first prize in the Australian section of the J. Arthur Rank Showmanship competition for this film — a fine example of all-out exploitation. . . . L. F. Holman, who manages the Ritz cinema in Hereford, used window displays, over-printed bags and a newspaper contest to good advantage for “Moulin Rouge”. . . . D. Hughes, manager of the Regal cinema, Chel- tenham, promoted 3-D children’s books from the publisher for “Fort Ti” and had the play- date officially announced in the panel of events at the Town Hall. . . . W. R. Jenkins, who is assistant manager at the Gainsborough cinema in Liverpool credits exploitation for brisk busi- ness on “The Story of Three Loves.” Em- phasis was put on the dancing sequence and a tieup arranged with the local school of dancing. . . . John E. Lake, manager of the Savoy cinema, Luton, used “All the Brothers Were Valiant” for his special New Year’s eve midnight show which had been advertised with 3,000 throwaways. . . . H. Laybourne, manager of the Odeon theatre, Southsea, promoted an effective window display of “The Caddy” in a local sports store who also provided most of the equipment used in his lobby display de- picting a golf scene, grass matting and all ! . . . For “Let’s Do It Again,” John Longbot- tom, manager of the Odeon theatre, Middles- brough, promoted a waltz contest with a local dance hall and sends photos of the actual competition. £T R. A. Squires, manager of the Odeon «■ theatre, Bilston, used a street parade to start his Christmas activities and had the co- operation of the largest local store, police, Scouts, etc., with a collection along the way for the old people’s Christmas fund. . . . J. W. Turner, manager of the Savoy cinema, Sale, had newsboys display posters for the “The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms” as they made their delivery rounds and also used throwaways. . . . Miss Lily Watt, who manages the Odeon theatre in Coatbridge, arranged with the local newspaper a week before playdate to make a special feature of “Forever Female” on their “Focus on Filmland” page. . . . D. H. West- ern, assistant manager at the Regal cinema, Torquay, had three local swimming clubs par- ticipate in a diving contest in connection with his run of “Dangerous When Wet.”. . . R. White, manager of the Globe cinema, Stock- ton, distributed MGM’s booklet, "The Story Behind ‘Quo Vadis,’ ” to local schools. The com- pany also supplied contest leaflets, first prize being a two weeks’ tour of Italy, which helped the box office for “Quo Vadis.”. . . J. W. Wil- kinson, manager of the Haymarket cinema, Newcastle, concentrated on the theme song in “Blowing Wild.” He arranged to have music shops play it the week previous to playdate and also played the recording in the lobby of the theatre. . . .• G. C. Williams, manager of the Regent cinema, Chatham, says that every pos- sible angle was put over for colossal “Quo Vadis.” Local traders cooperated by giving customers Roman coins with their change, with the name of the film on one side. ■ — -W.T. MANAGERS' ROUND TABLE SECTION, JANUARY 30, 1954 45 CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING Fifteen cents per word, money-order or check with copy. Count initials, box number and address. Minimum insertion $ 1 .50. Four insertions for the price of three. Contract rates on application. No borders or cuts. Forms close Mondays at 5 P.M. Publisher reserves the right to reject any copy. Film and trailer advertising not accepted. Classified advertising not subject to agency commission. Address copy and checks: MOTION PICTURE HERALD, Classified Dept., Rockefeller Center, New York (20) DRIVE-IN EQUIPMENT REPLACE INADEQUATE, OUTWORN EQUIP- merits with DeVry, Simplex and Century outfits, re- built like new. (Send for lists). Time deals arranged. Incar speakers w/4" cones $15.95 pair w/juxjction box ; underground cable $59M. S. O- S. CINEMA SUPPLY CORP., 602 W. 52nd St., New York 19. HELP WANTED OUTDOOR THEATRE MANAGER— ONE EXPE- rienced in publicity and concession operation. Family group insurance. Year around job. Midwest area. $100 week. Reply in confidence. Tell all about your- self first letter. BOX 2760, MOTION PICTURE HERALD. THEATRE MANAGER— GOOD NEWSPAPER AD man and general exploitation. Small city in Chicago territory. Group insurance. Give full account of your experience. References used after interview and onL if a deal. BOX 2758, MOTION PICTURE HERALD. MANAGER, FIRST- RUN DELUXE THEATRE, Eastern Metropolitan City, for small independent cir- cuit State fully qualifications, previous and present employment, and salary desired. No applications will be considered without this detailed information. If you are aggressive and can do the job an excellent posi- tion and security await you, with ample opportunity for advancement. BOX 2761, MOTION PICTURE HERALD. WANTED: THEATRE MANAGER BY WELL established, independent circuit. Young energetic mid- westerner under 40, preferred, for “A” house opera- tion, fully equipped with CinemaScope and 3D, in city of 50,000. Must have promotional ability, aggressive- ness and imagination. References required. Call BRIDGEPORT 8028, or write Mr. E. Ruben or Harry Greene, Welworth Theatres. Minneapolis, Minn. POSITIONS OPEN IN NEW YORK AND MASSA- chusetts areas with expanding circuit for drive-in managers. Year-round employment. Drive-in experi- ence desirable but not necessary. Write stating quali- fications to F. HARDING. 38 Church St., Boston, Mass. SEATINC S. o. S— SAVE ON SEATS! ALL TYPES THE- atre chairs from $4.95. Send for Chair Bulletin. S. O. S. CINEMA SUPPLY CORP., 602 W. 52nd St., New York 19. BOOKS “NEW SCREEN TECHNIQUES” — THE NEW book that is a “must” for everybody in or connected with the motion picture industry — the clearly pre- sented, authoritative facts about 3-D, Cinerama, Cine- maScope and other processes — covering production, ex- hibition and exploitation — contains 26 illustrated arti cles by leading authorities — edited by Martin Quigley. Jr 208 pages. Price $4.50 postpaid. QUIGLEY BOOK- SHOP, 1270 Sixth Ave., New York 20, N. Y. RICHARDSON’S BLUEBOOK OF PROJECTION. New 8th Edition. Revised to deal with the latest tech- nical developments in motion picture projection and sound, and reorganized to facilitate study and refer- ence. Includes a practical discussion of Television especially prepared for the instruction of theatre pro- jectionists, and of new techniques for advancement of the art of the motion picture. The standard textbook on motion picture projection and sound reproduction. Invaluable to beginner and expert. Best seller since 1911. 662 pages, cloth bound, $7.25 postpaid. QUIGLEY BOOKSHOP, 1270 Sixth Avenue, New York 20, N. Y. MOTION PICTURE AND TELEVISION ALMANAC — the big book about your business — 1953-54 edition. Contains over 12,000 biographies of important motion picture personalities. Also all industry statistics. Com- plete listing of feature pictures 1944 to date. Order your copy today, $5.00, postage included. Send remit- tance to QUIGLEY BOOKSHOP, 1270 Sixth Avenue, New York 20, N. Y. NEW EQUIPMENT MASONITE MARQUEE LETTERS— FIT WAG- ner, Adler, Bevelite signs, 4” — 35c; 8” — 50c; 10” — 60c: 12”— 85c; 14”— $1.25; 16"— $1.50 any color. S. O. S. CINEMA SUPPLY CORP., 602 W. 52nd St., New York 19. IMMEDIATELY AVAILABLE! SHORT FOCUS lenses for Wide Screens. Metallic all-purpose screens 90c sq. ft. Special apertures all ratios. S. 0. S. CINEMA SUPPLY CORP., 602 W. 52nd St., New York 19. STUDIO EQUIPMENT AUGMENT YOUR INCOME BY — SHOOTING local newsreels, TV commercials, documentaries. Ar- range advertising tie-ups with local merchants. Film Production Equipment Catalog free. S. O. S. CINEMA SUPPLY CORP., 602 W. 52nd St., New York 19. USED EQUIPMENT DEVRYS BEAUTIFULLY REBUILT LIKE NEW. $895; Holmes $495. All dual outfits with amplifier and speaker. Time deals arranged. S. O. S. CINEMA SUPPLY CORP.. 602 W. 52nd St., New York 19. COMPLETE THEATRE EQUIPMENT, EXCEL- lent condition. Simplex projectors, arc lamps $900. HALL THEATRE, Sister Bay, Wis. FOR BETTER BUYS— SEE STAR! PAIR DEVRY XDC Projectors, heavy bases. Suprex trim. Lamp- houses, complete, rebuilt, $1,650; Simplex rear shutter mechanisms, six months guarantee, $275 pair; Lenses and Screens at lowest prices; Stronr Mogul 65 amper- Lamphouses, rebuilt, $489.50 pair. What do you need? STAR CINEMA SUPPLY, 447 West 52nd St., New York 19. FOR SALE— COMPLETE THEATRE EQUIPMENT in A1 condition. Everything required to open a theatre, from box-office to wall, including 1,400 up- holstered seats. Western Electric sound equipment, two generators, frames, box-office, etc. Must be moved immediately. Any reasonable offer accepted. Theatre now in operation. New York City vicinity. BOX 2767, MOTION PICTURE HERALD. THEATRES NEGRO THEATRE IN SOUTH ALABAMA. FOR details write J. WATERALL, Mt. Vernon, Ala. FOR SALE— 350 SEAT THEATRE IN GOOD Michigan farming community. Owner in lumber busi- ness. wishes to sell at low price. Building new. Ex- cellent opportunity. BOX 2763, MOTION PICTURE HERALD. POSITIONS WANTED MANAGER’S JOE WANTED. HEAVY SMALL town and first-run experience. Will travel and re- locate. 38 years old. 16 years’ experience. BOX 2764, MOTION PICTURE HERALD. MANAGER DESIRES DRIVE-IN OR THEATRE. Experienced all phases of operation. Would prefer Ohio. Other locations considered. TERRY CALLA- GHAN, 1509 Pearl St., Sandusky, Ohio. SERVICES WINDOW CARDS, PROGRAMS, HERALDS photo-offset printing. CATO SHOW PRINTING CO. Cato, N. Y. Canadian Pioneer Group Membership Up to 630 TORONTO : The past year has been the healthiest for the Canadian Picture Pioneers, it was revealed at the annual meeting of the Ontario branch here. Reports indicated that there was a membership of 630 across the country, with Ontario being the largest, with 207. Second position is held by Quebec, with 204, then Vancouver with 79, Winni- peg with 73, Calgary with 36, and the Maritimes with 31. At the meeting, following the induction of two dozen new members, all with a quarter of a century service with the in- dustry, a new board of directors was elected. The board will then elect officers. The directors are Nat Taylor, Tom Daley, Mor- ris Stein, Harold Pfaff, Eddie Wells, Clare Appel, Dan Krendel, Frank Fisher, Bill Redpath, Hugh J. Sedgwick and Frank Vaughan. By a resolution passed by the membership, all former presidents become ex-officio members of the board. These in- clude Ray Lewis and Oscar Hanson. Members inducted include Fred Trebil- cock, Harry W. Braden, Harold O. Braden, Harvey H. Harnick, Morris Rittenberg, Fred G. Doney, Jules Wolfe, W. N. Thorn- berry, William Adams, Roy Miller, R. W. Bolstad, Ralph Dale, Jack D. McCulloch, William K. Trudell, Dave Gordon, Robert J. Martin, Henry A. Harvey, Peter M. Grant, Eddie L. Harris, Hugh W. Usher, Ray Tubman, Russell Simpson, Dave E. Daniel and Jack Clarke. William C. Esfy Dies William Cole Esty, 59, chairman of the board of the William Esty Co., advertising agency, died Thursday at his home in New Canaan, Conn. During World War I he was Western manager of “Motion Picture News” in Chicago. Adjourn Hearing on Schine Extension BUFFALO : Hearing on motion by Schine Theatres, Inc., to extend time and condi- tions for disposal of 25 theatres has been adjourned by Federal Judge John Knight until March 1 on the consent of the Govern- ment and attorneys for the theatre circuit. Schine, defendant in a 1949 anti-trust judgment was supposed to have disposed of 39 theatres in three years. Only 14 theatres have been sold, and the motion filed in Fed- eral Court last July 24th, asks modification of that order. Appearing in Federal Court here was ( trial attorney Joseph E. McDowell of the Anti-Trust Division of the Department of Justice. He said the Government is conduct- ing an intensive investigaiton into the thea- tre holdings of the Schine chain, preparatory to answering the motion. He declined to amplify the statement. 46 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 30, 1954 /9S4 foritfe-ih number presenting special features on— NEW TECHNIQUES . . . How the drive-in, too, can take advantage of 3D and wide- screen product without reducing its standards of projection. DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION . . . Picturing and describing two new drive-ins of distinguished scheme, one of them with rear projection for ‘ daylight” start of performance schedules. • • REFRESHMENT SALES Offering stand and food preparation arrangements for fast service, based on experience in a variety of actual outdoor operations across the country. THE PLAYGROUND . . . Equipment and methods which have been found, by experi- mentation, to be effective in making the playground a material asset. in BETTER THEATRES tor FEBRUARY with MOTION PICTURE HERALD of FEBRUARY 6 Show ’em the real McCoy! Actual scenes of your coming 3-D attractions ... in the same startling depth and natural realism of the pic- tures themselves! Use VIEW-MASTERS ... in your lobby (an extra one at children9 s height to avoid in- terference with adults ), out front and away from your theatre! Specially- designed steel cabinets, with three viewers, each containing an identical set of seven 3-D scenes of the pic- ture being advertised . . . permit three patrons at-a-time to preview your coming 3-D attrac- tions! VIEW-MASTER sells to you for only $24.50 and your only subsequent costs are for the reels of 3-D transparencies at $1.85 per set of 3 . . . and Display Cards at 60c each. The best possible 3-D transparencies for all major 3-D productions . . . supplied by N.S.S., will help sell your 3-D presentations! The VIEW-MASTER has proven its sell- ability with more than 2,000 showmen from coast-to-coast ... So get on the Showmanship Band Wagon TODAY . . . and contact your nearest N. S. S. Exchange for full informa- tion on the 3-D VIEW- MASTER Display Cabinet that SELLS 3-D as it SHOWS 3-D! ntuionn i ute service ( J PBIZf BBBY Of fHf IBOUSTB mini JANUARY 23, 1954 ; ' ■ ■ %L. HU fk 1* i-mi verses Two Films Laws Stay Lonic Sound te Gains Volume m roduct Digest) THE COMMAND, GO MAN GO!, JIVARO, JUBILEE TRAIL, ALASKA SEAS, THE DALTONS, THE HORSE'S MOUTH JAMES «®he§.. d-class Quigley inter ' New York City, U. S. A., under the act of March l, 187'/. p. S'. Y. Subscription prices: yi.c" . ■Her Center, New York 20, .4/7 contents copyrighted 1954 by Quigley Publishing . Comp , GREAT! ALL THE NEWS ABOUT M-G-M’s ANNIVERSARY NEW HEIGHTS FOR "The finest and by far the most entertaining and spectacular of any CinemaScOpe film tO date.” — Zunser , Cue Magazine Everybody’s getting into M-G-M’s "Jubilee” parade! The exhibitors of America agree it’s the biggest opportunity in years to capitalize locally on an enthusi- astic nationwide celebration! And M-G-M is saying it with pictures! M-G-M’s great CinemaScope attraction "KNIGHTS OF THE ROUND TABLE” (in COLOR magnificence ! — Robert Taylor, Ava Gardner, Mel Ferrer) is terrific at Music Hall, N. Y. and is a sensation in every engagement! Hundreds of theatres are getting set to launch the Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz comedy smash "THE LONG, LONG TRAILER” (gorgeous in COLOR!) for WASHINGTON’S BIRTHDAY on the wave of a million-dollar advertising, TV and promotional saturation ! And already the Coast is buzzing with golden whispers about the industry’s FIRST BIG MUSICAL in CINEMASCOPE, M-G-M’s wonderful COLOR - glorious "ROSE MARIE” (Ann Blyth, Howard Keel, Fernando Lamas.) Followed by two great attractions filmed in authentic locations abroad : the thrilling Technicolor romance "RHAPSODY” (Elizabeth Taylor, Vittorio Gassman) and the powerful Technicolor drama "FLAME AND THE FLESH” (Lana Turner, Pier Angeli, Carlos Thompson.) And everything you’ve heard about M-G-M’s coming "EXECUTIVE SUITE” is true. One of the all-time Greats, each role enacted by a top star! (William Holden,. June A Hyson, Barbara Stanwyck, Fredric March, Walter Pidgeon, Shelley Winters, Paul Douglas, Louis Calhern.) That’s just a part of what is destined to be M-G-M’s Biggest Year! AS BIG as the plains and mountain crests AS BIG as the love that surg AS BIG as the co RNMR i ! v • \ * \ ; } i j \ ' M -v i Warner :ir- J n f V< * i •A OPEN IT 1 that quaked beneath the fury and splendors of a land in the making . . . k ed across every danger a man and woman could know... Warner Bros, studios— the world’s biggest— uld make their first production in Color aND Stereophonic Soune -\n /':; V ! i 1 WELDON -JAMES \C L'SI .. , 'r~~~ y i = :.y i W,TH SCREEN PLAY BY CARL BENTON REID • HARVEY LEMBECK • RUSSELL HUGHES • PRODUCED BY OIRECTED BY DAVID WEISBART ' DAVID BUTLER r-i- ^ ^ y Four Men ... And Only One Come Out Alive - From The World’s Deadliest ADVENTURE THAT HAVE MADE THE MOVIES GREAT, MAKE THIS E FOR AUDIENCES SHOPPING FOR ROMANCE AND ACTION! Perilous wilderness walls the savage empire of the headhunters Alligator-infested rapids menace the expedition CENSOR RULING Tcrr^ Ramta^e Another Ruction or Roy Rides Again THE cigarette-and-lung-cancer issue involv- ing as it does the big and elaborate show- manship of air and TV screen promises to have effect on the talent market and "names" in all directions. Also the concur- rent agitations may readily enough pro- vide a new set of problems and restrictions for the motion picture and its incidental presentation of the tobacco habit. We can have another tangle of morals, manners and hygiene, retroactive, too, in backlog pictures. With'- the motion picture's own many problems it has never encountered such a dismaying public relations problem. The cigarette industry has contributed impor- tantly to its own difficulties. After some in- cidental scientific clinical attentions to smoking tars and lung cancer, opportunists pushed out to offer variously tipped, fil- tered and begadgeted cigarettes and hold- ers thereof, along with such fear-copy as stain tests. Back of it all is that ugly, fearsome word — "Cancer". The expanding flourishing cigarette mar- ket has fallen, alarmingly, for fhe first time since 1932. The only upturn is in the filter market. The case against the cigarette as a cause of lung cancer is far from closed. Expert opinions differ and medical opinion is far from decided, widely divided. For the de- fense, although institutionally independent, the cigarette industry brings forth the To- bacco Industry Research Council. The other side for the moment seems defined only obscurely as "reform elements." Interestingly enough it appears that the concern, movement, campaign or call it what you will, is taking its impetus from a militant well known to the inner folks of our own movieland. He is Roy Norr of the public relations concern of Ames & Norr, better known when he came in as Isroy, which has got worn down to Roy. He early came to conspicuous attention within the animated arena of public relations service to merchandising some two decades ago. He is the unostentatious but dynamic au- thor of the campaign by which the candy manufacturers answered, and hushed, that cigarette campaign which so widely and loudly advised "Reach for a Lucky instead of a sweet." Mr. Norr was a figure of considerable importance in the cabinet of the Hays Of- fice in the early days of sound. He was then, and is, an intimate of David Sarnoff. It was at that time most uncertain, and a subject of much interior alarm in the in- dustry, as to what that belligerent Sarnoff was about to do with, for, by or to the movies. In such cases as that it was al- ways the -Hays policy to draw in somebody close to "the inside" and that was Isroy, for radio. He wrote clever releases and collaborated on Mr. Hays' annual reports, in which he always included just one un- common word which neither he nor Hays had ever used before. Roy is very able at raising hell and find- ing people to help him. It is said he has a lot of millionaire do-gooder support for his present cigarette campaign. Also a lot of copy waiting. Roy does not smoke. THE MAGIC WEB— Electro nic communica- tion being so active in both application and evolvements, and so relevant, too, to traffic in pictures, year-end developments are of decided interest. The coaxial cable and other conductors, so essential to closed circuit television, is spreading over land and under sea through long distances and great depths. You perhaps have heard about the pro- jected trans-Atlantic telephone cable, $35,000,000 worth of it, United States to Britain. It is calculated to carry thirty-six simultaneous conversations, free from the disturbances way up above in the radio spectrum. There are not television promises about that undertaking, yet. Nearer at hand but almost as remarkable is the telephone cable system now in work under the Hudson River, between Tarry- town and Nyack. It carries six coaxial cables and 215" quads, which are groups of four wires each. That can transmit messages by the thousands, to be handled through a tremendous new switching center at White Plains, away from the tangles and vulnerabilities of New York City. Both these are incidental undertakings of that twelve billion dollar institution known as the American Telephone and Telegraph Company. Even like the astronomic figures of government, the arithmetical data of the great and wonderous web gets out of com- prehension. But a glimpse helps perspec- tive on some of the details of the ever- so-technical movies. ( Continued from page 13) the New York State Board of Regents, said he had no alternative but to issue a license despite the fact that the board’s six review- ers has adjudged the picture as “immoral and tending to corrupt morals.” In Columbus Dr. Clyde Hissong, chief Ohio film censor, said that apparently the ruling has limited Ohio film censorship but has not entirely knocked it out. He said he was seeking an opinion from Ohio Attorney General William O’Neill on how the ruling will affect the Ohio censor laws. Sydney R. Traub, chairman of the Mary- land State Board of Motion Picture Cen- sors, said, “I see nothing so far which in any way indicates we cannot ban or delete a picture on grounds that it is immoral.” Mr. Traub said that even if the Supreme Court order may be construed ending use of the word “immoral” in banning pictures, Maryland still can ban pictures which are obscene and indecent. In an opinion given Mr. Traub January 13, Maryland’s Attor- ney General, Edward Rollins, stated that “immorality appears to be the practical equivalent of indecency and obscenity.” Mr. Traub added he regrets the Supreme Court had not so far clarified the whole matter but speaking for himself he did not think he would have any reluctance to use the word immoral should the occasion arise. The court decision was to highlight the agenda of a two-day meeting of state censors which was to get under way in New York at the weekend. Dr. Flick called the meeting of censors from six states. He said there probably will be suggestions on how to make state statutes conform to the latest court ruling. That state censors may still feel that the “M” and “La Ronde” decisions do not alter the banning of a picture on grounds of “obscenity,” “indecency,” or “immoral- ity,” was evidenced by comments by Dr. Flick. Maryland Censors’ Surplus Is $55 1 ,303 BALTIMORE : The Maryland State Board of Censors turned into the state treasury a surplus of $551,303 for 1953, a decrease of $6,813 from the total returned to the treasury in 1952. The decrease, said Sydney R. Traub, chairman of the board, results from the introduction of new projection techniques which, in turn, resulted in the production of fewer pictures. A total of 2,172 films were reviewed by the board during the year. Deletions were ordered in 50. Memphis Bans Columbia's "The Wild One" as "Rowdy" Columbia’s “The Wild One” has been banned from Memphis screens by the cen- sors there, whose spokesman, chairman Lloyd T. Binford, said it was “rowdy, un- lawful, and raw.” Norman Colquhoun, Columbia branch manager, said Monday ef- forts would be made to have the film shown in West Memphis, Ark. 16 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 23, 1954 ItHEi WILLIAM M. PIZOR ond BERNARD LUBER hi JBr ss^.* ONSLOW STEVENS -MARCIA DEAN- introducing CHARLES CHAPLIN Ir. with FREDDY RIDGEWAY and SHEP-the wonder dog THE UNCUT... UNTOLD STORY OF DIAMOND SMUGGLERS \ / / SCOTT MARY BRADY • CASTLE He means Excitement... Action... Adventure and Business! THE GREATEST WONDER IN THE WORLD ROADSHOW ATTRACTION FOR ALL OF 19541 WJNN'R OF VENICE FILM FESTIVAL AWAR& READY WHEN YOU NEED THEM SKOURAS WILL TALK TO CEA British Exhibitors to Hear 20th - Fox President at Meeting February 10 by PETER BURNUP LONDON : Following the informal meet- ing between Spvros P. Skouras and the Association’s officers, the C.E.A. general council has invited the 20th Century-Fox president to address a meeting of exhibitors here February 10. That is the date when a large number of provincial theatre men will be in London for the periodical meeting of the Association’s executive group. It is in- dicated the date is acceptable. The council had before it a report from the officers on the earlier meeting at which, it was stated, the latter enquired about the possibility of the so-called Ohio experiment with a single sound-track being carried out simultaneously in this country. Called Incomplete In reply to the enquiry, the report re- corded, Mr. Skouras immediately said state- ments concerning the Ohio experiment were incomplete. What they intended to do in America, the 20th-Fox chief said, was to arrange in various key situations exhibi- tions of “The Robe” in theatres wired for stereophonic sound. The film would be shown two days with stereophonic sound and two days without. A panel would then be asked to express an opinion as to their reactions. Any such experiment would be made in America; not in this country nor, indeed, in any other country. In the meantime, 20th-Fox was not changing its sales policy in Britain. Any variations would be worked out in America. Mr. Skouras, the officers’ report runs, made a reference to screens, indicating that in his view Miracle Mirror “was far and away the best” but the officers record that they were concerned only with the partic- ular point of urgency ; namely, a single track print for experiment in this country. “It is evident,” the report runs, “that Mr. Spyros Skouras wants to ‘put over’ his case to a large number of exhibitors when he returns here.” Resistance Expected He is likely to be met by a formidable core of resistance when he talks to exhibi- tors in London. C.E.A.’s general secretary, Walter Fuller, is already negotiating for the hire of a hall for the purpose. General council’s capacious chamber, he feels, won’t accommodate the number of theatre men who’ll come to London for the occasion. Mr. Fuller has been in touch with an unnamed but, as he claims, a reliable source in America in regard to the feeling there. Identity of the source may not be disclosed ; otherwise, says C.E.A.’s secretary, there’d be no hope of frankness. The letter from America was read to the council. It indicated that exhibitors there were proceeding on much the same lines as in this country and were raising the same issues with 20th-Fox. The American advice made great play with the alleged circum- stance that 20th-Fox was disposed to ease its CinemaScope screen restrictions in the U. S. The officers’ report to the council records that not all American producers are stipulating stereophonic sound. General Council, accordingly, envisages the general use here of single-track sound. Knopp on Aspect Ratios General council considered also a report from its technical adviser, Dr. Leslie Knopp, on screen aspect ratios. This pointed out that the interim report of the British Kinematograph Society shows that the optimum ratio adaptable to the ma- jority of British theatres is 1.65 to 1. This, the report said, can be accommodated by 94 per cent of U.K. theatres within the proscenium opening and without structural alterations or reducing (through cropping off the tops and bottoms of the picture) the present picture height. In the remaining six per cent of theatres, this report says, the present screen height will require ,to be reduced by six per cent. General council recommended to C.E.A. members generally that the most satisfac- tory aspect ratio, so far as Britain is at present concerned, is 1.65 to 1. “Robe” Grosses Big “The Robe” got away to immense busi- ness in its provincial openings. In nine of the 12 situations, Tuesday’s take was higher than Monday’s, with Wednesday’s in certain cases higher still. The picture continues to do big business at the Leicester Square Odeon. “How to Marry a Millionaire” was given a plush showmanlike opening at the Marble Arch Odeon. Mr. Skouras will have a magnificent success story to tell exhibitors on February 10. His company can now claim three of the biggest hits currently playing London’s West End; “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” being the third one. V Following a virtual ultimatum from CEA, the Kinematograph Renters Society con- sented to a joint meeting with the Associa- tion January 21 in regard to the vexed question of break figures. Failing agreement on CEA’s claim that break figures are a matter for individual negotiation between a distributor and his customer the Association will take the issue to the Board of Trade. J. Arthur Rank's powerful General Film Distributors has al- ready conceded the point in defiance of the KRS ruling. Future of the Eady Plan, so CEA claims, is jeopardized by the attitude of American renters on the matter. Exhibitors fear also that no tax remission will come their way so long as American distributors insist on the present break figure formula. V Changes in the executive control of Brit- ish Movietonews are announced by Lord Rothermere, proprietor of “The Daily Mail” and other newspapers, and Mr. W. J. Kup- per. Lord Rothermere, it is stated, “with- draws his nomination” of Gerald Sanger as editor of the newsreel and in his stead nominates Sir Gordon Craig. Sir Gordon thus adds editorial responsibility to the of- fice of general manager which he already holds. Mr. Sanger was private secretary to Lord Rothermere’s father in 1929 and then took over the editorship of the reel when the latter acquired a substantial interest in British Movietonews. He now undertakes an administrative directorship in the Roth- ermere newspaper operations. Consolidated Takes Over Eight Theatres at Wichita Consolidated Agencies, Inc., of Kansas City, Mo., has taken over operation of six indoor and two drive-in theatres at Wichita, Kas. Nick Sonday, who for ten years man- aged Fox Midwest’s Uptown Theatre, Kan- sas City, has joined Consolidated as general manager. President of Consolidated is Clar- ence A. Schulz. Leonard Kane continues as city manager of the Wichita houses. The indoor houses are the Palace, Crawford, Crest, Tower, and Civic, and the West, re- cently closed. The drive-ins are the Fifty Four and the Eighty One. Ambassador, St. Louis, Will Play Cinerama The tenth U. S. theatre to play “This Is Cinerama” will be the Ambassador in St. Louis, which is currently undergoing extensive alterations in preparation for the premiere February 10. The first night will be a benefit sponsored by the Variety Club for Crippled Children, with regular public showings beginning with the matinee the next day. “This Is Cinerama,” which opened September 30, 1952, in New York, is also currently on vew in Detroit, Hollywood, Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington, Pitts- burgh, San Francisco and Boston. Plan "Cell Block" Campaign The New York publicity firm of Helen Morgan and Eileen Brennon has been re- tained by John C. Flinn, Allied Artists di- rector of advertising and publicity, to han- dle special newspaper and magazine pub- licity there for the Walter Wanger produc- tion of “Riot in Cell Block 11,” which opens in the Mayfair theatre February IS. An extensive television and radio campaign for the New York engagement will be handled by Terry Turner of General Teleradio, Inc., New York City. 18 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 23, 1954 m-FOX PLANS TESTS OF STEREO vs NORMAL SOUND Test Part of a Compomise With Reade After Threat of Suit Over “Robe” The Walter Reade-20th Century-Fox controversy over use of a so-called sound “mixer” with “The Robe,” instead of ap- proved stereophonic sound equipment, in one of Mr. Reade’s New Jersey theatres, was resolved Wednesday with the schedul- ing of regional tests ‘“within the next 30 days” of stereophonic sound, with a com- mittee representing- every branch of the industry slated to be formed to judge the results. " Robe ” Showing with “Mixer” Started Controversy This was one of the highlights of a fast- moving series of events which transpired Wednesday following a week’s exhibition of “The Robe” at Mr. Reade’s Community theatre, Morristown, N. J., with the sound “mixer.” The announcement of the tests within 30 days was made by Walter Reade, president of the circuit bearing his name, and president of Theatre Owners of Amer- ica, in a statement expressing his “regret” for exhibiting the film without stereophonic sound. The statement came on the heels of an unexpected evening conference between Mr. Reade and Spyros P. Skouras, president of 20th-Fox. Mr. Reade called on Mr. Skouras just a few hours after 20th-Fox had an- nounced that it had procured a temporary restraining order in New Jersey courts prohibiting the exhibition of “The Robe” without stereophonic sound in Reade thea- tres. A hearing on the order was scheduled for Thursday morning in Trenton. However, Mr. Reade’s apology and his expressed boost for the CinemaScope medi- um in his statement apparently softened 20th-Fox attitude. 20th-Fox vacated its court order, in addition to allowing Mr. Reade to play “The Robe” in Reade theatres in Perth Amboy, N. J., and Kingston, N. Y., where a “mixer” is installed changing the stereophonic sound to one-horn conventional sound. Will Hold Tests in Four Corners of Country This was done by 20th-Fox, according to Mr. Reade’s statement, because the picture in those two situations already had been booked and advertised. Mr. Reade acknowledged that the ex- hibition of “The Robe” without stereophonic sound in the Community theatre was with- out the approval of 20th-Fox, indicating that the company had no knowledge that a “mixer” would be used there. “Mr. Skouras and I agreed that a com- MAGNA GETS FINANCING, DROPS 20th-FOX DEAL The board of directors of the Magna Theatre Corporation Tuesday tabled the offer of 20th Century-Fox to acquire dis- tribution and production rights to Magna's screen properties and will proceed on its own. Whether Magna subsequently will enter into a deal with 20th-Fox remained problematical Tuesday but there were indi- cations that an arrangement may be made later with some other organization. Reason for the change, it was learned, was that Magna acquired an additional $1,000,000 to proceed on the production of "Okla- homa!" in the Todd-AO process and it was reported the picture would go before the cameras at once. mittee will be formed forthwith which will include representatives of equipment manu- facturers, 20th Century-Fox, representatives of other companies producing in Cinema- Scope, and a committee of exhibitors from Theatre Owners of America.” This commit- tee, it was indicated, will pass on tests utilizing the “mixer,” with experiments slated for competitive situations in four geographicallv located spots in the east, midwest, far west and south. Using a 20th- Fox CinemaScope production, one theatre in the selected city will use full stereophonic sound while the other will utilize the “mixer,” such as that installed in Mr. Reade’s Com- munity theatre. Reade Wanted to Test Reaction on Public Mr. Reade, commenting on his use of the “mixer” in Morristown, said that his inten- tion was to have a test to determine whether CinemaScope productions could be shown satisfactorily and with its full impact on the public without the use of stereophonic sound. In the meantime, the Reade circuit head pledged not to play any CinemaScope films from 20th-Fox in any of his theatres not fully equipped for stereophonic sound, with the exception of the Kingston and Perth Amboy situations previously mentioned. “I believe that the advent of CinemaScope upon the scene has been a tremendous stimu- lant to the theatre business generally,” Mr. Reade said in his statement, adding that Mr. Skouras expressed the desire to him to “serve the fine CinemaScope films of his company to the largest possible number of theatres.” Regarding the upcoming experi- ment, Mr. Reade said that “both 20th-Fox and I hope that these tests will serve a use- ful purpose as both of us are embarking on this experiment with the best interests of the industry at heart.” The announcement of Mr. Reade’s posi- tion and the slated stereophonic sound tests within 30 days came Wednesday after A1 Lichtman, 20th-Fox distribution director, earlier in the day served notice to the trade that no 20th-Fox CinemaScope films would be serviced to theatres which in any way “minimized the effectiveness” of the newly introduced medium. Litchman Tells Reporters Of Court Order Mr. Lichtman also told of the court ac- tion instituted by the company in Superior Court of New Jersey, Chancery Division, where the company procured a temporary restraining order against Mr. Reade and his “mixer.” Charles Einfeld, vice-president in charge of advertising, publicity and exploitation, who also attended Mr. Lichtman’s trade press conference, said that 20th-Fox did not want to institute a lot of law suits, but the company was determined to protect the medium. Agreement on a test utilizing the “mixer” followed closely the disclosure by Mr. Licht- man that the studio is having difficulty mak- ing single-track prints of “The Robe,” promised for the projected Ohio tests last October at the National Allied convention by Mr. Skouras. The use of the “mixer” was seen by industry circles as a means of carrying out the experiment, even without the single-track prints. The inclusion of other producing company representatives on the test committee was viewed as a step which might clarify the policies of other film companies producing in CinemaScope. Report “Mixer” Cost Is 35 Per Cent of Stereo The device in use at Morristown, about which the industry had been talking for some while, is said to cost about 35 per cent of that of full stereophonic sound equip- ment. Wilbur Snaper, National Allied presi- dent, commented it “does away with impos- sible costs for exhibitors” and was “just what we have demanded” ; and he added : “Speaking for myself, I like the Cinema- Scope size screen or wide screen, as I be- lieve it makes for better presentation ; but I must repeat that stereophonic sound adds little if anything for a picture.” Meanwhile, Warner Brothers announced its first CinemaScope feature “The Com- mand’ (reviewed this week in the Product Digest) will be in four magnetic track stereophonic sound and in single track. Mr. Snaper had a word about this, too. He said in a special bulletin to members, “War- ner’s policy, although it does not go all the way in providing regular prints for theatres without a special lens and screen, does much in a positive direction.” MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 23, 1954 19 DROP PLAN TO REVISE ‘LINE' RKO Quits Negotiation and Will Release Picture Without Code Seal HOLLYWOOD : Officials of RKO Radio last weekend broke off negotiations with the Production Code Administration on revi- sion of the production of “French Line” to qualify it for a Production Code Seal and indicated the picture would be released in the near future without a seal. Meanwhile in New York the National Legion of Decency announced that it has placed the picture in the “C” or condemned classification and charged in doing so, that RKO Radio had violated a pledge it had made in writing to the Legion earlier that the film would be withdrawn from exhibi- tion pending its revision to satisfy objec- tions on moral grounds. Had Negotiated RKO officials had negotiated in Holly- wood last week with PCA officials on changes in the film to bring it into compli- ance with the Production Code. The changes which RKO agreed to make were held to be insufficient by Joseph I. Breen, Production Code Administrator, last Friday and RKO subsequently declined to make any further changes. The Motion Picture Association has fined RKO $25,000 for licensing the film for ex- hibition in St. Louis without a Code seal. The company has not indicated whether it will pay the fine or appeal to the MPAA board. Failure to pay it could result in the company’s expulsion from the MPAA. “French Line” which was reported sched- uled for withdrawal from its St. Louis run Monday, will continue in exhibition there at the Missouri theatre, according to Ed- ward B. Arthur, general manager of Fan- chon and Marco Service Corp. He ex- plained that James R. Grainger, RKO president, who had ordered curtailment of the picture’s premiere run, had since de- cided to keep the film at the theatre until January 25 because of the business it has been doing. Explain Condemnation Reasons given by the National Legion of Decency for putting the film in the “C” category were that it “contains grossly ob- scene, suggestive and indecent action, cos- tuming and dialogue. In incidents of sub- ject matter and treatment it is gravely offensive to Christian and traditional stand- ards of morality and decency and is capable of grave evil influence upon those who pa- tronize it, especially the youth.” The Legion’s announcement also noted that on January 8 RKO Radio “gave the Legion of Decency written assurance that on January 18 it would withdraw ‘French Line’ ADHERENCE TO CODE URGED BY SKOURAS HOLLYWOOD: Charles P. Skouras, president of National Theatres, Mon- day sounded a warning against over- zealous interpretations of the Su- preme Court's ruling on censorship. Mr. Skouras said in a formal state- ment: "The Supreme Court decision is sound and in keeping with our tradi- tion of democracy and free expres- sion. However, our industry, more than ever, must be aware of its re- sponsibility to the public to offer only fine, clean and wholesome entertain- ment. It is the duty of every exhibitor to respect the principles of the Mo- tion Picture Producers Association Production Code. from exhibition pending revision to satisfy objections on moral grounds. “In violation of this pledge the company has informed this office of its intention to continue exhibition without revision. This office notes that the film is being released in defiance of the industry’s own system of self-regulation, which has denied approval. Circuit Matches Employees' Hospital Contributions C. P. Trexler, general manager of the Stewart-Everett Theatres, Charlotte, N. C., announced that all employees of their circuit of theatres are participating 100 per cent in this year’s Christmas Salute to the Will Rogers Memorial Hospital Fund Drive. As an incentive to develop this participation the circuit had announced that the management would contribute a sum equal to the total of all the employees. The Stewart-Everett Theatre Corporation in this drive have matched dollar for dollar the employees’ con- tributions. Ontario MPTA Elects McCullock President TORONTO : J. D. McCulloch, Petrolia in- dependtnt exhibitor was re-elected president of the Motion Picture Theatres Association of Ontario at the first meeting of the new board held here. E. G. Forsyth, Odeon, stepped up from secretary to succeed Wil- liam Summerville, Jr., as vice-president and Lionel Lester, Toronto, was elected to take his place. J. H. Clarke, Loew’s, Toronto, was returned as treasurer. Lester was ap- pointed chairman of the membership com- mittee, replacing Harland Rankin, Tilbury, and Angus Jewel, Cannington, succeeds Morris Stein, Toronto, as head of budget and finance. Italian JPress Uses Code Tilt to Hit Us by DR. ARGEO SANTUCCI ROME: Samuel Goldwyn’s letter to the Motion Picture Association of America attacking the U.S. Production Code has pro- vided opportunity for a rash of anti-Amer- ican articles in the Italian press, of both left-wing and right-wing leanings. As an example, the ANSA news agency, considered semi-official in light of the fact that it receives an annual subsidy from the Government of approximately $150,000, re- ported in full the controversy centering around RKO’s “The French Line,” as well as Mr. Goldwyn’s letter, but only briefly hinted at the rebuttal of Eric Johnston, MPAA president: “The big Hollywood companies seem to be in favor of the Hays Code. . . . John- ston asserts that seven Hollywood com- panies . . . asked him to officially confirm their complete confidence in the present edition of the Code. . . .” However, the January 9 issue of “Gior- nale d’ltalia,” a conservative and pro-Gov- ernment Rome daily, went even further. Its film critic harshly attacked the Code and re- ferred to it as if it were Government cen- sorship. He reported the Goldwyn letter and “The French Line” and “Moon Is Blue” cases without mention of the Johnston state- ments, charging finally that the American people were hypocrites. The criticism in the left wing press is not surprising. What gives observers here pause is the way in which conservatives jumped at the opportunity presented by the Code controversy to express their bitterness toward America. Several New Houses On Canadian Scene TORONTO : Looking to the immediate theatre construction period, a new theatre in Duck Lake, Sask., has been opened by W. Zaparaniuk, who formerly operated the M. P. Theatre on a two-day basis. A 300- seat house in Kerrobert, Sask., has been opened by F. H. and W. E. Beatty and D. W. Robertson, the Lux, giving the town two theatres. The 200-seat Memorial is the other house. Under construction are Roth- stein Theatre’s 650-seat house in Yorkton, Sask.; E. Johnston’s Mayfair in Murray Rover, PEL and John Assaly Ltd.’s drive- in near Cornwall, Ont. Arland Gets Four Four motion pictures have been acquired from Arthur Davis Associates by Arland Pictures, Inc., of New York. They are “Seven Deadly Sins,” “Beauty and the Devil,” "Hello, Elephant,” and “Father’s Dilemma.” The rights acquired are for United States distribution. 20 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 23, 1954 Insists 3-D Viewers Not Strain Cause LONDON : If there have been complaints from theatre audiences about eye strain when viewing stereoscopic films through polarising spectacles, the fault lies with the production techniques and not with the spectacles. This was one of the points made in an address here to the Royal Society of Arts by Dr. Leslie Knopp, technical adviser to the C. E. A., exhibitor group. The audience watching 3-D, said Dr. Knopp, was performing an optical evolution that it was not called upon to do in every day life. It was focusing its eyes upon the images on the screen and at the same time making them converge upon the apparent position of those images in space, which might be in front of or beyond the plane of the screen. This was a dilemma which no amount of scientific juggling could ever dispose of. The only thing to do was to bear this limitation in mind and act ac- cordingly in the studio when making stereo- scopic films. One solution was to arrange every scene so that the nearest object should not be closer than 60 feet from the camera, or whatever was judged to be the average viewing distance for members of the audi- ence who would see the finished film. But this would eliminate the closeup and the long-shot, which were essential tools of film directors. So, complex optical problems must be tackled. These problems, Dr. Knopp said, were gradually being disposed of, but the public must be prepared for increased production and projection costs. "Moon" Draws $ 1 00 Fine in Jersey City A fine of $100 was imposed Monday on the Stanley Corporation for having pre- sented “The Moon Is Blue” in a single per- formance at the Stanley theatre in Jersey City. In imposing the fine, Magistrate George W. King held that the film “does not show dirt for dirt’s sake” but, he added, “it does not conform to popular morals and might be harmful to adolescents and to some adults.” Stage House Turns to Films CLEVELAND : The 1500-seat Hanna thea- tre, only local legitimate house here, will be- come a part time first run film house Febru- ary 14 in accordance with a lease entered into by P. E. Essick and Howard Reif of Modern Theatres. The motion picture offi- cials will take over the house for first run quality pictures whenever there is no stage show booked. A wide screen and all neces- sary equipment will be installed. Milton Kranz, manager, will remain in this posi- tion to handle both stage and screen shows. TECHNICOLOR, POLAROID IN VECTOGRAPH PRINT DEAL An agreement between the Polaroid Cor- poration and Technicolor, Inc., looking toward realization shortly of 3-D motion pictures in color in Polaroid’s Vectograph or single strip process, was announuced in New York this week. The process requires only one projector with no attachments whatsoever. Announcing the agreement were Dr. Her- bert T. Kalrnus, president and general man- ager of Technicolor, and Dr. Edwin H. Land, Polaroid president. Under the pact, Technicolor is licensed to make full color stereophonic motion picture prints on Polar- oid’s Vectograph base film material. The agreement calls for the manufacture of re- lease prints by Technicolor and the manu- facture and sale of raw stock by Polaroid, including payment of certain royalties by Technicolor to Polaroid. Unlike other single film proposals in color, the Vectograph film uses the entire film area, instead of only one half of each frame, for each ef the two images required for 3-D. Instead of half-sized images placed side by side, full sized images are superimposed over each other. Pictures thus are expected to be correspondingly brighter and sharper in definition. Since the Vectograph images are processed with polarizing dyes, they require no polarizing filters at the projection port, so that the pictures will be noticeably brighter on screen. According to the Land-Kalmus announcement, added optical efficiency be- comes possible because the Vectograph is the first film to provide images in terms of degree of polarization instead of degree of density. (A full-scale discussion of the Vectograph process is to be found in an article by William H. Ryan, research engineer at Polaroid, in “New Screen Techniques,” edited by Martin Quigley, Jr., and published recently by the Quigley Publishing Com- pany.) If this application of the Polaroid inven- tion proves successful, executives of both Polaroid and Technicolor believe that the Vectograph process should provide a fresh impetus to production of 3-D pictures by making them available to all exhibitors to show them. Exhibitors, both here and abroad, it was pointed out, would no longer need interlocks, polarizing projection filters and oversize magazines. Patrons, it was added, will still be required to use polarizing viewers. Balaban and Katz Elect "Sadie Thompson" in 2-D Columbia’s “Miss Sadie Thompson” was to be opened January 22 at the Chicago Theatre, Chicago, by Balaban and Katz, in 2- D. This takes advantage of the distribut- ing company’s decision of last week not to force showmen to screen the picture in the 3- D for which it was made. The Balaban and Katz feeling is said to be the film by virtue of advance promotion and its fame through the years as a story done on stage and screen and radio, is powerful enough to draw without depth. Additionally, saving on glasses, personnel, and equipment is sav- ing in money. Rhode Island Contributes $29,175 to Jimmy Fund Rhode Island contributions to the Jimmy Fund for 1953 totalled $29,175, it was re- cently announced by Edward M. Fay, dean of R. I. showmen, and Meyer Stanzler, co- chairmen of the state committee for the fund. Of the grand total, 34 theatres throughout the state accounted for $13,103. The re- mainder of the money was raised through sports events, radio, tag days and the em- ployes of the Narragansett Racing Asso- ciation. Narragansett Brewing Co., and the New England Telegraph and Telephone Co. No salaries were paid, according- to the committe in charge, and the only expense was for stationery and mailing. The Majestic theatre won top honors among all theatres throughout the state, as well as topping Providence houses, collecting $3,184. The Strand, Providence, took second honors with $1,240, while the RKO Albee won third place with $1,015. Durwood New President Of Kansas City MPA KANSAS CITY: Stanley Durwood, gen- eral manager of Durwood Theatres, was elected president of the Motion Picture As- sociation of Greater Kansas City, by the board of directors. Louis Patz, division manager of National Screen was elected first vice-president, and Robert Shelton, general manager of Commonwealth Theatres, sec- ond vice-president. William Gaddoni, branch manager of M-G-M, was reelected secretary, and Ed Hartman of Hartman Buying and Booking Agency, was reelected treasurer. To Film in Australia SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA: A unit has been organized by I. Konstantinow, veteran photographer, to explore the remote and colorful parts of Australia with a view toward making films for the world market. The unit plans to make documentary, scientific, instructional and newsreel type of films, as well as short “play” films for television and commercial theatres. MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 23, 1954 21 COMP© CP TAX Take Recommendation for Expansion of Its Public Relations Program The tax repeal campaign pressed on dur- ing the week. In an effort to get a better press for the drive the governing committee of the Council of Motion Picture Organiza- tions, Inc., has voted to expand the organ- ization’s press relations setup. Accepting most of the recommendations made last month by a special press relations committee composed of industry publicity men, the governing committee voted to en- gage a Washington press contact, another man for the organization’s New York office and to begin as soon as possible an adver- tising campaign in “Editor and Publisher.” Plan Coast Contact Another recommendation that a press contact be established in Hollywood under the direction of the Motion Picture Indus- try Council, was temporarily deferred, it being agreed by the governing committee that members of COMPO expected all press efforts for the present to be devoted exclu- sively to the tax campaign. Those present at the meeting last Wed- nesday were Sam Pinanski, who presided ; Wilbur Snaper, William C. Gehring, who served as substitute for A1 Lichtman ; Rob- ert W. Coyne and Charles E. McCarthy. The press relations committee was com- posed of Maurice Bergman, chairman ; Harry Mandel, Art Arthur, Oscar Doob and Harry Goldberg. Because of new ex- ecutive duties he has been given at Univer- sal, Mr. Bergman advised the COMPO governing committee before its meeting of his resignation as chairman. This week it was announced that Jerry Picknran, Paramount Film Distributing Corp. vice-president, and Kenneth Clark, vice-president of Motion Picture Associa- tion of America, have accepted appointments to the COMPO press relations committee. They were appointed following the resigna- tion of Mr. Bergman. Talk to Congressmen Exhibitors belonging to the Kansas-Mis- souri Theatre Association already have be- gun contacting their Congressmen and Sen- ators on behalf of the campaign to lift the 20 per cent tax. This was conveyed to a KMTA board of directors meeting in Kansas City last Wed- nesday by J. A. Becker, general chairman for the COMPO tax repeal campaign in the area. Meanwhile it was announced that the spring drive-in operators meeting sponsored each year bv KMTA, will be held March 9-10 in Kansas City. The location has not yet been designated. STEPS EIGHT In Kansas City, Mo., H. E. Jameyson, president of Commonwealth Amusement Corporation, printed a four-page leaflet, cit- ing vital facts, and appealing for the repeal of the tax. It was sent to Commonwealth managers for handing to newspaper men, business people and patrons. It also was sent to other circuits. Good news came out of McKeesport, Pa. The city cut its amusement tax from 10 to five per cent effective last Monday. The City Council reduced the levy, in the words of the new Democratic mayor, Andrew J. Jakomas, “to give the theatre operators some badly needed relief.” In Milwaukee a proposal for a three per cent municipal tax on motion picture thea- tres and other entertainment forms to raise an estimated $300,000 in new city revenue was rejected by the Common Council’s special taxation committee. Ask 85-Cent Exemption LOS ANGELES : The Southern Califor- nia Theatre Owners Association has in- structed its members to write their Con- gressmen in Washington asking them to support legislation calling for elimination of the tax on admissions of 85 cents and under. Letters sent to exhibitors and signed by Harry C. Arthur, Jr., chairman of SCTOA, assert: “We feel it is unwise and unrealistic to attempt to convince the Congress and the President that all admission taxes should be removed. But we feel it will be quickly acknowledged that the admission tax on the lower admission prices should be elim- inated. Such action will help those theatres most in need of relief, and in all cases, where it is economically possible for the theatre to pass on the relief, would help the many millions who will be enabled to form again their weekly movie-going habits. At the same time, the elimination of the tax on the lower admissions would tend to keep admission prices from being raised above the level where the exemption terminated.” In New York last week officials of COMPO declined to comment for publica- tion on the SCTOA’s unilateral tax move. In reply to questions, however, they said that the COMPO tax repeal campaign com- mittee still is working for complete elimina- tion of the Federal tax, hut should a com- promise be deemed advisable at some sub- sequent stage of the campaign, authorization has been given them to work out the best form of relief they find it possible to ob- tain. However, there was no indication that the 85-cent exemption would be acceptable. Eoetr Profit Up Sharply ToSi.i:t:i.m:t A net profit of $1,133,893 after all charges and taxes was reported this week by Loews Inc., for the first 12 weeks of the fiscal year ended November 26. This is equivalent to -2 cents per share on 5,142,615 shares of common stock. This compares with a net income of $332,206, or six cents per share reported for the corresponding period of the previous year. Gross sales and operating revenues for the first 12 weeks of the current fiscal year were $41,009,887, compared witli $38,075,000 for the corresponding period last year. ’ The net for the fiscal year ended August 31, however, showed a slight dip from the preceding 12-month period, $4,692,806 in 1951- 52 compared with $4,380,603 in 1952- 53. Per share earnings were 91 cents and 85 cents respectively. Operating rev- enues for the latest fiscal year were $177,- 558,874 compared with $178,525,615 in the prior year. The interim balance sheet as of last Au- gust 31 showed an improvement in the financial condition which was effected last year. Cash amounted to $23,763,992 com- pai ed with $18,716,324 the year before. In- ventories totaled $79,728,467 against ’ $86,- 492,467 a year earlier. Current and working assets at the close of the fiscal year were $111,051,542; current liabilities, $28,116,995; earned surplus, $91,- 196,840 and the book value, $26.63 per share, bunded debt beyond one year was reduced during the fiscal year by $2,946,532. In November, 1953, the balance of a domes- tic bank loan of $4,500,000 was paid off. It is pointed out in the financial statement that operations in foreign countries are an increasingly important factor in the affairs of the company and that branches and thea- tre operations abroad are being expanded. Italian Producers Seek New Protective Laws ROME: Proposals by the Un ion of Film Producers indicate a growing tendency to- ward measures designed for the protection of the Italian industry. It is revealed here that the group plans to ask the Council of Ministers to draw up a law which would increase the compulsory dubbing fee for each released foreign picture from 2,500,000 to 10,000,000 lira. Previously it was announced that the producers planned to ask for an increase in the compulsory playing time for Italian films from 80 to 120 days per year. Goffredo Lombardo, newly elected presi- dent of the film producers union, said that such legislation actually would help foreign distributors in Italy, chiefly American, be- cause under such a law, foreign distributors would concentrate on promoting their finest pictures rather than “many mediocre films.” 22 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 23, 1954 Stanley JVet For Quarter Is &523JOO WILMINGTON : The Stanley Warner Corporation earned a net profit of $523,100 for the first quarter ended November 28, 1953, S. H. Fabian, president, reported here last week at the company’s annual stock- holders’ meeting. He coupled the report on earnings wtih the announcement that Stan- ley Warner box office receipts continue to show an upward trend. No strictly comparable figures are avail- able for the same period last year, Mr. Fabian said, explaining that the Stanley Warner Corporation commenced business on March 1, 1953, the date that the Warner Brothers’ divorcement took effect- An up- ward trend at the box office continues to evidence itself, he said, comparing receipts for those theatres which were operated dur- ing the same period both this year and last. For the first 13-week period, Mr. Fabian cited an operating profit of $1,105,200 after deducting depreciation amounting to $701,- 100, but before deducting income tax, con- tingencies and losses on sales of fixed assets. During the quarter, provision for Federal income tax was $500,000, provision for con- tingencies was $75,000 and the net loss on sales of fixed assets was $7,100. Gross in- come was put at $13,794,100. Mr. Fabian reported 170 of the circuit’s theatres have been or are being equipped with wide screen and that 100 more are to be equipped in the future. The number of theatres equipped for stereophonic sound has risen to 130, with 40 more to be added, while 210 theatres are equipped for third- dimension. The circuit head also said the company was planning to obtain as many TV licenses as the Federal Communications Commission will allow, in line with the company’s policy of diversification of interests. Another move in that direction includes the corporation's interest in Cinerama. Crown Quits RKO Post to Head Moulin Productions Alfred W. Crown has resigned as head of RKO Radio’s foreign department, effective January 31, to assume the presidency of Moulin Productions Inc., it was announced Wednesday. Mr. Crown was named presi- dent of Moulin by David Stillman and Eliot Hyman, co-chairmen of the board. A gen- eral expansion of the company’s production program will take effect as soon as Mr. Crown joins Moulin, Mr. Stillman said. Moulin also will build a television depart- ment to handle the release of film properties owned or controlled by the company. Mr. Crown joined RKO in October, 1952, after having been vice-president in charge of sales for Samuel Goldwyn Productions, which he joined in 1946. He has been in the industry 23 years. BOOK REVIEWS FILM AND THE DIRECTOR, by Don Livingston, a professional discussion of the making of motion pictures. 208 pages, with bibliography and index, illus- trated. Cloth. The Macmillan Company, New York, $4.50. This compact and admirably printed heavy little book is primarily of vocational interest. The author, Don Livingston, is a director with some sixty pictures, none apparently mentioned, in his experience. It is modestly done with the prefaced observa- tion that no book can teach one to be a director, but that it “can only explain basic principles and outline some of the problems.’’ It does that, in decidedly competent sim- plicity. It is abundantly illustrated with graphs, photographs and analytical presentations. There is much primary information, even into the lingo and nomenclature of the stu- dio’s range of crafts. This book can be of service among the many ramifications of the industry which do not understand each other. It can inform a lot of glib commentators and critics to the improvement of their “experting.” It is also laden with information for the “long hair’’ school and for ambitious young persons with a design on a picture-making career. It ap- pears in this year of technological revolu- tions with some inevitable limitations in that it cannot explore the multiplicity of new problems in the tangle of media from 3-D to CinemaScope. — T.R. MOTION PICTURES, 1 894- 1 9 1 2— Cata- logue of copyrighted motion pictures for that period as evidenced by the paper prints filed for protection before copy- right specifically extended to films. Pub- lished by the Library of Congress, Wash- ington D. C. and for sale by the Register of Copyrights. $2.00. This listing has been rescued from the dusty files of the Library of Congress by Howard Lamarr Walls, who may be prop- erly called the author. His researches were conducted when he was a member of the staff of the Library. He is now connected with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. This is an archive of important service to the student of the history and evolution of the motion picture. It has reminiscence value to the surviving pioneers. It may also help to clarify some of the conflicting claims of pioneers, real and alleged, concerning pri- orities. It is a scholar’s record. The listings start with the registration of the “Edison Kinetoscopic Record of a Sneeze.” That was of course the historic sneeze of Fred Ott, an Edison mechanic at West Orange who posed for the Edison camera in 1889. The last entry is “The Feast of Belshazzar,” January 3, 1913. This together with prior and current cata- loguing from the Library, completes as nearly as may be the inventory of picture production in the United States through the whole history of the industry. That is a record unparalleled in any art or industry. Texas Owner •1 ins Trust Suit Appeal The U.S. District Court in Dallas was in error when it gave an instructed verdict in favor of the defendants in the anti-trust case brought by Texas exhibitor I. B. Adelman against eight major distributors the U.S. Court of Appeals in New Orleans ruled this week. Mr. Adelman, who operates the Delman Theatres in Houston and Dallas, had alleged conspiracy to prevent him from ob- taining first-run product. At the trial in Dallas, the court ruled that there was insuf- ficient evidence to warrant giving the case to the jury and dismissed the charges against the distributors and Interstate Circuit and Texas Consolidated Theatres. The New Orleans Circuit Court, on ap- peal, however, expressed the opinion that the evidence was amply sufficient “as to some of the defendants to warrant submis- sion to the jury of the controversial issues of fact presented by the pleadings.” The Circuit Court stated that it believed the Dallas court committed “prejudicial errors” in excluding the judgments of the U.S. vs. Paramount case in the hearings. “It was found and adjudged,” the Circuit Court ruled, “that the eight distributor de- fendants, which were the same as the eight distributor defendants named in this suit, had engaged in a nationwide conspiracy to establish uniform systems of runs, clear- ances and admission prices ... in order to protect their first-run licensees from com- petition.” In this connection, the Circuit court said, “we conclude that the excluded judgments should have been admitted and the jury fully instructed as to the issues therein de- termined. Also the scope and effect of these judgments on the issues presented should have been explained to the jury by the court. The Circuit Court, while reversing the judgment in regard to the distributor de- fendants and sending the action back for re-trial, affirmed the dismissal of Interstate and Consolidated as defendants. Add Seven TV Stations To Long Lines Network Seven more television stations have been connected to the Bell Telephone System’s nationwide network of television facilities. They are KOA-TV, Denver ; WROL-TV and WTSK-TV, Knoxville; WOSH, Osh- kosh, Wise.; WSTV, Steubenville, O. ; WDAN-TV, Danville, 111., and KWTV, Oklahoma City. The Knoxville, Oshkosh and Steubenville stations were the first to be connected for network service in their respective cities, while KOA is Denver’s fourth TV station. Network television service has now been extended to 246 stations in 152 cities in the United States, it was stated. MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 23, 1954 23 by WILLIAM R. WEAVER Hollywood Editor IRVING ALLEN and A. R. Broccoli, part- ners in Warwick Productions, whose films are financed and released by Columbia, foresee a day, already here in their own scheme of things, when the producer will regard the wide world as his subject and his market, and they like what they foresee. See No Gloom Ahead for Those Taking Wide View Here for a short stay after producing three features abroad, and before going back to produce three more, the partners took the press into their noontime confidence the other day and spread their quite interesting cards on a Brown Derby table. They quoted impressive statistics in support of their operational policies and their expectations. They see no gloom ahead for anybody in the picture business who takes the long, wide view. The Alien-Broccoli statistics concerning the proportion of the American industry’s income from exhibition abroad were some- what higher than those quoted the next day by Eric Johnston, MPAA president, but they were speaking as independents and on their own authority. They said it is run- ning about 60 percent and may rise to 70 percent, whereas the Johnston figure was between 43 percent and 44 percent. The figures are not irreconcilable, circumstan- cially. In a more exact presentation of statistical information they said their production known on this side as “Paratrooper,” and elsewhere as “The Red Beret,” had recouped its entire production cost in the British market alone before opening in the United States, and that experiences of this kind need not be unusual if there are proper planning and production quality. Cite Proper Planning ^4s Essential Factor In the case of “Paratrooper” the pro- ducers had Alan Ladd as principal star, supported by an accomplished British cast, and they had the full cooperation of the British in filming parachute training and battle action. This is what they refer to as proper planning, and another of their pro- ductions, “The Cockleshell Heroes,” con- cerning the British Marines, is planned similarly. Warwick does its producing abroad both to obtain genuine backgrounds for the stories of world interest in which the com- pany specializes, and to take advantage of governmental subsidies, but it doesn’t actu- ally use overseas studios, in the normal sense of using studio stages for production pur- Irving Allen, left, and A. R. Broccoli, in Hol- lywood. poses. Nearly all of “Paratrooper” was shot out of doors, as befits an outdoor subject, and the same was true of the company’s forthcoming “Hell Below Zero,” a whaling story filmed in the Antarctic, and of “The Black Knight,” an action story of the King Arthur period. It’s the Alien-Broccoli view that the out- door action picture, dealing with a subject of substance and vitality, is the most popular and profitable kind of product, throughout the world, that has been devised to date. They say they intend to make no other kind. Their plans for the pictures now on their production schedule reflect their worldwide views. “Cockleshell Heroes” is to be shot in England, France and at Gibraltar. “Prize of Gold” is to be filmed in England and Germany. Another is to be produced in and around Greenland. Warwick is an English company, the Warwick partners have become British residents, which is an advantage to the com- pany when it gets around to obtaining work permits (two to a picture) for American talent such as Alan Ladd in the interests of world box office, and it has no declared limitations as to realm of subject matter or productional operations, save only that both be global. They prescribe global thinking and global operation for the whole of the industry as of the present and the predictable future. FOUR PICTLTRES were started during the week, and two others were completed, as to camera work, and sent to the film editors. Fred MacMurray and Phil Carey are the top players in “The Killer Wore a Badge,” Columbia, which Jules Schermer is producing, with Richard Quine directing. “Gunslinger,” Columbia, Technicolor, has lllllflllllllllllllllllllllllllllllMIIMIIMIIIIIIIIIIIIlll THIS WEEK IN PRODUCTION: STARTED (4) COLUMBIA Killer Wore a Badge Gunslinger (Techni- color) COMPLETED (2) RKO Four Desperate Men (Bogeaus; Eastman) SHOOTING (18) COLUMBIA Human Beast Waterfront MGM Brigadoon (Cinema- Scope; Ansco color) Student Prince (Cinema- Scope; Ansco color) Bride for Seven Brothers (CinemaScope; Eastman color) Beau Brummell (East- man color) PARAMOUNT Rear Window (Techni- color) Bridges at Toko-Ri (Eastman color) RKO Big Rainbow (Techni- color) Susan Slept Here (Technicolor) 20TH-FOX Gambler from Natchez (Panoramic Prod.; Technicolor) U-l Dawn at Socorro (Technicolor) WARNER High and Mighty ( Wayne-Fellows CinemaScope; WarnerColor) REPUBLIC Tovor (Dudley Prod.) 20TH-FOX Garden of Evil ( CinemaScope; Technicolor) Raid (Panoramic Prod.; Technicolor) U-l Black Shield of Falworth ( CinemaScope; Technicolor) Sign of the Pagan ( CinemaScope; Technicolor) WARNER Lucky Me (Cinema- Scope; WarnerColor) Star Is Born (Cinema- Scope: WarnerColor) Talisman (Cinema- Scope; WarnerColor) lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll Dana Andrews, Donna Reed and Dianne Foster in lead roles. Harry Joe Brown is producing, with A1 Werker directing. “The Gambler from Natchez,” Techni- color, is being produced by Leonard Gold- stein, head of Panoramic Productions, for 20th Century-Fox release. It has Dale Robertson, Debra Paget, Kevin McCarthy and Thomas Gomez in the cast directed by Henry Levin. “Dawn at Socorro,” Technicolor, was started by Universal-International, William Alland producing, and with George Sherman directing a cast that includes Rory Calhoun, Piper Laurie, David Brian, Rita Gam, George Dolenz and, among others, the provocatively publicized Sara Shane. Cooper to Do "Boone" HOLLYWOOD: With Gary Cooper star- ring in the title role, “Daniel Boone,” a picture based on the career of the famous American frontiersman, will be produced by Milton Sperling’s United States Pictures for Warner Bros., it has been announced by Jack L. Warner. The adventure drama will be produced in CinemaScope and color. 24 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 23, 1954 Senate Unit To Decide on Film Study WASHINGTON : The Senate Small Busi- ness Committee probably will decide in the next week or 10 days whether it should continue to keep an eye on film industry trade practices. Committee officials said last week they thought most members would feel the Committee already had devoted enough time to the industry and that Committee energies should now be turned to other fields. A sub-committee headed by Sen. Schoep- pel (R., Kans.) held hearings last year on trade practices and submitted a report in August. Last fall it asked the Justice De- partment for a progress report on sub-com- mittee recommendations, and last week Sen. Schoeppel released the Department’s answer. Asked whether this wound up the sub- committee’s work in the film field, Sen. Schoeppel said the committee's agenda for the coming year would be mapped out at a meeting in the near future and that he would not predict in advance what decision would be made. Justice Department officials expressed pleasure that Sen. Schoeppel had finally released the Department’s stand. They said they felt the letter set forth in detail for the first time the Department’s views on pre- release practices, and that the distributors should be in a position of knowing these views. One department official summarized the the department’s stand as follows: The De- partment feels that obviously all pre-releases are not illegal, as argued by some exhibitors ; but on the other hand, it wants to serve notice that the distributors might be open- ing themselves to new anti-trust action if they extend the pre-release practice too widely. Nevertheless, Abram F. Myers, Allied States general counsel, declared that the letter “does nothing to dissipate the fog that is slowly enveloping Washington.” Mr. Myers said that from the letter, “I do not know whether the Department of Justice thinks pre-releases are unlawful or not. I cannot get disturbed about the letter because it apparently doesn’t say anything or mean anything.” Chicago Tax Collections Show December Increase CHICAGO : Chicago’s amusement tax figures, released this week, show $1,118,039 taken during 1953, as against $1,044,414 during 1952. December theatre collections show $108,789, against $95,987 in the same month of 1952. Fewer theatres operated in 1953; so the conclusion of city reporters is that the increase is the result of higher prices for CinemaScope, 3-D, Cinerama, and greater attendance and/or higher prices be- cause of a great number of popular pictures. Goldwyn's "Best Years" in Big Washington Premiere An invitational black-tie opening of Sam- uel Goldwyn’s reissued RKO Radio release, “The Best Years of Our Lives” will bring out the highest level government and diplo- matic personalities at its Washington open- ing, February 3, in the Keith’s Theatre. The White Ffouse Correspondents’ Association is sponsoring. At least two of the film’s stars, Teresa Wright and Flarold Russel, are ex- pected to attend. Some of those who have accepted invitations are Secretary of the Treasury George C. Flumphrey, Defense Secretary Charles E. Wilson, Governor Sherman Adams, Associate Supreme Court Justices Sherman Minton, Stanley Reed, William Douglas ; Speaker of the Ffouse Joseph W. Martin, Jr., Minority Leader Sam Rayburn, and many others. Tax Revenue Reported Off WASHINGTON : Federal general admis- sion tax collections from July through November, 1953, ran about 7.4 per cent be- hind the like 1952 period, The Internal Revenue Service has reported. The figures are not strictly comparable, however, due to a switch in July, 1953, from a monthly to a quarterly reporting require- The Service said that in the fiscal year which started July 1, general admission tax collections through November amounted to $135,887,000, compared to $146,669,000 in the earlier year. November, 1953, collections amounted to $55,073,000, compared to $25,007,000 in November 1952, the Service said. However, this comnarisnn is cnmoletelv meaningless, since very large amounts were reported in November this year which actually were collected in August, September and October. In 1952, reporting was on a monthly basis. Columbia Executives Use Stock Options WASHINGTON : Columbia Pictures ex- ecutives have exercised common stock op- tions under which a total of 34,735 shares were issued by the company, the Securi- ties and Exchange Commission has been informed. Columbia reported that during the month of December, common stock under option agreements went to A. Schneider, vice- president and treasurer ; A. Montague, vice-president; Joseph A. McConville, vice- president ; and Irving Briskin, production executive. The company reported that as of De- cember 31, 1953, before giving effect to the 2 y2 per cent common stock dividend payable January 19, there were 740,948 shares outstanding. The payment of the stock dividend, it was added, will bring the number of outstanding shares to 759,472, which compares with 688,988 shares out- standing as of June 27, 1953. See Merger Of Universal And Decca Reports were circulated in New York this week that a merger of Universal Pictures with Decca Records will be proposed and adopted at the annual meeting of Universal stockholders in March as Decca last Friday offered 145,842 shares of its stock in ex- change for Universal stock in ratio of two shares of Decca for one of Universal. If the full tenders of Universal stock are received, the additional 72,921 shares which Decca would then hold would give it 66.88 per cent of the 1,006,260 shares of Universal common outstanding. Inasmuch as a merger of Universal with Decca must be approved by 66j^ per cent of the outstanding stock Decca would be in a position to approve the merger without support from any other stockholders. As of December 31 Decca owned 600,075 shares of Universal common, or 59.6 per cent. The offer to exchange the 145,842 shares of Decca’s authorized but unissued capital stock for Universal's common at a two-for-one ratio will expire February 8. Tenders received until January 27, Decca said, if calling for more Decca stock than is available, will be pro-rated and no tenders will be accepted thereafter. If tenders received to January 27 do not call for more Decca stock than is available, all will be accepted and tenders received thereafter will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis, Decca said. Guaranty Trust Company is the exchange agent. Universal common, which has been in good demand on the New York Stock Ex- change for many weeks, is selling at 19 and a fraction per share. Decca is selling at 10 and a fraction. Will Defy Ad Code on U.A. "Act of Love" The text of a letter written to Eric Johnston, president of the Motion Picture Association of America, has been made pub- lic by Max Youngstein, United Artists vice-president, in which he charged that the industry Advertising Code Adminis- tration has unfairly discriminated against the company in disapproving advertising material for Benagoss Productions’ “Act of Love.” The picture has been granted a Production Code seal but some of its ad- vertising material prepared for the film has been rejected. Myer Beck, representative of Benagoss, said the company is “taking an official position of defying the Advertising Code Administration’s position on several of its ads.” Mr. Youngstein’s letter to Mr. Johnston expressed the opinion that “a dif- ferent yardstick is being used with respect to our (U.A.’s) advertising than is being applied to other companies.” The letter pro- ceeds to cite examples of approved adver- tising alleged to be in the same vein as that disapproved for "Act of Love.” MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 23, 1954 25 f~^eopie in ^Jhe tyjews iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimimimiiiiiiiiiiiii Myer P. Beck has concluded an agreement to represent the newly-formed Stanley Kramer Pictures Corp. as eastern pub- licity and advertising director, it was an- nounced by Stanley Kramer. Mort Blumenstock, Warner Bros, adver- tising and publicity vice-president, arrived in New York from the coast last weekend for home offices conferences on forthcom- ing product. Edward C. Dowden, assistant to Ernest Emerling, advertising and publicity di- rector of Loew’s Theatres, has been made a member of the Society of Silurians, an honorary newspaper society. Harnett Shapiro, head of Allied Artists studio legal department, for the past 10 years, has resigned to accept a post with Hecht-Lancaster Productions. Drive-in Men Meet Feb . 2 Approximately 250 drive-in operators al- ready have registered for the first conven- tion of the National Allied Drive-in Theatre Association scheduled for the Netherlands Plaza Hotel, Cincinnati, Febuary 2-4, ac- cording to Wilbur Snaper, Allied president. Ruben Shor, of Cincinnati, and Robert Wile, of Columbus, are co-chairmen of the convention, which is being held concurrent with the annual convention of the Indepen- dent Theatre Owners of Ohio, of which group Mr. Wile is secretary. It is planned to devote a full day to a discussion of film problems and another day to a symposium on equipment. It is under- stood that space for equipment exhibits has been sold out. Other topics on the agenda are new methods of operation, advertising methods adapted to the present market, trade practices as they apply to booking, buying, availability, prints and clearances ; advanced techniques in concession management and ways to increase box office receipts. Among the speakers will be Herbert Barnett, presi- dent of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineeers. Following the convention, the Allied board will hold its annual meeting, Feb- ruary 5 and 6. Buffalo Variety Heart Award to Marvin Jacobs Marvin Jacobs received a special Heart Award from the Buffalo Variety, Tent 7, last week in that city. The award was a highlight of installation ceremonies at the Hotel Statler. The new officers are Billy Keaton, chief barker ; Mr. Jacobs, first as- George Schwartz, executive officer for the past 10 years of the Goldwurm-Schwartz organization, theatre operators, has re- signed. He will announce his plans shortly. Otis W. Murray has been named vice- president of Pathe Laboratories’ west coast plant. He was formerly vice-presi- dent and general manager of Color Cor- poration of America. L. E. Cooley, Sr., veteran in screen manu- facturing, has joined the Raystone Screen Corp. as midwest representative. Herbert T. Blass, former salesman for Warner Bros, in Minneapolis, has been promoted to branch manager in Des Moines. He replaces Leon Mendelson, resigned. sistant ; Arthur Krolick, second assistant ; Robert Hayman, dough guy; W. E. J. Martin, secretary. New directors are Harry L. Berkson, Robert Boasberg, David Cheskin, Jack Chinell, Ben L. Kulick, and Manford Pickrell. Myron Gross was ar- rangements committee chairman, assisted by Dewey Michaels, Murray Whiteman, David Miller, and Mr. Chinell. Name Spyros S. Skouras Brotherhood Chairman Spyros S. Skouras, executive vice-presi- dent of the Skouras Theatres Corp., has accepted the chairmanship of the National Exhibitors Committee for the motion pic- ture industry’s 1954 Brotherhood Week campaign, it was announced this week by Emanuel Frisch, national chairman of the film industry drive. The motion picture in- dustry campaign will be highlighted by a Brotherhood Dinner at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel Thursday evening, February 4. Brotherhood Week, sponsored by the Na- tional Conference, will be observed from Feb. 21 to Feb. 28 under the slogan of “Let’s Get Together for Brotherhood.’’ Producer Nat Holt Leaves Paramount Nat Holt, whose company produced nine pictures the past three years for Paramount release, is leaving the studio. He said last week: “I feel that I would like to develop my production plans along other lines. It will give me a greater opportunity to study more carefully the present trends in our business.” The company said in a statement Mr. Holt’s record was good, his pictures an asset, and that all had made money. It added it was agreeing with reluctance to Mr. Holt’s cancellation of contract, which called for two more pictures. Will Direct Crusade for Freedom Barney Balaban, president of Paramount Pictures, is New York State chairman of the Crusade for Freedom. He will direct the county cam- pa i g n volunteeers for financing o f Radio Free Europe, which broadcasts to Eastern Europe. The programs are produced and de- livered by exiles from that territory. These are educators, diplomats, journal- ists, artists. National Crusade chairman H e nr y Ford II said of Mr. Balaban’s appointment : “Now, through the Crusade for Freedom and Radio Free Europe each of us can take a personal part in countering Communist tyranny with the most powerful weapon at our command — truth.” Mr. Balaban was a founder of the Amer- ican Heritage Foundation, of which the Crusade is a project. He also organized the “Freedom Train” which toured the country during 1948 and 1949. He has a long rec- ord of participation in varied philanthropic endeavors in and of the motion picture in- dustry, and has been cited for such activity on many occasions. Universal Files Contracts For Feldman, Walsh WASHINGTON : The new five-year con- tract of Charles J. Feldman, vice-president and general domestic sales manager of Uni- versal Pictures, calls for a weekly salary of $1,350 for the first year, according to a company report to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Eugene F. Walsh, vice-president and treasurer, under his new three-year contract which went into effect Nov. 1, 1953, will receive $800 weekly for the first year, $900 the second year, and $1,000 the third. Thereafter, according to the contract, Mr. Walsh agrees to render his services in a consultative capacity for a period of five years, beginning Nov. 1, 1956, when he will be paid $9,360 per year, payable at $180 per week. Cleveland Exhibitor Unit Reelects Schwartz The Cleveland Motion Picture Exhibitors Association has reelected Ernest Schwartz president, secretary and general manager. This will be his 20th year in that position. Also reelected by acclamation were Ted Vermes, treasurer, and all directors. The meeting was preceded by a luncheon. 26 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 23, 1954 ALBANY Freezing weather and heavy snow ad- versely affected grosses in the northern New York zone and in the more immediate Albany area. However, there were excep- tions. The Strand, for instance, did surpris- ing business with “His Majesty O’Keefe,’’ after enjoying such a big week with "Hon- do” that the 3-D release was moved to the Ritz. . . . There are now 22 CinemaScope installations in the exchange territory. . . . Fabian, which equipped one house each in Albany, Schenectady and Troy, may add the Cohoes in Cohoes to the list. Total for that circuit is approximately 18. . . . The chain's Grand in Albany is to have a new wide screen. . . . Visitors included: Martin Moskowitz, Empire State division manager for 20th Century-Fox; Louis W. Schine, Schine Circuit; Gus Lampe and William Graham, Schine Hotels; Sid Kulick, Bell Film Exchange, New York. . . . Unfavor- able weather held the attendance to ap- proximately 1450 for the two nights of the Eastern Intersectional AAU boxing championships, but the V ariety Club made a profit for its Camp Thacher. ATLANTA Jim Wilbanks, formerly with major ex- changes in Atlanta, was in for a visit with friends. . . . Jack Lancaster, son of Mrs. Rose Lancaster, Astor Pictures, is back home after four years in the Marine Corps in Florida. . . . It’s a happy birthday to President Arthur C. Bromberg of Mono- gram Southern Exchanges. . . . Jack Covel, president, Crown Pictures, Hollywood, was in for a visit with President Ed Stevens, Stevens Pictures. . . . R. G. Kranze, United Artists general manager, is back in the home office after a vacation spent in Florida. . . . The Varsity drive-in, Tuscaloosa, Ala., will only open Friday, Saturday and Sun- day until spring. . . . Walter Morris, theatre owner, Knoxville, Tenn., is back there after spending a vacation in Charlotte, N. C., where he was formerly manager of the Broadway theatre. . . . Wallace Smith, for- mer manager of the Brookhaven theatre, Brookhaven, Ga., was in with friends. . . . Sam and Morris Gaspin have purchased several lots in Savannah, Ga., for a new drive-in. BOSTON Despite the worst snowstorm of the season, with drifts piled high on the city streets, “His Majesty O’Keefe,” playing the only new first run program downtown, did a fabulous business at the twin Paramount and Fenway theatres. It played two weeks. . . . Joan Fontaine and her husband Collier Young, star and producer, respectively, of “The Bigamist,” arrived in town for press and radio interviews. The film opened Jan- uary 22 at the Paramount and Fenway theatres. . . . Harold Wiesenthal of Arlan Pictures made a rush visit from New York to huddle with his New England representa- tive, Joe Levine, of Embassy Pictures. . . . The Boston Globe is sponsoring its own promotion on “Hamlet,” set for a return engagement at the Kenmore theatre. The daily paper has set up a screening for 450 high school editors in Greater Boston and is offering cash prizes for the best reviews of the film. BUFFALO Welden Waters has been transferred from the Wheeling, W. Va. office of the Dipson Theatres circuit to the home office in Bata- via, N. Y. to assist in buying and booking. . . . Richard T. Kemper, zone manager, Dipson Theatres and resident manager, Erlanger, Buffalo, has been elected vice- commodore of the Buffalo Launch Club. . . . The FCC has refused to let WBUF-TV in- tervene in hearings on proposed assignment of Channel 2 in Buffalo. WBUF-TV had claimed that it faced serious economic harm from early action on Channel 2. . . . In spite of the fact that both are over 20 years old, the dual bill at the Paramount — “Public Enemy” and “Little Caesar” — attracted the first long line at the box office in many, WHEN AMD WHERE January 27: Mid-winter convention and board meeting, Virginia Motion Picture Theatre Association, Jefferson Hotel, Richmond. February 2-4: National Allied Drive-in Thea- tre Association convention, Netherlands- Plaza Hotel, Cincinnati, Ohio February 2-4: Annual meeting, Independent Theatre Owners of Ohio, Netherlands- Plaza Hotel, Cincinnati, Ohio. February 5-6: National Allied board meet- ing, Netherlands-Plaza Hotel, Cincinnati. March 9-10: Annual convention, Allied Theatre Owners of Oklahoma, Biltmore Hotel, Oklahoma City. March 28-30: Annual convention, Allied Theatre Owners of Gulf States, Edge- water Gulf Hotel, Edgewater Park, Miss. April 6-8 : Annual convention, Allied Inde- pendent Theatre Owners of Wisconsin, Hotel Shroeder, Milwaukee. May 2-7: Semi-annual convention, Society of Motion Picture and Television Engi- neers, Statler Hotel, Washington, D. C. June 15-16: Annual spring meeting, Allied Theatre Owners of Indiana, South Shore Hotel, Lake Wawasee, Ind. many moons — on opening day and continued to do outstanding business all week. . . . The next CinemaScope attraction in the Buffalo Center will be “The Command,” the first WB production in the new projection process. . . . Sylvania Electric Products, Inc., intends to place a sampling of color television sets produced in Buffalo in the hands of distributors by March. . . . George Jessel made a big hit as MC at the annual March of Dimes sports dinner in the Hotel Statler the other evening. CHICAGO Tom Sullivan, executive vice-president of the International Popcorn Association, became the father of his fifth child, and fourth girl, last week. . . . Van A. Nomikos, Chicago exhibitor and vice-president of Al- lied Theatres of Illinois, will act as chair- man of the Panegyous, a Greek celebration, at the Civic Opera House Jan. 26. The event is sponsored by Queen Frederika of Greece. . . . Ben Levy, formerly on the staff at Eitel’s Palace, has moved to the B. & K. State Lake. . . . Charles H. Percy, Bell and Howell vice-president, has been chosen state chairman of Brotherhood Week under the auspices of the National Con- ference of Christians and Jews. . . . Chicago will be the hub of motion picture publicity and public relations during the next few weeks, with James Stewart, Guy Madison, and other film personalities here to plug their latest pictures. CINCINNATI First run showings continue to be the rule in the local suburbans, with MGM’s “Julius Caesar” in its third consecutive week at the Hyde Park Art theatre, operated by Vance Schwartz of Distinctive Theatres, Inc. On occasion, some of the newspaper advertising by suburban theatres equals, if not exceeds, the display lineage used by the first runs. . . . Eugene Tunick, until recently operating the Tunick Releas- ing Co. and formerly manager for the Lip- pert and other branches, has given up the motion picture industry and now is asso- ciated with a local travel service organiza- tion. . . . Charles Bower, manager of the Chakeres Fairbanks, in Springfield, Ohio, has been named assistant to Jack Frazer, manager of the Gloria theatre, in Urbana, Ohio, a Chakeres unit. Perry Shinas, of the Fairbanks, has been appointed manager of that house to fill the vacancy caused by the transfer. . . . M. K. Murphy, of Cumber- land, Ky., has taken over the operation of the Corlee theatre there, formerly operated by L. P. Corder, who will continue with the Cumberland Drive-in theatre. CLEVELAND Irwin Pollard, Republic branch manager here the past five years, has resigned and is succeeded by Jules Livingston, former {Continued on following page ) MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 23, 1954 27 ( Continued from preceding page) local Republic salesman and more recently manager of the company’s branches in New Haven and St. Louis. . . . Harold Minsky, Paramount division manager, held a 2-day branch sales meeting here involving sales- men and bookers. . . . Harry Buxbaum, Paramount branch manager, is named dis- tributor chairman for Brotherhood Week in this area. . . . Horace Adams, drive-in cir- cuit owner, is negotiating for the purchase of the Bay Meadows Jockey Club of San Mateo, Calif. . . . John Selby, Selby Indus- tries, Inc., announces his company is mak- ing a new type tilted, curved towers for drive-ins and also steel beams to widen existing towers. . . . Ernest Schwartz was elected president of the Cleveland Motion Picture Exhibitors Asociation for the 20th succesive year at the annual meeting held this week. Also re-elected by acclamation were Ted Vermes, treasurer and all board members. . . . Earl Scherftius, resigned man- ager of the Blue Water drive-in, Port Huron, Mich., a unit of the Herbert Ochs circuit, is now taking his master degree in city management at the University of Ken- tucky in Lexington. COLUMBUS Robert Wile, secretary of the Independent Theatre Owners of Ohio, announced that the association has withdrawn its protest against increased film carrier rates charged by Leonard Albrecht and E. S. Johnson in the Cleveland exchange area. However, the association will press its objections to upped rates now being charged by Film Transit Co. of Cleveland, Wile said. . . . Nat Wolfe of Cleveland purchased the Columbia, Portsmouth, Ohio, from, Stanley Warner Theatres, operators of the Laroy and Lyric. James Tracy will continue as manager of the Columbia. . . . Local theatre and radio circles were shocked by the death of Joe Dobbins, 37, in a plane crash near Knights- town, Indiana. Dobbins, who conducted a disc jockey show over WCOL, was well- known in entertainment circles here. Dur- ing the war he served with the public rela- tions division of Fifth Service Command Headquarters and was personal announcer for Red Skelton on a war bond drive. DENVER Norman Probstein, owner of the New State, and Nancy Miller, Denver, were married, and will make their home in St. Louis, where Probstein is vice-president of the Congress hotel. . . . George McCool, United Artists booker and office manager, is not only celebrating his 46th year in the film business, but also his 20th year with United Artists, 14 of them here under seven branch managers. . . . Mrs. Otto Wedden- feld has bought the Zala, Madrid, Neb., from the E. J. Tuey estate. . . . Allied Rocky Mountain Independent Theatres has sched- uled a directors’ meeting for Jan. 27. . . . C. L. Robinette, 20th-Fox salesman, resigned and left for New York to confer with an- other company concerning an assignment. . . . Vic Love, United Film representative, is opening an advertising agency, specializ- ing in motion picture and television accounts. He will publicize the five Lee drive-ins in the state. . . . Robt. Demshki, Longmont, Colo., city manager for Fox Inter-Mountain Theatres, and Sharon Feldman, cashier at the Denver, will be married this summer, they have announced. RETIREMENT -AFTER 49 YEARS BOSTON: After 49 years in the theatre industry in New England, Joe Cifre is re- tiring. As of January I, he has sold his business to his three employees, Dave Fox, Art Porter and Mack Paul and by the end of the month he and Mrs. Cifre will be settled permanently in Coral Gables, Florida. His career began in 1904 when he worked in his father's Nickelodeon in Boston. In 1911 he joined Local 182 and is still a member. In 1935 he organized his own independent theatre equipment com- pany, Joe Cifre, Inc., and took over the New England franchise for Motiograph projectors and equipment. He is a past chief barker of the Variety Club of New England and is well known for his many charitable endeavors. He is one of the founders of the Jimmy Fund and the Movies-for-Shut-ins and has played an im- portant part in many extra-curricular charity activities. The Variety Club of New England honored him at a farewell party Sunday evening. JOE CIFRE, at a 1949 testimonial marking his many charitable activities. DES MOINES Mrs. Mattie Lou Canender-Miller of Greeley, Colo., mother of the late Glenn Miller, was among the guests of Clarinda at the Glenn Miller day there last week. . . . Notice of a merger between the Marshall- town Theatre Corp. and the Singer Water- loo Corp. of Waterloo has been filed. The new company will be called the Davenport Orpheum, Inc. . . . Bev Mahon, owner of the Holland theatre at Pella, was host to the Rotary club at a showing of “The Gift.” . . . James N. Greene, formerly of Mason City, has been named manager of the Prin- cess at Eagle Grove. The Princess is a Central State house. . . . The Colonial thea- tre at Hamburg has reopened following a period of extensive remodeling. Improve- ments include a wide screen, new seats, a cry room and new rest rooms. . . . Also re- opened is the Sidney Theatre at Sidney. . . . The mayor and city council of Clinton have made history in this day of high taxes by deliberately cutting one form of taxation. The city formerly had a tax of 13 cents a seat on theatres there. The tax annually yielded $291.98 from Clinton’s three houses, the Capitol, Rialto and Lyons. Under a new tax schedule, the three theatres now pay only $200 in city seat taxes. DETROIT Charles Dietz, MGM publicist, did the marquee at the Adams for “Knights of the Round Table” — translucent white letters on a black background, lit from behind and surrounded by rows of flashing bulbs. . . . Sidney Moss, who built the Van Dyke and leased it to Midwest for the last ten years, has picked up the lease and will operate it himself. . . . The Michigan will show the first western CinemaScope, “The Command,” opening January 29. . . . The Cinema, sched- uled to open with art pictures the first of the year, is still dark. . . . Efforts of Allied in the direction of admission tax repeal have been augmented by the Roller Skating Rink- Operators. . . . "The Little Fugitive” will be handled locally by Allied Film Exchange. . . . Thomas Smale, Van Dyke projectionist, has been re-installed Worshipful Master of the Daylight Lodge F & A M. . . . Ralph Boudreau is leaving the Family theatre for a four month stay in St. Petersburg. HARTFORD Connecticut Police Commissioner John C. Kelly has approved the erection of a drive- in theatre at Watertown. In notices received by concerned parties, the Commissioner said lie has found Fred Quatrano, the applicant, who is associated with John Sirica, Water- bury theatre operator, in the venture, a suit- able person to operate the project and the location "a suitable place to operate a mov- ing picture machine.” . . . Morris Keppner and Louis Lipman of Hartford, building their first drive-in theatre, a $125,000 pro- ject, at Mansfield, plan an early Spring completion. The theatre will have capacity for 750 cars. . . . James Biondi, of the Universal-International exploitation staff, has returned to New York from Hartford. . . . William Moore has resigned as assistant manager of the E. M. Loew’s theatre, Hart- ford. . . . Hugh J. Campbell of the Central theatre, West Hartford, and Mrs. Campbell have returned from a vacation at Orlando Beach, Fla. While passing through Daytona Beach, they met A1 Schuman, formerly gen- eral manager, Hartford Theatre Circuit, and Mrs. Schuman. INDIANAPOLIS Two New Year’s week starters, “Hondo” at Keith’s and "Knights of the Round Table” at Loew’s, still are going strong here. . . . The success of “Hondo” in 3-D has revived exhibitor interest in that medium. . . . Bar- ney Brager, Republic branch manager, has returned from a sales meeting in Washing- ton. . . . A1 Thompson, North Vernon ex- hibitor, is vacationing in Florida with his family. . . . Trueman Rembusch is installing CinemaScope in Syndicate Theatre towns. ( Continued, on opposite page) 28 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 23, 1954 ( Continued from opposite page ) . . . Marlene Wright has replaced Jane Breeden, resigned, as contract clerk at Warner Brothers. . . . Dean Brown, man- ager of the Lyric, reports his new policy of playing a hillbilly stage show in place of the second feature Sundays is paying off. JACKSONVILLE Fred Hull, Metro branch manager, to- gether with Charlie Turner, salesman, and Tommy Harper, exploiteer, journeyed to Miami for the multiple first-run openings of "Easy To Love,” Esther Williams’ new- est starring vehicle, filmed at Florida’s watery Cypress Gardens. . . . Sam Strathos, Jefferson theatre owner, Monticello, visited R. Cam Price, RKO branch manager. . . . Roy L. Bangs, new owner of the Florida theatre, Daytona Beach, called on Film Row for bookings. He formerly owned the Mu- nicipal theatre in Starke. . . . The resigna- tion of Guy A. Kenimer, general manager, Florida State Theatres, was announced by Leon D. Netter, Sr., company president. Ending an active and distinguished career of 35 years in Florida show business, Mr. Kenimer “will continue to be available in an advisory capacity.” . . . Frank Bell, dis- trict manager in St. Petersburg for Florida State Theatres, was here on business. James L. Cartwight, FST district manager in Day- tona Beach, was another visitor on Film Row. . . . Herbert Roller, manager, Ritz theatre, Sanford, was seen about town. KANSAS CITY Stanley Durwood, general manager of Durwood Theatres, was elected president of the Motion Picture Association of Greater Kansas City, at the board meeting January 11. Louis Patz, division manager, National Screen, was elected first vice-president ; Robert Shelton, general manager of Com- monwealth Theatres, second vice-president. Reelected were William Gaddoni, MGM branch manager, secretary, and Ed Hart- man, buying and booking agency owner, treasurer. . . . Elmer C. Rhoden, Jr., for several years film buyer for Commonwealth Theatres, has been given the newly created position of publicity and public relations director with the theatres. Lloyd Morris, long-time Commonwealther, for several years manager of the western division of the circuit, becomes film buyer. . . . “Knights of the Round Table” is in its fourth week at the Midland — and near an all-time record for this theatre. . . . Harold Lyon, manager of the Paramount went to Des Moines for a Tri-State meeting — the Kansas City Para- mount is a Tri-State theatre. . . . “Julius Caesar” started at the Kirno January 15. . . . “Captain's Paradise” continues at the Vogue. . . . Two drive-ins continue, week- ends— the Boulevard and the Heart, both at the edge of Greater Kansas City — east and west. LOS ANGELES The father of Bill Little, manager of the Examiner Theatre Directory, passed on. . . . Bob Benton, Sero Enterprises, back from a trip to San Francisco. . . . Jack Goldman of the Aero, Santa Monica, and his wife were in Palm Springs enjoying the desert sun. . . . Sid Linden, Rosener Theatres, was on the Row. . . . Harry Kramer, Film Row news vendor for many years, died. . . . The Allied Artists branch has under-gone a cleaning and painting job to start off the new year. . . . Jim Hollis, booker for the Western Amusement Co., was nursing in- juries sustained in a traffic accident at Hollywood and Vine. . . . Southland visitors included Ben Stein, owner of the Rockne theatre in Chicago, and Leo Miner of the Miner Amusement Co., of Wisconsin. . . . Phyllis Weeks, Warner Bros, biller, re- turned to her desk after being ill with the virus infection. . . . The Film Row Club Board of Directors met in the Variety Club Rooms to plan a slate of new officers for the new term. . . . George Tripp, Warner Bros, salesman, off to San Diego on a business jaunt. MEMPHIS Construction work will start immediately on the Variety Club’s Home for Convales- cent Children in Memphis, M. H. Brandon, Sr., president of Memphis Variety, announ- ced. The club and Children’s Heart Asso- ciation, has $62,000 on hand, $16,000 in pledges for the work. The one-story, 20-bed hospital for young rheumatic fever patients will be in operation by early summer. . . . M. A. Lightman, Sr., will be president of the new home. . . . “Miss Sadie Thompson,” banned in Memphis by censors, is enjoying good crowds at Avon theatre and Sunset drive-in, both just across the Mississippi river from Memphis, in Arkansas. The pic- ture opened there last week-end for simul- taneous runs. The mayor of West Memphis welcomed the picture to town. Memphis newspapers reviewed it as they do all Mem- phis first runs. Memphis newspapers ad- vertised it extensively and good business followed. . . . The picture had originally been booked at Malco in Memphis before it was banned. Malco Theatres, Inc., own Avon in West Memphis. MIAMI The death, on the eve of her 93d birth- day of Mrs. Emma Meyer, brought the com- munity’s sympathy to her son, Sidney Meyer, co-owner of Wometco and WTVJ. The family requested memoriam contributions to charity in place of floral offerings. Pall hearers were Mitchell Wolfson, Sonny Shepherd, Stanley Stern, Mayer Spencer, O. Phillip Wolfson and Frank Rubel. . . . Ralph Puckhaber, manager of the Florida, where a fire of undetermined origin felled three firemen, had high praise for his staff and the fire department. The alacrity of his assistant, David Payne, and staff in report- ing the blaze and the use of fire department auxiliary exhaust equipment, in removing the dense smoke, kept all but a few of the patrons unaware of the fire. As the theatre is • on the main thoroughfare, a crowd of about 3000 gathered in the street during the excitement. . . . The Lord Tarleton Hotel was almost an annex of Hollywood recently, when the VIP’s, in town for the world premiere of “The Glenn Miller Story,” stopped there. MILWAUKEE The Oriental and Tower, owned by the Orto Theatres, are installing CinemaScope. Their booths will be completely reinstalled with the new equipment leaving nothing left of the old equipment. “The Robe” is booked for their first CinemaScope picture. . . . The Avalon and Fox Bay theatres are also in- stalling CinemaScope, as are the Garfield, Majestic, Uptown and Paradise theatres. These eight neighborhood houses are the first to put in CinemaScope here. All eight were to play “The Robe” January 22. . . . F. J. McWilliams, Portage, left for his win- ter vacation in Florida in December. . . . Jack Lorentz is recuperating nicely after minor surgery. . . . Larry Seidelman, sales- man at Republic Pictures here, has been pro- moted to branch manager in Omaha. . . . Oliver Trampe visited Iron Mountain, Mich., this week at the Martin Thomas Theatres. MINNEAPOLIS Herbert Blass, former salesman in south- ern Minnesota for Warners, has been pro- moted to Warner branch manager in Des Moines. . . . Mayme Navratil, operator of the theatre at New Effington, S. D., is clos- ing the house for the month of February and will vacation in California. . . . The benefit telecast for cerebral palsy at the State thea- tre, originally scheduled for Feb. 13, has been postponed until March 6. . . . Sidney Deneau, home office representative, con- ducted a Paramount branch sales meeting. Harold Stevens, Paramount branch manager in Chicago, represented Jim Donohue, Cen- tral division manager, at the meeting. Future releases and general sales policies were discussed. . . . CinemaScope equipment and stereophonic sound have been installed in the Star at Jamestown, N. D. operated by Burr Cline, and the Dakota at Bismarck, N. I)., operated by the Welworth circuit. . . . Police are investigating a break-in at the Rochester drive-in, Rochester, Minn., believed to have been committed by juveniles. NEW ORLEANS Rev. Father Digby will be the guest speaker at the WOMPI’s February luncheon meet, advised the recently named publicity chairman, Abby M. Coguenham. . . . Floyd Murphy, owner of the Strand, Vicksburg, said they expect to resume operations in about 30 days. The damages by the tor- nado were not as bad as first believed. The walls weren’t affected. However, debris from other buildings plummeted through the roof in many places. . . . A. L. Royal’s Royal, Meridian, Miss., is being equipped for Cine- maScope. The initial presentation will be "The Robe” Feb. 10. Tri-State of Mem- phis handled the sales. . . . Lucas Conner, Warner manager, was appointed regional chairman of “Brotherhood Week” Fund division. C. J. Briant, MGM, branch man- ager, was elected president of the Commu- nity Chest at a recent local Chest board meet- ing. . . . Rod Armand, Hollywood producer, was here to confer with Joy N. Houck, president Joy’s Theatres. Howco Produc- tions and Western Adventure Pictures, Inc. . . . Claude Bourgeois, U. A. salesman, is back in swing again after two weeks’ spinal ailment. OKLAHOMA CITY “The Robe” is now in the third week at the Vaska theatre, in Lawton, Oklahoma. . . . The Lakeside theatre, a suburban theatre in Oklahoma City, has installed a new Cine- maScope screen. . . . The Plaza theatre is now showing "Hamlet.” Regular admission price is 75 cents, with special discounts for students. . . . “King of the Khyber Rifles” starts Saturday at the Criterion theatre. . . . Morris Loewenstein, president of Theatre Owners of Oklahoma, spokesman for Okla- homa movie exhibitors, thinks State Rep. Glen C. Collins’ suggestion for state cen- ( Continued on following page ) MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 23, 1954 29 ( Continued from preceding page) sorship of motion pictures is “unnecessary and premature.” He made the statement after learning Collins had told the Legisla- tive Council there should be a law against showing "morally low, lewd and obscene movies.” “State censorship only garbles and confuses the situation” Loewenstein said. OMAHA Merchants at Lyons, Neb., arranged with exhibitor Charles Thoene to present 12 free shows on consecutive Saturday afternoons open to everyone as an attraction for resi- dents in the trade territory. . . . Dane Clark, cast as Abe Saperstein of the Harlem Globe Trotters in “Go Man Go,” and Owner Sap- erstein visited Omaha and Lincoln in con- nection with United Artists’ saturation book- ing at nearly 200 situations in this territory. . . . Roy Casey, ex-20th-Fox cashier who went to Seattle and then Portland in the same capacity, was at his old desk in Omaha last week filling in for Dorothy Weaver, who underwent an operation. Fox officials learned he was vacationing in near-by Cher- okee, la., and prevailed upon him to help out. . . . Exhibitors from 229 theatres in the territory signed up in the COMPO drive, chairman Don McLucas announced. He termed it a good showing, compared with 256 last year, when more theatres were operating. PHILADELPHIA David A. Milgram lost the lease on the Garden, West Chester, Pa. With the Mil- gram Circuit giving up the house, it will be renamed the New Harrison and will be op- erated by Iz Segall. . . . Norman Gaskill, Columbia booker, succeeds Harvey Schwartz, who resigned as office manager of the local exchange. . . . Eleven-month reports in Reading, Pa., show that amusements ticket taxes, chiefly from theatres, reversed the trend of the past several years. Reading City Treasurer said that the 11-month in- come was $130,729, against $128,487 for the same period in 1952. In November, the tax income was $14,541, compared to $10,881 in the same 1952 month. . . . Nick Todorov resigned as manager of the Up- town, Harrisburg, Pa., to go in business for himself, and is replaced by Charles Ru- binsky, brother of Mark Rubinsky, owner of the house. . . . Thomas F. Friday, attorney for the Comerford Theatres, Inc., Scranton, Pa., was re-elected to a three-vear direc- torate term of the Boys’ Club-Big Brother Organization. . . . Cinerama at Boyd dropped the Monday and Tuesday matinees despite the fact that the holiday weeks were the most profitable the attraction has enjoyed since it opened here. . . . Eddie Emanuel, film trade paper executive here, is convalesc- ing in Nassau. PITTSBURGH Rumors persist that the State theatre, Fifth Ave., downtown Pittsburgh, a second- WIDE-ARC SCREEN FRAMES Adjust-A-Curve for any aspect ratio. Exculsive advantages yet costs less! Easy to install, easy to set curve and tilt. Rugged yet light. Investigate! fir si 'American pWw&im 1717 Wyandotte St., Kansas City 8, Mo. run, double-feature house for decades, will soon go first-run to alleviate the serious booking snafu downtown, caused by ex- tended CinemaScope runs and the conver- sion of the Warner, across the street from the State, to Cinerama. . . . Nearby McKees- port gets in the news this week with the reduction of the city’s 10 per cent amuse- ment tax to five per cent under the city’s new Democratic Mayor, Andrew J. Jako- mas. . . . Not even the season’s worst weather has hurt “The Little Fugitive,” “King of the Khyber Rifles” and “Knights of the Round Table,” each rating a fourth week locally. . . . “Miss Sadie Thompson” also got two weeks in the Stanley, with “The Eddie Cantor Story” following the Rita Hayworth opus. . . . “The Best Years of Our Lives” returning to the Fulton where it first opened in 1946. . . . Jerry Smith, assistant Ritz manager, transferred to Loew’s Dayton (O.) theatre, with Dick Purvis replacing Smith at the Ritz. PORTLAND Business continues to be on the upgrade at all first run houses. Regular admission prices have become a novelty here with most spots having CinemaScope or 3-D. . . . 300 business women are to attend a breakfast screening of “Forever Female” next week. . . . National Screen Service’s new local manager, Harry Lewis, is getting settled here now that his family has finally joined him. . . . Evergreen vice-president, William Thedford, here to confer with Oregon dis- trict manager Russ Brown. . . . Ditto J. Walter Bantau of National Theatres in L. A. . . . Paramount branch manager and staff are off to Seattle for regional sales meet. . . . Stereophonic sound and Astrolite screen now installed in the Liberty theatre. . . . Hamrick’s Roxy has installed a wide Magnascopic screen. . . . J. J. Parker’s United Artists also has installed wide screen equipment. . . . Todd Blake, new assistant manager of the Oriental theatre is noted for his fictional writing. . . . Jack Matlack, ex- J. J. Parker Chain executive, has been ap- pointed general manager of the 1954 Home Show. . . . Jack Braxton appointed manager of the Bagdad theatre. PROVIDENCE Going into its second week at the RKO Albee, “Hondo” was drawing good houses. . . . “Beneath the 12-Mile Reef” held for a second week at the Majestic, where it headed an all-CinemaScope program, which included cartoons and “Vesuvius Express.” . . . Alan Ladd in “Paratrooper” drew bet- ter than satisfactory crowds at the Strand. . . . The Avon Cinema, East side art house, has been packing them in since New Year’s Eve with Alec Guinness in “The Captain’s Paradise.” . . . “Ice-Capades,” which drew a total of 101,000 viewers when it played the R. I. Auditorium last winter for 18 per- formances, is slated to return to the Arena for a limited 13-performance engagement. . . . Neighborhood houses, anticipating even a better year in 1954 than last year, are making an excellent start by offering “twin bills” that, in some situations, are drawing capacity crowds. . . . The Darlton, just across the city line in Pawtucket, recently installed a new giant panoramic screen. TORONTO The Communion Breakfast of the Toronto entertainment community will take place on jan. 31. Mass will take place at St. Michael’s Cathedral and breakfast will fol- low in the King Edward Hotel. Special committees are arranging for breakfasts in other cities in Canada. . . . Sales of TV receiving sets in Canada jumped 163 per cent in the first ten months of 1953. There were 313,633 units sold in 1953 as against 119,271 in the same period in 1952. . . . Kenneth Winckles and John Davis of the Rank Organization expected in Canada dur- ing the latter part of January, while Leslie Allen of Cardinal Films has winged his way to Europe. Rome, London and Paris are included in his itinerary. . . . David Krow- chuk of Niagara Falls, Ont., succeeded Ger- ald W. Mooney as assistant to Fred Jack- son, manager of Loew’s, London. Mooney is now manager of Loew’s Uptown, Toronto. . . . Mr. and Mrs. N. Berge of the Nix, Rose Valley, Sask., entertained 747 district youngsters, showing them “Anne of Green Gables” and giving each a bag of popcorn to increase their enjoyment. VANCOUVER Herb Stevenson, president of Trans-West, Theatres, Ltd., which operates two theatres at Prince George, in Northern British Columbia, and is building an ozoner near the town, was on Film Row. He was returning from a Seattle vacation. He reports that the drive-in will be ready for spring business in spite of zero and heavy snows up there. . . . Film Row now has a female shipper. Frances Coombs replaced Tom Backus, Jr., as JARO shipper. ... New head usherette at the Vogue is Eileen Sambad, who suc- ceeds Betty Lipsack, now in the ticket booth. . . . Jimmy Patterson, 20th-Fox manager, is having trouble finding himself a booker to replace Bob Billings, who moved to UA. Jimmy is doubling in brass until he gets help. . . . Dr. Paul Kowalishik has purchased the Roxy in Canora, Saskatchewan, as well as the unfinished drive-in near the town, from Regal Amusements, Regina. . . . Im- ports are taking plenty of playing time from Hollywood pictures in this area. . . . Frank Gow, Famous Players’ district manager, bedded with flu. . . . Jake Jacobson, vice- president of International IATSE projec- tionists, is here for a look-see into the pro- jectionists and Famous Players wage scale troubles. . . . The City of Vancouver is tak- ing court action to acquire the 450-seat Star theatre. They need it for a new jail. WASHINGTON The Motion Picture Association will have a special showing of “The Glenn Miller Story” for the Air Force. . . . Dr. Charles W. Lowry, Variety Club chaplain, spoke January 13 over Station WMAL-TV, on “Free Man Faces Communism.” . . . Bill Gallagher, of the Modern Talking Picture Service, was speaker at the Washington Film Council meeting. . . . Newest member of the Variety Club, approved by the mem- bership committee, is William McManus, vice-president of the Chesapeake and Poto- mac Telephone Co. . . . Fritz Goldschmidt, who is back from a service post, is now on the sales staff of 20th Century-Fox. . . . Nate Shor, booker at Universal, will be married in April. . . . The Variety Club’s first Board of Governors meeting for 1954 has been changed to February 1, making it a combined January-February meeting. It will be held in the Executive Room of the Willard Hotel. 30 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 23, 1954 . . . the original exhibitors' reports department, established October 14, 1916. In it theatremen serve one another with information about the box office performance of What the Picture Did for Me, Motion Picture Herald, Rockefeller Center, New York 20. product — providing a service of the exhibitor for the exhibitor. ADDRESS REPORTS Paramount HOUDINI: Tony Curtis, Janet Leigh— Has just the right elements for popular entertainment. People were talking about wanting to see it before it ar- rived. Good business. Played Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, December 29, 30, 31. — Elaine S. George. Star Theatre, Heppner, O're. HOUDINI: Tony Curtis, Janet Leigh — Very good. Can’t expect too much business this time of year! Thanks to Paramount, our box office receipts are holding up better than usual. I notice where some exhibitors kick about Paramount pictures, but they always come through for us. Played Sunday, Decem- ber 13. — Marcella Smith, Venton, McArthur, Ohio. PONY EXPRESS: Charlton Heston, Rhonda Flem- ing— Played this one late. Had a fair crowd Sunday night; snowstorm on Monday night. This is a good outdoor picture. Play it. Played Sunday, Monday, December 13, 14. — James Hardy, Shoals Theatre, Shoals, Ind. SHANE: Alan Ladd, Jean Arthur — This gave a boost to the worst December business on record. Many people came to see it again. Played Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, December 27, 28, 29. — Shirley Booth, Booth Theatre, Rich Hill, Mo. SHANE: Alan Ladd, Jean Arthur — Excellent. Played for one week and business good. Very good pho- tography and story — a new kind of western movie which the patrons like. Very good acting on the part of Alan Ladd, Van Heflin and Jack Palance. Played Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Sat- urday, November 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28. — Y. Legault, Regent Theatre Hawkesbury Ont., Canada. SON OF PALEFACE: Bob Hope, Jane Russell— Another good picture from Paramount which was en- joyed by my customers. Receipts above average. Paramount features make it possible for my small town theatre to continue in business. — W. P. Brown, Nifty Theatre, Waterville, Wash. STALAG 17: William Holden, Don Taylor — Guess we played this too close to the holidays, as it didn’t draw, although no fault of the picture. It has humor in abundance, plus the drama of war. The male audience loved it, that is those who saw it, who weren’t too many. Small town and rural patronage. Played Wednesday, Thursday, December 16, 17. — D. P. Savage, Capitol Theatre, Listowel, O'nt., Canada. WAR OF THE WORLDS: Gene Barry, Ann Robin- son— What this did for us is a sad tale. By agreeing to Sunday terms in our desperation for an early playdate, we not only set ourselves back indefinitely financially, but also put a severe strain on our public relations. Our regular Sunday evening adults refused to look at it, and the parents who thought they could trust us with their children on Sunday afternoon were most unhappy with us also. Played Sunday, Monday, December 6, 7. — Elaine S. George, Star Theatre, Heppner, Ore. WAR OF THE WORLDS: Gene Barry, A. Robinson — Very good color (Technicolor) and excellent fiction science type of movie. A picture to keep your pat- rons in suspense and excited all the way. Played Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Jauary 4, 5, 6. — Y. Legault, Regent Theatre, Hawkesbury, Ont., Canada. Twentieth Century-Fox FARMER TAKES A WIFE: Betty Grable, Dale Robertson — Just an average picture which failed at the box office for me. Betty doesn’t seem to bring them in as she used to. Played Sunday, Monday, December 27, 28. — James Hardy, Shoals Theatre, Shoals, Ind. GIRL NEXT DOOR, THE: June Haver, Dan Dailey — I was disappointed in this picture played to the usual Christmas crowd, which is not very many. This is the worst June Haver picture I have played here— no plot, no songs, very poor routine. I would have done better with a western. No good for small towns. Played Thursday, Friday, December 24, 25. — James Hardy, Shoals Theatre, Shoals, Ind. INVADERS FROM MARS: Helene Carter, Arthur Franz — If your patrons like pictures which are fantas- tic, play it. Use it with a small western and it will go over. Also play it on your Friday-Saturday billing. Did about average business both nights. Played Friday, Saturday, December 18, 19. — James Hardy, Shoals Theatre, Shoals, Ind. POWDER RIVER: Rory Calhoun, Corinne Calvet — A better than average picture. Very good acting by Rory Calhoun and Cameron Mitchell. Color was too dark in places. Played Friday, Saturday, December 11, 12. — James Hardy, Shoals Theatre, Shoals, Ind. SAILOR OF THE KING: Jeffrey Hunter, Michael Rennie — Good naval operations picture. Somewhat different than the usual. Did well on Sunday, but fell flat on Monday. Played Sunday, Monday, Decem- ber 20, 21. — Dick Smith, Albany Theatre, Albany, Ind. United Artists BABES IN BAGBAD: Paulette Goddard, Richard Ney — Just play this one and you will need an adding machine to count the patrons walking out. The acting is terrible, sound terrible and color terrible. I cannot say the story is terrible because there is no story. It would not have mattered if we had played the last reel first. Made in exotic color, which is only orange and green. Let’s fight TV, not help it. Played Thursday, Friday and Saturday, December 24, 25, 26. — Y. Legault, Regent Theatre, Hawkesbury, Ont., Canada. Universal GREAT SIOUX UPRISING: Jeff Chandler, Faith Domergue — A very good Indian picture with beautiful color and a fine cast. Would have had a better crowd if.it hadn’t rained. Played Friday, Saturday, Decem- ber 4, 5. — James Hardy, Shoals Theatre, Shoals, Ind. IT HAPPENS EVERY THURSDAY: Loretta Young, John Forsythe — Here is a natural for small towns and rural patrons. Was enjoyed by all who saw it. Played Tuesday, Wednesday, December 22, 23. — James Hardy, Shoals Theatre, Shoals, Ind. MISSISSIPPI GAMBLER: Tyrone Power, Piper Laurie — This picture was O'. K., but it didn’t draw too well. I really shouldn’t have bought it, as people around here do not go for this type of picture. It will probably do' all right in other communities. Played Sunday, December 20. — Marcella Smith, Vinton Theatre, McArthur, Ohio. TAKE ME TO1 TOWN: Ann Sheridan, Sterling Hayden — This is one of the best pictures I have played in this theatre. I thought all the cast did a perfect job. Those three boys also did their parts well. Don’t pass this one up— play it by all means. Played Sun- day, Monday, November 29, 30. — James Hardy, Shoals Theatre, Shoals, Ind. THUNDER BAY: James Stewart, Joanne Dru— Good picture with good color, but I played it so late that business was very poor. Played Sunday, Mon- day, Tuesday, November 8, 9, 10. — Ken Gorham, Town Hall Theatre, Middlebury, Vt. THUNDER BAY: James Stewart, Joanne Dru — This one pleased everyone who saw it. A very good picture. You can’t go wrong on this one. Jimmy Stewart is very good. Also let’s see more of Marcia Henderson. Played Sunday, Monday, December 20, 21. — James Hardy, Shoals Theatre, Shoals, Ind. TUMBLEWEED: Audie Murphy, Lori Nelson — Good picture, good production in Technicolor. Played wide screen with good results. I can always depend on Universal westerns. Played Friday, Saturday, December 25, 26. — Lee Bell, Mulkey Theatre, Claren- don, Texas. WALKING MY BABY BACK HOME: Donald O’Connor, Janet Leigh — This is an entertaining pic- ture, but not big. Everyone enjoyed it and especially the young people. The Technicolor is good and it can be played Wide screen to good advantage. Busi- ness about average. Played Sunday, Monday, Tues- day, December 27, 28, 29. — Lee Bell, Mulkey Theatre, Clarendon, Texas. WINGS OF THE HAWK: Van Heflin, Julia Adams — We ran the 2-D version. Very good small town picture with plenty of action. Did a good Friday- Saturday business, things being what they are. Played November 13, 14. — Dick Smith, Albany Theatre, Albany, Ind. Shorts Paramount RIDIN’ THE RAILS: Sportlight — If you haven’t booked this sweetheart yet, get out your ballpoint pen and send in a date today. Oldsters, youngsters and in-betweeners enjoyed every second of this al- together too brief short. It’s on grandpas who play with model trains — the live steamers, they call them- selves.— Bob Walker, Uintah Theatre, Fruita, Colo. Metro-Gold wyn-Mayer THAT’S MY PUP: Technicolor Cartoon — Good Tom & Terry short. — S. T. Jackson, Jackson Theatre, Flomaton, Ala. TOM & JERRY CARTOON REVUE: Technicolor Cartoons — If you have not played any of these cartoon revues, try one. Give your kid patrons a treat. They will really turn out for it. This is my second one and did well both times. — James Hardy, Shoals The- atre, Shoals, Ind. RKO Radio BEAR COUNTRY: Tru-Life Adventure — Another good Tru-Life Adventure which was liked well by the kiddies.— James Hardy, Shoals Theatre. Shoals, Ind. Warner Bros. THAR SHE BLOWS: Technicolor Special — A whale cf a good show and about whales at that. Excitement in Technicolor! — Sharon Bodenstein, Telepix Theatre, Boston, Mass. THAR SHE BLOWS: Technicolor Special — I think that eceryone enjoyed this wonderful short. — Paul C. Merryman, I.yric Theatre, Covington, Ind. MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 23, 1954 31 Praise Film Industry for Overseas Aid WASHINGTON: The motion picture in- dustry has given excellent cooperation to the Government’s overseas film program, even distributing important Government in- formation films, a Congressional investigat- ing sub-committee was told this week. The statement was made in a lengthy report submitted by the U. S. Information Agency to a Senate Foreign Relations sub- committee, which has been studying the overseas information program. The sub- committee, headed by Sen. Hickenlooper (R., Ia.), wound up its investigation of USIA on Friday with testimony from agency director Theodore C. Streibert. The report was released when Mr. Streibert took the witness stand. The Senate sub-commit- tee will now work on its final report and then disband. One of the sub-committee’s earlier rec- ommendations was for better liaison between USIA and the motion picture industry and other private media. “During the last six months,” the agency report declared, “several major contributions to the development of the motion picture program have been made by the motion picture industry, the result of close cooperation through continuing liaison. The industry has made available its world-wide commercial distribution facilities to obtain a quick play-off on important pic- ture subjects of current interest.” The industry has also made available film writers and technicians “at terms favorable to the Government,” and top industry ex- ecutives serve as Government consultants, the report said. Another earlier Senate sub-committee rec- ommendation was that the USIA get in- dustry cooperation “to lessen the number of objectionable commercial films sent abroad.” The USIA report said the agency is trying to get industry cooperation “in regard to the subject matter and quality of the films it distributes abroad.” In order to help the industry appraise its films overseas, the re- port added, USIA makes available informa- tion reported by agency missions abroad concerning local reaction to U. S. commer- cial films. “This information is forwarded to the Motion Picture Association of Amer- ica for use in considering requests to in- dividual producers to limit a film’s circula- tion,” the report said. Chromatic Television Expands for Color Chromatic Television Laboratories has added, new grid-producing facilities at Emeryville, Cal. This will enable it to pro- duce more 21- and 24-inch compatible color television tubes. The company foresees an annual rate of more than 25,000 grids, which are described as the principal “bottleneck” in current manufacture of color tubes. Kansas City Theatre Wins $50,000 Trust Judgment KANSAS CITY: A judgment of $50,000 has been awarded to the Oak Park Theatre here against five distributors wbo were also enjoined by Judge Albert L. Reeves, of U. S. District Court, from violating a contract with the theatre on film sales. The de- fendants in the action and against which the judgment was entered are Fox Midwest Theatre, Paramount, RKO Radio, Warner Brothers, Universal and Columbia. The suit grew out of an agreement made in 1951 by the Oak Park and the defendants in which the theatre obtained the right to sec- ond-run features in the zone where it is located without having to bid for them against the Fox circuit. 11 oifUery Dies at 71 CHICAGO : Harris P. Wolfberg, 71, presi- dent of Wolfberg Theatres, died here Jan- uary 16 after an illness of several months. He was buried Wednesday in Kansas City. Mr. Wolfberg was president of the com- pany which owned two first-run theatres and five drive-ins in Denver and had in- terests in several theatres in Southern Cali- fornia. He was active for years in Allied States Association. Entering show business as a rider for the old Essanay Film Company in Chicago, he soon switched to selling, and prior to World War I, owned his own distributing company. After serving overseas in the war, he became MGM district manager in charge of Indianapolis, Cincinnati and St. Louis. He went to Denver in 1945, acquired the Broadway and Paramount, and built five drive-ins. He is survived by his widow, Mrs. Ruth Wolfberg; his son, John M., a Los Angeles theatre owner ; and four grandchildren. Jesse Thomas Sheffield, Northwest Distributor SEATTLE: Jesse Thomas Sheffield, 69, long-time film distributor in the Northwest, died here January 13 after a long illness. Mr. Sheffield, who retired from active busi- ness in 1946, organized the Sheffield film exchange system which had offices through- out this area, and at various times held dis- tribution franchises from other firms. Stephen P. Fitzgibbon; Managed Movietone Studio Stephen P. Fitzgibbon, who managed the Fox Movietone studio in New York, and also had managed the Paramount studios in Paris and London, died Sunday, in New York, at 71. Mr. Fitzgibbon was the man who installed sound in the Paris and London studios. He retired six years ago. A native of Boston, he was brought into the business by Joseph P. Kennedy. His widow, son Stephen, and foster son Roget Dann survive. Telts MIotv Cinerama Was Sold Selling Cinerama required a new ap- proach because of certain problems, John Joseph, advertising and publicity director of that medium, told the Showmanship School of the Associated Motion Picture Adver- tisers, New York last Thursday. Mr. Joseph told of the problems and the approach. The problems were, that the only publicity stills available were a few location shots ; that there were no advertising stills and no pictorial stills ; and that taking strips from the three films and blending them just wasn't feasible. “So the advertising foundation,” he said, “was built around a few salient points: that Cinerama was a film with a new dimen- sion ; that this dimension put the spectator right in the picture. And, since only a few advertisements, specially in our busi- ness, are effective without illustrations, somebody came up with a bright idea. Com- posite stills were made to illustrate the point that Cinerama puts you into the picture.” Additionally, the public had to be educated that the picture would not be in the neigh- borhoods. Even words used in advertising were dangerous, he pointed out, because so easily they could make Cinerama sound like a travelogue. Filmakers' "The Bigamist" To Have Mass Opening A mass opening of Filmakers’ “The Big- amist” is planned for February 10 in Fox West Coast southern California theatres. Some of the 25 houses are the Los Angeles, Vogue, Ritz, and Loyola, in Los Angeles; the Academy, Pasadena ; California, Hunt- ington Park ; Fox, Pomona ; and Fox, San Bernardino. The day and date bookings will be spread from Santa Barbara to San Diego. Legion Reviews Nine Pictures for Week The National Legion of Decency this week reviewed nine features, and has placed five in Class 1A, unobjectionable morally for general patronage. These are “The Glenn Miller Story,” “Pickwick Papers,” “Riders to the Stars,” “Saadia,” and “Secret of Outlaw Flats.” Termed morally unob- jectionable for adults are “It Should Hap- pen to You,” “The Passionate Sentry,” “Personal Affair,” and “Three Young Texans.” Sidney Greenstreet HOLLYWOOD : Sidney Greenstreet, 74, British-born actor, died Tuesedav in Holly- wood of natural causes. Mr. Greenstreet was seen in such films as “The Maltese Fal- con,” “Mask of Demetrios” and "The Con- spirators.” 32 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 23, 1954 Weu> Screen Technique* Weed Wet* Ad Trick* JOHN JOSEPH, advertising- and publi- city manager for Stanley- Warner Cin- erama, told the AMPA School at a recent session, some of the particular prob- lems in advertising- created by the new device, and pointed to the probability that all new techniques in production must be followed by a new selling- approach. Cinerama, for instance, poses an interest- ing problem from the outset, because there are no publicity stills, except a few location shots, and no advertising stills or pictorial matter which ordinarily constitute the stock in trade of the advertising department. It isn’t possible to make “blow-ups” from the film, because “we can’t blend the three strips of film well enough on a still photograph to get usable art.” Nor are there any stars, nor story, in the original Cinerama produc- tion which has grossed six and a half million dollars in less than ten theatres. He paid tribute to Lynn Farnol, giving credit to his beginning of Cinerama promo- tion, nearly two years ago, and referred to “the great job” which had been done in launching the new attraction in the face of obvious handicaps. The original premise has not been changed very much, and the presen- tation has broken box office records of many years standing, in Detroit and other cities following- the New York premiere. Now, the Stanley- Warner group are organized to carry on this styling, through additional theatre openings and new productions. We have felt that Cinerama was legiti- mate theatre in policy and practice, as it continues to be, and that showmanship is on a different level when you play at legitimate theatre scales, and pay accordingly, for advertising space and effort. We have never quite been able to applaud “Cinerama Sun- daes” in drug stores, nor many of the real old-time stunts that have been carried over into a new field of promotion. They work — as they always did — but it’s inspiring to showmen to lift their sights when they have anything as high, wide and handsome as Cinerama to offer. THAT OLD JEALOUSY Some by-line columnists and critics in the television field are making sounds that are familiar, commenting that filmed television “lacks spontaneity" and that direct-televi- sion is much to be preferred, because it's a "live broadcast." We heard the same remarks a quarter of a century ago, when radio was very new, and the moguls of the new device looked down their noses at the producers and stars of the legitimate stage, two blocks away, as though they were something out-moded and outdistanced, by the new techniques. So they turned radio over to the adver- tising agencies, and in each situation was planted an account executive or a sponsor, with more knowledge of theatre than any- body on Broadway. They liked "spontan- eity" because that was the only result they could get. The "ad lb" — and the amateur performance, was the pinnacle of perfec- tion, measured by their skills. Now, it becomes fairly obvious that future television, in black-and-white or color, will be "transcribed" and seen, for the most part, on film or tape, by a large majority of the public. And it will be a better performance, without "fluffs" and without fumbles, because it can be properly edited, as any motion picture is edited, in the cutting room. It will be a benefit to television when some part of current pro- grams are left on the cutting room floor. John Joseph has the better slant when he concentrates on new devices in his sales approach. He uses plenty of television and radio spots. He uses newspapers at the local level, not only because it fits his procedures, but because this is always preferential treat- ment when applied to playaates — always has been, and always will be. He believes in saturation at the point-of-sale, in that — he follows best Round Table practice. «J CHARLIE JONES is coming up with more examples of good showmanship, in his Allied Caravan bulletin from Iowa and Nebraska — and we welcome contributions from the Dawn theatre, Elma, Iowa, since good showmen in small towns are few and far between. He quotes one from Bob Wile’s Ohio bul- letin that we missed. John Goodno, man- ager of the Palace theatre, Huntington, W. Va., ran an appeal to the old folks, to celebrate the 27th Anniversary of theatre, and since many of his original patrons are now 65 or older, he invited all such “Senior Citizens of Huntington” to be his guests. Something- like the popular “Darby and Joan” Clubs in England, who get special two-for-one tickets, good for old couples, at one matinee a week, for an adult program, with “no children allowed.” Charlie also outlines a new scheme he is developing in Elma, which was suggested by the excellent advertisements placed by the John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Company, in national magazines. Charlie is going to salute his local newspaper man, local business houses, individual public pub- lic servants such as the electric lineman, telephone man, postman, fireman, farmer, etc., in a series of short pieces written for his newspaper column, “Aisle Say” which appears regularly in the Elma paper. q ERNIE EMERLING’s “Movie Memo” does the best job of newspaper relations in our industry, which means the best job of industry relations for motion pictures, at the place where it counts the most — the point-of-sale, on actual playdates. Give your potential audience enough rope, and they will wait until the millennium to go to the movies. Sell ’em what you’ve got to sell today — and they’ll keep coming, as regular movie-goers, instead of becoming the very, very, once-in-a-while variety, who mind the critics more often than they do the manager of their local theatre. — Walter Brooks MANAGERS' ROUND TABLE SECTION, JANUARY 23, 1954 33 mm I 'AVOVi ONROE ST.-9 MARILYN the sweetest STREET ^HAP^H Ballyhoo at the Music Halt! That's Lou Cohen, on the step-ladder, and Norm Levinson, his assistant at Loew's Poli theatre, Hart- ford, holding hands with a very realistic cut-out. Harry Unterfort, left, discusses his campaign for UA's "Heidi" at the Eckel theatre in Syracuse, with producer Lazar Wechsler, and Mrs. Wechsler. IT MAKES NEWS, when the Radio City Music Hall, the industry's largest and finest showcase theatre, offers two innovations at one time! CinemaScope came in, with MGM's "Knights of the Round Table" — and ballyhoo Knights in costume arrived simultaneously, at the marquee edge on the opening night. It took the "Knights of the Round Table" fo bring ballyhoo to Radio City. Colorful and dra- matic front for RKO's Academy Award picture, "The Sea Around Us,’’ at the Strand theatre in Milwaukee. Lester Pollock has one of those old-style Loew's theatres in Rochester, N. Y., where there are boxes, inherited from vaudeville days, on each side of the orchestra. This is how he treated the problem at holiday time, with both sides decorated in style for the occasion. 34 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 23, 1954 SHOWMEN IN ACTION Lou Liuske II innvrs tn Cumpuign Fred Lee, manager of the Florida theatre, Hollywood, Fla., wins a free trip to another Hollywood, as the grand prize in the Lou Finske contest, conducted by Florida State Theatres, and if that's anything treasonable under the laws of the sovereign state of Florida, you'll have to take it up with the Chamber of Commerce. At any rate, he gets a round trip, Hollywood to Hollywood, with all expenses paid. The contest was unique because the managers themselves made the rules and carried it through without advice or interference from the watching execu- tives of the circuit. And they were watch- ing, that we know, for the top brass have issued a statement to the effect that it "resulted in a high level of performance satisfying to both individual managers and company officials” — according to Howard Pettengill. coordinator. A 12-foot deep freeze was won by Walter Colby, manager of the Matanzas theatre, St. Augustine, who finished second, only a fractional point below Mr. Lee — and that makes us wonder, did the boys also pick out the prizes ? And is a trip to Hollywood, California, just a fraction of a point better than a 12-foot deep freeze? We think there’s some propaganda somewhere in this trans- action. The third prize winner, Robert Baffin, manager of the Beach theatre, Miami Beach, took a luxury liner trip to Nassau (so, he won’t talk, huh?). In all, the man- agers collected nearly $5,000 in weekly cash bonuses, and they and their wives received even more in merchandise awards, so we’ll concede they knew what they were doing. Company district winners were Mr. Lee, East Coast ; Mr. Colby, Central Florida, Don Sangaree, DeSota theatre, Arcadia, West Coast winner, and George Krevo, Palace theatre, Jacksonville, North Florida winner. A special cash award as "Florida’s finest showman” went to French Harvey for his exploitation work at the Howell theatre, Palatka. We’d like to have more frequent news from this prize winner, as his mem- bership obligation to the Round Table. Other cash winners for pure showmanship were Bob Skaggs, Sr., Capitol theatre, Jack- sonville; James Barnett, Olympia theatre, Miami; Ted Chapin, Marion theatre, Ocala; Mark DuPree, Daytona theatre, Daytona Beach and Harry Vincent, Florida theatre, Sarasota. (We’ll be coming your way, this year, on the West Coast of Florida.) Ploward Pettengill sums up by saying, "We have all been bound together by a common cause, a cause which we have elected to follow throughout our lives, and one which for many years has supported us and our families. It is therefore deserving of our loyalty and has been forthcoming in great quality during these trying times. Showmanship must march on, for this busi- ness cannot survive without it.” John W. Godfroy, manager of the Para- mount theatre, Ashland, Ivy., is writing a newspaper column in the fronton, Ohio, Daily Courier, with his by-line, to describe what’s coming in new motion picture tech- niques in his tri-state trading area. T Boyd Sparrow developing some spectacu- lar window displays for “Knights of the Round Table” during the engagement at Loew’s Warfield, San Francisco. The sub- ject is inspiring to the imagination, and the stores have materials to fit. ▼ C. A. Matthews, district supervisor for Alliance Theatres, credits Ed Kennedy, one of his managers in Terra Haute, Indiana, with promoting three full cooperative pages to benefit the Indiana and Grand theatres, at no cost other than passes. ▼ Fred Teller, Jr., manager of the Strand theatre, Hastings, Nebraska, says we'll have to buy a new World Almanac, because we said his town had 13,000 population, and it really has 22,000. He’s playing "The Robe” with a 28-sheet atop the marquee — and two- color ads in the Daily Tribune, to sell "the new look.” ▼ Bill Hoffmire, manager of Prudential’s Lindenhurst theatre, Lindenhurst, L. I., sends in a picture with proposed caption, and we suggest that he look on the lower right-hand corner of the Round Table pic- ture page for January 9th. T George Kemp, manager of Schine's Eckel theatre, Syracuse, sends in a resume of the campaign on “Heidi” which was recently placed, as an entry in the Quigley Awards competition for the first quarter of 1954. A grand campaign and big premiere ! T Hooray for new dimensions! Wally Kemp, manager of the Grand theatre, Grand Island, Nebr., is" still another who sends in tear sheets of his newspaper advertising and promotion in two-colors, on the press of the Grand Island Daily Independent, with the sponsorship of ten local merchants. Albert Hefferan, manager-owner of the Century theatre, Coopersville, Michigan, writes that he is going to England in Feb- ruary, and we’re giving him letters of intro- duction to Round Table members and an invitation to visit the Quigley offices at 4 Golden Square. ▼ Bill Smith, manager of the Garden Auto- Torium, at Denville, N. J., keeping a drive- in open out of season, ran five feature films on New Year’s Eve, from 7 p.m. until un- conscious, but we hope that nobody, but NOBODY does it again until next New Year’s Eve. T Toby Ross, manager of Schine’s Fox thea- tre, Corning, N. Y., sends us tear sheets from the Corning Leader, to show his co-op stunts with Earle Jewelers, for gift ticket books. We recall the newspaper. T Seymour Morris devotes pages and pages of his valuable "Flash" — hot news of ag- gressive Schine Showmanship, to Bob Cox and the phenomenal campaign which the Colonel put on at the Ben-Ali theatre, Lex- ington, Kv., just to give the boys an idea of the glitter and color of this opening in our favorite state. ▼ "Julius Caesar” is getting the five-star, triple-"A” MGM special treatment with Len Sampson, Bob Spodick and Norm Bailek, at the Crown theatre, New Haven, Conn. T Arnold Gates, manager of Loew’s Still- man theatre, Cleveland, Ohio, posts tear sheets from the magazine and says, “Look, LIFE has words for ‘Kiss Me Kate,’ ” as lobby display. ▼ Jeff Jefferis, sage of the Ozarks and good small-town showman, has praise for Lip- pert's “Sins of Jezebel” which he says is a mighty fine picture that will please the church folks, if they can get by that title to discover it’s an excellent Bible story and not a SIN picture. Says he almost missed it by not believing a film salesman — and let that be a lesson. Two good showmen in action! At left, Bill Hastings, manager of the RKO Orpheum theatre, Denver, working out an exploitation stunt for a picture which he failed to name, other than to say "It was the real McCoy" — and so it might have been "Calamity Jane." At right, Monty Salmon, managing director of the Rivoli theatre on Broadway, contributes to the piggy-bank of 4V2-year-o Id Lee Kyung Soo, aide-de-camp to General James A. Van Fleet, chairman of the American Korean Foundation. MANAGERS' ROUND TABLE SECTION, JANUARY 23, 1954 35 101 BEST EXPLOITATION AIDS Editorial Comment Builds Audiences Thirty-five years ago, we had a house program at the Auditorium theatre, Coatesville, Pa., a six-page, double-fold, in two colors with the inside spread devoted to three changes per week. The front cover was our standing trademark in the community; the back cover was for next week's attractions, three to fhe page, and the sixth page was editorial. That long ago, we were writing editorials because it was the way to talk to the people with whom you are doing business, and to take the place of direct contact you might want to have, all the time, with so many folks. We found out, that long ago, that people read these editorials, and liked them. It was a hand-shake, a reassurance of faith, a promise of our sense of duty in the community, made more necessary be- cause we operated the best and only motion picture theatre for thirty miles around. Today, if you like, you can observe another manifestation of the very same advertising policy. Howard Dietz, vice-president of MGM and director of advertising, publicity and exploitation for this great com- pany, spending upwards of four million dollars a year, is proud of "The Lion's Roar" and "The Picture of the Month" which appear in a single column in many national magazines, opposite the table of contents in the front of the book. This is identical with what we describe and suggest, for theatre managers. It is frank, personal, sincere, a genuine approach to the general public on their own grounds and in their own terms, with justifiable enthusiasm for current attractions. Calendars Cultivate Potential Patrons If we were to name the one best selling approach in small towns, it would probably be the monthly program calendar — sent out via a mailing permit to rural box holders, and dis- playing slugs or mats to show the schedule through a four- week period. There are several sources of this type of print- ing on a national basis, who can supply a program printed in two colors on substantial card stock, punched to hang up, and with the back of the sheet available for your own copy or a sponsored advertisement. The calendar stays put, and it tells enough about what's playing to satisfy the loyal audi- ence of regular patrons who are the life-blood of our indus- try, in small towns and elsewhere. Francis Gill, in Paonia, Colorado, has a particularly good one, which he mails under Permit No. 9 at his local post office, weighing the total in bulk to obtain a more favorable postal rate than per piece. Anybody can do it; he has been doing it that way for years. On the back of his calendar, he "talks" to his friends and neighbors — tells them about what is coming, sells himself and his theatre along with the change of bill. Larry Woodin, at the Arcadia theatre, Wellsboro, Pa., uses a similar pro- gram, and fortifies it with telephone calls, made at random along rural lines. He asks "What's playing at the Arcadia?" and if they know, they get two guest tickets. They DO know, because they hang the calendar right by the tele- phone, so they will know when Larry uses this excellent, con- trolled system of checking and awarding loyal patrons. What Charlie Says— Needs Thinking Over Charlie Jones, in the current issue of BETTER THEATRES, says "What About Movies on Main Street?" — and a week or so ago, we quoted him in a discussion of exploitation in small theatres, where, we believe, there can be a saturation point beyond which exploitation, as such, is not possible. Perhaps you wonder, why is all this contained under the heading "101 Best Exploifation Aids"? For the best of all reasons, that exploitafion in small towns is personality ex- pressed in the theatre; that showmanship, in small towns, must give way to salesmanship, on a person-to-person basis. In upwards of 8,000 theatres across the nation — exploitation means selling the theatre, and this means selling yourself, as the manager of a community enterprise. You need worry less about promotion than you do about taking part in neighborhood affairs; you can give less thought to ballyhoo if you maintain your balance in the daily life of your friends and customers. Charlie is right when he says the small towns built the movie habit, and moreover, it is the small towns that maintain it. The larger cities offer more opportunity for "shopping around" — the small town theatre man gets them for every change of bill, if he's one of his own townsmen. Jesse Lasky said it, too, when he explained, "I made a million dollars when folks said 'Let's go to the movies' — and I lost a million when they began to say, ’What’s playing tonight at the Bijou?' " There's the secret of exploitation in small towns, in one compact sentence. Never Underestimate Local Cooperation Over the holiday season, just past, we've seen proof of at least 100 sponsored children's shows that were pure profit for the theatre, and were as much appreciated by the local merchants who provided the underwriting at the point of sale. Some circuits, notably the Schine Theatres, do an all-out job that is beyond belief, especially by some who have never tried, or who doubt if anything of that kind would work in their towns. Some managers labor under a delusion that there's a problem not solved by the successful experience of others. They have a firm (sitting) position in the matter: "Stores won't do that, here." Nothing is further from the truth. Show us an instance where the foregoing is offered as ex- planation or excuse, and we'll show you a manager who doesn't cooperate with his fellow business men, who isn't doing his part in his own community and who don't believe that Main Street is a two-way thoroughfare. Merchant's who sponsor shows and come back for more, signing up a year in advance, are not doing the theatre-man a favor. They are buying a good thing, which has proven its worth. The distribution of heralds offer a good test — because many managers claim they can't get them distributed. But co- operative stores very often undertake both the cost of print- ing and the distribution — for their own ad on the back. A thoughtful manager prints a "Thank You" note from the merchant to his customer on the back of a pressbook mat, and you can bet one of these goes in every package. 36 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 23, 1954 VISITOR FROM HONG KONG Li Ho-Nang is completing a world tour, with his visit to New York as one of the high spots. He is on his way back to the Capitol theatre, Hong Kong, via Europe, traveling west. He tells a group of mutual friends that what he wanted most in New York was his membership card in the Man- agers' Round Table, and we thought that could be arranged. Going from here to Washington, thence to Hollywood and Hawaii, he will be back home in a few weeks. We had lunch with him, the other day, in the Lion's Den, the executive dining room atop Loew's, Incorporated, where none but Very Important People may be found. Seymour Mayer, regional director for Loew's International in the Far East, and Dave Blum, overseas publicity director for the company, call their guest "Ray- mond"— which is his name among friends. On occasion, he signs his name "Raymond H. N. Li" and you will understand when you realize that "Li" is his last name," in either the English or Chinese version. Busi- ness is good in Hong Kong, and his com- pany has big theatres over there. George Landers, E. M. Loew’s manager in Hartford, promoted gift orchids, had a roller skating contest and awarded the first arrivals at the theatre to see "Affairs of Messalina,’’ on the opening day. ▼ Pat Crowley, vivacious young actress who launched a hit picture, "Forever Female” this week on Broadway, also began her 35-city tour of the U. S. in another phase of Paramount’s pre-selling of this lovely newcomer among Hollywood’s top stars. T William A. Fair, manager of the liorn- beck theatre, Shawnee, Okla., reprints the text of the Donahue & Coe ad, "The Big Squeeze,” as part of his institutional pre- sentation of new attractions, in newspaper display advertising. Selling Approach WALT DISNEY'S PINOCCHIO — RKO Radio Pictures. The return of his wonder- ful adventures in Technicolor. Joy! Magic! Enchantment! The story the whole world loves. Brightest, merriest, warmest enter- tainment of them all, from the enchanted land of make-believe. Pre-sold by millions to other millions who are waiting to see it, and see it again. All-new posters, all-new accessories, all-new newspaper ads for an all-new advertising campaign. No 24-sheet, this time, and no herald, but sufficient of the old and new to make an impressive and original sales approach in any theatre, of any size, anywhere. Many merchandising campaigns to benefit the early runs; much pre-selling in the national magazines to re- introduce this fine feature. Your local stores will find many articles in your pressbook that they can put in stock and sell for mutual advantage — you get the advertising and they get a profitable turn-over. Lots of things for children and their parents. The big 35c complete campaign mat for small situations is the biggest bargain in showmanship yet offered — with four publi- city mats, eight display ads and slugs and eleven Disney characters, in-line drawing, all for the price of one mat! There is also a coloring mat, with five styles on one 4- column mat, which will cost 60c at National Screen. Newspaper ad mats in all sizes are crowded with Disney characters, and the publicity mats, even in large sizes, will get free space or combine in cooperative ads placed by merchants with "Pinocchio" goods on their shelves. Lots of record tie- ups, and songs for children, as well as juve- nile books, in many styles, from 25c up. Pinocchio Ice Cream, and a garden con- test, for Spring, among the new things offered. The April issue of Woman's Home Companion, will feature a "Pinocchio Play Room" and RCA-Victor will have a special cooperative tieup through their 25,000 dealers across the country. FOREVER FEMALE — Paramount. Sheer experience vs. sheer instinct! One million years of civilization — and two women, wanting one man, use their respective talents. Ginger Rogers, William Holden, Paul Douglas and Paramount's new young star from Scranton, Pa., Pat Crowley. 24- sheet and other posters are designed to make good cut-outs for lobby and marquee display. Folder herald keys the campaign with all the best advertising slants. News- paper ad mats, including a set of two- column teasers, offer everything anybody could want, in all sizes. The big 35c com- plete campaign mat, for small situations, has an especially well-chosen assortment of two publicity mats and eleven advertising mats and slugs, all for the price of one mat, on your standing order at National Screen. Pressbook suggests exploitation nifties based on smart cracks written into cartoon- style illustrations, carrying this idea into contests and window display advertising. MISS SADIE THOMPSON— Columbia Pic- tures. Rita in 3-D. The most fascinating lady of the screen, as the most notorious woman of our time, in the new 3-D. Enter- tainment is her business — and yours. You tell 'em, she sells 'em. 24-sheet and all posters feature that fascinating figure, coming and going, but in motion, for cut- outs as lobby and marquee display. You'll find Rita all through the accessories and the ad mats, too. The herald tips off your public of what's coming their way. News- paper ad mats are big, expansive, expen- sive, and in keeping with the picture. There's a set of teasers, showing Rita going that-a-way, that should be used, by all means if you play this with all stops removed. The big 35c economy mat, for small situations, gives you two publicity mats and ten advertising mats and slugs, all you could ask, for the price of one ordinary mat, at National Screen, and include special slugs for stereophonic sound and wide screen. Rita in the ads is' terrific, and torrid! Four song hits sell the film, and there are more music angles, for disc jockeys and dance studios. KING OF THE KHYBER RIFLES— 20th Century-Fox CinemaScope. Technicolor De- Luxe. This is India, half-land, half-legend. The majestic Himalayas, the great desert, thundering path of Empire. The fanatic Afridi horsemen and the hordes of Kurram Khan. The bazaars of Penshaw and the Night of the Long Knives. Tyrone Power at his best in a towering tale of the Khyber Pass. . . . 32-pages of new Scope in press- book showmanship, for the manager who wants to keep ahead of his times. 28-sheet, instead of the regular 24-sheet, and all posters to match in new dimensions of space and color. Newspaper ad mats in very large sizes for first-run situations where this new picture will land with an impact in keeping with large space. There is a suffi- cient number of smaller ads, but it isn't time, yet, for the big 35c economy size, which will follow in another pressbook. Jumbo herald keys the campaign, this time, in large situations. Two complete television campaigns; special accessories in fluores- cent satin. Two books available, but we haven't seen samples of either. Radio cam- paign, recorded, and a special sound- effects record for continuous play in your lobby. Alert the schools, military services, or foreign groups with interests in India. MANAGERS' ROUND TABLE SECTION, JANUARY 23. 1954 37 CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING Fifteen cents per word, money-order or check with copy. Count initials, box number and address. Minimum insertion $ 1 .50. Four insertions for the price of three. Contract rates on application. No borders or cuts. Forms close Mondays at 5 P.M. Publisher reserves the right to reject any copy. Film and trailer advertising not accepted. Classified advertising not subject to agency commission. Address copy and checks: MOTION PICTURE HERALD, Classified Dept., Rockefeller Center, New York (20) DRIVE-IN EQUIPMENT REPLACE INADEQUATE, OUTWORN EQUIP- ments with DeVry, Simplex and Century outfits, re- built like new. (Send for lists). Time deals arranged. Incar speakers w/4" cones $15.95 pair w/junction box ; underground cable $59M. S. O. S. CINEMA SUPPLY CORP., 602 W. 52nd St.. New York 19. HELP WANTED WANTED: MANAGERS WITH EXPLOITATION and promotional experience by theatre chain situated in Eastern States. Top salaries paid, Vacations, Group Insurance and Hospitalization. Interviews will be held in Chicago and New York City during January. If interested, give complete resume and availability for interview. BOX 2756, MOTION PICTURE HERALD. OUTDOOR THEATRE MANAGER-ONE EXPE- rienced in publicity and concession operation. Family group insurance. Year around job. Midwest area. $100 week. Reply in confidence. Tell all about your- self first letter. BOX 2760, MOTION PICTURE HERALD. THEATRE MANAGER--GOOD NEWSPAPER AD man and general exploitation. Small city in Chicago territory. Group insurance. Give full account of your experience. References used after interview and onU if a deal. BOX 2758, MOTION PICTURE HERALD. MANAGER, FIRST-RUN DELUXE THEATRE, Eastern Metropolitan City, for small independent cir- cuit. State fully qualifications, previous and present employment, and salary desired. No applications will be considered without this detailed information. If you are aggressive and can do the job an excellent posi- tion and security await you, with ample opportunity for advancement. BOX 2761, MOTION PICTURE HERALD. WANTED: THEATRE MANAGER BY WELL established, independent circuit. Young energetic mid- westerner under 40, preferred, for “A” house opera- tion, fully equipped with CinemaScope and 3D, in city ■of 50,000. Must have promotional ability, aggressive- ness and imagination. References required. Call BRIDGEPORT 8028, or write Mr. E. Ruben or Harry Greene, Wclworth Theatres. Minneapolis, Minn. SEATING S. O. S.— SAVE ON SEATS! ALL TYPES THE- atre chairs from $4.95. Send for Chair Bulletin. S. O'. S. CINEMA SUPPLY CORP., 602 W. 52nd St., New York 19. SERVICES WINDOW CARDS, PROGRAMS, HERALDS photo-offset printing. CATO SHOW PRINTING CO.. Cato, N. Y. BOOKS “NEW SCREEN TECHNIQUES” — THE NEW book that is a “must” for everybody in or connected with the motion picture industry — the clearly pre- sented, authoritative facts about 3-D1, Cinerama, Cine- maScope and other processes — covering production, ex- hibition and exploitation — contains 26 illustrated arti- cles by leading authorities — edited by Martin Quigley, Jr 208 pages. Price $4.50 postpaid. OUIGLEY BOOK- SHOP, 1270 Sixth Ave., New York 20, N. Y. RICHARDSON’S BLUEBOOK OF PROJECTION, New 8th Edition. Revised to deal with the latest tech- nical developments in motion picture projection and sound, and reorganized to facilitate study and refer- ence. Includes a practical discussion of Television especially prepared for the instruction of theatre pro- jectionists, and of new techniques for advancement of the art of the motion picture. The standard textbook on motion picture projection and sound reproduction. Invaluable to beginner and expert. Best seller since 1911. 662 pages, cloth bound, $7.25 postpaid. QUIGLEY BOOKSHOP, 1270 Sixth Avenue, New York 20, N. Y. MOTION PICTURE AND TELEVISION ALMANAC — the big book about your business — 1953-54 edition. Contains over 12,000 biographies of important motion picture personalities. Also all industry statistics. Com- plete listing of feature pictures 1944 to date. Order your copy today, $5.00, postage included. Send remit- tance to QUIGLEY BOOKSHOP, 1270 Sixth Avenue, New York 20, N. Y. STUDIO EQUIPMENT AUGMENT YOUR INCOME BY — SHOOTING local newsreels, TV commercials, documentaries. Ar- range advertising tie-ups with local merchants. Film Production Equipment Catalog free. S. O'. S. CINEMA SUPPLY CORP., 602 W. 52nd St., New York 19. BUSINESS BOOSTERS RECORD BREAKING' KIDDIE GIVEAWAY. TET Airplanes $25 per 1000, $13 per 500. No C.O.D. Check with order. BOX-OFFICE STIMULATOR CO.. 9760 South 50th Court, Oaklawn, 111. USED EQUIPMENT DEVRYS BEAUTIFULLY REBUILT LIKE NEW. $895; Holmes $495. All dual outfits with amplifier and speaker. Time deals arranged. S. O. S. CINEMA SUPPLY CORP.. 602 W. 52nd St., New York 19. THE RATIO IS RIGHT AT STAR! BIG SCREEN — small cost! Lowest prices on screens and lenses! Write us! Ashcraft lamphouses. 14" reflectors, re- built, $489.50 pair; E-7 mechanisms, 6 month guar- antee. $475.00 pair; pair Simplex-Acme projectors. 50 ampere Suprex lamphouses RCA rotary stabilizer sound, heavy bases rebuilt, $1,450.00. STAR CINE- MA SUPPLY, 447 West 52nd St., New York 19. COMPLETE, THEATRE EQUIPMENT. FXCEL- lent condition. Simplex projectors, arc lamps. $900. HALL THEATRE, Sister Bay, Wis 400 BALLANTYNE SPEAKERS, SINGLE CHAN- nel amplifier and all controls, 9M feet #14 neophryn wire. All brand new and still in factory cartons. Will sacrifice for cash sale. BOX 2766, MOTION PICTURE HERALD. POSITIONS WANTED MANAGER’S JOB WANTED. HEAVY SMALL town and first-run experience. Will travel an 1 re- locate. 38 vears old, 16 vears’ experience. BOX 2764, MOTION PICTURE HERALD. ASSISTANT TO FILM BOOKER. FEMALE. Ex- perienced handling volume work. Metropolitan area. BOX 2765. MOTION PICTURE HERALD. THEATRES NEGRO THEATRE IN SOUTH ALABAMA. FOR details write J. WATERALL, Mt. Vernon, Ala. FOR SALE— 350 SEAT THEATRE IN GOOD Michigan farming community. Owner in lumber busi- ness, wishes to sell at low price. Building new. Ex- cellent opportunity. BOX 2763, MOTION PICTURE HERALD. NEW EQUIPMENT MASONITE MARQUEE LETTERS— FIT WAG- ner, Adler, Bevelite signs, 4” — 35c; 8” — 50c; 10" — 60c; 12"— 85c; 14"— $1.25; 16"— $1.50 any color. S. O'. S. CINEMA SUPPLY CORP., 602 W. 52nd St., New York 19. IMMEDIATELY AVAILABLE! SHORT FOCUS lenses for Wide Screens. Metallic all-purpose screens 90c sq. ft. Special apertures all ratios. S. O'. S. CINEMA SUPPLY CORP., 602 W. 52nd St., Ne.y York 19. Women's Clubs Select "Best" Film Awards The General Federation of Women’s Clubs has announced its selection of the year’s 10 best films, together with awards in acting, directing and other categories. The 10 best films were: “Julius Casear” (MGM); “From Here to Eternity” (Co- lumbia; “The Robe” (20th-Fox) ; “Lili” (MGM) ; “How to Marry a Millionaire” (20th-Fox) ; “Stalag 17” (Paramount) ; “Gilbert and Sullivan” (London Films- U.A.) ; “The Little Fugitive” (Burstvn); “The Beggar’s Opera” (Korda-Warner Bros.) ; “Crash of Silence” (Universal). Best foreign picture was “The Little World of Don Camillo” (IFE). Special mention in the documentary class went to “The Liv- ing Desert” (Disney-RKO). Best actor: James Mason in “Julius Caesar.” Best ac- tress: Leslie Caron, “Lili.” Best director: Fred Zinnemann for “From Here to Eter- nity.” Best child actress: Mandy Miller in “Crash of Silence.” Best child actor: Richie Andrusco in “The Little Fugitive.” Best supporting actor: Frank Sinatra, “From Here to Eternity.” Best supporting actress.: Gabrielle Dorziat, “Little Boy Lost.” Wallace Circuit Holds Meeting in Texas All managers of the Wallace Theatre Cir- cuit attended a meeting recently in Lubbock, Texas, conducted by Royce E. Blankenship, circuit general manager. New films, thea- tre service, concession selling and similar operational details were discussed. New techniques and advertising advances were considered. Among those attending were : from Levelland, Jeff Hardin, city manager; Mrs. Elizabeth Hardin, assistant ; E. W. Baudine, circuit engineer ; from Sundown, M. J. Clark, city manager; from Morton, T. J. Simpson, city manager; from Ralls, Dorsey Oliphant, city manager ; from Ana- drews, K. N. Greer, city manager ; from Tahoka, Jack Waldrip, city manager ; from Petersburg, Randall Waldrip, city manager. From Lubbock home office were : Wallace B. Blankenship, president; Wesley B. Blanken- ship, vice-president; Royce E. Blankenship, general manager ; S. J. Neyland, Jr., assistant, general manager; J. B. Reese, home office manager, and Dorothy Evans, home office cashier. Filmack Trailer Company Marks 35th Anniversary CHICAGO : Filmack Trailer Co., which was organized here in 1919 by Irving Mack as a one-man, one-room operation, this year will celebrate its 35th anniversary in the special trailer field. The company today employs more than 100 in the Chicago plant, and also the company maintains a plant in New York City. 38 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 23, 1954 FILM BUYERS RATING Film buyers of independent circuits in the U. S. rate current product on the basis of its performance in their theatres. This report covers 133 attractions, 6,193 playdates. Titles run alphabetically. Numerals refer to the number of en- gagements on each attraction reported. The tabulation is cumula- tive. Dagger (f) denotes attractions published for the first time. Asterisk (*) indicates attractions which are listed for the last time. EX means Excellent; AA — Above Average; AV — Average; BA — Below Average; PR — Poor. EX AA AV BA PR A. & C. Meet Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde (Univ.) - 1 1 40 15 6 Actress, The (MGM) - - 2 18 31 Affairs of Dobie Giliis, The (MGM) - 2 10 19 2 All-American (Univ.) - 8 26 12 12 All the Brothers Were Valiant (MGM) _ 1 1 16 4 - All 1 Desire (Univ.) - 20 29 30 5 Appointment in Honduras (RKO) - 3 8 5 6 *Arena ( MGM ) 2 6 6 16 7 Arrowhead (Para.) - 17 34 13 - Back to God's Country (Univ.) 1 7 23 4 1 Band Wagon, The (MGM) 4 12 35 49 22 Big Heat (Col.) - 13 18 8 - Big Leaguer, The (MGM) - - 12 24 8 Blowing Wild (WB) 8 14 22 26 5 Blueprint for Murder, A ( 20th- Fox ) - - 8 6 1 Botany Bay (Para.) - 1 17 13 1 Caddy, The ( Para.) 8 55 30 3 1 Calamity Jane (WB) 1 19 18 4 1 Charge at Feather River, The (WB) 8 10 8 1 1 7 China Venture (Col.) - 2 1 2 - City of Bad Men ( 20th- Fox ) - 8 51 28 4 *City That Never Sleeps (Rep.) - - 4 1 1 2 Clipped Wings (AA) - 8 6 1 - Conquest of Cochise (Col.) - - 8 1 1 5 fCrazylegs — All-American (Rep.) - 2 4 2 - Cruel Sea, The (Univ.) 2 14 1 1 _ 1 Cruisin' Down the River (Col.) 1 4 21 28 9 Dangerous Crossing (20th-Fox) _ _ 9 1 1 5 Dangerous When Wet (MGM) 5 44 65 17 - fDecameron Nights (RKO) - - - 4 3 Devil's Canyon (RKO) - 6 16 8 8 Dream Wife (MGM) - 10 24 55 14 East of Sumatra (Univ.) _ 7 16 1 1 4 Easy to Love (MGM) 8 8 3 _ _ Escape from Fort Bravo (MGM) - 3 8 6 - Farmer Takes a Wife (20th-Fox) _ 21 30 28 17 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T, The (Col.) - _ _ _ 6 Flame of Calcutta (Col.) _ _ 1 _ 5 Flight Nurse (Rep.) 1 2 3 3 2 Flight to Tangier (Para.) - 1 3 6 8 49th Man, The ( Col.) _ 8 3 2 _ Francis Cover the Big Town (Univ.) 7 40 28 1 1 _ From Here to Eternity (Col.) 34 23 4 - 5 Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (20th-Fox) . . . . 44 43 13 17 1 Girl Next Door, The ( 20th- Fox ) . . 1 1 15 30 1 1 4 fGive a Girl a Break (MGM) _ 3 3 _ _ {Glass Web, The (Univ.) - 1 2 1 3 Glory Brigade, The (20th-Fox) _ 6 17 12 9 Golden Blade, The (Univ.) _ 5 13 14 3 Great Jesse James Raid (Lippert) _ 3 5 2 Great Sioux Uprising, The (Univ.) 1 5 27 38 7 Gun Belt (UA) 1 7 16 6 Gun Fury (Col.) - 3 4 - Half a Hero ( MGM ) _ 8 18 21 18 Here Come the Girls (Para.) 2 4 3 2 Hondo (WB) 41 8 1 1 Houdini ( Para.) . . . 8 37 30 9 How to Marry a Millionaire ( 20th- Fox ) 14 2 - - 1, the Jury ( UA) 1 5 10 17 2 Inferno ( 20th- Fox ) 1 4 18 2 20 Island in the Sky (WB) It Came from Outer Space (Univ.) Jack Slade ( AA ) Kid from Left Field, The ( 2 Oth- Fox ) Kiss Me Kate (MGM) Last Posse, The (Col.) Latin Lovers (MGM) Let's Do It Again (Col.) Lili (MGM) Lion Is in the Streets, A (WB) Little Boy Lost (Para.) Main Street to Broadway (MGM) Man from the Alamo (Univ.) Marry Me Again (RKO) Marshal's Daughter, The (UA) Martin Luther (de Rochemont) Master of Ballantrae, The (WB) Maze, The ( AA ) Melba (UA) Mission Over Korea (Col.) Mister Scoutmaster (20th-Fox) Mogambo (MGM) Moon Is Blue, The (UA) Moonlighter, The (WB) Nebraskan, The (Col.) 99 River Street (UA) Plunder of the Sun (WB) Return to Paradise (UA) Ride Vaquero (MGM) Robe, The ( 20th-Fox ) . Roman Holiday (Para.) Sabre Jet (UA) Sailor of the King ( 20th- Fox ) Salome (Col.) *Scandal at Scourie (MGM) Scared Stiff (Para.) Sea Around Us, The (RKO) Sea of Lost Ships (Rep.) Second Chance (RKO) Shane (Para.) Shark River ( U A) Sins of Jezebel (Lippert) . Siren of Bagdad (Col.) . . . Sky Commando (Col.) Slight Case of Larceny, A (MGM) So Big (WB) So This Is Love (WB) *Son of Belle Starr (AA) Stalag 17 (Para.) Stand at Apache River (Univ.) *Story of Three Loves, The (MGM) Stranger Wore a Gun, The (Col.) Sweethearts on Parade (Rep.)... Sword and the Rose, The (RKO) Take the High Ground (MGM) *Take Me to Town (Univ.) Tarzan and the She-Devil (RKO) (Terror on a Train (MGM) Those Redheads from Seattle (Para.) Three Sailors and a Girl (WB) Thunder Bay ( Univ.) Thunder Over the Plains (WB) Torch Song (MGM) Tumbleweed (Univ.) Valley of Headhunters (Col.) Veils of Bagdad (Univ.) Vice Squad ( UA) Vicki (20th-Fox) . . Walking My Baby Back Home (Univ.) War Paint ( UA) War of the Worlds (Para.) . . White Witch Doctor (20th-Fox) Wings of the Hawk (Univ.) EX 2 3 3 8 17 8 3 34 36 I 3 42 I I I 27 1 2 51 I 9 I 4 7 3 2 14 AA AV BA PR 31 36 47 16 4 15 10 1 2 3 2 6 _ 18 28 7 10 8 10 - 1 4 13 12 1 1 1 39 39 8 28 34 34 27 20 25 1 1 1 15 24 24 34 18 2 1 2 _ 17 1 1 18 9 19 10 2 2 5 5 2 14 2 - 12 2 - - 3 16 33 12 2 8 12 4 - - 10 2 5 2 5 6 16 53 30 10 46 16 - - 31 19 9 4 1 9 3 16 2 3 3 _ - 2 5 - 2 9 35 7 13 35 51 2 16 50 33 8 3 2 - - 8 38 32 6 13 19 1 4 - 1 6 4 61 32 12 1 7 18 30 9 47 12 5 - 2 13 - - 1 3 3 - 8 15 8 4 43 5 2 - 13 - 1 1 2 4 3 - - 6 8 1 1 2 2 - 1 1 6 16 2 14 44 7 3 12 19 27 19 5 12 2 5 43 30 13 - 4 15 15 2 10 19 19 12 19 8 2 4 - 3 4 3 8 16 18 9 37 19 6 1 10 28 14 1 13 16 20 1 - I 3 2 7 10 9 3 16 14 13 45 33 10 2 6 11 I 7 17 13 23 7 8 2 - - 10 5 2 - 1 5 5 1 19 15 4 1 3 15 10 1 1 2 2 _ 8 10 12 3 6 15 35 18 48 26 1 1 4 5 1 1 15 31 I Hi - S*0 / DID A 9/LLY TN/NG DOES EVERYBODY NAVE TO LOOK AT ME LfKE /T . , Sr rt4r d/AG MACY'B W/NDOlV ? The crazy -mixed-up "Born Yesterday” cutie . . . in the comedy of the year ! Columbia Pictures laughingly presents Judy Holliday in "It Should Happen To You” co-starring Peter Lawford with Michael O’Shea and introducing Jack Lemmon • Story and screen play by Garson Kanin • Produced by Fred Kohlmar and directed by George Cukor .... To Be Released In March for FEBRUARY oo One on DRIVE-INS AND THE NEW TECHNIQUES FAST FOOD SERVICE FOR DRIVE-INS A NEW TYPE GUIDE IN MAINTENANCE January 12, 1931 at the Post Office, at New York City, U. S. A., under the act of Manh 1379. v lung Co. Inc., 1270 Sixth Avenue, Rockefeller Center, New York 20. N. I-. Sn'bs-riptio, i price- a year Boretgn. Single copy, 25 cents. All contents copyrighted 1954 by Quigley Publishing Company, FEBRUARY 6, 19)4 HERALD \niques t’t'K Hied Directors Get 'tock Purchase Plan .duct Digest): HELL AND HIGH WATER, RED GARTERS, RIDE CLEAR OF DIABLO FROM THE SMALLEST THEATRES TO THE BIGGEST THEATRE IN THE LAND - THEY’RE STRIKING UP THE BAND ! EVERYBODY’S JOINING M-G-M’s 30“ ANNIVERSARY JUBILEE! \ / / "SEE FOR YOURSELF" TRADE SHOWS EXECUTIVE SUITE TO MY THOUSANDS OF JUBILEE FRIENDS! "As promised We’re Saying It With Pictures!” To the thousands of friendly showmen taking part in M-G-M’s 30th Anniversary Jubilee we say: "Thanks from the bottom of our hearts!” Imagine! Even theatres temporarily closed, have re-opened to capitalize on the promotional possibilities of local Jubilees! It’s not only a sentimental occasion, but it’s a business event in this industry! We take the opportunity to urge every showman to attend the "SEE FOR YOURSELF” Trade Shows of TWO MORE GREAT Jubilee hits, "RHAPSODY” ( Technicolor ) on February 15th and "EXECUTIVE SUITE” on February 19th. Note below that screening rooms and times of screenings are the same for both pictures on their respective dates. See for Yourself. Plan for Yourself! ALBANY ATLANTA BOSTON BUFFALO CHARLOTTE CHICAGO CINCINNATI CLEVELAND DALLAS DENVER DES MOINES DETROIT INDIANAPOLIS JACKSONVILLE KANSAS CITY LOS ANGELES 20th- Fox Screen Room 20th- Fox Screen Room M-G-M Screen Room 20th-Fox Screen Room 20th- Fox Screen Room Warner Screen Room 20th-Fox Screen Room 20th- Fox Screen Room 20th- Fox Screen Room Paramount Screen Room 20th- Fox Screen Room Max Blumenthal’s Sc. Rm. 20th-Fox Screen Room Florida State Screen Room 20th-Fox Screen Room United Artists’ Screen Rm. 1 052 Broadway 197 Walton St., N. W. 46 Church Street 290 Franklin Street 308 S. Church Street 1307 S. Wabash Ave. 1632 Central Parkway 2219 Payne Avenue 1803 Wood Street 21 00 Stout Street 1300 High Street 2310 Cass Avenue 236 No. Illinois St. 128 East Forsyth Street 1720 Wyandotte St. 1851 S. Westmoreland 2 P.M. 2 P.M. 2 P.M. 2 P.M. 1:30 P.M. 1:30 P.M. 2 P.M. 1 P.M. 2:30 P.M. 2 P.M. 1 P.M. 1:30 P.M. 1 P.M. 2 P.M. 1:30 P.M. 2 P.M. ( MEMPHIS MILWAUKEE MINNEAPOLIS NEW HAVEN NEW ORLEANS NEW YORK OKLAHOMA CITY OMAHA PHILADELPHIA PITTSBURGH PORTLAND ST. LOUIS SALT LAKE CITY SAN FRANCISCO SEATTLE WASHINGTON 20th-Fox Screen Room Warner Screen Room 20th- Fox Screen Room 20th- Fox Screen Room 20th-Fox Screen Room M-G-M Screen Room 20th-Fox Screen Room 20th- Fox Screen Room M-G-M Screen Room M-G-M Screen Room B. F. Shearer Screen Rm. S’Renco Art Theatre 20th- Fox Screen Room 20th-Fox Screen Room Jewel Box Preview Thea. RKO Screen Room 151 Vance Avenue 12 Noon 212 W. Wisconsin Ave. 1; : 30 P.M- 1015 Currie Avenue 2 P.M. 40 Whiting Street 2 P.M. 200 S. Liberty St. 1 : : 30 P.M. 630 Ninth Avenue 2: : 30 P.M. 1 0 North Lee Street 1 P.M. 1502 Davenport St. 1 P.M. 1233 Summer Street 2 P.M. 1623 Blvd. of Allies 2 P.M. 1947 N. W. Kearney St. 2 P.M. 3143 Olive Street 1 P.M. 216 E. First St., So. 1 P.M. 245 Hyde Street 1: 30 P.M. 2318 Second Avenue 1 P.M. 932 N. Jersey Ave., N.W. 1: 30 P.M. SENSATIONAL DRAMA OF MUSIC AND ROMANCE |- GREATEST CAST EVER ASSEMBLED! M-G-M presents In Color by Technicolor “RHAPSODY” starring Elizabeth Taylor •Vittorio Gassman • John Ericson • Louis Calhern Screen Play by Fay and Michael Kanin . Adaptation by Ruth and Augustus Goetz • Based on the Novel “ Maurice Guest ” by Henry Handel Richardson • Music Conducted by Johnny Green • Piano Solos Played by Claudio Arrau • Violin Solos Played by Michael Rabin Directed by Charles Vidor • Produced by Lawrence Weingarten M-G-M presents “EXECUTIVE SUITE” starring William Holden June Allyson • Barbara Stanwyck . Fredric March • Walter Pidgeon Shelley Winters • Paul Douglas • Louis Calhern • with Dean Jagger Nina Foch • Tim Considine • Screen Play by Ernest Lehman Based on the Novel by Cameron Hawley • Directed by Robert Wise Produced by John Houseman C|NemaScop£ „l„.,WarnerColor STARRING BHH [ THE FIRST STORY OFTHE AMERICAN FRONTIER CinemaScopE lymiPiTF TTfjTnll lillKillfiHl HUHIm Hedda Hoppw nominates scoPt C|NEWaSc°' tor the first Oscar ot the year’. TW “ - — c::;4 — - iz:™1™ "“«• - « *. » “™» «— - », Manuel sound. t rn hAS *ong in ,SirTM AGE Din a C°ULD NEVER preop,™ ‘ ING ppf* OMB- ® OR GET such irmm, THE «OBE AS wn,,n »®«= „» SImm ' «r c"“ "«* *> *s. „ LEO T JONES DRIVE-IN MEET ALLIED WEIGHS BEY OF STOCK Board Studies Rembusch Plan to Acquire Stock in Major Companies CINCINNATI: The board of directors of Allied States Association, meeting here Friday and Saturday this week at the Neth- erlands Plaza Hotel, was to decide whether or not the Association will proceed with its plan for stock acquisition by Allied members in motion picture companies. Abram F. Myers, chairman and general counsel, in his annual report to the Board delivered Friday, urgently recommended adoption of the plan and urged that other exhibitor organizations and individual ex- hibitors be invited to join. Conceived by Trueman Rembusch and announced by him as keynoter at the na- tional Allied convention in Boston last fall, the plan is designed primarily to alleviate the product shortage, and what is felt to be the consequent trade malpractices, by giv- ing exhibition a strong voice in production affairs. Questionnaire Sent Out The board’s decision will be based largely on answers to a questionnaire, sent out to Allied members in January as part of a survey to determine rank and file opinion on such stock purchasing. The board will act on the project with the understanding that its undertaking and execution will de- pend on the exhibitors themselves. The questions asked in the survey were as follows : How many shares of the stocks of the following companies owned by you or by members of your family or business asso- ciates will be available in carrying out a program as described: Columbia (comm.), Loew’s, Paramount, RKO Pictures, 20th Century-Fox (comm.), Universal (comm.), Warner Brothers and Republic (comm.). Would you be willing to buy additional shares of stock to further aid in carrying out such a program ? If so, in what com- pany ? How many shares ? Would you be willing to dispose of your shares in one company and reinvest the proceeds in another in order to bring the maximum influence to bear upon a single company to be designated hereafter ? Plan Use of Proxies When called upon, will you be prepared to execute proxies, or cause members of your family or business associates to do so, for the shares of stock held by you or them, in favor of a committee of experienced ex- hibitors, so that the shares may be voted in furtherance of such a program ? Will you be willing to guarantee playdates at prevailing prices for comparable product to a company to be designated by such com- mittee for the maximum number of pictures that such company can produce in one year ? Mr. Rembusch, in his keynote speech, outlined a campaign of action, saying : “Ownership of 10 per cent of any film company’s stock by exhibitors who will guarantee playdates at prices comparable to the going market, would secure the voting rights of sufficient shares of stock owned by large investment houses in a film com- pany, to secure control of the company. The investment houses would turn over these voting rights because of the value inherent in guaranteed playdates. Banks would fur- nish production money, because of the assets represented by guaranteed playdates. . . .” Would Effect Economies He suggested that experienced, picture- wise exhibitors of proven business judgment might be elected to the board of directors of such a company and that they could “imme- diately lay plans looking toward relieving to a great extent the shortage of product. Such a board could eliminate non-productive personnel of the company in sales and pro- duction, replacing them with men of vision ; could put into effect incentive selling policies and develop new media of effective adver- tising.” Mr. Myers’ report stressed the point that new media, particularly CinemaScope have made the already serious product shortage even more critical. In addition he said, “This starving of the market has played into the hands of the film companies in their de- termination to exact still more onerous terms and conditions for such films as are avail- able.” He attacked the present 20th-Fox policy of insisting upon stereophonic sound instal- lations for CinemaScope showings and charged bitterly that “It appears that Fox has hit upon a scheme which, they hope, will secure for them all the advantages of the pre-release method and at the same time be immune to legal attack.” Proposes Two Measures The product shortage plus a pile-up in first-runs of CinemaScope pictures is “either a present or imminent threat to every person engaged in exhibition,” Mr. Myers said, in proposing two “drastic” measures. These were: “1. To bring about the production of more pictures either by engaging directly in production or stimulating production by others; and 2. To carry on an intensive nation-wide campaign to promote theatre attendance so that increased production will be economically feasible.” It was in connection with the first point that Mr. Myers urged the stock purchase plan. In connection with the second he said, “What is needed is a great united push for motion picture entertainment. ( Continued from page 13) “very pleasing once the listener becomes accustomed to it.” First on the program at the Tuesday afternoon session of the convention was Col. George Mingle, Ohio State Traffic Control Comissioner, who advised the dele- gates of the importance of engaging the local police authorities to conduct an even flow of traffic in and out of drive-in theatres in the country, because of the increased number of automobiles now using main thoroughfares. Col. Mingle urged the thea- tre owners to try to make use of secondary highways wherever possible. A1 Sindlinger, also on the Tuesday pro- gram, re-emphasized his famous statement “we are doing business by accident.” Since 1948, he said, profits have declined from 13 per cent to 1 and per cent even with increased grosses. He stressed the impor- tance of channeling “communication adver- tising” intelligently to keep the public more informed of what picture was showing and when. Texas Drive-in Unit Plans Advisory Boards DALLAS : The International Drive-in Theatre Owners Association has set a va- riety of activities for 1954 including the establishment of advisory boards and an ar- rangement for a 10 per cent discount on drive-in equipment with a Kansas City com- pany. In a message to the membership, president Claude Ezell predicts that “drive-in theatres in 1954 will see the dawning of a brighter new day for their industry.” The advisory boards will consist of ex- perts available for consultation, such as architects, lawyers, sound engineers, pro- jectionists, building contractors, landscaping and decorating artists, concessions authori- ties and advertising advisors, Ezell said. Everetts Sell Interests In Carolina Theatres H. H. Everett, of Charlotte, N. C., a theatre operator and civic leader, and Mrs. Everett, have sold their interests in some bo houses of North and South Carolina to Essantee Theatres, owned by Mr. and Mrs. E. S. Stellings and Mr. and Mrs. Charles B. Trexler. Mr. Everett’s firm is known as Everett Enterprises, and it will continue to handle other family holdings. Mr. Stel- lings has been in the business 30 years and with Mr. Everett since approximately 1939. Rose Producing Greene Story David Rose, independent producer, will make Graham Greene’s “The End of the Affair” for Columbia Pictures. The best selling novel will have Deborah Kerr as feminine lead. Mr. Rose has been a pro- ducer for Paramount, an independent, and an executive with Douglas Fairbanks and United Artists. 16 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 6, 1954 CODE EVEN MORE ESSENTIAL NOW, FILM CATHOLICS TOLD AT THE FOURTH ANNUAL film industry Communion Breakfast: Mrs. James Killilea, author of the book, "Karen"; Charles Reagan, MG M general manager of sales and distribution and the breakfast master of ceremonies; the Most Reverend James H. Griffiths, Chancellor of the Military Ordinariate, representative of Cardinal Spellman, and chief speaker; Anita Colby; and Robert Considine, writer. Censorship In Spotlight Nationwide Censorship was a topic of news in many sections of the country the past week. In Albany an order directing the issuance of a New York state license for exhibition of “La Ronde’’ was forwarded to Dr. Hugh Flick, head of the state censor bureau, by the Board of Regents. The board acted to comply with the U. S. Supreme Court deci- sion overruling the previous ban on the film. The Regents announced that it had directed the issuance of a license after Dr. Flick reviews the film again and “is satis- fied it is in the same form as heretofore shown to the Regents and the Supreme Court. In the wake of the “La Ronde” case, the Regents are expected to draw up a bill revising the statutory definition of “im- morality.” Maryland Studies Change In Maryland Attorney General Edward D. E. Rollins, recommended that the state’s film censorship law be revised to bar only those films judged “indecent” or “obscene,” to permit board decisions to be appealed to the state Court of Appeals and to raise the salaries of board members. The attorney general’s proposals were made public by S. R. Traub, chairman of the state censor board. He said that in advocating elimination of all censorship criteria other than indecency and obscenity, Mr. Rollins explained he felt the statute should be brought into conformity with deci- sions of the U. S. Supreme Court as re- cently handed down and in 1952. The Maryland law as now drawn permits the censors to “disapprove such as are sacrilegious, obscene, indecent, inhuman or immoral, or such as tend in the judgment of the board, to debase or corrupt morals or incite to crimes.” Newark Seeks Law In Newark, N. J. a more effective munici- pal ordinance to control indecent movies or other offensive shows is being sought by City Public Safety director Keenan. He said “a study of the decisions leads us to believe that if our ordinance was more specific in providing sound rules for the guidance of exhibitors and the licensing authority, we would not be handcuffed by the courts as in the past.” Mr. Keenan said he would ask the Newark City Commission to spell out rules in an amendment to the present ordinance covering shows and exhibitions. In Stockton, Cal. a three-member film censorship committee was named by Stock- ton city manager John C. Lilly to combat the showing of questionable “girlie” pictures. Senator Ed Johnson, Colorado Democrat and perennial industry critic, this week in Washington, warned that the film industry The Production Code is not “old- fashioned” or “antiquated” unless the Ten Commandments also are “old-fashioned,” the Most Rev. James H. Griffiths told 1,500 motion picture industry Catholics at their Fourth Annual Communion Breakfast in New York last Sunday. Bishop Griffiths, Chancellor of the Mili- tary Ordinariate, was the principal speaker at the breakfast, in the Hotel Waldorf- Astoria, following Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. In a two-pronged attack on those who propose to alter the Code and on the decision of the Supreme Court on censor- ship the Bishop termed the latter “so vague that no one of the Justices apparently was able to make up his mind as to what is ‘immoral’ in this great American republic. Isn’t this a sad day,” he continued, “when the highest expressions of the Judiciary in this nation are unable to arrive at a minimal concept of what is immoral. . . .” The dangers of so vague a decision are obvious, Bishop Griffiths declared. “The implications seem to be,” he said, “that the various states should . . . bring their stand- ards' into accord with prevailing depraved but — mark well — not publicly approved moral deviations. In other words, the Pro- duction Code adopted a quarter of a century ago, judged by present practices is now antiquated.” One result of the weakening of standards, he declared, would be that “panderers who, hypocritically in the name of artistic expres- sion try to convince libertines that other is “asking for trouble again” by permitting some producers to make lewd pictures. He put into the Congressional Record a United Press dispatch which quoted the official Vatican newspaper as having accused the film industry of “exalting vice.” The dis- patch did not make it clear whether the persons interested in the moral fibre and stability of the nation are actually impinging on their porcine propensities — erroneously called liberty instead of license.” Declaring his faith in the leadership of the motion picture industry, the Bishop said, “. . . the same merchants of exotic erotics are now trying to convince the nation that the Supreme Court has wiped out from the states all power to determine what is immoral, obscene and socially objectionable for showing in their jurisdictions. Nothing is further from the truth as these lecherous producers will learn. They will learn it first from the men who head the film indus- try. The men who in their determination to preserve the moral fibre of the nation voluntarily accepted a Code of Production to which they all agreed. These fine men and the true artists who work with them will not betray the men and women of America.” Bishop Griffiths concluded with a plea to all decent citizens — Catholic, Protestant or Jew — to stand together “in supporting the Ten Commandments which we all acknowl- edge and respect together.” Other speakers at the affair were Mrs. James Killilea, author of the best-selling book “Karen”; Bob Considine, Pat O’Brien and Dennis Day. The guests of honor included Peter Lind Hayes, Anita Colby, Ann Crowley, Una O’Connor, Jessica Dragonette, Robert Alda and Kate Cameron. Charles Reagan, general sales manager of MGM, was toastmaster. Vatican paper was referring to the U. S. industry or to the Italian industry. In a pastoral letter, bishops of Ohio’s six dioceses said it would be desirable if the film industry could attain such maturity “that there would be no need of review or cen- sorship or a production code.” MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 6, 1954 17 Terry Romsa^e Say* THE SIMMERING SCENE — The higher the rivalries and the sharper the drives of the motion picture of fhe film screen and Tele- vision's electronic screen the closer they draw together. In essence the issue is be- tween the endeavor to redeem and restore the properties and dominance of the long established theatre channel to the market, and the galloping progress and ambitions of the all-electronic channels of Television. Both are selling motion pictures. They are in the same business. Now we have, just emerging around the commercial corner, color Television by an all-electronic "compatible" system. That means mostly that Television is color-wise catching up with the film screen. In that and other numerous developments the media are drawing together in the labora- tories, just as they are indeed in enter- prises as interlaced as in Telemeter's pay-as-you-see television delivery of Para- mount first run movies. The evolution in progress is as inevitable as the force of gravity. Bearing on the continuing process of ad- justments and inter-relation we can remem- ber when movieland resisted radio's raids on talent and the newspapers viewed with warranted alarm invasion of advertising revenues; when exhibition raised high alarm over 1 6mm competition; and how the whole film industry fighting television sought spectrum channels of its own by which to join television. That quest faded in th« absurdity of fact that there was no plan or program for the use of those special channels had they been awarded. For a glint of perspective consider what the power loom did to textiles, the linotype, stereotype and rotary press to publication, and so recently what fhe trac- tor, cotton picker, corn harvester and combine grain harvester have done to agriculture. Largely the Industrial Revolution has long been concerned with doing the same things that were done before, but with different methods. That is to be in the main the continuing course of the Electronic Revolu- tion. New tools for the old jobs of satisfy- ing the same customers to the end-result of the same basic satisfactions. The processes of adjustment and read- justment look the bigger the closer one is to them. To the exhibitor the existing film theatre's sharp problems and big uncer- tainties are as close as one day is to the nexr. Requirements are immediate and continuous. He cannot indulge always in the longer view. But he can have the assur- ance that from deepest antiquity to now there has always been a theatre; and never so large and mobile an audience as today. /^r-C/ COMMON TASTE, AGAIN— I n an exam- ination of European newspaper attention to news from the United States, "Time" relays a report that Arnoldo Cortesi, bureau chief of Ine "New York Times" in Rome, has re- marked that "an Italian who reads largely feature stories would inevitably reach the conclusion that everyday life in the United States is centered on beauty contests, di- vorce and the scandals of cafe society . . ." That order of charge used to be leveled almost exclusively at the American motion picture. It is to fhis observer a pleasure to see it transferred to the circulation-seeking editors of the Italian press. The ultimate responsibility is to be shared by the customers who by patronage tell the editors what they want. This kind of pressure control on the mass arts is go- ing to go on as long as the common and natural basic impulses are in control. That is forever. TELEVISION COUNT— What with this and that on the economic scene and the fact that a lot of customers are getting cautious, the television industry is closely keeping track. NBC has come out with a count of installed TV sets at 25,690,000, which is a gain of almost a half-million in a month and 4,456,000 since the beginning of 1953. There are plenty of sets awaiting sale yet. For immediate trade reasons we shall prob- ably be hearing much less about color television for a considerable spell. SOVIET POLICY — "Movie Memo," that organ of first aid to picture department editors of the lay press issued by Ernest Emerling in behalf of Loew's Theatre, assigned a bright young man to learn how to say "Kiss Me, Kate" in Russian. He had difficulties and finally wrote a fellow by the name of Andrei Visninsky up in Park Ave- nue. There was no answer. Probably bashful Andrei wouldn't say such a thing. Huh! Censors Hit 'French Cine 9 State censor boards of New York, Penn- sylvania and Kansas have rejected RKO Pictures’ “French Line” in its present form, it was learned this week. Also the Memphis and Shelby County board banned it. The state censors, it was reported, all registered objection to the Jane Russell dance number in the last reel, the same of objection which formed the basis of a Pro- duction Code seal denial fur the picture and its condemnation by the National Le- gion of Decency. RKO Pictures was informed of New York State’s disapproval Monday. An RKO spokesman in New York stated that he did not know whether the company would make the requested cuts in the light of the objections voiced by the censor boards of the three states. Instructions were being awaited from the studio. The controversial film, which caused the imposition of a $25,000 fine by the Motion Picture Association of America against the company, has been approved for exhibition in the cities of Chicago and Portland, Ore., the RKO spokesman said. State censor boards in Maryland, Ohio and Virginia still have to act on the film, in addition to boards of Boston, Detroit and Atlanta. The rough treatment accorded to the film by state censors came in the wake of the rejection by the Production Code Adminis- tration and the Legion of Decency, which found the revisions made by RKO Pictures unsatisfactory. A Motion Picture Associa- tion of America spokesman said Monday that RKO Pictures as yet had not appealed the imposition of the $25,000 fine, a penalty required by MPAA regulations to be im- posed against an MPAA member company which distributes a film without a seal. Name Eric Johnston Envoy To Brazil Film Festival Eric Johnston, president of the Motion Picture Association of America, has been named official United States representative at the Brazilian International Film Festival, according to an announcement by Theodore C. Streibert, director of the U. S. Informa- tion Agency. The festival opens in Sao Paulo February 12. Mr. Streibert said that Alan Fisher, the agency’s film officer in Sao Paulo has been designated alternate U. S. representative. A large, unofficial industry delegation will accompany Mr. Johnston. The U. S. will enter six government-made documentaries and five commercial films. Premiere for "Sunday" Noel Meadow’s “Sunday by the Sea,” a two-reel subject that recently was awarded the Grand Prize for the best short film at the Venice Film Festival, had its American premiere in New York last Thursday at the Trans-Lux 60th Street, on the same program with “The Holly and the Ivy.” 18 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 6, 1954 CinewnuScnpe Prints Due In Quantity A1 Lichtman, director of distribution for 20th Century-Fox, announced at the two- day sales meeting in New York last week that the current CinemaScope print bottle- neck will be broken by March 15 and that a normal supply of prints will be available to exhibitors following that date. Stepped up production, said Mr. Licht- man, at the Technicolor Laboratories in California and DeLuxe Laboratories in New York will enable full servicing of prints by the middle of March. Also addressing the assembled sales chiefs were W. C. Geh- ring, executive assistant general sales man- ager; Edwin W. Aaron, western sales man- ager, and Arthur Silverstone, eastern sales manager. Finalization of merchandizing plans on three CinemaScope features, “Hell and High Water,” “Night People” and “Prince Vali- ant,” and three Panoramic Productions, “Three Young Texans,” “The Siege at Red River” and “Gorilla,” preceded debate on other upcoming CinemaScope attractions, including “River of No Return,” “Three Coins in the Fountain,” “New Faces,” “Garden of Evil” and “Demetrius and the Gladiators.” Darryl Zanuck’s production of “The Egyptian,” to have its world premiere in the fall, also was on the agenda. Mr. Lichtman told the salesmen increased print production also will be reflected in the greater array of available CinemaScope short subjects. At the same time he reported that “The Robe” currently is showing in 66 first situations in principal European, Near and Far Eastern cities and that 1,500 theatres in the U. S. and now are equipped for CinemaScope. He predicted that by the end of the year this figure will rise to 10,000 theatres. United Artists to Release Five Films in February United Artists has announced that it will release five films in February, three of which are in color. The films are: “The Man Be- tween,” produced and directed by Carol Reed and starring James Mason; “Personal Affair,” made in England arid starring Gene Tierney and Leo Genn; “Top Banana,” film adaptation of the Broadway musical, star- ring Phil Silvers and in color ; “Overland Pacific,” an outdoor action drama in color with Jack Mahoney and Peggie Castle, and “Beachhead,” war drama in color by Tech- nicolor starring Tony Curtis and Frank Love joy. Film Group Adds $32,239 To Catholic Charities The motion pictures group of the Special Gifts Committee for the 1953 Appeal of New York Catholic Charities collected $32,239, according to the financial report of John J. CALL FOR MORE VIGOROUS CAMPAIGN ON TAX FRONT Although expressing encouragement as a result of talks last week with Treasury Secretary Humphrey and Congressional leaders, Col. H. A. Cole and Pat McGee, co-chairmen of the National Tax Repeal Campaign Committee, warned COMPO’s national tax campaign organization Monday that a continuation of the industry’s present lethargy toward the tax campaign “can de- feat us.” In a letter sent to all state and Congres- sional district campaign committees, Mr. Cole and Mr. McGee called upon all exhibit- ors to interview at once all Senators and Congressmen who have not made new pledges to vote for tax repeal and to con- tinue their contacts with their Members of Congress even if they have already given a pledge for help. The letter stated that there are grounds for encouragement for some measure of in- dustry relief, but added that “this conclusion is conditioned upon a number of things hap- pening, or not happening, as the case may be.” The letter continues : “These points are as follows : “(a) First and foremost, our Congres- sional strength must be increased, and it is imperative that those Congressmen and Sen- ators not now re-committed be approached without delay, and their support obtained. “(b) Those Congressmen and Senators already re-committed should not be left alone. They should hear from their con- stituents frequently by letter or personal visit so that their enthusiasm will remain warm right down to the time of the action that is hoped for. “(c) Any continuation of the lethargy and complacency that is evident throughout the country on the part of industry men can defeat us. “(d) Any assumption that relief of any type will be automatically accorded the industry without the same painstaking work that was accomplished last year can defeat us. “(e) Any failure on the part of your com- mittee to carefully guide the legislation af- fecting industry relief can defeat us. “(f) Our effort can be defeated by de- fault if tax legislation becomes enmeshed in intra-Congressional controversy, such as was witnessed for a period last year. Such a controversy if sufficiently sharp, can de- feat all tax legislation this year. “From the foregoing it may be seen that there are no grounds for over-confidence and that there is absolutely no reason for any assurance that the industry will be auto- matically granted tax relief consideration unless we all work at top pressure at home and in Washington.” O’Connor, Universal Pictures Co., Inc., chairman, it is announced by John A. Cole- man, executive chairman of the Cardinal’s Committee of the Laity. L. Douglas Netter of Altec Service Corp., was vice-chairman of this group. George J. Schaefer, treasurer of the Cardinal’s Committee of the Laity, also served on the motion picture group. The Special Gifts Committee last year passed the million dollar mark for the first time in its historv, Mr. Coleman announced. This amount was in addition to nearlv one and a half million dollars raised in the New York Archdiocese by lay parish organizations. Women's Recruiting Film Shown Defense Secretary The ten-minute short, “The Price of Liberty,” produced by Andy Gold for War- ner Pathe, was shown to Defense Secretary Charles Wilson at a special luncheon last week in the Pentagon, Washington, at which Mr. Wilson met with industry executives. Some of the latter were Mr. Gold ; Charles Boasberg, RKO Radio general sales man- ager and head of the distributors’ sales man- agers’ committee; and Sidney Kramer, RKO short subjects sales manager. The film is about recruiting of women into the armed services. Distributors will he asked to re- lease it. Warners Report 3-Month Net Profit of $765,000 Warner Brothers Pictures, Inc., this week reported for the three months ending No- vember 28, 1953, a net profit of $765,000 after provision of $825,000 Federal taxes on income and $75,000 for contingent liabilities. Film rentals, sales, etc., amounted to $15,- 825,000. The corresponding operations of the old Warner Brothers Pictures Inc. after eliminating net profit on domestic theatre operations, for the three months ending November 29, 1952, resulted in a net profit of $741,000. Goldwyn's "Best Years" Has Gala Washington Premiere Samuel Goldwyn’s RKO Radio produc- tion, “The Best Years of Our Lives,” re- leased originally in 1946 and winner of nine Academy Awards, received a gala pre- miere at Keith’s theatre in Washington Wednesday to rival any premiere of a new film. The invitational showing, sponsored by the White House Correspondents Associa- tion, was attended by White House aides, Cabinet members, ambassadors and stars of the film, including Myrna Loy, Teresa Wright and Cathy O’Donnell. TV and radio coverage were accorded the event by both NBC and CBS. MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 6, 1954 19 m w#*r is in t PARAMOU IN MONEY- MA AND NOW PARAMOUNT CONTINUES ITS LEAD WITH THE LARGEST NU This different picture is hitting the stride of all-time musical greats in its first 200 Texas dates. RED GARTERS starring Rosemary Clooney • Jack Carson Guy Mitchell • Pat Crowley . Gene Barry Cass Daley • Color by Technicolor Terrific in 3-D now! Available for 2-D showings soon. It’s definitely record -smashing in any dimension. HAL WALLIS’ MONEY FROM HOME starring Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis Color by Technicolor Daring love, set in outdoor spectacle — and topped by a startling, spectacular climax by Producer George Pal. THE NAKED JUNGLE starring Eleanor Parker • Charlton Heston Color by Technicolor SEAS This adventure in the farthest outposts of the frozen north will be plenty hot at your boxoffice. starring Robert Ryan . Jan Sterling Brian Keith . Gene Barry great PARAMOUNT NEWS AND SHORTS too i KING PICTURES MBER OF BIG ATTRACTIONS FOR THE LARGEST NUMBER OF THEATRES Rocking audiences everywhere as two women fight for one tx man, pitting instinct against experience. FOREVER FEMALE starring Ginger Rogers . William Holden Paul Douglas • James Gleason Pat Crowley Adventure in the Amazon headhunting country — with four men battling for gold and a golden-haired woman. JIVARO starring Fernando Lamas • Rhonda Fleming Color by Technicolor For Easter ! Bob Hope surrounded by produc- tion splendor and strong star support in a big song -and -laugh show. CASANOVA’S BIG NIGHT starring Bob Hope • Joan Fontaine Basil Rathbone • Audrey Dalton Color by Technicolor A trio of magnetic stars in a thrilling and spectacular picture filmed in fabulous Ceylon. ELEPHANT WALK starring Elizabeth Taylor . Dana Andrews Peter Finch • Color by Technicolor HAVE YOU PLAYED “POPEYE”AND “CASPER” IN 3-DP SKOURAS -l.E. A. STAGE IS SET British Exhibitors Will Air Views on CinemaScope , Stereophonic Sound by PETER BURNUP LONDON : The stage is set for the Spy- ros P. Skouras meeting with exhibitors February 10. The Cinematograph Exhibitors Association has hired the well-known Con- naught Rooms for the purpose. The meet- ing will be open to all exhibitors and the whole of the Association’s 4,000-odd mem- bership has been so informed. C.E.A.’s executive council would nor- mally be in session at that hour. The entire morning has been allocated to the Skouras meeting and the executive council will as- semble for its regular meeting in the after- noon, at which, undoubtedly, Mr. Skouras’ declarations will have a more than ample airing. Caution Is Urged CinemaScope continues to be the prime factor in the C.E.A. branch discussions, with the Association’s officers reiterating their counsels of caution. At the annual meeting of the Association’s South Midlands branch Claude Whincup, C.E.A. vice-presi- dent, for example, spoke to the members in the following terms : “Look ahead twelve months ; assume that 90 per cent of cinemas put in CinemaScope and run wide screen films; then in all prob- ability the additional amount at the box office would be infinitesimal compared with the over-all cost.” Mr. Whincup admitted that a “new per- spective is a good thing” but he recom- mended branch members support the “mid- dle line” policy advocated by general coun- cil. He repeated his previous declaration that the cost of stereophonic sound put it completely out of court for most showmen of the country. Prendergast Outspoken At the Yorkshire branch’s annual meet- ing the reelected branch chairman, John X. Prendergast, was even more forthright. He declared that if CinemaScope was to be confined to larger theatres, giving them the monopoly of the new techniques and forcing the small and even medium exhibitors out of business, he was against it. Mr. Prendergast concluded by saying that CinemaScope would be of terrific value to the industry if it could be made available to all. “But it is of no use to the industry as a whole if they insist on ‘Rolls-Royceing’ it,” he said. Mr. Skouras undoubtedly will have the alleged plight of the smaller man put to him forcefully at the February 10 meeting. He will also be challenged as to whether his plan envisages the elimination of the small exhibitor and to concentrate screen- ings in the larger independent and circuit theatres. C.E.A.’s officers, it is reported, have ob- tained private assurances from other distrib- utors that they are prepared to let their otherwise stereophonic productions go out in single-track versions. “Robe” Still Booming Meanwhile, “The Robe” continues to boom business. It is being held over for a fourth week in 11 out of the 12 provincial situations in which it has opened. That is unprecedented. At the Leicester Square Odeon the picture is running into its twelfth week. “How to Marry a Millionaire” opens in 10 provincial situations this week. Its reception at the combined trade and press screenings is reported as enthusiastic in each place. Twentieth-Fox branch managers report many exhibitors in their respective areas already would have signed for CinemaScope but they await, it is said, the outcome of the Skouras meeting February 10. _ _v Portent of a British Quota for television films is seen in a statement issued here by the Association of Cine & Allied Techni- cians, protesting against negotiations en- tered into by the B.B.C. to import, for transmission on television, a number of American-sponsored TV programmes. Would Bar Programmes The union is asking the president of the Board of Trade to withhold import licenses from the American programmes in question and is suggesting that the Minister should take the initiative in calling a conference of all interested parties “to try and find a modus vivendi between British films and television.” The film trade here, mainly at the instance of exhibitors, persists in its adamant atti- tude of having no part of TV. With the pending emergence, however, of commercial TV the demand for TV film programmes will obviously become more pronounced in very short order. V ' Developments this week indicate that A.C.T. is set on a bitter struggle with the Film Laboratory Association in consequence of the latter’s recent rejection of the union’s wage demand. Following a mass meeting of A.C.T.’s laboratory workers the union gave formal notice to the employers’ association that an overtime ban and a “work-to-rule” practice would be imposed in a week’s time failing negotiations on the wage demand. It is understood that the employers have decided to reject the ultimatum. Immediate effect of the ban would be the dislocation of news-reel schedules. It is estimated on the basis of present work-schedules that the ban would cut off 2*4 hours from the pres- ent average working week. V Governmental replies last week to House of Commons questions indicate that the bill authorizing commercial TV is unlikely to be introduced in the near future. The Bill is in process of drafting but it is understood that certain points of importance remain to be settled. Best informed Parliamentary opinion tends to the belief that the bill will not be presented to the Commons before March. V Associated British Picture Corporation has declared an interim dividend of per cent on its Ordinary Stock in respect of the year ending 31st March, 1954. This is a similar dividend to last year’s interim. V The Films Council has recommended to the president of the Board of Trade that the British Quota for first and supporting features for 1954-55 should continue at 30 per cent and 25 per cent respectively. V MGM’s worldwide film festival in cele- bration of the company’s 30th Anniversary will have its London presentation at the Empire, Leicester Square, from Monday, February 22, to Friday, February 26, in- clusive. One new feature will be presented at the Empire on each of the five days in the following order : Monday, “Kiss Me Kate”; Tuesday, “Executive Suite”; Wednesday, “The Long, Long Trailer”; Thursday, “Easy to Love”; Friday, “Escape from Fort Bravo.” Firsf-American Supplies Portfolio for Exhibitors In announcing a new low-cost in-car speaker, which is described in the Better Theatres Section of this issue, First-Ameri- can Products, Inc., of Kansas City, has made available a handy portfolio free to drive-in management, for the filing of liter- ature and other sources of information. The portfolio contains nine compartments with projecting tabs for filing material accord- ing to subject. They are marked general, sound and projection, screens, lighting and signs, marquees, playgrounds and patios, refreshments, buildings and furnishings, and maintenance. RKO, Republic Music Talks Set For New York After Feb. 15 Talks on a musicians contract with Re- public Pictures and RKO Pictures, the two studios which did not join in the industry agreement negotiated in Miami last week, are expected to be held in New York after February 15, when the board of directors of the American Federation of Musicians re- convenes to work out a radio-television in- dustry contract. This was learned following a preliminary meeting in Miami between James C. Petrillo, AFM president, and Republic officials at the end of last week. 22 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 6, 1954 3M'G3M Moves Forward on New Product With all productions for the entire 1953- 54 releasing season scheduled for comple- tion by March 1, MGM this week launched its 1954-55 producing schedule with prepara- tion for eight important pictures to go before the cameras in April and May. At the same time Dore Schary, studio head, announced that 22 writers are cur- rently assigned to scripts for other future productions. Rehearsals Start Soon Rehearsals for the new films will get under way in March, including “Jupiter’s Darling,” in CinemaScope, with Esther Williams and Howard Keel; “Green Fire,” in CinemaScope, Stewart Granger and Grace Kelly; “Many Rivers to Cross,” CinemaScope, Robert Taylor: “Deep in My Heart,” CinemaScope; Jose Ferrer; “Baby- lon Revisited,” in CinemaScope, Elizabeth Taylor; “King’s Thief,” Edmund Purdam ; an original story by Dore Schary, with an all-star cast. “Athena,” Jane Powell, Janet Leigh. With production of these films, final edit- ing, music scoring and special color printing will be completed on the productions to be finished in March, including three musicals filmed in CinemaScope, “Brigadoon,” “The Student Prince” and “A Bride for Seven Brothers”; also “Valley of the Kings,” “Betrayed” and “Beau Brummell,” all filmed on foreign locations. Previously completed for the 1953-54 schedule, and nearing final laboratory prepa- rations are “Rose Marie,” CinemaScope; “Panther Squadron 8,” “Her Twelve Men,” “Rhapsody,” “Flame and the Flesh,” “Exe- cutive Suite” and “Prisoner of War.” According to Mr. Schary, all the new films will be fashioned to exploit fullest advantage of the newest technical develop- ments including new screen dimensions, advanced stereophonic sound, color photog- raphy and printing, as well as other scientific techniques resulting from MGM’s months of research and experimentation. Preparations Under Way Preparations for subsequent production also are under way with scripts completed on “In Missouri,” “St. Louis Woman,” “Moonfleet,” “Scarlet Coat,” “Love Me or Leave Me” and “Bad Day at Black Rock,” with current writer assignments including Sid Boehm to write “Rougue Cop”; Alex Coppel, “Night in Glengyle” ; Alan Jay Lerner, “Green Mansions” ; Comden and Green, “Cole Porter Cavalcade” ; Casey Robinson, “Montmartre” ; Jan Lustig, “O’Kelley ’s Eclipse”; Helen Deutsch, “The Glass Slipper”; Christopher Isherwood, "Dianne De Poytiers” ; Millard Kaufman, "Mail Order Bride”; Harry Brown, “Thun- der in the Mountains”; Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts, “The Big- Sin” ; Isobel Lennart, "Two Girls from Bordeaux”; Sonya Levien and William Ludwig, "Hit the Deck”; Ruth Flippen, “My Most Intimate Friend” ; Karl Tunberg, “Ben Hur” ; Angus McPhail and Stanley Roberts, “Highland Fling,” and Maurice Zimrn, “The Prodigal.” Lichtman Gets Option For 25,000 Shares WASHINGTON : An option to purchase 25,000 shares of 20th Century-Fox common stock at $18.86j4 per share has been granted to A1 Lichtman, 20th Century-Fox distribu- tion director, the company reported to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Un- der the option, according to the report, the purchase is limited to 12,500 shares in the first year, 1954, and 12,500 shares in the second, 1955. The current New York Stock Exchange quotation for 20th-Fox common is about $20 per share. "Saint's Girl" for Release RKO Radio will release Julian Lesser’s "The Saint’s Girl Friday” April 15, Charles Boasberg, general sales manager announced this week. The film stars Louis Hayward, Naomi Chance and Sidney Taffler. It was directed by Seymour Friedman. "Red Garters" Opens in Five Texas Situations Paramount’s new Western musical in color by Technicolor, “Red Garters,” kicked off a week of Texas premieres Monday with a two-theatre world premiere in Austin at the Paramount and State. In attendance were a group of the film’s stars, including Guy Mitchell, Pat Crowley, Gene Barry, Frank Faylen and Buddy Ebsen, who were greeted by Governor Allan Shivers on their arrival and in a day packed with activity featuring a giant March of Dimes rally. During the rest of the week the stars at- tended similar lavish premieres of the film in San Antonio, Dallas and Fort Worth at key Interstate Circuit theatres. Code to Be Debated Martin Quigley will defend the Motion Picture Code and Morris Ernst will argue for its abolition on “Report to the People” on WMCA, New York, on Monday, Feffi ruary 8, 9:30-10:00 P.M. Mr. Ernst, who is general counsel of the American Civil Liberties Union, is a well-known opponent of all forms of censorship. The program, to be presented by transcription, will be moderated by Mrs. Dorothy Dunbar Brom- ley, conductor of the weekly series. Alabama Theatre Moves The Strand Theater, Birmingham, Ala., has been reopened as the Newmar Theater. The latter’s old quarters will be rented out as a business establishment. The deal was made between Waters Theater Company, owners and operators of the Newmar, a movie house specializing in double features with an accent on Westerns, and the Acme Theatre Company, operators of the Strand. Push Platts For Stereo Sound Test The what-kind-of-sound- with -Cinema- Scope controversy continued to buzz along this week while plans were going forward for the regional stereophonic “mixer” sound tests. The meetings, scheduled to be held last week between Walter Reade, Theatre Owners of America president and circuit head, and 20th-Fox president Spyros Skouras, were to be held this week after being postponed because of a 20th-Fox sales meeting. Committees are to be formed in the east, west, south and middle west, each taking over operation of the test in its particulai region. Mr. Reade already has forwarded a prosposed list of exhibitors, five in each territory, to 20th-Fox, the company which has agreed to conduct the experiments for its CinemaScope productions. Comprising the committees will be exhibitors chosen by both sides, in addition to equipment manu- facturers and officials of other companies producing- in CinemaScope, as well as trade press representatives. Meanwhile, Mr. Reade was rebuked by at least one exhibitor for the recent showing of 20th-Fox’s “The Robe” at a Reade thea- tre in Morristown, N. J. without stereo- phonic sound, but with the “mixer” which channels the stereophonic tracks through one horn. In protest against the Reade action, Janies Coston, head of the Indiana- Illinois Theatre Corporation, withdrew from membership in TOA and asked “any organ- ization” to follow his lead if the exhibitor organization goes on record against stereo- phonic sound. In a telegram to Mr. Reade, Mr. Coston said “we are dumbfounded to see that you, the president of TOA, would take such ac- tion that would not only jeopardize our investment but endanger the only invention and first real improvement since the advent of sound that has brought the people back into our theatres since the big slump.” 20th-Fox received encouragement from another Indiana-Illinois Theatres executive, Alex Manta, who wired Mr. Skouras the following : “After six complete CinemaScope stereophonic sound installations, we feel that we are in a position to encourage you to hold fast to your determination to insist on proper presentation of CinemaScope the way it was developed and intended, with four-track stereophonic sound.” Another theatre circuit, Western Massa- chusetts Theatres, which had contemplated installing “mixers” in several of its houses, announced last week that it had dropped the plan and would instead install full stereo- phonic equipment. Samuel Goldstein, presi- dent, gaid he had sent an engineer to Morristown and had received a negative report on the “mixer,” as a result of which he was going to install the stereo equipment in at least 10 of his houses by the middle of this month. MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 6, 1954 23 “ THE GLENN MILLER STORY’ ...IS THE BEST fgp&ElSIfRf aBwBgBwP #,IS§ ? • lirjj i t '■ CHARLES DRAKE • GEORGE TOBIAS * HENRY MORGAN Written by VALENTINE DAVIES and OSCAR BRODNEY • Produced by AARON ROSENBERG Directed by ANTHONY MANN “By all the rules of box office ARITHMETIC STANDS TO SCORE ENORMOUS BUSINESS!" — Motion Picture Herald “Has something for everyone, THIS SHOULD BE AN UNQUALIFIED BOX OFFICE SUCCESS!" — Showmen's Trade Review ■mi boi a»n mw r' r,1. UOS Bin ■■■ (Hi ■■■ “Easily the best in the universal catalogue to date... will pack 'em in. A SHOWMAN'S PICTURE WITH A HEAVY POTENTIAL ... HAS ALL THE EARMARKS OF GREATNESS. IT'S A WONDERFUL STORY, WONDERFULLY PLAYED! — The Film Daily “A GOLD MINE IN TECHNICOLOR. WILL RANK WITH 1954 TOP GROSSERS. HERE'S A WINNER FROM UNIVERSAL THAT WILL BE IN THE RUNNING FOR ACADEMY HONORS!" -Film Bulletin “First smash hit of 1954 HAS HUGE BOX OFFICE PROSPECTS!" — Hollywood Reporter “Universal has a box office winner, james stewart and june allyson is strong MARQUEE COMBINATION... MEANS HEARTY TICKET SALES IN THE KEYS AND ELSEWHERE!" — Weekly Variety ■ mm hi mm mm warn am* mam mmm mm mm mm mm* mm mm* mm mm* mm mm mm mm mm Hi warn mam mmm mm amm am m Hi hi hi hi mm ma m am mm am a raa wmm asm mm “The bopsters of today to the rug-cutters OF YESTERYEAR SHOULD FLOCK TO THE NATION'S BOX OFFICES TO MAKE A SOLID FINANCIAL SUCCESS!" — Box Office "Excellent. . . stirring and heart-warming ... a picture THAT WILL HAVE WIDE APPEAL!" — Harrison's Reports “Exhibitors booking this one CAN LOOK FOR LONG LINES AT THE BOX OFFICE AND MANY SMILING FACES!" — Independent Film Journal i 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 it ,,, i , , If # I Jjf III f mm mm Jgf ' Tiliill iiiiif xxxbxWx.x.:; : by WILLIAM R. WEAVER HoUyzvood Editor Etollywood is taking steps to find out for the theatrical motion picture trade whether television may turn out to be a source of entertainment material as well as a com- petitor for the entertainment-seeker’s time. This is not a considered, collectively planned and activated taking of steps, such as Holly- wood is forever talking about and forgetting. It is a unilateral taking of steps by individ- uals who, presumably, have no dreams about unearthing great commercial truths or con- ducting systematic market research. So far three such steps have been taken, by individ- uals and organizations totally independent of each other, and it will be a while before tangible proofs of anything can be had. Each step is a production, and will have to play some theatres before anybody can be sure whether it’ll sell tickets nor not. Two Ready Now; Third To Go into Production Two of the productions have been com- pleted and are ready for the test of general release. The other, which is in many ways the likeliest to yield decisive indication, is scheduled to go into production within 90 days, however, and can be counted on to reach release in a relatively short time after the completion of filming. The first of the three productions is MGM’s “The Long, Long Trailer,” slated for first exhibitions in a week or so, which has been discussed in this space prior to now. It is by no means a subject borrowed from television, but its co-stars are tele- vision’s top couple, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, and MGM’s never made a secret of the fact that the television fame of the nation’s favorite married pair is the factor that prompted the production o-f the picture. Now it will not mean a great deal, as con- cerns the usefulness of television as a source of material, if “The Long, Long Trailer” makes mountainous amounts of money at the box office. For it is a sparkling comedy, one of the rare ones of this or any season, quite independently of its players, and might have made huge sums of money with two other competent performers in the top roles. But it will mean a great deal indeed, relative to the question in consideration here, if “The Long, Long Trailer” comes up less than a hit when the tickets go on sale. Will Provide Test At the Box Office That would have to mean that a great many millions of people who dote on Lucy and Desi on their “I Love Lucy” program weekly at no immediately perceptible out-of- pocket expense did not see fit to go to the theatre and pay to see them in the longer, bigger and better motion picture. And in view of the extraordinary personal and pro- fessional popularity of these two players, which has not been equalled by any others up to now, a failure of “The Long, Long Trailer” would have to be regarded as going a long way toward proving that the theatri- cal motion picture can’t look forward to reaping rich returns from the borrowing of television stars. “ World for Ransom ” Is Really TV’s China Smith The second of the three productions that can be looked to for indication as to the usefulness of television material on the mo- tion picture theatre screen is the Allied Artists release, “World for Ransom,” now on the point of going into exhibition. This is not represented in title or billing as being a television derivative. Actually it is, in effect, a long, long “China Smith” incident stretched out from the 30 minutes utilized weekly on television to the 82 minutes it runs, with a change of principal names arid addition of some that have marquee signifi- cance, on the motion picture theatre’s very big screen. It is hardly to be said that “World for Ransom” is a test of television material be- fore the fact, so to speak, since a theatre- goer witnessing it shall not have known be- forehand that he was buying a protracted television show minus commercials. And it may well be that, in view of his uninformed condition, any displeasure he might express regarding the picture is colored by the fact that he didn’t know he was buying with his money a super-helping of the “China Smith” entertainment he’d been buying with his time only, theretofore. It would seem, this far in advance of actual exhibition test, that the only genuinely useful instruction this picture might yield, as to the value of television material in theatrical film production, would be evidence relative to the possibilities, and perhaps the penalties, of keeping the source a secret. “ Dragnet ” Expected To Show Real Value The third of the productions that can be expected to tell the trade something definite about the usefulness of television as a source of motion picture theatre entertainment is “Dragnet,” which is to be made in feature length for release by Warner Brothers. “Dragnet” is to television at this point what “‘Birth of a Nation” was to the silent motion picture for a span of its best years. Its two half-hours on television plus its half hour or radio give “Dragnet” a saturation THIS WEEK IN PRODUCTION: STARTED (2) U-l This Island Earth (Technicolor) Bengal Rifles (Technicolor) COMPLETED (5) COLUMBIA Human Beast Waterfront RKO Susan Slept Here (Technicolor) SHOOTING (16) COLUMBIA Law vs. Billy the Kid Killer Wore a Badge Three Hours to Kill MGM Brigadoon (CinemaScope; Ansco color) Bride for Seven Brothers ( CinemaScope; Eastman color) Beau Brummell (Eastman color) PARAMOUNT Bridges at Toko-Ri (Eastman color) RKO Big Rainbow (Technicolor) 20TH-FOX Gambler from Natchez (Panoramic Prod.; Illllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllilllllllllllll no other dramatic presentation has matched heretofore or is likely to hereafter. This is, on various and all points, the nearest perfect specimen of television entertainment exist- ing today. Now the picture made of “Dragnet” is to be precisely in consonance with the original. The same people will have the making in hand, and the same star will be starred. It goes without saying that the “Dragnet” personnel and the Warner studio personnel will extend themselves to the ut- most in the interests of the property that has extended its horizons so far and held its public in such faithful sway. In this venture there will be no changing of character, as in “The Long, Long Trailer,” and no con- cealment of source and portrayal, as in “World for Ransom.” No. This is to be an all-out filming for theatrical exhibition at paid admissions of a dramatic material that is customarily filmed for exhibition via television with no admission charged to the audience. “Dragnet” ought to tell once and for all whether the theatre screen can make profit- able use of television materials. REPUBLIC Tobor (Dudley) U-l Black Shield of Falworth (CinemaScope; Technicolor) Technicolor) Raid (Panoramic Prod.; Technicolor) UA Barefoot Contessa (Figaro, Inc.; Technicolor) U-l Sign of the Pagan (CinemaScope; Technicolor) Dawn at Socorro (Technicolor) WARNER .ucky Me (CinemaScope; WarnerColor) Star Is Born (CinemaScope; WarnerColor) Talisman (CinemaScope; WarnerColor) 26 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 6, 1954 J-^eonle in D, L %w6 IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllIMIIIIIIIIIMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Nationalism A Problem: Silverstone Fanatic nationalism is raging in the Far Eastern countries he visited and increasingly will become a serious problem for American film companies, Murray Silverstone, presi- dent of 20th-Fox International, reported in New York Tuesday, following his return from four months abroad. Mr. Silverstone logged 60,000 miles in 22 countries, and was able he said, to give a picture of the world situation. Like Native Product While “The Robe” and CinemaScope generally has built up tremendous interest, long runs and record grosses, which he recited in detail, the fact is that native product is doing the same because it is native, he warned. In the instance of 20th- Fox at least, the foreign business amounts to 65 per cent of the domestic business, with 1953 the best year, and 1954 because of the new technique expected to be the best ever. Apropos of this, Mr. Silverstone said “The Robe,” now playing ail over the world, will probably gross $25,000,000 during 1954, and that $15,000,000 of this, at least, would be the film rental. He also said “This in- dustry in the foreign field owes a great debt to Spyros Skouras because of the superiority of CinemaScope and the tremen- dous interest generated in it. Mr. Skouras regenerated the foreign market.” Mr. Silverstone said that 600 theatres abroad now have the equipment, and 5,000 would have it before the year’s end, and that these were more important than the remainder of the approximately 20,000 theatres serviced. Exhibition in which the company also engages, is prospering wherever he visited, he said. The endeavor is, Mr. Silverstone said, to invest in local enterprises, the com- pany receiving dividends as its return, and having as an ally the local forces which are wealthy and influential. In times of native nationalism, no amount of American intervention, whether from the government or the Motion Picture Association of Amer- ica, has the voice of the local business man, Mr. Silverstone declared. “Robe” Strong The company has just completed arrange- ments with the Schlesinger South African theatre interests, he said, whereby for 20 years, 20 of the top first run houses will play only 20th-Fox product exclusively. Of these, 20th-Fox controls 12, and will build the others with the Schlesingers. The com- pany also has theatres in conjunction with the Hoyts, Australia, Michael Moodabe, New Zealand, and Gaumont, England. “The Robe” has had some fantastically successful runs, he said. A basis of com- Mort Blumenstock, Warner Bros, adver- tising and publicity vice-president, this week returned to Hollywood from New York after discussions on promotion plans for forthcoming product. Joel Hart, formerly with 20 Century-Fox’s foreign organization, has been appointed United Artists manager in Cuba, suc- ceeding Jose Del Amo who died in November. Woolf Saunders, onetime manager and more recently exploiteer for the J. Arthur Rank Organization, has left London for a post with the organization in New Zealand. Phil Todaro, former manager of the Mer- cury, a Michaels circuit operation in Buf- falo, has been named director of advertis- ing and publicity for the Century theatre in Buffalo. Thomas G. Carroll has been promoted to office manager in the Republic Pictures branch in Albany. parison is with “The Snows of Kilimanjaro” hitherto the great record breaker. In Paris, “The Robe” did $600,000 in seven weeks, to “Snows” total of $90,701. There are similar records in England, Siam, India, Japan, Manila, Australia, and New Zealand. The picture and the process of Cinema- Scope have caused January business to be ahead of January last year by 10 per cent; and Mr. Silverstone added that returns now coming in show that February will prob- ably by 20 per cent ahead. Screen Directors Awards to Zinnemann, Florey, Crowther The Screen Directors Guild annual award for best directorial achievement went last week at the annual dinner of that organiza- tion in Hollywood, to Fred Zinnemann, of “From Here to Eternity.” Robert Florey received an award for best direction in 1953 television; and Bosley Crowther, “New York Times” critic, was termed the “most constructive cinema critic.” John Ford received the D. W. Griffith Award for his contributions to the art of direction. Mr. Crowther, a dinner speaker, said press and screen had a fundamental alliance to pre- serve freedom of expression. Florida Showmen to Meet TAMPA: Horace Denning, president of Motion Picture Exhibitors of Florida, has invited all exhibitors in the state to attend a special meeting of the organization at the Floridan Hotel in Tampa February 15. The general theme of the meeeting will he trade practices. Jules Livingston has been appointed Re- public’s branch manager in Cleveland. He had been branch manager in St. Louis and that post now goes to Raymond J. McCafferty, former senior salesman in that branch. Fred Lutkin has been named business man- ager of the advertising, publicity and ex- ploitation departments of RKO Radio. He succeeds Lou Gaudreau who resigned recently to join the Walt Disney organi- zation. Steve Broidy, president of Allied Artists, was reelected president of Temple Israel of Hollywood following a meeting of the board of directors. Leon J. Bamberger, RKO Radio sales pro- motion manager, has been named assistant to the chairman of the sales managers committee of the Motion Picture Asso- ciation of America, that post being occu- pied by Charles Boasberg, RKO general sales manager. Daft Reports Ranh , l -# on Good Terms Alfred Daff, Universal’s executive vice- president, declared in New York last week- end that the relationship between Universal and the J. Arthur Rank Organization is on “good ground” and Universal constantly is trying to expand the distribution of Rank pictures. His statement stemmed from re- marks made in London by John Davis, managing director of the Rank company, to the effect that his company’s product was not getting the play-off in this country that it deserves. Among other things Mr. Davis said that despite “many fine films” sent out, the hill- ing for 10 months was “only up by $10,000.” Mr. Daff said there was a great oppor- tunity for the conventional theatres to play the Rank pictures profitably, as well as the so-called “art” houses. The wide ac- ceptance of British pictures in the United States proves this, he said, and Universal is giving more attention to the sale of such product through the addition of two sales representatives who will concentrate on the sale of Rank productions. The Universal vice-president indicated that there was a completed understanding on the situation when Mr. Davis returned to England from the U. S. a week ago Friday. Mr. Daff pointed out that “their problem also is our problem.” MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 6, 1954 27 star JOHN CARROLL JIM BACKUS • STAN FR, that "Drag Screen Play by PETER MILNE and FRANK GILL, Directed by R. A REPUBLI REPUBLIC PICTUR HERBERT J. YATES presents ■ MALA POWERS EBERG • KRISTINE MILLER o net man JR. -Story by DORIS GILBERT and PETER MILNE G. SPRINGSTEEN C PICTURE ES CORPORATION ALBANY Spurred by the praise which the Rev. Richard N. Hughes, executive secretary of Albany Federation of Churches, and Rabbi Samuel Wolk, of Temple Beth Emeth, gave the area motion picture business as the strongest supporter of Brotherhood Week — at a mass meeting in the Grand Theatre — distributor and exhibitor leaders are gear- ing their forces to surpass last year’s results in this year’s- observance Feb. 21-27. . . . Charles Gordon’s Olympic in Utica, followed “Miss Sadie Thompson” with “King of the Khyber Rifles” — both at advanced prices. . . . The Troy in Troy opened with “King of the Khyber Rifles” a day before Proctor’s closed its engagement with "Beneath the 12-Mile Reef,” also a CinemaScope release. . . . 20th Century-Fox branch disclosed that there are 28 CinemaScope installations in this exchange district. . . . Visitors included : Leon Duva, Morrisville; George Thornton, Saugerties and Windham; Seymour L. Mor- ris, director of exploitation and publicity for Schine Theatres. . . . Senator Fred G. Moritt, who announced he would introduce a bill routing appeals from Regents’ denial of licenses to the Supreme Court juries, is a partner in McDonald Pictures, which pre- viewed “Paris Express” for legislators here last spring. ATLANTA The Gem theatre, owned by Mr. and Mrs. Wallace Smith for the past 25 years, has closed its doors due to lack of business. . . . Myra Pace, cashier at the Paramount the- atre, has resigned to become a mother. . . . Miss Paula Bird, secretary to Arthur C. Bromberg, president of Allied Artists Pic- tures Southern Exchanges, has resigned. . . . Mrs. Hens Botwick has replaced Miss Bird. . . . E. J. Hunter, Colquit theatre, Colquit, Georgia, was in booking. . . . Uriel Miles is the new owner of the Norwood theatre, Bir- mingham, Ala. . . . Judie Nolen is new sec- retary at ABC Booking Service. . . . John D. Hassler, owner of the Dixie, Brydtown, Tenn., has sold the theatre. . . . Johnny Har- rell, Martin theatre buyer, and Hap Barnes, ABC Booking Service, are back at their offices after a visit to New Orleans. . . . Ed Smith has been transferred from the managership of the Palace theatre, Tampa, Fla., to the Florida State, St. Petersburg. . . . Don Holcomb replaced Smith at the Palace. . . . The Ace theatre, Nashville, Tenn., has closed its doors. . . . Leonora Beardon, National Screen Service Co., has resigned to keep house. . . . Also resigned is Francis Burch, Wil-Kin Theatre Supply Co. BALTIMORE John Murphy, general manager of Loew’s out-of-town-theatres, and eastern division manager Orville Crouch were in town vis- iting the local Loew theatre. . . . I. M. Rap- paport’s father-in-law passed away last week. . . . Bud Rose, UA representative, has taken a California vacation accompanied by his mother. . . . Abe Caplan, a Westway theatre, has recovered from a recent attack of the flu. . . . Sidney Gibbs, Glove Poster Co., is vacationing in Florida. . . . Fred Perry’s success with foreign language pictures at the Cameo has him installing the same pol- icy at the Watersedge theatre. . . . Bill Booges has resigned as manager of the Rialto theater after 10 years. Ill health forced the issue. . . . Milton Schwaber, head of Schwaber Theatres, is leaving for an extended vacation in Florida and Mexico. . . . Walter Gettinger has taken over, and will reopen the Pennington theatre in Curtis Bay. . . . Richard Dizon, Hippodrome as- sistant, visited New York. . . . All theatres in the area participated in the March Of Dimes campaign. BOSTON Frank Boschetti, owner-operator of the Star theatre, Lawrence, has signed contracts with the Metro company to play MGM prod- uct for the first time in 15 years. The deal was made with Boschetti and Benn Rosen- wald, MGM’s resident manager. . . . The annual election of officers for 19'54 for In- dependent Exhibitors, Inc. of New England, an affiliate of National Allied, will be held at a luncheon meeting February 9. The nom- inating committee, headed bv W. Leslie Bendslev, chairman, consists of Norman Glassman, Edward Lider, Ted Rosenblatt and A. Viola Berlin. . . . The New England WHEN AND WHERE March 9-10: Annual convention, Allied Theatre Owners of Oklahoma, Biltmore Hotel, Oklahoma City. March 28-30: Annual convention, Allied Theatre Owners of Gulf States, Edge- water Gulf Hotel, Edgewater Park, Miss. April 6-8 : Annual convention, Allied Inde- pendent Theatre Owners of Wisconsin, Hotel Shroeder, Milwaukee. April 19-21: Spring convention, Allied The- atres of Michigan, Hotel Statler, Detroit. May 2-7: Semi-annual convention, Society of Motion Picture and Television Engi- neers, Statler Hotel, Washington, D. C. May 4-5: Annual convention, Allied Theatre Owners of Iowa, Nebraska and Mid- Central, Fontanelle Hotel, Omaha June 15-16: Annual spring meeting, Allied Theatre Owners of Indiana, South Shore Hotel, Lake Wawasee, Ind. area was well represented at the national drive-in convention in Cincinnati when Philip and Richard Smith demonstrated their new “Twi-Nite” drive-in screen at their Cincinnati drive-in theatre for the members. Nearly 20 were registered from this area. . . . Hugh D. Rogovin, son of Columbia’s New England district manager, I. H. “Tiny” Rogovin, is engaged to marry Frances M. Levine of South Brookline. She will be graduated in June from Wheelock College, while Hugh, a graduate of Boston University, is now attending Harvard Law School. BUFFALO George J. Gammel, head of the Gammel circuit, and Mrs. Gammel, have departed for a two-month vacation in Europe. Gammel, who also is president of the MPTO of N. Y., western N. Y. zone, recently moved into a new ranch-type home in Brentwood Drive, Amherst, a Buffalo suburb. . . . Irving Fried, president of Tri-State Automatic Candy Corp. and Mrs. Fried, will spend a few months vacationing in the Virgin Islands and surrounding country. . . . Phil Todaro, former manager of the Mercury theatre, now being razed, has succeeded Earl Hub- bard as director of advertising and publicity of the Century theatre, a downtown UA circuit operation. . . . Dewey Michaels, president of the Michaels Circuit of theatres, threw a lavish party for about 150 friends the other day in Hotel Statler. . . . Noted at the Ad Club’s dinner the other evening for past and new officers were Murray White- man, past chief barker, Tent 7, Variety club; George H. Mackenna, manager, Lafayette theatre and Charles B. Taylor, associate general manager, UPT. . . . The Glowmeter corporation of North Tonawanda, manufac- turer of motion picture screens, is operating in the black for the first time. President Agis I. Mihalakis has informed stockholders that preliminary earnings figures indicate a net profit of $197,290 in the last three months of 1953, the first quarter in the com- pany’s fiscal year. CHICAGO Arthur Schoenstadt, head of the Schoen- stadt Circuit here, was released from Michael Reese Hospital following surgery. ... Si Griever, film buyer and booker, is back from a vacation in Hawaii. . . . Hank Ludwin, formerly a director and director of photography with Raphael Wolff produc- tions, has joined Kling Studios’ Industrial Film Division as a director of industrial and documentary films. . . . Jack Kirsch, president of Allied Theatres of Illinois, left for a three-week vacation in Florida. . . . James Coston, president of Indiana-Illinois Theatres and owner of Coston Enterprises, left for a three-week Mediterranean cruise with Mrs. Coston. . . . Jerry Hogan, veteran stage hand, was rushed to the hospital after becoming ill while installing the Cinema- ( Continued on page 32) 30 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 6, 1954 fVot/cf Pretnfete GOLDEN GATE THEATRE, SAN FRANCISCO • FEB. 10 PETER GRAVES BARBARA BESTAR 5!?by MYLES WILDER radio pictures Distributed by RKO’S big exploitation special launched with a real showman’s campaign in the San Francisco Bay area and surrounding situations including: OAKLAND, Telenews SACRAMENTO, Capitol VALLEJO, Rita BOYES SPRINGS, Boyes Sp. SALINAS, Alisal MARYSVILLE, Tower CHICO, El Rey OROVILLE, Empire SANTA CRUZ, Santa Cruz LODI, Sunset MODESTO, La Loma LIVERMORE, State EUREKA, Rialto ANTIOCH, El Campanil BENICIA, State RENO, Tower STOCKTON, Ritz PALO ALTO, Varsity SAN JOSE, Padre KLAMATH FALLS, Tower REDDING, Redding SANTA ROSA, Tower MONTEREY, Rio MERCED, Strand WOODLAND, Porter SAN MATEO, San Mateo NEWMAN, Westside REDWOOD CITY, Fox EL SOBRANTE, Park PETALUMA, State — and many more ( Continued from page 30) Scope equipment at the Tiffin theatre. . . . Jim Stewart of the Clark theatre visited in Chicago while on sick leave from Will Rogers Memorial Hospital. He will return to the hospital for a few more months, after which he expects to be discharged perma- nently to return to work. CINCINNATI CinemaScope is moving into the suburb- ans here, with “The Robe” currently being shown at the Hollywood, Twentieth Century, Valley and Westwood theatres. . . . The RKO Capitol is currently showing “M,” but persons under 18 years are not admitted. . . . The local Screen Classics branch has acquired distribution rights for “Little Fugi- tive” and “King of Kings,” it was announced by Edward B. Salzberg, Screen Classics manager. . . . Mr. Salzberg, chief barker of the Cincinnati Variety Club, Tent No. 3, together with Vance Schwartz, past chief barker and Rube Shor, the club’s dough guy, attended the installation of Robert Gump, as chief barker of the Dayton, Ohio, Variety Club. William Clegg, Dayton exhibitor, was host to the club’s members at the installation dinner. CLEVELAND J. Stuart Cangney thanked patrons leav- ing his Jewel theatre on a recent night of very bad weather and presented each with a pass to attend a future show with his compliments. Reaction was so favorable that he will inaugurate it as a regular policy on bad mid-week nights to build business on these nights. . . . Harry Callahan, manager of the Clinton theatre, Port Clinton, is back in the hospital with a second heart attack. . . . Peter Wellman, Girard theatre owner, is back home after six weeks in the Sewickly Valley Hospital with injuries sustained in an automobile accident. . . . Ben L. Ogron, Ohio Theatre Supply Co., has installed full Altec Motiograph CinemaScope equipment in the Belmont, Youngstown and Wellman, Girard. . . . Ten city-wide theatres playing “Kiss Me Kate” on 3-D and three are play- ing it on 2-D. . . . Girls of the Warner ex- change staged a baby shower for bookers’ secretary Dreme Hoisinton, who is leaving this week, . . . Mother of Warner booker Norma Rose is in Doctors’ Hospital with a heart ailment. . . . Shea Chain, according to rumor, will build a drive-in on recently acquired property between New Philadelphia and Dover. . . . Dorothy Gaspar, Film Tran- sit secretary, is vacationing in the west. COLUMBUS Local theatremen were shocked to learn of the sudden death of Michael J. Cullen, Loew’s western division manager, while vacationing in Tucson, Arizona. Mr. Cullen, known to everyone as “Mike,” was Loew’s central division manager from 1938 to 1942 with headquarters in the Loew’s Broad building here. . . . Frank Marzetti has in- stalled a new all-purpose panoramic screen in the Linden suburban. Marzetti said this is the first step in preparing for Cinema- Scope. Contracts have been let for stereo- phonic sound equipment. The Linden is the third local neighborhood to install a wide screen. Fred Rowland’s Livingston and Main are the other two. . . . Walter Kessler, manager of Loew’s Ohio, and Mrs. Kessler have just moved into their new house at TOP EXECUTIVE OF CIRCUIT AT 26 PORTLAND: Keith Petzold, 26-year-old theatre executive, has just been appointed general manager of the Jesse Jones Cir- cuit with headquar- ters here. The young man has been in the motion picture busi- ness for nearly half of his life, working his way up from an usher's position. For the past three and a half years he has been manager of the J. J. Parker's ace Broadway theatre and publicity direc- tor for that impor- tant circuit. The Jones group of houses includes the Rose- way and St. Johns theatres in Portland; Family drive-in at Tigard; and two in Sweet Home. Mr. Petzold has been extremely active in civic affairs and has made a name for himself among theatre people and along the Neon Canyon on Broadway. He took over his new duties with the Jones circuit January I. 154 S. Chesterfield Road, Eastmoor. . . . Charles Sugarman, in closing the Little, run under the donations policy since No- vember, 1952, said that in recent months the plan had not been profitable. . . . “Knights of the Round Table” displayed box office strength in holding for a second week at Loew’s Ohio. This is the first Cinema- Scope feature to play the Ohio. DES MOINES Lippert Pictures, Inc., has closed its doors in Des Moines and Hollywood Pictures of Omaha has bought the franchise for this territory. Hal King, who took over man- agement of the branch upon retirement of his father Julian several months ago, is now associated with a lumber concern. . . . Byron Shapiro, Columbia branch manager, escaped injury when he skidded into the ditch while on a trip out in the state. Roads were very slippery due to an ice storm. . . . Ann O’Con- nor Vernon, employee of several exchanges in Des Moines over a period of many years, died in Glendale, Cal., of a heart attack. . . . Mary Ellen Brown is the new contract clerk at RKO. . . . Jim Stone, RKO assistant shipper, has resigned to become assistant shipper at Paramount. . . . Dick DeVries and Charles Nielsen have taken over the operation of the Marland theatre at Marcus after purchasing the interests of Earl Wil- son. . . . Three more houses in the state have installed new wide screens. They are : the Ritz at Correctionville ; the Northwood at Northwood and the Town at Waukon. . . . Paul F. Scholer has announced his resig- nation as manager of the Oelwein theatre at Oelwein effective March 1. Mr. Scholer who is a captain in the Iowa National Guard, will go to Fort Benning, Georgia, to take a four-month advanced officers train- ing course. DETROIT “The Command” opened at the Michigan marking the first of the extensive United Detroit Theatres to operate on a Cinema- Scope installation. Other houses to get the Altec Sound Service treatment include the Fisher and Woods, de luxe second run the- atres. Other plans are still formulating for the rest of the chain. . . . “The Actress” and “The Story of Three Loves” are play- ing the Coronet, marking a break from straight art films policy. . . . “Martin Luther” will definitely leave the Krim at the end of 12 weeks. . . . Ish-Ti-Opi, Choc- taw Indian, was around to the papers before lecturing at the Palms in connection with “Taza Son of Cochise.” . . . Gene Autry was touring the papers in full uniform. . . . Five foot nine Howard Pearl of United Artists will escort five feet nine in stocking feet Beverly Michaels around town to meet people as promotion for the “Wicked Wom- an” opening. HARTFORD Yma Sumac, featured in Paramount’s “Legend of the Incas,” will headline a South American stage revue at the Bushnell Memorial, 3300-seat Hartford theatre, Feb. 11. . . . Irving Hillman, manager of the Sherman theatre, New Haven, has been named top man in the managers exploitation competition conducted by Stanley Warner Theatres’ New England Zone last Novem- ber. Other winners: Murray B. Howard, Warner theatre, Worcester, Mass.; and Robert L. Howell, Port Theatre, Newbury- port, Mass. . . . Truman Ferguson, manager of the Whitney theatre, Hamden, Conn., has been a New Haven hospital patient. . . . Robert Schwartz of the Park theatre, Thom- aston, Conn., and family are back from a cruise. . . . Joe Mansfield of the UA exploit- ation staff, has returned to Boston from Hartford. . . . Paul Kessler, manager of the Suffolk theatre, Holyoke, Mass., has been promoted to manager of the 1,078-car Med- ford Glen drive-in, Medford, Mass., newly- acquired by Rifkin Theatres. Albert Desau- tels, manager of the company’s Majestic, Holyoke, moves to city manager, with Rena Joyal, formerly Majestic assistant, becoming house manager of the Suffolk, in the series of management changes. INDIANAPOLIS Variety Club committee chairmen for 1954 include Sam Caplan, membership; Marc Wolf, heart fund; Dale McFarland, entertainment ; Pete Peterson, house ; Claude McKean, golf and bowling. . . . McKean, motion picture chairman for Brotherhood Week, called an exhibitor-distributor meet- ing at the World War Memorial Auditorium Feb. 1. . . . Jack Meadows was elected presi- dent of the Colosseum of Motion Picture Salesmen ; Ray Thomas, vice-president ; Kenneth Dotterer, secretary, and J. Smith, treasurer. . . . Jesse Fine, Evansville exhib- itor, is vacationing in Florida. . . . “The Moon Is Blue” is now in its 16th week at the Esquire. It’s a 550-seat house running nights only except on Saturday and Sun- day. . . . Holdovers continue to dominate the downtown scene, with “Knights of the Round Table” in a fourth week at Loew’s and “King of the Ivhyber Rifles” in a sec- ond at the Indiana. Four pictures at first run theatres have played 11 weeks since Jan. 1. ( Continued on opposite page ) 32 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 6, 1954 JACKSONVILLE Jimmy Langston, former assistant to John Crovo at the Arcade, is now George Krevo’s assistant at the Palace, replacing John Henry Mims. . . . Small nuisance fires on three successive days, apparently the work of an arsonist, have plagued the Florida theatre management. . . . Sheldon Mandell, manager of the first run St. Johns, has booked “The Command” to christen his new CinemaScope screen. . . . Cliff Hardin, Fox head booker, said his staff is very busy set- ting up February openings for Fox’s newest Florida-made feature, “Beneath the 12-Mile Reef,” in CinemaScope, which was filmed at Tarpon Springs. . . . L. D. Netter Jr., of New York, general sales manager of the Altec Service Corp., visited his father, Leon D. Netter Sr., president of Florida State Theatres, prior to a vacation trip to Miami. . . . New manager of the Lake theatre, Lake- land, is Richard Leonard, who replaced D. C. Hull. . . . M. A. Shaaber, Wil-Kin Theatre Supply technician, revealed that the Polk theatre, Lakeland, and the Florida the- atre, Sarasota, will be equipped for Cinema- Scope in the near future. KANSAS CITY Committee chairmen named by the board of directors for the Motion Picture Asso- ciation of Greater Kansas City are : Enter- tainment and activities, Woody Sherrill, chairman, and Ralph Amacher and Sid Levy, co-chairmen ; Membership, Ed Hart- man, chairman, and Finton Jones and Rus- sell Borg, co-chairmen ; Legislation, Richard Brous, chairman, and Dick Biechele, co- chairman; Charity and welfare, Arthur Cole, chairman, and Howard Thomas and Vernon Skorey, co-chairmen ; Public relations, Senn Lawler, chairman, and Don Walker and Harold Lyon, co-chairmen. These will serve under the recently elected officers, Stanley Durwood, president. . . . The Vogue con- tinues to have good attendance, in the sixth week of “Captain’s Paradise.” . . . “Julius Caesar” is in its third week at the Kimo. . . . The Heart and the Boulevard drive-ins continue weekend schedules, their manage- ments have announced. LOS ANGELES Pat Harmon, Universal-International clerk, has been ailing at home. . . . The new manager of the Monterey theatre, Monterey Park, is A1 Williams. ... In town on busi- ness was “Red” Jacobs, franchise holder of Favorite Films in San Francisco and Los Angeles. . . . The El Miro and Majestic theatres have merged their interests, with the following officers heading the newly formed corporation : Sam Decker, pres. ; Reeves Espy, vice-pres. ; and sec-treas., Sam DeGroot. . . . Exhibitors Service has as- sumed the buying and booking for the Studio theatre, San Bernardino. . . . Ronald Orden is the new owner of the Temple, Glendale. . . . Ruth Doyle, 60, secretary to Charles P. Skouras, National Theatres prexy, passed on. With the circuit for 17 years, and prior to that a Film Board of Trade secretary, Miss Doyle succumbed at Queen of Angels Hospital after a heart attack. . . . After setting traps throughout his Peoria theatre, Peoria, A. L. Geyer succeeded in capturing a ring-tailed cat in the projection room. The animal, similar to a raccoon, had eluded cap- ture for three weeks, and had consumed a quantity of candy bars, pop-corn and milk from a baby-bottle left behind by a theatre patron. MEMPHIS Two more CinemaScope installations are announced in major Memphis theatres. Loew’s Palace unfurled its first film on its new CinemaScope screen, “King of the Khyber Rifles.” Crosstown installed Cinema- Scope and will open with “The Robe” Feb. 12. . . . W. B. McFarland sold his Missouri theatre at Hornersville, Mo., to John Harper. . . . B. F. Jackson bought Honey and Regent theatres at Indianola, Miss., from Mrs. Pete Morris. . . . Manager Arthur Groom of Loew’s State announced a Feb. 25 world premiere of “Tennessee Champ” at the State. . . . Lloyd T. Binford, 88 year old chairmen of Memphis and Shelby County Censor Board, said he does not believe the Supreme Court’s recent decision against banning of two movies has any effect on state laws. . . . More than 200 employees of theatres and film exchanges gathered at Strand theatre to take part in the industry’s celebration of Brotherhood Week. Louis Ingram headed the distributors committee, Alton Sims the exhibitors and Dick Lightman the publicity campaign. MIAMI In his fifth annual report on Wometco’s TV station, WTVJ, president Mitchell Wolfson summarized the station’s many and varied programs which included those co- operating with civic, educational, religious and fraternal groups. These public service organizations were given free time which had a commercial value of $235,000. The televised Orange Bowl game reached a na- tional audience estimated at 55,000,000. . . . Joe Hornstein reports his theatre supply company is installing CinemaScope equip- ment for the Flamingo, Miami Beach; Surf, West Palm Beach; Lee, Ft. Myers and the Strand in Key West. . . . Sympathy went to Wometco purchasing agent Frank Myers, on the recent death of his dad, Oscar Wil- liam Myers. ... In the Florida State The- atres’ Manager’s Drive for 1953, honoring Louis J. Finske, the southeastern district came up with two winners. Fred Lee, man- ager of the Florida in Hollywood, took top billing with the first prize entitling him to an all expense paid trip for two, to Holly- wood, California ! Robert Battin, manager of the Beach, Miami Beach, earned an all expense paid trip to Nassau or Cuba for coming in third. MINNEAPOLIS . The Terrace, Riverview and St. Louis Park, neighborhood and suburban houses, opened Feb. 3 with “The Robe” in Cinema- Scope and with stereophonic sound. Another neighborhood house, the Nile, is scheduled to open with “The Robe” next week. Pre- vious to the Nile opening, the city will be blanketed with a mailing plugging the film and other CinemaScope pictures. . . . Ben Berger, retiring chief barker, will be hon- ored by the Northwest Variety Club at a testimonial dinner at the Nicollet hotel Feb. 15. Sim Heller, new first assistant chief barker, is chairman of the arrangements committee. . . . Don Pyle is new assistant in the advertising-publicity department of Min- nesota Amusement Co., replacing Bob Kaye, who resigned to become manager of the suburban Richfield. . . . John Krieps has closed the Time at Kenyon, Minn. — poor business. J. T. McBride, Paramount branch manager, was in Chicago for a meeting with Jim Donohue, division manager. . . . George Gould, operator of the Crystal at Glencoe, Minn., is back from a vacation in Florida. Baree Sampson is the new cashier at Republic. NEW ORLEANS T. M. Miller of the Elizabeth, Elizabeth, La., advised that effective Feb. 1 he resumed operations. The theatre has opened and closed off and on during the extended mill strike. . . . Winn theatre, Winfield, La., as advised by John Luster, general manager of W. W. Page Amusement Company, is closed temporarily. . . . The Marion, Marion, La., is closed for an indefinite period, advised owner John Doles. . . . Frank Glick asks all to disregard the notice of closing the Utica, Utica, Miss. He will continue to op- erate on Friday and Saturday but with only one change. . . . WOMPI’s reservation chairman, Ruth Toubman, issued notices that the February luncheon meet will be at Arnaud’s Restaurant, February 10. Father Digby will sit at the speaker’s table. . . . M. H. Brandon and son Gilbert, George Simpson and Morris Townsend, Transit, Inc., executives of Memphis, Tenn., were in town for Transway, Inc. annual meet. . . . The Webb, Cut Off, La., shuttered as ad- vised by co-owner, J. Alarie on his round of calls. OKLAHOMA CITY “The Grand Concert” is being shown at the Frontier theatre this week as a special treat for their 5th Anniversary. . . . “For- ever Female” is now in its third week at the Tower theatre. . . . Each Monday night both the Criterion and Harber theatres re- duce their admission prices at 8:30 after the downtown stores close to 50c for adults and 20c for children. This provides ample time to see a complete show after Monday night shopping is finished. . . . The drive-in theatres here report a considerable slow- down in the past few weeks due to the ex- treme cold weather. . . . Barton theatres will open their Tinker, Bomber and “77” drive-in theatres Mar. 1. They have been closed for the winter. . . . “The Boy From Oklahoma” which opened Jan. 29 at the Midwest the- atre here, will be shown at 62 theatres in Oklahoma and 6 theatres in Texas in Feb- ruary. OMAHA Bill Heath, salesman with Republic 10 years, has resigned. Also gone are Donna Nielsen, biller, and Joan Smith Weitl, cash- ier, who was married last week. . . . Ground clearing and leveling has started at Lynch for a quonset building which will house a new theatre, Mr. and Mrs. Donald Johnson announced, with the opening scheduled in June. The Johnsons for several years have ( Continued on following page) Tops in IN-CAR SPEAKERS! Super Chief 4" and Chief V/i" . For new or replacement. Baked enamel 2-tone finish matches rfiany existing drive-ins. Insulated volume control, weatherproof. firsi •American imc. 1717 Wyandotte St., Kansas City 8, Mo. MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 6, 1954 33 (. Continued ' from preceding page ) been operating- a theatre in the Odd Fellows Hall. . . . Millard Rethwisch is installing a large screen at his theatre in Tilden. . . . Janet Townsend, Metro secretary, and her husband were surprised by 16 members of her family at a housewarming. . . . The Joyo theatre at Lincoln owned by Clarence Frasier will be ready to offer CinemaScope Feb. 12. . . . J. Robert Hoff was installed as Variety Club chief barker at a dinner- dance at the Blackstone Hotel. . . . Improv- ing after surgery are Mrs. Art Goodwater, wife of the Madison, Neb., exhibitor, and Dorothy Weaver, 20th-Fox cashier, now at her home. . . . M. L. Stern, Hollywood Pic- tures representative in Omaha, announced he now has the Lippert franchise for Omaha and Des Moines, with offices in Omaha. PHILADELPHIA 20th Century-Fox exchange is now housed in new headquarters at 314 North 13th Street. . . . Harvey Schwartz, former office manager at Columbia, joined Paramount as a booker. He replaces Lou Fortunato, for- mer upstate booker, who resigned from the company. . . . Stanley Warner Ogontz, neighborhood house which was on a week- end schedule, closed again. . . . A. M. Ellis’ Tyson staged a reserved seat performance of the stage play, “The Happy Time,” pre- sented by the Neighborhood Players, local little theatre group. . . . Leonard Moonblatt has taken over the suburban Clifton, Clifton Heights, Pa., with Henry Kahan remaining as house manager. . . . Phillip Jones, pro- jectionist at the Warner, Wilmington, Del., was returned to office as president of Local 473, Projectionists Union, in that city. . . . Hearing will be held on Feb. 15 in Wilming- ton, Del., on the bankruptcy petition for reorganization proceedings in the U. S. District Court by M and S Amusement En- terprises, Inc., headed by Melvin C. Geller and Sam D. Taustin, operators of the Bran- dywine drive-in and the Wilmington Speed- way near Wilmington. . . . The Key, Doyles- town, Pa., was closed. . . . Amusement tax payments in Lancaster, Pa., brought $67,- 362.63 into that city’s treasury in 1953, under the $70,000 estimated for the year and causing a revision of estimated income from that source in 1954 to $67,000. PITTSBURGH “Here Come the Girls” finally replaced “Knights of the Round Table,” which stayed on a. sixth week in Loew’s Penn after a gratifying upsurge in business during its fifth week. . . . The Stanley advanced “The Command” up a week, giving that house its first CinemaScope feature. . . . “This Is Cinerama” finally clicking strong at the Warner after a concentrated ad campaign stressing that it would not play any neigh- borhood houses. . . . Film Row mourned the death of Mike Cullen in Tucson. The former local Penn manager’s passing brought on several eulogies in print with critic Karl Krug of the Sun-Telegraph devoting an entire column to “the departure of a per- sonal pal.” . . . “Quo Vadis” at regular prices is back at the Ritz following three weeks of first-run movies. . . . The Harris has acquired Judy Holliday’s “It Should Happen To You” while the Fulton gets “The Glenn Miller Story” Feb. 19, same day that the Penn gets “The Long, Long Trailer.” . . . M. A. Silver, Stanley Warner zone manager, and his missus, vacationing in Florida. PORTLAND Business at downtown houses has been off due to sudden and extreme snow storms. “Sadie Thompson” played for two weeks at the United Artists in 3-D at hiked prices and now goes into a third session in 2-D at regular prices. This is a first for Portland. . . . Bud Brody, National Screen Service branch manager, was in town for a few days working with newly appointed local manager Harry Lewis. . . . Keith Petzold, new general manager of the Jesse Jones circuit, made his first trip to Sweet Home, Ore., to look over the situation there. . . . Dick Edge, formerly Astoria city manager for J. J. Parker, now becomes city manager for the Jesse Tones Theatres in Sweet Home. . . . Bagdad theatre manager Jack Braxton has an amateur vaude show on stage every Friday night. . . . Marty Foster reports heavy advance seat sale for “Julius Caesar.” PROVIDENCE Avo P. Bombarger, 59, better known as “Bomby” when he was a member of the world-famous “Roxy Gang” in 1920, recently died in this city after a long illness. He is survived by his wife, a brother and sister, and several nieces and nephews. Many of this State’s public officials, and members of the clergy attended his funeral. . . . Gene Autry, is scheduled to appear in person, with his new all-star show, at the R. I. Auditorium around the middle of February. . . . The Metropolitan once again departs from its brief run of motion pic- tures to present a four-day stage presenta- tion of “Stalag 17.” . . . Alec Guinness in “The Captain’s Paradise” held for a second week at the Avon Cinema. . . . Because they received so many phone and written requests, The Gilbert Stuart, popular River- side neighborhood house, offered special “command performances” of “King Solo- mon’s Mines.” SAN FRANCISCO Robert Palmer, one time press agent for United-Paramount Theatres and more recent with the Navy, is again a civilian and living in Los Angeles. . . . Sam Rosey, one time actor’s agent, is now a salesman for Ernest Ingold Chevrolet here. . . . Arnold Cortner was promoted by U-P district manager Earl Long from assistant at the Paramount to manager of the State. Gene Sabo III is assistant manager at Paramount. . . . Jack Erickson, manager Twentieth Century-Fox chairmaned the Brotherhood meeting here. . . . Edward Sutro of Golden State theatre equipment division, returned to work fol- lowing sick leave because of automobile accident. . . . Arthur Apodaca, National Screen Service shipper, was away for a tonsilectomy. . . . William Blair of Clover- dale sold his Ritz at Calistoga and bought the Mecca and Pic theatres in Crescent City from Mrs. Delcie Boles. . . . William Hay- den has reopened the Suisun, Suisun, which has been closed for several years. TORONTO Ralph Foster is setting up his own public relations office here after resigning as man- ager of the 16 mm. division of Warner Bros, in Canada. He is calling his new setup Communications of Canada. . . . Frank Kettner has been appointed sales repre- sentative for Peerless Films in the Calgary territory. . . . “Martin Luther” though banned from showings in the theatres in the Province of Quebec is to be allowed showings in the Protestant churches of the Province. . . . Second annual curling bon- spiel of the Manitoba district of the Cana- dian Picture Pioneers will take place in Winnipeg Feb. 22. The number of entrants is limited to 40 due to the limitations of ice available. ... A Valentine Party is being planned by the Variety Club, Tent 28, at the clubrooms. Members of the committee include Bert Wilkes, Lou Davidson and Monty Hall. . . . The general managers of the various distributing companies gathered together to make a presentation to Russ Simpson, Toronto branch manager of Para- mount, who resigned to be general manager of the O’Brien circuit. . . . Annual gradua- tion party, held by the Variety Club of Toronto for the pupils of Variety Village will take place in the Royal York Hotel here, Feb. 25. VANCOUVER Heaviest snowfall in 41 years really gave theatres a tough time. The only picture to beat the storms was “Martin Luther,” playing at the 446-seat Studio. . . . The 200-seat Castor theatre, Castor, Alberta, was burned to the ground in a recent fire which occured on a Sunday with no one in the building. The theatre was only par- tially insured. . . . “The Wild One” was banned by the B. C. Board of censors, who claim it is too brutal and in no case “enter- tainment.” Columbia will appeal the deci- sion. . . . The 245-seat theatre at Imperial, Sask., and the 340-seat DeLuxe, Meath Park, Sask., have been converted from 16 to 35 mm. . . . Leslie Plottel, former man- ager of the drive-in at Chilliwack, B. C., settled an alleged breach of contract case for $1,300. He was on a five year contract but was fired after the first six months. . . . Jim Girvan, of Girvan Studios, is back from an extended tour of Great Britain and France with plenty of new ideas for theatre art work picked up over the water. . . . Harry Hargraves, of the Orpheum staff, is still paying for the time he was prisoner of the Japs in Hong Kong. He was in mili- tary hospital for old war injury but is back at the theatre. . . . The father of Sheila Pemberton, Warner Brothers cashier at the local exchange here, passed away recently at Wells, B. C. WASHINGTON Bert Libin, of WWDC, was married to Rusty West. . . . Sam Galanty, Columbia Pictures mideast division mgr., was in Cali- fornia attending meetings. . . . Jack Keegan, former booker at 20th Century-Fox, was inducted into the Army. ... In connection with the opening of “Knights of the Round Table,” at the Capitol theatre, the Round Table International put on a parade as a sendoff to Crusade for Freedom. Attending were District Commissioner Renah F. Camalier, and the local Miss Washington. . . . Joseph Bernheimer, of Bernheimer Theatres, has carried on his late father’s tradition of special showings for student priests and nuns of Catholic University, at the Newton theatre. Latest picture to be shown was “The Robe.” . . . Jim Riding, assistant manager of the Capitol theatre is moving to Harrisburg, Pa. where he will have a post as manager of the Loew’s the- atre there. 34 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 6, 1954 . . . the original exhibitors' reports department, established October 14, 1916. In it theatremen serve one another with information about the box office performance of What the Picture Did for Me, Motion Picture Herald, Rockefeller Center, New York 20. product — providing a service of the exhibitor for the exhibitor. ADDRESS REPORTS Lippert NORMAN CONQUEST: Tom Conway, Eva Bartok — Very good comments from patrons on this one. Might not be a big picture, but it’s worth seeing. Played with “Sins of Jezebel, one of the best dramas played in months. Played Monday, Tuesday, Wednes- day, January 11, 12, 13. — Yves Legault, Regent The- atre, Hawkesbury, Ont., Canada. SINS OF JEZEBEL: Paulette Goddard — Very good story and excellent color (Ansco). Although it does not contain any great luxurious scenes, the story makes up for that. Patrons were well satisfied with this one. Played it with “Norman Conquest.” Played on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, January 11, 12, 13. — Yves Legault, Regent, Hawkesbury, Ont., Canada. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer DANGEROUS WHEN WET: Esther Williams, Fer- nando Lamas — A very good picture, so don’t be afraid to play it. You need no cartoon with this, as cartoon figures play a part in this also — very clever of Metro to give their exhibitors a break to save on a cartoon. I didn’t make any money — really lost my shirt — but no fault of the picture. TV is new here and most every- one bought one for Christmas, so you know the answer. Played Saturday, Sunday, January 9, 10. — Henry Jakes, Hope Theatre, Hope, N. D. DREAM WIFE: Cary Grant, Deborah Kerr— Did very poorly. Good for cities, but my hicks couldn’t understand sophisticated comedy. They want corn. — George Kelloff, Ute Theatre, Aguilar, Colo. DREAM WIFE: Cary Grant, Deborah Kerr — Good, smart comedy that will bring a smile and a chuckle to the most blase theatre goer. Cary Grant does an excellent job, while Deborah Kerr is always tops. Played Monday, Tuesday, January 11, 12. — D. P. Sav- age, Capitol Theatre, Listowel, Ont., Canada. MOGAMBO: Clark Gable, Ava Gardner — Just fin- ished showing this on my wide screen to very good results. Brought out people who seldom go. and as far as I could determine, comments were 100% favorable. Box office 150% in the face of some of the most severe weather conditions known. Played on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. — Leo W. Smith, Elk Theatre, Elkton, S. D. RIDE VAQUERO: Robert Taylor, Ava Gardner — Did very well here. Anthony Quinn truly a wonderful actor. We should have MGM make “Viva Villa” again with Quinn in the starring role. It would fit him perfectly. Played on Friday and Saturday. — George Kelloff, Ute Theatre, Aguilar, Colo. SCANDAL AT SCOURIE: Greer Garson, Walter Pidgeon — Excellent, but didn’t do any business. Title killed it for me. If you can get them in, they will love every minute of this perfect picture. Played on Tuesday and Wednesday. — George Kelloff, Ute The- atre, Aguilar, Colo. SEQUOIA: Jean Parker, Russell Hardie— This is a reissue, folks, but don’t pass it by. People — old and young alike — will love it everywhere. Give it good advertising and play it. Played Saturday, Sunday, January 2, 3. — Henry Jakes, Hope, Hope, N. Dak. Paramount BOTANY BAY: Alan Ladd, James Mason — In Tech- nicolor. Alan Ladd made his name here in “Shane.” The patrons like this as much as they did “Shane.” Very good color and photography — one of the best pictures of its .kind since “Mutiny on the Bounty.” Played Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, January 25 , 26, 27- Yves Legault, Regent Theatre, Hawkesbury, Ont., Canada. JAMAICA RUN: Ray Milland, Arlene Dahl — Fair but not worth top allocation. Paramount overcharged me for this.— George Kelloff, Ute Theatre, Aguilar, Colo. MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 6, 1954 RKO Radio BLACKBEARD, THE PIRATE: Linda Darnell, Robert Newton — After the South African censors were finished cutting this one to bits, we were lucky we had enough over to show! Newton loved making this film, I’m sure. It did not make us a fortune, but it entertained most. Played Wednesday, Thursday, Fri- day, Saturday, December 16, 17, 18, 19. — Dave S. Klein, Astra Theatre, Kitwe/Nkana, Northern Rhodesia, Africa. STORY OF ROBIN HOOD: Richard Todd, Jean Rice — Double billed this with “Tarzan and the She- Devil” (RKO) and did O.K. Priced right. Played Friday, Saturday, December 25, 26. — Shirley Booth, Booth Theatre, Rich Hill, Mo. Republic CRAZYLEGS — ALL-AMERICAN : Elroy Hirsch, Lloyd Nolan — Best and most authentic football picture I have ever seen or heard about — the real McCoy — but as usual, business not what it should have been. Played Sunday, Monday, January 3, 4. — Ken Gorham, Town Hall Theatre, Middlebury, Vt. QUIET MAN, THE: John Wayne, Maureen O’Hara, Barry Fitzgerald — I’ve played this film so often and to so many capacity houses that they are beginning to call me “The Quiet Man.” If you have not yet played this, either you are making enough money al- ready or you just can not care what your customers like. Played Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, December 23 , 24, 25, 26. — Dave S. Klein, Astra The- atre, Kitwe/Nkana, Northern Rhodesia, Africa. Twentieth Century-Fox STARS AND STRIPES FOREVER (MARCHING ALONG): Clifton Webb, Ruth Hussey — Twentieth Century- Fox and yours sincerely slipped on this one. We only booked it for two days, when it could have filled an easy four. Hats off to Fox for a different musical with fine performances by Clifton Webb and Debra Paget. Good for any house in any situation. It will make money for you, especially if you can get them in the mood. Played Friday, Saturday, January 1, 2. — Dave S. Klein, Astra Theatre, Kitwe/Nkana, Northern Rhodesia, Africa. United Artists MARSHAL’S DAUGHTER: Ken Murray, Preston Foster — Corn, but they loved every minute of it. — George Kelloff, Ute Theatre, Aguilar, Colo. MOON IS BLUE, THE: William Holden. David Niven— The South African censors ban films here left and right, but not when it comes to those like “The Moon is Blue.” So why should it meet with the oppo- sition it has from some of your states? Our box office was besieged — registers crammed full — smiling faces— a thrilled exhibitor. Comments said it was one of the best light comedies ever seen, and with I heartily agree. If this film was predominantly about sex, at least it was done with grace, charm and sincerity. I’ve just recently returned from the States. If some of your communities cannot take “The Moon Is Blue,” then start letting them examine their own moral standard — they may be surprised! First they kick out “Limelight,” now they turn their backs on “The Moon is Blue” — maybe some of those censors have a share in TV, who knows? Played Wednesday, Thurs- day, Friday, Saturday, January 6, 7, 8, 9. — Dave S. Klein, Astra Theatre, Kitwe/Nkana, Northern Rho- desia, Africa. Universal ALL-AMERICAN: Tony Curtis, Lori Nelson — Just another picture, but Universal, as usual, had it in a high allocation. Played Friday, Saturday, January 8, 9. — Ken Gorham, Town Hall Theatre, Middlebury, Vt. ALL I DESIRE: Barbara Stanwyck, Richard Carl- son— You can always depend on Barbara Stanwyck to turn in a grade A performance, and t-his picture is no exception. It has everything an audience likes. Play it and the women folks will go for it in a big way. Played Monday, Tuesday, January 18, 19. — D. P. Savage, Capitol Theatre, Listowel, Ont., Canada. FORBIDDEN: Tony Curtis, Joanne Dru — Very good drama, but played so early that I had received no good from advertising campaigns and crowd very slim indeed. Played Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, January 17, 18, 19. — Ken Gorham, Town Hall Theatre, Middle- bury, Vt. LAWLESS BREED: Rock Hudson, Julia Adams — It’s been many a day since Hollywood put its label on a better western than this. It has excellent family story plus enough action to please everyone. Added to this is a top job of casting that should establish Miss Adams as one of the ranking contenders for the sex queen. She’s got more than- Monroe, and can act too. Bucked up against too much competition from basket- ball and wrestling to justify rental. However, it did well considering the competition. Played Friday, Sat- urday, January 15, 16. — Bob Walker, Uintah Theatre, Fruit a, Colo. MEET ME AT THE FAIR: Dan Dailey, Diana Lynn — Had a struggle in convincing people it wasn’t just a musical, but the ones we lured in found it to be the perfect small town movie. Story is made to order. “Scat Man” Crothers eases the show out from under a good cast as he steals scene after scene. Universal pegged it a bit high for us considering the business it did, but it deserved better than it got. At least we ended up in the black. Played Sunday, Monday, January 17, 18. — Bob Walker, Uintah The- atre, Fruita, Colo. Warner Bros. BY THE LIGHT OF THE SILVERY MOON: Doris Day, Gordon MacRae — This is just a wonderful picture. Don’t any situation pass it by. A musical, but not overdone with music. Give us more like this. Regardless of how wonderful a picture one plays these days, can’t get the people in. TV has been here six months and show business is about licked. Will try one change now, if no go, will have to close. Play “Silvery Moon.” Played Sunday, Monday, December 27, 28. — Henry Jakes, Hope Theatre, Hope, N. D- MIRACLE OF FATIMA: Gilbert Roland, Angela Clark — Not many will play this later than us, but in case there is anyone left who hasn’t given Warner a deal, don’t pass this excellent feature. Don’t worry about not having enough Catholics. It can be sold and the Protestants will be just as complimentary. With rain both nights, the combination of a fine picture and $80 in the bank was too irresistible and we had one of the best mid-weeks in our history. Played Wednesday, Thursday, January 20, 21. — Bob Walker, Uintah Theatre, Fruita, Colo. 35 Universal Net Shows Increase Universal Pictures Company, Inc., reports consolidated net earnings for the fiscal year ended October 31, 1953 of $2,616,356 after provision of $3,863,000 for Federal income and excess profits taxes and after provision of $500,000 for contingent liabilities. After deducting dividends on the preferred stock, such consolidated net earnings amounted to $2.35 per share on the 1,010,411 shares of common stock outstanding on October 31, 1953. For the preceding fiscal year, consolidated net earnings were $2,307,701 after provi- sion of $4,309,924 for Federal income and excess profits taxes and after provision of $500,000 for contingent liabilities. After deducting dividends on the preferred stock, these earnings were equivalent to $2.15 per share on the 961,698 shares of common stock outstanding on November 1, 1952. Film rentals and sales for the fiscal year 1953, according to the company’s annual report, mailed to stockholders last week, were $70,490,254 as compared with $64,128,- 719 for the previous fiscal year. It is noted in the report that it continues to be the prac- tice of the company to reflect in its accounts the operating results of subsidiaries in for- eign countries having exchange restrictions only to the extent that net earnings result- ing therefrom have been realized in U. S. dollars, regardless of the period or periods in which such revenue may have accrued. The report also notes that during the cal- endar year 1953 two semi-annual dividends of 50c per share each and one extra dividend of 25c per share were paid on the common stock. Starrs Fight to Save Their Bijou Theatre Alfred Starr, Nashville circuit owner and former Theatre Owners of America presi- dent and his brother Milton, owning the Bijou theatre in that city, have gone to Federal Court there to prevent its inclusion in a housing project, sponsored by the Nash- ville Flousing Authority. The brothers point out that other properties were omitted from development plans, and that the Authority doesn’t state what use it will have for the location. They also assert they do not desire to interfere with the project. ( WANTED^ — A ^ Advertising Artist For jl Los Angeles First Run Houses Small Los Angeles circuit seeking experienced ad artist to handle first-run newspaper campaigns. Must be creative, know layout, work from stills or press books and turn out finished artwork ready for engrav- ing. Reply confidential. State qualifications, recent and current affiliations, age, family status, salary Wrife— Box 100, Motion Picture Herald 6305 Yucca Street, Hollywood 28, California SUPREME COURT HEARS TV GIVEAWAY CASE WASHINGTON: The legality of ra- dio and television "giveaway" shows, always big audience snatchers, was up before the Supreme Court this week in an appeal by the Federal Commu- nications Commission to have its rul- ing upheld that such shows are lot- teries and hence violate the law. The FCC ruling, in 1949, was attacked by the broadcasting industry at large and last year enforcement was en- joined by the Federal District Court for the Southern District of New York. Monday the Supreme Court was told by an FCC spokesman that giveaway shows are "devices to exploit the cu- pidity of people who want to get something for nothing." Justice Frank- furter said simply that he thought people tuned in on the shows because of a "vacuity of mind." Pola-Lite Realigns Sales And Service Staff Men A1 O'Keefe, vice-president in charge of distribution for the Pola-Lite Company, this week announced a realignment of its sales and service staff “to assure exhibitors con- tinued efficient service.” Now active on sales will be A. E. Cates, national field super- visor; James Gray, director of foreign sales, and Seymour Moses, eastern exhibitor con- tact. Mr. Moses recently joined the Pola- Lite Company. For the past eight years he has been associated with Loew’s In- ternational foreign department, where he managed offices in Denmark, Ffolland and Sweden. The service department has been augmented by Miran Aprehamian, director of quality control at the company’s plants, and Robbie Robbins, home office exchange sales contact. New York Legislator Says He'll Change 3-D Bill New York Assemblyman Daniel M. Kelly, who is proposing a measure requiring thea- tres playing 3-D pictures to post near their boxoffices a sign at least one foot high stat- ing that glasses are required to view the films, said last week he would change the word “polaroid ” to ‘ ‘polarized.” He ex- plained the Pola-Lite Company pointed out to him that Polaroid is a trade name for one manufacturer. Tower Theatre's Case Against Majors Settled Out of Court The suit by the Tower theatre, Wichita, Kan., against eight major distributors and the Fox Midwest circut has been settled out of court, the theatre’s attorney, Seymour Simon, told the press in Chicago last week. The suit had asked $160,000 in damages. Mr. Simon had been assisted in the case by Kansas attorney Solbert Wassentrom, the press also was told. U.S. May Re-evaluate 16 nmt Suit The 16mm. anti-trust suit pending in Los Angeles Federal Court against the industry will be reviewed by the Government for possible “dismissal” or “re-evaluation,’ Assistant Attorney General Stanley Barnes said in New York last week. Mr. Barnes, addressing a meeting of the anti-trust section of the New York State Bar Association, said in response to a ques- tion that the 16mm. suit was one of the anti-trust suits being reviewed by the Department of Justice, referring to the back-log of anti-trust cases inherited from the previous Administration. He went on to say that “one of our lawyers” has been sent to examine into the case m Los An- geles, where the suit charging a conspiracy by six major producers to restrict the show- ing of 16mm. films, especially to television, had been filed there in July of 1952. In his address Mr. Barnes said “with respect to anv difference of approach be- tween the cases filed since Jan. 20, 1953, and those filed by the previous Administra- tion,” I think you will find that those re- cently instituted are based upon classic hard- core anti-trust violations.” He went on to say that this does not mean that the division will not seek to extend the thrust of anti- trust litigation when necessity demands such a move to protect basic principles. How- ever, he ruled out suits filed on the basis of “sociological theories.” He acknowledged frankly that there are “some cases pending’ which in their “present form would not have been recom- mended.” Mr. Barnes warned, however, that out of the 139 cases pending last August, when he said that they would be reviewed, “I found only five justified dismissal. ’ I want to reemphasize,” he continued, “that only where substantially nothing can be accomplished by decree, will cases be dis- missed by the Government.” Legion Reviews Seven And Approves Six Seven pictures have been classified by the National Legion of Decency this week, with one, “Bait,” receiving a B, objectionable in part, rating. In Class A-l were “The Boy from Oklahoma,” “The Conquest of Ever- est,” “Dragon’s Gold” and “Gypsy Colt." In Class A-II were “Always a Bride” and “Charge of the Lancers.” Nation's Theatres Showing March of Dimes Trailer Theatres the country over have been showing the special 1954 March of Dimes trailer, “Look for the Silver Lining,” which features Howard Keel, MGM player. Na- tional Screen Service distributed the subject to showmen cooperating with the National Foundation of Infantile Paralysis. 36 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 6, 1954 The tflcthn Picture UaA Truly Cette ctf flge NEW dimensions and new techniques have lifted the motion picture right out of the ancient “picture show” category and placed it in THEATRE where it properly belongs. Now if we can provide material equal to our opportunity, we have won the battle against competition from tele- vision and other amusement forms that have encroached upon our territorial rights. We’ve seen “Knights of the Round Table” at the Radio City Music Hall — and it’s won- derful. It’s beyond expectations, it’s equal in size and scope to the theatre itself, which is high praise. So smoothly is it done — the title opens on the regular size screen, as it used to be — and then silently, without fanfare, it opens to the full width of the Music Hall stage, and takes its place with major theatrical achievement. It’s breath- taking, and you want to stand up and cheer, especially if you’re in this business. We’ve seen “King of the Khyber Rifles” at the Rivoli — and it’s beautiful to behold. The scope and color are beyond words. You’ve never seen such a marvelous setting for an exciting story. It fills the theatre, it fills the eye, it fills the imagination. And we’ve seen Warner’s new picture in Cinema- Scope, “The Command” at the Paramount. The New York critics praised it as having the greatest “scope” of any super-western they’ve ever seen. Never have the Indians been so surrounded by the United States Cavalry in the nick of time, in such magni- ficent style. We’ve opened a door that will create new screen epics for new audiences. Never again will television have anything that we can't meet and overcome. Now, our greatest problem will be to maintain quality in these new dimensions, while we also attain quantity. Let’s say that our experience with 3-D was “educational” — we learned a lesson. And small theatres, operated by showmen, will profit and pros- per with new techniques. They say that Leo Jones, indefatigable indignant exhibitor in Upper Sandusky, Ohio, increased his business 545 per cent with “The Robe.” Leo is again a leader. NEW AND DIFFERENT? We haven't seen Paramount's new pic- ture, "Red Garters" but we are interested in a fine review of the picture, written by John Rosenfield, film critic for the Dal- las Morning News. He says: "Every now and then we get stratospherically high on a motion picture" and suggests that "man- agers keep the average film goer out of the theatre, and limit the audience to weary sophisticates who* brag that it's been three years since they happened into a neighborhood playhouse to suffer a cinema." Th ere's a lot of high praise in his re- view, with the promise of something new and different. Under the caption, "How Red Is My Garter?" he comments on un- usual color, and we know that the Society of Illustrators, in New York, were invited to see the film at the Museum of Modern Art, because of its "emotional" color treat- ment. He says, "It is neither 3-D nor wide screen, but is actually a standard picture that sets a new standard." The film has had a saturation premiere in Texas, where things of broad scope and new horizons are really appreciated. It opened in Austin, a frontier town where horses keep you awake nights with their clop-clop-clop on paved streets. We have fond memories of Austin, with its O. Henry traditions, legendary State Capitol, and the University of Texas, a forty-story skyscraper towering over the landscape. €J AETNA CASLTALTY and Surety Com- pany, of Hartford, Conn., has a new film, re- cently shown to the trade in New York, which can be obtained for theatre showings, cost-free, if used with the cooperation of local safety organizations. The title is “Look Who’s Driving” — and it is the story of Charlie Younghead, who learned the folly of being a child at the wheel. The film is available in 16-millimeter for schools, or in 35-millimeter, for showings in theatres. CLAUDE EZELL, president of the In- ternational Drive-In Theatre Owners As- sociation, asks all distributors to make available three kinds of composite mats for each picture released. Mr. Ezell wants one similar to the presently successful “economy” mat that has two publicity mats, six ad mats in one and two-column width and slugs. And then he wants two other kinds, inclu- sive of other pressbook mats, at three prices, 25c, 35c and 50c. He is quoted as saying that drive-in theatres do more advertising and obtain a greater amount of free space when they use composite mats as offered “by a few distributors on some pictures.” As a matter of fact, MGM originated the 35c economy mat for small situations, and this has been adopted as policy by most of the distributors on a majority of pictures. We’ve been plugging for it in “Selling Ap- proach” these many months, and it is build- ing up substantially as an incentive along exactly the lines Mr. Ezell says. But please, don’t upset the applecart. Don’t ask for three variations that are not available, and destroy the good and valuable contribution to showmanship that is currently standard- ized in pressbook practice. C| BOB WILE, in the Ohio Bulletin, says “The value of stereophonic sound is ques- tionable, as can be seen from the ads in the New York papers for ‘Knights of the Round Table’ at the Radio City Music Hall. They make no mention of stereophonic sound in the largest theatre in the world. Certainly if the management believed that it enhanced the presentation of the picture, or if they felt it would provide an incentive to attend- ance, it would have been mentioned.” Ac- tually, the Music Hall has had stereophonic sound for years. It was built in, when the theatre was erected. There are batteries of speakers, in all sorts of locations, through- out the theatre, and since it is nothing new in a Music Hall presentation, it wasn’t spe- cifically advertised. — Walter Brooks MANAGERS' ROUND TABLE SECTION, FEBRUARY 6, 1954 37 BROTHERHOOD WEEK FEB. 21-28 ° UNDER THE LEADERSHIP of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, our honor- ary chairman, we are again being called upon to help in the promotion of Brotherhood Week, which this year will be held February 21 -28th. Through the courtesy and foresight of Harry Mandel, we have a few pictures for this page, held over from last year. We credit Arthur C. Koch, manager of RKO Proctor's theatre in New Rochelle, for most of these ideas. Above, you see his "bull's eye" target for coins contributed; and below, the Postmaster receives the names of donors who subscribed to the membership poll at the theatre, which was delivered directly to President Eisenhower. 38 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 6, 1954 Brotherhood SHOWMEN IN ACTION Ms Handled Bifferen tly This year, when 18,000 campaign books and promotion kits for “Brotherhood Week” were released, we were surprised to fund the principal exhibit labeled “This is NOT a pressbook !” Nor is it, and that may or may not be an advantage. The difficulty in previous years has been to get enough evidence of showmanship in enough places, and we have continuously tried to boost the pressure behind it by trying for special men- tion in the Round Table and special Quig- ley Award citations. Last year, Harry Man- del told us “there would be campaigns from RKO Theatres” — and there were, so we managed to save a handful of pictures to make the page opposite, but generally, this lacked something that we’d like to see ac- cented more strongly, rather than less. The pressbook that is NOT a pressbook contains well written and good advice, and suggests a new selling approach, without quite giving a formula in detail. There is no trailer, but theatres will find material in the newsreels. There are no posters, but there is a small display card for the box- office window. There are a few advertis- ing mats, in various sizes, which are not meant for theatre purposes. The authors say “The industry knows that nobody away from a desk in YOUR office knows better than YOU how to reach the public in YOUR community” — so go to it, as you would sell any attraction. Some will ; some won’t and we have hopes, as usual. Sell Your Quota of Membership Cards Again, the distribution of membership cards, at $1.00 each, is a primary factor, and if 15,000 theatres would each sell their quota, it would finance the National Con- ference for political and other purposes. We have always thought that every theatre’s free list should be asked to join up in this evi- dence of good faith. Brotherhood Week is a Main Street enterprise, with every mer- chant joining with the theatre manager in a matter of community interest. Some Round Table members have done by far the best things that have been done, in previous years. They will do it again, but we still think that you need materials to work with, and suggestions that are explicit and on the firing-line, for direct application, without de- pending on merely the theory or policy in- volved. We are already sold on the idea; and theatre managers only need the stuff that showmanship is made of to prove it. Stars by Telephone Jack Sanson, manager of the Strand the- atre, Hartford, reaches out for nearby per- sonalities, as when he created a Boston-to- Hartford telephone interview on “The Glenn Miller Story” with Jimmy Stewart and Al- len Widem, local by-liner, on the wire. William K. Hatkoff, manager of the new Norwalk theatre, ran ads of appreciation in his Connecticut newspapers, thanking folks for their indulgence during crowded mo- ments in the opening of “The Robe.” ▼ Joe Borenson, manager of the Strand theatre, New Britain, Conn., landed a fine half-page co-operative ad for “Kiss Me Kate” — with a big picture of Ann Miller, and the headline “This Lady Is Faithful in Her Fashion.” T Lester Pollock sends the minutes of his staff meeting with roving Knights from Camelot, to plan the tournament to follow in the presentation of “Knights of the Round Table” at Loew’s theatre in Rochester. T Harry Wiener, manager of Schine's the- atre, Oswego, N. Y. had a fine display of flowers in the lobby for the opening of “The Robe” and a neatly printed card of acknowl- edgment to his good friends of the Business- men’s Association, who sent them. T Boh Anthony, manager of the State the- atre, Cortland, N. Y., arranged a benefit showing of “The Sea Around Us” for fifty units of the Friendship Encampment of the I. O. O. F. ▼ Seymour Morris shows a reproduction in the Schine “Flash” of a fine full-page co- operative ad placed by Harold Lee, manager of the Babcock theatre, Bath, N. Y., and credits John Snyder with having worked on it, too. ▼ Louis Lutz, city manager for the Park, Pix and Avon theatres, Waukesha, Wise., shows very fine news pictures in the Daily Freeman (one layout is four columns wide, and another on the picture page) to prove that CinemaScope is in the news. T Tony Masella, manager of Loew’s Poli- Palace theatre, Meriden, Conn., had an in- teresting co-op ad with the Connecticut Light and Power Company, in which the company told their formula of “How to Marry a Millionaire.” Ben Tureman, manager of Schine’s Rus- sell theatre, Maysville, Ky., is the first on record to announce his annual “Miss Val- entine” contest— a front page story in his local paper, every February 14th. ▼ Leo A. Lajoie, manager of the Capitol theatre, Worcester, Mass., had some fine newspaper response with the personal ap- pearance of Joan Fontaine and Collier Young, for “The Bigimist.” T Sperie Perakos, general manager of Pera- kos Theatres, in Bridgeport, Conn., got all- out art lay-outs for “Miss Sadie Thompson” with large illustrations, headed “Some Dance,” to show what we mean. T Lou Cohen and Norm Levinson using that realistic cut-out of Marilyn Monroe (you can hold hands with it) as a come-on for a Marilyn Monroe contest (match her meas- urements or take that stance) at Loew’s Poli, Hartford. Local gals will also marry millionaires. T Bill Burke, manager of the Capitol theatre, Brantford, Ontario, really rolled up the record for free space with his publicity for “The Robe” totaling over 1200 lines, in quite a departure from the usual policy of the Brantford Expositor. T Daniel A. Cohn, manager of Loew’s Boro Park theatre, in Brooklyn, files his complete campaign on “The Robe” as an entry for the Quigley Awards, a good exhibit from a neighborhood theatre. T Cinerama is advertsiing that “Sunday Is Family Day” at the Boyd theatre in Phila- delphia, and Lynn Farnol is especially proud of the special train that brought 200 citizens of Canton, Ohio, into Pittsburgh to see Cinerama at the Warner theatre. ▼ Paramount is distributing a special press sheet on “Boo-Moon” — the first three-di- mension Technicolor short featuring Cas- par, the Friendly Ghost. We thought ghosts were one-dimension. More in oar gallery of prize-winners in MGM's "Lucky 7" contest: Above, Wayne Sweeney, manager of the State theatre. Omaha, who gets S500 for the best proposed campaign on "Kiss Me Kate" in the big cities, James A. Wren, manager of the Strand theatre, Waterloo, Iowa, receives $250 for the best entry from towns in the middle category, and Mrs. Elaine S. George, one of our favorite Round Table members, is paid $100 for the fine job she does at the Star theatre, Heppner, Oregon, one of the best managed small town theatres in the country. ONAGERS' ROUND TABLE SECTION, FEBRUARY b, 1954 GLENN MILLER STORY' MAKES MUSIC AT THE BOX OFFICE GLENN MILLER was a Ilian’s man, and a musician’s musician. He had a tremendous following, for his or- chestra and his music. (There are currently 200 Glenn Miller Fan Clubs, with addresses furnished.) He entered the Air Force as a Captain in 1943, and a year later, his plane was lost on flight from England to France. Jimmy Stewart looks remarkably like Glenn Miller — and is like him, to his friends as well as to those who only knew his music. Universal-International have been fortunate in finding such a fine actor to portray the leading role in “The Glenn Miller Story.” He keys the campaign for showmen throughout the country. Two Premieres The picture has had several premieres, as this is written. In Clarinda, Iowa, his home state paid a wonderful tribute, with a nationwide salute to the town of his birth by hundreds of disc-jockeys when the pic- ture first opened at the Clarinda theatre. A talent contest, across the nation, was con- ducted with network radio and television programs cooperating. Since then, the pic- ture has had another premiere at the Carib, Miami and Miracle theatres in Miami Beach, Miami and Coral Gables, with the show- manship of Sonny Shepherd, managing di- rector of Wometco theatres, contributing. For this occasion, the Air Force brought in their top brass from Georgia flying fields, and would have brought their band, if Mr. Petrillo had not objected. Two Packages There are two packages of promotional material now available to theatres. An ad- vance kit, in mimeographed form, which con- tains everything, even to Jimmy Stewart’s favorite recipes. It was prepared, ahead of the pressbook, for the early first runs, under the direction of Charles Simonelli, advertis- ing and publicity manager for the company, and it virtually supplies a field-man’s ser- vices, in a substantial volume of good ideas and information. There are very many de- tails, addresses, suggestions, pointers and examples of promotion, publicity and ex- ploitation, in this- friendly package. The Decca album contains eight well- remembered tunes, played by members of the original Glenn Miller orchestra, as part of the sound-track of the picture. Also, the pressbook is now available, and we review it here, as Selling Approach, for the benefit of current and subsequent runs. It is no secret that “The Glenn Miller Story” is getting the biggest promotional benefit of any Universal-International pic- ture in recent memory, and you will better understand the weight of that remark when you sit down with the material, and hold that conference with yourself which determines how good and valuable is your partnership with a proper pressbook. Naturally, the best advice is to “sell it with music” — and it is no disadvantage that Universal and Decca are legally joined in corporate wedlock. The music tieups, either on a pre-selling or a playdate basis, will put this picture over for you, beyond any prog- nostications or promises. Just follow your music cues, and you’ll land a record-break- er at the box-office. The pressbook features these music tieups in entirety, and there’s no object in reviewing them in limited space. The 24-sheet and all posters have been planned to provide cut-outs of Jimmy Stew- art and June Allyson in the title roles. The herald has all the best advertising slant, and keys the campaign for small theatres. The “Color-Glo” photos, for which Universal is noted, will give you color to sell color, in a special lobby frame. The newspaper ad- vertising mats are numerous, and varied, from the very large down the scale, but all very good. There are many to choose from, and the big 35c economy mat. for small situ- ations, has two publicity mats, three two-col- unin ad mats and three-one-column ad mats, all for the price of one. The “utility mat” is for the larger places, where they assemble their own ads. You will find several un- usual styles in the ad mats, and it will pay you to study them carefully. Plenty of Material There is such a wealth of material, and such a warmth of feeling in it, you can do a bet- ter job than usual, if you'll handle your end accordingly with this pressbook as a stock- pile of ideas. The picture has been exten- sively pre-sold in the national magazines, and you may be able to connect some of this valuable and expensive space with your local playdates by posting magazine covers and tear-sheets of the advertising to remind the customers of current issues. There is a good opportunity for co-operative advertis- ing, with the prospect of full pages under- written by local merchants. March 1st would have been Glenn Miller’s fiftieth birthday, and much will be made of the fiftieth anniversary in the music trades. The National Association of Music Mer- chants will name Beth Miller, beautiful model, as the Queen of Glenn Miller Week. She won the honor in a contest held by radio station WHBM, while she was attend- ing Memphis State College. You can pick your own queen, and find your own sponsor- ship, in a similar -contest. You need have no worry about the younger set, who may never have seen Glenn Miller in person. The editors of seventy New York city high school papers had a private showing of the film last week, and went out rejoicing in the reviews they will publish. — IV. B. 40 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 6, 1954 . 1 Good Idea For All Gootl Newspapers The New York Journal American is again offering $1,000 in cash prizes to read- ers who can choose the outstanding pictures and players of 1953, as selected by Rose Pelswick, the newspaper’s film critic. Sum- ner Collins, promotion manager for the Journal-American, announces that the awards will be presented at a gala c 3cktail party in Hollywood, with leading stars and motion picture executives on hand, but doesn’t make clear whether or not the local prize-winners will also be invited. However, the success of the first contest launched last year is still fresh in memory as one of the best ways in which the annual weighing of “best movies” can be tied more closely to local theatre patronage. Promotion for Movies "Julius Caesar” Acquires A New Sales Approach The Journal-American movie contest, which started on January 10th, and is cur- rently running, is undertaken in a spirit of cooperation with the movie industry. The contest itself, and the extensive promotion behind it, are aimed directly at increasing interest and attendance in motion pictures. A ballot type coupon appears daily and Sunday in the Journal-American in which contestants register their choice tor the best three movies released in 1953, the best actor and actress in starring roles, the best actor and actress in supporting roles and the best actor and actress discovery of 1953. The coupon and accompanying story pro- moting interest in the contest (and the late 1953 pictures still being shown in local the- atres) are spaced well forward in a promi- nent place in the paper. An added feature to increase interest is a daily award of fif- teen pairs of tickets to a current movie hit. The movies selected are described in detail and are accompanied by photos. The movie contest is being heavily pro- moted through truck posters, newsstand dis- play cards, stories in country newspapers, plus radio and TV spot announcements on most of the local and network stations. Friendly Cooperation The contest is another in a series of ac- tivities and promotions undertaken by the Journal-American in support of the movie industry. One campaign that ran for a full year promoted the theme that “movies are better than ever.” Large display ads were published several days every week in the Journal-American under changing headlines (“Movies Bring You Romance, Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Intrigue, Mystery,” etc.) and featured scenes from current pictures identifying the title and studio. Another series that also ran for a full year promoted the theme “Let’s Go to the Movies.” Other movie promotions included such plugs as “It’s Movietime, U.S.A., for relaxation, recreation, etc., go to a movie tonight.” "Hollywood finally has realized one of its greatest dreams— a Shakespearean drama that is a movie box office smash. . . . 'Julius Caesar1 is the picture, now at the Ohio theatre. . . . Shakespeare finally has become motion picture boxoffice." The quote is from the extraordinary half- page spread above, by Omar Ranney, movie editor of the Cleveland Press. It will be of interest to Round Table mem- bers because it reflects a new development in movie promotion. MGM, with a number of test engagements behind it, is presenting its distinguished production of “Julius Caesar” as an exciting, down-to-earth, intrigue-and- dagger movie drama, instead of merely a dignified “arty” film for limited audiences. That this approach in advertising and promoting “Julius Caesar" is the right and profitable one seems proven by some 10 test dates in America and a score or more of engagements all over the world. It has been traditional with such pictures as “Hamlet,” “Henry V” and other Shake- spearean pictures to confine advertising to the most dignified announcement copy, aimed at the so-called limited class audi- ence. Such words as “violence,” “murder,” “in- trigue,” “passion,” “action” and “assassina- tion” are prominent in the MGM ads. Many critics have mentioned the mass appeal of the political drama and some have called it a great “gangster story.” MGM is using such quotes liberally in its promotion. Even in two-performances-a-day, reserved seat engagements, "action” ads are included in the schedules, with the physique of Mar- lon Brando pointing up the general boxoffice appeal. With all this, MGM is not overlooking in- tensive cultivation of the schools, colleges, women’s, clubs and other groups which are natural audiences for a Shakespearean pro- duction. Apparently it is the plus attendance of the general moviegoer that is pushing “Julius Caesar” grosses into the record bracket for that type of picture. As Omar Ranney says : “Hail, Caesar ! Conqueror of Shakespeare Jinx.” So, if and when you play “Julius Caesar,” do not be content with the ready-made at- tendance of the Shakespeare addicts — go after the mass audience and sell this Shake- speare story for what it really is — a rip-roar- ing, tale of gangster plot and murder. Taxi Tieup Is Good For "Best Years" The second motion picture tieup ever made with the National Taxi Cab Safety Council has been set by Sarnual Goldwyn Produc- tions for the forthcoming reissue of “Best Years of Our Lives.” The Council will dis- tribute 100,000 cards for display in taxicabs throughout the country, inviting riders to “Sit back and relax — and enjoy “The Best Years of Our Lives.” It carries a still from the picture, says that the driver is careful of your safety, and suggests that the cab will take you directly to the theatre where the picture is playing. For the Connecticut premiere of “The Joe Louis Story” at the Star theatre, Hartford, Bernie Menschell and Jon Calvocoressci held an advance screening and luncheon for sports writers and press. MANAGERS' ROUND TABLE SECTION, FEBRUARY 6, 1954 41 CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING Fifteen cents per word, money-order or check with copy. Count initials, box number and address. Minimum insertion $ 1 .50. Four insertions for the price of three. Contract rates on application. No borders or cuts. Forms close Mondays at 5 P.M. Publisher reserves the right to reject any copy. Film and trailer advertising not accepted. Classified advertising not subject to agency commission. Address copy and checks: MOTION PICTURE HERALD, Classified Dept., Rockefeller Center, New York (20) DRIVE-IN EQUIPMENT REPLACE INADEQUATE, OUTWORN EQUIP - ments with DeVry, Simplex and Century outfits, re- built like new. (Send for lists). Time deals arranged Incar speakers w/4" cones $15.95 pair w /junction box; underground cable $59M. S. 0. S. CINEMA SUPPLY CORP., 602 W. 52nd St., New York 19. NEW EQUIPMENT MASONITE MARQUEE LETTERS— FIT WAG- ner, Adler, Bevelite signs, 4" — 35c; 8" — 50c; 10" — 60c; 12"— 85c; 14"— $1.25; 16"— $1.50 any color. S. O. & CINEMA SUPPLY CORP., 602 W. 52nd St., New York 19. IMMEDIATELY AVAILABLE! SHORT FOCUS lenses for Wide Screens. Metallic all-purpose screens 90c sq. ft. Special apertures all ratios. S. O. S. CINEMA SUPPLY CORP., 602 W. 52nd St., New York 19. HELP WANTED POSITIONS OPEN IN NEW YORK AND MASSA- chusetts areas with expanding circuit for drive-in managers. Year-round employment. Drive-in experi- ence desirable but not necessary. Write stating quali- fications to F. HARDING'. 38 Church St., Boston, Mass. POSITIONS WANTED MANAGER’S JOB WANTED. HEAVY SMALL town and first-run experience. Will travel and re- locate. 38 years old, 16 years’ experience. BOX 2764, MOTION PICTURE HERALD. BOOKS ‘‘NEW SCREEN TECHNIQUES” — THE NEW book that is a “must” for everybody in or connected with the motion picture industry — the clearly pre- sented, authoritative facts about 3-D, Cinerama, Cine- maScope and other processes — covering production, ex- hibition and exploitation — contains 26 illustrated arti- cles by leading authorities — edited by Martin Quigley, Jr 208 pages. Price $4.50 postpaid. QUIGLEY BOOK- SHOP, 1270 Sixth Ave., New York 20, N. Y. RICHARDSON'S BLUEBOOK OF PROJECTION, New 8th Edition. Revised to deal with the latest tech- nical developments in motion picture projection and sound, and reorganized to facilitate study and refer- ence. Includes a practical discussion of Television especially prepared for the instruction of theatre pro- jectionists, and of new techniques for advancement of the art of the motion picture. The standard textbook on motion picture projection and sound reproduction. Invaluable to beginner and expert. Best seller since 1911. 662 pages, cloth bound, $7.25 postpaid. QUIGLEY BOOKSHOP, 1270 Sixth Avenue, New York 20, N. Y. MOTION PICTURE AND TELEVISION ALMANAC — the big book about your business — 1953-54 edition. Contains over 12,000 biographies of important motion picture personalities. Also all industry statistics. Com- plete listing of feature pictures 1944 to date. Order your copy todav. $5.00, postage included. Send remit- tance to QUIGLEY BOOKSHOP, 1270 Sixth Avenue, New York 20, N. Y. STUDIO EQUIPMENT AUGMENT YOUR INCOME BY — SHOOTING local newsreels, TV commercials, documentaries. Ar- range advertising tie-ups with local merchants. Film Production Equipment Catalog free. S. O. S. CINEMA SUPPLY CORP., 602 W. 52nd St.. New York 19. USED EQUIPMENT DEVRYS BEAUTIFULLY REBUILT LIKE NEW. $895; Holmes $495. All dual outfits with amplifier and speaker. Time deals arranged. S. O. S. CINEMA SUPPLY CORP., 602 W. 52nd St., New York 19. COMPLETE THEATRE EQUIPMENT, EXCEL- lent condition. Simplex projectors, arc lamps, $900. HALL THEATRE, Sister Bay, Wis. FOR BETTER BUYS— SEE STAR! PAIR DEVRY XDC Projectors, heavy bases. Suprex trim lamp- houses, complete, rebuilt, $1,650; Simplex rear shutter mechanisms, six months guarantee, $275 pair ; Lenses and Screens at lowest prices; Strong Mogul 65 ampere Lamphouses, rebuilt, $489.50 pair. What do you need? STAR CINEMA SUPPLY, 447 West 52nd St., New York 19. SACRIFICE SALE: Seats, projectors, Motiograph sound system, 3D equipment, short focus lens, air- conditioner units, candy counter equipment, rewind, well pump. Bargains for cash. Write Box 2768, MOTION PICTURE HERALD. THEATRES FOR SALE— 350 SEAT THEATRE IN GOOD Michigan farming community. Owner in lumber busi- ness, wishes to sell at low price. Building new. Ex- cellent opportunity. BOX 2763, MOTION PICTURE HERALD. SERVICES WINDOW CARDS, PROGRAMS. HERALDS photo-offset printing. CATO1 SHOW PRINTING CO. Cato, N. Y. SEATING S. O. S— SAVE ON SEATS! ALL TYPES THE- atre chairs from $4.95. Send for Chair Bulletin. S. O. S. CINEMA SUPPLY CORP.. 602 W. 52nd St., New York 19. M. J. Cullen, Loew Theatre Division Manager, Dies Michael J. Cullen, 55, southern and west- ern division manager for Loew’s Theatres, died suddenly January 27 in Tucson, Ari- zona, from a coronary thrombosis. Mr. Cullen joined Loew’s in 1928 as manager of Loew’s State Theatre in Providence, R. I. Subsequently, he managed theatres in Wash- ington and Pittsburgh. During- World War II, he was a major in the Army Specialists Corp, and was in charge of theatre procure- ment and the direction of Hollywood enter- tainment units in Occupied Italy, Germany, Austria, and France. He entered show busi- ness at the age of 13 as a ticket-seller with a wagon show. Later, he was press agent and advanceman for the “101 Ranch Wild West Show,” Barnum and Bailey’s Circus, and for the Klaw and Erlanger theatrical interests. Ernest Schwartz Exhibitor Leader in Cleveland CLEVELAND : Ernest Schwartz, 70, prac- ticing attorney and for the past 20 years president and general manager of the Cleveland Motion Picture Exhibitors Asso- ciation, died suddenly January 28 in Mount Sinai Hospital, 12 hours after he suffered a heart attack in his home. With his class- mate and law partner, the late Henry Lustig, he had acquired several theatres. He was active in many industry drives. His wife, a son and daughter survive. P. E. Wilson P. E. Wilson, 61, a partner in Enterprise Theatres, Dallas, died in a hospital there January 16, after a long illness. Mr. Wilson for 34 years was active in the film business, and spent 25 of them with Enterprise. He was a charter member and organizer of Texas Variety. His widow, three sons, a sister, and a brother survive. Edgar L. Hamrick Edgar Louis Hamrick, 68, brother of John Hamrick, who operates a circuit in the Pacific Northwest bearing the family name, died in Seattle January 20, after a heart attack. Mr. Hamrick was associated with several theatres in Seattle. Myer Lesser Myer Lesser, 79, motion picture pioneer and president of the Blaine Thompson Com- pany which had represented Warner Broth- ers Pictures since 1926, died January 28 in Miami Beach of a coronary ailment. He is survived by his wife, a son and a daughter and four grandchildren. National Dairy and Dodge in Theatre TV National Dairy and Dodge Motors last week used Theatre Network Television. The first company used 14 theatres for a show from the NBC Center theatre, New York. The show ran from 10 A.M. to 12:30 P.M. It featured Jack Sterling, TV star on the Sealtest “Big Top” entertainment. There were other performers and also National Dairy president E. E. Stewart. The network went as far west as Chicago, and also to Jacksonville. It also was seen in the Hotel Syracuse, Syracuse. The Dodge show was in 15 theatres, in hotels, and on TV, and was from 6 to 7 P.M. in 30 cities. It was the first commercial program scheduled Eu- an hour profitable at the box offices. Samuel Bomes Samuel Bomes, 65, renowned Rhode Island theatre man, died last week in Providence. Mr. Bomes was treasurer of the Elmwood Amusement Company, and also of the Rhode Island Lumber Company. He erected the first film house in East Providence, the Hollywood. Later, he operated the Liberty, Providence, and the Jamestown, Jamestown. He led the fight to establish Sunday motion pictures in the state. His widow and sons, Edward and Milton, and two sisters, survive. 42 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 6, 1954 FILM BUYERS RATING Film buyers of independent circuits in the U. S. rate current product on the basis of its performance in their theatres. This report covers 134 attractions, 6,373 playdates. Titles run alphabetically. Numerals refer to the number of en- gagements on each attraction reported. The tabulation is cumula- tive. Dagger (f) denotes attractions published for the first time. Asterisk (*) indicates attractions which are listed for the last time. EX means Excellent; AA — Above Average; AV — Average; BA — Below Average; PR — Poor. A. & C. Meet Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde (Univ.) Actress, The (MGM) Affair in Monte Carlo (AA) Affairs of Dobie Gillis, The (MGM) All-American (Univ.) All the Brothers Were Valiant (MGM) All I Desire ( Univ.) . . Appointment in Honduras (RKO) Arrowhead (Para.) Back to God's Country (Univ.) Band Wagon, The (MGM) Big Heat ( Col.) Big Leaguer, The (MGM) Blowing Wild (WB) Blueprint for Murder, A (20th-Fox) Botany Bay (Pa r a.) Caddy, The (Para.) Calamity Jane (WB) Charge at Feather River, The (WB) China Venture (Col.) City of Bad Men (20th-Fox) Clipped Wings (AA) Conquest of Cochise (Col.) Crazylegs — All-American (Rep.) Cruel Sea, The (Univ.) Cruisin' Down the River (Col.) Dangerous Crossing ( 20th-Fox ) Dangerous When Wet (MGM) Decameron Nights (RKO) Devil's Canyon (RKO) (Diamond Queen, The (WB) East of Sumatra (Univ.) Easy to Love (MGM) Escape from Fort Bravo (MGM) Farmer Takes a Wife ( 20th- Fox ) 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T, The (Col.) Flame of Calcutta (Col.) Flight Nurse ( Rep.) Flight to Tangier (Para.) *49th Man, The (Col.) Francis Covers the Big Town (Univ.) From Here to Eternity (Col.) . . Gentlemen Prefer Blondes ( 20th- Fox ) *Girl Next Door, The ( 20th- Fox ) Give a Girl a Break (MGM). Glass Web, The (Univ.) Glory Brigade, The ( 20th- Fox ) Golden Blade, The (Univ.) Great Jesse James Raid (Lippert) Great Sioux Uprising, The (Univ.) Gun Belt (UA) Gun Fury (Col.) Half a Hero (MGM) Here Come the Girls (Para.) Hondo (WB) Houdini (Para.) How to Marry a Millionaire (20th-Fox) I, the Jury ( UA) Inferno (20th-Fox) Island in the Sky (WB) *!t Came from Outer Space (Univ.) EX AA AV BA PR _ 1 1 40 15 6 - - 2 19 34 - - - 3 2 - 2 10 1 0 2 - 9 27 13 13 - 14 25 23 1 - 20 29 30 5 - 3 10 6 8 - 17 40 14 - 1 9 28 9 2 4 12 36 49 22 - 19 23 1 1 - - - 12 24 8 8 16 28 29 5 - - 8 6 1 - 1 22 20 1 9 56 30 4 1 1 28 22 6 1 8 10 8 12 7 - 2 1 2 - - 8 51 28 4 - 8 6 1 - - 1 8 1 1 5 - 2 5 2 - 2 14 1 1 - I 1 4 21 30 9 _ _ 9 1 1 5 5 44 65 17 - _ - _ 4 4 - 7 16 8 9 - - 3 1 2 _ 10 25 15 5 14 17 9 - - - 3 12 12 - _ 21 30 28 17 - - 1 1 1 7 c 1 2 1 7 6 O 2 - 1 6 9 8 - 8 3 2 - 7 40 28 1 1 - 36 29 4 2 5 45 43 13 17 1 1 1 15 30 1 1 4 - 4 6 3 1 - 1 3 1 6 - 6 17 12 9 - 5 17 15 3 - 3 6 6 - 1 5 27 38 8 2 7 21 6 - - 3 6 1 - _ 8 20 21 19 2 4 1 1 9 1 42 10 2 _ 1 8 43 30 1 1 _ 19 3 - - - 1 5 10 19 2 1 4 18 7 20 - 31 37 48 16 2 4 15 10 6 Jack Slade ( AA) (Joe Louis Story, The (UA) Kid from Left Field, The ( 20th- Fox ) fKing of the Khyber Rifles ( 20th- Fox ) Kiss Me Kate (MGM) Last Posse, The (Col.) Latin Lovers (MGM) Let's Do It Again (Col.) Lili (MGM) Lion Is in the Streets, A (WB) Little Boy Lost (Para.) Main Street to Broadway (MGM) Man from the Alamo (Univ.) Marry Me Again (RKO) Martin Luther (de Rochemont) Master of Ballantrae, The (WB) Maze, The (AA) Melba ( U A ) Miss Sadie Thompson (Col.) Mission Over Korea (Col.) Mister Scoutmaster (20th-Fox) Mogambo (MGM) Moon Is Blue, The (UA) Moonlighter, The (WB) Nebraskan, The (Col.) 99 River Street ( U A) (No Escape ( U A ) (Paris Model (Col.) Plunder of the Sun (WB) Private Eyes (AA) Return to Paradise (UA) Ride Vaquero (MGM) Robe, The (20th-Fox) Roman Holiday (Para.) Sabre Jet (UA) Sailor of the King ( 20th- Fox ) Salome (Col.) ^Scared Stiff (Para.) Sea Around Us, The (RKO) Sea of Lost Ships (Rep.) Second Chance (RKO) Shane (Para.) Shark River ( U A) Sins of Jezebel (Lippert) Sky Commando (Col.) (Slaves of Babylon (Col.) So Big (WB) So This Is Love (WB) Stalag 1 7 ( Para.) Stand at Apache River (Univ.) Steel Lady, The (UA) Stranger Wore a Gun, The (Col.) Sweethearts on Parade (Rep.) Sword and the Rose, The (RKO) Take the High Ground (MGM) *Tarzan and the She-Devil (RKO) Terror on a Train (MGM) Those Redheads from Seattle (Para.) Three Sailors and a Girl (WB) Thunder Bay (Univ.) Thunder Over the Plains (WB) Torch Song (MGM) Tumbleweed (Univ.) Valley of Headhunters (Col.) Veils of Bagdad (Univ.) Vice Squad ( U A) Vicki ( 20th-Fox ) Walking My Baby Back Home (Univ.) War Paint ( UA) War of the Worlds (Para.) White Witch Doctor ( 20th- Fox ) (Wild One (Col.) Wings of the Hawk (Univ.) EX AA AV BA PR _ 2 5 7 10 - 1 1 3 - _ _ 18 28 7 1 4 1 - - 5 12 12 1 1 2 _ 1 4 13 12 3 1 1 1 39 39 _ 8 28 35 34 8 27 20 25 1 1 _ 1 16 27 26 19 43 18 2 1 _ 2 _ 17 1 1 _ 18 9 19 10 _ 2 2 8 7 8 13 2 - - 1 3 16 34 12 1 2 8 12 4 _ - - 10 2 5 1 2 - - - 6 2 5 6 3 16 53 31 10 35 59 19 3 - 39 31 19 1 1 4 - 2 9 10 18 _ 2 3 3 _ 1 1 3 6 8 1 2 3 _ - 2 9 35 7 - 2 3 - - _ 13 35 55 2 3 16 50 33 8 44 4 2 - - - 8 39 34 7 1 13 21 2 4 - - 1 6 5 1 1 61 32 12 1 27 47 12 5 - 1 4 13 1 - - 1 4 3 - 2 8 17 9 4 56 44 6 2 - - 14 6 1 4 - 2 5 4 - - 4 2 - 1 _ 1 3 1 2 1 15 58 12 4 - 13 19 27 20 9 44 32 13 - 1 4 15 L 15 3 4 21 O 8 2 4 - - 4 4 3 - 8 18 21 20 7 38 30 8 3 - 14 18 20 1 - - 1 3 2 - 7 13 1 1 3 1 2 13 10 4 3 13 45 33 10 - 5 8 13 2 - 7 17 13 28 - 10 1 1 2 2 _ _ 10 5 2 - - 1 9 7 - 1 19 17 5 - 1 3 15 II - 20 10 8 _ - 8 10 12 4 2 7 15 38 18 14 48 7 26 1 1 4 _ 5 14 16 31 WHEN / GOT UP /N THE MORNING, / NEl/ER DREAMED t'o GET MY HAT KNOCKED OFE IN THE STORK CLUB AT NIGHT/'' c The crazy-mixed-up Born Yesterday” cutie . . . in the comedy of the year ! Columbia Pictures laughingly presents Judy Holliday in "It Should Happen To You” co-starring Peter Lawford with Michael O’Shea and introducing Jack Lemmon • Story and screen play by Garson Kanin • Produced by Fred Kohlmar and directed by George Cukor .... To Be Released In March EQUIPMENT • FURNISHINGS DESIGN ij PHYSIEAL OPERATION • VENOING Humber THERE’S A SECOND BOX OFFICE INSIDE YOUR THEATER . . . The theater owner with money on his mind has long since learned to look to the lobby for extra profits. That's where his patrons come to get refreshment with their entertainment. Because of this pleasant custom, you make more money when you feature ice-cold Coca-Cola, favorite of America for more than four generations. There's a variety of vending equipment available. For the money- making details, write The Coca-Cola Company, P. 0. Box 1734, Atlanta, Georgia. COPYRIGHT 1954, THECOCA-COLA COMPANY Watching Ever Then, Mister, you should know J. . . . the quality line with the rock-bottom prices You exhibitors who want superior, service-engineered equipment at down-to-earth prices brought First-American into being. Every item for indoor theatres and drive-ins in this great and growing line is the product of experience . . , your experience and ours. (You see, we operate successful theatres ourselves and started making equipment only be- cause so many of our friends, like ourselves, just couldn’t find exactly the right item for many of our needs, or couldn’t find it at a reasonable price.) Your demands and our own, in actual theatre use, have created First-American products . . . every one based strict- ly on what kind of service it must stand up under, what features are needed, what patrons have proved they like . . . in short, what will make money and save headaches and expense for other theatremen. You are probably as sincere as ive are in wanting all exhibi- tors to have the benefit of successful experience in these critical times. Bring your ideas, your problems and equip- ment needs to this unique clearing-house for pooled think- ing on better theatre equipment. INDOOR: Adjustable Curve and Tilt Wide-Arc Screen Fra • Stereophonic Auditorium Speakers • Etc. ★ DRIVE-INS: In Speakers • Pre-Fab Screen Towers and "Wings' for Exist Towers • Seamless -Jointless Screen Facing • Illuminated Dir. tional Signs • Roadway Lights • Underground Wire • Spea Cords • Drag Brooms • Etc. ★ FOR EITHER: Screen Paint Safety Ladders • Porthole and Lamphouse Blowers • Projects Cooling Systems • Changeable Marquee Letters • Refreshment Counters and Equipment • And Many MoreTheatre-Proved Items! Sound design, top engineering and correct materials for each purpose go into First-American products. And every installation is backed by personal service, including on-the- site study and recommendations if desired. Get the full story . . . with details and prices on every prod- uct in handy individual catalog sheets, already filed in your FREE copy of Theatre Owner’s MANUAL. <0 Valuable Portfolio FREE 9 Expandable Pockets Cover All Theatre Op- eration & Equipment Subjects. $1.50 Value Enables you to keep clippings, equipment literature and other theatre-operating infor- mation neatly and logically filed for ready reference, in easy-to-find logical order. Fits correspondence drawer file or stands on shelf. Any theatre owner, manager or circuit executive may have this useful portfolio just for the asking! Send Coupon for Free Book firsi • American mdiuh. unc. 1717 Wyandotte St. • Kansas City 8, Mo. • Phone BAItimore 6882 NAME AND POSITION “ MPH-2 THEATRE OR CIRCUIT STREET NUMBER OR ADDRESS CITY OR POSTOFFICE ZONE STATE BETTER THEATRES SECTION 3 4 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 6, 1954 Mr. Exhibitor! DO YOU SEE SEAMS BEFORE YOUR EYES? 4^ Now, at last, you can present motion pictures as they were meant to be shown! NO DISTURBING LINES to detract from the magnificence and beauty of Cinemascope, wide-screen, 3-D or regular flat projection. The New LUXURIA SEAMLESS is the ultimate achievement in new-process screens and will fit all theatre needs because it is CUSTOM TAILORED. New LUXURIA SEAMLESS is now available with three types of viewing angles. . . Medium, Wide and Extra Wide. Here are the important differences! • Seamless means just that — made in one piece up to 90 ft. • Less amperage and more brilliance in all installations. • Completely perforated for all types of sound. • Tailor-made to order for your theatre's size and viewing angle. • Longer life — and it's washable. P. S. Before you buy any screen — Be sure you see the New LUXURIA SEAMLESS -It'll help in the LONG RUNS. > Manufactured by . gTEWART-TRANS-LUX CORP. 1111 W. Sepulveda Blvd. Torrance, California II Distributed by TRANS-LUX CORP. 1270 Sixth Avenue, N Y. 20, N.Y. Circle 7-4970 BETTER THEATRES SECTION • The Miracle CHAIR RIDE is the newest addition to our famous line of playground equipment . . . and one of our most popular! Our famous “fairy-tale” characters decorate the canvas drop which conceals the power unit and supports (characters also avail- able in sturdy Masonite for mounting on playground fences, etc.). Built to withstand the roughest abuse, the Miracle Hnln CHAIR RIDE is already UIHj a tested traffic-builder! • You’ll really see the results at the boxoffice once you install a Miracle PONY RIDE! Youngsters always enjoy a merry-go-round that’s “just the right size” for them. All-steel platform and framework; colorful cast-iron ponies; no greasing or motor main- tenance required. The Miracle PONY RIDE safe entertainment for the tiniest tot . . . popular diversion for the oldest youngster! Orly $1595 • The Lifetime MIRACLE WHIRL (10 ft. size) is the perfect piece of playground equipment for han- dling the overflow on those extra busy nights. One can ride . . . forty can ride — everyone has just as much fun! Operates by simple body-shifting motion ... no dangerous “ jumping on”! All steel construc- tion; no exposed mechanism. Nearly 5,000 in use. No serious accident in seven years; Junior Mir- acle Whirl (6 ft. size) also available for twelve youngsters or less. Only $298 00< • Once again Miracle Whirl is first with the finest! This new, exclusive swing design is the first major improvement in swings for years. Note the safer, sturdier construction; the modern, more attractive design. Gaily painted like peppermint stick candy! Available in every size to fit the needs of any play- ground. When writing, be sure to ask about our new animal slides, too — another first from Miracle Whirl! *All prices quoted F.O.B., Grinnell Ger/fa r#£ worst WRITE TODAY! 1 BOTHERED WITH THE 3-D demands rock steady promo- tion in both machines. Your dealer can show you the advantages of using LaVezzi parts in your projec- - tors and sound heads. Unexcelled for high precision and long life. Write for complete catalog LaVezzi Machine Works 4635 W. LAKE ST., CHICAGO 44, ILL. tfbeut People off the Theatre AND OF BUSINESSES SERVING THEM • Promotions of three executives of the American Seating Company, which has headquarters in Grand Rapids, Mich., have been announced by J. J. Thompson, general sales man- ager of the com- pany. Robert J. Hemkes has been promoted to field sales manager, fill- ing the post held by Mr. Thompson prior to the latter’s promotion last July. Air. Hemkes was formerly eastern division sales manager for American Seating, with headquarters in New York City. He joined the company in 1937 as a salesman in the Chicago office and was later in charge of the company’s St. Louis office. During World War II he served as product contract engineer in Grand Rapids and became central division sales manager following the war. In his new post he will be responsible for the field sales activities on all the company’s product lines except transportation seat- ing. At the same time Mr. Thompson announced the promotion of Henry F. Schaefer to western division sales man- ager. Mr. Schaefer graduated from the University of Michigan’s School of Engi- neering and joined the company’s Research M. E. Kornbluth F. C. Schaefer Department in 1937. He was later a sales representative working out of the Cincin- nati and Buffalo offices of the company. During the war he worked on military products in Grand Rapids, and in 1945 became branch manager of the Syracuse, New York, branch. In February, 1952 he was transferred to San Francisco as man- ager of the branch there and also assistant R. J. Hemkes 6 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 6, 1954 ALL-NEW RCA SPEAKER UNITS- matched for perfect performance with Audio- Sync Amplifiers — bring the full beauty of RCA Sound to every seat in your house. THEATRE EQUIPMENT RADIO CORPORATION of AMERICA ENGINEERING PRODUCTS DEPARTMENT. CAMDEN. N.J. In Canada: RCA VICTOR Company Limited, Montreal PUSH-BUTTON TUBE CHECKING To check any tube in any amplifier, operator simply turns knob to select tube — pushes button to read meter. With this easy system, he checks tubes in a matter of minutes. RCA STEREOSCOPE SOUND costs less than you think RCA AUDIO-SYNC AMPLIFIER Everything you want — convenience, brilliant performance, reasonable price, flexibility — they’re all yours when you install RCA Stereo- scope Sound with the new RCA Audio-Sync amplifier. Here’s all of RCA’s long theatre experience and technical background com- pressed into a system that’s as compact, as easy to operate as your present standard single-track sound system. EASIEST INSPECTION Just flip two spring clamps, and re- move panel to get at any part of chassis. Chassis revolves on special hinged mounting to make top and underside immediately available. Here’s the 4-TRACK SOUND SYSTEM with all the features you need • Amplifier systems powered to meet re- quirements of all size houses. • Newly designed space-saving racks . . . in-wall mounting if desired. • Instant accessibility for tube replacement and servicing. • Convenient individual track and all- channel monitoring. • Emergency channel switching. • Built-in tube checking facilities in power amplifier. • Level adjusting facility provided for each channel. • Extremely low distortion . . . Full power output over wide frequency range. • Front Wall Mounted Preamplifier, Vol- ume Control and Changeover Unit. It will pay you well to order the new RCA Stereoscope Sound now, for more bril- liance from standard films — as prepara- tion for any of the new features you may want to show. Contact Your RCA Thea- tre Supply Dealer for details. manager of the western sales division. Mr. Schaefer succeeds H. F. Robinson, who has been manager of the western sales divi- sion for many years and is relinquishing his active duties for health reasons. Suc- ceeding Mr. Hemkes as manager of the eastern sales division will be Martin E. Kornbluth, who has been with the com- pany since 1923 and has served as a sales representative for the company in the east- ern division many years. He is a graduate of the University of North Dakota. He was the first recipient of the company’s “Salesman of the Year” award in 1948 for his selling accomplishments. Dalton Burgett is now owner and operator of the Capitol, State and Regent theatres in Dunkirk, N. Y., and the Winter-Garden in Jamestown. Plans to construct a new drive-in theatre at Middletown, Conn., to be called the Middletown, have been announced by Sal Adorno, Jr., assistant general manager of M&D Theatres. John Eaton, Jr., has purchased the Normal theatre at Memphis, Tenn., from George Gaughn. Alex Blue, formerly general manager of the Rowley United Theatres circuit, McAlester, Okla., has purchased an interest in the Admiral drive-in at Tulsa, Okla., and assumed duties as its general manager. The drive-in was formerly owned solely by H. B. Robb, Jr., of Dallas. Cleo Staples, formerly assistant man- ager of the State theatre in Holyoke, Mass., has been named manager of the Majestic theatre in West Springfield, Mass. Reopening of the Pixie theatre, a neigh- borhood house in Indianapolis, is reported by J. B. Sconce. Mr. and Mrs. Bruce Stewart have purchased the Pastime theatre at Danville, Ark., from T. A. Shilling. Charles White has assumed manage- ment of the Avoca theatre at Avoca, Iowa. He is the son-in-law of owner Howard Brookings and was recently discharged from army service. Reopening of the Grand theatre at Arbyrd, Mo., has been announced by own- er John R. Harper. The Saenger and Strand theatres in Vicksburg, Miss., were virtually demol- ished by the tornado which struck that city on December 5th. W. O. Borden has purchased the Vic- tory theatre at Burnsville, Miss. M. LeBlanc has leased the Sorrento theatre in Sorrento, La., from owner Frank Pasqua. Bick Downey, new owner of the Colo- nial theatre in Hamburg, Iowa, is remodel- ing the theatre before reopening it. Bob Smith, formerly manager of the Memorial theatre, Boston, has joined Stan- ley Warner Theatres as manager of the Capitol theatre, Everett, Mass. Tom Duane has resigned as general manager of Lockwood and Gordon Enter- prise^, Inc., Boston, to join Republic Pic- tures as branch manager in the Pittsburgh territory. John Jipp, formerly with Motorola, has joined Ampex Corporation, Redwood City, Calif, as manager for instrumenta- tion recorder sales, according to Harrison Johnston, general sales manager of the magnetic recorder firm. Prior to joining Ampex, Mr. Jipp established and man- aged the West Coast parts and service depot and had served as Southwestern regional sales manager for Motorola. Dur- ing the second World War he was with MINIATURE TRAIN CO. RENSSELAER, INDIANA Increase Business at Your Boxoffice & Concessions MT Miniature Trains attract the family crowds — bring them to your Drive-in earlier — add up to greater boxoffice and concession receipts for you. They have increased boxoffice receipts up to 3 3 Vb %, concession receipts to 50% in a single season for some Drive-in operators. MT Miniature Trains can form the nucleus of a Kiddyland operated in conjunction with your Drive-in — a sure method of increasing family attendance at your location ! ANY SIZE . . . ANY PRICE RANGE . . . ANY CAPACITY THREE GREAT MODELS TO CHOOSE FROM G-16 LIMITED — The finest Miniature Train built. Two power units. Largest copacity. Adults or children. ^ G-16 SUBURBAN — The same great Train as the Limited . . . with one power unit and less cars. __ ,.y, ,.y G-12 STREAMLINER — MT Kiddies streamliner. Can be set up anywhere by one man, easily moved. Get the Boxoffice Building Facts about the Popular MT Trains. For Free Catalogs, Specifications, Details and Prices — Write Direct to Dept. H 8 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 6, 1954 Westrex has a complete line of magnetic equipment for studios and theatres Westrex ‘‘Pent House” Stereo Magnetic Recorder modi- fies an existing single track recorder to provide both single track magnetic and multiple stereo- track magnetic recording. Westrex Editer, designed and engineered by Westrex Holly- wood Laboratories in cooperation with leading studios, meets every film editing need, photographic or magnetic. Research, Distribution and Service for the Motion Picture Industry FOR THEATRES OUTSIDE U. S. A. AND CANADA AND FOR STUDIOS EVERYWHERE For recording, re-recording, editing, electrical print- ing, and reproducing stereophonic sound at its best, Westrex offers a complete line of multiple track mag- netic equipment of advanced design. Representative models of magnetic equipment shown on this page are in addition to Westrex photographic equipment for studios and theatres. Westrex RA-1517B Stereo-Recorder, with its very low flutter content and high volume rangeand signal-to-noise ra- tio, is today’s quality portable triple- track stereo-magnetic recorder. Westrex 1506 Type Recorder- Reproducer provides maxi- mum quality multiple track magnetic recording and reproducing. R9 Reproducer, installed between upper magazine and projector mechanism, operates with any modern projector or sound head. Westrex Electrical Printer simultane- ously makes duplicates of original four-track magnetic recordings as required by individual studios. Westrex R9 Stereophonic Reproducer is a simple, high quality mech- anism for reproducing quality stereophonic sound in theatres. Westrex Corporation 111 EIGHTH AVENUE, NEW YORK 11, N. Y. HOLLYWOOD DIVISION: 6601 ROMAINE STREET, HOLLYWOOD 38, CAL BETTER THEATRES SECTION 9 the Signal Corps laboratories engaged in design engineering and field research on military radio equipment. Mr. Jipp is a member of the Institute of Radio Engi- neers, National Sales Executives, the Society of American Military Engineers, Armed Forces Communications Associa- tion, and the American Radio Relay League. The appointment of Mr. Jipp as Ampex’s sales manager for instrumenta- tion recorders is part of the firm’s program for expansion in this field. Instrumenta- tion recorder sales and field service engineering will be a part of the Applica- tion Engineering department, headed by Myron J. Stolaroff. The Woods Theatre in Chicago, an operation of Essaness Theatres, recently installed a “Magniglow Astrolite” screen as made by the Radiant Manufacturing Corporation, Chicago. Lee J. Bhel has purchased the Sunset D rive-In theatre at Miami, Fla., from John Berado. William Korask is constructing a new 700-seat theatre in Opa-Lacka, Fla. Charles Goldner has joined the Sampson-Spodeck-Bialeck circuit as man- ager of the Empress theatre in Norwalk, Conn. Mr. Goldner formerly managed the Astor in Bridgeport. T. E. Shaw has leased the Booth thea- tre at Hollendale, Miss. Hugh Burnette has purchased the Broadway Drive-in at Dickson, Tenn. Leonard Dorece has reopened the Crown theatre in Racine, Wise. Jimmie Bristow has assumed owner- ship and operation of the Stateline theatre in Stateline, Miss. The theatre was pre- viously owned by Curtis B. Willard. Bill Laird, formerly assistant manager of the Trans-Lux theatre in Philadelphia, has been appointed to manage that circuit’s newly acquired World theatre in the same city. The Colonial theatre at Hamburg, Iowa, has been reopened following exten- sive remodeling, including the installations of a wide-screen, new seats, a cry room and new rest rooms. Morris Keppner and Louis Lipman of Hartford, Conn., are constructing their first drive-in theatre at Mansfield, Conn., with plans for completion in the early spring. The theatre will have a capacity of 750 cars. Keith Petzold has been named general manager of the Jesse Jones circuit, with headquarters in Portland, Oreg. His office is in the St. Johns theatre there. William Rueb and Wallie Klak have opened their new Jasper theatre in suburban Edmonton, Alta., Canada. Seat- ing 528, it has been equipped for wide- screen. M. K. Murphy of Cumberland, Ky., has assumed control of the Corlee theatre there, formerly operated by L. P. Corder, who will continue with the Cumberland Drive-in theatre. James N. Greene, formerly of Mason City, Iowa, has been named manager of the Central State circuit’s Princess theatre at Eagle Grove, Iowa. The resignation of Guy A. Kenimer as general manager for Florida State Thea- tres, Jacksonville, has been announced by Leon D. Netter, Sr., company president. Ending an active career of 35 years in Florida show business, Mr. Kenimer “will continue to be available in an advisory capacity.” Equipment for CinemaScope has been installed in the Dakota theatre at Bis- marck, N. D., operated by the Welworth circuit. Nick Todorov has resigned as manager of the Uptown theatre in Harrisburg, Pa., to go into business for himself. Replacing him at the Uptown is Charles Rubin- sky, brother of Mark Rubinsky, owner of the theatre. W. R. Arnold, formerly with Alex- ander Films, has purchased the Starlight drive-in at Canton, Miss. An “Astrolite” wide-screen and stereo- phonic sound equipment have been installed in the Star theatre, North Tonawanda, N. Y., by Perkins Theatre Supply, Buffalo. The new Panhandle drive-in, now under construction at Kimball, Nebr., will be opened on May 1st. It has a capacity of 250 cars and will be operated by the Pan- handle Theatre Corporation. Donald Shriven has been appointed manager of the Fairway, a suburban Fox Midwest theatre, in Kansas City, Mo., suc- ceeding Roy Hill, who is now manager of the circuit’s downtown Tower theatre. Howard Strange, formerly manager of the Orpheum theatre at Fulton, Ky., has resumed that position to succeed R. M. Oliver, who has returned to Arkansas. "Where Je 9t " MONOGRAPH DEALERS CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES: B. F. Shearer Company 1964 S. Vermont Ave. SAN FTtANCISCO: B. F. Shearer Company 243 Golden Gate Ave. COLORADO DENVER- Service Theatre Supply Co. 2054 Broadway GEORGIA ATLANTA: Wil-Kin Theatre Supply, Inc. 150 Walton St., N. W. ILLINOIS CHICAGO: Gardner Theatre Service, Inc. 1235 S. Wabash Ave. INDIANA INDIANAPOLIS: Ger-Bar, Inc. 442 N. Illinois St. IOWA DES MOINES: Des Moines Theatre Supply 1121 High St. KENTUCKY LOUISVILLE: Falls City Theatre Equip. 427 S. Third St. LOUISIANA NEW ORLEANS: Hodges Theatre Supply Co. 1309 Cleveland Ave. MARYLAND BALTIMORE: J. F. Dusman Company 12 E. 25th St. MASSACHUSETTS BOSTON: Major Theatre Equipment Corp. 44 Winchester St. MICHIGAN GRAND RAPIDS: Ringold Theatre Equip. 106 Michigan St., N. W. MINNESOTA MINNEAPOLIS: Frosch Theatre Supply Co. 1111 Curie Ave. MISSOURI ST. LOUIS: McCarty Theatre Supply Co. 3330 Olive St. KANSAS CITY: Shreve Theatre Supply Co. 217 W. 18th St. NEW YORK NEW YORK: Joe Hornstein, Inc. 639 Ninth Ave. BUFFALO: Perkins Theatre Supply Co. 505 Pearl St. NORTH CAROLINA CHARLOTTE: Wil-Kin Theatre Supply 229 S. Church St. OHIO CLEVELAND: Ohio Theatre Supply 2108 Payne Ave. OKLAHOMA OKLAHOMA CITY: W. R. Howell 12 S. Walker Ave. OREGON PORTLAND: B. F. Shearer Company 1947 N.W. Kearney PENNSYLVANIA PITTSBURGH: Atlas Theatre Supply 402 Miltenberger St. FORTY FORT: TENNESSEE Vincent M. Tate 1620 Wyoming Ave. MEMPHIS Tri-State Theatre Supply 320 S. Second St. TEXAS DALLAS: Modern Theatre Equipment 1916 Jackson St. UTAH SALT LAKE CITY: Service Theatre Supply 256 E. First So. St. WASHINGTON SEATTLE: B. F. Shearer Company 2318 Second Ave. WEST VIRGINIA CHARLESTON: Charleston Theatre Supply 506 Lee St WISCONSIN MILWAUKEE: The Ray Smith Company 710 W. State St. CANADA CALGARY, ALB.: Sharp’s Theatre Supplies Film Exchange Bldg. MONTREAL, QUE.: Dominion Sound Equip. 4040 St. Catherine St., W. Perkins Electric Co. 1197 Phillips Place TORONTO ONT.: General Theatre Supply Co. 861 Bay St. VANCOUVER, B.C.: Dominion Theatre Equip. 847 Davie St. 10 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 6, 1954 wMi jBnr'mjjrit"Ji7amv — — - moriDSfif)?}] theatre equifment ■f'-fdesiqned jor those who are satisfied only wit/i the lest . . . modern equifment that assumes lonq, de fen dalle , troul/e-free service . . . '$?; yet se/dem casts ma/ie than the ordinary, tifadphete 's a (Jlotioqrafh dea/e/i near you wha will le qlad ta counsel with qau as ta your needs, mahe -rutM 5$$ demonstrations, and exf/ain a literal Jinancinq flan. Or you can ^ attain descriftiue literature on any jfleiieqrafh froduct without ol/iqation ly addressinq JX': jf your request to Jdotioqrafh, cine., 443 f West jf ahe Street, C^icaqo 24, Ol/inois. REMARK.. EARLIER STARTING TIME i Due to greater reflectivity than ever-before obtained in Drive-Ins, you can start your show up to 2 hours earlier (depending on your time zone and latitude). WIDE SCREEN AND CINEMASCOPE Now it's possible to prepare to run all the product available in all the new - processes by widening out your screen tower while retaining more light on the screen (good projection possible with over 115 feet wide picture.) BRIGHTER, CLEARER PROJECTION — MORE VIVID COLORS For the first time you can forget about poor prints or dark seams. Now you'll have indoor theatre quality on your outdoor theatre screen. Gorgeous colors as you've never before seen in a Drive-In. No more washed-out or faded scenes. 3D PROJECTION Certainly and with unaltered polarization anywhere in the theatre — not a paint, no brush marks. NO PAINTING NECESSARY TWI-NITE is manufactured from an all-weather, non-corrosive metal. Requires no painting and is guaranteed for years against wear. The TWI-NITE screen will be demonstrated publicly in connection with the National Drive-In convention at Cincinnati. The demonstration will be held at the Montgomery Drive-In, Cincinnati, at 4:30 P.M., Wednes- day, February 3rd. ORDERS WILL BE ACCEPTED STARTING FEBRUARY 1st FOR 1954 SPRING DELIVERY. ADDRESS ALL INQUIRIES TO: c/o OPEN-AIR DEVELOPMENT CORP. OF AMERICA 82 NEWBURY STREET BOSTON ©TWI-NITE copyrighted and patented by Open-Air Development Corp. of America 12 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 6, 1954 ■MHI for FEBRUARY 1954 GEORGE SCHUTZ, Editor New Techniques Shaping Up for Drive-Ins, Too EDITORIAL INDEX: Page WESTERN RANCH ATMOSPHERE FOR 450-CAR DRIVE-IN: THE COW TOWN, ST. JOSEPH, MO 14 PLAYGROUNDS: WHAT MAKES THEM AN ASSET 16 DRIVE-INS AND THE NEW TECHNIQUES, by Glo Gag liardi 21 THEATRE REFRESHMENT SALES department: STAND AND FOOD ARRANGEMENTS FOR FAST SERVICE AT DRIVE-INS 27 VENDER VANE: Market News 30 DOUBLING REFRESHMENT SALES WITH A REMODELED SNACK BAR 40 CHRISTMAS SPIRIT FOR THE SNACK BAR 42 KEEPING DRIVE-IN REFRESHMENT SERVICE ON THE MOVE, by Wilfred P. Smith. 35 ON THE HOUSE department: A BRIGHTER PICTURE FOR THE DRIVE-IN 43 ALL SIZES OF HOUSES GOING STEREOPHONIC 44 DRIVE-IN DESIGNED FOR "DAYLIGHT" PROJECTION 48 ABOUT PRODUCTS - 51 METHOD IN MANAGEMENT department: A DICTIONARY OF MAINTENANCE, by Curtis Mees, Twelfth Article of a Series on Motion Picture Theatre Management 61 CHARLIE JONES SAYS: Oh, 'tis a Life, Men, of Service and Servitude! 66 NEW THEATRE IN SINGAPORE: THE 1645-SEAT ODEON 68 AS CLEARLY indicated in various parts of this issue, the drive-in section of the business can, and soon is going to, tale effective and general advantage of 3D and wide-screen. Experimentation with sur- face materials to reflect a far greater amount of incident light, and to the right places, is bearing fruit. One of the screens is placed on the market in an advertisement of the Open- Air Development Company in this issue, and on page 22 we take note of the Mo- tion Picture Research Council's progress in a similar direction. Extension of screen areas for wider pic- tures has begun in a number of situations; these and reports of plans to increase pic- ture widths during the next few months indicate that the year will put the drive-in field definitely in position to exploit a big picture in yet new terms. Its position relative to CinemaScope productions of 20th Century-Fox is still in the air. Regardless of how other considera- tions would be dealt with, the requirement of stereophonic sound could not be main- tained for the drive-in. Here, of course, we have conditions favorable to putting three tracks through one channel by means of a mixer. At any rate, the drive-in enters its 21st year vigorously responding to public acknowledgment of its special place of service, and apparently ready to get aboard the current technical movement. ABOUT PEOPLE OF THE THEATRE 6 is published the first week of each month, with the regular monthly issues, and an annual edition, the Market & Operating Guide, which appears in March, issued as Section Two of Motion Picture Herald. QUIGLEY PUBLICATIONS, Rockefeller Center, New York 20, N. Y., Circle 7-3100. RAY GALLO, Advertising Manager. HOLLYWOOD: Yucca-Vine Building; HOIlywood 7-2145. MIDWEST: Urben Farley & Company, 120 S. LaSalle Street, Chicago; Financial 6-3074. Our colleague, Bill Smith, kept his drive- in at Ledgewood, N. J., open long enough to celebrate New Year's Eve with a spe- cial program. It began at about 7 o'clock in 1953 and ended during the first hour of the following year. To indicate that the stunt was a good-will builder if not too much more, here's an unsolicited letter from a woman who was there: Dear Manager: I am just one of the many patrons who enjoyed your New Year’s Eve show. I think you deserve a great deal of credit for your wonderful idea of five big features. As you know it was a bitter cold night, so your nice hot chocolate kept us warm, as well as the heater. Loads of suc- cess for 1954. Besides hot chocolate, coffee was also free. And did those people eat — for money! — G. S. Western Ranch Atmosphere for 450-Car Drive-In Picturing and describing the new Cow Town Drive-In at St. Joseph, Mo., an operation of Beverly Miller. Done in a Western style it features a “Branding Iron Snack Shack.’’ . . -v. y . . %, - THE STYLE of a Western ranch including a “Branding Iron Snack Shack,” is featured at the new Cow Town Drive-In Theatre in St. Joseph, Mo. Opened last summer, the drive-in is owned and operated by Beverly Miller. Appropriate to the Western mood of hospitality, signs at the entrance greet the patrons with “Howdy, Pardner,” which is also the welcome given orally by the box- office attendants. The latter are often “held up” by small-fry buckeroos with cap pistols, who have fallen into the spirit of the locale, Mr. Miller reports. Entrance into the Cow Town is made through two runways on either side of the box-office, which is constructed of redwood and brick. Archways on either side of this structure bear the “Howdy, Pardner” signs and are also decorated with a cow- boy’s lariat. The latter is made of yellow neon tubing taped with black masking to give it a “winding” effect. With a capacity of approximately 450 cars, the Coav Town has 12 ramps, sep- arated by a distance of 40 feet each. The space between speaker posts is 20 feet. The screen tower is a Boyer “E-Z Erect” pre- fabricated unit, purchased from the Bal- lantyne Company, Omaha. There are slight wings on either side of the screen, Entrance of the Cow Town, showing the box-office. 14 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 6, 1954 and no border is employed for the picture, the image being thrown slightly larger than the screen surface. The picture presented is 52 by 39 feet. The distance of the throw from the screen to the projection booth, which is on the other side of the refreshment building, is 209 feet. Projectors are RCA, and the sound system is Ballantyne, including the “Dub’l Cone” in-car speakers. The sur- face of the drive-in’s grounds is white rock covered with light oil to hold dust. In front of the screen tower is the play- ground, which has been fenced in for pro- tection of the youngsters. Most of the equipment is duplicated on each side of the playground; this includes slides, teeter- totters, swings and rings and bars. There is one “Whirlaway” and “Spin Around” and in the center there is a “Giant Stride.” Benches are along the rear fence. Development of the “Western ranch” style also extends to the refreshment building, which has been named the “Branding Iron Snack Shack.” It is con- Screen tower of the Cow Town, with the playground in front. structed of combed redwood siding with a base of ranch brick. The entrance doors and window frames are natural oak with a slight stain ; while the window sills are of ranch rock. On either side of the entrance doors are two wagon wheels painted red and yellow to match the neon tubing above the door, which bears several ranch “brands”. Along both sides of this building picnic CONTINUED ON Exterior of the refreshment building (above) and interior view (below). BETTER THEATRES SECTION 15 ardent boosters of regular and frequent at- tendance at the drive-in. In the second place the playground has been found to develop further good will among the adults because they are provided a chance to relax while waiting for the film program to start, secure in the knowl- edge that the kiddies are safely enjoying themselves. As one operator puts it, “The active entertainment tires the youngsters sufficiently so that after the cartoon they go to sleep on the back seat of the car and let the grownups enjoy the show. In the end everybody is happy.” Not the least of the contented is the drive-in operator himself, who has found other practical advantages in having a play- ground. For one thing the parents are early arrivals who will usually fill the front ramps first, easing the parking problem later. (At many drive-ins the playground Scenes of fun typical of the nation's drive-in as the day is closing and time nears for dad and mother to relax — a section of the play area at Nathan Yamins' drive-in at Westport, Mass, (left); and youngsters ascending a slide at a drive-in anywhere. Wk A kids' paradise that can be resolved into parental dollars — so the playground has become at most drive-ins today from tentative begin- nings as an experiment conducted at a few drive-in theatres here and there, playground installations have grown steadily over the years in becoming an integral part of the general outdoor operation. Indeed many a builder of a new drive-in gives as much thought and care to planning construc- tion of his playground area as he does, say, to the refreshment stand or to the screen tower itself ! The important place that the playground occupies in drive-in operation today is one it has earned by proving itself a valuable asset — one that more than justifies the financial investment involved. In the first place it strengthens the drive-in’s claim to being a recreational center for the entire family by being a special attraction for those most important people, the youngsters. When the latter discover what a good time can be had at the playground, they become Photo courtesy of American Playground Device Co. PlaiffMthdA WHAT MAKES THEM AN ASSET 16 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 6, 1954 Staff Photo The children — how Pop and Mom love ’em! — and how they often wish they knew what to do with the little dev — no, darlings! “Is there no end to such energy?” asks Mom. Says Pop, “Pack ’em in the car and we’ll go to a drive- in.” “The one,” pleads Mom, “with that wonderful playground.” Like, for example, Nathan Yamins’ operation at Westport, Mass., with its Miniature Train equipment; and the El Rancho at San Jose, Calif., where “Kiddie Land” is only a few ramps from the snack stand! is located directly in front of the screen tower.) For another thing, the playground exercise stimulates the appetite of the chil- dren for the goodies to be had at the re- freshment stand, which means a boost in those highly profitable sales ! As an additional aid to good will, some operators allow use of the playground dur- ing non-operating hours in the morning or afternoon. This is the case at the Hilltop theatre in the rural community of Five Corners, near Escanaba, Mich. There is no playground at Five Corners, so man- ager Rex Coulter allows the neighborhood children to enjoy themselves at the drive- in play area all day long. “Many mothers leave their children at our playground when they go into Escan- aba to do their shopping,” he reports, “and pick them up when they return. Often they come back later and stay for the show.” VARIETY OF EQUIPMENT To the drive-in operator wishing to in- stall a playground, a wide variety of equip- ment is available, and it is generally agreed that there should be as many different kinds to appeal to all the youngsters as space and capital will permit. Experiments to decide what types and how much equip- ment to use have been conducted by the Horace Adams circuit in Ohio, which has four drive-ins, one each in Wycliffe and Rochester and two in Marion, operated by George Jansen. Following much study a standard layout was devised, based, Mr. Jansen states, on “amusement value, oper- ational safety and minimum hazard.” That set-up consists of pony swings in batteries of eight for youngsters under six years; higher swings for children from six to twelve, located at some distance from the pony swings to eliminate conflict and competition ; slides in two sizes for dif- ferent age groups; and self-propelled merry- go-rounds to accommodate eight at a time. Another Ohio circuit, Associated Thea- tres, with headquarters in Cleveland, offers the children a variety of attractions in its seven outdoor theatres, including slides and swings in assorted sizes for different ages, BETTER THEATRES SECTION I 7 AMERICAN Approved PLAYGROUND EQUIPMENT Unsurpassed in Design , Safety and Performance • It’s the plus factor that makes American the most respected name in Playground Equipment . . . Plus in design — American leads the field. ...Plus in performance — Approved Equipment stronger, more ruggedly built to assure a lifetime of perfect repair-free service . . . Plus in safety — for American craftsmen are aware of their responsibility for the safety of your children. Thus, with American you receive far superior design and performance and unmatched safety. AMERICAN PLAYGROUND DEVICE CO. ANDERSON, INDIANA U.S.A. WORLD'S LARGEST MANUFACTURERS OF FINE PLAYGROUND & SWIMMING POOL EQUIPMENT climbing bars, and also free pony rides. Considerable additions to the basic equip- ment of slides, swings, and see-saws have been made by the Nathan Yamins Thea- trical Enterprises, Boston, at its Westport drive-in in Westport, Mass. New features have been acquired each year since the opening in 1950, and they now also have boat rides, a Miniature train ride, an Allen- Herschel merry-go-round, an Ahrends “Miracle-Whirl” and an automobile ride. The circuit is planning to expand the play- grounds at its five other drive-ins in simi- lar fashion. Whether or not to charge a small fee for any of the rides offered at the play- ground is a point of controversy among operators. It is the policy of the Adams circuit not to do so, and Mr. Jansen ex- plains that as a consequence they have in- stalled no electrically operated equipment. “If we did,” he says, “we would have to charge for these rides to defray the expense of installations and also we would need an extra attendant constantly at hand, making the operation even more costly.” The Yamins circuit has also found that better results are secured if everything is free of charge. On the other hand, manager Burt Clark reports that at the Wometco Circuit’s Boulevard drive-in in Miami, Fla., the two most popular rides are a mechanical train and pony track, for which a charge is made. The rest of the playground equipment is provided gratis. The good will and other assets afforded by a drive-in playground can only be main- tained through strict adherence to safety measures. These begin, of course, with the equipment itself, which should be strong and ruggedly built to withstand the hard use it will receive on a drive-in theatre’s playground. Secondly, the equipment must be prop- erly installed. Leading manufacturers of recreational units supply simplified blue- prints which show the ground plans and outline recommended procedures for in- stalling each piece. These should be fol- lowed closely. In operating the playground it is fur- ther advised by operators that at least one supervising attendant be kept on hand. Mr. Jansen points out that this employee is necessary “for the dual purpose of helping the little ones on and off and to fend off the older children who might annoy them.” This is particularly important, he adds, on Friday and Saturday nights when a large number of children is present. Other safety measures cited by Mr. Jansen as vital are the installation of all equipment in concrete; providing swings with chains instead of rope ; and safety belts for the smaller children on the swings. In addition he requires that the installations be inspected nightly by the manager him- self. As further precautions many drive-in operators have fenced in their playground areas and provided benches nearby to en- courage some of the parents to remain in the vicinity. The playground area (above) at the Boulevard drive-in in Miami, Fla., an operation of Wometco Theatres, occupies about seven-tenths of an acre. The track for the trainride runs around the pony track, and these two attractions, for use of which a fee is charged, have proved most popular of all at the drive-in. All other equipment is provided free of charge. The playground is completely fenced in. 18 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 6, 1954 iiiiilTir'iiriiniiiiuii 11 run 1 m i ntroducing the new 4 jewel-tone speaker by . . .you can) hear the difference! amazing low price each Manufactured by THEATRE SPECIALTIES, INC. 1615 Cordova Street Los Angeles, California The new 4" jewel-tone Bevelite speaker. . .for all drive-in theatres. . .is designed to give the utmost in tone quality combined with rugged construction for longer lasting, dependable service. The 4" speaker has the highest quality, full range sound at all levels. It is built into an all-weather case of Tenite I! forming one sturdy unit of striking appearance. There’s no better drive-in speaker than the jewel-tone Bevelite. . .you can hear the difference! PROJ ECTIO RC LAMPS National’s new Reflect-O-Heat Unit permits the great increase in light at the screen without a corresponding increase in heat at the aperture. The color value and intensity of the light at the screen is maintained constant throughout a full trim without manual adjustment by ^ an automatic arc crater positioner. ‘^Distributed by NATIONAL THEATRE SUPPLY u THERE'S A BRANCH NEAR YOU 20 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 6, 1954 DRIVE-INS and the NEW TECHNIQUES Determining the light requirements for 3D and wider pictures, and submitting picture widths feasible, on the basis of an “outdoor standard.” By CIO GACLIARDI wide-screen with ana- morphic technique and otherwise, and third-dimensional pictures have launched the motion picture on a really new career of entertainment. Within only a single year since their introduction, they have become established in thousands of theatres, and it is not beyond reasonable expectations that another will find the traditional film and its conventional presentation pretty much a thing of the past among indoor theatres. The drive-in field of course is seeking to develop ways and means of adapting these new techniques to the peculiarities of outdoor operation, with its special require- ments in weather-resistant screens of extraordinary scale, and in projection light. And at the drive-in we also have a unique method of providing picture sound. Only a year ago it was considered prac- tically impossible to illuminate a 40-foot picture in a drive-in to a proper brightness level. A 56-foot picture is common enough among drive-ins. Today there are 65- to 70-foot CinemaScope pictures among the larger indoor theatres. How far can we go at a drive-in? THE NEW LAMPS To attack the problem as logically as possible, let us first examine the light source. It is possible nowadays to use cer- tain carbon trims which will give tremen- dous light output and still operate within practical current rates. Data of the National Carbon Company provides the following example: Positive 10mm x 20-in. “Hitex” with 7/16 x 9-in. “Orotip” negative, operated at 125 amperes, 64 volts; reflector // 1 .9 (16-inch); total light output 24,000 lumens; burning rates, positive 19}4 inches per hour, negative 2.4 inches per hour. It is thus judged possible, with this type of carbon trim and a 16-inch reflector, to obtain 24,000 lumens of light over entire screen area at 125 amperes. This assumes that a lens with a speed of at least // 1 .9 is used. Since we wish to utilize the great- est part of this light, the shutter trans- mission factor should be high. With that much arc output, means of cooling the film is necessary. Lamps of that calibre are or can be equipped with heat filter systems. An air blast system can cool the film with- out accompanying reduction of visible light at the aperture ; however, a filter system reduces the useful light by a small amount, according to authoritative rating of dichroic transmission, which would introduce a reduction factor of around 12% in the calculations given below. Ignoring that factor for the moment, and considering that the shutter trans- mission is 56%, then the light available at the screen carbon trim and optical system specified would be 24,000 times 56%, which equals 13,500 lumens. This repre- sents a possible increase in light that can be obtained today of more than 40%. Although authoritative projection groups recommend a minimum screen brightness of at least 10 foot-lamberts, drive-in thea- tres have never attempted to reach this level, the assumption being that they were With an upward projection angle, as in the case at practically all drive-ins, a specular screen surface will be likely to reflect much, perhaps all, of the projection light above the parked cars unless the screen leans forward at a calculated angle. Sketch I, above, shows BETTER THEATRES SECTION 21 ORLUX SUPER -CHARGED Larger cored crater area makes possible equal brilliance on sides as well as center of screen for... ICinemaScopII 30, Drive-ins and other wide area screen projection systems • COOLER BURNING • UNIFORM DISTRIBUTION Amper- age Posi- tive Grade Nega- tive Grade 40- 50 7x14 544 c 6x9 545 c 50- 65 8x14 544 c 7x9 545 c 65- 72 8x14 544-10 c 7x9 545 c 65- 75 9x14 544 c 7x9 545 c 75- 85 9x14 544 c 8x9 545 c 75- 90 9x20 522-09 5/16x9 557 c 90-115 10x20 552-09 1 1/32x9 557 c 115-130 11x20 552-09 3/8 x9 557 c 130-150 13.6x22 553-01 7/16x9 557 c 140-160 13.6x22 553 1/2 x9 555 c 160-180 13.6x22 583-08 1/2 x 9 555cm CARBONS, Inc. Boonton, N. J. getting all the light possible with the equip- ment available, and in many instances that was long the case. Most drive-in theatres of 800-car capacity, for example, have screens from 50 to 60 feet wide, and they apparently have tended to regard the the maximum output made about 9500 lumens available, for a center reading of 6 foot-candles with a screen 55 feet wide. If the screen had a freshly painted diffu- sive surface, the brightness rating would be a little over 5 foot-lamberts. In view Fluted Screen For Drive-Ins A SCREEN for drive-in thea- ** tres being developed by Motion Picture Research Council of Hollywood, is expected to be ready for general installation soon. According to W. F. Kelley, sec- retary-treasurer of the Council, completion of work on surface treatment to improve weathering qualities is all that remains to be done. As erected for experimental purposes at the La Mirada drive- in near Norwalk, Calif., the screen is made up of precast concrete sections having vertical flutings of a constant curvature in a radius calculated to reflect a major por- tion of the incident light into the ramp area without cross-reflection. A panel of the material is pic- tured at right. The concrete is coated with a layer of plaster, which in turn is covered with a metallic paint. Composition of the paint can be controlled, it is pointed out, to provide varying degrees of specularity as desired. Each fluting is ultimately 3/g-inch wide. As shown in the graph below, the peak light gain is 2.7 times that of a matte screen, with drop-off as indicated, based on a "typical" drive-in screen, according to Mr. Kelley. The screen installed at the La Mirada was 85 x 65 feet, without any curvature. Mr. Kelley adds that the size could go to 110 feet without curvature. 50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 5 IO 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 VIEWING ANGLE- DEGREES brightness of their pictures as quite satis- factory. Thus with the drive-in, we have estab- lished conditions of successful operation in which a maximum standard of screen brightness can be considerably lower than the minimum recommended for indoor houses. Prior to the recent development of more productive projection light sources, of experience in the drive-in field, we seem to be justified in regarding 5 foot-lamberts as an acceptable standard of screen bright- ness for drive-in performance. Let us use that figure, then, as a basis for calculating drive-in conditions for wide-screen and 3D projection. First, however, we must take note of the screen factor. Work on screen surfaces 22 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 6, 1954 . for CINEMASCOPE ma/k<} //<> binati eA&iee in BECAUSE IT SOUNDS THE BEST AMPEX is the stereophonic system based on outstanding previous achievements in magnetic sound. AMPEX has for many years been the acknowledged leader in magnetic sound for the major broadcast networks and for the leading phonograph record manufacturers (for master recordings). Your theater audience will hear and appreciate the difference in AMPEX quality. BECAUSE IT’S EASIEST TO INSTALL AND USE It's a complete system from one responsible source. All amplifiers and control equip- ment are furnished together in neat rack mountings with orderly wiring and connec- tions. It’s the least expensive to install and maintain. BECAUSE IT’S THE BEST INVESTMENT The AMPEX theater stereophonic system wasn't announced hastily, BECAUSE IT HAD TO BE THE BEST. Now it has been in full production for several months and firm delivery dates can be quoted. It's the system designed and built to last. It's the smart choice for theaters that have waited until now for something better at a price that's right. This is Ampex's rack mounted amplifier and control equipment — there's no loo,:: wiring here. Full description of the Ampex Multi-Directional Sound System is available in a new illustrated brochure. Airmail requests get airmail replies. AMPEX CORPORATION • 934 Charter Street • Redwood City, Californ:a Branch offices: New York, Chicago, Atlanta, San Francisco and Colleae Park, Maryland (V/-. AMPEX — the leading name in magnetic sound n,D. C. area] SUPERB SOUND Ask your Ballantyne representative to demonstrate the Dub-’l-Cones. Nowhere will you find more faithful, undistorted sound reproduction at all volume levels. WEATHERPROOF Every point in the speaker has been protected against moisture and corrosion. Diaphram is treated to pro- tect against dampness. The voice coil is noncorrosive aluminum — will not buckle, warp or swell. DEPENDABLE A heavy 1.30 oz. Alnico V magnet gives THREE to FIVE TIMES the power of earlier magnetic materials. Complete all purpose equipment for the new techniques UNIQUE DUB’L-CONE Two cones, one super im- posed over the other with a 3/16" airgap between for tonal resonance. The exterior cone protects while the interior cone projects the sound. Both are completely weatherproof. If ever dam- aged, you can replace it on the spot in a matter of minutes. THE BALLANTYNE COMPANY 1712 Jackson Street Omaha 2, Nebraska U.S.A. \\ / IT'S A HaM PAWm m uses RAYTO and a hap painiemleans SATISFIED EXHIBITOR! STILL THE BEST and most practical treatment for any Drive-In Screen. NOW a new and improved formula. AVAILABLE IN STEREO SILVER, WHITE AND BLACK RAYTONE SCREEN CORP.SS:^ has brought about a much higher range of light reflectance. Third-dimension brought back the “silver” screen with its specular surface, wide-screen technique has found it useful, and sometimes necessary, to the presentation of a bright picture. The new aluminum screens developed for indoor theatres have reflectance gains from 1^4 to 2 >4 times the reflectivity of the conven- tional “white” screen. SCREEN REFLECTANCE For the drive-in there has been con- siderable experimentation with aluminum paints, aluminum-surfaced plates, corru- gated panels, etc., for the purpose of achieving a screen that will realize as high a gain as possible in the amount of light reflected back into the parking field (and which, of course, would require a minimum of maintenance). Let us assume that a specular surface (which is necessary for 3D) can thus be produced so as to pro- vide for the drive-in a screen having a reflectance gain of at least 1^4 times over the conventional drive-in screen surface, on an average over the greater part of the viewing field. This would mean that for a screen brightness of 5 foot-lamberts, the arc and optical system would need to deliver to the screen approximately 4 foot- candles of light. (It should be noted, incidentally, that with a specular screen, the projection angle and viewing angles should be carefully checked before installation of the screen in order to avoid disappointingly high light loss.) POSSIBLE PICTURE WIDTHS Now for the production of 4 foot-candles at the center of the screen, we have 13,500 lumens available from the projection system, which should allow us to present a non-anamorphic picture, in any aspect ratio, to a width of 80 feet. Using the same formula, we should be able to project 8 foot-candles to the center of a screen 55 feet wide. Now if we add a anamorphic lens for CinemaScope prod- uct, which has the effect of doubling the width of the film frame, we should be able, under the same conditions, to achieve our minimum of 4 foot-candles with a picture 1 10 feet wide ! Let us now consider 3D projection for the drive-in theatre, assuming the same condition of equipment as above. Remem- ber that we must have the equivalent of 5 foot-lambert of reflection, or 4 foot-candles of incident light, at the center of the screen. These values of course must be produced by the projection system with polarizing filters in place. Since the polarizing filters and the view- ing glasses have a combined efficiency of 24 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 6, 1954 Enjoy summer business J ^ ^ all year ’round! Arvin originated fan-forced electric heaters for the home and has advertised them nationally for over 20 years. So the Arvin name is known and respected by your customers. The Arvin In-Car Heater is handed into each car as it enters and plugs into the same post that holds the speaker. Placed on the floor of the car, it quickly heats the entire passenger space even when temperature is below freezing. It has been thoroughly tested and proved by big operators. Act now to give your drive-in the tremendous extra earning power of Arvin In-Car Heaters! Arvin In-Car Portable Electric Heaters quickly pay for themselves! Twin Drive-In, Cincinnati: "We know that an Arvin Heater installation will pay out completely within two years.” . . . Twilite Drive-In, Louisville , Ky. : "Comparing March, 1953, when we had Arvin Heaters, against March, 1952, before we installed them, we found that we had 1300% more gross profit in ’53.” 11 -foot cord permits placing Arvin In-Car Heater anywhere in the car. On the floor, either in the front or in rear, its fan-forced heat is quickly distributed through entire passenger space. All these features are important to you! • 1 1 -ft. rubber cord permits use of heater in front or rear of car. • On-off switch for complete comfort control. • Three-contact polarized plug. • Beautiful suntan baked-on enamel finish is durable and scratch-resistant. • Easy to handle; weighs only 5 lbs. 2 ozs. • Sturdy all-steel construction, defies wear and tear. • Long-life, quiet, efficient induction motor; no speaker noise. € Nickel and chrome alloy heating element. A Oil-Life bearings for lifetime lubrication. • Each heater individually fused; case grounded to neutral line for safety. • Three bakelite feet keep heater stable on irregular surface. • 2-blade steel fan operates silently. • 500 watts, 208 volts, 60-cycle AC only. • 7 Vi" high; 7Vi" wide; 5 " deep, plus 1 Vi" extended guards. • Packed 8 to a master carton; shipping wt, approximately 45 lbs. • Available through Arvin Electric House- wares Distributors from coast to coast. • List price, each, $15.75. Electric Housewares Division Arvin INDUSTRIES, Inc., Columbus, Indiana BETTER THEATRES SECTION 25 PERFECT FOR DRIVE-INS! First lens giving edge-to-edge sharpness on widest screens ! Now . . . the one lens series that gives you today’s brightest, sharpest image on any screen: CinemaScope, 2-D, expanded 2-D, and 3-D! Finest edge-to-edge definition ever achieved. White glass — no color absorption . . . transmits full image color and brightness. Fastest projection lens made. Complete range of focal lengths. You’re all set now and throughout the foreseeable future with this revolutionary new // 1.8 series — new world’s standard for the motion picture industry. Exclusively Recommended for 20th Century-Fox recom- mends the new B&L f / 1 .8 Su- per Cinephor projection lens with B&L anamorphic adapter exclusively for clearest, sharpest, finest CinemaScope screen images. WRITE for complete information Bausch & Lomb Optical Co., 67926 St. Paul Street, Rochester 2, N. Y. Scene from "THE ROBE/’ 20th Century-Fox CinemaScope Epic 26 only 40%, it is necessary according to the conditions set forth to provide incident light at the center of the screen (for one machine without filter) or 4 divided by 40%, which equals 10 foot-candles. This means that with the same equipment men- tioned above a picture only about 50 feet wide would give us the 3^-4 foot-lambert brightness when projecting 3D features. This size would maintain the apparent picture brightness to a value similar to the larger 2D, or to the CinemaScope picture as cited above. PICTURE WITH LIMITS From the above discussion it can be seen that in order to maintain the standards of picture brightness to which the drive-in theatre is accustomed, picture sizes should be limited to — 50 feet in width for 3D pictures. 80 feet in width for 2D pictures (any ratio). 110 feet in width for CinemaScope pictures. These values presuppose lamp and basic optical system output of 13,500 lumens during operation, and screens with reflec- tivity gains of at least 1 )/i. The manufac- turers of carbons, lamphouses, projectors, lenses and screens are making in part, and are striving to produce equipment which will meet all of these very important re- quirements. Since drive-in theatres generally project at an angle upward above the horizontal, it should be remembered that truly specular screens will tend to reflect light above the parked cars unless the screens lean forward at a proper angle (or unless the screen sur- face has a surface pattern redirecting the light down to the parking ramps). Sketch 1 shows the effect of a vertical screen upon the light projected from the booth when the screen is perpendicular. Sketch 2 shows the light when it is reflected down towards the ramps. STEREOPHONIC SOUND There has been some discussion in regard to the use of stereophonic sound for drive- ins. Naturally since the source of sound, as far as the patron is concerned, is the loudspeaker in the car and this is com- pletely dissociated from the location of the action on the screen, it would be pointless to reproduce three different channels of sound. Stereophonic motion picture sound is on three tracks, and it would be feasible to reproduce them in a drive-in only by com- bining the output of the three tracks into one main amplifier system which would feed energy to all the car speakers alike. This would at any rate permit the use of three-track film prints at drive-in theatres. MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 6, 1954 d department demoted tc reffrej/tmeHt MuDice Stand and Food Arrangements For Fast Service at Drive-ins With the bulk of their refreshment business to be done at a short in- termission period, drive-in operators must devise stand schemes and equipment layouts to produce the fastest service possible. Three oper- ators in Rhode Island, Missouri, and Wisconsin have found the cafeteria system to be the most efficient. Described here are the details of their self-service arrangements. Equipment changes at the Bluemound drive-in, Milwaukee, have sped service for patrons. in their capacity as dispensers of foods, drive-in theatre managers do not have many of the problems and headaches which are part and parcel of more elaborate res- taurant operations. For one thing, they don’t have to worry about the details of preparing a large variety of courses, com- plete with exotic soups and gravies. For another, they don’t have to invest nearly so much money in equipment. But drive- in operators do have one problem in food service which is almost completely their own: They must do the bulk of a night’s business within a time limit of 20 minutes at the most ! What that problem calls for in solution is speed — the setting up of a system of oper- ation all the way down the line from initial food preparation to patron service that will do the job in the quickest and most efficient manner possible. The problem is not easily solved, and many operators find they must often rearrange their service schemes and sometimes discard perfectly good equipment to replace it with some that will do a better job. Basic to the solution of the problem is, of course, the general set-up for service- — - shall it be a cafeteria, a general counter or two-or-more station system ? That question is still a controversial one among drive-in operators. This report, however, goes to three different sections of the country — Rhode Island, Missouri and Wisconsin- — and finds among the operators interviewed there a unanimity of opinion that the cafe- teria has advantages that are superior to the others. That was the scheme of service adopted . at one of Rhode Island’s newest drive-ins, the Pike, located off picturesque Louisques- set Pike, North Smithfield, and managed and partly owned by Phil Lowe of Boston. In addition to the advantage of being able to serve more customers within a shorter time, the management has found that there are more sales per person. “All items are presented to the view of the patron,” it is explained, “and no one can go through the cafeteria line to buy what he originally had in mind without being exposed to all the BETTER THEATRES SECTION 27 DRESSING r/ ROOM - ; ' — ■ - - - ■ , . 'jV, **uyr*'. ■ OFFICE FRYERS - MOT DOGS * COFFEE URN. POPCORN MACHINE •s- irjsr •sr rye A. Layout for cafeteria service at the Pike drive-in. other merchandise being offered for sale.” Other advantages cited by the Pike man. agement have to do with the preparation and service of the foods — particularly hot foods. With the cafeteria system, it is pointed out, the only skilled personnel re- quired are a few chefs; the rest of the attendants are merely aides who see that the food is kept in abundant supply on the counter. Since these servers far outnumber the food preparers and cashiers (who must also be skilled) appreciable savings in labor costs can be effected. INTRODUCING NEW ITEMS At the Pike it has also been found that the cafeteria System lends itself to the in- troduction and serving , of new hot foods like pizza pies and tamales with less con- fusion and more praafiiitfaan other types of service. “A station sys^gm," in their view, “whether it be single or split, is limited in the number of items that any one human being can efficiently serve, handle and col- lect ; but a cafeteria system has no such limitations.” In the arrangement of merchandise at the Pike hot items are placed prominently in the center of the counter with ice cream and drinks on either side. This long counter is divided into two different sections with duplicate food at each. Customers enter from either side and first find ice cream cabinets containing cups and variety of novelties, including bon bons, frozen sher- bert on sticks, popsicles and sundaes. Prices for these range from 5c to 25c. Next in line are the hot items which include popcorn, pizza pies, frankfurters, hamburgers and French fried potatoes. In addition this section contains a variety of sandwiches wrapped in waxed paper and stacked under signs indicating the price and type. Offered are chicken, ham, cheese, and some salad types. PREPARING HOT FOODS The hot foods are prepared in advance on grills and steamers behind the counter and kept warm in heating units on the counter. After experimenting, the manage- ment found that more frankfurters and rolls can be prepared more quickly by a steaming process than in any other manner. Although some patrons prefer theirs grilled, this process is much slower, it is pointed out, and sometimes makes it difficult to keep up with the demand during peak periods. While hamburgers have not been found to provide a very high profit at the Pike, they are carried in order to round out a “complete restaurant service.” The man- agement points out that, in their opinion, hamburgers should be sold only by drive-in operators having the most skilled of res- taurant help. “They are one product which is very liable to spoilage if not properly refrigerated and can cause a lot of trouble if not sold fresh every day,” it is explained. Popcorn, on the other hand, is cited for the terrific profit it offers. It is prepared in a machine behind the counter and sold from a warmer. Special displays to pro- mote its sales are used extensively at the Pike. Cold drinks are next to the hot foods, followed by hot coffee. The two are placed adjacent so that one operator at each sta- tion can handle both types of drinks. The cold drinks include orangeade, Coca-Cola, grape and root beer. The preparation of coffe is gauged so that it will be “piping hot” at intermission time. The service of hot coffee raises a problem as to dispensing sugar and cream. Should the latter be offered at the cafeteria counter or at a separate station? After experimen- tation the Pike has found that its patrons seem to prefer their coffee served with cream ; those who want sugar can turn to either of the four condiment stations, lo- cated just across from the coffee urns and help themselves. These stations have been placed so that they will not interfere with the flow of traffic through the cafeteria lanes. In addition to sugar, they contain chili sauce, ketchup, mustard, celery salts and relish. At the cashier’s stand, located between the two counters, customers can secure a variety of small and large candy bars, along with mints, chewing gums, cough drops, Life Savers and gum drops. Cigarettes are available next to the condiment counters; this is sold more as a convenience to pa- trons, as the profits are low. The storage room is located behind the equipment area (see diagram) and is con- crete. It has space for about a month’s supply of non-perishables while a gigantic freezer safeguards the foods requiring low temperatures. Just off this storage room is an attendants’ dressing room complete with lockers, and hot and cold water. Better cash control is also possible under the cafeteria set-up, according to the Pike management which explains that “where stations are used, every attendant handles money and a certain amount of leakage is inevitable. This is not so in a cafeteria where only a few cashiers handle the money. “Then the ‘giveaway’ problem must also be considered. Since it is customary to hire local people for jobs at drive-ins, the at- tendants know many of the patrons. Under a station system it is relatively easy for an attendant to undercharge a friend for pur- chases, and in some instances they have been caught giving away merchandise outright. This is all eliminated in the cafeteria line where well-selected cashiers can see that every purchase is paid for.” As a final advantage of the cafeteria, the Pike’s management cites customer good will. “There is nothing that so enrages a person as being shoved around or having someone else served out of turn and ahead of him at a counter. A cafeteria eliminates such injustices because each customer is served quickly and efficiently at his place in line.” At the Heart Drive-In After its first season of operation the management of the new Heart drive-in at Kansas City, Mo., is also sold on the merits of the cafeteria for fast service at drive-ins. Opened in May, 1953, the Heart ( Continued on page 38) 28 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 6, 1954 11 NEW INTERMISSION SHORTS FROM ARMOUR AND COMPANY Boost Concession Sales up to 33s% Bing Crosby’s Starlighters provide the musical backgrounds for these 1 minute color films! Think what an increase of 33k6% in your concession business would mean in dollars and cents! Concession owners and Drive- In operators from all parts of the country have reported amazing increases after using these new Armour intermission shorts! Mr. C. E. Cook of the Dude Ranch Drive-In, Maryville, Missouri, says, “I started showing Armour intermission shorts last June 9th, and on the first night of the showing my hot dog business in- creased 25%. For the entire season my total concession stand business picked up around 33his% over the previous year! I give full credit to the Armour intermission shorts.” Mr. Wendell R. Peck, manager of 166 Drive-In, Arkansas City, Kansas, says, “ I am fully sold on Armour’s intermission shorts. Actual sales before and after using these films show an increase of nine cents per admission ticket sold. I would certainly recom- mend the use of these films to any Drive-In Manager, and gentle- men, have plenty of Armour Star Franks on hand!” Remember, these films are loaned to you by Armour and Com- pany-free of any rental charge. All you pay is the return postage! Clip the coupon below right now. Fill it out and mail it today. Armour and Company will send you an illustrated folder with complete information on these 12 new intermission shorts. MAIL TODAY! mph., | Armour and Company ; Fresh & Smoked Sausage Dept., Union Stock Yards, | Chicago 9, Illinois I Please send me your folder with complete information on Armour and Company’s new intermission shorts. Name | Theater Address I City State I BETTER THEATRES SECTION 29 YOU MAKE MORE WITH DAD’S ...THE WINNER! Dad’s Awarded a coveted Best Seller "Theatre Sales Championship” by Better Theatres in 1953 OFFERS YOU THESE PLUS PROFIT FEATURES: 1. Make More Drinks to the gallon. One gallon of DAD’S ready-to-use Fountain Syrup yields 146 7-oz. drinks. 2. Make More Plus Profits. Addi- tional drinks from DAD’S, the Leader, mean plus profits for you. Regardless of what you're presently paying for syrup — DAD’S ‘‘extra yield’’ per gallon gives you higher gross profit than does any other nationally advertised brand. 3. Make More On Cups. Extraordi- nary low, low price to DAD’S users on cups. Ask us about it! Dad’s Automatic Dispensers Do a Better Job Dad’s Barrels draw the crowds! Barrels — 8, 17, and 45 gal. sizes. SEE YOU IN BOOTH 423 NADTA" Dispensers — counter and rail-type models, serve 1, 2 or 3 drinks. Dad’s Perlick Units — dis- penses Dad’s and up to 2 other flavors . . . carbonated or non-carbonated. Write Us For Information Today DAD’S ROOT BEER COMPANY 2800 N.Talman Ave.« Chicago 18, III. Chinese Egg Rolls For Drive-in Theatres A new pre-cooked frozen food novelty for drive-in theatres, Chinese Egg Rolls, has been marketed by Temple’s Frosted Foods, Inc., Brooklyn, N. Y. The product consists of a combination of shrimp, pork, celery and scallions wrapped in a noodle jacket, as prepared by Chinese chefs. To prepare the egg rolls, all that is required is a potato fryer or a grill. They are designed to be served to patrons in a napkin. The egg rolls are packed 50 to the case, and the minimum that will be shipped in refrigerated transport is 100 cases. They can be easily stored in any ice cream or freezer locker, with the space requirements for 100 cases being about 25 cubic feet. The egg rolls have been introduced in a number of drive-in theatres throughout the east with excellent results, according to Sidney Schwartz, president of Temple’s Frosted Foods. One such drive-in was the Hempstead, at Hempstead, Long Island, New York (see photograph below) where sales of the new product are reported to have been exceptionally good. New Campaigns Planned To Boost Popcorn Sales theatre and concession operators will receive intensive help in boosting popcorn sales during 1954 from the Popcorn Institute, Chicago, according to Clark Rhoden, chairman of the Insti- tute. Plans for a series of promotional campaigns were to be prepared at the Institute’s second annual meeting sched- uled for January 2 1 st in Chicago. The 1954 promotional campaigns are to Chinese Egg Rolls, a new -food item for drive-in theatres, have been introduced at the Hempstead drive-in, Hempstead, L. I., (above) with excellent results, according to Sidney Schwarz, president of Temple's Frosted Foods, Inc., Brooklyn, N. Y. The egg rolls are easy both to prepare and serve, Mr. Schwartz points out, since they are pre-cooked, need only be heated in a fryer or on a grill, and can be served in a napkin. 30 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY b, 1954 Thinking of Improving, or . Remodeling Your Drive-In Concession? N . . JL X)W is the time to start planning for increased sales and profits in your concession. Statistics prove that proper layout, carefully selected items, effi- cient equipment and service, and better merchandising can boost concession sales to new highs. Don’t pass up your opportunity for bigger business this year — contact Manley now and get ready for a banner season. When you contact Manley about your concession needs, you can be sure you have reached the one top-quality, top-service source for a complete line of drive-in equipment and supplies. Always check with Manley first when you want the best in any of the following items: World famous, high- profit, big- capacity popcorn machines. Big-volume drink machine — the Manley ICE-O-BAR. Serves 1,500 ice cold drinks as fast as 2 oper- ators can draw them. Newly designed hot dog machine —the Manley FRANK-BANK — with all the profit features you want and need. Brand new Manley Hamburger Grill. Flashy Buckingham drink dis- pensers. Efficient, nationally - known Hot- point counter units. Finest quality Manley popcorn, salt and seasoning. Bags, boxes, trays, wiping tissues and other drive-in accessory items. FREE BOOK "Design and Operation of Drive-In Concessions" If you warn to improve or remodel your drive-in concession for bigger profits, you need a copy of this new Manley book giving you the benefits of over 25 years experience in the concession field. It contains 36 fact-filled pages . . . dozens of pictures and diagrams valuable information on planning, operating methods, choosing concession items, profit to expect, concession layout, equipment, supplies . . . everything you need to know to run an efficient high-profit operation. Don’t pass up this opportunity to earn more, learn more. Send for your FREE copy right now. FILL OUT AND MAIL THIS COUPON RIGHT NOW FOR YOUR fRf€ COPY OF "Design and Operation of Drive-In Concessions" MANLEY, INC, Dept. MPH-254, 1920 Wyandotte St., Kansas City 8, Mo. □ Please send me my free copy of "DESIGN AND OPERATION OF DRIVE-IN CONCESSIONS". □ Please have a Manley representative contact me with additional information on more profitable Drive-In concession operation. □ Please send me addi- tional information about the following Manley items: Name. Company- Address. City- .Zone State - BETTER THEATRES SECTION 31 It's pure peanut oil! gives corn | true j butterlike I i READ THE ADS — they’re news! be supported by publicity and mailing pieces and will feature colorful point-of- sale material that will be available to motion picture theatres, it was pointed out. Attention was called by Mr. Rhoden to the “enthusiastic response received from the motion picture industry on the effective- ness of the Institute’s 1953 popcorn cam- paign.” During the summer of last year the Institute sponsored the “Popcorn Carni- val,” which was highlighted by a sales pro- motional kit containing 14 point-of-sale pieces. In the fall the Institute’s “Popcorn Fiesta” campaign was backed by kits con- taining “Jack-in-the-Box” popcorn displays with a simulated “3-D” effect. “Popcorn is the concessionaire’s highest profit item,” Mr. Rhoden declared, “and point-of-sale pieces have now proven to be effective in stimulating sales. This material has top ranking priority on the Institute’s promotional calendar.” The Institute is comprised of processors, representing 90% of the popcorn produced in the United States, as well as packers of most nationally distributed brands of pop- corn. Theatremen having ideas they would like to see the Institute sponsor with the objective of building popcorn sales were invited by Mr. Rhoden to send their suggestions to the Popcorn Institute, (332 South Michigan Avenue, Chicago). Candy Trade Sees 1954 As "Dime Bar Year" 1954 will be a “dime bar year” for the candy business. That’s the prediction of the publication Candy Industry following its annual year-end survey of members of the trade as to con- ditions and prospects of business. Further moves on the part of manu- facturers to convert from nickel to dime bars is attributed in the report primarily to the continually rising cost of cocoa beans. The only alternative to conversion is a further lowering of quality rather than size, it was pointed out, and moves in that direction by a few manufacturers are looked upon as “only temporary.” Manufacturers who pioneered in the change to dime bar production in the past three years are in the group that “showed satisfactory profits in 1953,” according to the survey. One manufacturer who pre- viously had advocated maintenance of nickel production told the publication he had changed his mind and predicted that “if prices are raised, 1954 will be a good year.” He foresaw this happening with a more “widespread transition to 10-cent goods.” 1954 will also bring improved distribu- tion and display of all candy merchandise, in the opinion of the surveyed tradesmen. They also predicted an influx of the so- Florida Managers Win Snack Campaign Prizes The winners of cash awards in the eight-week campaign to increase refresh- ment stand sales held recently by the Florida State Theatres, Jacksonville, have been announced by Harry Botwick, the circuit's general manager of confection sales. (See Better Theaters for December, 1953.) Prizes went to man- agers for their "consistently high-level per capita sales of candy, popcorn and other concession items during the drive." The winners included Lorraine Jack- son and Lynn Goodyear of the Rialto, Orlando; O. G. Finley, Florida, Tampa; Walter Colby, Matanzas, St. Augustine; French Harvey, Howell, Palatka; Her- bert Roller, Ritz, Sanford; Ezra Kimbrell, Springs, Sulphur Springs; Tom Water- field, Seminole, Tampa; and the follow- ing Jacksonville managers: George Krevo, Palace; Lillian Parker, Brentwood; Robert Skaggs, Capitol; James Frazier, Edgewood; and John Thomas, Imperial. In addition Mr. Colby and Mr. Finley won supplementary prizes for the "excel- lence of their merchandising programs throughout the drive," Mr. Botwick announced. The campaign also Included a weekly bo nus plan during the eight weeks whereby each manager received a per- centage of candy and popcorn profits whenever his sales exceeded those for the corresponding week of the previous year. Under this plan nearly every manager of the circuit collected a bonus for one or more weeks, and many came out on top every week, Mr. Bot- wick said. called “low calorie” candies and pointed to the threat of a national excise tax on candy. Recalled as high points of 1953 for the industry were the first increase in total candy sales since 1948; the upswing in merchandising and advertising activity at the consumer level ; and the advance in candy imports, especially in the lower price categories. New Milk Dispensers With Three Flavors NEW MODELS of the “Dari Mart,” an automatic coin dispenser of milk drinks equipped to serve three different flavors, have been marketed by Cedar Hill Farms, Inc., Cincinnati, Ohio. To operate the machine the customer inserts a coin and presses a lever, which drops his selection out instantly. The units will dispense pints, 1/3 quarts and pints in Pure Pak, Canco or Sealking containers. Capacity of the containers ranges from 120 to 156, depending on the model. Both flavors and the size of containers can be changed as desired. Standing 64 inches high, the units are 32 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 6, 1954 34^4 inches wide and 28J4 inches deep. They are finished in a choice of colors and trimmed in stainless steel. There is space at the top of the machines for name displays. The machine operates by “hydraulic” action, and this mechanism is completely enclosed to prevent tampering or damage L2 m IT The "Dari-Mart" automatic milk dispenser. to the cartons. The refrigeration is sealed, and defrosting is not required. An auto- matic “sold-out” switch returns the cus- tomer’s coin if the rack is empty, and there is a separate coin control for each flavor, assuring continued operation even when one or two racks are sold out. Popcorn Buyers Urged To Meet Contract Terms failure of some buyers of popcorn to fulfill their contracts with processing firms to purchase the raw prod- uct were denounced as harmful to the “popcorn economy” in a statement issued recently by J. J. Fitzgibbons, Jr., of Thea- tre Confections, Ltd., Toronto, Canada, and president of the International Popcorn Association. The buyers were urged by Mr. Fitz- gibbons to meet the terms of their contracts in order to “re-establish confidence in the raw popcorn market and to assist corn processors who are legally bound to make prompt payment to farmers for acreage grown under firm contract.” Some of the buyers are reported to be taking advantage of “attractive offers of bargain prices on present-day spot purchases,” he said. The International Association is “greatly disturbed over these reports,” Mr. Fitz- gibbons declared. “Certainly,” he added, “there can be no more demoralizing effect than this on our great, fast-growing indus- try ; and while it represents only a small minority action, nonetheless it is harmful to our popcorn economy. “A contract,” he said, “obligates the popcorn processor to sell and deliver, and the buyer to receive and pay for, the con- tracted amount of popcorn. If either party breaches this agreement, without a legal basis, a court action may be instituted to prove, assess and collect damages. “This is the legal aspect; however, of equal importance is the moral obligation. If a popcorn buyer is willing to insist on fulfillment of his contract with a processor when the market price rises above the con- tract price, as it did in the first half of 1953, then he should be equally willing to pay the contract price even though the market price drops below the contract price, as is the case in the present market.” In conclusion Mr. Fitzgibbons pointed out that the Association, representing all segments of the popcorn and concessions industries, urges all popcorn buyers to ful- fill their contracts. • 1953 POPCORN PRODUCTION Popcorn production during 1953 was approximately 276,825,056 pounds, accord- ing to a survey completed recently by the Popcorn Processors Association, Chicago. In addition the report showed that inven- The house is packed for A SENSATIONAL NESTLE'S CRUNCH BAR The all-out favorite of the fans — that milk chocolate bar with the crunchy goodness. NESTLE S NEW COCONUT BAR Another Nestle winner — rich milk chocolate, with shredded coconut, for delicious delightful eating. Srssnr olate ,l! boc' I ' fw« bor* ■"* high. Crunch, Milk and Almond available in 5t and 101 sizes. Coconut in 1 01s size only. All sizes packed 100 bars per case. See your Nestle Representative or write for more details to THE NESTLE COMPANY, INC. 2 William St., White Plains, N. Y. BETTER THEATRES SECTION 33 tories of the 1952 crop were nearly ex- hausted and that the end of two years of below normal production found the 1953 crop moving into market channels nearly three months ahead of schedule. This places a 15-month withdrawal on the 1953 crop, it was pointed out. P. A. Templeton Joins Majestic Enterprises P. A. TEMPLETON has acquired an interest in Majestic Enter- prises, Ltd., Los Angeles, manufacturers and distributors of animated beverage dis- pensing equipment, and joined the organi- zation as director of sales, according to an announcement by Arsene Pernetti, general manager of Majestic. Mr. Templeton has been active in the beverage industry for many years, most re- cently as manager of the fountain and dairy division of the Mission Dry Corporation, which position he left to associate himself with Majestic. Majestic anticipates the biggest year in its history, Mr. Pernetti said, and has established new production facilities to han- dle the increased volume indicated by cur- rent orders. It recently placed in produc- tion a new model, the “Auto-Electronic No. 1500,” which is designed to pour auto- matically any desired size of drink and record each serving by count. popcorn New Look for Snack Bar RECENT remodeling of the Cinderella theatre on Detroit's east side by United Detroit Theatres included revamping of the refreshment stand as shown above in a general design adopted as standard in all the circuit's theatres. Prominently located in the lobby, the stand features a glass-enclosed candy case running the full length of the counter with shelves slanted downward. Built into the stand at one end and in the center are two sections used for display matter. These are backed by Flexg lass, which is also used at the left end of the case. Drinks are sold from an animated counter machine (orange) at the right end and a two-unit dispenser (for Coca-Cola and Vernor's ginger ale) next to the popcorn warmer in rhe center of the snack bar. A n ice cream case is behind the counter. The back wall of the stand consists of a mirror divided into three sections and bounded on all four sides by a wooden frame in a scal- loped design which protrudes slightly. Shelves placed across the mirrors on two levels are used for promotional displays. The base of the stand itself is finished in white leather upholstery. The stand is lighted from above by pivot reflector spotlights in addition to lights inside the candy case. THE COW TOWN ( Continued from page 15) tables and benches have been placed fur the convenience of patrons who wish to enjoy their food and drink out-of-doors. A fence has been erected on the right side to protect such diners from being stumbled upon by a careless patron bearing food back to his car. BUILDING INTERIOR The interior of the refreshment building is also decorated in ranch style. Signs made of natural wood and bearing the foods and drinks offered with their prices are strung across the counters. The service arrange- ment is cafeteria-style with patrons enter- ing on either of two sides and paying for their purchases at a cash register in the center. The same merchandise is offered at both counters with most ot the equip- ment being duplicated at each. In both sections are a popcorn warmer, frank- furter grill, ice cream cabinet and drink dispensers. In the center area, placed so that they are easily accessible from both sides, are a popcorn popping machine, ham- burger grill and an ice shaver for making Snow cones. For further information on refreshment service at the Cow Town, see the story on page 39. DR. PEPPER UPS OUTPUT Increased production of the new single- drink cup vendor of the Dr. Pepper Com- pany, Dallas, has been announced by W. W. Clements, vice-president and general sales manager. The demand for the vendor has surpassed expectations, he said. 34 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 6, 1954 Keeping Drive Refreshment on the Move Always on the lookout for new items and new ways to speed up service, the drive-in editor of Better Theatres here explains the latest changes in his snack stand operation. By WILFRED P. SMITH Owner and operator of the Garden Auto-Torium at Ledgewood, N. J. vice § o operate a drive-in year in and year out and not maintain a constant program of diversification is to invite stagnation. Not to examine one’s plant and policy critically may mean the loss of hundreds of dollars over the period of a single season. Many of us, and particularly those whose drive-ins are closed at this time, are pretty well along in our decisions pertaining to wide-screen, landscaping, staff reorganiza- tion, new advertising approaches, improved appearances of our buildings, etc. In any case, now is a good time in most situations to get the refreshment service all set for another year. You know the items that are popular in your area, so it is not the intention of the writer to tell you what to serve. It is rather the purpose of this article to tell what we are doing for whatever ideas that may sug- gest for your operation. If you were to compare the accompany- ing drawings with those which we pre- sented in Better Theatres for April 1951, April 1952, and October 1952, you would observe how, at the Garden Auto- Torium in Ledgewood, N. J., we too have made changes to expedite the sale of items most popular with the majority of our pa- trons. We have never felt ourselves “mar- ried” to a certain kind of installation ; to the contrary, each year we observe opera- tions for ways and means to serve our patrons more rapidly with the major items, some of them staples, others that are new and perhaps to be installed merely on an experimental basis. The pizza (tomato) pie is still with us after three years; it still maintains its popu- larity in our area. As a comparable food item, chili con carne is popular in the South and West. Such variations are to be found over the counter. Popcorn, soft drinks, frankfurters, ice cream, etc., are staples on a national scale. In any event, it behooves the manage- ment of any drive-in to make changes in their refreshment department from time to time, if for no other reason than to make the lighting or the colors more attractive, to create a sense of freshness and to cause approving comment. The pros and cons of cafeteria versus individual station and general counter schemes of service have been aired in this publication on many occasions. Ours is basically a station system modified accord- ing to experience to fit our specific needs. During my extended trip last fall I vis- ited about 80 different drive-ins in the South, Southwest and Mid- west. Besides from the simple items we are all familiar with, I found chili con carne that popular in some places that upon re- WILFRED P. SMITH turning to my own drive-in, I introduced this item. A special trailer was screened on this new specialty in an effort to develop interest ; and the trailer was followed by an announcement over the P.A. hurther, we offered a free bag of popcorn with each serving of chili con carne. Nothing happened. We even went so far as to order additional warming units for attractive display of chili on the counter. Still no response. Now the same negative reaction could be got should one attempt to merchandise the tomato pie where the chili is in demand. However, this need not hold true in every situation, and one will never know the response to a specialty item unless it is tried right in one’s own drive-in. It seemed I was stuck with special warm- ing equipment. Then I recalled the success of the Bar-B-Q hamburger at Rube Shor’s drive-in at Cincinnati. We soon were sell- ing grilled hamburgers like hot cakes. The item became so popular that we had to screen a special announcement that our facilities would not permit serving Bar-B-Q hamburgers during intermission! The reason was that to grill the ham- burger took valuable time that interfered with frankfurter sale, and the potential frankfurter volume was greater. But now we have the answer for han- dling both items at any time. During the weeks prior to closing our 1953 operation we more than tripled our sales on ham- burgers, without hindering the constant sale of frankfurters. It was done in this manner : We purchased an additional grill, 4 feet by 18 inches, and placed it in the stock room. Here each night we prepare a mini- mum of 50 hamburgers on the grill, some- times more according to anticipated attend- ance at the next evening’s shows. After grilling, we place the cooked meat in a deep (5"xl8"xl2") stainless steel pan and cover it with barbecue sauce (purchased from the John Sexton Company of New York). Then the pan is placed on the re- frigerator (not at freezing temperature) to allow the sauce to penetrate the meat. Upon arrival the next evening, the re- freshment counter attendants transfer the contents (sauce and all) of the pan to the individual warmers (previously intended for chili) behind the front counter. In fif- teen minutes they are ready for serving simply by picking each one up with a tong and placing the sauce that adheres to the meat in a flat warm bun. We have maintained the price of 25c BETTER THEATRES SECTION 35 Modified Station System of the Carden Auto-Toriitm Drive-In, Ledgewood, N. J. FIGURE 1: Service Area — o o o o o o CONDIMENT r TABLE 6 CONTAINERS STATION "A" STATION "B" STATION "C" I O33 O37 O36 34 35 52 50 47 44 41 51 49 46^43 40 48 45 42 39 © s 5 6 Oo 16 17 7 IO > 8 II 12 |4 CU- 18 21 19 22 25 Y 23 26 30 27 31 FIGURE I: Service area and equipment (see adjoining identifications). OPENIN& OPENING 27 25 23 24 22 21 FOR (26) SAUCES EXHAUST FAN / OVEN UNDERNEATH FOR HEAT GRILL U / FROM OVEN )8/ 1 NATURAL for Movie Theatres! CONNOLLY AUTOMATIC ROLL-A-GRILL Now Operating in Thousands of INDOOR THEATRES • DRIVE-INS Boosting FRANKFURTER Sales and Profits Rialto Theatre. Tulsa. Okla. Mission Theatre. Dalbert. Texas Starlight Drive-In Theatre. Parkersburg, w. va. Renfro Drive-in Theatre. Vancouver, wasn. Alamo Theatre. Indian- apolis, Ind. Twi-Lite Drive-In Theatre, Ontario. Oregon Roosevelt Theatre. St. Louis. Mo. Orchards Drive-In Theatre Lewiston. Idaho Granada Theatre, Monte Vista. Colorado Don Drive- in Theatre, Bossier City, i-a- Park Theatre, Benton Park, Illinois Rio Drive-In Theatre, Thermopolis, Wyoming Twin palms Drive-In Thea- tre. Corpus Christi, iex. Orpheum Theatre, St. Joseph, Mo- Hilltop Drive-In Theatre. Escanaba, Micb. Dells Theatre. Wisconsin Dells. Wisconsin Canal Drive-In Theatre. Tucumcari, N. m. Hollywood Theatre. Leaven- worth, Kansas Odin Drive-In Theatre. Greensburg. Pa. Pekin Theatre. Montgomery. Alabama 61 Drive-In Theatre. Delmar. Iowa Civic Center Theatre, Great Falls. Montana Wabash Drive-In Theatre. Wabash. Ind. Mesa Drive-In Theatre. Yuma, Arizona Columbia Theatre, Dayton. Ohio Holdridge Drive-In Theatre Holdridge, Nebraska Studio Theatre. Sacramento Calif. Motor Vu Theatre, Belling- ham. Wash. Yandetl Theatre. El Paso. Texas NO SMOKE— NO ODORS No installa- tion needed — just Plug In! Saves time and labor — No attendant to watch or turn franks — no scraping of grill. And it's EASY TO CLEAN! Gleaming stain- less steel ROLL-A-GRILL remains bright, shiny, attractive — grills clean, wholesome-looking franks! STOPS TRAFFIC with its fascinating slow rotary motion — SELLS MORE FRANKFURTERS— Makes ’em FASTER —Makes ’em BETTER! SELF-BASTING, seals in juices, barbe- cues frankfurters evenly on all sides, retains natural flavor — frankfurter ex- pands in size — looks worth more, and you GET MORE for it! Barbecues up to 500 delicious franks per hour! NEW! “No-Waste” Standby Switch. TYPICAL ROLL-A-GRILL INSTALLATION at KEN- MORE DRIVE-IN THEATRE, KENMORE, WASH. Consult your local dealer or use handy coupon. uni 457 W. 40th St.. N. Y. 18. N. Y. Phone: CM 4-5000 Cable JAYCONLEY J. J. Connolly. Inc., 457 W. 40th St., N.Y. 18, Dept. BT-2 Send Connolly Automatic Roll-A-Grills literature to— Name Theatre Address City State 1954 BETTER THEATRES' VENDINC SURVEY Questionnaires designed to develop information on refreshment merchandising of interest to operators of both indoor and drive-in theatres of all sizes and all loca- tions have been mailed to exhibitors throughout the country. Analysis of the results will be published according fo custom in the 1954 Guide Edition to appear in March. BETTER THEATRES SECTION 37 Drive-In Stand and Food Arrangements — CONTINUED FROM PAGE 28— is owned and operated by the Winoka Corporation, Richard E. Wiles, Jr., and Brooks C. Noah. The manager of the theatre is H. H. (Hank) Wigman, w ho became associated with the project early and took part in the actual construction. The refreshment section is part of the drive-in’s main building, which also houses the projection booth and rest rooms. The cafeteria is on the west end of this building and is constructed of glass for the most part, one advantage of rvhich is that pa- trons can watch the picture while eating. (See photographs.) The entire building is surrounded by a wide cement walk, and it is connected to the playground area in front of the screen by a 500-foot paved sidewalk. The building is completely air-conditioned. There are two entrances into the cafe- teria, one each on opposite sides of the building, north and south. Both are at the end adjoining the kitchen. There are also two exits, one on each side. These doors are equipped with a mat which controls their opening electrically, making it easy for a patron loaded down with a food tray to get outside. The doors are also controlled so they will not open if anyone (especially a small child) should be standing on the mat outside. The two sections of the cafeteria have identical merchandise and the same equip- ment. As the patron enters the aisle, he secures a cardboard tray from a rack. These trays have openings for cups and are re- cessed with “ribs” to keep the food from slipping. Merchandise offered includes popcorn, frankfurters, barbecued beef sand- wiches, hot chili in cones, ice cream varie- ties, malted milks (hot or cold), snow cones, soft drinks, and hot coffee. Candy, chewing gum and cigars are also available at counters next to the cashiers. The two lines merge into a counter for condiments running the entire length of the west end of the building. Food equipment at each line consists of a covered bin for popcorn ; a heated tray for frankfurters ; a barbecue-beef sandwich pan; a rack for the chili cones; an orange- ade dispenser ; a four-flavor drink dispenser ; a refrigerated container for ice cream ; and a coffee urn. Other equipment is placed behind the counter and includes an ice shaver for the snow cones; containers of flaky ice for customers desiring it in their drinks; malted milk equipment; and, as a special convenience to patrons with babies, a heater with which to warm milk bottles. LOCATING HOT FOODS Hot foods have been placed at the be- ginning of the line on each side so that they are nearest the kitchen, making it con- venient for patrons to replenish the pans and racks as needed. While the hot food service racks are set close together on the counter, the other units are put farther apart to provide space for the filled drink cups. The latter are replaced from the drink dispenser bv attendants as required. Hot coffee is poured from an urn over a heater, and is replenished from a coffee- maker in the kitchen as necessary. Patrons help themselves to coffee at the Heart, with cups being in a recessed space in the counter. Cream and sugar are at the condiment shelf. In the kitchen the equipment includes grills, a coffee maker, ice cube machines and a corn popper. There are also many bins and cupboards in which are stored racks and merchandise for replacement at the counter in the course of the evening. In addition the kitchen has large refrigerators for fresh foods and a deep-freeze box for storing meats. Early in the first year’s operation it be- came apparent that the storage facilities would not be adequate for all reserve sup- plies. So a cottage-like building was erec- ted on the grounds for additional non- perishable stock. When the cafeteria was constructed, the management considered the possibility of erecting two additional counters at a later date. In anticipation of this a wide area was left between the guide rails and the outer Avails and the necessary extra pipes were laid. The new counters will sub- stantially double the capacity of the refresh- ment stand and thus increase service. It is anticipated this will be done next year. The Bluemound Drive-In Also in the interest of faster and more efficient service, a number of changes rvere made recently at the refreshment stand at the Bluemound drive-in in Milwaukee, which Avas one of the first drive-ins in the country when it opened back in 1939. For many years the drive-in was managed by Robert Gross, Avho is now district manager for the Smith Management Company, OAvners of the Bluemound. Replacing him at the latter was Dick Grede, under Avhose direction extensive alterations were made at the theatre’s second refreshment build- ing, originally built about three years ago. Changes are also planned at a later date for the first refreshment building, which also houses the projection booth. Under the nerv arrangement refreshment operation at the Bluemound cafeteria is now completely self-service. The new equipment installed has enabled the drive- in to take care of more patrons in a shorter period of time and has also eliminated con- fusion and overcrowding at the counter, according to Mrs. Gertrude Kickbusch, manager of refreshment service. She has also found it to be a great time-saver for the clerks. Patrons enter the refreshment building The cafeteria at the Heart drive-in, Kansas City, Mo., is at the west end of the main building (above) which also houses the projection booth. Entrance is made to the cafeteria through the doors at the far left and also from the other side of the building. One of the exit doors is shown on the right; its opening and closing is controlled by an electric mat so that patrons loaded down with a food tray can easily get out. The cafeteria section is almost wholly enclosed in glass and patrons can watch the film from inside while enjoying their food. (For details of the equipment layout see text.) 38 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 6, 1954 During peak periods at the Bluemound drive-in, Milwaukee (above), extra aisles to allow more patrons inside the building are achieved by placing iron posts with chains into the floor at each of the two service sections. Shown at right is the rack for cardboard trays while the cashier's stand is visible at the left. from either of two sides with the food set-up duplicated at each. When the season is at its peak, iron posts are set into the floor and chains put up, making an ex- tra aisle for each side. This arrangement permits longer lines in an orderly fashion inside the building so that customers don't have to wait outside. Upon arriving at the service lane, pa- trons pick up cardboard trays, purchased by the theatre from the Dore Popcorn Com- pany, Chicago. The first of the foods available is ice cream, which sets in a double-unit freezer with large storage space. Next in line is a “Perlick” soft drink dispenser (made by the Perlick Brass Company, Milwaukee). These units dis- pense two carbonated and one non-carbo- nated flavors. There is one attendant at each machine ; she pours out about 20 drinks ahead of time and replaces them as necessary. These new drink units have sped up beverage service considerably, according to Mrs. Kickbusch. She points out that with the prior machines it was necessary to pre- pare about 100 drinks just before inter- mission ; while the operators can now keep up with the demand by making as few as 20 in advance. Next in line at the counter are trays containing Crackerjack, candy and peanuts. From five to ten minutes before the inter- mission an attendant fills these six trays, three at each counter. In the middle of the counter are trays for frankfurters and ham- burgers, which are prepared beforehand and kept warm by means of radiant heat rays of stainless steel. Two of these units, one 37 inches long and the other 24, are placed side by side about 12 inches above the trays. An extra attendant is on hand to replenish these meat trays as required from behind the counter. Last on the counter are two deep bins, one for buttered popcorn and the other for plain corn, both boxed. Additional supplies of popcorn are stored in a glass- enclosed shelf in back of the counter. Radiant heat rays are also over the bins to keep the popcorn warm. In the center of the counter where the two sides meet is a “Buttermat” dispenser. Patrons then approach the cashier’s stand, where two attendants collect for the mer- chandise, one on each side. Equipment behind the counter includes two new “Toastmaster” stainless steel bun warmers with four drawers for storing hamburgers and frankfurters as they are prepared. To serve hot coffee a 48-cup drip urn was used last season, but a new 20- gallon unit is on order for next year. The Bluemound’s other refreshment stand is to be remodeled in similar fashion. Since its original construction, it has under- gone a number of alterations designed to achieve improved service. ESTIMATING FOOD NEEDS Another advocate of cafeteria-stvle ser- vice for drive-ins is Beverly Miller, man- ager of the Cow Town drive-in at St. Jos- eph, Mo., which is described and pictured on page 14, including the refreshment lay- out. In Mr. Miller’s opinion the cafeteria makes possible faster service and ensures taking care of patrons “in the order in which they arrive and are entitled to be served.” He also finds that it “eliminates the jostling and spilling which result from patrons jamming around a catch-as-catch- can counter.” On the subject of estimating how much food to prepare in advance each evening, Mr. Miller suggests that an estimate be made on what can be done over a given period with this figure to be decreased or increased as the crowds vary. He also has found that a longer intermission period helps in estimating needs, and this is achieved at the Cow Town by splitting the trailers and running them both before and after the intermission period. “That way,” he points out, “we are able to stretch a 10- minute intermission to about 25 minutes without making it too obvious to the cus- tomer.” Close-up of the west end of the cafeteria at the Heart drive-in showing the patio (right) where patrons may eat if they wish. (See photo on opposite page.) BETTER THEATRES SECTION 39 Doubling Refreshment Sales With a Remodeled Snack Bar With the installation of an enlarged and streamlined refreshment stand at the Evergreen Theatre Corporation’s Neptune in Seattle, gross sales were soon doubled, some weeks climbing to as much as 50% of the box-office take! Here’s the “before-after” story. it’s not often that a theatre doubles the gross sales of its refresh- ment merchandise by remodeling its snack stand, and it’s probably even more rare for it to show between 33% and 50% of the box-office receipts in refreshment sales. However, that is what happened at the Neptune theatre in Seattle, an operation of the Evergreen Theatre Corporation, when shrewd display and promotional prac- tices were combined with the selling points of a new and attractive snack bar. Before the new stand was built, the Neptune, a third-run, 968-house, had one of the lowest refreshment gross records of any of the circuit’s theatres. The foyer of the Neptune is small, with a curving ramp leading up to the mezzanine and an inclin- ing ramp leading down into the entrances on the main floor. The original bar was a tiny, six-foot, half-oval cramped into one corner of the foyer. When receipts at this bar continued to drop, Evergreen offi- cials and Neptune manager Joe Furfaro went into a huddle and decided to do something about it. Their “success story” ended with a new stand that now averages a weekly gross making it one of the leaders in its theatre class on the Pacific coast. A DESICN OF TIERS The theatre architect who designed the new bar was faced with the problem of constructing an eye-appealing stand on the inclining ramp along the wall of the ascending ramp. Disregarding conventional snack bars, the designer planned a series of streamlined tiers — each tier featuring a different kind of merchandise. Then he went a step further and extended the bar beyond the ramp almost to the main entrance doors. Patrons entering the thea- tre must walk along the entire length of this 25-foot bar to reach the main audi- torium. As they walk down the incline, each new refreshment item is brought strikingly to their attention. The front counter is built in a series of four tiers. The first tier nearest the main entrance is a glass-enclosed candy display case bordered with etched aluminum and concealed lighting. The case has glass shelves and is lined with gleaming chromi- um plate. The next tier down the ramp is a popcorn display, again bordered with aluminum and concealed lighting. The third tier holds the self-service ice cream freezer. Fronting this tier is a panel of etched aluminum. 'File fourth and last tier has a glass-enclosed beverage display case with drink dispensers on the counter. The back bar along the wall of the ascending ramp is lined with red leather- ette and pleated with brass buttons studded with rhinestones. Extending out from this background is a candy case of blond wood, four feet high and seven feet long. When the bar is closed, a disappearing, slatted door covers the candy case. The entire stand is lighted with eight spotlights from the ceiling. Most of the equipment used at the bar is standard throughout the Evergreen cir- cuit. The popcorn tier has an elevator- type, electric warming unit made by West Coast Sheet Metal Works of Los Angeles. The hot butter dispenser which sits on the counter is a “Butter-Churn,” another West Coast Sheet Metal unit. The candy case tier at the end of the counter is refrigerated. Of the items sold at the Neptune stand the most popular is buttered popcorn (25c), followed by plain popcorn (15c). Candy is next with soft drinks and ice cream following in that order. Three varieties of ice cream are sold — chocolate bon bons, orange sherbert bon bons, and sundae cups. DISPLAYING THE CANDY In selling candy the Evergreen circuit has found that the best way is to display it in huge quantities — in a glass-enclosed case rather than open on the counter. Mr. Furfaro reports his experience has shown that counter displays “clutter the bar and sometimes offer a temptation to children.” The mass displays include 14 kinds of 6c candy, 34 types of 12c candy, 20 kinds of chewing gum and Life Savers and 9 assorted candies from 30c up. These dis- 40 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 6, 1954 plays are re-arranged every week — on Mondays when possible. To promote soft drinks the Neptune features a sign placed on the counter. On top of the back candy case is a popcorn display piece. Except for intermission film trailers, other types of promotion are not used one particular product rather than all the merchandise,” he points out, “and the gimmicks are not practical in the limited display space alloted to most bars.” Seven different animated cartoon trailers are used at intermission periods on succes- sive weeks at the Neptune. Trailers were used to help promote ice cream and orange One girl is on duty at all times behind the bar. Other employees help out when needed. The concession girl is responsible for the cleanliness and some of the main- tenance of the equipment. She works with a check-off list which tells her when to defrost storage units, when to clean pop- corn panels, vacuum condensors, oil fans, The Neptune's tiny and crowded original snack stand (on facing page) has given way to the modern and enlarged unit at right. For- merly cramped into one corner of the foyer, the stand now extends almost to the main entrance doors. Patrons must walk the entire length of the new 25-foot bar to reach the main auditorium. The new stand is designed in a series of tiers, each featuring a different kind of mer- chandise. The first tier nearest the main entrance is a glass-enclosed candy case bordered with etched aluminum and concealed lighting. The case has glass shelves and is lined with gleaming chromium plate. The second tier is a popcorn dis- play, also bordered with aluminum and concealed lighting. The third tier holds the self-service ice cream freezer. The last tier has a glass- enclosed beverage display with drink dispensers on the counter. The back bar is lined with red leather- ette and pleated with brass button studded with rhinestones. Extending out is a candy case of blond wood. extensively. Mr. Furfaro believes there are too many promotional gimmicks from candy manufacturers on the market now. “Most of this material is designed to plug sherbert bon bons when they were first introduced at the stand, and their subse- quent popularity with patrons is attributed primarily to this technique. etc. This maintenance is a continual, revolving process. Mr. Furfaro orders the merchandise, and the girl keeps the counters stocked from the storage room. Film and Holiday Tie-In At the Snack Stand Seasonal holidays and coming film attrac- tions may not always coincide so naturally and conveniently as Hallowe'en and Para- mount's "War of the Worlds" but when that happened at the United Artists thea- tre in San Jose, Calif., manager Bob Helm took advantage of the occasion to decorate his refreshment stand as shown at right. The 24-sheet for the picture on the back wall and figures of witches, black cats and pumpkins placed around the stand add up to a "scarey" effect. Staff member Marilyn Stowell stands behind the counter. BETTER THEATRES SECTION 41 Christmas Spirit for the Snack Bar Decorating the refreshment stand at holiday periods throughout the year has been cited time and again by experienced theater operators as an excellent means of boosting sales. Probably no other occasion lends it- self so well to this special merchan- dising effort as Christmas. Pictured here are examples of how three managers gave their snack bars a festive air at Yuletide just past. To provide an appropriate air of gaiety for the stand at the Capitol theatre in Brantford, Ontario, manager Bill Burke had it decorated as shown at right. Patrons were particularly attracted, he reports, by the flashing light effects arranged for the red noses on the reindeer and Santa's eyes above the stand. In addition a revolving turntable with the words "Season's Greetings'' drew attention. At Loew's Ohio in Columbus, refreshment manager Lucille Wheeler (shown behind the stand at left) worked out a display using tinsel, trees, an "icicle" border, and candy canes. In addition the back bar wall was recovered with "brick" and two large Santa Claus heads with concealed lighting operated on a flasher. It is a fixed policy at the Ohio to decorate the stand at such special occasions through- out the year, and theatre manager Walter Kessler works closely with Miss Wheeler in planning the various displays for this purpose. Decorations at Loew's theatre, Rochester, N. Y., arranged by man- ager Lester Pollock, included motor-driven, gold-starred and tinseled snowballs and smaller tinseled stars hanging overhead (below, right). The background is decorated with large colored bulbs and plastic- foam snowmen, with metal wire stockings holding an assortment of giant Christmas candies. Red strings of beads highlight the back- ground. In addition a large Christmas tree was placed in the lobby (below, left) and small ones on top of the popcorn-candy machine. 42 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 6, 1954 On the Mouse ★ editorial reports aod comoieot oo events, trends, people and opinion ♦ A Brighter Picture for the Drive-In pursuit OF a screen sur- face material to bring the benefits of the new technical movement to the drive-in field has promised some sort of solution soon to the projection problems peculiar to outdoor exhibition of such huge scale. Now one of these efforts, that directed by a prominent operator of drive-ins, has placed an all-purpose material for drive- ins on the market. The product of the Open-Air Develop- ment Corporation of America in Boston, Avhich is headed by Phil Smith, who has drive-in operations in the Midwest as well as New England, the screen was recently demonstrated at the Natick, Mass., drive- in, where its reflectance was directly com- pared with that of the theatre’s regular screen with most favorable reaction. The name at least tentatively chosen for the new- Smith screen, “Twi-Nite,” represents a phase of the development which is very significant apart from its association with the new techniques. But with specific respect to this latter applica- tion, it shares the news about drive-in screens with a screen being developed by the Motion Picture Research Council in Hollywood. The screen pictured on this page is one installed in California as a test of this latter development. Its essential characteristics are described on page 22. We are also advised that Poblocki & Sons of Milwaukee, are approaching completion of work on their “Permalum” all-purpose screen. ADVANCES SHOW TIME In a statement following the Natick demonstration, Richard A. Smith, vice- president of the Smith Management Com- pany, stressed the significance of the name “Twi-Nite.” Referring to the impact of 3D and wide-screen on indoor operation, Mr. Smith said while the new screen “provides great reflectivity and perfect polarization so that wide-screen and 3D pictures may be presented satisfactorily,” the development was really motivated by “other shortcomings in drive-in theatre presentation.” “Drive-ins,” he continued, “have always presented a more washed out, faded pic- ture than the best indoor theatres. As a result, colors have never been true, many scenes have been dark, and over the years a great number of people have felt that you couldn’t really see all the action in many pictures in a drive-in theatre. For example, 20th Century-Fox’s film '1 itanic’ was one of the best drive-in grossers of the 1953 season, but the great disaster scene was filmed in near darkness and fog. As a result, much of the drive-in audience could hardly tell what was happening. Screen developed by the Motion Picture Research Council shown (below) during construction at the La Mirada drive-in near Norwalk, Calif. Installed here for tests, it is now in final stages of develop- ment (see page 22). “Another long-term difficulty in drive- ins has been the necessity of waiting for complete darkness before the show could start. In some areas the show couldn’t start until 10 o’clock during parts of June and July. Since it is the family trade that makes up the bulk of the drive-in audience, there is no telling as yet just how much gross results have been diminished by this factor.” Earlier performance schedules are thus a possibility of greater screen reflectance that is given a vital place in its applica- tion along with that of the new types of film product. This feature was stressed also by Edward Redstone, vice-president of Redstone Drive-In Theatres, after the Natick demonstration. He said: “This ‘Twi-Nite’ drive-in screen could be the first major technical development for drive-ins since the introduction of the in-car speaker. It could revolutionize big- city drive-in operation.” Another operator of outdoor theatres, BETTER THEATRES SECTION 43 yoe/x4Cfi££/v with the brightest clearest picture mrZ * NEW FORMULA ANASTIGMAT * ONE PIECE HERMETICALLY SEALED ANODIZED MOUNT * NO CEMENTED OPTICS -NO RECEMENTING, EVER * ALL AIR-GLASS SURFACES HARO-COATED * MINIMUM VIGNETTING Now your patrons can enjoy the brightest, clearest pictures ever projected — with the sen- sationally fast t\ 1.8 Super-Lite HIIUX! Just note the exclusive features of the new HILUX — a true fully corrected anastigmat of the finest quality with absolutely no cementing to fail from the extreme changes encountered in today’s hi-intensity projection. Comes in a one-piece hermetically sealed mount, permanently preventing oil, moisture and dust from entering. Send for literature today on the amazing new Superlite HILUX — truly designed for today's projection. PROJECTION OPTICS COMPANY, INC. 330 LYELL AVENUE • ROCHESTER 6, NEW YORK Distributors: RAYTONE SCREEN CORP. KK^w tork ViAV n&uxL/ The F & Y Building Service is the outstanding agency in Theatre Design and Construction in Ohio and surrounding territory. THE F & Y BUILDING SERVICE 319 East Town Street Columbus 15, Ohio "The Buildings We Build Build Our Business” Phil Berler of the E. M. Loew organiza- tion, similarly emphasized this aspect of the development. “The definition that we saw demonstrated on the Natick screen,” he said, “was so clear that there is a vast difference between the old type screen and this new ‘Twi-Nite’ screen. With it we can start our shows up to two hours earlier and thus can give two full shows each evening. ” In the Natick demonstration, both black-and-white and color reels of different subjects were projected on a panel of the new screen erected in front of the screen tower, leaving a section of the regular screen exposed for projection of the same material at the same time. The demonstra- tion started at 4:35 p.m., or just before the start of twilight at this time of year. • All Sizes of Houses Going Stereophonic with more than 1400 installations of American equipment for stereophonic sound reproduction already made or underway at the middle of last month, most of them by far domestic, ex- hibition in the United States appears to be carrying out at a good pace its part of the industry’s retooling job for thorough modernization of the motion picture as a great medium of entertainment. A total of 1400 was indicated by re- ports from Altec Service Corporation, Na- tional Theatre Supply, RCA and Motio- graph, and would of course be considerably larger if figures on installations by the other sources of stereophonic equipment had been available. Furthermore, Altec re- cently reported that it is receiving orders at the rate of 60 a week, and is making installations at the weekly rates of 50. Significant in all of these reports is the number of really small theatres which are getting stereophonic equipment. One notes seating capacities as small as 400 in towns of only 4000 or so, and a much larger number of houses with 500 to 600 seats, some in towns as small as two or three thousand. The Colonial in Canaan, Conn., for example, has 496 seats, the town a population of 1189 souls at last official count. The more urgent need of three screen speaker systems for wide-screen pictures in the largest theatres, which might call for a screen 60 to 70 feet wide, has tended to dominate thinking about stereophonic sound in these early days of this new tech- nique, with the natural preference to spend 44 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 6, 1954 HEAVY-DUTY SELENIUM PLATE RECTIFIERS // CONTINUOUS O P E R AT I OR Ji P/S ★ Strong manufactures tube-type rectifiers for every type of lamp; 4-tube and 6-tube; single and three phase models, for rotating feed angular trim high intensity, copper coated coaxial high intensity, l-KW. high intensity, and low intensity lamps. ★ Transformer taps provide adjustment to compensate for supply voltage variations through a range of 10% above or 10% be- low the rated A.C. input voltage through- out the output rating range. ★ All Strong rectifiers have been especially designed, manufactured and tested in one plant, together with and for use with motion picture projection arc lamps. This is highly important, since efficient opera- tion of each type and rating of arc necessi- tates a rectifier specifically engineered to its particular requirements. ~k All Strong rectifiers assure smooth out- put current, long life, low operating tem- perature, and flexibility in control. „„ it* o' sr— *• BETTER THEATRES SECTION 45 THIS IS THE LARGEST SCREEN IN THE WORLD ...A RAYTONE ALL-PURPOSE STEREO SCREEN! Finest Theatre Service— Anywhere Back of every RCA Theatre Serv- Service engineers to tackle and ice engineer are all the resources solve . . . for You! and facilities of the Radio Corpo- For over 25 years, RCA Theatre ration of America. No technical Service has been consistently of problem in theatre sound or pro- the highest quality . . . thoroughly jection is too difficult for RCA dependable . . . and friendly. RCA Service Company, Inc. A Radio Corporation of America Subsidiary Camden, N. J. no more money than necessary encouraging an opinion that two more channels are essentially superfluous in smaller theatres. The truth of the matter is not to be quite so neatly wrapped up. Actually, the need for stereophonic sound in almost any theatre, excepting only the relatively few huge ones, depends funda- mentally on how film production utilizes the expanded performance area. This is true of the more obvious phases of “di- rectionalism” — that is, sound source local- ization in its pictorial source across the screen — as well as of localization at dis- tances (depth perception) and the overall effect of multiple-point reproduction on realistic hearing. The business can blow up the image and let its “wide-screen” tech- nique be just that, or it can make full use of it to attain heightened realism as well as sheer physical impact by including sound as one of its instruments. VISUAL LOCALIZATION With a picture widened sufficiently to have the desired “presence” and to provide detail of critical dramatic material without reducing environment to the vanishing point, the “stagecraft” of screen story tell- ing would have to fit itself consistently to a need for positive visual identification of the dramatic source of the sound. That could be done, of course ; the mo- tion picture, like any other art form, has to employ tricks of one kind or another, and Heaven knows that the public got used to screen stories being told in a “grammar” consisting principally in a series of “close- ups” very much like a gallery of dramatic school poses. To retain essentially that lan- guage, visual “correction” of the sound source is sufficiently assured to dispense with multiple-channel sound. But then why double the width of the picture? T he trouble with technical progress is : that it costs money. That does not seem to bother most industries; indeed, some of them, like the automobile business, are re- tooling for improvements a good deal of the time. The motion picture industry hasn’t retooled since around 1930. And it didn’t want to then. INTERIM GIMMICKERY It isn’t expected that the changeover to the production and presentation of a film of greater scope will be completed in a matter of months, but it should be defi- nitely in prospect so that the business may have a definite objective to guide its plan- ning. One year of wild confusion ought to be plenty. At this moment we have certain produc- tions with sound on four magnetic tracks, others with the single optical track. And ( Continued on page 50) 46 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 6, 1954 f Today’s theatre-goer expects LIVING ROOM COMFORT He wants a chair he can relax in, just like the one at home Heywood- Wakefield’s famous TC 706 AIRFLO is as comfortable as the average patron’s own easy chair at home. The reclining AIRFLO chair has the “rocking action” of the exclusive Heywood -Wakefield spring action mechanism. By virtue of this mechanism the AIRFLO retains the scientifically correct pitch of seat-to-back regardless of how the patron shifts his weight or position. For further information contact your Heywood-Wakefield representative or write for the fully illustrated catalogue on Heywood-Wakefield Theatre Chairs. Comfort is our business . . . in theatre seating as in Heywood' s famous household furniture, like the Old Colony platform rocker at top. Theatre Seating Division Menominee , Michigan Sales Offices: Baltimore , Boston , Chicago, New York HEYWOOD- WAKEFIELD BETTER THEATRES SECTION 47 Drive-In Designed for "Daylight" Projection To enable drive-ins to open by 7 o’clock — particularly in areas where long twilight periods in the summer prevent it — a “daylight” theatre, employing rear projection and a specially treated screen has been designed by Cordon F. White, contractor of Ottawa, Canada. Here the system is described as recently applied in construction of the new Trafalgar drive-in theatre at Oakville, which is near Toronto. IN some parts of the country long twilight periods are the rule during summer, and as a result some drive- in theatres are able to offer only one show an evening — and that a late one. A solu- tion to this problem has been offered in the form of a “daylight” screen system designed by Gordon F. White, contractor of Ottawa, Canada. Mr. White is now connected with the Perkins Electric Com- pany, Ltd., Montreal, in the design and equipping of new drive-ins to accommodate the system. The first theatre especially built for this purpose is the Trafalgar drive-in at Oak- ville, which is about 20 miles from Toronto. It was opened on Labor Day last year by owners Mr. and Mrs. J. T. Waitier, who have operated the Crown theatre in Harriston, Ont., and who are managing the new drive-in themselves. In explaining how he came to develop the “daylight” screen, Mr. White points out that such a screen was used by the military to show motion pictures on trucks during the day so that the enemy would not see troop positions at night. Such screens were, however, technically imper- fect, according to Mr. White; the “day- light” screen offered by him and Perkins Electric is a development from that screen. Under the plans devised for drive-ins, a transparent screen is mounted at the open end of a building, and the projection room is constructed behind the screen, requiring rear projecion. The entire space between the booth and the screen is enclosed to house the projection beam. To shield the The main building of the Trafalgar drive-in is shown in process of construction above. In front is the steel framework of the extending hood, which protects the screen from extraneous light. On the ground level floor are a refreshment stand, manager's apartment and rest rooms. The plan for the "daylight" screen sys- tem at the Trafalgar drive-in at Oakville is indicated in the drawing of the upper floor of the main building above. The projection booth is placed behind the screen, in front of which a large hood spreads to protect it from direct sunlight rays. The entire space between the booth and the screen is enclosed. screen from direct sunlight rays, a large hood spreads out in front of it. It is pointed out that the overall struc- ture of the “daylight” drive-in is similar to that of conventional drive-ins, the main difference being that the projection booth is not visible to patrons and the tower has been lengthened to house the projection beam. Ramp design for the “daylight” scheme is the same as that for conventional drive-ins and, according to Mr. White, existing drive-ins could easily convert to the new system. The capacity of the Tra- falgar is now 500 cars with room for expansion to as much as 800. SCREEN CONSTRUCTION The screen used is molded of a plastic composition (ethylcellulose and cellulose acetate). After mounting on a rigid frame, it is stretched with equal tension in all directions and is allowed to “set” in this condition before additional processing. The next step is application of a polar- ized plastic finishing coat. Prior to its application, a projector is set up behind the screen. A typical field of projector illumi- nation is focused on the rear surface, which has been given a light “frosting.” By means of a foot-candle meter, variances in the light field are noted, and the thick- ness of the polarizing coat is varied accord- ing to those readings to produce uniform illumination over the entire screen area. The polarizing medium is a liquid with plastic bases of the same material as the transparent screen. Ingredients are added to this base to cause the material, when 48 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 6, 1954 sprayed on the screen and exposed to air, to harden into microscopic polarizing crystals. (When viewed at a magnification of 700, these crystals appear like miniature telephone poles dropped at random into a heap.) As thicker coatings are applied, the crystals are more numerous. Thus trans- mission of light from the inner to the audience side of the screen is varied to pro- duce a flat field of picture illumination. Mr. White explains that the relative sharpness which he claims for pictures thus exhibited is due to action of the “polariz- ing” crystals. He says that each polarized crystal assumes a luminescent character, thus originating its own light source and acting somewhat like a camera lens ; and that the size of the crystals acts to break up the projected images of the silver grains of the film image, resulting in a projected picture that is without photographic “grain.” The screen is washable with soap and water and is rated as flame resistant — it will burn, but very slowly. The projection and screen structure is engineered to stand winds up to 90 miles an hour. The size of the picture at the Trafalgar is 44 by 31 feet, and the length of throw from the projection booth in the rear is about 60 feet. Standard projectors are used with lenses of short focal length and a prism is incorporated into the optical to reverse the pictures to normal direction. While a mirror might have served the same purpose, Mr. White points out, it would have resulted in greater light loss than a prism causes, and also would have produced a “hot” spot. The picture is illuminated by arc lamps burned at approximately 100 amperes. The entire projection equipment is com- Side view of the Trafalgar drive-in's main build- ing during construction. The projection booth is on the top floor at the left, while the screen is on the far right (not visible). The enclosed area between houses the projection beam. pletely enclosed in a three-story building. There is room enough in the booth for two sets of equipment, and it is planned to have another projector placed on an adjoining side for wide-screen presentation, ports for which have already been installed. (See photo.) Also housed in this building are a refreshment stand, an apartment and rest rooms. In addition to the advantage to drive-in operators of having two shows an evening instead of one, Mr. White points out other benefits the system offers. For one thing, he says, underground cables do not have to be laid from the projection booth to the screen tower. For another, utilization of the drive-in twice a night means the capac- ity can be kept down with less speakers in a smaller area. BUT... it would cost you MORE ! It would cost you more because it wouldn't last as long ... It would cost you more because failure of your underground wire means dead speakers which are dead loss to you ... It would cost you more because digging up, removing and replacing inefficient underground wire is very expensive. Rear view of the main building at the Trafalgar drive-in during construction, showing additional projec- tion ports designed to be used for standard wide-screen projection. This half of the theatre will be built at a future date. Don't look for a cheap under- ground wire — there's no such thing! Be sure to buy TELESEAL, the most ECONOMICAL under- ground wire. Millions of feet of TELESEAL have been time tested and proved in drive-ins over the years. TELESEAL is your best insurance for constant, efficient perform- ance. Order it by name from your theater supply house. WHITNEY BLAKE CO. K a® Wel, Built wires <™> Since 1899 NEW HAVEN 14, CONN. BETTER THEATRES SECTION 49 You GAIN in every way f Any speaker can be re- ' coned. ~ A speaker can be reconed ^ again and again. ^ Outdoor theatre speakers * are reconed with weather- proof components. The performance of Re- ^ coned Speakers is equally as good, and in many cases better than original speakers. 5 Reconing costs less. WHO recones speakers? There is a reconing station located near you. Write today UJflLDOm ELECTRONICS INC. 909 B. Larrabee St., Chicago 10, Illinois Suppliers of Component Parts to Speaker Reconers All Sizes of Theatres Going Stereophonic ( Continued from Page 46) effort being made on the one hand to com- pose the four tracks for one channel of re- production ; and an attempt on the other hand to split the single optical track for three-channel reproduction! Some pro- ducers insist upon stereophonic sound ; others are reported to be indifferent, and in some instances reluctant to go to the trouble. And as we have noted above, some of the smallest theatres have promptly ob- tained stereophonic equipment, while some of the larger theatres are the scenes of ex- periment in avoiding it. Perhaps that situation can be classified as regrowing pains. Understandable it cer- tainly is that gimmicks of one kind and another may be resorted to while waiting for delivery of the equipment, or working out financial problems created by it. If the situation does not develop an inclination to hedge on the movement that the industry so encouragingly started last year, it rep- resents being only practical. Being practical, we should not lose sight of the fact that the so-called “new tech- niques” are concerned with the theatre. M ovie film can be “run off” on TV. Motion pictures with stereophonic sound are quite an old story among electronics engineers working in the field of sound recording and reproduction. It has long been expected that the industry would adopt it one day. Some have said it was inevitable. Even if it were now to be sloughed off in decisions to do as little as possible about the art, it probably would return another day. As the man said, you can’t stop progress. Wide Screen Means Bigger B. 0. Our All-Purpose Stereo Screen Has All These Features: • Excellent for 3-D, 2-D, and all wide-screen systems. • 3.5 to I brightness gain over flat white screen. • New type invisible seams — will not show in picture • L0WEST PRICE EVER- Qn|y gQc SQ pT Theatres everywhere report increased business with W-l-D-E SCREEN Stereophonic sound installations of the Altec Ser- vice Corporation are recorded at the company's home office of E. O. Wilschke, operating manager. Entries are made daily to provide an exact record of field operations. Shown entering a theatre in a new location with a stereophonic sound installa- tion is A. J. Rademacher, assistant operating manager, in the presence of L. D. Netter, Jr., general sales manager. j Prompt Shipments on Wide Angle Lenses — Order Now! "The Department Store of the Motion Picture Industry .” S O S. CINEMA SUPPLY CORP. Dept. A, 602 W. 52 St., N. Y. 19 Cable: SOSOUND 50 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 6, 1954 about Products . . ★ news and views of the market and its suurces of supply 4-Inch In-Car Speaker With Housing of Tenite a 4-inch in-car speaker for drive-ins with a case constructed of Tenite II, has been marketed by Theatre Specialties, Inc., Los Angeles. The speaker is trade-named the “Bevelite Jewel-Tone.” The speaker and volume control are mounted on a single yoke which can be removed or replaced, the manufacturer points out, in a matter of seconds without special tools or soldering equipment. This is achieved through the use of “quick-dis- connect” wrist-lock connections, a new type of electrical contacts. (See drawings.) The speaker housing is constructed entirely of Tenite II, a development of the Tennessee Eastman Corporation. The case is designed to provide complete weather protection to the speaker without diminish- ing its tone quality. The junction box for the speaker is illuminated and has a die-cast aluminum base with a cover of Tenite II. Simple removal of the cover makes all interior connections easily accessible. Wings For Enlarging Boyer Screen Towers development of stand- ard prefabricated wing sections to convert existing Boyer drive-in screen towers for projection of wide-screen films has been announced by the Ballantyne Company, Omaha. The wing sections are available in 8- and 12-foot widths. In announcing the new units, R. S. Ballantyne, company president, also reports that the firm is equipped to convert Boyer towers currently in use to giant curved screens through engineering changes that can be made on the site. Other types of screen towers can be converted at a some- what higher cost, Mr. Ballantyne added. Full information, prices and engineering data can be secured by contacting Ballan- tyne dealers or writing directly to the com- pany at 1712 Jackson Street. Two New Patterns for Spun Saran Upholstery TWO NEW patterns in its Spun Saran upholstery fabrics, which are designed to look and feel like wool, have been introduced by Bolta Products Sales, Inc., Lawrence, Mass. One pattern, “Con- tour,” features a large, curved, swirling design that simulates frieze; while the other, “Parkay,” is a geometric design. Woven entirely of Bolta’s saran fibres, the Spun Saran material is designed to com- bine the durability of the toughest grade saran with the appearance and texture of wool. It can be cleaned with a damp, soapy sponge or with any detergent or upholstery cleaner. The company points out that it has special stain-resistant qualities, with The "Parkay" pattern in Spun Saran. such agents as iodine, mustard, ink and black liquid shoe polish removable by sponging the material with soap and water. In addition the company states that the fabric is impervious to moisture and that the colors, being an integral part of the i he "Contour" pattern in spun Saran. fibres, cannot run, wear off or rub off “even when the material is damp or wet.” The two new patterns are now being produced in colors of Persimmon, Sage BETTER THEATRES SECTION 51 ^u/wibomn MOTOR GENERATORS A quality product built especially tor motion picture projection service. The model shown above is intended for wide screen service and is available in 60 volts — 145 amperes, 80 volts — 135 amperes. These units may be operated on a continuous basis at these ratings. 'ROBIN-ARC’ 3-Phase Selenium RECTIFIER Engineered for Wide Screen and 3-D Projection Systems A dependable, efficient, uniform D.C. power source. Engineered by pioneers in the motion picture field. Designed specifically for 3-D and wide-screen projection. Immediate Delivery Write, zirire or phone for details Sold through independent supply dealers J. E. ROBIN, INC. Motion Picture Equipment Specialists 26 7 Rhode Island Avenue EAST ORANGE, N. J. Manufacturers of RECTIFIERS • MOTOR-GENERATORS SCREENS • PROJECTION LENSES Green, Spring Green, Toast, Sandalwood and Canary Yellow. Spun Saran is also available in patterns “Trend” and “Hob- nail,” contemporary designs. New Flutter Meter For Film Studio Use A flutter meter de- signed to measure small frequency varia- tions of a given carrier frequency for use in motion picture studio work has been placed on the market by G. B-Kalee, Ltd., London, England. It is being distributed in the United States by the S. O. S. Cinema supply Corporation, New York. If the meter is provided with a signal of the correct frequency and of suitable amplitude from a film soundhead, the com- pany points out, then variations from con- stant speed of the recording and/or repro- ducing machine can be measured. The instrument operates at a nominal carrier frequency of 3,000 cycles per second, but will tolerate up to 5% variation in mean carrier frequency, thus enabling measure- ments to be made on machines that are running off speed, or using films or discs whose recorded 3,000 cycle tone is wrong. The meter consists of a narrow band amplifier, a limiter, a discriminator and detector, and a metering system, the whole unit being self-contained with its own power supplies. The input amplifier is tuned to 3,000 c.p.s. and has a band width of 1,000 c.p.s. It is provided with an input control for adjusting signal level. An amplitude limiter, which eliminates effects caused by signal level variations, is followed by a power amplifier which drives a discriminator operating at a mean fre- quency of 3 kilocycles. The discriminator may be tuned from 2,850 c.p.s. to 3,150 c.p.s. to accommodate variations in mean carrier frequency, as mentioned above. The error in the input frequency expressed as a percentage of speed is indicated on a suit- ( Continued on page 55) KoM Kurds' WILL HELP SAVE THEM! Retractile cords eliminate those accidental speaker losses in drive-ins caused by cars hooking into looping, drooping straight cords. KOILED KORDS are compact, retractile speaker cords that extend to six times their coiled length, then retract against the speaker standard to their neat spring-like shape that no car can hook. KOILED KORDS add to the well- equipped feeling that all good drive- ins strive for. They are so neat, so compact. KOILED KORDS are long lasting and the tough neoprene jacket withstands sunshine or storm, high or low temperatures without failing. Whenever you buy new speakers be sure to specify KOILED KORDS, but start now by replacing your straight cords as required with KOILED KORDS. See your theater equipment dealer. INCORPORATED LAAAAAAAAAAA BOX K, Hamden, Connecticut *Trade Mark of Koiled Kords, Inc. 2 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 6, 1954 THE MART Index to Products Advertised & Described in this issue, with • Dealer directory • Convenient inquiry postcard Firms are numbered fer easy ideettf cation In using postcard. Dealer indications refer to listing on following page. ADVERTISERS NOTE: See small type under advertiser's name for proper reference number where more than one kind of product is advertised. Reference Adv. Number Page 1 — Adler Silhouette Letter Co 59 Changeable letter signs: Front lighted panels for drive-ins (IA), back lighted panels IB), and changeable letters (1C). All dealers. 2 — American Playground Co 18 Drive-in playground equipment. Direct. 3 — American Seating Co 63 Drive-in stadium seating. NTS and direct. 4 — Ampex Corp 23 Stereophonic sound system. Direct. 5 — Armour & Co., Fresh & Smoked Sausage Dept 29 Frankfurters. Direct. 6 — Arvin Industries, Inc 25 Drive-in in-car heaters. Direct. 7 — Ashcraft Mfg. Co., C. S 56 Projection arc lamps. Unaffiliated dealers. 8 — Ballantyne Co., The 24 Drive-in in-car speakers. Dealers I, 3, 8, 10, 18, 19, 20, 34. 36. 43. 37. 64. 72. 74. 87, 89. 94, 100, 103, 108, 111. 119, 125, 129, 130, 132. 9 — Bausch & Lomb Optical Corp 26 Projection lenses. Direct and branches and dealers in all major cities. 10 — Carbons, Inc 22 Projection carbons. Franchise dealers. 11 — Coca-Cola Co., Inc Second Cover Soft drinks (I I A), beverage dispensers (MB). Branches in principal cities. 12 — Concession Supply Co 32 Refreshment and playground equipment distributors. 13 — Connolly, Inc., J. J 37 Frankfurter grill. Direct. 14 — Dad's Root Beer Co 30 Soft drinks (I4A), beverage dispensers (I4B). Direct. 15 — F & Y Building Service, The 44 Architectural design and building service. 16 — First-American Products, Inc 3 Wide-screen frames (I6A), stereophonic speakers. (I6B), drive-in screen towers (I6C), drive-in screen paint (I6D). drive-in illuminated directional signs (I6E), drive-in underground wire (I6F), drive-in speaker cords (I6G), drag brooms for drive-ins (I6H), ladders (161), porthole and lamp- house blowers (I6J), projection cooling systems (I6K), changeable attraction letters (I6L), refresh- ment counters and equipment (I6M), screen paint (I6N). All dealers. 17 — General Register Corp 65 Ticket issuing machines (I7A), ticket taker (I7B). Unaffiliated dealers. 18 — Griggs Equipment Co 59 Auditorium chairs. Direct. 19 — Heywood-Wakefield Co 47 Auditorium chairs. Dealers 8. 10, 23, 31, 54. 97, 101, 125 and branches. 20 — Ideal Seating Co 66 Auditorium chairs, Unafhliated dealers. 21 — International Projector Corp Fourth Cover Complete projection and sound system. 22 — Koiled-Kords, Inc 52 Self-coiling cords for in-car speakers. All dealers and Graybar Electric Corp. 23 — Kollmorgen Optical Corp 57 Projection lenses. NTS and all dealers. 24 — LaVezzi Machine Works 6 Projector parts. All dealers. 25 — Manley, Inc 31 Popcorn machines (25A), popcorn seasoning (25B), popcorn (250, popcorn bags and boxes (25D), bev- erage dispensers (25E), frankfurter and bun warm- ers (25F). hamburger grills (25G). Offices In principal cities. 26 — Miniature Train Co 8 Drive-in playground equipment. Direct. Reference Adv. Number Page 27 — Miracle Whirl Sales Co 6 Drive-in playground equipment. Direct. 28 — Motiograph, Inc II Complete sound and projection system (28A). motor- generators (28B), in-car speakers (28C), theatre television (28D). Dealers 8. 10, 12, 26. 29, 31, 33, 35, 39. 49. 51. 55, 57, 67, 72, 82. 87, 96, 100, 105, 106. 110, 113, 119, 125, 126, 128. 29 — National Carbon Co., Inc 4 Projection carbons. All dealers. 30 — National Super Service Co., Inc 63 Vacuum cleaners. All dealers. 31 — National Theatre Supply 20,55 Distributors. 32 — Nestle Co 33 Candy. Direct. 33 — Open Air Development Corp. of America. 12 Drive-in projection screen. Direct. 34 — Poblocki & Sons 66 Drive-in projection screens. NTS. 35 — Projection Optics Co 44 Projection lenses. Distributor: Raytone Screen Corp. 36 — Radio Corp. of America 7 Stereophonic sound system. Dealers marked*. 37 — Raytone Screen Corp 24,46 Drive-in screen paint (37A), projection screens (37B). Direct. 38 — RCA Service Co 46 Projection and sound equipment maintenance service. 39 — Robin, Inc., J. E 52 Wide-screens (39A), motor-generators (39B), pro- jection lenses (39C). rectifiers (39D). Direct. 40 — S. O. S. Cinema Supply Corp 50 Distributors. 41 — Simonin's Sons, Inc., C. F 32,34 Popcorn seasoning. Unaffiliated dealers. 42 — Stewart-Trans-Lux Corp 5 Projection screens. Direct. 43 — Strong Electric Corp., The 45 Rectifiers. Dealers I, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9. 10, 12, 13, 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 23. 24. 25. 27. 31. 34. 35, 36. 38. 39. 40, 41. 42. 43. 45. 46. 48. 49. 52. 53. 54. 55, 56. 57 . 58, 60, 61. 62, 64. 65, 67. 69. 72. 73. 74. 75, 76, 77. 78. 80. 81. 87. 88, 89. 90, 93, 94. 95. 97. 99, 100, 101, 102. 103, 104. 106. 108. 109. 110, III, 112, 113, 114, 121. 126. 127, 128. 129. 44 — Theatre Seat Service, Inc 50 Theatre chair rehabilitation service. Direct. 45 — Theatre Specialties, Inc 19 In-car speakers. Unaffiliated dealers. 46 — Waldom Electronics, Inc 50 In-car speaker reconing. Direct. 47 — Wagner Sign Service, Inc 66 Attraction frames (47A), glass windows (47B), enamel panels for drive-in signs (470, plastic letters (47D). Dealers I. 8, 10. 12. 13, 14. 15. 16. 20. 21, 22, 23. 24, 25, 27, 28, 29. 31, 33, 34, 35. 39, 40. 41. 42, 43. 49, 51, 52, 54, 55. 57, 58, 60. 62, 64. 65, 66, 67 69. 70. 71. 72. 74, 76, 77, 81. 83, 85, 86, 87. 88. 94, 96. 97. 101, 102, 103, 104, 109. HO. 113. 114. 115, 116. 117, 119. |2I. 125. 126, 127 and NTS Detroit. 48 — Westrex Corp 9 Foreign distributors. 49 — Whitney-Blake Co., The 49 Non-conduit speaker system cable for drive-in the- atres. Distributors: Graybar Electric Corp. 50 — Williams Screen Co...' 59 Projection screens. Direct. EDITORIALLY . . . CHINESE EGG ROLLS, page 30 Pre-cooked, frozen food novelty for drive-in re- freshment stands marketed by Temple's Frosted Foods, Inc. Postcard reference number E5I. M ILK DISPENSERS, page 32 New models of automatic coin dispensers for three different milk beverages, announced by Cedar Hill Farms, Inc. Postcard reference number E52. 4-INCH IN-CAR SPEAKERS, page 51 In-car speakers for drive-ins with case of Tenite II from Theatre Specialties, Inc. Postcard reference number 45. SCREEN TOWER WINGS, page 51 Wing sections to convert Boyer drive-in screen towers for wide-screen announced by the Ballantyne Company. Postcard reference number 8A. WEATHER-RESISTANT SPEAKERS, page 55 New line of in-car speaker equipment with spe- cial weatherproof features from Motiograph, Inc. Postcard reference number 28C. PAINTS FOR DRIVE-INS. page 56 New paints and color schemes for their use at drive-in theatres marketed by Spatz Paint Industries. Postcard reference number E53. For furthr information concerning products referred to on this page, write corresponding numbers and your name and address, in spaces provided on the postcard attached below, and mail. Card requires no addressing or postage. TO BETTER THEATRES Service Department: Please have literature, prices, etc., sent to me according to the following reference numbers in the February 1954 issue — NAME- THEATRE or CIRCUIT. STREET ADDRESS CITY STATE, Theatre Supply Dealers Dealers in the United States listed alphabetically by states, numbered or other- wise marked for cross-reference from Index of Advertisers on preceding page ALABAMA 1 — Queen Feature Service, 1912'/, Morris Ave., Birmingham. ARIZONA 2— Girard Theatre Supply, 532 W. Van Buren St, Phoenix. ARKANSAS 3 — Arkansas Theatre Supply, 1008 Main St.. Little Reck. 4— Theatre Supply Ce.. 1021 Grand Ave., Fort Smith. CALIFORNIA Fresno: 5— Ml delate Theatre Supply. 1906 Thomas. Let Angeles: 6— John P. Filbert, 2007 8. Vermont Ave.* National Theatre Supply. 1961 S. Vermont Ave. 7 — Petnbrex Theatre Supply, I960 S. Vermont Ave. 0— B. F. Shearer, 1964 S. Vermont Ave. San Francisco: National Theatre Supply. 255 Golden Gate Ave. 9— Preddey Theatre Supplies, 187 Golden Gate Ave. 10— B. F. Shearer, 243 Golden Gate Ave. 131— United Theatre Supply. 112 Golden Gate Ave. 11— Western Theatrical Equipment. 337 Golden Gate Ave.* COLORADO Denver: National Theatre Supply, 2111 Champa 8L 12 — Service Theatre Supply, 2054 Broadway. 13— Western Service & Supply. 2120 Broadway.* CONNECTICUT New Haven: National Theatre Supply, 122 Meadow SL DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA (Washington) 14 — Brlent & Sons. 925 New Jersey Ave., N. W. 15— Bon Lust. 1001 New Jersey Ave.. N. W. 130— R & S Theatre Supply. 920 New Jersey Ave., N. W. FLORIDA 16— Jo« Hornsteln, 273 W. Flagler St.. Miami. 17 — Southeastern Equipment, 206 E. Bay St., Jacksonville.* 18— United Theatre Supply, 110 Franklin St., Tampa. 19— United Theatre Supply. 329 W. Flagler St., Miami.* GEORGIA Albany: 20— Dixie Theatre Sorvice L Supply, 1010 N. Slappey Dr. Atlanta: 21 — Capital City Supply, 161 Walton St.. N. W. National Theatre Supply, 187 Walton SL, N. W. 22 — Southeastern Theatre Equipment, 201-3 Luckie St., N. W.* 23— WII-KIn Theatre Supply. 301 North Ave., N. E. ILLNOIS Chicago: 24 — Abbott Theatre Supply, 131 1 S. Wabash Ave.* 25 — G. C. Anders Co.. 317 S. Sangamon St. 26— Gardner Theatre Service, 1235 S. Wabash Ave. 27 — Movie Supply. 1318 S. Wabash Ave. National Theatre Supply, 1325 S. Wabash Ave. INDIANA Evansville: 23 — Evansville Theatre Supply, 2900 E. Chandler Ave. Indianapolis: 29— Ger-Bar, Ine.. 442 N. Illinois St. 30 — Mid-West Theatre Supply Company, 448 N. Illinois St.* National Theatre Supply, 436 N. Illinois St. IOWA Des Moines: 31 — Des Moines Theatre Supply, 1121 High SL National Theatre Supply. 1102 Hlgb SL KANSAS Wichita: 32 — Southwest Theatre EquIpmenL P. 0. Box 2138. KENTUCKY Louisville: 33 — Fall, City Theatre EquIpmenL 427 S. Third St. 34 — Haddea Theatre 8upply, 200 9. 3rd SL LOUISIANA New Orleans: 35— Hodges Theatre Supply, 1309 Cleveland Ave. 36 — Johnson Theatre Service, 223 S. Liberty SL National Theatre Supply. 220 S. Liberty SL 37 — Southeastern Theatre Equlpmoat, 214 S. Liberty SL* Shreveport: 38 — Aloo Boyd Theatre Equipment, P. 0. Box 362. MARYLAND Baltimore: 39— J. F. Dusmaa Co.. 12 East 25th SL National Theatre Supply, 417 SL Paul Place. MASSACHUSETTS Boston: 40 — Capitol Theatre Supply. 28 Piedmont SL* 41 — Joe Clfro, 44 Winchester SL 42 — Independent Theatre Supply, 28 Winchester SL 43 — Massachusetts Theatre EquIpmenL 20 Piedmont St. National Theatre Supply. 37 Winchester SL 44 — Standard Theatre Supply, 78 Broadway. 45— Theatre Sorvles A Supply, SO Piedmont SL MICHIGAN Detroit: 46 — Amusement 8upply, 208 W. Montcalm SL 47 — Ernie Forbes Theatre Supply. 214 W. Montcalm St. 48 — McArthur Theatre Equipment, 454 W. Columbia St. National Theatre Supply, 2312-14 Cass Ave. Grand Rapids: 49 — Ringold Theatre EquipmenL 106 Michigan St., N. W. MINNESOTA Minneapolis: 50 — Elliott Theatre EquipmenL 1110 Nicollet Ave. 51 — Frosoh Theatre Supply. 1 1 II Currie Ave.* 52 — Minneapolis Theatre Supply, 75 Glenwood Ave. National Theatre Supply, 56 Glenwood Ave. 53 — Western Theatre EquipmenL 45 Glenwood Ave. MISSOURI Kansas City: 54 — Missouri Theatre Supply. 115 W. 18th St.* National Theatre Supply. 223 W. 18th St. 55 — Shreve Theatre Supply. 217 W. 18th St. 56 — Stebblns Theatre EquipmenL 1804 Wyandotte St. St. Louis: 57 — McCarty Theatre Supply. 3330 Olive St. National Theatre Supply. 3212 Oliva SL 58 — St. Louis Theatre Supply Co., 3310 Olivo SL* MONTANA 59 — Montana Theatre Supply, Missoula. NEBRASKA Omaha: 60 — Ballantyne Co.. 1712 Jackson SL National Theatre Supply, 1610 Davenport SL 61 — Quality Theatre Supply. 1515 Davenport SL 62 — Western Theatre Supply. 214 N. 15th SL* NEW MEXICO 63 — Eastern New Mexico Theatre Supply, Box 1009, Clovis. NEW YORK Albany: 64 — Albany Theatre Supply, 443 N. Pearl. National Theatre Supply, 962 Broadway. Auburn: 65 — Auburn Theatre EquipmenL 6 Court St. Buffalo: 66 — Eastern Theatre Supply. 496 Pearl SL* National Theatre Supply, 498 Pearl SL 67 — Perkins Theatre Supply, 505 Pearl SL 68— United Projector A Film. 228 Franklin St. BUSINESS REPLY CARD No Postage Stamp Necessary If Mailed in the United States Postage will be paid by — QUIGLEY PUBLISHING COMPANY ROCKEFELLER CENTER 1270 SIXTH AVENUE NEW YORK 20, N. Y. FIRST CLASS (See. 34.9, P.L&R.) PERMIT NO. 8894 NEW YORK, N. Y. New York City: 69 — Amusement Supply. 341 W. 44th SL 70 — Capitol Motion Picture Supply. 630 Ninth Ave. 71 — Crown Motion Picture Supplies, 354 W. 44th St. 72 — Joe Hornstein, 630 Ninth Ave. National Theatre Supply, 356 W. 44th SL 132— Norpat Sales. Inc., 113 W. 42nd SL 73 — S.O.S. Cinema Supply, 602 W. 52nd SL 74 — Star Cinema Supply, 447 W. 52nd St. Syracuse: 75 — Central N. Y. Theatre Supply, 210 N. Salina St. NORTH CAROLINA Charlotte: 76 — Bryant Theatre Supply, 227 S. Church St 77 — Charlotte Theatre Supply, 116 S. Poplar. 78 — Dixie Theatre Supply, 213 W. 3rd SL National Theatre Supply, 304 S- Church SL 79 — Southeastern Theatre EquipmenL 209 S. Poplar St.* 80 — Standard Theatre Supply, 219 S. Church SL 81 — Theatre Equipment Co., 220 S. Poplar SL 82 — Kil-Kin Theatre Supply, 229 S. Church SL Greensboro: 83 — Standard Theatre Supply. 215 E. Washington St. 84 — Theatre Suppliers, 304 S. Davit SL OHIO Akron: 85 — Akron Theatre Supply, 120 E. Market SL Cincinnati: 86— Mid- West Theatre Supply, 1638 Central Parkway.* National Theatre Supply, 1637 Central Parkway. Cleveland: National Theatre Supply, 2128 Payne Ave. 87 — Ohio Theatre EquipmenL 2108 Payno Ave. 88 — Oliver Theatre Supply. E. 23rd and Payne Ave.* Columbus: 89 — American Theatre Equipment, 165 N. High St. 96— Mid-West Theatre Supply, 962 W. Third Avo. Dayton: 91— Dayton Theatre Supply. Ill Velkenand 8t. 92 — Sheldon Theatre Supply, 627 Salem Ave. Toledo: 93 — American Theatre Supply, 439 Dorr St. 94 — Theatre Equipment Co., 1206 Cherry St. OKLAHOMA Oklahoma City: 95 — Century Theatre 8upply Co.. 20 N. Lea SL 96 — Howell Theatre Supplies, 12 S. Walker Ave. National Theatre Supply, 760 W. Grand Ave. 97 — Oklahoma Theatre Supply, 628 W. Grand Ave.* OREGON Portland: 98 — Modern Theatre Supply, 1935 N. W. Kearney SL* 99 — Portland Motion Picture Supply, 916 N. W. (9th SL 100— B. F. Shearer, 1947 N. W. Kearney St. 101 — Inter-State Theatre Equipment, 1923 N. W. Kearney St. PENNSYLVANIA Philadelphia: 102 — Blumberg Bros. 1305-07 Vine SL* National Theatre Supply Ce., 1225 Vine SL 103 — Superior Theatre EquipmenL 1316 Vine SL Pittsburgh: 104 — Alexander Theatre 8upply, 84 Van Bramm St.* 105 — Atlas Theatre Supply, 402 Milteaberger SL National Theatre Supply, 1721 Blvd. of Allies. Wilkes Barre: 106 — Vincent M. Tate, 1620 Wyoming Ave., Ferty-ForL RHODE ISLAND 107 — Rhode Island Supply, 367 Wectmincter St.. Providence. SOUTH DAKOTA 103— American Theatre Supply. 316 S. Main SL, Sioux City. TENNESSEE Memphis: 109 — Monarch Theatre Supply. 492 S. Second SL* National Theatre Supply, 412 S. Second SL HO— Tri-State Theatre Supply. 818 S. Seeond SL TEXAS Dallas 111 — Hardin Theatre Supply. 714 South Hampton Rd. 1 12 — Her her Bros., 408 8. Harwood SL 113— Modern Theatre EquipmenL 1918 Jackson 8L National Theatre Supply, 800 8. Harwood 8L 114 — Southwestern Theatre EquipmenL 2010 Jnekson SL* US— Sterling Sales & Service, 2818 Jackson SL Houston: 1 1 6 — Southwestern Theatre EquipmenL 1822 Austin St.* San Antonio: 117— Alame Theatre Supply, 1303 Alamotee 8L UTAH Salt Lake City: I IS— latermeantala Theatre Supply, 284 E. First South SL 119— Sorvles Theatre Supply, 288 E. First South SL 128— Wester* Sound * Equlpmoat 884 E. First South SL* VIRGINIA 121— Norfolk Theatre Supply, 2700 Colley Are., Norfolk. WASHINGTON Seattle: 122 — American Theatre Supply, 2980 First Ave., at Bell St. 123 — Inter-State Theatre Equipment Ce.. 2224 Second Ave. 124 — Modern Theatre Supply. 2400 Third Ave.* National Theatre Supply. 2310 Second 8L 125— B. F. Shearer. 2318 Second Ave. WEST VIRGINIA 128 — Charleston Theatre Supply, 588 Lee St., Charleston. WISCONSIN Milwaukee: 127— Manhardt Co., 1705 W. Clybourn SL* National Theatre Supply, 1027 N. Eighth SL 128— Ray 8mlth. 710 W. State 8L ISO— Theatre Equipment * Supply. 041 N. Seventh SL f (Continued from page 52) able scale. The input signal level at the discriminator, which is set up on a meter by means of a control in the limiter circuit, is maintained constant by the limiter, thus ensuring correct operation and constant sensitivity of the discriminator. Weather-Resistant Line Of In-Car Speakers • A new line of in-car speaker equipment designed with special weather-resistant features has been mar- keted by Motiograph, Inc., Chicago. The face of the speaker units is covered by a taut linen cover (called a “raincoat”) impregnated with a water-proof and dust- proof chemical designed to prevent mois- ture, grit and dust from reaching the speaker cone. Trade-named the “Rainmaster Series,” the equipment has all metal parts of the speaker units and volume control specially plated to resist corrosion. The speaker unit is 4 inches in diameter. The housing is made of two pieces of light but strong die- cast aluminum. It has a two-tone finish. The speaker has only five parts, with simplicity of construction permitting easy maintenance. There are no cork pads or springs to deteriorate. The speaker unit is firmly screwed to the speaker case to pre- vent rattle. Either a plain or coiled cord is available. The Motiograph junction box has a strong aluminum base casting that may be quickly and easily attached with one screw to pipe supports of from 2 to 2-H$ inches without the necessity of purchasing pipe flanges or threading the pipe support. Ter- minal block light sockets, transformers and wiring are protected from the weather by light but strong aluminum covers. These components are mounted on studs higher EVERY EXHIBITOR NEEDS EVERY EXHIBITOR NEEDS STEREOPHONIC SOUND ! BETTER THEATRES SECTION 55 than the floor of the base casting to protect them from condensed moisture. The junction box has four speaker supports molded into the cover. The com- pany points out that virtually all makes and models of in-car speakers will fit the Motiograph junction box without modifica- tion or adaptation equipment. The junc- tion box is available with or without post lights. Boxes with one light with an adjustable beam can be supplied with 32- volt, 3-candle power lamp or 115-volt, 6- watt lamps can be supplied. The junction boxes are offered with multi-tapped transformers permitting exact matching of the speakers and amplifier cir- cuit, or they are available without trans- formers when the in-car speaker equipment is to be used with the Motiograph multiple amplifier sound system. Paints and Color Plans For Drive-in Theatres new paints and color schemes for their use, designed for painting an entire drive-in theatre or for decorating individual units, have been marketed by the Spatz Paint Industries, St. Louis. The company explains that the color plan, which specifies the amount and type of paint for each unit of the drive-in, is based on the assumption that the structure and the size SASHCRAFT MANUFACTURING COMPANY 36-32 Thirty-Eighth Street Long Island City 1, N. Y. THE ASHCRAFT HYDRO-ARC designed to produce MORE LIGHT at LESS EOST than any Suprex Lamp. It is the most economical and high-powered lamp for SMALL and MEDIUM DRIVE-INS We recommend the HYDRO-ARC for drive-in screens from 40 to 57 feet wide. of average drive-in theatres are similar. Each paint offered by the company is manufactured for a specific area, including the refreshment stand, rest rooms, screen, fence, posts, loud speakers, road marking and marquee. There is a special reflective paint for the screen tower and marquee, the company points out. A base-coating is brushed onto the screen tower or marquee and while the coating is still “tacky,” The new paint and color-scheme plans for drive-in theatres were introduced for the first time by the Spatz Paint Industries, Inc., at the Motion Picture Theatre Owners' Convention of Eastern Missouri and Southern Illinois held at St. Louis in December. Shown at the National Theatre Supply booth is Paul Kreuger, theatre owner now adapting the Spatz plan in construction of a new twin drive-in at St. Louis. reflective glass beads are applied with a bead gun. The paint cans are all appropriately labeled ; for example, “Concession Stand Flat for Walls,” “Rest Room Flat for Walls,” etc. Cards showing the color selections and the copies of the plans may be obtained at branches of National Theatre Supply or by writing the company (5237 Manchester, St. Louis). New In-car Speakers And Stationary Units in-car speakers in two sizes, 3y2- and 4-inch, have been marketed by First American Products, Inc., Kansas City, Mo. The smaller unit is trade- named the “Chief,” w'hile the larger is called the “Super Chief.” Louvers for the speakers are specially treated and designed to protect the cones against sun and rain, the company points out. Volume control is wholly enclosed within the speaker housing, and the con- trol shaft is elongated and knurled for easy turning. The volume control is also thoroughly insulated, it is pointed out, making the speaker “above ground,” and maintaining a constant impedance at the amplifier. The magnet and pole tip are perma- nently held in place by the tension of a spring metal cup positively positioned in place. In the “Super Chief” these parts are in addition cast in an inert mineral, which in effect makes them “set in concrete,” according to the company. Within the speaker housing every joint is cemented together with a Bakelite cement and heat cured to make a permanent water-proof IMPROVEMENTS IN PULLMAN THEATRE CLEANER An increase in horsepower to % and maximum waterlift to 75 inches are features of the 1954 model "Pullman Vacuum Cleaner," manufactured by the Pullman Vacuum Cleaner Corporation, Boston, and shown in use above to pick up popcorn and other debris in the theatre. The unit also has a new non- tilting handle on the head and a new exhaust-power blower coupling in the center of the dome. The "accordion" hose stretches up rows and under seats without fighting the operator, the company points out. 56 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 6, 1954 connection between voice coil, diaphragm, leads, suspension and metal frame. All metal parts are securely projection-welded together. The junction boxes have a cast-alumi- num body, which contains a wholly- enclosed line transformer with larger ter- minal strips to simplify “hook-up.” They are available with or without downlights and are designed to mount on 1^4- or 2- inch pipes or 2-inch tubing, making no post adapters necessary. The speakers have a two-tone finish The "Super Chief" (above) is a 4-inch in-car speaker made by First American Products, Inc., Kansas City, Mo. A 3I/2- inch model, called the "Chief," is of similar design. designed to harmonize with other popular makes and Universal brackets permit them to be hung from any make junction box presently on the market, according to the company. TWO STATIONARY SPEAKERS In addition the company manufactures a stationary post-mounted speaker for over- flow crowd areas, truck ramps, or play- grounds. This unit is contained within a two-tone finish metal housing, the interior of which is acoustically treated. It has a 6 by 9 inch speaker unit, an Alnico V magnet and built-in transformer. Wholly- enclosed volume control located at the front of the housing is adjustable only with a screwdriver to prevent tampering. It mounts on any 1 r/2- or 2-inch pipe or 2- inch tubing. For the refreshment building the com- pany has a stationary wall-mounted speaker, which can also be used in rest rooms, box- offices, projection rooms, etc. Basically the same unit as the post-mounted, car-side speaker described above, it is housed in an acoustically treated metal cast with three- directional louver openings. Standard finish is a mottled black enamel, but other colors may be specified at no additional cost. Wesfrex Multi-Track Magnetic Recorder AVAILABILITY of a new “penthouse” stereophonic modification unit for the 1035 single-track magnetic record- ing system has been announced by the Westrex Corporation, New York. The company points out that the new unit adds the facility for the recording and monitor- ing of three or four magnetic tracks to the basic single magnetic track “RA-1467A” Westrex recorder now used by a large number of motion picture studios in Holly- wood. The new conversion unit is mounted between the recorder and the reel assembly and contains a film-driven filter and the magnetic heads. The film is driven by a 32-tooth sprocket and the magnetic record- ing is regulated by the Davis drive filter. The film also passes over two impedance drums between which are located the two magnetic head assemblies. The unit does not interfere with the operation of the regular single-track magnetic system, the company explains. The film pulling mechanism of the con- version unit is floated on four rubber mountings to reduce vibration in operation and also to permit transportation of the unit without the necessity of removing the two flywheels on the impedance drum shafts. For convenience in threading the 32- KOLLiWIMtm Plant: Northampton, Mass. New York Office: COItrOltATION 30 Church Street, New York 7, N. Y. YH&W B.A. • GREATER LIGHT • GREATER CONTRAST • GREATER SHARPNESS Watch your "B. A." climb when you install Super Snaplite Lenses. Give your patrons the benefit of pictures at their best. You can't beat the Super Snaplite f/1 .9 when it comes to putting a clear, sharp picture on your screen. Super Snaplites give you a true speed of f/1 .9 in every focal length up to 7 inches. Ask for Bulletin 212. J/You Get More Light with Super Snaplite " APPEAL) ipfioj eetuw, Hmma- BETTER THEATRES SECTION 57 tooth sprocket is provided with detents, associated with both pad arms, so that when either pad arm is open, the sprocket is restrained from moving. With the film locked to one side of the sprocket, it is adjusted at the other side so that the two holes in the filter roller targets are in alignment. The recorder is normally set for the take-up reel to run clockwise. If it is The Westrex multi-track magnetic recorder. desired to have counter clockwise rotation, the take-up belt may be crossed. The mul- tiple track magnetic heads have their cir- cuits terminated in receptacles on the rear of the adapter case. The pad arms may be adjusted for film clearance by two screws which secure the base of the pad arm assembly. The impedance drums and the filter rollers have sealed ball bearings containing light oil, seldom requiring attention, while the sprocket uses large oil-less bearings rarely needing maintenance, according to the company. The idler rollers are made of nylon, which contain graphite. The unit can be supplied for multiple track stereo recording with three tracks in the ASA position, four-track CinemaScope master, or four-track CinemaScope release positions. C. B-Kalee Equipment For CinemaScope Films equipment for convert- ing to CinemaScope, including anamorphic lenses and stereophonic sound reproducing units, has been marketed by G.B-Kalee Ltd., London, England. G.B-Kalee is a company within J. Arthur Rank’s British Optical and Precision Engineers Group, which also includes Taylor, Taylor and Hobson, Ltd. (lens manufacturers) ; A. Kershaw and Sons (manufacturers of Kalee production equipment) ; and British Acoustic Films Ltd. (manufacturers of “Duosonic” sound equipment). The group exports theatre equipment to more than 40 countries. The anamorphic lens, designated Type P, was designed by Taylor, Taylor and Hobson. A standard anamorphic lens, with projection focals lengths up to 5% inches, is marketed at about $1,540 a pair. Larger anamorphic lenses in focal length of 6 inches upwards are available at about $1,792 a pair. Special mounting brackets have been designed by the BOPE in collaboration with various projection manufacturers, allowing the anamorphic lens to be swung out of position to permit a rapid change- over to conventional projection without need for refocusing. The bracket also is designed to ensure that the anamorphic lens is securely mounted on the projector and thus is free from risk of damage. The whole of BOPE optical production facil- The Gaumont-Kalee "21" projector showing the magnetic soundhead and anamorphic . lens placed in position tor CinemaScope film. ities is being devoted to maximum output of the lenses. Stereophonic sound equipment includes a “button-on” magnetic soundhead (desig- nated as Type 912) ; a four-way coupled fader (Type 905) ; a power amplifier assembly cabinet ; and auditorium speakers (Type 577). The cost of complete stereo- phonic sound equipment ranges from about PLAYGROUND AND PICNIC EQUIPMENT FOR DRIVE-IN THEATRES Equipment for drive-in theatres catering to the family trade, including picnic tables and benches for playgrounds, are shown above as manufactured by the American Playground Device Company, Nahma, Mich. The picnic tables (left) are available either in portable models or those made for setting in concrete. They are 8 feet long and will accommodate 12 persons. The benches (right) have proved popular with parents wishing to relax nearby while their children are at play. The benches have frames of 1 3/g inch gal- vanized steel pipe. 58 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 6, 1954 $7,000 to $8,400. For the time being, “Miracle Mirror” screens are imported from the United States, but arrangements are underway to manufacture them in Britain by March. Among the theatres in the United King- Mounting bracket tor the Gaumont anamorphic lens, showing how it permits swinging the lens out of position for a rapid changeover from Cinema- Scope to conventional projection. dom recently equipped for CinemaScope by G.B.-Kalee are the 300-seat Plaza in Swansea, Wales; the Caley, Edinburgh; Brighton Cinema, Newcastle; Plaza, Con- sett; Black’s Regal, Sunderland; 14 thea- tres of the Brinley Evans circuit; and three The Ga umont "Type 912" magnetic soundhead. theatres of the Essoldo circuit. Overseas CinemaScope installations have been made by the company at the Capitol in Milan; the Censa in Montevideo; and the Odeon, Singapore. (See page 68.) RCA Sound Systems In 100 More Theatres INSTALLATIONS of new RCA Stereoscope sound systems are sched- uled in 100 more theatres, maintaining a high installation rate established by the RCA Service Company, according to an announcement by A. J. Platt, manager of RCA theatre equipment sales. Among the latest theatres reported ordering new RCA equipment are the following : The Berwyn theatre, Berwyn, 111. ; Will Rogers, Century, Harding, Tivoli, Southdown, Marbro, Gateway, Granada and Regal thea- tres, all in Chicago; State, Benton Harbor, Mich.; Drake, Oil City, Pa.; Merban and Rockland, Philadelphia; Norris, Norristown, Pa.; Hollywood and Casino, Atlantic City, Clear Pictures, Free from Streaks and Objectionable Seams Permanently flexible, solid-plastic screens with silver finish, ideal for all types of projection. Practically invisible seams made by ELECTRONIC process. PRICE — $1.50 PER SQUARE FOOT. Send today jor free samples. WILLIAMS SCREEN 1675 Summit Lake Boulevard COMPANY Akron 7, Ohio SUPERIOR - x . . Comfort in GRIGGS CHAIRS Comfort — the minute they're occupied! Their Beauty sparkles! Superior construction gives years of service. WRITE FOR CATALOG GRIGGS EQUIPMENT CO. Belton, Texas For The Best Signs You'll See . . . ADLER CHANGEABLE LETTER DISPLAYS ADLER GLASS-IN-FRAME DIS- PLAYS—“REMOVA-PANEL” — “THIRD DIMENSION” PLASTIC & CAST ALUMINUM LETTERS ADLER “SECTIONAD” LOW COST CHANGEABLE LETTER DISPLAYS WRITE FOR FREE CATALOG Adler Silhouette Letter Co. 11843 b W. Olympic, Los Angeles 64, Calif. 30 West Washington, Chicago, III. Basic to an understanding of developments in film product! NEW SCREEN TECHNIQUES . . . written in non-technical language by 26 authorities on CinemaScope and other wide-screen methods, and on 3D and stereo sound. • Hailed by exhibitors, film critics and producers as a “must book” for the industry in these times. BELOW IS AN ORDER COUPON — Quigley Publishing Company, 1270 Sixth Avenue, New York 20, N. Y.— SEND COPY /COPIES OF “NEW' SCREEN TECHNIQUES” Enclosed is my NAME check or money order for $4.50 ADDRESS per copy □ Bill me □ BETTER THEATRES SECTION 59 N. J. ; Grand, Bristol, Pa.; Towne, Baltimore, Md.; Anacostia, Washington, D. C. ; Granby, Norfolk, Va.; State, Presque Isle, Me.; Moon- light, Montpelier, Vt. A1 so the Vogue, Okward, Calif.; Mesa, Mesa, Ariz.; Paramount, St. Cloud, Minn.; State, Eau Claire, Wis. ; Rivoli, LaCrosse, Wis. ; State, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio; Madison, Mansfield, Ohio; Waco, Waco, Tex.; Paramount, Ama- rillo, Tex.; Plaza, El Paso, Tex.; Paramount, Abilene, Tex.; State, Galveston, Tex.; Capitol, Brigham City, Utah; Paramount, Provo, Utah; Orpheum, Twin Falls, Idaho; Ada, Boise, Idaho; Midwest, Oklahoma City, Okla. Also the Warner, Milwaukee; Branford, Newark, N. J.; Hollywood, East Orange, N. J.; Rio, Appleton, Wis.; Sheboygan, Sheboygan, Wis.; Capitol, Lancaster, Pa.; Gewitt, Bayonne, N. J. ; Baker, Dover, N. J. ; Fabian, Paterson, N. J.; Warner, Ridgewood, N. J.; Stanley, Jersey City, N. J. ; Montauk, Passaic, N. J.; Fabian, Hoboken, N. J.; Capitol, Madison, Wis.; Majestic, East St. Louis, 111.; Lincoln, Chicago Heights, 111. Also the Crocker, Elgin, 111.; Paramount, Aurora, 111.; Patio, Freeport, 111.; Plumb Streator, 111.; LaGyange, LaGrange, 111.; Genessee, Waukeegan, 111.; Lincoln, Decatur, 111.; Grand, Alton, HI.; Paramount, Marion, Ind. ; Paramount, Hammond, Ind. ; Varsity, Evanston, 111.; and the Paramount, Kankakee, 111. New Air-Pressurized Fire Extinguishers A new line of portable fire extinguishers, using dry chemicals and pressurized by air, has been placed on the market by the American-LaFrance-Foam- ite Corporation, Elmira, N. Y. Trade-named the “Alfco Dry Chemical Fire Extinguishers,” the line consists of Models PDC-5, 10, 20 and 30, the num- bers indicating the capacities by weight of the dry chemical. The units are operated simply by pulling a pin and squeezing the lever. Among the new features of the units is the discharge nozzle which is designed to fan the dry chemical outward and down- ward in a wide pattern and with great density. When partially operated, the units can be left standing without loss of air pressure should a fire reflash before the extinguishers are recharged. Also new is the dry chemical valve which requires no special tools and contains few parts. It is equipped with a safety relief valve. The complete valve and siphon tube assembly removes as a single unit for recharging. TOILET-BOWL CLEANER Chemical tablets for use in cleaning toilet bowls, designed to act as a deodorant, a water softener, and a slime remover, have been marketed by the Peck’s Products Com- pany, St. Louis. Known as “Peck’s X-50 Automatic Toilet Bowl Cleaner,” the prod- uct is applied by dropping one tablet each week into the tank — rather than the bowl — of the toilet. The tablet dissolves slowly, working each time the toilet is flushed and keeping both tank and bowl clean, accord- ing to the manufacturer. THE NEW SCREENS Adding data not available for inclusion in the presentation on screens relative to the new techniques in the January issue. RCA "Dyna-Life" Screen By CHARLES R. UNDERHILL, Theatre Equip- ment Section, RCA Engineering Products Department rca’s answer to the screen problems posed for exhibitors by the special requirements of 3D and wide- screen pictures is the new RCA “Dyna- Lite Silver Screen.” In this product RCA combines advances in both construction and surfacing to achieve a new measure of brightness uniformity and intensity. Made of 100% Firestone Velon engi- neered to RCA specifications, the “Dyna- Lite” screen is aluminum-pigmented for high, uniform reflection characteristics. Radio-frequency heating techniques are used to seal and flatten the seams of the 50-inch wide material before the surface is aluminized, giving the screen a seamless appearance. The extra light reflection needed when projecting 3D and the peripheral vision- type pictures, to compensate for the light loss in Polaroid filters, in the first case, and to make up for the extended distribu- tion of projected light, in the other, is provided by the completely aluminized sur- face without loss of normal diffusion char- acteristics. The seam areas are smooth, flat, and in the same plane as the rest of the screen surface, thanks to the electronic sealing methods employed, and are there- fore imperceptible to the audience. With the added facts that the special- formula vinyl plastic is flameproof, tear- proof and highly moisture-resistant, we believe it is the optimum choice for showing color, black-and-white, 2D, 3D and wide- screen motion pictures. The “Dyna-Lite” is fabricated to order in all sizes up to 30 feet by 60 feet, with or without perforations. The "LuxuricT Screen Trans-Lux Corporation, New York the “luxuria” is a screen made with a plastic base and de- signed especially for 3D and wide-screen projection by the Trans-Lux Corporation, New York. The manufacturer states that the screen is being produced in sizes up to 90 feet in length and 50 feet in height and that it is in effect “seamless.” It is avail- able in a choice of three types for selection according to viewing angles. The screen is uniformly perforated ; and since there are no filaments in the perfora- tions to catch and hold dust or dirt, it is easy to clean, being washable. To produce the screen, facilities at the Stewart-Trans-Lux plant in Torrence, Calif., have been considerably enlarged. Eastern sales rights are being handled through Joe Hornstein in New York City. MUSIC HALL INSTALLS NEW "ASTROLITE" SCREEN For its first CinemaScope production, M-G-M's "Knights of the Round Table," the Radio City Music Hall in New York installed a new "Astrolite" screen measuring 70 feet wide by 32 feet high. The screen was selected after many tests by the theatre's engineers, including light meter samplings and eye-inspec- tion from all parts of the huge theatre. Made by the Radiant Manufacturing Corporation, Chicago, the "Astrolite" uses a pure silver base with billions of tiny lenses embossed into the surface. The company reports that more than 1,000 of its screens have been installed in theatres throughout the United States and Canada as well as Central America, France, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium and Mexico. 60 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 6, 1954 method in Management ★ staff supervision institutinnal advertising exploitation equipment housekeeping & maintenance hmmh and related activities beyihHiHy A DICTIONARY OF MAINTENANCE Twelfth Article in the Series: MOTION PICTURE THEATRE MANAGEMENT we come now to a phase of theatre man- agement which is re- peatedly dealt with in the columns of Better Theatres. It never- theless commands im- portant attention in this series, for there is not always an apparent relationship between maintenance and engi- neering, and the weekly profit sheet. Theatre managers must constantly bear in mind their responsibility for the physical plant of motion picture exhibition, starting with the building itself and going down the list of all the contents. The valuations on this will start at a low figure of about $25,000 and go on up to $250,000 and more. This means that the manager’s re- sponsibility extends far beyond the weekly ticket sales and the activities which press upon him daily for his close attention. Maintenance problems have a way of creeping up on one, beginning with the gradual wear and tear on materials which have a comparatively short life (such as fabrics) and extending to problems involv- ing the building itself, which should con- tinue in effective service for many years. For all these items, regardless of their life expectancy, we can derive much longer and better service if they are given proper maintenance during the period of their use. In other words, the practice of preventive maintenance will reduce both problems and ultimate expense, and extend the life of the equipment. (Incidentally, it may further By CURTIS MEES serve to lengthen the life of “the boss.’’) Replacement of valuable theatre equip- ment represents a problem of increasing importance in theatre operation. Anything which can be done to lengthen the life of this equipment, thereby staving off the time for replacement, will add to the profits of the theatre just as substantially as would an increase in revenue. In an earlier installment, we mentioned the need for thorough inspection of the premises as well as of the equipment. A form accompanies this article which may be of some assistance, as a guide in the prepa- ration of a report for your particular thea- tre, so that all features of maintenance as well as of janitorial work can be properly checked. Details of maintenance, engineering and janitorial work make pretty dull reading, but like some other less popular facets of life, since they are ever-present essentials, we must face the necessity to keep up with them. In order to make the matter as simple as possible, we have broken down the principle items for consideration and have listed them alphabetically for easy reference. No attempt is made here to go into all of the technical aspects of some of the major functions, but rather to give concise and positive advice in those day-to-day problems which plague most of us in thea- tre management. The more complicated maintenance problems deserve the attention of engineers and technicians. A ACOUSTIC TILE — Fiber materials for sound absorption are very porous and oil paint may seal them to such an extent that they will lose much if not all of their power to absorb sound. Water paint (calcimine) can be used to decorate such boards or tiles. Wall surfaces so treated should be dusted from time to time to keep the pores open. Material having small holes may sometimes be painted with oil base paints; however, con- sult the dealer or manufacturer first. • AQUARIUMS — Becoming increasingly popu- lar in theatres. There are various sizes of tanks available, the larger models using small cir- culating pumps which filter the water and aerate it to provide oxygen for the fish. Tropical fish require very little attention. Thermostatically controlled immersion heaters can be had to maintain the proper temperature BETTER THEATRES SECTION 61 for tropical fish in winter. Consult a dealer or the magazine Aquariums at a public library, for sources of this equipment and supplies to keep the fish healthy. • ASBESTOS CURTAINS— Between a full- scale stage and auditorium there is usually an asbestos drop curtain. This will in many cases drop automatically in the case of fire, in which case the mechanism must be periodically tested to insure proper functioning. There is prac- tically no deterioration in the curtain material itself, but inspection should be made of the cables as well as the fusible links. • AISLE LIGHTS — These generally are cov- ered by a metal cover which screws on to the seat standard. The principal attention is re- placement of burned out lamp bulbs, replacing wiring as the insulation works loose through vibration of the floor. In some instances there is danger of water getting into the conduits complicated problems. General maintenance can be broken down as follows: MOTORS: Be sure of positive electrical con tact of wiring. Oil and grease regularly as noted on face plate. Replace brushes when worn. Motors are mounted on cork, fiber or rubber base; tighten frequently at base to avoid vibration. Call competent electrician when un- usual noises or “grinding” of bearings is noted. See that line current is properly fused for pro- tection. FANS: These usually are of “squirrel cage” type. In any case, bearings on all should be properly oiled or greased as directed on face plate. Blades must be kept in balance for maxi- mum life with minimum noise. Balancing blades is a tedious job for an expert, as they must be bent to an identical pattern. Some- times small chunks of lead must be attached to a blade to equalize the weight. Check for excessive vibrations. Replace worn pulley belts — with proper sizes. from water as required. See that all nozzles are kept unclogged and properly functioning. Drain and clean system thoroughly when putting up for winter protection against freezing. Check pumps. COILS: Check for operation on each set of coils. Treat with red lead or anti-rust paint to prevent corrosion. Inspect for leaks. Check valves and oil or pack as required. Brush free of any lint or trash. FILTERS: If of disposable type, replace when needed. Operation with clogged filters seriously cuts down efficiency of the system. If of permanent (cleanable) type, see that they are periodically inspected, taken down and prop- erly cleaned. AIR WASHERS: Keep water free of debris and dirt. Remove rust and coat metal first with red lead, then with aluminum paint. Keep nozzles unclogged and properly sprayed. Oil and grease pump motor as directed on face plate. Check pump according to manufacturer’s HOUSE INSPECTION REPORT i' pection Made By Time Spent- OUTSIDE LOBBY Walls Brass Displays- Glass Light Fixtures- Doors BOX OFFICE Floor — — Walls Brass Glass Door — — Ticket Machine Change Machine Electrical Bulletins. INSIDE LOBBY Carpet- Walls— Displays- Glass Doors Ticket Chopper Light Fixtures — Schedule Drapes Exits Misc Furniture — 1 _ — - FOYER Doors. Light Fixtures Pictures Water Fount Furniture Fire Ext Hold Out Tapes Schedule — Drapes Exits Misc SOUTH LOWER TUNNEL REMARKS Walls S. LOWER BALCONY TUNNEL REMARKS Walls Rails Lights Exits.. . ... Misc. LOGE REMARKS Rnils Floor FIRST BALCONY Exits Carpet-.. Walls Rails Ceiling _ Aisle Lights Seats SECOND BALCONY Tamps Floor Mushrooms PROJECTION BOOTH ‘j Fire Shutters j; Fire Ext._ e'“*cst - . ilwA m vne - — priced to *e»st = luxurious- — planning service- ^ -Write tor IDFAI SEATING COMPANY (fh(rrt*/ gftafedb, iA(ecA. Oh, tis a Life , Men , of Service and Servitude! says . . . owner-manager of the Dawn theatre in Elma, la. ELMA, IA. BERTHA BOTFLY Came into my theatre one night a while back accompanied by her hubby and four progeny and asked for “two and four.” The cashier took a quick gander with her practiced eye and noticed that young Archibald had been shaving for three years, and that mistress Lorelie’s sil- houetted profile could be mistaken for Jane Russell’s and said, “You mean four and two, don’t you?” Bertha quickly acknowledged that that was what she really meant. Then this cashier, who would make a wonderful revenue agent, noticed that little Liza didn’t look so little in the right places either, and she asked how old that little girl over there was. Bertha said she was only 11; whereupon little Liza said, “I’m not either mama, I’m almost 13.” Bertha looked at me with a square-in-the- eye look as friendly as a capitulating Nazi general and came up with the profound observation of the year, “How time flies!” However, the Botfly’s went to the show that night for four and two. Sylvester Stynko came up to the box- office one night, mumbled something about “one” or “a ticket” or “how much” in a thick-tongued Esperanto, layed down his four bits and caromed off the door casing into the foyer, where I met him with my trusty two-celled Kleig and ushered him down along the side where he could rest. Sylvester had never been to the show before, though he was a citizen of sorts of long standing in this community. Syl caused no great amount of concern except for the innumerable trips I had to make to close his mouth to shut off his snoring. I suppose I could have refused admission to Syl, but my policy is to let them enter, be received in due form, and then watch them carefully. If things don’t go right they get the invitation to go back, get their money and come again sometime. Syl wasn’t invited to leave, since he stopped snoring. He came back the next morning bright and early. He’d lost his false teeth. Syl looked a little sheepish when he asked for them, but he’s been a pretty fair customer ever since. Don’t know if he likes pictures or is just trying to recapture the rapture of those two hours slumber in my luxuriously comfortable qhairs. Not ev*ery customer appreciates ’em the way Syl does. • Of course there is a moral to these stories. They hook up with this crazy busi- ness of service and servitude. Sure, Bertha took me for an adult admission, but it won’t be long before lil’ Liza will be courtin’ and then she and her man will pay adult prices. After all $2.78 is quite a sizable hunk of wampum for a family to pay out for two hours and see a pic- ture which has a fair-to-middlin’ chance of winning the Oscar of the Westminster Kennel Club. Splitting hairs about age groups or doing anything to discourage family attendance, is not a good policy. We gotta remember that when a person, or a group, comes to the theatre all they get is entertainment, comfort and mem- ories, good or bad. It’s been a tried and true custom of show-business not to look too closely at the kid who stays aged 1 1 for 22 months, or the family who keeps going to the show when it’s obvious they should make more frequent trips to the barber, shoemaker and clothing store. We all get hooked, but don’t worry about it ; it don’t amount to much over the year’s time. Remember that it’s people who need entertainment most and are therefore normally your best customers who can least afford it. It’s both a little on the humanitarian side and on the good business side to treat ’em well. The very fact that my janitor had swept the theatre and had Sylvester’s false teeth, indicates that we are “on the ball” with service at the Dawn. But service is more than just the customary ushering, keeping a clean house and always having tissue on the roller. It is inquiry about comfort, about likes and dislikes. Is it too hot or too cold, too loud or too low, too bright or too dim? A nightly trip or two 66 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 6, 1954 up and down the aisles asking these ques- tions to somebody sitting on the aisle finds out these things. Service is still more than that. Ever since movies began it has been the custom among us hicks to run two shows a night. It’s a custom that has built up a habit- forming pattern over about three genera- tions. The reason for having two perform- ances a night was not that one house couldn’t hold them all. There never was such a utopian time as that. It was because farmers couldn’t get to a 7:15 show and town people weren’t willing to wait until 8 :00. It’s awfully easy for parents to say, “It’s too near bedtime” when the kids want to go to an 8 :00 o’clock show. If you don’t get the kids, you don’t too often get mom and dad. Ever since mother was a non-paying four-year-old you could go to the movie anytime before 9 :30 and catch a complete program. This is a service to those who have to do chores, do dishes, dress and drive 15 or 20 miles. Fully realizing there are two schools of thought on this subject and that the arguments for the single per- formance have many merits, it is some- thing that just don’t look right to the public. It looks like you’re on the rocks. Not that you aren’t, but just what does it save? You aren’t going to buy film any cheaper with one show, that’s a cinch. So you save maybe 75c to $1 worth of heat, about the same amount of carbons and electricity, and that’s about it. Brother, if you can’t get two bucks in that second show, you’ve already had it. Of course you get home earlier, but is that a point? • You can educate your public to any policy you adopt. Many of them will adapt themselves to it. The meat on this bone is to avoid the thing that will imply to the public that you are becoming penny-wise and pound-foolish. This business is built on glitter, tinsel, bright lights, the glow of prosperity, on glamour, success, romance, beauty and cheery friendliness. If we don’t live and act our part on this stage, we end up sans teeth, sans taste, sans every- thing. So it’s service and servitude in this thea- tre business. In providing the service that is vital to the successful operation of your house, you become a servant. You just think you are working for yourself, boy. The minute we start working for our- selves, pleasing only ourselves, booking our style pictures, and being interested more in the comfort of our office chair than in that of our auditorium chairs, we are going to be without a lot of things, starting with customers. GENERAL INQUIRY COUPON for types of product NOT ADVERTISED in this issue Please use coupon and refer to item by its number in listing when- ever possible; otherwise explain in space indicated for numbers. ADVERTISING 101 — Cutout devices 102 — Display frames 1 03 — Flashes 104 — Lighting fixtures 105 — Letters, changeable 1 06 — Marquees 107 — Signs, attraction 108 — Signs, theatre name AIR SUPPLY 201 — Air cleaners, electrical 202 — Air washers 203 — Blowers and fans 204 — Coils (heat transfer) 205 — Compressors 206 — Conditioning units 207 — Control equipment 208 — Cooling towers 209— Filters 210 — Grilles, ornamental 211 — Heaters, unit 2 1 2 — Insulation 2 I 3 — Motors 214 — Oil burners 215 — Outlets (diffusers) ARCHIT'RE & DECORATION 301 — Acoustic plaster 302 — Acoustic tiles 303 — Black-light murals 304 — Decorating service 305 — Fabric 306 — Luminescent paints 307 — Mirrors 308 — Porcelain enamel tiles 309 — Tiles, ceramic 310 — Wall boards and tiles 311 — Wall paper and plastics 312 — Wood veneer DRIVE-IN THEATRES 401 — Admission control system 402 — Box-offices 403 — Design service 404 — Electric cable (underg'd) 405 — Fencing 406 — In-car heaters 407 — In-car speakers 408 — Insecticide foggers 409 — Lighting fixtures (outd'r) 410 — Screen paint 41 I — Screen towers 412 — Signs, attraction 413 — Signs, name 414 — Signs, ramp and traffic 415 — Stadium seating 416 — Vending carts EMERGENCY 501 — Fire extinguishers 502 — Lighting equipment GENERAL MAINTENANCE 601 — Blower, floor, cleaning 603 — Carpet shampoo 604 — Cleaning compounds 605 — Deodorants 606 — Disinfectants 607 — Gum remover 608 — Ladders, safety 609 — Lamps, germicidal 610 — Paint, aud. floor 6 I I — Polishes 612 — Sand urns 613 — Soap, liquid 614 — Vacuum cleaners FLOOR COVERINGS 701 — Asphalt tile 702 — Carpeting 703 — Carpet lining 704 — Concrete paint 705 — Linoleum 706 — Mats, rubber LIGHTING 801 — Black-light equipment 803 — Dimmers 804 — Downlighting equipment 807 — Luminaires (See also Advertising, Stage) LOUNGE FURNISHINGS 901 — Chairs, sofas, tables 902 — Cosmetic tables, chairs 903 — Mirrors PROJECTION and SOUND 1001 — Acoustic materials 1002 — Acoustic service 1003 — Amplifiers 1004 — Amplifier tubes 1005 — Cabinets, accessory 1006 — Cabinets, carbon 1007 — Cabinets, film 1 008 — Changeovers 1009 — Cue markers 1010 — Effect projectors 1011 — Exciter lamps 1012 — Fire shutters 1013 — Hearing aids 1014 — Lamps, reflector arc 1015 — Lamps, condenser 1016 — Lenses, condenser 1017 — Lenses, projection 1018 — Lenses, anamorphic 1 019 — Magazines 1 020 — Microphones 1021 — Mirror guards 1 022 — Motor-generators 1023 — Non-sync, turntables 1024 — Photoelectric cells 1025 — Projectors, standard 1026 — Projectors, 16-mm. 1027 — Projector parts 1028 — Projection, rear 1029 — Public address system 1 030 — Rectifiers 1031 — Reel and alarms 1032— Reels 1033 — Reflectors (arc) 1034 — Renovators, film I 035 — Rewinders I 036 — Rheostats 1037 — Safety devices, projector I 038 — Screens 1039 — Screen frames 1040 — Speakers and horns I 041 — Splicers 1042 — Splicing cement 1043 — Soundheads, optical 1044 — Soundheads, magnetic I 045 — Stereopticons 1046 — Tables, rewind SEATING I I 0 I — Chairs 1102 — Expansion bolts 1103 — Fastening cement 1104 — Foam rubber cushions 1105 — Upholstering fabrics SERVICE and TRAFFIC 1201 — Crowd control equip't 1202 — Directional signs 1203 — Drinking fountains 1204 — Lockers, checking I 205 — Uniforms 1206 — Water coolers STAGE 1301 — Curtains and drapes 1302 — Curtain controls & track 1303 — Lighting equipment 1304 — Rigging and hardware 1305 — Switchboards THIRD-DIMENSION 1401 — Filters, port 1402 — Interlocks, projector 1403 — Monitors (synchron.) 1404 — Selsyn motors 1 405 — Spectacles 1406 — Aligning Film TICKET SALES 1501 — Box offices I 502 — Changemakers 1503 — Signs, price 1504 — Speaking tubes 1505 — Ticket choppers 1506 — Ticket registers TOILET 1601 — Hand driers, electric 1602 — Paper dispensers 1603 — Soap dispensers (See also Maintenance) GENERAL INQUIRY COUPON no BE MAILED IN SIGNER'S BUSINESS ENVELOPE I To Better Theatres Service Department: i expect to buy products as indicated by the reference numbers below, and I would like to have the manufacturers thereof, or their dealers, get in touch with me. Name Theatre Add ress BETTER THEATRES SECTION 67 New Theatre in Singapore: 1645-Seat Odeon To its operations in Maiaya, the Cathay Organization recently added this mod- ern theatre with many functional fea- tures, including “built-in” car parking facilities. Since the opening last June, the theatre has been equipped for CinemaScope. (See story on page 70.) THEATRE FRONT: In order to allocate the greater portion ot the ground floor level to automobile parking, the Odeon's struc- ture was raised on concrete pillars. Traffic enters the theatre's parking section through the drive at the left while the main lobby is on the right. Also on the ground level are the generator room and an electric sub- station. The marquee is 104 feet long and made of aluminum alloy channel frame. The wall facing at ground level is in pale brown Italian marble and from the first floor level in biscuit tiling with the windows and bal- cony in Chinese red Mosaic. The criss-cross aluminum framework on the right is de- signed for advertising displays and when not in use forms a decorative feature. The 100-foot high tower is anodised aluminum in dull gold, and the lettering "Odeon" is in triple tubes of white neon. The whole of the front of the building, including the tower, is edged with red neon. PARKING AREAS: Traffic into the main parking area (below) is all one-way, including exit, which is made from the center drive or from two side drives straight ahead. Approximately 140 cars can be accommodated in this main area, and in addition the theatre has parking space for its patrons on the second story level of the theatre in the rear, which is approached by a ramp; a ground-level building adjoining the theatre; and an open lot, also nearby. At the right is shown the "drive-in" ticket window. (For its use see caption below.) ENTRANCE AND LOBBY: After parking their cars patrons enter the theatre directly into the lobby (above). On the left is the "drive-in" box-office, a special service the theatre offers patrons wishing to pur- chase their tickets in advance. This window is kept open during morning hours only; patrons coming directly to the theatre purchase tickets at a box-office inside. The outside walls above are of light brown Italian marble, and the floor is mosaic tile. 68 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 6, 1954 MAIN LOBBY: In the main lobby of the theatre (right) the walls are of light brown Italian marble and the floors of mosaic tile. The circle box- office has teak paneling with burnished copper strips. Dis- play cases are framed in copper. Another special fea- ture of the Odeon is its lavish "Hollywood Room," (not shown) which is designed to be used for private parties or for cocktails or dancing. There are also separate lounges for the stall and cir- cle seating areas which are equipped with a soda foun- tain and milk bar, a liquor bar, and a candy stand. THE AUDITORIUM: Seating capacity of the Odeon, includ- ing stalls and circle is 1645. (See left and below.) Gaumont-Kalee chairs in dove grey moquette are used throughout. The acous- tic treatment lies largely in the woodwork, a perforated ply- wood with plastic packing, and acoustic plaster on the side walls. All lighting is concealed: in the dome-like ceiling there is neon in three colors, red, blue and gold, operated from the projection booth. White fluores- cent tubes are concealed be- hind the burnished copper fea- tures on the fluted side walls. The Odeon is air-conditioned throughout using York equip- ment. Panels on either side of the screen have grills conceal- ing air conditioning ducts (top) and public address loudspeakers. SPECIAL AUDITORIUM BOX: Constructed at the rear of the main floor is a glass-enclosed area seat- ing 24, which was originally intended as a "cry room" and is equipped with its own loudspeakers and air conditioning ducts and treated acoustically. Since it did not prove popular as a "cry room," it is now used as a special box for private parties. BETTER THEATRES SECTION 69 EQUIPPING THE ODEQN FOR CINEMASCOPE Picturing the installation of screen and projection equip- ment for CinemaScope at Singapore’s new Odeon theatre, described on pages 68 and 69. THE SCREEN AND SPEAKERS: The Odeon's screen for CinemaScope (right) is 53 by 22 feet and was designed by L. H. Townes, on loan from the London office of G. B. Kalee, Ltd., to superintend the entire installation. He is shown below (at left) directing placement of the three Gaumont speakers behind the screen. Structural alterations to the proscenium were unnecessary for the wide-screen installation. THE FRAME: The adjustable wide-screen frame (left) is so designed that the entire struc- ture can be easily withdrawn through the proscenium arch and placed at the extreme rear of the stage. The wings can be folded and the center part of the frame (30 feet) is mounted on casters along with the center speaker tower. In this way stage facilities for "live" shows are not rendered inoperative. PROJECTION EQUIPMENT: Four Gaumont-Kalee "21" projectors with "Light- master" arcs were installed in the booth, supplied by their agents, H. A. O'Connor and Company. Mr. Townes is shown above with R. A. F. Wagstaffe of Garuda Films, Djakarta, the company's Indonesian agents. At right Mr. Townes demon- strates placing of the Gaumont magnetic soundhead and anamorphic lens. MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 6, 1954 The Revis«d’ New e4iti»» The standard textbook on motion picture projection and sound reproduction revised to deal with the latest^ to fadh- , picture Pf0'erf0" aenBluebooi with this edition .nc udes ly and reference , to** ^ prep- £ > cal discussion of and 0< new techn.que on of theatre ^ e picture. 662 pages cloth hound $7.25 postpaid Quigley Publications 1270 Sixth Ave., New York 20, N. Y. Please send the 8th edition of Richardson’s Bluebook of Projection. Enclosed is $7.25 in full payment. Name A QUIGLEY PUBLICATION Address FEBRUARY 13, 1954 A HERALD FEATURE Starting opposite page 14 *1 X y PICTURE OF THE MONTH IN CbNemaScOPE GBANT AD CAMPAIGN! A tremendous ad campaign starts with M-G-M’s famed column (left) reaching more than 93 million people and full pages in all fan magazines (13 million readership). Followed by Two -page Spreads in 4-Colors in LIFE and LOOK (combined readership more than 26 million). Plus other big advertising plans. Join the fun. A lion we know, name of Leo, is celebrating his 30th Anniversary and it's very festive indeed. First giant slice off the birthday cake is M-G-M’s production in CinemaScope, “Knights of the Round Table’’. And while the movie-lovers are still smacking their lips, up comes another heap- ing helping in the shape of M-G-M’s and the screen’s first CinemaScope musical. “Rose Marie”. (Both in color, of course!) “Rose Marie” is a veritable feast of music, color magnificence and the eye-marvelling grandeur of the Canadian Rockies — all in the great sweep of the new miracle medium. Starring are Ann Blyth, hauntingly lovely, singing “Indian Love Call”; Howard Keel, rugged and handsome as the Mountie, giving glorious voice to the beautiful love ballads, and Fernando Lamas, dashing and devilish as the renegade hunter who thunderously wakes the valley with his own wild song of love. “Rose Marie” has wild, passionate love; rollicking, red-blooded adventure and un- forgettable glory of spectacle. It has dazzling scenes of blue mountain lakes and wood- lands ablaze with gay beauty. And from all sides, the magic of stereophonic sound encom- passes you with the wonderful romantic music that has thrilled millions! It's a tender and beautiful story of a half- wild girl adopted by the Royal Mounted Police, who comes to civilization and prac- tically explodes it when she steps into woman’s clothes — and emotions. The action is equally gripping. Wait until you see, in all its pagan power, the Totem Pole dance of fire . . . the shock of an Indian maid who kills her own chief out of passion for a white man . . . the band of Indian braves on the warpath . . . the thundering hoofs of the red-coated Mountie battalions. There’s broad and lovable laughter also, in the romantic misadventures of Marjorie Main, as Lady Jane Dunstock, and Bert Lahr as Constable Barney McCorkle, “The Mountie Who Never Got His Man”. M-G-M’s new “Rose Marie”, based on the original Friml-Stothart-Harbach-Ham- merstein operetta, brings a host of gay and stirring new melodies. Our favorites were the “Song of the Mounties”, “Free to be Free”, “Love and Kisses Ain’t For Me”, and the touching “I Have The Love”. Our highest kudos to director Mervyn LeRoy and producer Arthur Hornblow, Jr. See the picture and join the chorus — “Rose Marie, I Love You”. M-G-M presents in CinemaScope, Photo- graphed in Eastman Color "ROSE MARIE” starring ANN BLYTH, HOWARD KEEL, FERNANDO LAMAS, Bert Lahr, Mar- jorie Main with Joan Taylor, Ray Collins. A Mervyn LeRoy Production. Screen Play by Ronald Millar and George Froeschel. Based on the Operetta “Rose Marie”. Book and Lyrics by Otto A. Harbach and Oscar Hammerstein II. Music by Rudolf FrimI and Herbert Stothart. Directed by Mervyn LeRoy. THE NEXT BIG MILESTONE IN MOVIE ANNALS ! IN MARCH M-G-M BRINGS THE WORLD THE FIRST MUSICAL IN CINEMASCOPE! IN COLOR GLORY! The producer of the industry’s greatest musicals is naturally the company to bring the world the First Great Musical in CinemaScope. "ROSE MARIE” has been acclaimed at every preview East and West as a major milestone in movie annals. Overflowing with love songs, scenic splendor, brilliant color, this thrilling romance is truly worthy of a FIRST ! A MAMMOTH, MONSTROUS MAN-OR-CREATURE RISING OUT OF THE OOZING DEPTHS A 4 * 'PHANTOM . THE K MORGUE' -sSSJffJS «««*» • «« »»* ’ f"“ “l" ’ ** ,iBI ' HARO % ENEATH THE CITY ! SCREEN PLAY BY PRODUCED BY DIRECTED BY LD MEDFORD and JAMES R. WEBB • HENRY BLANKE • ROY DEL RUTH CAN BE EXHIBITED ON WIDE SCREENS MASS AREA-BOOKINGS! Pressbook is on the way loaded with showmanship. Different, exciting ads ! Special giant full-color shadow-box ready for immediate lobby display ! Flash circus herald ! Stunts galore! WARNERS WILL START ANOTHER SHOWMANSHIP SENSATION SCREAMING ACROSS THE LAND FEB. 24 IN CINCY, CLEVELAND, INDIANAPOLIS MOTION PICTURE HERALD MARTIN QUIGLEY, Editor-in-Chief and Publisher Vol. 194, No. 7 MARTIN QUIGLEY, JR., Editor February 13, 1954 Exhibitor Promotion Drive ABRAM F. MYERS, Allied chairman and general counsel, in his annual report issued last week, has - sounded a cry for an energetic promotion cam- paign to be sponsored by exhibitors. Recognizing that an increased flow of product is needed by many of the nation’s theatres and that increased attendance is re- quired to support increased product, Mr. Myers calls for “an intensive nation wide campaign to promote theatre attendance .... for unless grosses can be increased and sustained, all plans for improving the motion picture business are idle chatter.” After seven years of declining theatre grosses Mr. Myers reported that 1953 was a turning point. Tele- vision competition had lost some of its force and public interest in the new screen techniques had turned pa- trons back to the theatres. Mr. Myers feels this is the psychological time to take full advantage of this shift in sentiment and theatre attendance. “What is now needed,” Mr. Myers said, “is a great united push, not for any particular medium or picture, but for motion picture entertainment, distinct from and superior to all other forms of entertainment.” Mr. Myers recommended to the Allied board and to exhibitors generally institutional advertising to stress that the motion picture theatre is no longer a “one- medium business.” He suggested: “Institutional adver- tising will exclude no type of picture and will include all types; it will stress the joys and comfort of theatre- going and to the extent it succeeds, it will benefit every- body in the business.” While it was asserted that there should be no “dull, routine institutional advertising” as used in the past, no specific indications of the type of campaign nor its han- dling and financing was indicated. However, the idea, as Mr. Myers said, is timely. The industry could profit by the indifferent success of previous institutional cam- paigns. A new campaign, to be intensely local, should be carefully considered. The subject is well worth the attention of COMPO, the advertising directors of the distributors, circuits and independent exhibitors every- where. Support Brotherhood Week EXHIBITORS have another excellent opportunity of demonstrating the important role a theatre plays in good community relations by supporting energetically and effectively Brotherhood Week, Febru- ary 21-28. President Eisenhower is honorary chairman of the sponsoring National Conference and it enjoys the active cooperation of men of all faiths. The purpose is “to promote justice, amity, understanding and coopera- M-C-M— An Anniversary rHE thirtieth anniversary of the M-G-M organization marks a significant event in the forward march of industry affairs. Be- cause of the role of leadership which M-G-M has played on the stage of motion picture affairs during the past three decades, this anniversary becomes not merely a matter of private concern to the organization biit also of public interest to the industry at large. This is true because during the past thirty years M-G-M has conducted in the fields of pro- duction, distribution and exhibition an order and a scope of quality performance that has left an indelible mark on a broad front of industry affairs and operations. Moreover it has been the direct means of an incalcidable impression upon vast millions of the theatre-going public the world over. That impression has been one of notable sig- nificance, made possible by a relentless pursuit of better and still better standards of produc- tion. 'Within the trading area of the industry itself there also has been developed by M-G-M a policy procedure which has made a marked impression by giving substance to the spirit of its slogan, "The Friendly Company .” To all in the M-G-M organization who un- der the distinguished leadership of Nicholas M. Schenck during the past three decades have ad- vanced the company to its present position of eminence, the anniversary event should indeed be an occasion for much valid gratification. Crossing now the threshold of its fourth de- cade the com pany may well face the future with solid confidence born of a fair appraisal of its potential based on personnel, experience and re- sources. — Martin Quigley tion . . . and to analyze, moderate and finally eliminate intergroup prejudices . . .” The industry’s record in past Brotherhood weeks is commendable. This year an even better job may be done. The committee, led by Emanuel Frisch with Max E. Youngstein in charge of advertising and publicity, has done a fine preparatory job. Results are now up to the exhibitors of the nation. MOTION PICTURE HERALD Reel Sizes To the Editor: In a recent issue, you printed a letter from a manufacturer of theatre projection equip- ment, in which he stated that the industry should adopt 5,000-foot reels for all features and who offered, as proof that this should be done, the lone fact that the use of larger reels would eliminate many changeovers by the projectionist. Well, to even things up, here is a letter from a little one-man outfit which also makes devices for theatre projection and in it you will find not just one lone reason why this change should not be made, but many reasons. To start with, in 30 years in a projection room, I have yet to see a single 35mm reel which I would call perfect, all of them being bent. In one case, a local theatre bought a dozen aluminum reels, every one of which, although brand new, was bent, and those reels have been returned to the dealer so many times that the only firms who have been able to show a profit on them are the carriers. The sides of these reels were made from aluminum castings and these castings, no doubt, were taken from the foundry when still warm, were belt sanded (not ma- chined), slapped together and shipped, and that is positively no way in which to treat aluminum. Those castings should have been allowed to “age,” after which enough stock should have been machined off each side to "clean it up,” after which operation each casting would do some warping. Then the castings should have been machined to size, not belt- sanded. And now a few thousand words about the frail 5/16 inch shafts which are still used on theatre projection equipment. I just checked the diameter of a reel shaft in an 8mm camera and find that it, also, is 5/16 inch, but all it has to do is support a reel of film weighing about one ounce, not a monstrosity holding 5,000 feet, or even 2,000 feet of 35mm film. And those keys on those spindly shafts — ain’t they something — made of wire and extending into the hub only about one-half inch? Yet they are supposed to furnish the driving contacts to the take-up reels on this equipment ! Oh, yes ! Those magazines ! Made so narrow that reels, not made as they should SUPERIOR! TO THE EDITOR: I have been a reader of your mag- azine since starting in this business 25 years ago and consider it superior in every way. I have confidence in your policy and dealing with matters per- taining to this great industry of ours. — :H. W. BROWN, Catawba Thea- tre, Hickory, N. C. be, scrape against them. What’s the matter — is there a Federal law against magazines in theatre projectors being made more than three inches in width ? So, if the industry goes to 5,000-foot reels, here is the setup when a projectionist gets ready to make a change-over. He has thou- sands of bucks worth of precision equip- ment at hand, equipment with many parts ground to the “tenth,” or even closer, equip- ment with film driven fly wheels, statically balanced and running in ball bearings, equip- ment made as good as man can make it. So, he sees the dots, snaps the motor and what happens ? So, this happens — those raw, belt-sanded castings, known as 5,000-foot reels, start to turn on spindly shafts, the take-up being driven by a hair-pin, both reels rubbing against magazines not wide enough and the whole thing sounds like someone is murder- ing a mule ! By this time the bottom loop has been lost, due either to excessive ten- sion or a bent reel, or both, and, with 50 minutes of film still fighting to get out of the top reel, bent, of course, the poor projec- tionist begins to wonder just what caused him to get into this business in the first place. Personally, I think that it’s time that someone started making machined reels, that the reel shafts be no less than one-half inch in diameter, that standard steel keys be used, extending, as they should, through the entire length of the hub, and that the maga- zines be made wider. And, getting back to the other letter you printed and the writer’s reason for wanting 5,000-foot reels, I would rather use 4,000- foot reels and make changeovers every four minutes. I would have less show stops. — CARL E. GRAHAM, The “End Gripper” Company, Canton, Ohio. February 13, 1954 HOWARD HUSHES offers to buy all RKO Pictures stock Page 12 20TH-FOX and Reade abandon plans for Stereophonic sound test Page 13 SKOURAS answers British exhibitor protest on CinemaScope sound Page 13 NATIONAL Church women's group sup- ports Production Code Page 14 QUIGLEY and Ernst debate Code value on New York radio program Page 14 ARTHUR MAYER declares Code industry's best protection Page 14 "FOOTPRINTS of the Lion"— A Herald Feature Opposite Page 14 MARCUS elected new president of Allied at board meeting Page 15 DRIVE-IN group, at convention, voices opposition to wide screen Page 15 TERRY RAMSAYE Says — A column of com- ment on matters cinematic Page 18 ITALY and Russia conclude agreement on film cooperation Page 18 BOX OFFICE Champions for the month of January Page 19 SUPREME Court rules Partmar cannot seek further trial of suit Page 19 BRAZIL opens its first Film Festival, held at Sao Paulo Page 22 INDUSTRY gets a clean bill on its handling of Red issue Page 22 BROTHERHOOD dinner sees , awarding of first World Medals Page 23 NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT — Notes on indus- try personnel across country Page 26 SERVICE DEPARTMENTS Film Buyers' Rating 3rd Cover Hollywood Scene Page 24 Managers' Round Table Page 33 People in the News Page 32 What the Picture Did for Me Page 31 !N PRODUCT DIGEST SECTION Showmen's Reviews Page 2181 Advance Synopses Page 2183 The Release Chart Page 2184 Entered, as second-class matter, January 12, 1931, the Post Office, at New York City, U. S. A., under the act of March 3, 1879. Published weekly by Quigley Publishing Co., Inc., 1270 Sixth Avenue, Rockefeller Center, New York 20, N. Y. Subscription price: $5.00 a year in the Americas, $10.00 a year Foreign. Single copy, 25 cents. All contents copyrighted 1954 by Quigley Publishing Company, Inc. 8 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 13, 1954 AN arbitration meeting will be r\ held in New York “within two months.” Eric A. John- ston, Motion Picture Association of America president, said Tuesday he would shortly send invitations. Every exhibitor organization will re- ceive them. That includes Allied. The invitations will be r.s.v.p. ► The resurgence of the movie in- dustry brought comment this week about its relation to the strength of the competitive system, from an im- portant midwest newspaper. The Chicago “Daily News” said, in part: “Free competition is the most potent wellspring to which American indus- try can turn for the replenishment of spirit it occasionally needs. No better example of its efficacy is afforded than the case of the resur- gent movie business. The days of despair induced by television are now forgotten by an industry which got a glimpse of the handwriting on the wall and decided to do some- thing about erasing it. Typical of studio reports is that of 20th Cen- tury-Fox, which had a 1953 gross income of $106,000,000, up $13,- 000,000 over 1952.” “Hondo” seems to be making of 3-D the industry’s real puzzle. Every time the medium appears to have been dismissed from serious con- sideration by some of the industry’s heads, a record run turns up. Now it’s “Hondo,” which Warners re- ports matching the “House of Wax” records in its New York subsequent runs. ► Last month the Screen Directors Guild formally recognized the ad- vancing estate of television by add- ing to its awards for achievement, in the direction of theatrical motion pictures, an award for achievement in the direction of television motion pictures. This month, on the 25th, the Screen Writers Guild is going to do likewise. Next month the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, originator of the awards-for-achievement system in Hollywood, will make its 26th an- nual presentations, without extend- ing formal recognition to the television film medium (so far as has been made known up to now, that is), but emphatically without scorn- ing it either. For the Academy, from which the major producing com- panies withdrew financial support three or four years ago, will have financed its presentations ceremonies with the $115,000 NBC shall have remitted from the $275,000 paid by Oldsmobile for radio-television priv- ileges and “whatever amount re- mains will be applied against the debt incurred to meet the cost of reconstructing the Academy theatre to accommodate pictures filmed in the various aspect ratios with stereo- phonic sound.” The Herald’s Rome correspondent reports an announcement from Italian Films Export to the effect that the American-dubbed version of “Anna,” starring sultry Silvanna Mangano, grossed approximately $700,000 in the United States last year. This equals the gross which the picture received in its first year of release in Italy. The IFE goal of opening up the American market for Italian films would seem to be progressing very nicely especially with respect to Miss Mangano. That cover picture of Bob Hope on this week’s issue of the “Satur- day Evening Post” has almost epochal significance. The magazine calls attention to the fact that this is the first time a show business per- sonality has been so featured. Furthermore, it is only the second time the magazine has carried an individual’s portrait upon its cover. The first was President Eisenhower. The portrait of Mr. Hope, like that of the President, is by the famed, inimitable Norman Rockwell. It marks publication of the first in- stallment of Mr. Hope’s autobiogra- phy, “This Is on Me.” ► Jimmy Stewart, who ought to know, advises stars that when their picture is completed their job is only partly completed. Mr. Stewart re- turned this week to Hollywood, after 8,000 miles on the road, selling Universal-International’s “The Glenn Miller Story.” Mr. Stewart said the performer’s job on the road not only sells the picture ; but it lifts his own morale. He sees first-hand the en- thusiasm and curiosity about the industry. ► The General Motors of the film in- dustry, so to speak, has like its counterpart decided to expand in spite of depression talk. Eastman Kodak Company this week an- nounced it will spend $50,000,000 during 1954 expanding plants, equip- ment, and processes. This is 25 per cent more than it spent last year in improvement. ► For the curious who have been asking, how is Cinerama continuing to do? — there is an answer by Stan- ley Warner. It has grossed $8,- 500,000. It opened in its tenth city, St. Louis, Wednesday, at the Am- bassador. It continues to draw heavily. In Chicago, it has grossed $1,000,000 alone, in seven months. ^ Paris is about to lose several of its best motion picture theatres, accord- ing to word from the French capital. The 1,750-seat Mozart-Pathe is to be turned into a store. The Olympia, on the boulevards, is to become a music hall, and, according to an un- comfirmed report, the Alhambra will revert to variety shows. Paris the- atres, says the Paris correspondent, still are having a tough time of it despite the improvement of business over the past year. It is interesting to note that both the Olympia and Alhambra were originally designed as music halls. MOTION PICTURE HERALD, published every Saturday by Quigley Publishing Company, Inc,, Rockefeller Center, New York City 20. Telephone Circle 7-3100; Cable address, "Quigpubco, New York", Martin Quigley, President; Martin Quigley, Jr., Vice-President; Theo. J. Sullivan, Vice-President and Treasurer; Raymond Levy, Vice-President; Leo J. Brady, Secretary; Martin Quigley, Jr., Editor; Terry Ramsaye, Consulting Editor; James D. Ivers, News Editor; Charles S. Aaronson, Production Editor; Floyd E. Stone, Photo Editor; Ray Gallagher, Advertising Manager; Gus H. Fausel, Production Manager. Bureaus: Hollywood, William R. Weaver, editor, Yucca-Vine Building, Telephone HOIlywood 7-21 45; Chicago, 120 So. LaSalle St., Urben Farley, advertising representative, Telephone, Financial 6-3074 ; Washington, J. A. Otten, National Press Club; London, Hope Williams Burnup, manager, Peter Burnup, editor, 4 Golden Square. Correspondents in the principal capitals of the world. Member Audit Bureau of Circulations. Other Quigley Publications:; Better Theatres, published thirteen times a year as Section II of Motion Picture Herald; Motion Picture Daily, Motion Picture and Television Almanac and Fame. MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 13, 1954 9 by the Herald A PARENTS' MAGAZINE special merit award is presented at the right to Walt Disney, right, by Phil Wilcox, the magazine's motion pic- ture relations director. The cita- tion is for "The Living Desert." FROM THE UNITED NA- TIONS, at the New York open- ing of Warners' "His Majesty O'Keefe": W. A. C. Mathieson, United Kingdom Colonial Af- fairs Counsellor; Elaine Hoef- lich, Fiji Islands; Sir Alan Burns, United Kingdom. The opening was at the Paramount Theatre. BERNARD ZELENKO, a 23- year man with Loew's Theatres, has become division manager for the New York theatres supervised by recently retired Maurice Seialitz. Mr. Zelenko the past ten years has managed the Valencia, in that city. by the Herald NAMING "THE ROBE" the "picture of a decade." The Christian Herald awards a bronze plaque. In the New York ceremonies: Mrs. Jesse Bader, Protestant Motion Picture Council chairman; Dr. Daniel A. Poling, editor; Al Lichtman, 20th-Fox distribution director; Mrs. William MacLeod, Council of Church Women president; and Richard Widmark, actor. J. LOUIS GELLER, New York area ex- hibitor, has been elected president of the Kings County Grand Jurors' Asso- ciation. He has been a grand juror more than 20 years. AT THE OPENING of Paramount's "Red Garters" in the State Theatre, Austin, Texas, Raymond Willie, center, Interstate circuit vice-president, wel- comes Governor Allan Shivers, Mrs. Shivers, and their daughter. 10 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 13, 1954 WASHINGTON fumed out for the White House Correspondents Association premiere of Samuel Gold- wyn's "The Best Years of Our Lives." Above, at the Keith's Theatre, some of the notables. Left, Sol Schwartz, RKO Theatres president; Teresa Wright, and Alfred G. Vanderbilt. Center, Sherman Adams, assistant to the President, and Mrs. Adams. Above, William Wyler, director; Myrna Loy; Representative Joseph W. Martin, Jr., Speaker of the House; Miss Wright; and Harold Russell. AT THEIR RECENT MEETING, in Richmond, officers and guests of the Virginia Motion Picture Theatres Association. In array they are- F. M. Westfall, and Oliver P. Chandler, Jr., vice-presi- dents; Morton G. Thalhimer, Jr., secretary; Albert Sindlinger, research analyst; Pat McGee, co-chairman of the COMPO National Tax Repeal Campaign Committee; Seymour Hoffman, vice- president; and Leonard Gordon, nresident. IN CHARLOTTE, N. C., as MGM Jubilee Drive Captain John P. Byrne met with the field force. Seated, Mr'. Byrne; Rudy Berger, southern sales manager, who accom- panied Mr. Byrne; and R. L. Huffman, assis- tant branch manager. Standing, Sal D'Auria, B. J. Ross, and C. L. Autry, salesman. by the Herald EXPANSION is the message, as Ralph Cohn, center, vice-president and gen- eral manager of Screen Gems, and John Mitchell, left, vice-president and sales manager, met with the press in New York last week. With them is Jay Michael, General Artists Corporation. The firm, which produces films for tele- vision, among them the Ford Theatre, will have $5,000,000 worth of production during I 954, -Mr. Cohn said. ; NEW OFFICERS of Detroit Variety, left: Harold H. Brown, United Detroit Thea- tres, assistant barker; James Sharkey, Cooperative Theatres, chief barker; and H. E. Stuckey, Butterfield Theatres, assistant barker. MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 13, 1954 II HOWARD HUGHES OFFERS TO BUY ALL KKO STOCK Chairman of RKO Pictures to Pay $6 a Share for Total Company Assets Howard Hughes’ news-making penchant was in full evidence this week. Last weekend he offered to buy all assets of RKO Pictures Corp., of which he is board chairman, for $23,489,478. The offer brought a swift reac- tion on the New York Stock Exchange Monday, with the stock rising to $5.38 by noon after a morning of confusion resulting from the surprise move. The stock closed last Friday at $2.87. It was estimated that 1,500 orders to buy the stock poured into brokerage houses be- fore the Exchange opened for business Mon- day, creating such a surplus of bids over the amount of stock offered for sale that ex- change authorities held up transactions while they rounded up sellers of enough stock to match the bids. Plan Must Be Approved By Board and Stockholders Mr. Hughes’ offer is equivalent to paying every RKO Pictures Company stockholder except himself $6 per share for his stock, if the project is accepted by the board of di- rectors and approved by the stockholders. Mr. Hughes, who has been the largest stockholder of RKO Pictures since 1948 said he decided on the figure of $6 because he “would like to feel that I have given all stockholders of RKO Pictures Corp. an opportunity to receive for their stock an amount in excess of its market value at the time when I first became connected with the company, or at any time since.” James R. Grainger, RKO president, an- nounced Wednesday the board of directors was to meet in New York Friday “to take such action as the directors determine with respect to the offer.” He added that a fur- ther announcement will be made after the board acts. Assets to Be Transferred To Hughes By April 2 According to the terms of the offer by Mr. Hughes, the plan must be accepted by the board of directors not later than 6 P. M. next Monday and be approved by a majority of stockholders other than himself at a meet- ing convened not later than March 30 and adjourning not later than 6 P. M. March 31. The assets would then have to be transferred to him from the corporation not later than 10 A. M„ April 2. In making the offer to give every stock- holder a pro rata portion of the $23,489,478, Mr. Hughes pointed out that he had been sued by certain stockholders and accused of responsibility for losses of the corporation. He also pointed out that there have been expressions of dissatisfactions among the stockholders and his offer to purchase all the assets of the company furnishes “an op- portunity” to stockholders to get more for their stock than the market value. Mr. Hughes, who owns 1,262,120 shares of the 3,914,913 shares outstanding, said he would vote all of his stock in favor of a resolution to accomplish the following: “RKO Pictures, in reduction of its capital, will pay $6 in cash per share for all shares . . . tendered for redemption during the 60- day period following the adoption of this resolution, or during such longer period as may be considered desirable by the com- pany’s attorneys.” Two Minority Stockholder Suits Named Hughes Two minority suits, one in Nevada and the other in New York, have accused Mr. Hughes of “mismanagement,” charging that huge losses have been suffered by the com- pany under his leadership. RKO Pictures reported a net loss of $10,178,003 in 1952 and a deficit of $3,739,113 for the nine months ended October 3, 1953. There was considerable speculation in trade quarters this week on what may have motivated Mr. Hughes' offer besides the an- nounced reasons. Some quarters attributed the offer to provisions in the tax laws under which a company that loses money in one year can use that loss to reduce its taxable income in any of the five succeeding years, thus allowing a money-losing concern, if merged with a money-making concern such as the Hughes Tool Company, to be used to offset the profits of the latter. The unpredictable Mr. Hughes, in offer- ing to purchase all of RKO Pictures’ assets, takes a position almost directly the reverse of the one he occupied a little more than a year ago when he sold his controlling stock interest in the company to the Ralph Stolkin- A. L. Koolish syndicate. Made $1,000,000 on Deal With Stolkin Syndicate Mr. Hughes made $1,000,000 profit on that deal after the purchasing group met reverses and decided not to complete their payments to Mr. Hughes. He also recovered his stock in the company and added to it recently when he exchanged shares in RKO Theatres for picture company shares held by Albert List, when the latter acquired voting control of the theatre company. Retitle Second Cinerama Film The Stanley Warner Corporation an- nounced this week that the second feature program being shot in the Cinerama process will be titled “Cinerama Holiday.” The feature, currently being photographed in Europe and the United States, was origi- nally called “Thrill of Your Life.” iAst Buys More BKO WASHINGTON : Albert A. List, chair- man of the board of RKO Theatres, has increased his holdings in the company with the purchase of another 11,796 shares, for a total of 929,338 shares, according to a report by the Securities and Exchange Com- mission. The report covers transactions by industy officers and directors between De- cember 11 and January 10. A. Montague exercised his options for 10,506 shares of Columbia Pictures common, for a total of 16,739 shares, and Joseph A. McConville similarly acquired 5,384 Colum- bia shares to boost his total to 6,620. Jack L. Warner bought 18,300 Warner shares, for a total of 247,299 shares in his own name and 12,750 shares in trust accounts. Preston Davie sold 600 shares of Univer- sal common, leaving himself with 709 shares. Maurice A. Silver bought his first 500 shares of Stanley Warner Theatres. Wil- lard W. Keefe bought 500 shares of Na- tional Theatres, for a total holding of 2,000 shares. Robert L. Huffines, Jr., sold his entire 1,000 shares in American Broadcast- ing-Paramount Theatres. New Contract Averts Strike Of Carriers in New York A threatened strike of drivers for film carriers in New York was averted last week when provisions for a new contract were agreed upon at a meeting of represen- tatives of both the teamsters union and the carrier managements with Jay Kramer of the State Board of Mediation. The new provisions call for a “substantial” wage increase, a two-year contract, health and hospital insurance up to $2,000, two more paid holidays per year and no layoffs for the duration of the contract unless there is a “significant” loss of business. The strike would have hit all N. Y. theatres. Binford Bans U.A.'s "Wicked" United Artists’ “Wicked Woman” has been banned by the Memphis, Tenn., and Shelby Board of Censors, Lloyd T. Binford, chairman of the board, has announced. The film, which was originally set for Loew’s State in Memphis, is currently at the Sunset drive-in in nearby West Memphis. Vote Paramount Dividend The board of directors of Paramount Pic- tures Corporation Tuesday voted a quar- terly dividend of 50 cents per share on the common stock, payable March 29, 1954, to holders of record March 15. 12 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 13, 1954 FOX AND RE ADE ABANDON STEREOPHONIC TESTS BRITISH TOLD STEREOPHONIC IS VITAL TO CINEMASCOPE Results Would Not Change Policy , Lichtman Says; 200 New Installations After much publicity surrounding their preparation, the stereophonic and “mixer” sound tests have been called off by 20th Century-Fox and Walter Reade, Jr., presi- dent of the circuit bearing his name as well as president of Theatre Owners of America. The decision was announced in separate statements issued by Mr. Reade and by A1 Lichtman, director of distribution for 20th- Fox. The abandonment of the tests came in con- junction with another statement from Mr. Lichtman, which accused last week’s Na- tional Allied Drive-in convention at Cincin- nati of prejudging the two-channel stereo- phonic sound system for drive-ins proposed by 20th-Fox. Called Forerunner for Increased Cooperation Referring to the tests, Mi. Lichtman said their abandonment “must come as a fore- runner for greater cooperation between ex- hibition and distribution in regard to the further establishment of the success of CinemaScope.” He said he had met with Mr. Reade and Myron Blank, president of Cen- tral States Theatre Corporation, and both had agreed “that there is no question of the superiority of stereophonic sound to ordi- nary single-track sound.” He went on to say that “it never was the intention of the demonstrations to determine '.whether 20th Century-Fox would abandon its stated policy of not permitting showings of CinemaScope pictures without full stereo- phonic sound.” Mr. Reade, in his statement, said that “obviously” Spyros P. Skouras, president of 20th Century-Fox, has abandoned the agree- ment reached between them January 20. He said he was informed by Mr. Lichtman that “even though exhibitors might sit in at the tests, their judgment on the requirement of stereophonic sound would not be respected or considered in Fox’s decision.” Inasmuch as the results of the tests will be disregarded, Mr. Reade stated, “we have both determined to abandon the whole idea.” Says Company Always Willing to Hold Tests Mr. Lichtman, in his statement, declared that 20th-Fox is at all times willing to hold theatre tests in order to prove the “superi- ority” of stereophonic sound over a “mixer” device, which changes stereophonic sound into conventional sound. He went on to re- peat that 20th-Fox, in order to aid exhibi- tors, will offer long term credit for sound installations. Concerning the drive-in convention in LON DON : Spyros Skouras, president of 20th Century-Fox, addressing a special meeting of the Cinematograph Exhibitors Association here Wednesday, insisted that stereophonic sound was essential to the proper showing of CinemaScope pictures. He indicated, however, that his company was prepared to relax its insistence upon the Miracle Mirror screen and would agree to the British-made Stableford or Harkness screens in all except large first run thea- tres. Mr. Skouras’ insistence upon stereophonic sound came after the 300 exhibitors in at- tendance indicated that they would demand a public test of stereophonic vs. single-track sound, and after Mr. Skouras had disclosed that on Tuesday J. Arthur Rank had told him that only 75 Rank theatres would be Cincinnati, Mr. Lichtman pointed out that “none of the exhibitors . . . who were yelling against a two-channel stereophonic sound system had seen and heard it, for it was shown for the first time last Tuesday in Bloomfield, N. J., when the convention was already in session.” Lichtman Decries Exhibiton Treatment of Skouras The 20th-Fox distribution director called the “hooting” directed against Mr. Skouras at the convention “reprehensible. Here is a man jeopardizing his health and his life working as he has been 18 and 20 hours a day for the betterment of theatres of the country.” Mr. Lichtman said he was “confident, on the basis of past experience, that all those who vilified Skouras will eventually applaud him ... I, for one, feel they owe Mr. Skouras an apology.” Meanwhile, the exhibitor association ruck- us over stereophonic sound did not seem to have disturbed stereophonic installation plans of individual exhibitors and circuits. RCA Service Company officials announced in Camden, N. J., that 200 more orders for stereophonic installations had been received in the last couple of weeks. At the same time, in New York, Eugene Picker, head of operations for Loew’s Theatres in New York, announced that surround speakers for stereophonic sound currently are being in- stalled in more than 100 Loew’s houses, making those installations fully equipped for CinemaScope pictures. Mr. Picker said the step was being taken equipped for four-track sound. Questioned later, Mr. Skouras admitted that Mr. Rank had claimed that he saw no additional enter- tainment value in stereophonic sound. Summing up the proceedings, John W. Davies, president of the CEA, said that in spite of the 20th-Fox insistence upon stereo- phonic sound, the crux of the matter was “that British exhibitors demanded tests of four-track magnetic sound against single- track with the public the ultimate judges.” Several exhibitors, notably John Prender- gast, chairman of the Leeds Branch, told Mr. Skouras that the bulk of British picture- goers find their entertainment in subsequent run theatres which currently are unable to afford stereophonic sound equipment. He also accused 20th-Fox of endeavoring to impose “a devastating monopolistic system.” in preparation for the circuit’s Easter en- gagement in New York of “Knights of the Round Table” in CinemaScope and is in line with the belief of Loew’s executives that there is a great potential in stereophonic sound which is just now being realized. At the beginning, Mr. Picker explained, the cir- cuit, which has invested over $2,500,000 in CinemaScope equipment to date, marked time on the introduction of surround speak- ers. The stage of watchful waiting, he indi- cated, is now over. In a letter written to Mr. Skouras in Lon- don, Harry Brandt, another New York cir- cuit operator, urged 20th-Fox not to retreat from its position that CinemaScope pictures must be presented with stereophonic sound to achieve maximum results from the ticket- buying public. Says Distributors’ Rights Same as Exhibitors’ Mr. Brandt declared that exhibitors have a right to run their theatres as they see fit, but “by the same token, I also recognize the reciprocal right of the film companies to have their pictures exhibited as they see fit and in a manner commensurate with their production methods.” A CinemaScope progress note also was in the news this week. Bausch & Lomb, manufacturers of the CinemaScope lenses, announced that a total of 4,000 of the ana- morphic projection and camera lenses will have been turned out by the company by May 1, the first anniversary of the com- pany’s conversion to manufacture of the lenses. MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 13, 1954 13 CHURCH WOMEN SUPPORT CODE Group , Representative of All Religions , Voices Faith in MPA Handling The United Church Women, representing 10,000,000 women of all denominations throughout the country, has passed a resolu- tion pledging support of the Motion Picture Code. The resolution said in part: “We express our trust in the good judgment of the direc- tors of the Motion Picture Association to keep the Production Code consonant with public morals and good taste.” Resent Efforts to Destroy “We resent the efforts of some producers to destroy or weaken the program of self- regulation by evasion of their public re- sponsibility.” The resolution “noted with satisfaction the successful translation of hundreds of books and plays and original scripts into motion pictures that are wholesome family enter- tainment” under the film industry’s Produc- tion Code. Representatives of the United Church Women hit at any attempts to by-pass or weaken the Code and pledged “our support of those pictures which, in the words of the Production Code, ‘will not lower the moral standards of those who see them’.” Meanwhile in Washington Tuesday, Sen- ator Edwin C. Johnson (D., Colo.) said he felt the American people would support the Production Code if they understood better the threat some producers now are raising against the Code. In “ Congressional Record ” Senator Johnson inserted in “The Con- gressional Record” the resolution adopted by the United Church Women in support of the Code. The women, he said, “resent the ef- forts of some producers to destroy or weaken the program of self-regulation for which the Motion Picture Association of America is striving. I believe the American people gen- erally would support the MPAA enthusi- astically if they understood better the cam- paign to lower the moral tone of motion pictures.” In another development Auxiliary Bishop Joseph F. Flannelly, administrator of St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York, declared the recent decision of the U. S. Supreme Court opens the way for the “descent of a filthy avalanche upon the nation.” In a letter to parishioners made public in “The Cathedral Bulletin,” monthly publica- tion of the church, the Roman Catholic prel- ate questioned whether the Supreme Court had not exploded “a moral atomic bomb that would wreck the moral standards of the country.” It was learned this week the MPAA will undertake to familiarize key segments of the nation’s press with the content and purpose of the Production Code. The task is being undertaken in conse- quence of a belief among members of the MPAA board of directors that the recent press agitation concerned with the Code revealed, more than anything else, a lack of knowledge and understanding of the docu- ment on the part of many writing about it. Bill Provides Jury Trial Last week in Albany a bill providing for jury trials of cases involving pictures which have been rejected by the New York State censorship board was introduced by Senator Fred G. Moritt, Brooklyn Democrat. The measure, in the form of an amend- ment to the state licensing law, would allow the applicant for a picture license to appeal a denial to a Supreme Court judge and jury, rather than to the Board of Regents, if he so elected. It changes Section 124 of the Education Law, which permits an applicant to appeal to the Regents where the director of the Motion Picture Division has denied a license or refused to act on the film. l Mayer Sees Cette as Best Protection The best protection that can be mustered against the production of films harmful to the public interest and the good name of the industry is represented in the Produc- tion Code, Arthur Mayer, former executive director of the Council of Motion Picture Organizations told a session of the Asso- ciated Motion Picture Advertisers Show- manship School at the Columbia home office last week. Mr. Mayer referred to the Code’s “short- comings” as something frequently publicized but rarely specified, and said he did not agree with Samuel Goldwyn that the Code needs rewriting. Rather, Mr. Mayer said, liberal and intelligent amendment and inter- pretation will suffice. Eric Johnston is entirely correct in his contention that the Code resembles the U. S. Constitution through its capacity for constant readjustment to the needs of the times, Mr. Mayer said. This process, how- ever, has in some cases been unfortunately neglected, he continued. Mr. Mayer said he believed that not only theatre owners but all elements in the in- dustry— independent producers, Hollywood guilds, foreign importers — should have a voice hitherto not theirs in the operation of the Code. Publisher And Latvtjer Bebate Code A radio debate, “For and Against the Motion Picture Code,” was broadcast on New York City station WMCA’s “Report to the People” Monday evening. Martin Quigley spoke in behalf of the Code and Morris Ernst, general counsel of the American Civil Liberties Union and noted opponent of all forms of pre-publica- tion regulation and censorship, appeared against the Code. Mr. Quigley explained the reasons under- lying the adoption of the Code and outlined its character and purposes. Mr. Ernst dwelt on his opinion that a general code is not necessary and that subject matter and treat- ment should be left to the individual pro- ducer. He expressed the opinion that any individual delinquencies on the part of a pro- ducer should be dealt with only by the courts of the nation. Mrs. Dorothy Dunbar Bromley was mod- erator of the program. Chattanooga Circuit Men Participate in TV Station Moses Lebovitz, president of Independent Theatres, Inc., of Chattanooga, has an- nounced that he and Jay Soloman, general manager of the circuit, will be stockholders in the newly organized WDEF Broadcast- ing Company which has received Federal Communications Commission approval for a television station in Chattanooga. Mr. Le- bovitz will be vice-president and a director of WDEF-AM-TV. He originally headed Southern Television, Inc., which was one of three applicants for the Chattanooga TV license. The other two were WDEF, now an NBC affiliate, and Tri-State Telecasting Company. The three applicants later con- solidated their interests. The station is now under construction and operations are ex- pected to start in May, according to the Chattanooga exhibitor. Singleton Heads Canadian Motion Picture Producers W. J. Singleton on January 30 was elected by acclamation president of the As- sociation of Motion Picture Producers and Laboratories of Canada, at the organization meeting in Toronto. Mr. Singleton is presi- dent of Associated Screen News, Ltd. Other officers elected at the meeting are Pierre Harwood, vice-president; Gordon Spar- ling, secretary-treasurer ; E. W. Hamilton, Michel J. Sym, John Ross, A. H. Simmons, directors. Dean Peterson was retiring presi- dent. Discussed was film production and facilities probably necessary for the growth of television. The organization appointed a paid secretary, Don McClymont, and will have permanent headquarters, it was de- cided. 14 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 13, 1954 The MQM Lion through the turbulent motion picture years of silence , sound and electronics has made his mark in the imperishable substance of success , identified with these 150 pictures recorded as the Box Office Champions by “ Motion Picture Herald ” and “Fame” and industry-wide leader in total of champions. The Big Parade Janice Meredith • — 1 The Thin Man — The White Sister Chu Chin Chow . — 1 Greed — 1 The Merry Widow 1926 Mare Nostrum Letter Scarlet Ben Hur ' Flesh and the Devil — - 1 Garden of Allah Student Prince 1927 O The Crowd ' Our Dancing Daughters ■ — 1 Rose Marie • — ■ Trail of ‘98 1929 Broadway Melody North- west Passage — ■ Roadshow 1935 China Seas ■ — 1 David Cop- perfield Forsaking All Others ^ Mutiny on the Bounty Naughty Marietta ' A Night at the Opera Anna Karenina Gorgeous Hussy The Great Zieg- feld — • Rose Marie r~> San Francisco A Tale of Two Cities 1937 After the Thin Man Born to Dance ^ Captains Cour- ageous ' The Good Earth Maytime Romeo and Juliet 1938 ®o>,s,Tow : Golden West Andy Hardy ■~J Rosalie /- Girl of the Love Finds Test Pilot 1930 Min and Bill 1 New Moon Redemption Rogue Song ■ — ■ Romance The Champ Possessed ' Private Lives ^ Sin of Mad- elon Claudet Emma Grand Hotel ' Hell Divers Smilin’ Through ' Tarzan the Ape Man Dancing Lady Dinner at Eight Rasputin and the Empress Tugboat Annie gA^il The Barretts of Wimpole Street ■ — ■ Chained Men in White The Merry Widow Queen Christina Riptide ' The Thin Man ■J A A Another Thin Man — ' Good- bye, Mrs. Chips — ' Ninot- chka Pygmalion Wizard of Oz — - The Women fOdO Bitter Sweet Boom Town Life Begins for Andy Hardy . — 1 Northwest Passage < OA”| Comrade X ^ Honky Tonk . — • The Philadelphia Story Ziegfeld Girl OAO Babes on Broadway Mrs. Miniver — Panama Hattie ■ — ■ Somewhere I'll Find You 1943 ' D;°d " the Flame Keeper of Lassie Come Home Random Harvest lO AA Dra9on Named Seed A Guy Joe - Madame Curie • — See Here Private Hargrove Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo — Thousands Cheer ■|A4|C Anchors Aweigh Me in St. Louis for Millions of a Romance National Velvet Meet Music Thrill Adventure The Green Years • The Harvey Girls — 1 They Were Expendable Week- end at the Waldorf Ziegfeld Follies of 1946 Green Dolphin Street The Hucksters No Leave No Love ■ — ■ Till the Clouds Roll By r-> The Yearling lOAft Cass Timberlane A Date With Judy ' Easter Parade . — ■ Julia Misbehaves ■ — ■ State of the Union ’ The Three Musketeers 1949 The Barkleys of Broadway Command Decision Lit- tle Women Neptune's Daughter The Stratton Story ^ Take Me Out to the Ball Game 1950 Adam’s Rib Your Gun Annie Get Battleground . — ■ Father of the Bride King Solo- mon's Mines Summer Stock —■ Three I \A//*\rrlc Cl An American in Paris Father's Little Dividend Go for Broke! The Great Caruso z-' Kim • — ■ Royal Wedding Show Boat 1952 Ivanhoe — ■ The Merry Wi- dow . — ■ Million Dollar Mer- maid — Pat and Mike — Quo Vadis Singin’ in the Rain ■|ACO Above and Beyond z-' The Bad and the Beautiful The Band Wagon — Dangerous When Wet — Mogambo ~ The Naked Spur This Footprints of the Lion section is a “Motion Picture Herald” feature. Text by Charles S. Aaronson. Art director, Fred-Paul W illiams. Edited by Martin Quigley, Jr. 1924-1954 iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiimmmiiii MQM’s years a foreword by TERRY RAMSAYE T M HE motion picture and its theatre pushes with bold optimism into the adventures of 1954 in this period of evolution and adjustment conse- quent upon the march of the Electronic Revolu- tion. Exhibition standing at the end of the line of delivery of the stuff of entertainment feels most immediately the acute concerns about both what and how. There are uncertainties but also happily some assurances. While tomorrow’s box office cannot sell tickets on the yesterdays it can calculate probabilities for the tomorrows. The prospects must be based on performance over significant periods of time and through full experiences of the industry, under executive direction of proved ability and initia- tive. Important among the assurances is the institu- tion known as M-G-M. If one were to explore, it would be found that the controlling concept and approach have been those of the man whose name is preserved in the parent corporate name of Loew’s, Incorporated, the late Marcus Loew. He came into the motion picture selling peeps in arcades and then in nickel- odeons. Selling admissions was deep in his con- sciousness, and he and his company have never forgotten. It is the tradition that he persisted, when approached for a pass, in reaching for the cash. “Go buy it, that’s how we make a living.” That quality of practicality rooted in exhibition has come down all the years. It was as an exhibi- tor with wide metropolitan interests that Marcus Loew sought to protect his own box offices by be- coming a producer, first with his acquisition of Metro, then the Goldwyn company, and soon after acquiring the Louis B. Mayer enterprises. That was the initial milestone in 1924 of the corporate TERRY RAMSAYE is the acknowledged historian of the Ameri- can motion picture. With a background in journalism and film production, he edited Motion Picture Herald for two decades. Now he is consulting editor of Quigley Publications. of progress career that has come to the M-G-M Thirtieth Anniversary now signalized. Those three decades ago, under competitive pressures, new patterns were forming, policies assuming structure. Those were days of decision even as these days of 1954. Every aspect of the industry is under examination and trials anew are demanding, as always, leader- ships, disciplines and controls derived from ex- perience— successful experience. From the beginnings, years before M-G-M, Marcus Loew was accompanied through labors and adventures by Nicholas M. Schenck, whose career also is grounded on exhibition knowledge and experience. The leadership, as president of Loew's, Inc., has been his since the passing of the founder. Between them they have covered the whole half-century of the industry, ever in vital, important and often dominant position. Yet curi- ously it may accurately be said of them that while they are among the most widely known names of the film world they have always been and remain today among the least known individuals of the top stratum of significant executive figures. The last, and perhaps the first, magazine article about Marcus Loew was done by this writer the week that Lindbergh flew the Atlantic. As for Nicholas M. Schenck, the longest piece of personal litera- ture about him, which may be attributed to his acquiescence, appears in “Who’s Who in Amer- ica,” occupying four lines. It seems that Loew’s, Inc., and M-G-M have nobody and nothing to sell that does not pertain to the box office, the preoccupation of the founder, his successor and the company at large. Every few years Mr. Schenck gets overheard in a quotable remark which escapes to print. The most famous of them, uttered in a day of industry stress, was: “There is nothing wrong with this in- dustry that good pictures cannot cure.” That remark rang a bell around the world. With the declarations of these pages for the Thir- tieth Anniversary Jubilee, M-G-M is sounding the note again — loudly and clearly. M-G-M ANNIVERSARY SECTION i Marcus Loew, left above, the man whose broad vision of big pictures and mass appeal led to the development of M-G-M, and, center, Marcus Loew s Herald Square theatre at 35th Street and Broadway, New York, where was implemented that basic idea, and at right, Nicholas M. Schenck in 1927, early partner, then successor, who brought the Marcus Loew plans to full fruition, maintained the high level of endeavor, and looks ahead with clear purpose. In THE BIG PARADE sweeping drama, thrilling romance against a background of war came fully alive, and in BEN HUR came the sensational sweep of high action. M-G-M began to mean quality, The Lion .... finds his voice The Dawn Years of the motion picture business had passed, the sun had broken clear above the horizon for a burgeoning industry, when, in a bright May of 1924, M-G-M came to be. That birth, officially May 16, 1924, was the fruition in part of a necessity, in greater measure the manifestation of a keenly perceptive look into the future by two men, the late Marcus Loew and Nicholas M. Schenck. Here was no Topsy, which “just growed,” but a planned course of procedure, a manner of doing which was to characterize this organization in all the thirty years herewith marked, and obviously pointing to new decades of tomorrows. As the Twentieth Century moved toward its second decade, it became increasingly apparent to Marcus Loew, in exhibition with the growing Loew circuit via peep shows and nickelodeons, and his younger partner Nicholas Schenck, who had come by a drug store, amusement park route to the same juncture, that there was a vital, life-and-death need for product to serve the bouncing circuit and its hungering patronage. Independent producers then operating were not satisfying that happy appetite. In 1919 Mr. Loew had acquired Metro Pictures Corporation, with studios in Hollywood, whose “The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse” had stamped the company name indelibly on screen history. That was Metro! Louis B. Mayer Productions, Inc., had been formed in Hollywood by the former New England exhibitor, joined in 1922 by Irving Thalberg, a young man who had carved a niche at Universal Studios. The necessary large studio for large plans was found in the development of realtor Harry Culver, at Culver City. A Culver inducement had been 40 acres free, taken up by Samuel Goldwyn in 1918. Goldwyn Picture Corporation’s studio property was available, the name only, by stipulation, to be retained after purchase. That was Goldwyn! And that was M-G-M ! incorporated as Metro-Goldwyn Corporation, May 16, 1924, with Marcus Loew as president and Nicholas M. Schenck as first vice-president. Officer names, the men who were to mean much in this company a-building, included: Louis B. Mayer, Major Edward Bowes, Arthur M. Loew, David Bernstein, J. Robert Rubin, Leopold Friedman. Metro-Goldwyn’s parent company, Loew’s, Inc., in 1924 reported a gross of $42,937,269. In 1952 the comparable figure was $178,525,615. The studio property of 1924 in Culver City “on the dusty outskirts of Los Angeles” provided, by design, “room to grow in.” A couple of weeks ahead, late in April, 1924, 600 employees in those “dusty outskirts,” met the new bosses on a broad lawn fronting a glass stage. On the platform were six M-G-M stars, Mae Murray, John Gilbert, Lon MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 13, 1954 The strength of star names was proved splendidly in DINNER AT EIGHT, above left, with Wallace Beery, Jean Harlow, Edmund Lowe and others, while versatility was manifest in THE WIZARD OF OZ, above right, first Techni- color film for M-G-M. Here was fantasy touched with artistry, a picture which delighted millions of the young and the young-in-heart. Chaney, Lillian Gish, Ramon Novarro and Antonio Moreno. The first picture of the new company was the sensational “Ben Hur,” which made history, M-G-M, and some handy millions, after two years in work in Italy and a New York premiere Christmas Eve, 1925. From those beginnings there swept in ever-widening arcs of increasing importance, influence, significance and prestige the organization which was to become over the rolling years a symbol of strength and power, a team of men and means which was to attain a preeminent position in the affairs of a world industry of unparalleled import. The names were legion, down the years, each a roiling drumbeat of quality in the march of achievement. “The Merry Widow,” with John Gilbert and Mae Murray; Lon Chaney in “The Unholy Three”; “The Big Parade”; Joan Crawford, Greta Garbo, “Flesh and the Devil”; “Tell It to the Marines”; “Trader Horn”; “The Broadway Melody,” all-talking, all-sing- ing Academy Award winner. In February, 1927, at his Glen Cove, Long Island, home Marcus Loew died, and was succeeded by the company’s unassuming, vital leader, then as now, Nicholas M. Schenck. It was a critical juncture in the flowing tide of this great art-industry, as the miracle of sound created new problems. These mysteries were solved and the M-G-M trademark took on still greater meaning among the world’s screen patrons. In the fertile brain of Howard Dietz was born Leo the Lion, to become one of the most famous symbols of a product and a company known to the kingdom of advertising. From his precincts came the famed line-of-lines, “Garbo Talks,” to herald the voice of the inimitable Garbo on the screen. The Oscars of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences began to decorate the M-G-M mantel in increasing numbers, and the names making movie news the world around included such as Marie Dressier, Mickey Rooney, Lionel Barrymore and Clark Gable, he who shot into star-bright brilliance overnight, was the inevitable Rhett Butler of “Gone With the Wind” and displayed an M-G-M-like longevity in the film firmament. Crises there were: in 1936, aged 37, Irving Thalberg died — and in that same year a young writer joined the studio. Dore Schary won an Academy Award for the screenplay of “Boys Town.” Today he heads the studio. Names again made news: Robert Taylor, Greer Garson, “Random Harvest,” “Mrs. Miniver,” James Stewart, “The Philadelphia Story,” “Rose Marie,” “San Francisco,” “Grand Hotel,” Jean Harlow, Spencer Tracy. Yesterday and the day before, all these, pictures and people, made up the warp and woof of a tightly woven skein of stability. Arthur Loew, son of founder Marcus Loew, early envisioned M-G-M in dominant position across the globe, and quietly proceeded to work for the realization of that vision, seeking the maximum world audience for M-G-M pictures. He succeeded. As president of Loew’s International Corporation, he opened the company’s own offices abroad, created a chain of theatres in vital world capitals and established synchronization studios in the chief cities abroad. Today: 125 M-G-M offices and 40 theatres dotting the globe. This M-G-M, over the early years under the initial guidance of the astute Marcus Loew, after that with the equally keen Nicholas M. Schenck, had ridden the storms of depression, the awesome coming of sound and the fearsome spectre of radio and TV, had moved forward from the yesterday to the today, and stands confident on the threshold of a challenging tomorrow. Remember? At right, Marie Dressier, Wallace Beery, the beloved MIN AND BILL; W. C. Fields, an incomparable Mr. Macawber in DAVID COPPERFIELD; young James Stewart, Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant in the delightful PHILADELPHIA STORY. 4 The friendly company . . . When Corporations enjoy such favor able attributes of personality as pertain to living persons, it is necessarily the measure of the men behind the cor- porate titles. Here then is the explanation of M-G-M's appellation, “The Friendly Company,” so aptly symbol- ized above by a grinning, hand-shaking Leo. For M-G-M that friendliness has taken two basic directions, toward its exhibitor customers — the theatre owners of the world — and in its relations with the public- patronage at large. It is perhaps most singularly appropriate that the phrase, “The Friendly Company” should have been devised and suggested by a customer. It is recorded that in the year 1934 an exhibitor, expressing appreciation for helpful attentions to the then sales chief, the most able William F. Rodgers, said that M-G-M was truly “the friendly company.” In subsequent correspondence the same exhibitor suggested the company employ the phrase as a slogan. Mr. Rodgers contacted S. F. Seadler, M-G-M’s keenly persuasive advertising manager, and the phrase was adopted as an advertising slogan. There it has been, happily, these two decades — thus far. It was obviously not by idle accident that the phrase in all its implications, came to be. The spirit of coopera- tive compromise, basically characteristic of the business acumen of the men who had devised and implemented that policy, had its fruits in that customer attitude so important to successful enterprise. There was, at the same time, a broader aspect of rela- tions which further accounted for the ready acceptance, in the trade and in the world at large, of that appella- tion. Where the cause was just, where the need was great, M-G-M, and the people of M-G-M, stood ever ready to lend a hand- to give, that others might gain. Be it said, too, that the industry of the screen, as a whole, shared and shares that spirit of help for worthy purpose. s ^ ^ 0» ^ , c,eA *■ a ^ xs Si f ■ 9^ P efek a - , %r *** *& __ 1 •» y^^&2^43|B»3& 7 sr^SSjSs^fcfii! •ft'SSr* *** It REACHES 79MUUON o P&DS^ ^ONTHLYl sag® **«»2nF HERE, through the skills of pho- tographer, artist and printer are, mural-like, depicted some of the wealth of purposeful assistance which the people of M-G-M offer when needed, in war or peace. On this broad and sweeping canvas are scenes typical of the kind of activity which has gone far in the one phase of organizational effort to substantiate the characteriza- tion, "the friendly company." Here are stars giving time and effort to the entertainment of troops, M-G-M personalities engaged in aid to the ill via fund drives and the like. If "by their works ye shall know them," these are re- spected above the many, for their good works are legion. , ; V: ' - OT^ O ■ Nothing in this business equals the excitement of a ■ big picture -and this one’s got it! Man-woman conflict and attraction. The Brazilian jungle in tropically lush Technicolor. A star team to bring the heat of its love story to the boiling point. And then a spectacular climax, devised by Producer George Pal, out-thrilling anything in "Destination Moon,” "When Worlds Collide” or "The War of the Worlds.” Using realism, not fantasy, Pal’s depiction of the menacing Marabunta is an unforgettable miracle of entertainment! Color by Ijlte- TECHNICOLOR V&M ELEANOR PARKER I PHILIP YORDAN and RANALD MACDOUGALL • Based on a story by Carl Stephenson BK Ramsa^c 1at« SEMANTICS — Your correspondent's tired reading eyes record protest against the careless and cliche-ridden speech writers and copy editors. A spectacular example appeared at year's end in Queen Elizabeth M's address at Auckland. There referring to Elizabeth I, her young successor re- marked: "... I do not myself feel at all like my great Tudor forbear who was blessed with neither husband nor chil- dren. . . ." Elizabeth I was, officially at least, no one's forbear because she did not bear. A contributor to the "New York Sunday Times" picture section repeats a choice one, in describing a set on the Columbia lot with: ". . . traversing its length were the tracks of the . . . horse-drawn trol- ley. . . ." The trolley pole and electricity supplanted the horse. That is positively for the record. It would be a relief, also, if for 1954 there could be an effort at reducing the incidence of: "by leaps and bounds" which suggests the pace of a jack-rabbit or a kangaroo: "only scratch the surface" which brings to mind abrasion as per the cat at the piano leg; and "last but not least," which means nothing but a promise to sign- off. The language is worth saving from such litter. WHAT "THEY" WANT — When New York's "Herald-Tribune," after about a week of the strike-silence of the big dailies, came forth at last with an eight-page issue, it had available a vast accumulation of ma- terial. Page I of that edition devoted more than half its space in words and pictures to such important concerns as Jack Demp- sey's broken romance with a rich widow; Sene Tierney's reactions about an engage- ment to Aly Khan, a little London flurry about a nude statue, a Kenya story about a dog chasing a leopard. That was the judgment of the editors of a conventional paper about readership. Probably correct. n+s *-<*■ FIGHTING LIKKER — A lady steps up to a homely hulk of submarine on the ways at Groton, Connecticut, and smacks it on the nose with a bottle to bat if off into "a new vista of U. S. seapower" as it slides into the Thames. "I christen thee Nautilus." The casual, negligent press says only it was done with "traditional cham- pagne." One craves to know — what vin- tage if any, imported or domestic, sec, demi-sec, bruit? Cost? Supplied by whom, at whose expense? Why can't we have these epoch-marking events really covered? Additionally it is to be observed that tradition or not, the use of cham- pagne, or even our domestic champagne- type ersatz bottlings is not properly pa- triotic. An American ship, especially a fighting ship, would more appropriately be christened by busting a brown jug of mountain corn likker, or honest Yankee rum, over her bow. Champagne, real or simulated, is a vanity, a mockery and sheer snobbery. It is not fighting likker. Who put it over? There should be an investiga- tion. BOOK NOTE — Under title of "Film in the Battle of Ideas" a 128-page paper-bound volume, physically a book but more ac- curately a bit of pamphleteering, attack- ing the American picture industry from the extreme Red left, comes to this desk, a review copy for attention. It is from the hand of the semantically and dramati- cally skilled Hollywood writer known as John Howard Lawson. In "Who's Who he sets down that he was born in New York, in 1895, the son of Simeon Levy. How come "Lawson" is not indicated. There are as many honorably recognized Levys as there are born-to-the-name Law- sons in "Who's Who," 50th anniversary edition. Mr. Lawson's document says over again about all that has been said in frantic and bitter social criticism of the motion picture in recent years. He appears to hold that it is the obligation ot the motion picture industry to become a militant revolutionary agent of his program. The back cover of the book makes point of stating he was "one of the Hollywood artists imprisoned for defending the Bill of Rights. . . ." To the social student this pamphlet has specimen and clinical value. It is published by Masses & Mainstream in New York at one dollar American money. MAN OF THE YEAR, although too late for the New Year's magazine covers, be- yond doubt or controversy is Porfirio Rubirosa. Italy and llussia in Film Fact ROME: Additional details have been an- nounced on the new film exchange agree- ment signed by Russia and Italy in Moscow at the end of last month. The agreement, according to the reports, provides for the exchange of an equal num- ber of films, ranging from a minimum of five to a maximum of 15 a year. The choice of the films to be exchanged is left entirely up to the importing country. Sovexportfilm, as the Soviet government agency here, will handle the arrangements for the Russions. No alteration of the pictures, including their sound tracks, is allowed under the agreement unless previously agreed upon by the two countries. The State Department for Show Business has issued a statement announcing that the State Undersecretary was satisfied with the results of the mission to Moscow, which was led by Eitel Monaco, president of the Italian film industry asso- ciation. ALLIED ELECTS ( Continued from page 15) not been on the agenda and that none of the directors had sought to bring up for discussion the plan advanced by the Theatre Owners of America, with distributor co- operation, which calls for making arbitration available to all exhibitors who wish to make use of it. Independent Theatre Owners of Ohio, meeting here Thursday, the day before the national board convened, elected Horace Adams president. Relected first vice-presi- dent was F. W. Huss, Jr., while Horace Shock was named second vice-president. C. F. Pfister, retiring president, was elected to the board of directors, to replace Mr. Shock. Charles Sugarman was elected treasurer and Robert Wile reelected secre- tary. Directors continuing in their posts include Myer S. Fine, H. L. Russell, Louise Wiethe, Roy E. Wells, Marvin Frankel, J. R. Neth, Martin G. Smith, Paul Vogel, Peter M. Wellman, Henry Greenberger, Park Belden and Louis F. Eick. MGM Plans to Film Two Historical Stori es “The King’s Thief” and “Dianne De Poytiers’’ will be made by producer Edwin H. Knopf for MGM, the company an- nounced last week. The first is from an original story by Robert Hardy Andrews, and a screenplay by Christopher Knopf. It is against the background of England during the reign of Charles II. The second is about the woman who was mistress of Henry II. It will be from the uncompleted John Erskine story, and is being written for the screen by Christopher Isherwood. Ed- mund Purdom will star in the first film. 18 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 13, 1954 Box Office Champions For January , 1934 The Box Office Champions are selected on the basis of the gross revenue at key city theatres throughout the country. Court Buies JVo Batnayes For Fart mar WASHINGTON : The Supreme Court ruled Monday that Partmar Corp. had no right to a further trial of its damage claims against Paramount. By a five to two vote, the justices ruled that the Los Angeles District Court and the Ninth Circuit Court were right in ruling that the District Court’s refusal to permit Paramount to evict Partmar from the Part- mar theatre in Los Angeles also blocked Partmar from collecting on counterclaims against Paramount. Partmar, a Fanchon and Marco subsidiary, had sought damages on the ground that it had paid excessive rentals in leasing the theatre and buying films from Paramount. Chief Justice Warren, writing his first dissent since joining the Court, said he felt Partmar had not had its “day in court’’ and that the case should have been reversed and sent back to the District Court with instructions to the judge there to take evi- dence on the damage claims. Justice Black joined in this dissent. Justices Jackson and Clark took no part in the case. Most of the opinion and dissent dealt with highly technical, legal questions as to whether a decision on the eviction issue automatically prevented a decision on the claims issue. Paramount rented the Partmar theatre to Partmar Corp. in 1939, and also had a film franchise with Partmar. The lease agreement provided that the lease could be terminated if the franchise agree- ment were terminated. Following the 1946 New York Statutory Court ruling that franchises were illegal, Paramount cancelled its lease and sued to evict Partmar. Partmar filed counter claims seeking treble damages, alleging that Para- mount was part of an industry conspiracy which resulted in Partmar having to pay excessive terms under both the lease and film franchise agreement. In May, 1951, the Los Angeles District Court ruled against Paramount in the evic- tion suit, citing the Supreme Court’s Para- mount decision that not all franchises were illegel. The court declared there was no evidence that this particular franchise re- sulted from an illegal conspiracy. The court also ruled that, since it had found no con- spiracy in setting up the franchise, it felt Partmar could not recover on its damage counterclaims. Partmar did not appeal from the part of the decision validating its lease, but did appeal from the part throwing out the counterclaims. Ask Court to Dismiss RKO Countersuit Twentieth Century-Fox and other defend- ants in the $41,250,000 countersuit filed by RKO Theatres asked for dismissal of the action in Federal District court in New BENEATH THE 12-MILE REEF ( 20th Century-Fox ) ( CinemaScope ) Produced by Robert Bassler. Directed by Robert D. Webb. Written by A. I. Bezze- rides. Technicolor. Cast: Robert Wagner, Terry Moore, Gilbert Roland, J. Carrol Naish, Richard Boone, Angela Clarke, Peter Graves, Jay Novello, Jacques Aubuchon, Gloria Gordon, Harry Carey, Jr. HERE COME THE GIRLS ( Paramount) Produced by Paul Jones. Directed by Claude Binyon. Written by Edmund Hart- mann and Hal Kanter. Technicolor. Cast: Bob Hope, Tony Martin, Arlene Dahl, Rose- mary Clooney, Millard Mitchell, William Demarest, Fred Clark, Robert Strauss, Zamah Cunningham, Frank Orth. KING OF THE KHYBER RIFLES ( 20th Century-Fox ) ( CinemaScope ) Produced by Frank P. Rosenberg. Direct- ed by Henry King. Written by Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts from a story by Harry Kleiner. Technicolor. Cast: Tyrone Power, Terry Moore, Michael Rennie, John Justin, Guy Rolfe, Richard Stapley, Murray Mathe- son, Frank de Kova, Argentina Brunetti. York Monday. In addition to the dismissal plea, the defendants in the suit, which grew out of the $S9,690,000 action brought by Skouras Theatres, also asked for separate trials. RKO Theatres filed a counterclaim after it was named, among others, in the Skouras action which charged that Loew’s and RKO circuits were given favored treat- ment in violation of the anti-trust laws. All distributors except 20th-Fox were listed as defendants in the Skouras Theatres com- plaint. Asks Court to Bar "Special Conditions" CHICAGO : A request for a preliminary injunction against Loew’s, Inc., and 20th Century-Fox preventing them from impos- ing special conditions for the showing of their pictures in the first outlying runs was denied here last week by Federal Judge Sam Perry, who will hear the case at a later date. The suit was brought by the Melbro Amusement Co., operating the Rockne Theatre. It alleges that Loew’s requires outlying theatres to show “Knights of the Round Table” as a single feature and that 20th Century-Fox is not allowing customary deductions for companion features in theatres showing the company’s CinemaScope pro- ductions. KNIGHTS OF THE ROUND TABLE ( Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) ( CinemaScope) Produced by Pandro S. Berman. Directed by Richard Thorpe. Written by Talbot Jen- nings, Jan Lustig, Noel Langley. Prints by Technicolor. Cast: Robert Taylor, Ava Gardner, Mel Ferrer, Anne Crawford, Stan- ley Baker, Felix Aylmer, Maureen Swanson, Gabriel Woolf, Niall MacGinnis. THE LIVING DESERT (Disney-Buena Vista) Produced by Walt Disney. Associate Producer: Ben Sharpsteen. Directed by James Algar. Photography by N. Paul Ken- worth, Jr. and Robert H. Crandall. Tech- nicolor. A True-Life Adventure. THREE SAILORS AND A GIRL (Warner Bros.) Produced by Sammy Cahn. Directed by Roy Del Ruth. Written by Roland Kibbee and Devery Freeman. Technicolor. Cast: Jane Powell, Gordon MacRae, Gene Nel- son, Sam Levene, Jack E. Leonard, George Givot, Veda Ann Borg, Archer MacDonald, Raymond Greenleaf, Henry Slafe. Complaint Inaccuracies Force Anti-Trust Suit Dismissal What is probably one of the shortest anti- trust suits on record began and ended in Florida on Friday last week in the U. S. District Court, Southern District, Jackson- ville division. It concerned ‘charges of L. K. Naas and John R. Sutton, Jr., owners of the Vogue theatre, Orlando, that eight distributors and three exhibitor corporations were attempting to “monopolize” first and second run exhibition in Orlando. At the one-day hearing, so many inaccuracies were pointed out in the plaintiff’s bill of com- plaint that Mr. Naas and Mr. Sutton in- structed their attorneys to file a notice of dismissal. Morgan Into the Field To Survey Shorts Films Oscar A. Morgan, director of short sub- jects and newsreel sales for Paramount, is in the South on a field survey of the market. Some of the cities on his schedule are Jacksonville, Charlotte, Atlanta and New Orleans. He is accompanied by W. Gordon Bradley, assistant southern division man- ager, who will return to his Atlanta head- quarters when Mr. Morgan completes' the territory tour. MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 13, 1954 19 Millions of readers thrilled to it as a Literary Guild Selection! ■g,r\stOVJ THE GREATEST AMERICAN DRAMA FLORINDA Beautiful, courageous, gay,, vivacious . . . born to be adored by all men. GARNET Sweet, mild-mannered , . . but with a yearning for romance and excitement. JOHN IVES A man of great charm . . . his love of the trail threat- ened by a new devotion. OLIVER HALE Young and reckless . . . could face anything but the wrath of his brother. CHARLES HALE Autocratic, calculating . . . with a selfish ambition to rule a new empire. HANDSOME BRUTE A magnificent giant whose great strength was never used in violence. it Sifpf TEXAS A reformed drunk, loyal and lost ... he could help all except himself. starring JOHN FORREST VERA JOHN ’ Associate SILKY A gambler with a love for elegance . . . shrewd, but always a gentleman. ^ Bruce Manning HERBERT J. YATES presents r and Director I on the Novel A REPUBLIC PICTURE Republic Pictures Corporation SINCE “GONE WITH THE WIND”! 1 ! The spectacle . . . * \ f ' the romance . . . Ef 1 •»- the excitement against the . ¥ panorama of the most turbulent period in American history... alive with love, treachery and passion ... in opening a new empire west of the Rockies! BRAZIL OPENS FILM FESTIVAL Eric Johnston the Official Representative of U. S. at Sao Paulo Exhibition A delegation of between 25 and 35 film industry leaders, including stars, directors and writers, left the United States this week to attend the first Brazilian Inter- national Filin Festi- val opening in Sao Paulo February 12 and running through February 26. The festival, held in connection with the celebration of Sao Paulo’s 400th anniversary, will in- clude feature film entries from five American distribu- tors, as well as six documentaries produced by the United States Government. Eric Johnston, presi- dent of the Motion Picture Association of America, is the official United States rep- resentative at the meeting, while Alan Fisher, the United States Information Agency’s film officer in Sao Paulo, is alter- nate United States representative. Included in the United States delegation is Martin Quigley, Jr., editor of The HERALD and editor of the recently pub- lished volume, “New Screen Techniques,” Mr. Quigley will discuss the new photo- graphic and projection processes, including 3-D, wide screen and CinemaScope, at one of the numerous forums which are planned in conjunction with the film festival. Scheduled to be shown under the Amer- ican banner are Paramount’s “Roman Holi- day”; Universal-International’s “The Glenn Miller Story” ; Warner Brothers’ “Hondo” in 3-D ; 20th Century-Fox’s “How to Marry a Millionaire” in CinemaScope, and MGM’s “Julius Caesar.” United States short subjects entries in- clude “Waterbirds,” Disney-RKO; “Johann Mouse,” Loew’s ; “Ungava,” RKO-Pathe; “Bully for Bugs,” Warner Brothers, and “Dancers of the Deep” in CinemaScope, 20th Century-Fox. Each Assigned One Day In addition to the regular festival pictures-, it is expected that each country will be assigned one day apiece which will be given over to the showing of films other than those entered in the competitions. The American Film Board in Brazil will handle these arrangements for the American firms, and also will coordinate social activities of the United States group. Besides the United States, othu countries invited to attend the festival, and the num- ber of films they have been asked to submit, are: Italy, three films; England, three; France, three; Mexico, two; Portugal, one; Argentina, two; Germany, two; Japan, two; Sweden, one; Spain, one; India, one, and Austria, one. The festival is sponsored by the President of Brazil, Dr. Getulio Vargas, and will have as its honorary presidents Dr. Cafe Filho, vice-president of Brazil, and Dr. Lucas Nogueira Garcez, the Minister of Education and Culture and the Governor of the State of Sao Paulo. Dr. Vincente Rao, Minister of Foreign Relations, is president of the Festival’s executive committee. Show International Films Supplementing the showing of regular festival pictures and the various “cultural days,” will be a retrospective show of out- standing international films, as well as Bra- zilian films, which after their showing will be presented to the Museu de Arte de Sao Paulo to start a new film library. The following are some of the American film personalities expected to attend : Tyrone Power, Linda Christian, Janet Gaynor, Adrian, Mr. and Mrs. Billy Wilder, Walter Pidgeon, Jeanne Crain, Paul Brinkman, Joan Fontaine, Rhonda Fleming, Irene Dunne, Dr. Francis Griffin, Jeanette Mac- Donald, Gene Raymond, Ann Miller, Jane Powell. Mr. and Mrs. Mervyn Leroy. Errol Flynn is expected to attend the festival from Rome. Lopert Takes 3 New York Houses; Fellerman to Book Lopert Films will manage the Victoria, Astor and Bijou theatres, New York, be- ginning March 1, according to the owner of the properties, the City Investing Com- pany. Max Fellerman, theatre administra- tion executive at United Paramount, has resigned and on March 1 will join Ilya Lopert as assistant, and will book films into the properties and into Lopert’s Ziegfeld, Chicago, and Playhouse and Dupont, Wash- ington. He also will supervise distribution of Lopert releases such as “The Captain’s Paradise,” “The Man Between,” “Gilbert and Sullivan,” and “Fanfan the Tulip,” and other Lopert films which now are released through United Artists. Allied Artists Increases Ad Budget for "Riot" “Riot in Cell Block 11,” the Allied Artists Walter Wanger-produced film which opens at the Mayfair theatre, New York, Feb- ruary 18, has had its advertising budget increased to $350,000, the company an- nounced in New York last week. There also will be saturation bookings akin to those set up for New England, Michigan, and Texas. Films Get Clean Bill On Beds WASHINGTON : The House UnAmerican Activities Committee roundly praised the motion picture industry for its cooperation during the past year and declared that no other major industry now employs fewer Communists than does the film industry. The Committee, in its annual report for 1953, had nothing but nice things to say about the film industry, and even went so far as to admit that earlier industry criticism of the Committee’s activities “must now be assumed to have stemmed from an honest misunderstanding of the extent to which the industry had been infiltrated by the Com- munist party.” Testimony given by persons associated with the film industry was of particular value to the Committee during the past year, the report said. It said the Communists had early made a determined effort to infiltrate the motion picture industry because of its importance in American life, and that the committee had disclosed the extent of this Communist infiltration. At first, the industry opposed this investigation, the report said, “but as the cold facts of the infiltration be- came known to the American public and those responsible for the operation of the motion picture industry, a measure of greater cooperation was afforded the committee.” Then the Committee made this important observation: “During the past year, the Committee is pleased to report that the spirit of helpful cooperation evidenced by motion picture industry figures has been excellent. Further, it can be stated on considerable authority that perhaps no major industry in the world today employs fewer members of the Communist party than does the motion picture industry.” The Committee said there might be a few former Communists still carrying on the work of the party within the industry, and promised that “every effort will be made to disclose the nature and extent of their work.” The report singled out for praise the work of the Motion Picture Alliance for the Pres- ervation of American Ideals. It said that organizations such as this have encouraged former party members to testify, and thus have helped the Committee’s work. The Committee listed various film indus- try witnesses whose testimony, it said, had especially helped the Committee. The list included Larry Parks, Lucille Ball, Lee J. Cobb, Harold A. Hecht and David Lang. It also carried a 26-page list of persons iden- tified as party members in the Los Angeles area. Robert Rossen was praised for testi- mony he gave the Committee in New York City. The Committee said his testimony “confirmed the previous findings of the Com- mittee that the fields of entertainment and, in particular, the motion picture industry, were financial reservoirs for the Communist Party and its fronts over a period of many years.” Martin Quigley, Jr. 22 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 13, 1954 Avert Crisis A t Pineteooth Ranh Studio AWARD FIRST WORLD MEDAL AT BROTHERHOOD DINNER A WARDS AND GUESTS, at the Brotherhood dinner in New York. Above. Mrs. Wendell Willkie presents one of two World Brotherhood Gold Medals to General Carlos P. Romulo. Behind her is another recipient. United States Under Secretary of State Robert D. Murphy. Also on the dais: Emanuel Frisch, national chairman of the Brother- hood campaign in the film industry; General Lucius D. Clay, who presented the medal to Mr. Murphy; J. Robert Rubin, L oew's vice-president, and a director of the National Conference whicfi sponsored the dinner; and Louis Niter, dinner toastmaster. Below, Herman Robbins, National Screen Service president; Samuel Rosen, Stanley Warner Theatres vice-president; Max Youngstein, United Artists vice-president, and Ned E. Depinet. by PETER BURNUP LONDON : Following an unexpectedly firm stand by the Rank Organisation, a threat- ened dislocation of production schedules at the Pinewood Studio has been averted. One hundred members of the National Association of Theatrical & Kine Employees had been given notices of dismissal in view of a temporary, seasonal cutback in produc- tion. The Works Committee at the studio demanded a meeting with the studio’s execu- tive and announced that failing the with- drawal of the dismissal notices a ban on overtime would be imposed forthwith. NATKE’s Pinewood shop stewards were promised the support of the other studio unions, the Association of Cine & Allied Technicians and the Electrical Trades Union. The Rank Organisation refused to meet its employees so long as the threat of an overtime ban persisted. The organisation maintained the threatened ban was a breach of an agreement between the Producers’ Association and the unions and stated that if the ban were imposed studio production would be stopped and employees’ agreements terminated. At meetings last week of mem- bers of all three unions it was decided to lift the overtime ban. A Two returning Americans brought op- timistic reports here last week of the turn of business in the U. S. One of the travel- ers, James E. Perkins, Paramount’s manag- ing director, said: “Business over there is definitely on the up-grade but what is most encouraging is the enthusiastic approach to the future and the long-term planning that is being done.” ABPC’s managing director, C. J. Latta, the other returning American, was as emphatic and enthusiastic as Mr. Perkins. He declared that the up-grade mood was to be discerned in every section of the industry in America, producers, distributors and exhibitors. Television, he claimed, has found its level in the U. S. “It’s no longer the bogey it was,” he said. “People there have got over the initial panic stage of TV-itis.” Duffy Circuit App eals On Griffith Trust Suit WASHINGTON : Duffy Theatres, Inc., this this week asked the Supreme Court to over- turn a C ircuit Court of Appeals decision throwing out its treble damage suit against Griffith Consolidated Theatres, Inc. Duffy owned the only two theatres in Mangum, Okla., in the mid-1930s. It claimed that Griffith tried to buy out the two Duffy theatres, and failing, set up its own theatre in Mangum. Due to master contracts that Griffith hud with the distributors, the Duffy theatres were no longer able to get films, the appeal said. In April, 1938, “faced with The motion picture industry's support of the Brotherhood Week campaign was given tangible evidence last Thursday night in New York. Some 1,100 of the local indus- try's people attended the annual Brother- hood Dinner at the Waldorf-Astoria, a feature of the campaign, and saw the first World Brotherhood Gold Medals awarded two distinguished public figures, General Carlos P. Romulo, former president of the United Nations General Assembly, and Robert D. Murphy, United States Under Secretary of State. certain ruin,” Pat Duffy was forced to sell his two theatres to Griffith, the Court was told. Mr. Duffy signed a statement releasing all claims against Griffith and also agreed not to operate any other theatres in the locality. In June, 1951, Duffy Theatres filed a dam- age suit against Griffith, but the District Court and the Tenth Circuit Court of Ap- peals said the sale was a release of all claims against Griffith, and threw out the Duffy suit. The Supreme Court appeal followed. Mrs. Wendell L. Willkie presented Gen- eral Romulo's award, and General Lucius Clay presented Mr. Murphy's award. Louis Nizer, industry attorney, was toastmaster. Emanuel Frisch, chairman of the industry's participation in the national campaign, presided. The industry's participation will be Brotherhood Week, to be noted in theatres February 21-28. The message is under- standing between the diverse groupings, religious and racial, which make up the population of the United States. Association Films Says It Has 69 for Television Use Sixty-nine “institutional type films,” run- ning from six minutes to one hour, are avail- able from Association Films, Inc., of New York, for use on television, the firm stated in a release this week. The films are for sustaining use, and are free. They cover subjects such as travel, homemaking, sports, health, safety, free enterprise, history, edu- cation. MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 13, 1954 23 Illlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll by WILLIAM R. WEAVER Hollywood Editor The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is to release to the press next Mon- day night, for publication Tuesday, the lists of pictures and persons nominated by refer- endum for placement on the ballots which will be distributed to qualified voters in the organization’s annual awards competition that is to flower on the evening of March 24 in the customary ceremonies conducted on the stage of the Pantages theatre. Ceremony ^4s Last Year , To Be Televised Nationally This is the eldest and most distinguished of all Hollywood’s official ceremonies, and this year, as last, it will be televised na- tionally. Long before it was televised it was broadcast nationally and rebroadcast world wide via radio. Always it has been a “must” story throughout the whole scope of journalistic publication, domestically and internationally. Maybe the election of a President of the United States gets as much or more attention, globally, and maybe it doesn’t, but certainly no other event short of war approaches it for spread and penetra- tion. It would be pleasant to record that the Academy’s finely-regulated system of selec- tion operates smoothly and harmoniously in all respects, but the record of its quarter- century disputes this. Each year the hu- man equation erupts one complication or another into the well planned procession of operaitons and the sparks of temper, not to say temperament, fly. There are firm rea- sons why this must happen. Only five pic- tures can be nominated and only one can win. Ditto leading actors, leading actresses, supporting actors, supporting actresses, di- rectors, other categories. Five is a lesser number than the number of studios whose head men have got to be represented in the nominations, if not in the winnings, or hang their heads in a shame none can be expected to bear while still on the payroll and in good standing with his fellows. Competition This Time Looks To Top All Previous This year, thanks to the technological revolution which had more to do with the advancement of the motion picture’s status than all of the pictures and people who will be named on the ballot, the thus far inevitable strife that has been a pre-race feature of the Academy’s yearly awardings figures to outstrip all precedents. If it isn’t well under way before next Tuesday eve- ning, and breaking out into the open before the weekend, then human nature, Hollywood variety, will have changed beyond ready recognition. There is no way of guessing, prior to publication of the nominations lists, the quarter from which the troublesome ques- tioning is to come, but come il has to. For there has been no departmentalization of the product, nor of the performances and off-screen achievements, as to dimensions. Qualified voters in the nominations balloting were supplied a list of eligible pictures and persons. Nothing was said about dimen- sions, either the depth or breadth kind, and it is Academy opinion that acting is acting, directing is directing, etc., regardless of size and shape. Many Believe That Special Media Merit Attention Yet a poll of the Academy membership, which embraces most of the top skills and talents, undoubtedly would show, as plainly as they have been declaring it all year, that a majority of them consider 3-D and wide screen (especially widest screen) to be special media requiring different kinds of dealing-with than 1.33:1. Can a director of a CinemaScope picture, for instance, be expected to sit still and uncomplaining if the list of the five eligible directors include none chosen for achievement in directing a CinemaScope picture ? Ditto a director of ?. 3-D picture ? And the question applies as directly to players, to writers, to cinematog- raphers, and so on. Heretofore most conflicts arising between Academy nominations date and final ballot- ing have been predicated on contentions open to debate and chiefly concerned with intangibles, important and pertinent as they may have been. But there is nothing de- batable or intangible about the physical dif- ferences between 3-D, CinemaScope (with- out dragging stereophonic sound into an already sufficiently complex matter) and the 1.33:1 that was the only shape Academy voters had to consider heretofore. If the voters come up with any set of five pic- tures that doesn’t include at least one of each of the new dimensional categories, and of the old one of course, this could very well turn out to be the last Academy Awards ceremony in Hollywood history. Three Pictures were started during the week, a 50 per cent increase over recent sluggish weeks, and four others were completed, as to camera work, bringing the over-all total, inclusive of American produc- tion in other lands, to a meager 18. It is legendary, in a fiscal sort of way, that production is allowed to slow down at about this point on the calendar, due to the im- minence of a state-tax date of some signi- THIS WEEK IN PRODUCTION: STARTED (3) 20TH-FOX Matter of Life and Death (Panoramic Prod.) COMPLETED (4) COLUMBIA Law vs. Billy the Kid MGM Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (Cinema- Scope: Eastman color) SHOOTING (15) COLUMBIA Killer Wore a Badge Three Hours to Kill MGM Brigadoon (Cinema- Scope; Ansco color) Beau Brummell (East- man color) PARAMOUNT Bridges at Toko-Ri ( Eastman color) RKO Big Rainbow (Technicolor) 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea ( Disney: CinemaScope: Technicolor) U-A White Orchid (Cosmos; Eastman color) U-l Matchmakers 20TH-FOX Gambler from Natchez (Panoramic Prod., Technicolor) Raid (Panoramic Prod.; Technicolor) U-A Barefoot Contessa (Figrao, Inc.; Technicolor) U-l Sign of the Pagan (CinemaScope; Technicolor) This Island Earth (Technicolor) Bengal Rifies (Technicolor) WARNER Lucky Me (Cinema- Scope; WarnerColor) Star Is Born (Cinema- Scope; WarnerColor) Talisman (Cinema- Scope; WarnerColor) iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimimiiiiim ficance to producers who happen to have some unshipped product on hand in Cali- fornia on that day. No — the drop-off to a total of 18 features shooting, only 13 of which are shooting here, is not what the financial periodicals refer to as a technical adjustment. It is, in fact and in implication, the kind of a sta- tistic that would be regarded as classified information if the film industry were an army, and might advantageously be regarded that way notwithstanding. Cosmos Corporation, releasing through United Artists, started “The White Orchid” in Mexico. Reginald LeBorg is producing and directing it in Eastman color, with Wil- liam Lundigan, Peggie Castle and Armando Silvestre heading the cast. Leonard Goldstein’s Panoramic Produc- tions, releasing through 20th-Fox, began shooting “A Matter of Life and Death” in Mexico, with Robert K. Jacks as producer, Harry Horner as director, and with Ricardo Montalban, Anne Bancroft, Jose Perez and Lee Marvin as principals. Universal-International’s Robert Arthur started “The Matchmakers,” directed by Charles Lamont, with Marjorie Main, Chill Wills, Rudy Vallee, Pedro Gonzales, Irene Ryan and Benay Venuta. 24 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 13, 1954 READY FOR NATIONAL RELEASE AFTER NINE DIG WEEKS at NEW YORK’S ASTOR THEATRE! MS. :i- ~ ' COLOSSAL... LAVISH... LUSCIOUS!" say N. Y. REVIEWERS BOXOFFICE!" say EXHIBITORS WILLIAM M. PIZOR and BERNARD LUBER presents eoo/e /r a/ow rp JjSHB ALBANY Price consciousness is indicated by the reported increase during recent months in telephone calls received at first-run theatres inquiring the scale for current bill. Men, women and children make the inquiries, which reportedly have been prompted by the frequency of special charges for 3-D and CinemaScope releases. . . . Visitors included : Bernard Brooks, chief buyer-booker for Fabian Theatres, and Edward L Fabian’s younger brother. . . . Boston Pops Orchestra, which attracted a standee audience at RPI Field House in Troy, played the Stanley, Utica, the following night. . . . WTRI-TV, in which Stanley Warner Corporation re- cently bought a 50 per cent interest, adver- tised that it will be on the air in mid-Febru- ary, on UHF Channel 35. Raymond Brown, Jr., most recently connected with WSBA- TV, York, Pa., has been appointed sales manager. WTRI will be a limited alternate CBS affiliate. ATLANTA Howard Wallace, president of Wallace Films, checked in at his office after a busi- ness trip out of the city. . . . Mrs. Bonnie Sudor, one of the old timers on the row, has a new husband, Paul Moody. . . . Fred Lee, manager of the Florida State Theatres, Jack- sonville, Fla., and the wife will take a vaca- tion trip to Hollywood, Calif., at the expense of the Florida States Theatres. (Mr. Lee won the trip as a prize. . . . The Lincoln theatre, Laural, Miss., was destroyed by fire. . . . Carl Floyd, of the Floyd theatre, in Florida, has returned to his home in Haines City after a trip to Atlanta. . . . On the row book- ing were : Jay Soloman, Independent The- atres, Chattanooga, Tenn. ; Mack Jackson, theatres in Alexander City, Ala. ; Paul Engler, Famous Theatres, Birmingtom, Ala. BALTIMORE Morris Mechanic, New and Centre theatre owner, returned from a short visit to Flor- ida. . . . Stanley theatre, under the super- vision of Rodney Collier, installed a new Astrolite screen for its first CinemaScope picture, “The Command.” . . . John Volz, publicist for the Northwood theatre and reserve Army officer, screened the Army’s first Technicolor short, “Double Duty Amer- ican,” for Army officials and exhibitors at the Northwood. . . . Barry Goldman, Carver Playhouse exec, is recovering from a back injury. . . . George Browning, Stanley the- atre publicist in New York for a few days. . . . Leon Back, Rome theatre executive, aawy on business. . . . Fred Perry, Cameo and Watersedge theatres, in Philadelphia booking. BOSTON The Redstone Drive-in Theatres circuit is preparing to enlarge two of their Massa- chusetts open-airers, the Neponset, Boston, from 1 ,100 to 1,650 cars, and the Revere theatre, from 1,000 to 1,750 cars. . . . Jacob Asadorian is building a new drive-in on Route 38, Lowell, for 1,000 cars. He re- cently hold his Manchester, N. H., drive-in to the Yamins circuit. Asadorian himself designed the concession building, laid out the plans and supervised all construction. . . . Robert Saef, son of New England Theatres’ publicist, Jack Saef, will be married June 16 to Marion Rideman, of Brighton. . . . Ade- line Struzziero, secretary at Independent Exhibitors, Inc., was married February 13 to Paul Carter, of Braintree, at the Immacu- late Conception Church, Stoughton. After a wedding trip, she will return to her desk. . . . Jack Garcin is the new manager of the Egleston theatre, Roxbury, which is handled by Affiliated Theatres Corp. . . . Teresa Young, secretary at Redstone Drive-in The- atres, is vacationing in Mexico. BUFFALO Matt Sullivan, former salesman in the Buffalo exchange area, now is a partner in Metal Structures Corp., with offices in the Root building. His company built the giant antenna towers for W BEN-TV at Colden, N. Y. . . . Glowmeter Corporation employ- ment at the North Tonawanda plant has doubled since Oct. 1 last and will increase another 50 per cent soon. . . . Sol Schwartz, RKO Theatres president, is one of the in- WHEN AND WHERE March 9-10: Annual convention, Allied Theatre Owners of Oklahoma, Biltmore Hotel, Oklahoma City. March 28-30: Annual convention, Allied Theatre Owners of Gulf States, Edge- water Gulf Hotel, Edgewater Park, Miss. April 6-8 : Annual convention, Allied Inde- pendent Theatre Owners of Wisconsin, Hotel Shroeder, Milwaukee. April 19-21: Spring convention, Allied The- atres of Michigan, Hotel Statler, Detroit. May 2-7: Semi-annual convention, Society of Motion Picture and Television Engi- neers, Statler Hotel, Washington, D. C. May 4-5: Annual convention, Allied Theatre Owners of Iowa, Nebraska and Mid- Central, Fontanelle Hotel, Omaha. June 15-16: Annual spring meeting, Allied Theatre Owners of Indiana, South Shore Hotel, Lake Wawasee, Ind. dustryites invited to the testimonial dinner for Carl S. Hallauer, executive vice-presi- dent of Bausch & Lomb Optical Company, in Hotel Sheraton, Rochester, March 27 ... . Eddie Meade, Shea advertising-publicity chief, arranged an exhibit of paintings by Laszlo Szabo, Buffalo portrait painter, on the mezzanine of Shea’s Buffalo. . . . Charles E. Mason, one of Rochester’s first projec- tionists, is dead in that city. He started his industry career in 1904 as a member of Local 253. He served as a projectionist at the Temple theatre for 20 years until it was closed, when he moved to the Regent. . . . Marian Gueth, for many years secretary of the MPTO of N. Y., western N. Y. zone, will soon get married. . . . Robert M. Kallet, popular Oneida, N. Y., theatre man, has been elected a truste of the Oneida Savings Bank. CHICAGO Bob Flannery of White Way Sign Service has been appointed chairman of the Amuse- ments Division of the 1954 Red Cross Drive here in Chicago. . . . Industryites here are extending their sympathy to Mort Green, veteran theatre manager and songwriter now in the television sales field, on the death of his son Harold last Wednesday. . . . Les Grand, of Confection Cabinet Corporation, was due back in town after a vacation in California. . . . Lucy Roderick, formerly with the Clark theatre, was taken ill in Cali- fornia and went into the Beverly Glen Hos- pital, Beverly Hills, Calif. . . . Bill Balaban, son of B. & K. chief, John Balaban, has been transferred from WBKB here to WABC- TV, New York City, where he will be assistant program director. . . . “Hondo,” which did outstanding business in most ot its “A” runs, was held in three houses. CINCINNATI CinemaScope is becoming firmly en- trenched here and in the area, with the RKO Albee playing an extended run of “Knights of the Round Table” and Keith’s showing “King of the Khyber Rifles.” Simultaneously, “The Robe” is being shown in four local suburbans. . . . Marc Cummins, who oper- ates a number of drive-in theatres in this territory, has been granted a permit to con- struct a new one near Liberty, Ky. . . . James McLeod has been named manager of the Capitol, Cameo and Sunset theatres. The latter is a drive-in, at Madisonville, Ky. He succeeds the late Hal Howard to whom he was assistant. ... Nat Wolf, who resigned as Warner Ohio zone manager two years ago in order to retire from the industry, has taken over the Columbia theatre, at Ports- mouth, Ohio, from Stanley Warner. COLUMBUS Walter Kessler, manager of Loew’s Ohio, has been appointed motion picture consult- ant to the Ohio State University Theatre ( Continued on page 28) 26 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 13, 1954 EARNING BMI ITS FOURTH CONSECUTIVE SPECIAL AWARD FROM CASH BOX FOR "OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE AND ACHIEVEMENT" 1953 -(SONG FROM MOULIN ROUGE (BMI) . . . Percy Faith-Felicia Sanders (Col.) (TILL I WALTZ AGAIN WITH YOU (Village) . . . Teresa Brewer (Coral) 1952 -CRY (Mellow) . . . Johnny Ray (Col.) 1951 — TENNESSEE WALTZ (Acuff-Rose) . . . Patti Page (Mer.) 1950 — GOODNIGHT IRENE (Spencer) ... The Weavers (Dec.) 1953 -MEXICAN JOE (American) . . . Jim Reeves (Abbott) 1952 -WILD SIDE OF LIFE (Commodore) . . . Hank Thompson (Cap.) 1951 - ON TOP OF OLD SMOKEY (Folkways) . . . The Weavers (Dec.) 1950— BONAPARTE'S RETREAT (Acuff-Rose) ... PeeWee King (Vic.) 1953 -NO HELP WANTED (Acuff-Rose) . . . The Carlisles (Mer.) 1952 -HALF AS MUCH (Acuff-Rose) . . . Hank Williams (MGM) 1951 - COLD, COLD HEART (Acuff-Rose) . . . Hank Williams (MGM) 1 950 — CHATTANOOGIE SHOE SHINE BOY (Acuff-Rose) ... Red Foley (Dec.) 1953 -HOUND DOG (Lion) . . . Willie Mae Thornton (Peacock) 1952 — LAWDY, MISS CLAWDY (Venice) . . . Lloyd Price (Specialty) 1951 —60 MINUTE MAN (Lois) ... The Dominoes (Federal) 1950-1 ALMOST LOST MY MIND (Hill & Range) . . . Ivory Joe Hunter (MGM) BROADCAST MUSIC/ INC. • 580 FIFTH AVENUE • NEW YORK 36, N.Y. NEW YORK CHICAGO HOLLYWOOD ORONTO MONTREAI TORONTO COMMUNION BREAKFAST ( Continued from page 26) Collection. Kessler will assist in acquiring motion picture stills and documentary ma- terials for the collection which is housed in the Ohio State Library. . . . First run show- ings of “Sabre Jet” were held in seven local neighborhoods. . . . Arthur L. Tackman, son of Larry Buck, Loew’s Broad stagehand, has been named “man of the year” by the Aiken, South Carolina, Chamber of Commerce. Tackman is employed as assistant to the manager of the Savannah River Operations Office. . . . Friends were congratulating local theatremen chosen officers of the Indepen- dent Theatre Owners of Ohio at the state convention. Robert Wile, executive secre- tary, was also named secretary; Charles Sugarman was chosen treasurer and J. Real Neth was renamed a member of the board of directors. . . . “Knights of the Round Table” moved into a third week at Loew’s Ohio, marking the first time a feature has played three weeks at the Ohio since last year’s “From Here To Eternity.” DENVER The directors of Allied Rocky Mountain Independent Theatres named May 3 as their convention date, place yet to be selected. Officers named include Neil Beezley, presi- dent and national director; Fred Hall, vice- president; Gus Ibold, treasurer, and Joe Ashby, general manager. . . . Variety Tent 37, having settled most of the insurance claims growing out of their recent fire, is looking in earnest now for a new location. . . . Officers of Television Theatres Inc., which will open a 1, 280-car twin-screen drive-in at Littleton, Colo., were guests there of business men at a luncheon. . . . Ben Benda moves from the managership of the Ritz to a similar post at the Santa Fe„ with the Ritz job going to Eddie Specht, recently of Rapid City, S. D. . . . Lorane McCarthy has reopened the Ute, Strassburg, Colo., after remodeling the house and keep- ing it closed three months. DES MOINES Stan Dudelson has left Des Moines for his new job in Detroit and Carl Olson has taken over the managerial duties at United Artists. Stan’s wife, Jean, will remain in Des Moines with the children until the close of school and sale of their home. . . . Lou Weinberg, assistant sales manager, and Ben Marcus, district manager, were visitors at the Columbia exchange. . . . Lu Hummel, Columbia salesman, has returned to his post after recent hospitalization. . . . Helen Marks, Paramount, was away from her desk for a week with the flu that has been re- making the rounds. . . . Mildred Holden, of Universal, was away due to the illness of her husband who suffered a heart attack. He is at Iowa Methodist hospital. . . . Dora Schinkel has left her post at Universal. . . . The midwest premiere of “The Boy From Oklahoma” was held Feb. 5 at the Para- mount in Des Moines. . . . Edie Ospowicz has installed a new screen in his Ritz the- atre at Correctionville. ... A new large screen also is being installed at the Avalon in West Union by Mrs. Marie Fallows. DETROIT Bill Finzel, old time street band leader, seen in Detroit parades for many, many years, just had his 74th birthday. . . . The TORONTO: The entertainment industry Communion Breakfast in Toronto attracted 250 persons following the Mass at St. Michaels. John J. Fitzgibbons, president of Famous Players Canadian Corp. and a prin- cipal speaker, said: "There is controversy raging over the question of censorship in the U. S. I can assure that the heads of responsible companies in Holllywood don't want any part of a code that will turn the 1,000 seat Krim averaged almost 10,000 customers a week for its 12-week run of “Martin Luther.” . . . “Lili” is holding for the 5th week at the Studio. . . . Original plans for the first of the year opening of the Cinema were snagged by the extent of the refurbishing needed. Date is now set for March 15. . . . United Detroit Theatres are looking for former Miller musicians to help exploit the “Glenn Miller Story” opening at the Madison. . . . Sol Korman, National owner, does his own fronts, cutting up 24 sheet, stills and anything else handy for the job. . . . Bill Green is vacationing among his circus friends in Sarasota. . . . Richard Lotz has left the Civic and the business for television repairing. . . . Irving Goldberg, Community Theatres partner, got four sail- fish in the Florida Keys. . . . Mount Clemens American Legion Post has picked Wilson Elliot, Jewel manager, “Leading Citizen of the year.” HARTFORD William Brown has been promoted from manager of the Palace theatre, Norwalk, Conn., to Manchester, Conn., city manager for the Stanley Warner Theatres. Victor Morelli, who had held the latter post, has left the circuit to go into private industry. . . . Charles F. Lowe, for many years Hart- ford district sound engineer for Warner Bros. Circuit Management Corp., and more recently in the private contracting business, has joined Stanley Warner Theatres’ engi- neering staff. . . . Steve Dinas, manager of the American theatre, Bridgeport, Conn., and Mrs. Dinas are parents of a baby boy. . . . Douglas J. Amos, Hartford district man- freedom of speech and presentation into license." Other speakers were the Very Reverend Bernard T. Kyte, rector of St. Michael's, and Rev. Edward J. Gleason. Mass was celebrated by Rev. J. Cherrier. Pictured above, at the head table, are left to right: Walter Kennedy, Rev. Cherrier, Ernest Rawley, Rev. Kyte, Clare J. Appel, Rev. Gleason, Mr. Fitzgibbons, Jack Hy- land, J. J. Fitzgibbons, Jr. ager, Lockwood & Gordon Theatres, has returned to his desk, following a month’s vacation in Florida and the Caribbean. . . . A1 Domian has returned to Loew’s Poli, Bridgeport, Conn., as house manager, after serving as relief manager in Springfield, Mass. Paul Klinger, who had been relieving for Domian, has returned to Loew’s Poli at Waterbury, Conn. INDIANAPOLIS About 60 state exhibitors attended the drive-in convention at Cincinnati last week. This and the National Allied board meeting that followed it practically depopulated the Allied Theatre Owners of Indiana home of- fice here. . . . Dallas Schuder, manager of the Circle, has arranged a National Guard equip- ment display in the lobby to accompany the showing of “Cease Fire” next week. . . . Dick Paikos, Tipton exhibitor, is touring Europe. George Settos, Indiana-Kentucky circuit operator, is spending three months in Miami. . . . Pete Mailers, Fort Wayne ex- hibitor, received word of the death of his mother in Greece last month. . . . Johnny Stearns, manager of Keith’s, is renting the house to the Town Hall lecture series on Friday mornings, opening at 1 p.m. JACKSONVILLE Evelyn Carter, veteran Fox booker, mar- ried Charles Hazouri and left the industry. . . . Carroll Ogburn, Warner branch man- ager, had day and date first-run openings on “The Command” in West Palm Beach, Coral Gables, Miami and Miami Beach. . . . Paramount has added W. C. Watts to the 28 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 13, 1954 ( Continued from opposite page ) film shipping staff. . . . Charles Carr oi Martin Theatres, Atlanta, visited along Film Row. . . . Here on booking trips were Jim Partlow of Partlow Theatres, Orlando, and H. A. Dale, owner of the Lake theatre, Lake Butler, and the Bunnell theatre in Bunnell. . . . Renovation of the Capitol theatre was being completed by Robert Skaggs, Sr. . . . Tommy Harper left his position as Metro’s exploiteer to enter the printing business. . . . Fred Hull, Metro branch manager, came back from a Miami trip to greet C. J. Calla- han, auditor from the New York office. . . . Chet Humphries, Ridgewood theatre owner, Daytona Beach, came here on business. KANSAS CITY The downtown Regent (“open all night”) showed “David Harum” at the time Will Rogers Jr. was in Kansas City for the open- ing of “The Boy From Oklahoma” at the Paramount. ... A third drive-in opened for weekend operation Feb. 5, the Shawnee, in addition to the Heart and the Boulevard that have been operating on weekends all winter. Drive-ins have been operating on the short schedule also in Joplin, Mo., and Fayette- ville, Ark. . . . The board of directors of the Kansas-Missouri Theatre Association will meet Feb. 17 to make detailed plans for the drive-in conference to be held at Kansas City in March. . . . “Captain’s Paradise” is in its seventh week at the Vogue and “Julius Caesar” in its fourth week at the Kimo. . . . After a week at the Plaza, first showing following first run, “How to Marry a Mil- lionaire” is now showing at the Apollo. LOS ANGELES The Edwards drive-in theatre, formerly operated by the Edwards Theatres, has been acquired by the Cal Pac Corp. . . . Anita Ham, formerly of the Warner Bros, contract department, paid her old friends in the ex- change a visit. . . . Charles (“Chuck”) Piercy, booker for the Rogers Theatres, suf- fered a sudden heart attack in his home and is now in Victory Hospital, North Holly- wood. . . . Sid Kursten, operator of the Boulevard theatre, has turned over the the- atre to Sidney Pink, who recently acquired the Center, which is located in the same area. . . . Charles Maestri was in town to attend to some buying and booking for the Lippert interests. . . . George Tripp, Warner salesman for the Arizona territory, off to Phoenix on company business. . . . Leon Blender, Realart booker, and his wife, were stricken with food-poisoning. ... Joe Senay, Southside Theatres, is recuperating at home after undergoing surgery. MEMPHIS Memphis censors banned two more movies from Memphis theatres during the past week. First banned was “French Line,” the Jane Russell 3-D number. Next was “Wicked Woman,” which had already been booked at Loew’s State. . . . Variety Club of Mem- phis, Tent 20, has chartered a Greyhound bus for the trip to Dallas, Texas, March 22-25 for the International Variety conven- tion. Fare will be $15 round trip per person. Reservation deadline is March 1. . . . John Staples, who operates Carolyn and Franklyn theatres at Piggott, Ark., has closed Frank- lyn indefinitely. . . . Mrs. J. J. Sharum, owner of Chandell theatre, Walnut Ridge, has changed its name back to Sharum. MIAMI Delving in dusty volumes, George West, manager of the Dade, has unearthed some interesting data on the theatre in early Flor- ida which is now being published in a weekly column in a local paper. . . . At the Capitol, Robert Brower has a new assistant, Elton Christensen. . . . Burt Toppan, promotion manager of station WTVJ, was dealt a KO blow by a virus which kept him bedded down for a week, but now is up and about again. . . . Mortimer W. Loewi, president of WITV, announced the appointment of Blayne R. Butcher as general manager of the station. ... By popular demand, Gene Race, manager of the Cameo, once again features Yiddish Vaudeville shows. . . . beb. 15 will mark the beginning of Variety Week and will kick-off with “Old Newsboys Day” with prominent Miamians hawking the spe- cial Variety edition of The Miami Daily News. MILWAUKEE The Juno theatre at Juneau, Wis., for- merly operated by David Weishoff, will close Feb. 15. The theatre will be remodeled and turned into a store. . . . Ray Trampe will be leaving for a vacation in Mexico City Feb. 19. . . . The Venetian and Riviera the- atres, Fox-Wisconsin Amusement houses, closed Jan. 24. . . . Film Service, Inc., trucks are now using the “hydramatic drive.” . . . The Variety Club, Tent No. 14, is planning a trailer to promote theatre collections for their main charity, the Marquette Heart Clinic. The trailer will be centered around the Milwaukee Braves Ball club. MINNEAPOLIS Clarence Kaake, operator of the Doric, Duluth, Minn., was in doing some last min- ute booking before heading for Florida for a three-week vacation. . . . Lou Weinberg, Columbia circuit sales manager, and Ben Marcus, Columbia midwest district manager, were in, as were Nicky Goldhammer, Allied Artists western sales manager, and Abe Fisher, special representative of Edward Walton, RKO assistant sales manager. . . . Oscar Everson, at one time operator of the Hollywood at Ortonville, Minn., died in Whitefish, Mont., on his way to California. . . . Laverne Boerner, secretary at Inde- pendent Film Service, and her husband vaca- tioned in Wichita, Kans. . . . The National Theatre Ballet of Canada has been booked into the Lyceum Feb. 25-27, according to Lowell Kaplan, manager. converted into a commercial building. . . . Arthur Jumonville and associates assumed ownership operation of Center, Franklin, La., from Walter Christianson. It will be operated under the company name of Center Amusement of Franklin. . . . Paramount Gulf Theatres, Inc. reopened the long-closed Alamo, Vicksburg, Miss., pending rebuilding of the Saenger. Mrs. Gladys Perkins is the manager. The Saenger observed 27 years as one of the South’s foremost motion pic- ture theatres. OKLAHOMA CITY “King of the Khyber Rifles,” at the Tower theatre, is now in its third week in the city. . . . “Knights of the Round Table” opened at the Midwest theatre Feb. 5 on the new CinemaScope screen. . . . R. Lewis Barton, president of the Barton Theatres, has been named chairman of the board of KLPR- Television in Oklahoma City. . . . Thieves broke into the home of Charles Ferris, man- ager of Uptown theatre, and escaped with about $500, police reported. . . . The Tecum- seh theatre, Shawnee, Okla., on Jan. 31 gave free popcorn to each adult attending the show. . . . The Orpheum theatre, Topeka, Kan., reopened Jan. 30 after being remod- eled. . . . Another Fox theatre, the Gem, was closed recently. OMAHA The plan of Lyons merchants to sponsor free movies Saturday afternoon is proving a huge success — with as many grownup kids as young ones attending, owner Charles Thoene reported. Last week’s special event was a “Pageant of Brides” for girls under 12 wearing gowns they made themselves. . . . Jim Schlatter, former manager of the Town theatre who left to enter business for himself, is back in show business as manager of the Admiral, succeeding Margaret An- dreasen. Donna Nielsen has replaced Mary Lou Harvey as secretary to Ralph Blank, owner of the Admiral and Chief. . . . Paul Back, 20th-Fox salesman, has been trans- ferred to the Des Moines exchange, replac- ing Carl Olson, former Eagle-Lion manager who is now representing United Artists in the Des Moines territory. Stan Dudelson, formerly with U. A., resigned to enter another business. . . . Mr. and Mrs. Darwin Frank sold their Plaza theatre at Humboldt to Mr. and Mrs. Fred Schuler, who plan to close their Humboldt theatre and run the Plaza. ... At Schuyler, Reggie Gannon, owner of the Sky, purchased the Colfax, which he plans to close. NEW ORLEANS Billy Fox Johnson, Alexandria, La., owner of indoor and drive-in theatres, attended the National Allied Drive-in Theatre Associa- tion convention in Cincinnati. Others who attended were E. R. Sellers and Milton Guidry. . . . Joy N. Houck and Francis White, associate owners of Howco Produc- tions, are back at their respective home bases after a trip to Hollywood to check on a new movie now in production, and to make plans for another, which will get underway in March. White stopped here briefly on his way home to Charlotte, N. C. . . . W. F. Straub has reopened the Glo drive-in, Wig- gins, Miss., for weekend shows only. . . . Van Loyd, Berio Vending Co., Philadelphia, Pa., was a caller at Manley, Inc. . . . The Isis, Pensacola, Fla., built in 1914, is being PHILADELPHIA Martin B. Ellis, general manager of the A. M. Ellis Theatres, anounced the engage- ment of his daughter, Ruth Lorna, to Alvin Daniel Dubin. . . . City Council in Reading, Pa., reimposed for another year the 10 per cent amusement and theatre ticket tax, add- ing a clause in the ordinance that gives a two ( Continued on following page) DuoSeal BURIAL WIRE for better underground service in drive-ins. Easy to install; permanent. Transposed, twisted pair, red and black. Economical! 16-2, 14-2 or 12-1. UL approved. Stranded, super tough. American 7 Wyandotte St., Kansas City 8, Mo. MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 13, 1954 29 ( Continued from preceding page ) per cent discount for payment of the tax on time. . . . Richard C. Luck, manager of the- atres in Reading, Pa., for many years, was named to the post of secretary of the Berks County Board of Tax and Realty Assessment. . . . Paul £. Glase, manager of the Embassy, Reading, Pa., is a member of the commit- tee arranging the 50th anniversary celebra- tion of the Class of 1904 of the Reading High School. . . . Birk Binnard, manager of the Warner, Reading, Pa., announced the installation of CinemaScope equipment. . . . Joe Phillips, Comerford circuit advertising department, is back at his post at circuit home offices in Scranton, Pa., after an attack of pneumonia. . . . Larry Fenstermaker, manager of the Strand, Kutztown, Pa., who was elected a member of the Borough Coun- cil last November, is now president. PITTSBURGH Several new openings pepped up the local scene which was being bogged down by holdovers. The Penn now has “Wicked Woman” which replaced “Here Comes the Girls,” delayed by a six-week run of “Knights of the Round Table.” . . . The Stanley doing well with “The Command,” its first Cinema- Scope feature. . . . “This Is Cinerama” in its ninth week in the Warner doing the best business of its run to date. . . . John L. Johns, former Pittsburgher, returning to the Cleveland-Pittsburgh zone as special MGM exploiteer, replacing A1 Golen, who is going to handle furniture promotion publicity in Cleveland. . . . The J. P. Harris finally get- ting a modern movie in “It Should Happen To You” after a succession of Indian epics. . . . The re-issue of “Quo Vadis” gave the Ritz a big opening week. PORTLAND Louis Armstrong and his “All Star Revue” are appearing on the stage of the Paramount theatre on a vaude-film policy. If deal draws well, manager Dick Newton will show other vaude attractions from time to time. . . . Jack Matlack, UI field man in this area, has a serial story of Glenn Miller running daily in the Oregon Journal. . . . Mr. & Mrs. Haynes are also here. “The Glenn |Miller Story” is set to open here in a week. . . . Bagdad theatre manager Bob Braxton has found his Friday night “Opportunity Revue” to be successful. He now tapes the show and has it broadcast on a local station Saturday. PROVIDENCE Harold Lancaster, manager of the Strand, Pawtucket, upon completing his term as president ©f the Pawtucket Kiwanis, was presented with a Lord Elgin watch at a banquet held recently in his honor. The gift was the first ever presented to an out-going officer. . . . “Quo Vadis” returned to this territory simultaneously at several neighbor- hood houses, including the Hope, Uptown, Park, and Castle. Due to the length of the picture performances were limited to a single matinee and one evening screening. . . . Rita Hayworth in “Miss Sadie Thompson” held for a second week at Loew’s State. . . . Despite the fact that none of the leading first-run houses would touch “The Moon Is Blue,” it was learned that the Metro- politan theatre would present. SAN FRANCISCO Peter Bodoures, producer of “The Bare- foot Battalion,” is in Athens, Greece, for the world premiere of the picture. Star of the film, Maria Costi has been in San Fran- cisco the past week. . . . Ed Rowden Book- ing Service has the booking for the Boyes at Boyes Spring. The Rowden Company also has regained the Burl at Boulder Creek. . . . The Row was sorry to learn of two deaths the past week: the father of Eleanor Burns, booking department, General Theat- rical, Jan. 30, and the nephew of Gladys Beaupre, switchboard operator, Paramount Exchange, Petty Officer John Robert Staples, 32, killed in a Navy plane crash Jan. 27. TORONTO Sneak preview of “Top Banana” was held at the Odeon, Toronto, while the “Glen Miller Story” was screened for an invita- tional audience at the Uptown. . . . Bill Trudell, western Ontario manager for Fa- mous Players, was the proud father of a sixth child, a girl. . . . The first of the two TV stations in which Famous Players has an interest, at Kitchener, will open Feb. 21. . . . Kent, Montreal, will be the scene of the Canadian Film Awards which take place May 13. Chairman is Walter Herbert of Ottawa. . . . Bell and Howell has formed a Canadian subsidiary and will start pro- duction in Toronto at a new plant. . . . Mike Brager, Calgary, won a contest for the stimulation of bookings of the Canadian Canieos. . . . Leslie Allen of Cardinal Films returned after a three-week business trip to Europe. VANCOUVER “Martin Luther” is doing turn-away busi- ness at the 436-seat Studio and looks set for a long run. Also clicking is “The Big Heat” at the 3,000-seat Orpheum. . . . Mar- garet Colbourne, of Paramount Pictures staff, was married to John Morrison of Van- couver. . . . Betty Muller, Capitol cashier, resigned and will move to California. . . . The three theatres recently acquired from the Blaine estate by Purnell and Sons in the Cranbrook-Kimberly district of the Crows Nest Pass will be managed by Harold Purnell, former manager of the Rex theatre, Bellevue, Alta. . . . Walter Wilson, 78, Fa- mous Players’ oldest active manager, who has been in show business in Western Can- ada for 42 years, has retired as manager of the Paramount theatre, Edmonton, Alberta. He was succeeded by his son, Bill Wilson, former manager of the Capitol, Edmonton. . . . Bob Wiber, of the Empress, moves over to the Capitol. Jack Proudlove, formerly of Fort William, Ont., takes over the Empress. ALTEC SERVICE has the answers ! Altec Engineers assisted in the research and development of the new motion picture sound projection and techniques. Their advanced technical background and unequalled know-how work for you, when you call on your Altec Service Man to install and service your booth and sound equipment. An Altec Service Contract is your assurance of trouble-free operation at minimum cost — get the facts now. 161 SIXTH AVE., NEW YORK 13, N.Y. • The finest in technical service for theatres. WASHINGTON Sympathy is being extended to Myron Mills, Equity Film Exchange, on the death of his father, Bernard H. Mills, wha was president of Equity. . . . Ira Sichelman, 20th Century-Fox branch manager, was appointed exchange chairman for Brother- hood Week. . . . Jack Fruchtman, Variety Club Chief Barker, has appointed associate members Sam Felker and Albert W. Levitt to serve on the board of governors in an honorary capacity in 1954. . . . Republic Pic- tures salesman, Sam Tabor, announced that his son, Lieutenant Neil Tabor, was married to Rhona Brenner in Baltimore, Md. . . . John Rowley, 2nd assistant international chief barker of Variety Clubs International, was in Washington from Dallas, and attended the February 1 Tent No. 11 board meeting. 30 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 13, 1954 . . . the original exhibitors' reports department, established October 14, 1916. In it theatremen serve one another with information about the box office performance of product-providing a service of the exhibitor for the exhibitor. ADDRESS REPORTS What the Picture Did for Me, Motion Picture Herald, Rockefeller Center, New York 20. Allied Artists TOPEKA: Bill Elliott — One of the best he has made. Keep up the good work, Bill. Played on Thursday, Fri- day and Saturday. — George Kelloff, Ute Theatre, Aguilar, Colo. Columbia FROM HERE TO ETERNITY: Montgomery Clift, Burt Lancaster, Deborah Kerr — An excellent motion picture — visual proof that our business is here to stay. Seven days’ gross was excellent and all comments were favorable. Faults: Terms too high and our run was too long. We did 75% of our business in the first four days. Played Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sun- day, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, January 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13. — Levin B. Culpepper, Carolina Theatre, Elizabeth City, N. C. Metro-Gold wyn-Mayer L.ILI: Leslie Caron, Mel Ferrer — Despite heavy snow and wind and the fact that downtown parking was prohibited from 6 P.M. on. our business was good. Played Thursday, Friday, Saturday, January 21, 22, 23. — J. Mel Gow, Capitol Theatre, Nanaimo, B. C-, Canada. TORCH SONG: Joan Crawford, Michael Wilding — Doubled this with “The Diamond Queen” (WB) and played to more than we expected. Film rental, as usual, out of line with our grosses this year. — Elstun Dodge, Elstun Theatre, Cincinnati, Ohio. Paramount HERE COME THE GIRLS: Bob Hope, Rosemary Clooney, Tony Martin, Arlene Dahl — Played during college examinations, which no doubt hurt the attend- ance, but am convinced Bob Hope no longer appeals to my patrons as he did some time ago. Played Sun- day, Monday, Tuesday, January 24, 25, 26. — Kenneth M. Gorham, Town Hall Theatre, Middlebury, Vt. LITTLE BOY LOST: Bing Crosby, Claude Dauphin — Very fine picture which was thoroughly enjoyed by my patrons and did well at the box office. Played Sun- day, Monday, Tuesday, December 6, 7, 8. — Ken Gor- ham, Town Hall Theatre, Middlebury, Vt. LITTLE BOY LOST: Bing Crosby, Claude Dauphin —Played this one a week instead of three days. Bing is still the best to draw crowds around here. Excellent story, though it still is not the picture to top “Going My Way” and “Bells of St. Mary’s.” The patrons loved it. Played Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thurs- day, Friday, Saturday, January 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23. — Yves Legault, Regent Theatre, Hawkesbury, Ont., Canada. MOGAMBO: Clark Gable, Ava Gardner — This pic- ture proved to be every bit as good as the advertising claims for it! Played Sunday and Monday, February 7, 8. — Elaine S. George, Star Theatre, Heppner, Ore. ROMAN HOLIDAY : Gregory Peck, Audrey Hep- burn— Paramount can continue to turn out pictures like this and we won’t be sorry. It has appeal for every type of audience. Believe me, you can greet your customers with a smile and invite them back, when they come out. Played Wednesday, Thursday, January 13, 14. — D. P. Savage, Capitol Theatre, Listowel, Out., Canada. SANGAREE: Fernando Lamas, Arlene Dahl — Good show, but 15 below zero weather cut the attendance down very noticeably. Played Sunday, Monday, Tues- day, January 10, 11, 12.— Ken Gorham, Town Hall Theatre, Middlebury, Vt. STALAG 17: William Holden, Don Taylor- Excellent ! Need I say more? Played on Sunday and Monday. — George Kelloff, Ute Theatre, Aguilar, Colo. NEW CONTRIBUTORS CORDIALLY GREETED New contributors to the columns of the What the Picture Did for Me department continue to add their voices to those of their many predecessors in advising other exhibitors on the performance strength of pictures. These men and women report in terms of vital importance, dollars at the box office. The new and very welcome newcomers to these columns of exhibitor importance are: W. P. BROWN, Nifty Theatre, Waterville, Wash. G. W. HARTTMANN, Armour Theatre, North Kansas City, Mo. Y. LEGAULT, Regent Theatre, Hawkesbury, Ont. BRADY MALONE, To wer Theatre, Wichita Falls, Texas J. M. OBERHOLTZER. Mifflin Theatre, Mifflin, Pa. G. H. ODOM, Odom Bros. Theatre, Durant, Miss. MIKE O LIENYKE. Belfield Theatre. Belfield, N. Dak. A. F. PETERS, Bath Drive-In Theatre, Bath, N. Y. THOMAS RUTTER, Piccadilly Theatre, 1443 E. Hyde Park, Chicago, III. O. P. TUCCI, Victory Theatre, Spring Hill, W. Va. United Artists MALTA STORY: Alec Guinness — With 53 inches of snow and parking at night cut off on the main streets, business was above our average for these days. Played Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, January 25, 26, 27. — J. Mel Gow, Capitol Theatre, Nanaimo, B. C., Canada. SABRE JET: Robert Stack, Coleen Gray — Doubled this with “Royal African Rifles” (AA) to better than average business. Played on Friday and Saturday. — Elstun Dodge, Elstun Theatre, Cincinnati, Ohio. Universal FORBIDDEN: Tony Curtis, Joanne Dru — Picture interesting to look at, but run-of-the-mill drama. Tony Curtis, has no draw in our town, to say the least. Played Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, January 17, 18, 19. — Kenneth M. Gorham, Town Hall Theatre, Mid- dlebury, Vt. MAN FROM THE ALAMO: Glenn Ford, Julia Adams — Played during below zero' weather, so attendance small, but a very good drama and very well acted. Excellent color and very much enjoyed by the few who turned out to see it. Played Friday, Saturday, January 15, 16 — Kenneth M. Gorham, Town Hall Theatre, Middlebury, Vt. SEMINOLE: Rock Hudson, Barbara Hale — One of the biggest surprises we have had. Certainly neither the trailer nor advertising did justice to this A-l picture. It has everything your weekend audience will like, with an added feature — not too much bloodthirsty fighting, usually associated with pictures of this kind. Played Friday, Saturday, January 8, 9. — D. P. Savage, Capitol Theatre, Listowel, Ont., Canada. VEILS OF BAGDAD: Victor Mature, Mari Blanch- ard— Just another of those Bagdad stories. Patrons are getting tired of this type, for they say it’s always the same story told in a different manner with differ- ent actors. But did well with it. Victor Mature draws well around here. Played Thursday, Friday, Saturday, January 14, 15, 16. — -Yves Legault, Regent Theatre, Hawkesbury, Ont., Canada. WALKING MY BABY BACK HOME: Dbnald O’Connor, Janet Leigh — A good musical, but our busi- ness was just average. Played Sunday, Monday, Tues- day, Wednesday, January 3, 4, 5, 6. — Levin B. Cul- pepper, Carolina Theatre, Elizabeth City, N. C. WEEKEND WITH FATHER: Van Heflin, Patricia Neal — A little extra effort and the lure of Bank Night made this another midweek that will go on the books in black. It’s a nice entertaining comedy that should be a cinch to pacify farm audiences. This kind only gets better with age, so don’t let it go out of service before you spend a “Weekend With Father.” Played Wednesday, Thursday, November 4, 5. — Bob Walker, Uintah Theatre, Fruita, Colo. WINGS OF THE HAWK: Van Heflin, Julia Adams — Good action picture with excellent Technicolor. Didn’t do anything extra at box office, but was en- joyed by patrons who did come. Played Wednesday, Thursday, December 9, 10. — Rowell Brothers, Idle Hour Theatre, Hardwick, Vt. Warner Bros. THUNDER OVER THE PLAINS: Randolph Scott, Phyllis Kirk — Fair. Randy hasn’t too many years left. His action is slowing up. Played on Sunday and Mon- day.— George Kelloff, Ute Theatre, Aguilar, Colo. Shorts Paramount COLLEGIATE CIRCUS CHAMPS: Grantland Rice Sportlight — Patrons appreciate and like these circus shorts. They like to see teen-agers at work, whatever the work or sport is. This should have been made to last 20 minutes instead of nine. — Yves Legault, Regent Theatre, Hawkesbury, Ont., Canada. Warner Bros. BOOK REVUE: Blue Ribbon Cartoon — This will please the youngsters and get you compliments from the _ sophisticates too. — Bob Walker, Uintah Theatre, Fruita, Colo. UNDER THE LITTLE BIG TOP: Special— This is a 20 minute circus picture acted by teen-agers. It’s really wonderful — don’t pass it by. — Henry Jakes, Hope Theatre, Hope, N. Dak. MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 13, ! 954 31 People In fJke fit e in ^sne / lews iiiiimiiiiiimimimiiEUiimnimmmiimmiimimmimtimiimimiimmmmiimmmiimiiiiiiiii Russell V. Downing, president and man- aging director of Radio City Music Hall, will be treasurer in the amusement divi- sion of the Greater New York Crusade for Freedom campaign to support Radio Free Europe broadcasts. Ted R. Gamble, of Gamble Enterprises, has been elected a member of the board of directors of Trans America Corp., serv- ing with Frank N. Begrano, Jr., who heads the concern. James A. FitzPatrick, producer of Fitz- Patrick TravelTalks, released by MGM, has delivered the final four subjects to the company and now will embark on a new endeavor as Official Cruise Lec- turer for the Swedish American Line. Henry W. Goddard has retired as Judge for the Southern District Court of New York, the White House has announced. This completes the retirement of the en- tire membership of the three-judge statu- tory court that has been handling the Paramount case. The other members who had retired previously were Alfred C. Coxe and Augustus N. Hand. John J. Bergen, Jr. has been appointed by Michael Myerberg Productions, Inc. as vice-president in charge of TV, industrial and commercial films. Wolford K. Dow has been appointed MGM manager of Indo-China, replacing Al Kahans who recently resigned. Meyer Nackimson has been promoted from RKO Radio branch manager from Winni- peg to branch manager for Toronto and Barry Myers, Winnipeg salesman has been promoted to branch manager of that city. Mr. Nackimson replaced Jack Labow who was named Canadian district manager. Lawrence Seidelman has been appointed branch manager of Republic’s Omaha’s branch, following the resignation of Harry Lefholtz. Milton M. Schneiderman has been named United Artists managing- director in Japan, succeeding- Robert M. Lury who resigned. Arthur Rosen, son of Samuel Rosen, ex- ecutive vice-president of Stanley Warner Corp., has been admitted to membership in the Variety Club and also in Cinema Lodge B’nai B’rith. He is a member of the staff supervising Cinerama produc- tions. James L. Echer has been appointed Re- public’s Salt Lake City branch manager following the resignation of Thomas McMahon. Barney Balaban, president of Paramount Pictures, was host at a home office luncheon Tuesday in honor of Joseph A. Walsh, who resigned as head of Paramount branch operations effective February 13, to take up residence in Cali- fornia. Mr. Walsh had been associated with Paramount since 1920. Legion of Decency Reviews 1 3 Films Thirteen films are reviewed by the Na- tional Legion of Decency this week. Three are found objectionable in part for all. These are “Bait,” “Little Caesar” and “Public Enemy.” The first, the Legion says, has “suggestive costuming, dialogue, and situations.” The latter two have “excessive brutality and low moral tone.” Certified for adults are “Always a Bride,” “Charge of the Lancers,” “Beachhead,” “Executive Suite” and “Massacre Canyon.” Unobjec- tionable for all are “The Boy from Okla- homa,” “The Conquest of Everest,” “Taza, Son of Cochise,” “Dragon’s Gold” and “Gypsy Colt.” Name Bovim as Head of Loew's Midwest Houses Russ Bovim, manager of the Loew’s State theatre, St. Louis, is now a division man- ager for the circuit. He will have the thea- tres in St. Louis, Kansas City, Memphis, New Orleans and Houston. He succeeds the late Mike Cullen. Other consequent transfers are Frank Henson, who goes from the Loew's, Akron, to St. Louis, as city manager ; Sam Shubouf, who succeeds him in Akron, and was manager of the State, Cleveland ; and Arnold Gates, who moves from the Stillman to the State. Frank Manente, manager of the Esquire, Toledo, moves to the Stillman. Shifts in manage- ment are Atlanta and Nashville, to Martin Burnett’s division, managed from Columbus, O. ; and supervision of Pittsburgh by Frank Murphy of the Loew’s Cleveland office. Rep. Rogers Praises "Years" In "Congressional Record" Representative Edith Nourse Rogers (R., Mass.) had inserted in the “Congressional Record” last week the following tribute to Samuel Goldwyn’s “The Best Years of Our Lives” ; it is a film that “richly deserves to be brought back so that a new generation of veterans may have the opportunity to see it.” The film which was originally is- sued in 1946, received a gala reissue pre- miere in Washington last week. Mrs. Rogers said the film is as timely today as it was “back in 1947” when it received nine Acad- emy Awards. Hecht and Lancaster In LA Deal United Artists Corp. and Hecht-Lancaster Productions have concluded a two-year production-distribution contract under which a minimum of seven Hecht-Lancaster mo- tion pictures with an over-all production cost of more than $12,000,000 will be re- leased by United Artists. The agreement was reached in Los An- geles over the week-end after a week of conferences attended by Arthur B. Krim, president, Robert S. Benjamin, chairman of the board, and Robert F. Blumofe, vice president in charge of West Coast opera- tions, all of United Artists ; Burt Lancaster and Harold Hecht, owners of Hecht-Lan- caster Productions, and Lew Wasserman, president of the Music Corporation of America. On completing the agreement, Mr. Krim said: “The type of product envisioned in our association is all top-bracket. Hecht and Lancaster plan multi-star vehicles based on important literary properties and designed to fill top playing time. I feel that the ac- quisition of this company’s product is one of the single most important phases in the history of the new United Artists.” The seven films on the 1954-1955 Hecht- Lancaster schedule for United Artists are : “Bronco Apache,” Technicolor western starring Burt Lancaster and Jean Peters, which is completed; “Vera Cruz,” historical drama in Techni- color co-starring Gary Cooper and Lan- caster ; “The Way West,” from A. B. Guthrie Jr.’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the frontier ; “The Gabriel Horn,” an epic film of the pioneering West which Guthrie is writing and in which Lancaster will star ; “Trapeze,” starring Lancaster and two leading international stars ; “Marty,” television prize play; “Operation Heartbreak,” based on Alfred Duff Cooper’s adventure novel, to be filmed abroad in association with Sir Michael Balcon and the J. Arthur Rank Organiza- tion. Brookline Temple Cites Leonard H. Goldenson Leonard H. Goldenson, president of American Broadcasting-Paramount Thea- tres, and also president and co-founder of the United Cerebral Palsy Association, on Tuesday night received the 21st Annual Goodwill Citation of Merit from the Broth- erhood Temple Chabei Shalom, Brookline, Mass. He was cited for his devotion to human brotherhood. More than 1,000 at- tended the dinner. Mr. Goldenson spoke of the palsy and other drives, and of the necessity for keeping free the mediums of information and opinion. 32 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 13, 1954 An International Association of Motion Picture Showmen — Walter Brooks , Director Cxkibitor To tfleet Producer? A About Time! OCJITE a lot has been said, in recent months, about the fact that exhibitors are more than ever concerned with long-range plans for production, and are notably anxious to meet and talk with film makers, on their own grounds. Various and sundry exhibitor groups express a desire to mingle with production in the formative stages, and are equally expressive of a de- sire that producers, as such “include them- selves out” of exhibition. All this doesn’t quite make sense, except that it is quite typical of our industry, where every pasture looks greener, on the other side of the fence. There are some basic facts that are too vital to escape consideration, however, and we suggest that all parties concerned “look at the record” — as A1 Smith used to say. A majority of our best produc- tion sources have sprung from exhibition, first. In many instances, production is an outgrowth of theatre experience, and so remains. Perhaps, it was a growing-up on the part of individuals who long years ago sensed this same trend, and did something about it. There’s still room for more of this calibre. There’s nothing to prevent any exhibitor organization from making pictures. Studio space and facilities for production are a buyer’s market, in Hollywood. Come and get it, and bring cash, as all others have to. If any large exhibitor organization wants to make films, they could at least start with a guaranteed showing in upwards of 4,000 theatres, that would be negotiable at the bank. We know several banks that will loan money on such security. There has been a certain tendency on the part of some exhibitor leaders to lean over in their statements of producer earnings, and jump to the conclusion that these com- panies salted away a hundred million or so, each year. But they seldom stop to count the fact that production takes a hundred million dollars in new money, every year — and it would cost anybody as much, no mat- ter who, to do as well. Try to create a yearly schedule of good pictures and find out. Also, there is a movement afoot to buy SALUTE TO LEO Some months ago, we headlined on this page — "There Has Always Been a Friendly Company" — and that was an observation based not merely on the flow of mail over this desk, but on our own personal experi- ence, working for that company, in thirty key-cities, across the country. We had that privilege as part of the exhibitor relations division of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, under the late Henderson M. Richey, who knew his company, his customers and his country. It was remarkable, covering the conven- tions, to hear the worst about distributors and trade practices, and then to hear that apologetic after-thought, delivered with a grin — "except Metro." Perhaps you don't think it was satisfying, to know and hear that final approval, following outbursts of high indignation on the floor of the conven- tion, and followed by convivial applause around a table. We had many round tables, in those days of travel and travail. We're glad that in ten years, this friendly feeling has spread to other companies, and to many more good showmen who know and feel that the distributor is none to fear, nor has he any private grudge or personal objective to work out, that is contrary to best interests of the industry. Charlie Reagan, today, carries on the same friendly policy that was established years ago, by William F. Rodgers, which has created such a valuable precedent. stock in film concerns, which we vigorously applaud. None will appreciate the good job being done by major companies, in the pres- ent market, more than those who own com- mon stock. To command enough of this stock to own control also requires the ability, the know-how, to go out to Hollywood and do a better job than is being done. That will either work, as a project — or it will put your particular company out of business. Cfl NEW TECHNIQUES in drive-in the- atre operation are apt to encounter some strange suggestions as to operating pro- cedure, and some of these will be fantastic, both technically and from a standpoint of practicability. But one thing we may gain, as a result of CinemaScope, even if the drive-ins don’t get all of this benefit im- mediately. They will obtain screens of higher reflective surface, and we wonder how much longer they would have continued with those dull paint jobs, which consume amperes of current without returning a properly visible image to the eye? Drive-in theatres have always had enormous screens, as big and bigger than any CinemaScope installation, and they have problems beyond any ordinary illumination. But only recently have they traded in the barn paint for a properly reflective screen surface. FURTHER NOTE with regard to the use of CinemaScope, at the Radio City Music Hall. It is true that the huge screen is FLAT — not curved, and again, the premiere showcase theatre in the country has ade- quate reason. The screen in the Music Hall must “fly” — in stage parlance — to make room for the stage show, and it must dis- appear into the “flies” in a matter of seconds, counter-weighted to move swiftly, out of sight. It simply couldn’t be as deep as it would have to be, if it were curved, to slide up and away, and not take up excessive stage or loft room. At the Roxy theatre, they did away with the stage show, but we’re personally glad they found a better solution at the Music Hall. Cinerama started the deep curve, from necessity, and the screen in Cinerama theatres is built in solidly, for it doesn’t have to move in any direction, from one showing to another. As far as we could see, nothing is lost and perhaps something has been gained in the flat screen at the Music Hall, for it is quite likely that the very size of the Music Hall is sufficient answer to the problem of whether the screen should be curved or flat. — Walter Brooks MANAGERS’ ROUND TABLE SECTION, FEBRUARY 13, 1954 33 Managers /I i IV avh . «■» uSTin Ish-Ti-Opi, Choctaw- Apache Indian, visits in the lobby with Bob Jackson, manager of the Jefferson theatre, Fort Wayne, Indiana, at the opening of Uni- versal's "Taza, Son of Cochise." Howard F e g I e y , manager of the Rivoli theatre, Toledo, Ohio, introduces Chief Ish-Ti- Opi to Ruth Elgretter, Toledo newspaper film critic, and Mitch Woodbury, Toledo columnist. Lou Cohen, city manager for Loew's theatres in Hart- ford, rear center, playing host to Cub Scouts at the New England premiere of a big Indian picture they’re on their way to see. {JJf rct/isi •the Depart tmi "STEREOPHC 11 , 0uF(>dENT\R|LY ON IBM i! mi awsSG Ted Schlanger, zone manager for Stanley-Warner Theatres in Phila- delphia, converses with General Parks, commanding officer, 2nd Army, Ft. Meade, during the opening ceremonies for the premiere of "Cease Fire" at the Stanley theatre. OQ3 Right, Richard Sklucki, manager of the suburban Birmingham theatre in Detroit, presents a wrist- watch to a 14-year-old girl for an act of bravery, on the popular "Tom Thumb Matinee" TV pro- gram. She saved two children from a fire. 34 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 13, 1954 Fort Wayne SHOWMEN IN ACTION lias M*. it. On ’ Cease Fire9 When “Cease Fire !” was booked by Quimby Theatres’ Paramount in Fort Wayne, Inch, circuit general manager Har- vey Cocks saw the possibility of winning considerable extra newspaper space with an alert publicity campaign on the Hal Wallis- Paramount 3-D production. This possibility lay in the fact that at least two of the G. I.’s who have roles in the Korean war picture are Indiana boys. So Mr. Cocks rolled up his sleeves and went to work for that extra space that would mean extra boxoffice dollars. The day before the opening, the Journal- Gazette and the News-Sentinel, Fort Wayne’s two dailies, carried sizable movie- page advance stories together with 6-by-9- inch “Cease Fire !” ads. A scene from the picture accompanied the latter paper’s two- column story culled from the Paramount press book. Six-byl2-inch ads broke on opening day. Journal-Gazette also ran a movie-page cut of Sgt. Howard E. Strait of Montpelier, Ind, who has a key part in the film, the caption below announcing that he was a Bronze Star and Purple Heart winner. The entertainment page of the News-Sentinel on opening day was dominated by a long piece by Marjorie Barnhart based on an inter- view with another G. I. who “stars” in the picture, Pfc. Edmund Pruclmiewski of East Chicago, Ind., whom Paramount managed to have on hand for what was in fact the Midwest premiere. The next day the general news section of the Journal-Gazette carried a Pruchniew- ski interview story by Jeanne Franke (no relation to Paramount’s trade press liaison, Charley Franke) topped by a three-column cut showing the Korean veteran visiting- the Paramount Theatre. During the following three days both papers ran stills from the picture and ad- ditional stories about it. Cliff Milnor in his Journal-Gazette “Lines and Angles” column devoted some eight paragraphs touching on a chat he had with Pruchniew- ski, one of which read: “As you may have read in magazines, the ‘Cease Fire!’ cast has been doing some touring for Paramount Studios. That means reams of paper pub- licity for the studio, with someone having to spell ‘Pruchniewski’ countless times. So what happens? Ed has started court pro- cedure to have his name changed.” On Stage tor "Joe Louis" Rocco Mazzuca, manager of Interboro’s Linden theatre, Jamaica, L. I., had Coley Wallace, star of “The Joe Louis Story,” for a personal appearance, and says he is at home on the stage as he is in the ring — a great audience personality. The Newington, Conn., Police Depart- ment awarded theatre tickets to elementary school pupils as traffic safety prizes, through a tieup with Walter Kordak, manager of the independent Newington theatre. ▼ Nick Yost, manager of Schine’s Strand theatre, Cumberland, Md., removed every reference to “documentary film” from his ad- vertising of “Cease Fire!” to offset the thinking of potential patrons who would shy at straight narration. T Bill Lavery, manager of Schine’s Olympic theatre, Watertown, N. Y., persuaded Gen- eral Mark W. Clark, Retired, to send a telegram to the Commander of the local V. F. W. Post, with regrets that he could not attend the opening of “Cease Fire!” but praising the picture for the interest of ser- vice men. T Harry Wiener, manager of Schine’s thea- tre in Oswego, N. Y., has a tieup with a local lumber yard to award children who find lucky cherry wood sticks, planted as promotion for his Washington’s Birthday show. The sticks were made by the Boy Scouts, in the tradition of the occasion. T H. E. Hart, manager of the Court and Smart theatres, Auburn, Indiana, sends in a sample copy of a Shopper’s Guide, which is published in his vicinity, with a circulation of 10,000, and gives space to this theatre in Auburn and Warsaw. T C. H. Trotter, manager of the Playhouse, Stateville, N. C., is having his first big “Encore Week” of the year, with his audi- ence voting for the particular pictures they would like to have repeated. Nathan E. Goldstein, owner and operator of the downtown Arcade theatre, Spring- field, Mass., started a Friday Family Night to cultivate this audience, with children under 12 admitted free when accompanied by their parents. ▼ Sol Sorkin, manager of RKO Keith’s the- atre, Syracuse, wrote personal letters to principals of public and parochial schools telling them of the excellence of “The Com- mand” in CinemaScope. T Every once in a while, a good family picture like “Little Boy Lost" is coupled with a hell-raiser on a double-bill, and the whole things gets an “adults only” rating from the local film councils. Double features are often a double risk with less than a chance of double profits. ▼ George Peter’s excellent campaign on "The Torch Song” from Loew’s theatre, Richmond, is entered as a contender for the Quigley Awards in the first quarter. We saw the proposal for it, as entered in Metro’s “Lucky 7” contest. ▼ Spencer Steinhurst, in Miami for the premiere of “Best Years of Our Lives ’ for RKO, planted a fine essay contest with the Dade Federal Savings and Loan, for the best answers to the natural query, for savings accounts established in their names to promote their “Best Years.” T Two Schine managers, Gerry Fowler, at the Geneva theatre, Geneva, N. Y., and Carl Dickerson, at the Colonia theatre, Norwich, N. Y., had contests on stage for girls aged 15 to 19, to select “Miss Valentine” who would receive sponsored prizes. Will J. Connor, executive vice-president of John Hamrick theatres, left, and Herb Sabottka, vice-president of the circuit, center, had reason to be proud when Ted Gal- lanter, MGM field-man presented a $500 check to Cass Smith, manager of the Music Hall, Seattle as top winner in Metro's "Lucky 7" contest on "Easy to Love." Cass is the third of Will Connor's boys to win in this series of contests. That's doing it, in style befitting the Pacific North West. MANAGERS' ROUND TABLE SECTION, FEBRUARY 13, 1954 35 Tes t in g #1 On Singe JLt ll ariier*# Theatre Paul Brown, manager of Warner’s thea- tre, Fresno, California, enjoyed the experi- ence of trying television as a stage attrac- tion, converting the theatre temporarily into a TV studio, with audience, for the pre- sentation of a new show featuring Jack Mc- Elroy, KNBH, Hollywood, as master of ceremonies, which was telecast over station KJEO-TV. He says he worked hard to prepare for the occasion, starting three weeks in advance with home office and tele- vision people, to obtain an “audience parti- cipation” program in the theatre. The pic- tures show how the audience were included in televised shots aimed directly into the theatre, and how the stage appeared, as a studio, in use. The new TV shows will be used pri- marily to promote upcoming Warner Brothers’ films in the Los Angeles area. The programs will include a telephone gim- mick concerning Warner’s stars, and talent will include some studio names and con- tributing features. The initial program was used in conjunction with “Miss Sadie Thompson” at the Fresno theatre, which was a sell-out in this 2500-seat house, since it was the first time in the San Joaquin valley area that a live TV show has been presented for a large audience. The few technical production bugs have been eliminated, and the project bears watching as the theatre circuit may use it elsewhere as a pattern in creating more ef- fective tieup use with TV sources. The Los Angeles newspapers were especially in- terested and covered the event with by-line reporters. Paul Brown says he’s primarily interested in bringing people into the thea- tre and giving them better entertainment. What's Been Done Here Can Be Done Elsewhere Jerry Pickman and his eager beavers have demonstrated what can be done by way of newspaper breaks for Paramount’s promis- ing new star, Pat Crowley, who is now on tour. Cities along the way can try to match his record, rolled up during her recent visit to New York. She had a color-cover on the Sunday Mirror magazine, as a result of be- ing attractive and available to photogra- phers, with an inside story, for one of the largest reading audiences in the city. Then she had a full page break of her training at New York’s High School of Performing Arts, only public school of its kind in the country. And Earl Wilson, who specializes, found her sufficiently interesting to fill a lively column. All this pre-selling was prior to the opening of “Forever Female” on Broadway, and ahead of the “Red Garters” campaign. 12,000 Sticks of Gum Arnold Kirsch, manager of the DeLuxe theatre, Bronx, New York, got together with the advertising department of Beech- nut Packing Company, and promoted 12,000 sticks of Beechnut gum as an exploitation give-away for “12 Mile Reef.” Agent Extends Insurance To Theatre Patrons P. Moyle, manager of the Juliar theatre, Baraboo, Wise., issues a cooperative ad in the form of an insurance policy, under- written by a local insurance agency. In formal style, it insures those who receive it against (1) boresomeness (2) luburious- ness (3) disgreeableness (4) sadness (5) worrying (6) timorousness and (7) lone- someness, if they bring the policy and find their lucky number displayed at the theatre, for the engagement of “Easy To Love.” It looks legal. Slip on These Wide Shorts for Size 20th Century-Fox have a special press sheet, with some slugs and mats available, to sell such fine CinemaScope attractions as “Vesuvius Express” and “Dancers of the Deep” — both WIDE shorts. “The Corona- tion Parade” and some orchestral shorts are included. Parking Meters for Polio Actress Joan Fontaine, on a brief visit to New Haven, and manager Jim Darby, of the Paramount theatre, thinking up a scheme whereby dimes in parking meters fight polio. 4 Bed Garters * Lifted Texas Bax Office Very large co-operative ads in Women’s Wear (New York wholesale dress trades newspaper) ask in headlines “How Can Red Garters Lift Yaur Dress Figures?” — and that arouses the notion that “Red Gar- ters” has lifted Texas theatre box office grosses during a saturation premiere, as well as raising commercial tieups to a new high in women’s wear. As a matter of fact, there are some of us who have been getting “Red Garters” in the mail, from points in Texas and on Times Square, with consider- able uplift reported by the older genera- tion, still nostalgic. Right now, it’s Natlynn Junior Originals who are drum-beating the dress trades. It’s the biggest ticket-selling women’s fashion tieup ever to be set by a motion picture musical, and one that will reach into every city and town in the country. Inspired by the colorful costumes worn by Rosemary Clooney, Pat Crowley and Joanne Gilbert in the off-beat Technicolor western, the promoters have gone hand in hand in a gigantic garter campaign that will snap right back in the box office. A sizable news- paper syndicate has been set up to handle the news of this at retail, to daily papers throughout the country. “Red Garters” is admittedly a spoof on westerns, but garters are garters, and have their proper duties to perform, come what may. Two Jerrys Share Credit Jerry Sleeter, manager of John Adler’s theatres in Marshfield, Wise., sends a glow- ing report on “Martin Luther,” and says a local minister devoted his radio sermon to praise for the picture. They broke all records from the time the theatre was built. Jerry shares credit with Jerry Leudtke for another fine result in Marshfield, where they did very well with MGM’s “Mogambo” — and 400 students used the idea of the picture as a theme at their high school dance, for exploitation purposes. A Knight of the Garter J. P. Harrison is responsible for the ar- rival here of Rosemary Clooney’s red garter, complete with photograph, autographed and with the message, “My garter is red, and if you are blue, meet me at the Campus, I’ll be waiting for you.” Columbus Goes All Out Three Columbus, Ohio, newspapers broke out in full pages of art and stories for the start of MGM’s 30th anniversary celebra- tion, through the efforts of Walter Jessler, manager of the Ohio theatre, and Fred Oestreicher, publicist. Metro’s 30th Birthday will be a signal for color pages where news- papers have “color on the press.” 36 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 13, 1954 The Best Looking Round Table Member In All of Canada* Olga Sharabura, manager of Famous Players - Canadian's Orpheum theatre, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, is not only a decorative feature on this page, and a member of the Round Table whom we are proud to acknowledge as a real showman, but she is the only woman manager on the circuit, to our best knowledge. At the recent Eastern Conference of FP-C man- agers in Toronto, she confessed her desire "to be considered one of the boys" — a commendable, if impossible, aspiration, but we know what she means. We first met Olga at Niagara Falls a year or so ago, and since that time she has been a frequent contributor to the Round Table and contender for the Quigley Awards. You'll find she was a citation win- ner in the last quarter. Her work as a show- man will stand comparison with any of Dan Krendel’s busy "B's" in Ontario. She ex- tends that personal touch to her patrons, keeps them loyal and happy, makes friends and influences people to become regular movie-goers. The women like the cleanli- ness of her theatre, the men like that win- ning smile, and we admire her sheer ability to do a good job, in a tough assignment, that takes full time, and full strength, even from "the stronger sex." * Nothing in the above statement shall be construed to exclude from consideration on the same grounds, Ivan Ackery and/or any reasonable facsimile, similarly employed in British Columbia, west of Chillimack or beyond Hope, on the Frazer River. Mel Jolley, manager of the Century thea- tre, Hamilton, Ont., started his exploita- tion for “The Scoutmaster’’ with announce- ments of the annual “Scouters’ Dance” — and that we don’t understand, for our Boy Scouts down here are apparently not grown up as they are in Canada. Selling Approach THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES— Samuel Goldwyn-RKO Radio Reissue. The most honored picture of our time. The best loved picture of all time. Entirely new advertising, for this unforgettable story of soldiers and sweethearts. Of fighting men who came home, after being away too long, to learn how to love again. The only picture ever to receive nine Aca- demy Awards, and many prizes throughout the world. No 24-sheet this time around, but the smaller posters are for standard theatre purposes, with some possible cut- outs in your marquee and lobby display. No herald, but you can improvise one of your own, using an oversized newspaper ad mat, and getting the sponsorship of a local cooperative advertiser. The ad mats are part of a new advertising campaign, which we can't compare, because we don't remember the old one, but they run to action pictures of Virginia Mayo, who is only one of an honored cast. The economy ad mat, for small theatres, contains three publicity mats, four small ad mats and several slugs on "our new wide screen" whi ch don't properly belong in a composite mat for small situations. It isn't a well- selected example of this popular campaign mat at the low 35c price. A contest idea is suggested in a newspaper ad, "How Many Big Moments Can a Man or Woman Have?" The home-coming of service men is the best idea for exploitation. THE GREAT GILBERT AND SULLIVAN— United Artists. In color by Technicolor, with the great D'Oyly Carte Company, starring Robert Morley and Maurice Evans, with Martin Green and Eileen Herlie. So singable, so sellable, a musical forget-me- not. The lusty, gusty, colorful story of the exciting composers who gave us the words and music which the world loved. Millions upon millions of their records have been sold, the number of performances of their shows is beyond calculation. Pressbook materials are in short supply for this first musical picture of the great light operas so popular the world over. No poster larger than a three-sheet, no herald, li- mited assortment of newspaper ad mats, but the big 35c economy mat is right down the alley for small situations, with all the best for only 35c. For once the small theatre gets all the breaks, and this film will delight and please every audience. We once produced "Pinafore" in a small town theatre, more than forty years ago, and it was a great success, with local tal- ent. Every person in your town knows and loves Gilbert & Sullivan music, and can join in the choruses. Picture has been tre- mendously popular across Canada, and will do as well anywhere in the forty-eight states. Schools, churches, music clubs, record dealers, societies, commercial tie- ups, will work, down the line, for "The Great Gilbert and Sullivan." THE COMMAND — W a rner Brothers. CinemaScope, in Warnercolor. All the might and magnificence of the unconquer- able h eroes who forged America's fron- tiers. The first super-western in Cinema- Scope, it's as big as all outdoors! Beyond every vastness ever beheld, comes a story as big as the great plains, and the con- quering pioneers who made our history. 24-sheet is superb, for cutouts on marquee or in lobby display, and all other posters have similar quality. No herald mentioned, but plenty of oversized newspaper ad mats to print your own. The ad mats are gen- erally good, and some are better than others, so pick what pleases you best, and try for what is newest in your advertising. The economy ad mat is new with Warners, but they give you five ad mats and two publicity mats, for 35c at National Screen, not too well selected or planned for small situations, but acceptable as the best bar- gain on Film Row. A special ready-made, giant multi-color, overhead hanger, which extends to 15 feet wide by four feet deep, sells for $13.75, direct from Warner's New York display department. Something new is the "Magigraph" which sells for $11 a thousand, and when you touch a cigarette to the pistol point (in the picture) it spells out the title of the picture, in previously blank space. No flame, or flare-up, just a quick display for novelty, and valuable if used with care and distributed with discre- tion to obtain word-of-mouth advertising. THE JUBILEE TRAIL— Repu blic. In dazzling Tru-Color by Consolidated. The greatest American drama since "Gone With the Wind." From the best-selling novel by Gwen Bristow, read by millions. No 24- sheet, but the 6-sheet and other posters contain pictorial art for cut-outs as marquee and lobby display. A mat for a flash herald will be furnished gratis for local printing. Newspaper ad mats are many and varied, from very large to small sizes, to serve all purposes. The economy mat for small situations contains six single- column mats, two 2-column mats and two publicity mats, all for 35c at National Screen. Pressbook makes good illustrations of cast members, who look interesting, and are identified by their cast names in vari- ous newspaper ads. The pressbook cover in itself will make display material in small situations. A map of the famous "Jubilee Trail" from New Orleans to Los Angeles, will make good blow-ups. SPECIAL TRAILERS That Get You Best Results^ And The Speed You Need., NEW YORK 630 Ninth A vc FILMACK 1 327 S. Wabash Ave. CHICAGO 5, IlllNOIS MANAGERS' ROUND TABLE SECTION, FEBRUARY 13, 1954 37 CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING Fifteen cents per word, money-order or check with copy. Count initials, box number and address. Minimum insertion $ 1 .50. Four insertions for the price of three. Contract rates on application. No borders or cuts. Forms close Mondays at 5 P.M. Publisher reserves the right to reject any copy. Film and trailer advertising not accepted. Classified advertising not subject to agency commission. Address copy and checks: MOTION PICTURE HERALD, Classified Dept., Rockefeller Center, New York (20) DRIVE-IN EQUIPMENT WTDE- SCREEN PRESENTATIONS PAY OFF! Wide angle lenses and special apertures available. Write for details. S. O. S. CINEMA. SUPPLY CORP.. 602 W. 52nd St., New York 19. USED EQUIPMENT PROJECTORS BY DEVRY — REBUILT LIKE new by S. O. S. from $895. Send for bulletin Devp.ro. Time deals available. S. O. S. CINEMA SUPPLY CORP., 602 W. 52nd St., New York 19. FOR SALE COMPLETE THEATRE EQUIPMENT in A1 condition. Everything required to open a theatre, from box-office to wall, including 1,400 up- holstered seats. Western Electric sound equipment, two generators, frames, box-office, etc. Must be moved immediately. Any reasonable offer accepted. Theatre now in operation. New York Citv vicinity. BOX 2767, MOTION PICTURE HERALD. COMPLETE THEATRE EQUIPMENT, EXCEL- lent condition. Simplex projectors, arc lamps, $900. HALL THEATRE, Sister Bay, Wis. FOR BETTER BUYS— SEE STAR! PAIR DEVRY XDC Projectors, heavy bases. Suprex trim lamp- houses, complete, rebuilt, $1,650; Simplex rear shutter mechanisms, six months guarantee, $275 pair; Lenses and Screens at lowest prices; Strong Mogul 65 ampere Lamphouses, rebuilt, $489.50 pair. What do you need? STAR CINEMA SUPPLY, 447 West 52nd St.. New York 19. SEATING CAN’T BEAT THIS SEAT FOR $4.95! 500 FULL upholstered back, boxspring cushion, excellent condi- tion. Many more. Send for Chair Bulletin. S. O- S. CINEMA SUPPLY CORP., 602 W. 52nd St., New York 19. NEW EQUIPMENT BUY MASONITE MARQUEE LETTERS -SAVE 70% ! 4" — 35c ; 8"— 50c; 10"— 60c ; 12"— 85c ; 14"— $1.25 ; 16"— $1.50 any color. S. O. S. CINEMA SUPPLY CORP., 602 W. 52nd St.. New York 19. IT’S NEW— IT’S REVOLUTIONARY— IT'S TER- rific! Vinyl metallic all purpose Screens, $1.25 sq. ft. Has heat weld seams, absolutely invisible! Gives high brightness gain with maximum light distribution; no streaks nor blemishes. Economy screen w/semi-in- visible seams still available 90c sq. ft. Prompt ship- ments on short focus lenses for Wide Screens. S. O'. S'. CINEMA SUPPLY CORP., 602 W. 52nd St.. New York 19. SERVICES WINDOW CARDS, PROGRAMS. HERALDS photo-offset printing. CATO1 SHOW PRINTING CO. Cato, N. Y. HELP WANTED CONVENTIONAL AND DRIVE-IN THEATRE managers wanted for locations in Wisconsin. All year- round permanent employment with aggressive theatre group. Write BOX 2769 MOTION PICTURE HER- ALD, and state your qualifications and references. Only those interested need apply that are now em- ployed in Wisconsin or border states. LARGE ORGANIZATION OPERATING IN AND out of Denver. Good starting salary; bonus; insur- ance; pension; other benefits. Submit snapshot, per- sonal history record ; Age, education, marital status, experience, etc. Replies held confidential. BOX 2771, MOTION PICTURE HERALD. WANTED: MANAGER FOR DRIVE-IN THEA- tre in New York state. Send detailed qualifications, photograph, salary expected and references. BOX 2770, MOTION PICTURE HERALD. BOOKS “NEW SCREEN TECHNIQUES”— THE NEW book that is a “must” for everybody in ar connected with the motion picture industry — the clearly pre- sented, authoritative facts about 3-D, Cinerama, Cine- maScope and other processes — covering production, ex- hibition and exploitation — contains 26 illustrated arti- cles by leading authorities — edited by Martin Quigley, Jr. 208 pages. Price $4.50 postpaid. QUIGLEY BOOK- SHOP, 1270 Sixth Ave., New York 20, N. Y. RICHARDSON’S BLUEBOOK OF PROJECTION. New 8th Edition. Revised to deal with the latest tech- nical developments in motion picture projection and sound, and reorganized to facilitate study and refer- ence. Includes a practical discussion of Television especially prepared for the instruction of theatre pro- jectionists, and of new techniques for advancement of the art of the motion picture. The standard textbook on motion picture projection and sound reproduction. Invaluable to beginner and expert. Best seller since 1911. 662 pages, cloth bound, $7.25 postpaid. QUIGLEY BOOKSHOP, 1270 Si*th Avenue, New York 20, N. Y. MOTION PICTURE AND TELEVISION ALMANAC — the big book about your business — 1953-54 edition. Contains over 12.000 biographies of important motion picture personalities. Also all industry statistics. Com- plete listing of feature pictures 1944 to date. Order your copy today. $5.00, postage included. Send remit- tance to QUIGLEY BOOKSHOP, 1270 Sixth Avenue, New York 20, N. Y. STUDIO EQUIPMENT CAN’T LICK ’EM? JOIN ’EM. SHOOT LOCAL Newsreels, TV Commercials, Documentaries. Arrange advertising tie-ups with local merchants. Film Pro- duction Equipment Catalog free. S. O. S. CINEMA SUPPLY CORP., 602 W. 52nd St„ New York 19. Files Amended Complaint In $841,500 Buffalo Suit The Martina Theatre Corporation, Al- bion, N. Y.. has filed an amended complaint in the Federal Court in Buffalo asking per- mission to reopen an $841,500 complaint against 17 producing, distributing and exhibiting- corporations. The complaint, against the Schine Circuit and others, asks that an order dismissing a former complaint be vacated on the grounds that a settlement agreement, which was part of the stipulation of dismissal, was illegal and obtained by fraud. Martina Corp. contends that it suf- fered $841,500 in damages as a result of an alleged conspiracy on the part of the defendants to deprive Martina of access of films for two theatres, one in Oswego and the other in Ogdensburg. John Manheimer, New York Exhibitor, Dies at 75 John Manheimer, a pioneer New York exhibitor, died February 6 there at the age of 75. He once owned the Linden theatre, Brooklyn, which became the initial house of the present Century Circuit. He also owned the Park theatre and had an interest in the Albemarle, both in Brooklyn. He was a past executive director of the In- dependent Theatre Owners Association. He leaves two sons, Seymour and Arthur, the latter the Chicago manager for National Screen Service. George F. Pancake George F. Pancake, 58, died February 3 at the Dayton Veterans’ Hospital. He was a pioneer Columbus, Ohio, exhibitor. With his brother William he operated the Knickerbocker, now the Gayety. The brothers recently had been operating the Roxy night club in the Gayety building. William and two other brothers, Jon and Robert, and two sisters survive. Samuel Varbalow Samuel Varbalow, 62, president of the Savar Corp., independent theatre circuit of Camden and environs, died January 31, at the Einstein Medical Center. Philadelphia. Death came from a heart attack. He is sur- vived by his brother, five sisters, and a daughter. Harry W. Williams Harry W. Williams, 58, projectionist at the Loew’s Theatre, Nashville, died of a heart attack Febuarv 4 in that city. He had been at the theatre since 1916 and was president of the Motion Picture Operators Pinion Local 626. IFE Will Release "Hell Raiders" ‘‘Hell Raiders of the Deep,” a story about the exploits of Italian “frogmen” during the war, will be released in this country this spring by IFF Releasing Corp. The film is said to be a quasi-documentary, and has an “authenticated” reenactment of the underwater operations which sank two Brit- ish warships, the “Valiant” and “Queen Elizabeth” in the protected port of Alex- andria. Pierre Cressoy, a Erench actor, plays the leader of the sea soldiers. Seven others who appear were actually in the war operations. Kling Buys RKO Scenery Kling Studios, Hollywood, motion picture and television film producers, have announ- ced the purchase from RKO Pictures of scenery and sets valued at approximately $37,000. The properties were located at the RKO ranch and have been moved to the Kling lot, formerly the Chaplin Studios. Pepsi-Cola Short Brandt Enos Associates, New York, has produced for the Pepsi-Cola Company a 30-minute documentary film showing the growth of the company the past three years. 38 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 13, 1954 FILM BUYERS RATING Film buyers of independent circuits in the U. S. rate current product on the basis of its performance in their theatres. This report covers 13 6 attractions, 6,418 playdates. Titles run alphabetically. Numerals refer to the number of en- gagements on each attraction reported. The tabulation is cumula- tive. Dagger (t) denotes attractions published for the first time. Asterisk (*) indicates attractions which are listed for the last time. EX means Excellent ; AA — Above Average; AV Average; BA — Below Average; PR — Poor. A. & C. Meet Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde (Univ.) EX AA 1 1 AV 40 BA 15 PR 6 Actress, The (MGM) - - 2 19 34 Affair in Monte Carlo (AA) - - - 3 2 Affairs of Dobie Gillis, The (MGM) - 2 10 19 2 All-American (Univ.) - 10 28 13 13 'All 1 Desire (Univ.) - 20 29 31 5 All the Brothers Were Valiant (MGM) - 15 29 27 1 Appointment in Honduras (RKO) - 5 10 6 8 Arrowhead (Para.) - 17 40 14 Back to God's Country (Univ.) 1 9 30 10 2 Band Wagon, The (MGM) 4 12 36 49 23 Big Heat (Col.) 1 20 24 1 1 ~ Big Leaguer, The (MGM) - - 12 24 8 Blowing Wild (WB) 8 18 31 30 6 Blueprint for Murder, A (20th-Fox) 8 6 1 * Border River (Univ.) - 3 3 1 Botany Bay (Para.) - 1 22 24 2 Caddy, The (Para.) 9 57 30 5 1 Calamity Jane (WB) 2 41 27 7 1 (Captain's Paradise (UA) 6 1 - - - (Champ for a Day (Rep.) - - 1 - 4 Charge at Feather River, The (WB) 8 10 8 12 7 China Venture (Col.) - 2 1 2 - City of Bad Men ( 20th- Fox ) - 8 51 28 4 Clipped Wings (AA) - 8 6 1 - Conquest of Cochise (Col.) - 1 8 1 1 5 Crazylegs — All-American (Rep.) - 2 5 2 - Cruel Sea, The (Univ.) 2 14 1 1 - 1 Cruisin' Down the River (Col.) 1 4 21 30 9 Dangerous Crossing ( 20th- Fox ) - - 9 1 1 6 Dangerous When Wet (MGM) 5 44 65 17 - Decameron Nights (RKO) - - - 4 5 *Devil's Canyon (RKO) - 8 18 9 9 Diamond Queen, The (WB) - - 4 1 2 East of Sumatra (Univ.) . _ 10 27 15 5 Easy to Love (MGM) 15 4 1 1 _ _ (Eddie Cantor Story (WB) - 2 - - 3 Escape from Fort Bravo (MGM) - 3 14 13 - Farmer Takes a Wife ( 20th- Fox ) _ 21 30 28 17 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T, The (Col.) - - 1 1 8 Flame of Calcutta (Col.) . . . . _ _ 1 _ 5 Flight Nurse (Rep.) 1 4 9 7 2 Flight to Tangier (Para.) - 1 8 10 8 Francis Covers the Big Town (Univ.) 7 40 28 1 1 _ From Here to Eternity (Col.) 39 30 4 2 5 Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (20th-Fox) 45 43 13 17 1 Give a Girl a Break (MGM) _ 4 9 7 1 Glass Web, The (Univ.) _ 1 3 1 6 Glory Brigade, The ( 20th- Fox ) _ 6 17 12 9 (Go, Man Go (UA) 2 4 1 _ _ Golden Blade, The (Univ.) _ 5 17 16 3 Great Jesse James Raid (Lippert) _ 3 6 6 Great Sioux Uprising, The (Univ.) 1 5 27 38 8 Gun Belt ( U A ) 2 7 21 6 Gun Fury ( Col.) . . - 3 6 1 _ Half a Hero (MGM) _ 8 20 21 19 Here Come the Girls (Para.). 2 4 13 14 3 Hondo (WB) . . . 42 12 2 1 Houdini ( Para.) 8 43 30 16 1 How to Marry a Millionaire ( 20th- Fox ) 19 3 - 1, the Jury (UA) 1 5 10 19 3 Inferno (20th-Fox) 1 4 18 7 20 Island in the Sky (WB) - 32 37 48 16 Joe Louis Story, The (UA) EX AA 1 AV 1 BA 3 PR *Kid from Left Field, The (20th-Fox) - - 18 28 7 King of the Khyber Rifles ( 20th- Fox ) 1 4 1 - 1 Kiss Me Kate (MGM) 5 16 12 1 1 2 Last Posse, The (Col.) - 1 4 14 12 Latin Lovers (MGM) 3 1 12 39 39 Let's Do It Again (Col.) - 8 28 35 34 Lili (MGM) 8 30 20 25 1 1 Lion Is in the Streets, A (WB) - 1 16 27 27 Little Boy Lost (Para.) 19 44 18 2 1 'Main Street to Broadway (MGM) - 2 - 17 1 1 Man from the Alamo (Univ.) ... 18 9 19 10 Marry Me Again (RKO) ... 2 3 1 1 7 Martin Luther (de Rochemont) 10 14 2 - - Master of Ballantrae, The (WB) 1 3 16 35 12 Maze, The ( AA ) 1 2 8 12 4 Melba (UA) ... - - 10 2 Miss Sadie Thompson (Col.) 6 3 2 ~ - Mission over Korea (Col.) - 6 2 5 6 Mister Scoutmaster (20th-Fox) 3 17 53 31 10 Mogambo (MGM) 37 64 19 3 1 Moon Is Blue, The (UA) 40 31 25 15 4 Moonlighter, The (WB) ... 2 10 10 18 Nebraskan, The (Col.) - 2 3 3 - 99 River Street (UA) 1 1 4 6 - No Escape ( U A ) . ■ ■ - - 8 1 (Paratrooper (Col.) - 4 1 _ - Paris Model (Col.) - - 2 3 - Plunder of the Sun (WB) . . . 9 9 36 7 Private Eyes (AA) . . . 2 3 - - Return to Paradise (UA) _ 14 35 55 3 'Ride Vaquero (MGM) 3 20 50 33 8 Robe, The ( 20th- Fox ) 45 7 2 - - Roman Holiday (Para.) . . 8 40 34 7 Sabre Jet (UA) 1 14 21 4 4 Sailor of the King (20th-Fox) - 1 6 5 Salome ( Col.) 1 1 61 32 12 1 Sea Around Us, The (RKO) 1 5 13 1 - Sea of Lost Ships (Rep.) - 1 4 6 - Second Chance (RKO) 2 8 18 10 4 Shane (Para.) 56 44 6 2 - Shark River (UA) - 14 7 1 4 Sins of Jezebel (Lippert) - 2 5 5 - Sky Commando (Col.) - 4 2 - 1 Slaves of Babylon (Col.) . . . 1 3 1 2 So Big (WB) 1 16 60 14 4 So This Is Love (WB) - 13 19 27 20 Stalag 17 (Para.) 9 44 35 13 - Stand at Apache River (Univ.) 1 4 16 15 3 Steel Lady, The (UA) . . . - 7 _ - Stranger Wore a Gun, The (Col.) 4 22 9 2 4 'Sweethearts on Parade (Rep.) _ - 4 4 3 Sword and the Rose, The (RKO) . . . 8 18 21 20 Take the High Ground (MGM) 7 38 36 9 3 Terror on a Train (MGM) - - 1 3 2 Those Redheads from Seattle (Para.) _ 7 14 14 3 Three Sailors and a Girl (WB) 1 4 14 1 1 4 Thunder Bay (Univ.) 3 13 45 33 10 Thunder over the Plains (WB) _ 5 8 15 2 Torch Song (MGM) . _ 9 19 13 30 Tumbleweed (Univ.) - 10 14 2 2 Valley of Headhunters (Col.) _ _ 10 5 2 Veils of Bagdad (Univ.) - - 2 1 1 7 Vice Squad (UA) - 1 19 17 5 Vicki (20th-Fox) . . . 1 3 15 1 1 Walking My Baby Back Home (Univ.) _ 20 15 9 (War Arrow (Univ.) _ 3 3 2 _ War Paint (UA) - 8 10 12 4 War of the Worlds (Para.) 2 7 15 38 18 White Witch Doctor ( 20th- Fox ) 14 48 26 1 1 4 Wild One (Col.) _ 7 _ 1 _ Wings of the Hawk (Univ.) - 5 14 17 31 Does ii come as a surprise when you look into your Cost-of- Living . . . and out pops a JOKER? You’ll see the reason, when you examine the Bureau of Labor Statistics report showing that your Cost-of-Living has jumped 92.8% since 1939! Your FOOD cost has risen 141.4%; your RENT 42.4% and the cost of your APPAREL 99.2% ! A further look at the Exhibitors Digest reveals an in- crease of 98.9% for your THEATRE EQUIPMENT and SUPPLIES from 1940 to 1952! Your jumping Jack ... is springing from some pretty lively prices! However, there are no springs and no strings attached to the negligible increase, IF ANY, you’ve received from NSS during the very same period ! Compare all your costs with the LOW COST, Service- With-A-Smile Policy of the Prize Baby! FEBRUARY 20, 19)4 merit rtainment — The Executive Heads of Eight MPAA Member Companies ENNESSEE CHAMP. LOOPHOLE. PRIDE OF THE BLUE GRASS, FOR MURDER ■'P'K ^.‘•'“vVAv * •• • York City, U. S. A., under the act of March 1, 1879. ■fetter Center, New York 20, N. Y. Subscription prices: contents copyrighted 1954 by Quigley Publishing Ccr.npan SPEAKING OF SCOPE- ASK US FOR ANYTHING!" M-G-M’s got product for every type of operation in this business! While the spectacular CinemaScope sensation “KNIGHTS OF THE ROUND TABLE" (In color magnificence— Robert Taylor , Ava Gardner , Mel Ferrer , Anne Crawford ) is packing theatres from Coast to Coast . . . And the world’s first CinemaScope Musical “ROSE MARIE” (In color glory — Ann Blyth, Howard Keel , Fernando Lamas ) will thrill the public in March . . . M-G-M points proudly to a wealth of entertainment for all theatre needs. LUCY AND DESI IN "THE LONG, LONG TRAILER” The happiest holiday booking throughout the nation, in hundreds of theatres including famed Radio City Music Hall. Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz in a great entertainment promoted to the skies ! [In color too !) "EXECUTIVE SUITE” PREVIEWS SENSATIONAL! Advance predictions from Hollywood about M-G-M’s production of the famed best-seller are now confirmed at every Preview by representatives of America’s leading magazines. A terrific attraction with the Cast of the Year! [William Holden, June Ally son, Barbara Stanwyck, Fredric March, Walter Pidgeon, Shelley Winters, Paul Douglas, Louis Calhern ). "GYPSY COLT” AN EXPLOITATION NATURAL! For the mass public a breath-taking drama! With the Fury of a wild animal Gypsy Colt conquers dangers of the West. [In color— Donna Corcoran, Ward Bond , Frances Dee, and Gypsy). "RHAPSODY” ONE OF YEAR’S BIGGEST! The screen hasn’t witnessed a love drama of such power in years! Magnificent music, authentic continental backgrounds, deluxe production values. [Technicolor— Elizabeth Taylor, Vittorio Gassman, John Ericson). "TENNESSEE CHAMP”SATURATION CAMPAIGN! A solid entertainment with the sock of “Stars In My Crown,” it will be launched with a high-powered Southern saturation campaign. [In coloi — Shelley Winters). "JULIUS CAESAR” -A BOX-OFFICE GIANT! Philadelphia and Washington set new all-time records! Detroit sensa- tional as every new engagement confirms its selection on 10 -Best Lists! [Marlon Brando, James Mason, John Gielgud, Louis Calhern, Edmond O'Brien, Greer Gar son, Deborah Kerr). LANA TURNER IN "FLAME AND THE FLESH”! That’s a marquee -full and the picture promises a theatre -full! Dramatic and pulsating with man-woman conflict, filmed abroad in actual locations, it’s box-office dynamite! [Technicolor — Lana Turner, Pier Angeli, Carlos Thompson). That's just a few of many We say it with Pictures!" I On the Jlh eels of ‘Hondo’ comes another jQKl — —THIS TIME IN WarnerColor CARL BENTON RElO “THE COMMAND"— GUY MADISON • JOAN WELDON • JAMES WHITMORE SUPERB STORY OF THE AMERICAN FRONTIER MUSIC COMPOSED PRODUCEO BY • HARVEY LEMBECK • RUSSELL HUGHES • by dimitri tiomkin’ OAVID WEISBART * DAVID BUTLER IV, J?. VVE SA\a/ fobe " The dZenceX °' Slngle - track anrl c, ^e/ween •Sound is ff)S j-rr ere°phonic ° t'cyc/e befween . Mi fcl i ° £°dfc Have you seen the grosses, in theatres large and small, on THE ROBE, HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE, BENEATH THE 12-MILE REEF, KING OF THE KHYBER RIFLES and HELL AND HIGH WATER! MOTION PICTURE HERALD MARTIN QUIGLEY, Edit or -in -Chief and Publisher Vol. 194, No. 8 MARTIN QUIGLEY, }R., Editor February 20, 1954 Whither RKO? TO DESCRIBE Howard Hughes as unpredictable is an under-statement rather than an exaggera- tion. Despite this it may reasonably be conjectured that Mr. Hughes, contrary to a prevailing trade notion, will not upon obtaining ownership of the assets of RKO Radio proceed to liquidate the operation, cash in his checks and retire from the industry. It seems unlikely that Mr. Hughes will now merely go about the business of adding some twenty-three more millions to the several millions already invested in RKO simply for the purpose of entering upon an unpalatable and uninspiring process of liquidating the properties in- volved. The end to be gained in any such course would be merely to recoup capital of which Mr. Hughes seems already to have an abundant supply. Mr. Hughes originally bought into RKO because he had determined “to be a factor in the industry’’. The history of RKO since his connection with it obviously has not produced gratifying results. His objective has not been attained. By buying out on advantageous terms all or practi- cally all the other stockholders he will be eliminating the annoyance of the stockholder suits or at least minimizing their importance. But more importantly he will be placing himself in a position to run a new company with the assets of the old in any way he sees fit — and free of possible interference and personal criticism. Placing a high value on complete independence and being willing and able to pay for it, this is probably what he intends to do. The industry at large and the theatres in particular would suffer a severe loss if RKO as a potential source of product were to disappear. If Mr. Hughes should de- termine to carry on, the potential gain to the industry at large and particularly to the theatres would depend upon just what he would do with the operation. While Mr. Hughes is in a position to indulge himself in a high order of independence, that in itself will solve no problems relative to the business of producing good motion pictures and successfully distributing them. One rule which even Mr. Hughes cannot cause to be re- written in his favor is that there can be no producer- distributor success that is not based on a regular supply of good pictures. i s m Every Exhibitor a Gallup IT has long been asserted that there is no business which knows as little — statistically speaking — about itself as the motion picture. While all statistics are far from exact indications of the truth, the science of polling public opinion has advanced a long way from the days when the local ward leader rolled his cigar to the side of his mouth and said to his designated candi- date, “You’re in because I say so.” On the national level the exigencies of the admission tax repeal campaign has forced COMPO to turn a search- ing spotlight on exhibition and assembled comprehen- sive statistics so that members of Congress and officials of the Treasury would understand the plight of theatres on the basis of cold facts and not “say so.” Exhibitors might well profit at the box office by doing some fact finding of their own within their own community. It is not suggested that any outside statistical experts be hired or any great amount of money spent. The ex- hibitor himself or selected members of his house staff can do some polling of patrons and potential patrons that might be very helpful in buying and booking and in other facets of theatre operation. First of all an exhibitor might learn the percent of patronage in several categories: How many are men? Women? How many in the so-called “lost audience” of older folk? Teenagers? Children? Then it would be helpful to determine how often patrons attend and, if possible, what influences theatre-going. After data is assembled on those who attend theatres, an effort should be made to question a representative sampling of that segment of the community which is physically and finan- cially able to go to the movies but rarely does. Every showman should have an insatiable appetite for data about the likes, dislikes and plain whims of his patrons and potential patrons. Anything that helps him understand his customers, helps his business. There should be a little Gallup in every exhibitor. a m m C| Any one who doubts that motion picture exhibition must be firmly founded on family attendance might pon- der recent figures issued by the U. S. Census Bureau. The number of large families in all income brackets is increas- ing. Of the children now in school thirty per cent come from families with four or more children, twenty-two per cent from families of three children, thirty from fami- lies with two children and only eighteen per cent are the only child in each family. That means the best way to increased box office is through family patronage. a ■ ■ C| Exhibitors and their patrons in a number of key cities are now getting a chance to see again one of the great motion pictures, Samuel Goldwyn’s “The Best Years of Our Lives”. Like many excellent works of an art, it is timeless. Patrons who have not seen it before will be thrilled by it ; others will find added satisfaction in seeing it after a lapse of a half dozen years. It will again be taken to their hearts like an old and dear friend. Small House Sound To the Editor : It is understandable that Mr. Skouras would want to protect CinemaScope by in- sisting that all large theatres use the special screens, the amplifiers and multiple horn arrangements that go with many stereo- phonic installations, plus, of course, the anamorphic lens. However, it is equally desirable that ar- rangements be made for our small theatres to show these new CinemaScope productions on our regular single track systems without installing prohibitive equipment, which adds nothing to quality in small houses. Most theatres are forced now to have and maintain good sound in our theatres. Many of us have just installed new giant screens, suitable for 3-D or CinemaScope. If the new anamorphic lens can be sold at about half the present price, many of us can afford a pair of them and give creditable perform- ances in our theatres. It is not by design that most of the thea- tres are stalling the installation of expensive additional equipment. We simply fail to see how we can pay for this equipment on a 10 per cent profit, and still feed our families. It’s that simple. Perhaps arrangements will be made in time to save most small town theatres. These installations have meant much to the movie industry in the past. They can do so in the future, wtih a mite of cooperation at this time. — ROY ROWE, Rome Amusement Company, Bur gam, N. C. Public Relations To the Editor: Industry public relations in Hollywood are at an all-time low. Picture promotion by key runs is generally inferior to depart- ment store and shopping center efforts. Stars who offend decency should be dropped by the industry regardless of socalled box of- fice value. — E. D. POLLACK, Lincoln Theatre, Mt. Vernon, Wash. The Tax Fight To the Editor: More should be done to inform the pub- lic about the industry’s tax fight. The pow- ers-that-be behind our tax campaign must see that our publicity on both the national and local levels answers questions before they arise. For one thing, the continual increase in the cost of theatre operations should be em- phasized, in connection with the fact that few theatres actually have raised their ad- mission prices even with these cost increases. The public should be told also that unless the tax comes off, theatres may well have to raise prices. This, in turn, would offset public criticism if there are no price cuts following an abolition of the tax. The tax campaign could also quote Presi- dent Eisenhower’s views at the time he vetoed the Mason Bill last year. You may be sure that whatever happens, we are going to read a lot in the papers about the Admin- istration’s stand on tax relief. Let’s beat them to the punch in this important fight. — Virginia Exhibitor. Golden Opportunity To the Editor: Television is now dishing up the kind of tripe that Hollywood presented for years — all this and commercials too ! Coupled with this fact is another : there has always existed a certain segment of society that considers it fashionable to hate both movies and TV. Hollywood now faces a golden opportunity to lure back the TV-ites and also capture an audience hitherto virtually untapped. Cin- emaScope, et ah, have helped, but more so- phistication would be better. Indeed, Holly- wood could go into direct competition with Broadway’s legitimate theatres. This, of course, brings up the subject of censorship, a topic being well-aired currently. May I say in all sincerity that the Code is not “a living document.” It was half dead when it was born, even by Anglo- American standards, and has been more or less politely ignored in many instances over the years. It should be sacked entirely, and at the same time, all films should be placed in one of two categories upon release: (1) for adults only, and (2) family fare. Let’s remember that the screen is not an innovator of more, sexual or otherwise; it can only reflect what mankind has been doing for years. — R. A. MAYFIELD, San Francisco, Calif. Rentals Too High To the Editor: Film rentals are too high ! There are too many road shows and advanced admis- sions, and too many demands for preferred playing time. — Lauderale Drive-in Theatre, Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Repeal the Tax To the Editor: Let’s fight hard and get this unfair tax repealed. Forget about 3-D and put out better movies in 2-D. Let’s keep the small theatres open. — Pennsylvania Exhibitor. MOTION PICTURE HERALD February 20, 1954 INDUSTRY heads throw full weight behind the Production Code Page 12 GOLDENSON cites importance of Code in conduct of industry Page 12 MPAA member companies sign statement reaffirming Code Page 13 ARNALL says independent producers should have Code voice Page 13 TERRY RAMSAYE Says — A column of com- ment on matters cinematic Page 16 TRAUB of Maryland Censor Board asks re- visions in state law Page 16 OKLAHOMA authorities study possibility of censor action Page 16 STUDIOS found by Goldenson and Balaban starting "renaissance" Page 17 ITOA, New York, accepts MPAA bid for talks on arbitration Page 17 SMALL signs deal with United Artists for twelve films in 1955 Page 17 ACADEMY lists nominees for annual awards in all categories Page 20 20TH-FOX plans to release twelve films in next five months Page 20 ALLIED goes to Justice Department on Fox stereophonic sound Page 21 PARAMOUNT announces intent to release three-reel featurettes Page 21 RKO Pictures stockholders to vote on Hughes stock offer Page 21 BRITISH exhibitor organization studies Skouras CinemaScope plan Page 22 NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT — Notes on indus- try personnel across country Page 26 "PINOCCHIO," opening in Boston, starts its third time around Page 32 SERVICE DEPARTMENTS Film Buyers' Rating Hollywood Scene Managers' Round Table People in the News 3rd Cover Page 24 Page 33 Page 32 IN PRODUCT DIGEST SECTION Showmen's Reviews Advance Synopses Short Subjects The Release Chart Page 2189 Page 2190 Page 2191 Page 2192 8 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 20, 1954 r JAMES FRANCIS CARDINAL McINTYRE, Archbishop of the Los Angeles Diocese, Wednes- day instructed pastors to read a let- ter this Sunday condemning RKO’s “The French Line” as “highly im- moral” and “an occasion of serious sin.” He said, “In addition to being condemned by the Legion of De- cency, the picture is being presented without the approval of the Motion Picture Production Code of the film industry,” and concluded, “the de- fying of morality and decency, as well as rejection of the Code to which they subscribed, is a mani- festation of the policy — confuse and divide.” ► “Miss Sadie Thompson,” the cur- rent Rita Hayworth vehicle, was banned last week in McAlester, Oklahoma, after the McAlester Min- isterial Alliance viewed a trailer of the film and labeled it “lewd and vulgar.” The group did not wait to see the entire film. ► MGM is out to break its 1953 i record of product shown at New York’s Radio City Music Hall. Last year nine MGM films played a total of 35 weeks at the showcase. Begin- ning with its first CinemaScope fea- ture, “Knights of the Round Table,” which terminated its Music Hall run Wednesday, MGM has an impres- sive line-up for the Hall’s next sev- eral months. Current attraction is Lucille Ball’s “The Long, Long Trailer,” to be followed by “Rhap- sody,” which in turn will be followed by “Rose Marie,” another Cinema- Scope film set as the Easter attrac- tion. The all-star “Executive Suite” will come after “Rose Marie,” but nobody will hazard a guess as to how far gone the year will be by that time. ► Eric Johnston, president of the Motion Picture Association of America, continues to be a traveling man. After attending the current film festival in Sao Paulo, Brazil, he jwill go on to Buenos Aires, return- ing to New York March 5 or 6. He takes off on his Government mission to the Near East about the 15th and may very well stop off in Paris, either coming or going, to look into the French film agreement talks. ' L SMPTE MEMBERS SEE RKO ANAMORPHISIS HOLLYWOOD: A variable anamorphic lens developed by Joseph and Irving Tushinsky at the RKO studios with the cooperation of studio head C. J. Tevlin drew enthusiastic applause from mem- bers of the western division of the SMPTE who twice filled the 300-seat RKO sound stage at two demonstrations Tuesday. The system, reported in ad- vance to be capable of very flexible re- sults with standard pictures, convincingly proved two main points. These are that it enables any exhibitor to widen his pic- ture to any dimension without changing its height, and that producers shooting in a 2.55 to I or other aspect ratio anamorphicallv can dispense with a sec- ond camera snooting a normal (1.33 to I) version, because the Tushinsky system can produce standard or any other lesser width prints from an anamorphic nega- tive. The system utilizes three variable anamorphic lenses, one for shooting, one for optical printing and one for projec- tion. No disclosure as to when and how the system will be introduced commer- cially was made. ► Samuel Goldwyn’s Academy Award-winning “The Best Years of Our Lives” comes back to Broad- way March 10, opening a first run popular-priced engagement at the Criterion theatre. The film, now at the height of a successful reissue campaign, originally opened at New York’s Astor theatre Nov. 22, 1946. ► 20th Century-Fox isn’t paralyzed by anamorphisis. It is reported this week that oil has been located in the 20th-Fox backyard. Universal Con- solidated Oil Company, which began drilling on the lot in November, an- nounced that “a new deep oil and gas zone at approximately 7,000 feet” has been discovered. ► The plan to establish a central film shipping depot in New York has been dropped by the distributors committee of the Motion Picture Association of America. Reason cited for the abandonment of the project was that “there were too many complications,” according to committee members. It also was re- ported that several of the companies were not in agreement as to how the so-called “streamlining” plan should operate. Whether the project will be revived at a later date has not been decided officially, but a com- mittee spokesman said it would be a year at least before it would be attempted. Another committee mem- ber regarded it, however, as a “dead issue.” ► Italian Films Export, which is going along swimmingly making friends for Italian films in the United States, evidently isn’t mak- ing many friends among other dis- tributors of foreign films here. The Independent Motion Picture Dis- tributors, principally foreign film distributors, has asked the Federal Trade Commissioner to “take steps to prevent Italian Films Export from continuing in the business of distributing films in the United States.” The complaint charges that IFE has interfered with free enterprise and competition in the distribution of Italian films in the U.S. It also charges that the man- ner in which IFE is subsidized indi- rectly by funds of the Motion Pic- ture Export Association is, in the opinion of IMPD, a violation of the law. ► The House Ways and Means Committee may get around to vot- ing on excise taxes in the next week or 10 days. The committee expects to finish its work on the technical tax revision bill any day now, and some sort of decision on excise cuts must follow soon after. MOTION PICTURE HERALD, published every Saturday by Quigley Publishing Company, Inc., Rockefeller Center, New York City 20. Telephone Circle 7-3100; Cable address, "Quigpubco New York" Martin Quigley, President; Martin Quigley, Jr., Vice-President; Theo. J. Sullivan, Vice-President and Treasurer; Raymond Levy, Vice-President; Leo J. Brady, Secretary Martin Quigley, Jr„ Editor; Terry Ramsaye, Consulting Editor; James D. Ivers, News Editor; Charles S. Aaronson, Production Editor; Floyd E. Stone^ Photo tditor; Ray Gallagher, Advertising Manager; Gus H. Fausel, Production Manager. Bureaus: Hollywood, William R. Weaver, editor, Yucca-Vine Building lelephone Hollywood /-ZHS; Chicago, 120 So. LaSalle St., Urben Farley, advertising representative, Telephone, Financial 6-3074 ; Washington, J. A. Otten, National Press Club; London, Hope Williams Burnup, manager, Peter Burnup, editor, 4 Golden Square. Correspondents in the principal capitals of. the world. Member Audit Bureau of Circulations. Other yuigiey Publications:! Better Theatres, published thirteen times a year as Section II of Motion Picture Herald; Motion Picture Daily, Motion Picture and Television Almanac ana rame. MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 20, 1954 9 CESAR ABOAF this week became special field repre- sentative for J. Arthur Rank pictures released by Uni- versal-International in Latin America. by the Herald MILTON SCHNEIDERMAN is the new manager for United Artists in Japan. After briefing, he left the New York home office over the weekend to assume his new assign- ment. GROUND BREAKING, below, for the Memphis Variety Convalescent Children's Home. Shown, former Mayor Walter Chandler; Julia Pinner, 10; Mrs. Henry Altick, Jr.; Alan Lightman, 5; chief barker M. H. Brandon; Mayor Frank Tobey; and M. A. Lightman, Sr. ^RIETY CLUB SUPPORT for the Crusade for Freedom is exemplified in the picture above, as Alex Lewyt, right, manufac- turer of household equipment, hands to Barney Bala- ban Freedom Scrolls signed by 2,000 employees. Mr. Balaban is president of Paramount Pictures and also chairman of the New York State Crusade for Freedom campaign. Mr. Balaban Tuesday called upon the in- dustry to realize the importance of the campaign. Signatures and "truth dollars" are needed. A CERTI FICATE OF ACHIEVEMENT, from the 7th Armored Division Asso- ciation, at Fort MacArthur, for Will Rogers, Jr., star of Warners’ "Boy From Okla- homa". 10 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 20, 1954 BROADWAY OPENING. Some l»v tilt- Herald MAX FELLERMAN goes March I from AB-Paramount Theatres to Lopert Films, in New York. He will buy film for the Victoria, Astor, and Bijou theatres, in that city, and Lopert houses else- where, and also will distribute that or- ganization's product. ON THE SET of Paramount's "The Bridges at Toko-Ri", actor Fredric March, left, and direc- . tor Mark Robson, right, are hosts to Philadelphia exhibitor Leo Posel, and Mrs. Posel. of the personalities who attended the Astor Theatre, New York, premiere of United Artists' "Act of Love" are shown above. United Artists president Arthur B. Krim, left, and chairman of the board Robert S. Benjamin, second from right, greet Mrs. Germaine Goss- ler and Henry Rogers, right, of Benagoss Productions, which made the picture. PLANNING A NEW AIR FORCE PICTURE, left. Discussing it in New York are Brig. Gen. Arno H. Luehman; Gen. Joseph F. Carroll; Herbert J. Yates, Republic presi- dent; John H. Auer, producer- director; and, standing, Frank Nugent, who will write the script. MOREY MARCUS, left, last week was elected Republic International vice-president, in charge of sales for the Far East. He was manager in Japan, and previously worked for MGM and Para- mount in Asia. IN NASHVILLE, be- low, actor Audie Murphy, right, visits with Crescent cir- cuit president Ker- mit Stengel. MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 20, 1954 INDUSTRY HEADS THROW WEIGHT BEHIND CODE MPA Members Voice Full Support , as Exhibition Leaders Join Chorus Vowing “the responsibility to see that what appears in our pictures is decent and moral — and fit for the families of all the world,” eight member companies of the Motion Picture Association of America have pledged their continued support of the industry’s Production Code and the Adver- tising Code. At the same time they went on record as opposed to government censor- ship. In a formal statement of policy announced last weekend by the companies they declared the fundamental principles of the Code are not subject to change with the passage of time and that no sweeping changes or revi- sions are necessary. The full text of the statement appears on the opposite page. In Washington Tuesday Senator Edwin C. Johnson (D., Colo.) inserted the state- ment into “The Congressional Record” and declared he was “particularly pleased” with the action of the companies. Reaffirmation of the Code’s purpose was signed by the heads of Allied Artists, Colum- bia, Loew’s, Paramount, Republic, 20th Cen- tury-Fox, Universal and Warner Brothers. United Artists is not a member of the MPAA and RKO Radio is not in good standing as a member at present because of the situation created by the release of “The French Fine” without a PC A seal and in violation of MPAA regulations. The stand taken by the com- panies appears to be the official answer, in substance, to those who have advocated changes, radical or otherwise, in the pro- visions of the industry’s produc- tion and advertising codes. Early exhibitor reaction to the reaffirma- tion indicated general approval. Some, however, expressed the belief that some re- visions would not be out of line with ac- cepted standards. Some revisions, of course, are under consideration now by the MPAA board. Senator Johnson declared his “only regret is that it does not bear the signatures of all makers and distributors of motion pic- tures.” He warned of a possible public boycott of films not bearing the Code Seal. “Unfortunately,” he asserted, “there are some irresponsibles in the industry, just as there are in every element of our society. Some have eyes only for the ‘fast buck’ and they do not seem to care what they do to get it. However, the responsible people in the GOLDENSON REAFFIRMS THE PRODUCTION CODE Reaffirming his support of the Production Code, Leonard H. Gold- enson, president of the American Broadcasting-Paramount Theatres cir- cuit, said he recommends that no pic- ture without a Code Seal be ex- hibited in an AB-PT house. At a press conference last week-end, he ex- plained the AB-PT operation is decen- tralized and the affiliated circuits do their own booking. However, he added, "our recommendation is not to play a picture without a Code Seal." "Our own feeling," he con- tinued, "is that the Code should be adhered to and followed at all times." Its principles, he added, "are sound and are for the good of the industry." industry practice self-restraint and self-regu- lation. That is greatly to their credit.” The Colorado Senator said that others “who pander to base tastes” scoff at self- discipline and hide behind “some well-mean- ing people who talk profoundly but not im- pressively of artistic license and freedom of expression.” He warned, however, that these individuals are “playing with fire.” The public can control that small part of the industry which gets out of line by refusing to see pictures which by-pass a seal of ap- proval, he emphasized. Senator Cites the Value of Lesson at Pocketbook Level “The movie-going public knows from long, bitter experience that when a picture does not get a Production Code seal, it is not decent, clean entertainment,” Senator Johnson said. “And if the public withholds its stamp of approval, the scoffers at de- cency do not make that ‘fast buck.’ One or two lessons at the pocketbook level and suddenly they will lose all interest in what they with their highbrow disdain call artistic expression. “We should no more buy shoddy and in- decent entertainment in the theatre than we buy shoddy and inferior merchandise in the store.” Charles Skouras, president of National Theatres, speaking from Hollywood, termed the statement by the company presidents “fine, constructive action. The Code is an indispensable factor in our industry’s wel- fare and must have unflagging support.” Russell Downing, managing director of Radio City Music Hall, said: “Certainly if the makers of pictures feel the Code is help- ful to them — and I feel there is no question about it — there should be no hesitancy in up- holding its principles.” Montague Salmon, managing director of the Rivoli theatre in New York, said, in endorsing the producers’ statement, that he regards the Code “as the 10 Commandments” of the industry. He said it “has stood up excellently all these years and has been a guide to the making of wholesome pictures that have an enduring box office value.” Ben Wallerstein, Pacific Coast zone manager for Stanley Warner Theatres, said : “Our circuit unequivocally supports the Production Code. We are in complete agree- ment with the views expressed by the com- pany presidents.” John J. Fitzgibbons, president of Fa- mous Players Canadian Corp., stated in Toronto that he was in accord with the present Code, although he asserted that “per- haps it might be revised in order to give it better workability in line with experience. “We cater to a family trade,” he said, “and we would regret any changes in the Code that would permit types of pictures that would not meet with the approval of the greater number of people we cater to.” Mr. Fitzgibbons added that if the Code follows the Golden Rule and the Decalogue, then “it stands for what we consider to be the right type of entertainment for the fam- ily trade.” Richard Main, independent Canadian exhibitor of Sutton, Ont., and secretary of the National Committee of Motion Pic- ture Exhibitors Associations, said he was in favor of the Code in principle, but suggested that it should be revised in line with the classification of the Ontario Censor Board. This, he said, would permit the making of pictures for the “adult, sophisticated mind and reach out to the lost audience and meet the competition of TV.” Such pictures, Mr. Main continued, would be advertised as not suitable for children under 16 and would provide a proper guide for parents. Harry Brandt, head of Brandt The- atres, said that he wholeheartedly endorsed “the basic principles of the Code, but am in favor of an effort to bring it up to date with exhibitor representation.” Wilbur Snaper, head of Allied Theatres of New Jersey and former president of Na- tional Allied, reiterated his statement of January 7 when he said that the Code was necessary but that it should be re-examined from time to time. He also stated that ex- hibition might be helpful in making certain changes if and when changes are contem- plated. Kermit Stengel, executive vice-presi- dent of Crescent Amusement Co., Nashville, feels that the codes have “done much to pre- 12 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 20, 1954 “Decent Entertainment Is The Best Entertainment ” We believe that the motion picture, as a medium of informa- tion and entertainment, is entitled to the freedom of expres- sion guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States. We abhor and oppose governmental censorship. Such censor- ship is alien to our basic American traditions of freedom. As producers and distributors of motion pictures for a mass public, we have a continuing responsibility to the people we serve. It is the responsibility to see that what appears in our pictures is decent and moral — fit for the families of all the world. It is the responsibility to see that within these principles, art- istic and dramatic integrity is maintained, that the screen may deal honestly and faithfully with life, and that the freedom under law which we claim shall not by its abuse descend into license. The Motion Picture Production Code and the Advertising Code are effective means for discharging these responsibilities. This voluntary system of self-regulation was adopted in our industry nearly a quarter of a century ago. The fundamental principles of the Production Code are not subject to change with the passage of time. Rules and regulations accompanying the Code and dealing with customs and conventions have been changed from time to fime in the light of experience. The Code is a living instrument for our guidance. We believe in its principles. We have adhered to them. We shall continue to live up to them. Nothing in the Code has ever prevented the making of super- lative, artistic and dramatic entertainment within the normal standards of decency and morality. No sweeping changes or revisions are necessary to maintain this objective. Decent entertainment continues to be the best entertainment. — S. BROIDY, President, Allied Artists Productions, Inc.; HARRY COHN, President, Columbia Pictures Corp.; NICHOLAS M. SCHENCK, President, Loew's Inc.; BARNEY B ALAB AN , President, Paramount Pictures Corp.; HERBERT J. YATES, President, Republic Pictures Corp.; SPYROS P. SKOURAS, President, Twentieth-Century-Eox Film Corp.; MILTON R. RACKMIL, President, Universal Pictures Company, Inc.; ALBERT W ARNER, Vice-Presi- - dent, Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc. vent senseless censorship, probably state censorship. Both producers and exhibitors are indebted to them for their extra care- ful restriction of what is filmed.” Russell Holder, general manager, Rock- wood Amusements, Inc., Nashville, hopes that the “codes will be kept as they are with only minor modernization, no basic changes.” Orville Crouch, Loew’s eastern division manager, said he agrees 100 per cent with the presidents’ statement. Sam Roth, owner of Roth Theatres, de- clared, “The Code is basically sound and should be retained.” Marvin Goldman of K-B circuit', said the Code should not be completely dismissed but should be reviewed in the light of changes happening in the country today. Gerry Wagner, general manager of Lopert Theatres in Washington, said, “The Code should stand as the main body of the law, like the Constitution,” but that “from time to time there should he a special re- evaluation of it to bring it up to the times.” Milton Schwaber of Schwaber The- atres, Baltimore, said, “The voluntary sys- tem of self-regulation adopted by our indus- try years ago is completely adequate and the Code actually is a living instrument for our guidance.” Leonard Greenberger of the Fairmont theatre in Cleveland said the Code should be modernized to meet present living and moral standards as proposed by Samuel Goldwyn. Edward W. Lider, executive assistant to Nathan Yamins of Yamins Theatres, said, “As a practical matter theatres have grown and prospered under the Code.” A. B. Craver of Plaza theatre, Char- lotte, said he doesn’t think “we should relax restrictions which would permit an influx of low quality films.” Last Thursday in New York the Code was supported by three guest speakers of the 12th and final session of the Associated Motion Picture Advertisers 1953-54 Show- manship School. They were Mrs. Dean Gray Edwards, motion picture chairman of the General Federation of Women’s Clubs; Mike Simons, director of exhibitor rela- tions for MGM, and Philip J. O'Brien, Jr., attorney specializing in censorship law. Mrs. Edwards said: “We think the Pro- duction Code Administration offers a won- derful method of procedure which has been devised so that producers voluntarily may consult with people who do know what in the past has been found objectionable to those who think the screen represents a great medium of entertainment for mass au- diences, and we applaud it as one of the most remarkable documents. . . .” Mr. Simon said : “I think I can safely say on behalf of our exhibitor customers that with few exceptions they want no part of pandering to the lowest tastes in their communities, for the simple reason that, his- torically, they know there is no profit in wrong doing. . . . Therefore we have a pat- tern that defies wrong doing. We call it a Code.” Mr. O’Brien described the differences be- tween government censorship and self-regu- lation as a difference of “can’t and won’t.” In official censorship the government tells the motion picture industry, “you can’t,” in self-regulation the members of the industry agree among themselves, “we won’t.” Spell Out "Immoral" in Two New York Censor Bills ALBANY: Senator Earl W. Brydges, Niagara Falls, and Assemblyman James A. Fitzpatrick, Plattsburgh, Tuesday introduced two bills clarifying “immoral,” “would in- tend to corrupt morals,” and “incite to crime” in the New York State film licensing law. The first bill generally defines “immoral” while the second specifically and all-inclu- sively defines the term. Both bills spell out “incite to crime” in the same language. Both hills would take effect immediately. JLrnali ^sks B*art in Code Revisions HOLLYWOOD : Ellis Arnall, president of the Society of Independent Motion Picture Producers, told the organization’s executive committee at a luncheon meeting last Thurs- day that independent production is on the upswing. He also cited Samuel Goldwyn s recent stand on the Production Code as he spoke of independent producers furnishing more industry leadership than formerly. Mr. Arnall said that “major companies are recognizing the advantages of indepen- dent production and are decentralizing their operations in order to utilize independent units. As SIMPP’s export unit is becoming increasingly active in foreign film markets, independent producers should be accorded more recognition at home and abroad. Although he lauded Mr. Goldwyn’s inten- tion that the Code should be reexamined, Mr. Arnall added that “revision of the Code is not something that should be left in the hands of major company presidents in New York. This is a matter that vitally concerns every creator of films and is something in which independents must have full voice. “Independent producers,” he said, “live under and support the Code. We help finance it. I fully agree with Mr. Goldwyn’s position that the Production Code must never serve as a license for filth and vulgarity. “But I also believe with him that the time has come to look at the Code again in the light of present day conditions. In the proc- ess independent producers must have fully as much to say about the final result as any- one else — bar none,” Mr. Arnall said. Mr. Arnall did not offer plan or procedure for taking part in the proposed re-examina- tion of the Production Code. MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 20, 1954 13 A Panoramic Production • Released by 20th Century-Fox !B4rS KILLER HlTEO Starts TODAY Doors THE SCftiiM’S MOST VITA*. NEW PERSOMAUTY. ..In the year's most unusual entertainment w thrill J ****** %"*■- Beimd'ieiit Parents WTSNCt SMITH BYRON MR descents hut hJ'^^fSR ®r 'mimm. bmm <* it t teih newt^$rr ,1?$ °! 0ltf PfgmTdTe// / voyHGl° against women USE THESE ADS I lerr? Bamsate W$ INCUNABULAR FILMS— The Library of Congress, with demonstrations with 12 samples, has announced that it is "ready to launch an extensive program" of con- verting to 16mm films that treasure trove of the pictures filed in paper print form for protection under photographic copy- right in the 1890s. As has been recorded, those long forgotten paper versions were brought to light by Howard Walls, then of the Library staff. He went from the Library to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Hollywood where he continued with zeal to push for effective rescue and preservation of those dawn period and fossilized relics. Now the beginning efforts can be avail- able to eyes of today. No other art has so complete an archive. Those old pictures rate alongside the caveman's wali paint- ings, the shards of ancient artifacts and fragments of sculpture. The process of conversion from old paper to new 16mm has been developed in Hollywood by Primrose Productions. The original nega- tives, of course, have mostly all vanished or chemically disintegrated. All that lacks now is money To carry on the processing. Aside from the interests of scholarship, many uses of the old pic- tures have been suggested, such as stock shots and advertising illustration. One regrets to record that the Library publicity release shockingly says the pic- tures are being transferred to 16mm cellu- loid and states that motion pictures were 'invented in 1894." Both statements are painfully in error and doubly so in a Library document pertaining to a subject of such immediate concern to history. The Library has two authentic books on the subject. It has a special obligation to be correct. BURTON HOLMES, now 84, the travel lecturer for the last 64 years, is going to take "one last look at Europe" this sum- mer. Mr. Holmes is an institutional classic of the lecture stage from the days when lecture audiences went to hear lectures. Now they go to see "names." About his coming trip he says, "I know I won't like it; Americans have ruined travel." In that he is of course very wrong. The travel which he once so much encouraged has ruined Americans who could have done well to stay home and mind their own business, without importing trouble. When Mr. Holmes delivered his first travel lecture he was just twenty and it was in his native Chicago. That was in 1890, a whole five years before the screen was born. Through most of the years since, his audiences have been temperamentally of the sort with which he started — proper ladies of middle and later age given to dark taffetas and black lace fans, seeking no sights and excitement beyond the scope of a carriage ride. Way back in the days of the "scenics" a lot of travel one-reelers were made un- der his name. All real proper, too. AMONG OTHER THINGS the matter a lot of the customers are sneaking off and ruining their eyes by reading books, par- ticularly pocket books. Walter B. Pitkin, Jr., of Bantam Books in the course of an annual survey of the whole field is out with figures to indicate about 260,000,000 pocket-size books were printed in 1953 by regular publishers — not counting digests and one-shots. Compared with the year before the output of mysteries was down fifteen million copies and "Westerns" were up by the same number. Short stories and science fiction were both up two or three million and the number of titles for the year showed an increase of nearly I 7 percent. It is just possible that the rela- tion between the price of admission and the price of the little paperbound book has something to do with it. Also reading is said to be habit forming. Once the habit is formed it is said to be substan- tially incurable. DIRECT MAILERS’ DELIGHT— The Post Office has changed its rules so that one may send circular matter, 'theatre programs and such, without having to use the name or address of the recipient. One merely gives the post office a supply of mailing pieces and pays the postage. Then the carrier service drops one in every mail box in the indicated area, or in every post of- fice box. It is reported that the post office is also authorized to inform the mailer of how many copies will be required for a route, an area or even a city. That sounds handy. It is being used aplenty, as the daily mail of this observer attests. Person- ally he resents this as another federally empowered invasion of privacy, but he is a member of a decided, so very decided, minority. The method will work. Traub Seeks Revision of Maryland Censor Laws BALTIMORE: A change in Maryland’s censorship laws has been asked by Sydney R. Traub, chairman of the State Board of Motion Picture Censors. During a broadcast Mr. Traub said the legislature now in ses- sion “should commence to spell out in care- fully written provisions what is deemed acceptable and what is deemed unacceptable” in the state’s censorship statutes, otherwise the U. S. Supreme Court may ultimately knock down other, and possibly all, undefined categories in our statutes.” Mr. Traub charged a bill introduced in the state legis- lature to provide the censors with only two grounds for rejecting films — obscenity and indecency — “would open the way for ‘fly- by-night’ operators to exhibit films with narcotics and criminal techniques for their themes.” The statute now provides that the board must disapprove those pictures that are “sacrilegious, obscene, indecent, inhuman or immoral, or such as tend to debase or cor- rupt morals or incite to crime.” Will Explore Need for Oklahoma Censor Unit OKLAHOMA CITY: A state legislative council committee here has voted to investi- gate the need of a state film censorship board. The committee on public health and welfare will have a sub-committee study censorship laws of New York, Ohio and Massachusetts to determine if similar laws should be adopted in Oklahoma. Morris Loewenstein, president of the The- atre Owners of Oklahoma, Inc., said, “In view of recent court decision on city and state censorship whereby local censors’ posi- tions have been made somewhat impotent, it seems impractical to bring this problem to a state level here.” “We feel that a uniform national format, such as the MPAA Code, will prove more effective than any unrelated group of con- trol efforts which can only cause confusion and be the cause for imposing differing re- strictions that would keep one section from seeing the same films showing elsewhere.” Branson Heads All of RKO Foreign Operations Walter E. Branson has been named gen- eral manager of all foreign operations for RKO Radio Pictures, J. R. Grainger, presi- dent, announced Wednesday. Mr. Branson has been temporary manager since the resig- nation three weeks ago of Alfred Crown. He became western division sales manager in 1941 and in 1952 assistant general sales manager. Award to Golden WASHINGTON : Commerce Department film chief Nathan D. Golden received the Department’s Silver Medal meritorious serv- ice award Tuesday. The award was present- ed by Commerce Secretary Weeks to Mr. Golden in recognition of his “outstanding accomplishment and service in the promo- tion of foreign and domestic trade for the film, photographic and allied industries.” 16 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 20, 1954 Takes Bid at MBA to Talk A rbitration The Independent Theatre Owners Asso- ciation of New York has voted to accept the invitation of the Motion Picture Asso- ciation of America for a conference to dis- cuss the establishment of an industry arbi- tration system. The invitation was sent out last Thursday by Eric Johnston, MPA A president, to the six major exhibitor associations including Theatre Owners of America, Allied States Association, Metropolitan Motion Picture Theatres Association and Southern Califor- nia Theatres Association. While TOA still had not accepted the invitation at midweek, it was a foregone con- clusion that it will do so inasmuch as TOA instigated the move for resumption of the negotiations. The Metropolitan Motion Pic- ture Theatres Association will be represented at the conferences only by “observers,” since its constitution prevents it from dealing with trade practices. Trade feeling is that Allied will not participate, but the matter will prob- ably be discussed at the association’s board meeting in New York February 25-26. Mr. Johnston’s invitation specifically pointed out that arbitration of film rentals would not be up for discussion at the com- ing sessions, a point which Allied has here- tofore always demanded. Said Mr. Johnston : “To avoid misunderstanding, the distributors have asked me to make it clear that they will not be able to agree to arbitrate film rentals and that therefore they do not consider this subject open for discussion.” The MPAA head said also that the dis- tributors did not consider themselves “bound by .the drafts submitted in 1952” and that the present conferences should “start from scratch.” “It is hoped,” he concluded, “that some simple, effective and inexpensive ma- chinery for arbitration can be set up which will commend itself to the exhibitors and distributors and can be approved by the Department of Justice.” Exhibitor in Indiana Files Trust Action CHICAGO : Attorneys Sheldon Collen and Seymour Simon filed a suit here last week on behalf of Louis Philon and the Liberty theatre, Michigan City, Ind., against Loew’s, Inc. ; Indiana-Illinois Theatres, Inc., and Indiana-Illinois executives Alex Manta and Jack Rose asking for an injunction to pre- vent the defendants from continuing an al- leged conspiracy to monopolize first-run pic- tures in Michigan City. The suit, filed in U. S. District Court, further alleges a his- tory of past efforts on the part of Indiana- Illinois to take pictures away from the Lib- erty, including bidding so high for the pic- tures in their Tivoli and Lido theatres that losses on the engagements were a foregone conclusion. GOLDENSON FINDS STUDIOS STARTED ON "RENAISSANCE" There is a tremendous wave of enthusiasm at the Hollywood studios and with such en- thusiasm, the industry “can’t help but go forward.” Such were the findings of Leonard Goldenson, president of American Broad- casting-Paramount Theatres, when inter- viewed in New York this week on his return from a two-and-a-half week visit to the coast. Sitting in with Mr. Goldenson at the press conference was John Balaban, presi- dent of Balaban and Katz, an AB-PT affili- ate, who accompanied Mr. Goldenson. An increase in the number of “quality” pictures and a general renaissance in the motion picture industry was predicted by the AB-PT president. He said he still feels there is a “need for more product today,” but “there are enough signs that the decline in the number of quality pictures is leveling off and on the way up. He also expressed his sentiments dealing with low budget pictures, stressing that there is a market which needs them today. Mr. Balaban joined with Mr. Goldenson in pointing out that all the studios were enveloped in programs to develop new talent, stars, directors, writers and others. Mr. Balaban told how warmly he, Mr. Goldenson and R. J. O’Donnell, vice-president of Texas Interstate Circuit, another AB-PT affiliate, were welcomed at the studios. He said one of the reasons for such a reception was that since divorcement the studios are not as aware as formerly of exhibition’s needs and they welcome the information that exhibition can give them. The Balaban and Katz president said the visiting delegation relayed the experience of AB-PT theatres in regard to home television competition, which, Mr. Balaban said, has declined as a competitive factor over a two- year period. While acknowledging that AB-PT has no plans to engage in film production, Mr. Gol- denson said exhibition still should consider production on its own and keep alert to the product situation. He said he intends to make a number of Hollywood visits during the year, possibly every four or five months, to keep abreast of the developments. Stereo- phonic sound he described as an “added value” and estimated the number of Cinema- Scope installations by AB-PT between 250 and 300. Later Mr. Goldenson and Mr. Balaban revealed that while on the coast they had suggested a plan to develop young screen talent by placing them on selected television shows. The plan would be to utilize young- actors and actresses, whom the studios select as promising stars, in the shows of the American Broadcasting Company, a division of AB-PT. By spotlighting these performers, Mr. Goldenson said, the public can become familiar with their faces and names, and respond accordingly. He reported that Rob- ert Weitman, AB-PT vice-president, and Earl Hudson, AB-PT vice-president on the west coast, are currently working on this plan as well as the projected “Hollywood Parade,” an ABC-TV show designed to promote the motion picture industry on a nationwide basis. Mr. Goldenson’s opinion that the product situation is easing up a bit was echoed this week in the latest bulletin of the Iowa, Nebraska, Mid-Central Allied. Easing of the shortage was credited in part to the “pro- tests” of exhibition and possible production plans by exhibition. “Extended playing time for some of the bigger pictures has helped to alleviate this situation too,” Charles Jones, secretary, stated, adding, however, that “pictures are not too plentiful.” Small Signs With UA For 1 2 Films in 1 955 Independent producer Edward Small and United Artists have concluded a new pro- duction-distribution agreement under which Mr. Small’s organization will deliver 12 motion pictures to the releasing company during 1955, it was announced this week by Arthur B. Krim, president of United Artists. In making his announcement, Mr. Krim said: “With our product schedule for 1954 set at not less than 48 releases, we are now building our 1955 program. The agreement with Eddie Small assuring us of one of his productions a month during 1955, combined with other important distribution agree- ments, should provide further encourage- ment to exhibitors who may have had fears about a so-called shortage of product.” The 12 new films include a minimum of two to be turned out by the writing-produc- ing-directing team of Clarence Greene and Russell Rouse, whose “Wicked Woman” currently is in release, and at least one from Arthur Gardner and Jules V. Levy, the producers of “Vice Squad.” St. Cloud Amusement Sells Jersey Houses to Brandt Eighteen New Jersey houses were ac- quired last week by New York circuit owner Harry Brandt from the St. Cloud Amuse- ment Company, of Washington, New Jersey. Principals in the latter are Harvey Newins, Irving Wormser, and Warner Mandell. Frank Fowler will continue as general man- ager of the theatres, which are in Belvidere, Blairstown, Clinton, Flemington, Franklin, Frenchtown, Hackettstown, High Bridge, Lambertville, Newton, Sparta, Sussex, and Washington. Mr. Brandt declared he would immediately put stereophonic sound into six. MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 20, 1954 17 Backed by a Gigantic TV ami (Including The Yonkee Network) MASSACHUSETTS BOSTON PARAMOUNT and FENWAY WORCESTER CAPITOL LAWRENCE BROADWAY PITTSFIELD STATE BROCKTON BROCKTON GLOUCESTER NO. SHORE NO. ADAMS MOHAWK PLYMOUTH OLD COLONY MILFORD STATE TAUNTON STRAND GREENFIELD LAWLER LEOMINSTER PLYMOUTH NEWBURYPORT STRAND ATHOL YORK MARLBORO MARLBORO CLINTON STRAND WEBSTER STATE MIDDLEBORO MIDDLEBORO WHITINSVILLE PROSPECT HUDSON HUDSON MILLBURY ELMS WESTBORO STRAND ORANGE ORANGE FALMOUTH ELIZABETH BUZZARDS BAY BAY HYANIS CENTER SPRINGFIELD PARAMOUNT NEW BEDFORD OLYMPIA LOWELL STRAND HAVERHILL COLONIAL FITCHBURG FITCHBURG SOUTHBRIDGE STRAND RHODE ISLAND PROVIDENCE STRAND NEWPORT STRAND WOONSOCKET PARK WESTERLY UNITED BRISTOL PASTIME WARREN LYRIC MAINE PORTLAND EMPIRE WATERVILLE HAINES AUBURN AUBURN BRUNSWICK CUMBERLAND BATH UPTOWN ROCKLAND STRAND CARIBOU POWERS HOULTON TEMPLE PRESQUE ISLE BRADEN FT. FAIRFIELD PARAMOUNT LIVERMORE FLS. . . .DREAMLAND VAN BUREN MARILYN NORWAY REX CONNECTICUT NEW HAVEN PARAMOUNT BRIDGEPORT WARNER and MERRITT HARTFORD ALLYN WATERBURY STATE NEW BRITAIN EMBASSY STAMFORD PALACE BRISTOL CAMEO MERIDEN CAPITOL SO. NORWALK PALACE NEW LONDON CAPITOL DANBURY PALACE TORRINGTON WARNER NORWICH PALACE WILLIMANTIC GEM ROCKVILLE PALACE PUTNAM BRADLEY DANIELSON ORPHEUM SO. MANCHESTER STATE SAYBROOK SAYBROOK MADISON MADISON VERMONT BURLINGTON STATE BRATTLEBORO PARAMOUNT BARRE MAGNET ST. JOHNSBURY STAR BELLOWS FALLS OPERA MONTPELIER MOONLIGHT RUTLAND GRAND ST. ALBANS STUDIO NEW HAMPSHIRE MANCHESTER STRAND CONCORD CONCORD NASHUA STATE BERLIN BERLIN DOVER UPTOWN ROCHESTER SCENIC CLAREMONT MAGNET KEENE SCENIC EXETER IOKA JAFFREY PARK PETERBOROUGH . . COMMUNITY Terrifit "RIOT” Reviews in Look , Cosmopolitan > An ALLIED ARTISTS Picture with NEVILLE BRAND • Emile Meyer Frank Faylen • Leo Gordon • Robert Osterloh and Cast of Thousands DIRECTED BY WRITTEN BY MUSIC BY DON SIEGEL • RICHARD COLLINS • HERSCHEL GILBERT Time mrf Newsweek WALLOP 30 MILLION Reeders ACADEMY LISTS 1953 NOMINEES “Eternity” Scores Heavily with Thirteen Mentions for Awards Election HOLLYWOOD : Nominations for the Acad- emy of Arts and Sciences “Awards of Merit” for the past film year were an- nounced here Monday night. The Awards’ ceremonies at which the winners of the 1953 “Oscars” will be disclosed will be held here on March 25. The proceedings will be tele- cast and broadcast nationally. Columbia’s “From Here to Eternity” led in the nominations for the 26th annual awards with mentions in 13 different cate- gories. It was followed by Paramount’s “Roman Holiday” with 10, and by MGM’s “Lili” and Paramount’s “Shane” with six each. Following are the nominations in each category : Best Motion Picture: “From Here to Eternity,” Columbia, Buddy Adler, producer ; “Julius Caesar,” MGM, John Housman; “The Robe,” 20th Century Fox, Frank Ross; “Roman Holiday,” Paramount, William Wyler; “Shane,” Paramount, George Stevens. Best Actress: Leslie Caron, for “Lili,” MGM, Ava Gardner, for “Mogambo,” MGM ; Audrey Hepburn, for “Roman Holiday,” Paramount; Deborah Kerr, for “From Here to Eternity,” Columbia; Maggie McNamara, for “The Moon Is Blue,” Preminger-Herbert Prod. Best Supporting Actress: Grace Kelly, for “Mogambo,” MGM; Geraldine Page, for “Hondo,” Wayne-Fellows Prod.; Marjorie Rambeau, for “Torch Song,” MGM; Donna Reed, for “From Here to Eternity,” Colum- bia; Thelma Ritter, for “Pickup on South Street,” 20th Century-Fox. Best Actor: Marlon Brando, for “Julius Caesar,” MGM; Richard Burton, for “The Robe,” 20th Century-Fox; Montgomery Clift, for “From Here to Eternity,” Colum- bia; William Holden, for “Stalag 17,” Para- mount; Burt Lancaster, for “From Here to Eternity,” Columbia. Best Supporting Actor: Eddie Albert, for “Roman Holiday,” Paramount; Brandon de Wilde, for “Shane,” Paramount; Jack Pal- ance, for “Shane,” Paramount; Frank Sina- tra, for “From Here to Eternity,” Columbia; Robert Strauss, for “Stalag 17,” Paramount. Best Director: Fred Zinnemann, for “From Here to Eternity,” Columbia; Charles Wal- ters, for “Lili,” MGM; William Wyler, for “Roman Holiday,” Paramount; George Stev- ens, for “Shane,” Paramount; Billy Wilder, for “Stalag 17,” Paramount. For Best Cinematography, Black-White: Hal Mohr, “Four Poster”; Burnett Guffey, “Eternity”; Joseph Ruttenberg, “Caesar”; Joseph C. Brun, “Martin Luther”; Frank P. Planer and Henry Alekan, “Roman Holiday. ’ Best Cinematography, Color: George Fol- sey, “All the Brothers Were Valiant”; Ed- ward Cronjager, “Beneath the 12-Mile Reef”; Robert Planck, “Lili”; Leon Shamroy, “Robe”; Loyal Griggs, “Shane.” Best Story: Beirne Lay, Jr., “Above and Beyond”; Alec Coppel, “Captain’s Paradise”; Louis L’ Amour, “Hondo”; Ray Ashley, Morris Engel, Ruth Orkin, “Little Fugitive”; Ian McLellan Hunter, “Roman Holiday.” Best Screenplay: Eric Ambler, “Cruel Sea”; Daniel Taradash, “Eternity”; Helen Deutsch, “Lili”; Ian McLellan Hunter, John Dighton, “Roman Holiday”; A. B. Guthrie, Jr., “Shane.” Best Story and Screenplay: Betty Com- den, Adolph Green, “Band Wagon”; Richard Murphy, “Desert Rats”; Sam Rolfe, Harold Jack Bloom, “Naked Spur”; Millard Kauf- man, “Take the High Ground”; Charles Brackett, Walter Reisch, Richard Breen, ^“Titanic.” Best Art Direction Black- White: Cedric Gibbons, Edward Carfagno, “Julius Caesar” (Set Decoration: Edwin B. Willis, Hugh Hunt); Fritz Maurischat, Paul Markwitz, “Martin Luther” (Set Decoration: none); Lyle Wheeler, Leland Fuller, “President’s Lady” (Set Decoration: Paul S. Fox); Hal Pereira, Walter Tyler, “Roman Holiday” (Set Decoration: none); Lyle Wheeler, Mau- rice Ransford, “Titanic” (Set Decoration: Stuart Reiss). Art Direction Color: Alfred Junge, Hans Peters, “Knights of the Round Table” (Set Decoration: John Jarvis1; Cedric Gibbons, Paul Grosse, “Lili” (Set Decoration: Edwin B. Willis, Arthur Krams) ; : Lyle Wheeler, George W. Davis, “Robe” (Set Decoration: Walter H. Scott, Paul S. Fox); Cedric Gib- bons, Preston Ames, Edward Carfagno, Gabriel Scognamillo, “Story of Three Loves” (Set Decoration: Edwin B. Willis, Keough Gleason, Arthur Krams, Jack D. Moore) ; Cedric Gibbons, Urie McCleary, “Young Bess” (Set Decoration: Edwin B. Willis, Jack D. Moore). Costume Design Black-White: Walter Plunkett, “Actress”; Helen Rose, Herschel McCoy, “Dream Wife”; Jean Louis, “Eter- nity”; Charles Le Maire, Renie, “President’s Lady’; Edith Head, “Roman Holiday.” Costume Design Color: Mary Ann Nyberg, “Band Wagon”; Irene Sharaff, “Call Me Madam”; Charles Le Maire, Traviola, “How To Marry A Millionaire”; Charles Le Maire, Emile Santiago, “Robe”; Walter Plunkett, “Young Bess.” Achievement in Documentary Production: “Conquest of Everest,” Countryman Films, Ltd., and Group 3 Ltd.; “Living Desert," Disney; “Queen is Crowned)1" Rank. Documentary Shorts: “Alaskan Eskimo,” Disney; “Living City,” Encyclopedia Britan- nica Films; “Operation Blue Jay,” U. S. Army Signal Corps; “Word,” 20th-Fox. Film Editing: Irving Warburion, “Crazy- legs”;1 William Lyon, “Eternity”; Otto Lud- wig, “Moon is Blue; Robert Swink, “Roman Holiday”; Everett Douglas, “War of Worlds.” Best Scoring of Musical: Adolph Deutsch, “Band Wagon”; Ray Heindorf, “Calamity Jane”; Alfred Newman, “Call Me Madam”; Frederick Hollander, Morris Stoloff, “5,000 Fingers of Dr. T”; Andre Previn, Saul Chaplin, “Kiss Me Kate.” Best Score, Drama or Comedy: Hugo Friedhofer, “Above and Beyond”; Morris Stoloff, George Duning, “Eternity”; Miklos Rozsa, “Caesar”; Bronislau Kaper, “Lili”; Louis Forbes, “This is Cinerama.” Best Song: “Moon is Blue” from “Moon is Blue”; “My Flaming Heart” from “Small Town Girl”; “Sadie Thompson’s Song” from “Miss Sadie Thompson”; “Secret Love” from “Calamity Jane”; “That’s Amore” from “Caddy.” Cartoons: “Christopher Crumpet,” UP A; “From A to Z-Z-Z-Z,” Warner; Plunk and Boom,” Disney. Shorts, One-Reel: “Christ Among the Primitives,” I. F. E. Releasing Corp.; “Her- ring Hunt,” National Film Board, Canada; “Joy of Living,” Fox; “Merry Wives of Windsor,” MGM; “Wee Water Wonders,” Paramount. Two-Reel: d’Bear Country,” Disney; “Ben and Me,” Disney; “Return to Glennascaul,” Dublin Gate Theatre; “Vesuvius Express,” Fox; “Winter Paradise,” Warner. Best Achievement by Sound Department: “Calamity Jane,” Warner; “Eternity,” Co- lumbia; “Knights of the Round Table,” M GMT “Mississippi Gambler,” U-I; “War of Worlds,” Paramount. Fax to Of for 12 Features In 3 Months Twentieth Century-Fox will release 12 feature films, six in CinemaScope and six standard, all but one of which will be in color, between February and June, the com- pany announced in New York Tuesday. Nine CinemaScope short subjects also will be released in the five-month period between February and August. The February releases are “Hell and High Water,” in CinemaScope and color by Tech- nicolor-De Luxe, starring Richard Widmark and Bella Darvi, and “Miss Robin Crusoe,” Pathecolor, with Amanda Blake and George Nader. March releases are “Night People,” in CinemaScope and Technicolor-De Luxe, starring Gregory Peck, Broderick Crawford and Rita Gam; “New Faces,” in Cinema- Scope and Eastman color, starring Ronny Graham and Eartha Kitt, and “Racing Blood,” in color, with Bill Williams and Jean Porter. Productions to be released in April include “Prince Valiant,” in CinemaScope and Technicolor-De Luxe, starring James Mason, Robert Wagner and Janet Leigh; “The Kid from Outer Space,” starring George Wins- low and Charles Coburn, and “The Seige at Red River,” Technicolor, starring Van Johnson and Joanne Dru. The May schedule includes “River of No Return,” in Cinema- Scope and Technicolor, starring Robert Mitchum and Marilyn Monroe, and “Gorilla at Large,” Technicolor and 2-D and 3-D, starring Cameron Mitchell, Anne Bancroft and Lee J. Cobb. The June releases are “Three Coins in the Fountain,” in CinemaScope and Technicolor, starring Clifton Webb, Dorothy McGuire, Jean Peters and Louis Jordan, and “Princess of the Nile,” Technicolor, starring Jeffrey Hunter, Debra Paget and Michael Rennie. Shorts in CinemaScope to be released in the period include “Polovetzian Dances from ‘Prince Igor’ by A. Borodin,” “Tournament of Roses,” “The New Venezuela,” “Haydn’s Farewell Symphony,” “A Day on a Jet Aircraft Carrier,” “Multiple Piano Con- certo,” “Stunt Pilot,” “Stephen Foster Med- ley” and “Valley of the Nile.” The musical shorts feature 20th-Fox Symphony orchestra. 20 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 20, 1954 Paramount Sets 3-Heel Featurettes A. W. Schwalberg, president of Para- mount Film Distributing Corporation, last week announced 11 pictures for Paramount release February through April. These in- clude six three-reel featurettes in a specially- produced series titled “Calling Scotland Yard,” with Paul Douglas starring in each. The other five, all of which are in color by Technicolor are: February: “Jivaro,” starring Fernando Lamas, Rhonda Fleming and Brian Keith, and “Money from Home,” in 3-D and 2-D, starring Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. March and April : “Red Garters,” starring Rosemary Clooney, Jack Carson, Guy Mitch- ell, Pat Crowley and Joanne Gilbert; “The Naked Jungle,” starring Eleanor Parker and Charlton Heston, and “Casanova’s Big Night, Paramount’s big Easter release starring Bob Hope, Joan Fontaine, Audrey Dalton and Basil Rathbone. The “Calling Scotland Yard” six also will be released during March and April. These are mystery-adventure stories. With Paul Douglas cast as the storyteller, each subject in the series tells a separate and distinct tale of mystery and adventure. The titles are: “Javanese Dagger,” “Fal- staft s Fur Coat,” “The Missing Passenger,” The Final 1 wist,” “The Sable Scarf” and “The Wedding Gift.” “With features becoming bigger and, nat- urally, longer, these subjects were ideally designed to round out a program, not only in single feature territories but, more im- portantly, in double feature territories,” Mr. Schwalberg said. He indicated that the three-reel feature film would become a standard in Paramount distribution if exhibition’s reception of the forthcoming six justifies their regular inclu- sion with full-length features on release schedules. Coast Communion Breakfast Attended by 2,000 Persons Some 2,000 persons of the Hollywood ter- ritory motion picture industry attended the third annual Motion Picture Communion Breakfast February 14. It was at the Palla- dium, and followed mass at the Blessed Sacrament Church. James Francis Cardinal McIntyre was the principal speaker. The breakfast was one ol several held at this time of vear for motion picture workers of this country and Canada. Gene Lockhart served as the master of ceremonies and on the program were Jeanne Crain, Ann Blyth, Ray Bolger, Dennis Day and the House Party Quartette. Guests of honor included Irene Dunne, Loretta Young, Joseph J. Breen, Frank Fay, George A. Smith who was general chairman, and Chief of Police W. H. Parker of Los Angeles. Reade Drops "Mixers" for Stereophonic Equipment Walter Reade, president of Theatre Own- ers of America, head of the circuit bearing his name and the man whose “mixer” to convert stereophonic sound to conventional sound brought the sound-with-CinemaScope controversy out into the open, has installed full stereophonic equipment in three of his theatres, in Morristown, N. J., Perth Amboy, N. J., and Kingston, N. Y. The three orig- inally were equipped with “mixers.” Mean- while, from Toronto comes the report that Famous Players Canadian is installing full CinemaScope equipment in its units at the rate of one a week. The latest house is the 955-seat Paramount at Peterborough, On- tario. Loew’s, with installations in Toronto and London, Ont., is the only other Canadian circuit with CinemaScope equipment. Allied Files With l .S. on Fox Sound WASHINGTON : Allied States Association late last week formally filed its complaints against 20th Century-Fox’s stereophonic sound policies with the Justice Department. The complaints were sent to Attorney General Brownell last Friday by Abram F. Myers, Allied’s general counsel. Both Al- lied’s drive-in convention and Allied’s board approved resolutions attacking the 20th-Fox insistence that CinemaScope showings be restricted to theatres with stereophonic sound equipment. While the resolutions were confined to the drive-in field, the complaint filed with the Justice Department commented on the situation in indoor theatres as well. Mr. Myers refused to reveal details of his covering letter. He said he had no plans for sending copies of the complaint to key mem- bers of Congress but that he would be “very much surprised if some of the drive-in own- ers didn’t call it to the attention of their Congressmen.” ' Referring to the stock purchase plan, now under consideration by Allied, Mr. Myers corrected a report printed last week that Allied members already own $40,000 worth of stock in major companies. Contrary to that report, Allied members already own 40,000 shares of stock in various majors, indicating a far greater ownership than the earlier figure. Allied membership currently is being surveyed by questionnaire on its attitude toward stock purchase, a plan put forward at the national convention in Boston last year as one means of alleviating the product shortage. Stengel Heads Crescent NASHVILLE : Kermit C. Stengel, execu- tive vice-president since the death of Tony Sudekum and with the company since 1934, has been elected president of Crescent Amusement Company, succeeding the late R. E. Baulch. SIMO Holders To Vote on Hughes Offer ATLANTA : The board of directors of RKO Pictures, meeting here last week, voted to accept the offer of Howard Hughes to buy the assets of the company for $23,- 489,478, or exactly $6 a share, and called a special meeting of stockholders for March 18 in Dover, Delaware, to vote on the proposal. At the meeting here the board membership was increased from five to seven by amend- ing the company’s by-laws, and directors A. D. Simpson and J. Miller Walker re- signed. Elected to replace them and to fill the two new seats were E. L. Walton, RKO Radio executive vice-president; William H. Clark, treasurer; Garrett Van Wagner, comptroller, and Charles Boasberg, domestic sales manager. The resignations of Mr. Simpson and Mr. Walker, according to a company statement, were submitted so that “a full study of the proposal could be made by the new direc- tors” who were not defendants in minority stockholders’ litigation aimed at Mr. Hughes’ stewardship of the company. The length of service of the new directors depends on Mr. Hughes’ plans following stockholders’ action. If the proposal goes through, it was point- ed out, RKO Pictures would become a com- pany completely owned by Mr. Hughes, the directors and officers appointed by him, with RKO Radio Pictures remaining the operat- ing production-distribution arm of the com- pany. The board meeting was held here due to the illness of Mr. Walker, who is in Atlanta convalescing from virus pneumonia. Mr. Hughes and Noah Dietrich, a director, did not attend, while James R. Grainger, RKO president, declined to participate on the vote on the Hughes proposal. Coast Theatre Owners Get Congressman's Support Congressman Clyde Doyle, Democrat, Cal., has endorsed the Southern California Theatre Owners Association drive to banish taxes on admissions of 85 cents and under. The organization’s efforts, aimed at allevi- ating the burden of smaller theatres, is apart from and not endorsed by the national tax repeal campaign committee of the Council of Motion Picture Organizations. Columbia's "Jesse James" Opening in 500 Houses A big saturation booking is being given Columbia’s “Jesse James versus the Daltons” in more than 500 theatres in four exchange areas. Two hundred of these houses are in the Charlotte territory. Others are in the areas served by the Oklahoma City, Kansas City, and St. Louis branches. The houses range from first run to the smallest in the smallest towns. MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 20, 1954 21 BRITISH STUDY SKOURAS PLAN CEA Sifts Information on Stereophonic Sound; to Prepare Full Report by PETER BURNUP LONDON : As anticipated, the disclosures and declarations made at last week’s meet- ing of Spyros P. Skouras with exhibitors came in for an exhaustive examination at the subsequent meeting of the CEA’s ex- ecutive group. The latter occasion occurred in private but it was learned later that protests and allegations against 20th-Fox’s policy were made in even more forthright fashion than at the open meeting. The more indignant and hot-headed among the protestants pressed for immediate action against 20th- Fox with talk of a boycott of the company’s product being organized. To Collect Its Thoughts The canny officers of the Association had their way, however. The executive ulti- mately agreed that the better course would be to sift all the information now available to it and collect its thoughts. In due course the officers will prepare a detailed report on the CinemaScope position to date for presentation at next month’s general coun- cil session. CEA’s secretary, Walter Fuller, has made formal enquiry of other American dis- tributors in regard to their stereophonic sound intentions but so far has received no reply. Mr. Fuller also maintains this con- tact with unnamed sources in the U. S. He envisages apparently a close liaison between independent exhibitor on the respective sides of the Atlantic. Mr. Skouras was manifestly surprised at the strength and, at times, bitterness of the protests by exhibitors. In his opening re- marks, he had declared that the whole in- dustry’s prosperity was conditioned by the prosperity of the small exhibitor and had promised if the small men were not given acceptable stereophonic sound credit terms by equipment makers he (Mr. Skouras) would do his utmost to secure better terms. Those assurances clearly did not impress the meeting. Called “Monopolistic Proposal ” Yorkshire’s John X. Prendergast, for example, forthwith accused Mr. Skouras of seeking to impose upon the industry “the most devastating monopolistic proposal ever.” Mr. Prendergast declared also that Mr. Skouras “had sold us down the river to the electrical industry” ; threatened more- over that exhibitors would be driven to take the matter to “higher authority” — a refer- ence to the Government’s Monopolies Com- mission, now in session. That Mr. Prendergast’s speech precisely reflected the sense of the meeting was made abundantly clear in the enthusiastic cheers which greeted it. It was unfortunate, too, for the 20th-Fox arguments that Mr. Skour- as had had to confess to the meeting that the Rank Organization had decided against further installations of stereophonic sound on the ground that the public didn’t want it. The only concessions Mr. Skouras made to his audience at the meeting were : 1. That for subsequent run houses he would agree to either the Stableford or Harkness screens being used ; 2. For independent exhibitors unable to pay for the full equipment he would en- deavour to arrange “some form of credit terms.” Cost Chief Complaint Back of all the sound and fury, CEA’s anti-Skouras attitude appears now to crys- talise under two main heads: firstly, the cost and credit terms insisted on by the equipment-makers ; secondly, the effect the 20th-Fox proposals might have on subse- quent run houses generally. Many exhibitors and, among them, a num- ber operating large-scale theatres, claim that in their present financial position they cannot afford stereophonic sound in any event. But it has become known here that in France, for example, CinemaScope equip- ment is available at prices no higher than 60 per cent of those obtaining in this coun- try. Moreover, news is to hand of a lens manufacturer in Eindhoven, Holland, pre- pared to sell anamorphic lenses at as low a price as £150 against the current £650 prevailing here. Apart from their admittedly difficult fiscal position arising out of the high entertain- ment tax, apart also from the equipment maker position, men operating subsequent run houses see themselves in a further dif- ficulty. They claim that up to 90 per cent of the national box office aggregate derives from their houses. But as things are now, with extended runs accorded all Cinema- Scope product, they see themselves put out of business by first run houses. Cite “Robe” Examples Examples are cited of runs of “The Robe” drawing paid admissions in excess of a city’s entire population. The plaint was epitomised in a comment at the Skouras meeting from CEA’s highly respected treasurer, E. J. Hinge. “Do I plonk down my money and put in CinemaScope and run ‘The Robe’ for what there is left,” asked Mr. Hinge, “or do I continue with Roy Rogers and reissues ?” All comment on the present position and future developments is refused at the Rank Organization. John Davis, the Organiza- tion’s managing director, was present at the Skouras meeting but made no contribution to the debate. The Rank combined Gaumont- Odeon circuit has been over the years the traditional outlet for 20th-Fox product. \\ hen Mr. Skouras made his revelation he added that he had told Mr. Rank that with- out stereophony he could have no more 20th- Fox films. Meanwhile, it is regarded as not without significance that as from February 26 the Carlton theatre, Haymarket, hitherto oper- ated by Paramount, will be leased to 20th- Fox. CinemaScope equipment including the Miracle Mirror Screen and full stereophonic sound is being installed by Western Electric. This includes 26 surround speakers. It is understood that the theatre will reopen with the CinemaScope picture of the Queen’s Pacific tour which has been made in some conditions of secrecy by a 20th-Fox crew. CinemaScope in 22 Houses A check-up on equipment makers shows that to date only 22 theatres have so far been equipped here for full CinemaScope. It is claimed that around 75 will be so equipped by April. The forward position is by no means clear although it is regarded as certain that a great deal of clarification will occur when Skouras returns here from Athens in about two weeks. V The president of the Board of Trade has formally announced that the Quota will re- main at 30 per cent for first features and 25 per cent for supporting programmes for the year beginning October 1, 1954. V The Cinematograph Trade Benevolent Fund celebrated its 30th Anniversary last week. The general scheme for the founda- tion of the Fund was drawn up February 11, 1924, by a committee consisting of the late J. Brooke Wilkinson, E. W. Pashley Peall and Reginald C. Bromhead, who is now president of the Fund. Today, the Fund spends something like £70,000 a year on pensions, general assistance and the up- keep of two homes. V A new wage agreement between the CEA and the Society of Cinema Managers has been ratified by the respective parties. Retro- active to December 1 and set to operate for 18 months, it provides for a weekly wage increase of 15 shillings for all man- agers and for adjustment of such payments as laundry allowances and for performances outside the normal opening hours. Jack Warner Increases Company Stock Holdings WASHINGTON : Jack L. Warner, vice- president of Warner Brothers, purchased 15,500 shares of the company’s common stock in January, increasing his direct hold- ings to 262,799 shares, the Securities and Exchange Commission reported this week. Albert List, principal stockholder and chair- man of the board of RKO Theatres, disposed of 400,000 shares of stock held by him as gifts to members of his family. His personal holdings still exceed 500,000 shares. 22 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 20, 1954 DAI | st»„i„e CLEO MOORE • HUGO HAAS -JOHN AGAR Story and Screenplay by SAMUEL W. TAYLOR • Produced and Directed by HUGO HAAS FROM AAuuLa J iiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiii I? :i S- sSSSSS s f 1111' li • : .*;*;*;*? i?ss :x$x*-' f Jjjf SiMMi mmmtmmWt: imrnmmmmm MS ■ v: by WILLIAM R. WEAVER Hollywood Editor Arch Oboler is back in town and prepar- ing to produce another picture, his first since “Bwana Devil,” the picture that in- troduced Milton L. Gunzburg’s Natural Vision 3-D process as a going force in the film industry and triggered the chain-reac- tion that became known as the technological revolution. Producer Oboler had ventured to utilize the Natural Vision process and equipment after it had been taken under advisement, tested, speculated upon, debated, weighed, expected and by-passed by all or nearly all of the major studios and by most if not all of the major independent producers. Year’s Earnings of Pair Were Quite Spectacular The amount of money paid out by stock- holders to major studio managements for the expecting and counselling that resulted in all of them sitting still while the great 3-D gravy train chuff-chuffed past them cannot be calculated and maybe were better left un- mentioned. The earnings of the venture- some producer and the industrious inventor have been extensively publicized, and are to be publicized again and again as the unended story of 3-D runs on into the to- morrows. Whatever fortunes these men acquired in a year’s time from a standing start may or may not have broken all records in an in- dustry that had a half-century of record- breaking behind it when they came on the scene, but in view of the benefits their ex- ploits precipitated there can be none to say they were too large. Mr. Oboler’s next undertaking- is to be a production of the Raoul Faure novel, “Spear in the Sand,” which he has owned for a good while now, and which, in fact, he contemplated using instead of “Bwana Devil” for the first 3-D feature. He has been spending his long and profitable pro- duction holiday in researching the subject, which required an extended overseas stay, and in conferring with technologists and showmen on the manner of its production. Has Sought Advice and Counsel from Ryder He is rapidly rounding out decisions on production policy, means and methods, and is proceeding at the leisurely, sure-footed pace permitted only to producers who, as is the Oboler case this untroubled time, finance their own productions. Loren Ryder, the distinguished comman- der-in-chief of technological operations at the Paramount studio, is among the ex- perienced authorities to whom Mr. Oboler has turned for advice and counsel. The precise nature of the advice and counsel given is for subsequent disclosure. Marco Wolff, the Fanchon & Marco cir- cuit executive, is among the exhibitors whose guidance is to be reflected in the new Oboler picture. It’s the Wolff opinion that 3-D, properly used and exploited, is still in lug demand, as demonstrated most spectacularly in the current exhibition earn- ings of “Hondo.” At this point, and with leave to reconsider, revise and add, the Oboler plans for pro- duction of “Spear in the Sand” include 3-D, wide-screen, color, magnetic recording, and something referred to, loosely for the pres- ent, as “tall screen.” An underwater se- quence in 3-D on the wide screen (just how wide is not yet decided) is to be a climactic and possibly precedentai feature. There may be other technological devel- opments between now and the start of shoot- ing that Mr. Oboler will adopt. For this is a venturesome, almost an adventurous, producer. He never was afraid of the un- tried. His fame in radio rested firmly on his readiness to try out the unknown, the difficult, even the improbable methods and materials of that medium. His fame in this industry, which cannot be overlooked by historians so long as the cinema survives, is conspicuously that of the explorer, the enterpriser and the darer, rather than of the artisan. Said to Trace Rather to Quality of Product It has been said widely and often that the tapering-off of 3-D production and exhibi- tion traces rather to the nature of the prod- uct offered the public in that medium than to the medium itself. And the Oboler pro- duction of “Bwana Devil” is often listed as the least of the 3-D product, quality-wise. But all of that is a matter of opinion. It is a matter of plain fact that the last pre- vious Oboler production made a huge sum of money for everybody who touched it. Surely nobody who was around when that production was making its sluggish way through experimental cameras toward all those spinning turnstiles is going to under- rate for a moment the next Oboler produc- tion, whatever it may be. Three pictures were started, and six others completed, to continue the steady decline in over-all production which set in around holiday time and is expected by the optimistic to be reversed sharply next month. The standout among the new undertak- ings is “The Pleasure’s All Mine,” Techni- THIS WEEK IN PRODUCTION: STARTED (3) COLUMBIA Pleasure's All Mine ( CinemaScope; Technicolor) U.A. Sitting Bull COMPLETED (6) COLUMBIA Killer Wore a Badge Three Hours to Kill MOM Beau Brummell U-l Sign of the Pagan SHOOTING (12) MGM Brigadoon (CinemaScope; PARAMOUNT Ansco color) Brides at Toko-Ri (Eastman color) RKO Big Rainbow (Technicolor) 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (Disney; CinemaScope; Technicolor) 20TH-FOX Matter of Life and Death (Panoramic Prod.) (CinemaScope; Color) WARNER Battle Cry ( CinemaScope; WarnerColor) (CinemaScope; Technicolor) Dawn at Socorro (Technicolor) WARNER Star Is Born ( CinemaScope; WarnerColor) U.A. White Orchid (Cosmos; Eastman Color) Barefoot Contessa (Figaro, Inc.; WarnerColor) U-l This Island Earth (Technicolor) Bengal Rifles (Technicolor) Matchmakers WARNER Lucky Me (CinemaScope; WarnerColor) Talisman (CinemaScope; WarnerColor) IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII color, Columbia’s first production starring Betty Grable, its first in CinemaScope, and for both of these reasons a most promising project. Marge and Gower Champion are dancing alongside the star who outranked all members of her sex in this publication’s annual Money-Making Stars poll for more years than anyone else ever did, and Jack Lemmon, whose first screen performance (in “It Should Happen to You”) attracted trade and audience attention, is another principal. Jonie Taps is producing and H. C. Potter is directing. Warners’ started “Battle Cry,” a Cinema- Scope job in WarnerColor, with Raoul Walsh directing Van Heflin, Aldo Ray, James Whitmore, Tab Hunter and others. It’s being shot in Puerto Rico. Exhibitor-producer W. R. Frank launched his long-planned “Sitting Bull” in Cinema- Scope for United Artists release, with Sid Salkow directing a cast that includes Dale Robertson, J. Carrol Naish, John Litel, Mary Murphy, Bill Hopper, John Hamilton and many others. The picture is being shot in Mexico. 24 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 20, 1954 TERRITORIAL SATURATION * « A Z h. UL LU z Q LU U uZ LU o X o M- ■4— o X 1- o LU U s z o u Q o CO c Q. i 2 O 2 — < n 02 9 o GO The acceleration of CinemaScope releases — dramatized by “Knights of the Round Table” competing in its second week at the Palace with “The Command” at the Strand — has increased speculation as to the effect on regular releases. The latter, according to some ex-hibtors and theatre managers, ap- pear even smaller than they are, after a CinemaScope production. They believe regular patrons take notice of this. . . . “The Captain’s Paradise” played to a big three weeks at the Delaware, again demon- strating Alec Guinness’ draw at the art house. ... In from Buffalo were Stanley Kositsky, who manages Albany, too, for United Artists, and Nate Dickman, of Monogram. . . . The four Buffalo area drive-ins of which Dickman is a partner will start the season Apr. 4. . . . The Variety Club had as dinner guests' Allen J. Good- rich, State Tax Commission president ; Mor- timer M. Kassell, deputy and counsel for the Commission; Senator Fred G. Moritt, of Brooklyn. . . . Timothy Anspach pre- sented Chief Barker Jules Perlmutter with a $900 check — -his commission as auctioneer at a used car sale held for the club’s Camp Thacher fund. ATLANTA Tony Lam, Lam Amusement Co., Rome, Ga., was in town booking for the circuit. . . . N. E. Savini, Astor’s New York special rep- resentative, was in at the local office. . . . Betty Landers and Hilda Knight, Mono- gram, are back after a visit to Daytona Beach, Fla. . . . A. L. Reagan is the new owner of the Center theatre, Knoxville, Tenn. . . . Leonard Burch, manager United World Films, checked in at his office after a business trip to Tennessee. . . . J. E. Mc- Leor, Monogram’s Charlotte, N. C., sales representative, is back there after a trip to Atlanta. . . . The Ringo theatre, Ringold, Ga., has closed for the want of business. . . . We had on the row booking : Mr. and Mrs. Geo. Odium, Cleveland drive-in, Cleveland, Tenn.; Mr. and Mrs. John Carter, theatres in Brookhaven, Ga. ; L. J. Duncan, Al-Dun Amusement Co., West Point, Ga., and P. L. Taylor, Dixie theatre and editor of the Columbus World, Columbus, Ga. BALTIMORE Lauritz Garman, Garman Theatres ; C. Elmer Nolte and “Ham” Durkee have re- turned from Cincinnati and the National Allied Drive-in convention. . . . T. L. Har- rison, Jr., manager of the Park and Plaza, Lexington Park, Md., is back at work after a siege of the grippe. . . . Ben Oletsky, Bea- con manager, is another back at work and off the sick list. . . . Roy Knight, Stanley Warner sound department assistant, in town checking the local Stanley theatre. . . . Mor- ris Mechanic, New and Centre theatres, back in town after a New York visit. . . . Jack Sidney, Loew manager, in Florida visiting his sister. . . . Janetta Somerset, one of the Morning Sun film reviewers, back after vis- iting her folks in England. . . . Fred Schan- berger, Keith’s theatre, in New York on a booking trip. . . . Bette Prescott is the new aide at the Century. . . . Madge Hoff, Cen- tury assistant, is on the sick list. . . . Rodney Collier, Stanley manager, is visiting in Philadelphia. BOSTON “The Living Desert,” playing first run at the Beacon Hill theatre, broke all existing house records for a first week. . . . “The Best Years of Our Lives” also had a good first week in its come-back presentation at the Astor. . . . Ray Canavan, executive as- sistant to E. M. Loew at the Loew circuit, will be married in late February to Miss Geraldine Flynn of Revere. After a wed- ding trip south the couple will reside in Point-of-Pines, Revere. . . . American The- atres Corp. has taken a long lease on a new drive-in now under construction on the Au- burn-Oxford, Mass., line. To accommodate 1,000 cars, the theatre is being built under the circuit’s specifications. This marks the sixth open air theatre under the ATC ban- ner. . . . Charles Jandeau, projectionist at the Rivoli, Roxbury, is in Boston City Hos- WHEN AND WHERE March 9-10: Annual convention, Allied Theatre Owners of Oklahoma, Biltmore Hotel, Oklahoma City. March 28-30: An nual convention, Allied Theatre Owners of Gulf States, Edge- water Gulf Hotel, Edgewater Park, Miss. April 6-8: Annual convention, Allied Inde- pendent Theatre Owners of Wisconsin, Hotel Shroeder, Milwaukee. April 19-21: Spring convention, Allied The- atres of Michigan, Hotel Statler, Detroit. May 2-7: Semi-annual convention, Society of Motion Picture and Television Engi- neers, Statler Hotel, Washington, D. C. May 4-5: Annual convention, Allied Theatre Owners of Iowa, Nebraska and Mid- Central, Fontanelle Hotel, Omaha. May 4-5: Annual convention, Independent Theatre Owners of Arkansas, Marion Hotel, Little Rock, Arkansas. June 15-16: Annual spring meeting, Allied Theatre Owners of Indiana, South Shore Hotel, Lake Wawasee, Ind. pital for surgery, while Louis Brown, sales- man for National Theatre Supply, is in Vet- erans Hospital for observation. . . . Sylvia Gilman, ledger clerk at National Screen Service, was married to Harold Nathanson, a packer with the same outfit. BUFFALO Constantine J. Basil, president of Basil Theatres circuit ; Basil J. Basil, vice-presi- dent, and V. Spencer Balser, film buyer and booker, and their wives left Buffalo this week for a two-week vacation in Havana, Cuba and Miami Beach, Florida. . . . Jack Gilmore, former MGM exploitation repre- sentative in the Buffalo and Albany areas, writes from West Palm Beach, where he is now wintering, that his real estate business has been a bit quiet. . . . Harold Lee, mana- ger of the Babcock in Bath, N. Y., has been very successful in lining up co-operative ads in his town, in which he has been assisted by John Snyder. . . . Michael DeAngelis, architect, is designing the North Park drive- in in Rochester especially for wide screen and new dimension projection systems. . . . The 12-year-old Variety Club Cerebral Palsy department of the Children’s Hospital — the oldest clinic of its kind in the state — has moved from 309 North Street to the Crippled Children’s Guild. . . . Walter W. Matchette, 68, a projectionist for 50 years before his retirement in 1951, and a past president of Local 233, Motion Picture Operators Union (AFL), died here. . . . The Murray theatre, closed for several years in Rochester, has resumed operation. CHICAGO Ray Hemple, long-time employee of Na- tional Screen Service here, has been ap- pointed head of the branch’s special service department, replacing Bill Harris, who re- cently resigned to join Filmack. . . . Joe Stern, who operates the Marquette, High- way and Colony with his sons Meyer and Arnold, is vacationing in West Palm Beach, Florida. . . . James Jovan flew to New York to round up some top first runs for his Monroe theatre in the Loop here. . . . Her- bert Jaffe, international publicist for 20th Century-Fox, was in Chicago over the week- end to attend his brother’s wedding. . . . C. J. Cerny, vice-president in charge of sales for the Dalite Screen Co., returned here after a Hollywood confab with members of the Motion Picture Research Council. . . . Abe Platt and Bob Flannery presided at a kick-off luncheon for the Amusements division of the Chicago Red Cross drive. CINCINNATI Something new has been added to the sum total of the local exhibitors’ overhead through the passage by city council of a one per cent income tax, effective April 1, to be levied against individual gross incomes and ( Continued on page 28) 26 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 20, 1954 : H-G-M Aeard ■ Sunday n-n,niVe °°C ft IeJVed ^ch y- °f I he nat'<>n- M Ual 0pP°«unt M'G-H tude to a 1 Uj expr Sun.- Sreat sl t a°’foran: ho* ycmock on Wood.. You and Cf NEMaScO^ The big, big all-around promotion f starts with a bang! Full -page ads in LIFE (April 5), ^ LOOK (April 6) and 16 other national gu magazines cover every moviegoer * in every corner of the land right up to and including the opening! And the happy, happy music hits the air-waves way in advance, with more top tunes than any Doris Day picture before! STARS L/Ul\IU L/nl I lUULIl I \J\J If I If 1 1 1 * v4 with EDDIE FOY, JR., NANCY WALKER, MARTHA HYER, BILL GOODWIN, MARCEL DALIO, HAYDEN RORKE and JAMES BURKE • Musical Direction by RUCTION 2IPPIER- -treating WORLD1 SOUND warnerS makes P« ,MORPh'C t MIVJ CINEMA DMJHS w VIM dor,s that's ■opulaR tcture motion I> ood movie! thres 1 luck to quieter s - Phil Silvers ..Cinemascope ...warnercolor Screen Play by JAMES O’HANLON, ROBERT O’BRIEN and IRVING ELINSON From a Story by JAMES O’HANLON, Music by SAMMY FAIN • Lyrics by PAUL FRANCIS WEBSTER Ray Heindorf • Produced by HENRY BLANKE • Directed by JACK DONOHUE SOMETHING DIFFERENT! SOMETHING NEW! Now Cinemascope gives your audiences a front-row seat to the fabulous $6.60 musical ' just as Broadway cheered it . . . with all its songs, stars dances and fun! Edward L. Alperson presents in glorious COLOR in the wonder of STEREOPHONIC SOUND! starring RONNY GRAHAM-EARTHA KITT* ROBERT CLARY-ALICE GHOSTLEY Directed by Co-producer Released by HARRY HORNER • BERMAN SWARTTZ • 20th CENTURY-FOX MOTION PICTURE HERALD MARTIN QUIGLEY, Editor-in-Chie } and Publisher Vol. 194, No. 9 MARTIN QUIGLEY, ]R., Editor February 27, 1954 Quiet Thoughts on Stereo Sound ON both sides of the Atlantic there has been too much sound and fury recently about stereophonic sound and too little objective appraisal of its importance today and for the intensely competitive to- morrows. The subject is too vital to be dealt with in “sound and fury.” Some critics of stereo sound have talked as if they felt it was a reincarnation of Homer’s dread “terrible sound of the bow.” While the matter of cost is an economic life and death matter to many exhibitors, it would be shortsighted to evaluate an industry technical development such as stereophonic sound on the basis of cost alone. If that had been the rule during the history of the industry, the motion picture would have stayed (until its demise long ago) in the peep-hole stage Edison thought was best for it. Edison, great inventor that he was, was no mo- tion picture prophet. He was reluctant to perfect a pro- jector for fear that big pictures on a screen would swiftly satiate the public’s desire for movies. And so it has been all down the years. The carbon arc light was expensive. The first sound systems were pro- hibitively so, amounting to many times the costs of stereo sound today for the average theatre. Those prices, too, were in 1927 dollars with greater purchasing power than 1954 dollars. Herbert Barnett, president of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers, in an address to the Independent Theatre Owners of Ohio February 2 said, “Last year I said to you that whatever else may fall by the wayside [with respect to the new techniques], stereo- phonic sound has made good; it is here to stay. I would not alter that statement today but would like to qualify it to some extent.” Mr. Barnett went on to point out that some stereo sound has been inferior and in some cases it may not be necessary. IS Mr. Barnett commented in another address to the National Allied Drive-In Theatres Association, “it is conceded by most observers that true stereo sound can add much to the enjoyment of pictures.” The present controversy resolves itself down to two points: 1) Is stereo sound essential in regular theatres (assuming it is economically feasible in a particular situation) ? and, 2) Is some kind of stereo sound prac- tical in drive-ins? It must be admitted that the answer to the second question will not be known until some time during the coming drive-in season. Certainly stereo sound in the sense that it is used in indoor theatres is not possible in drive-ins. The use of multiple speakers in a car may pro- duce some pleasing and effective stereo effects and may enhance the dramatic enjoyment of some pictures in drive-ins. Stereo sound in a regular theatre aims to re- produce sounds in their spatial relationships to the action on the screen. This is done, of course, through the use of three sets of speakers behind the screen (six, in Cine- rama). For any multiple speaker system in a drive-in, the human brain will be called upon to make an approxi- mation of these spatial relationships from the carrying sounds coming to the two ears of each spectator. Just how that will work out, no one yet knows with certainty. Turning to the first question, stereo sound is not essen- tial to motion pictures any more than, say, color, or even sound of any kind. The screen art flourished in the days of the “silents.” Hundreds of exhibitors believed that the “talkies” were a passing fancy and did not install sound for years. Stereo sound, on the other hand, is “essential” in the sense that it is a marked improvement over the old sys- tem when used with very wide screens in big theatres. Its pleasing qualities in very small theatres also have been demonstrated. Stereo sound has a tremendous technical advantage over all-optical sound because it uses magnetic repro- duction which is undeniably superior. ONE of the most controversial aspects of stereo sound has been the need or desirability of audito- rium speakers for special effects. While admitting the use of such sound is in its infancy, indications now are that it may play an important role in creating audience impressions in the years ahead. One of the principal critics of the use of auditorium speakers — and one cited by many exhibitors as justification for their hesitation in putting them in — was the Loew Circuit. However, that circuit now has decided that auditorium speakers are important and is installing them through the circuit, bringing their installations to full CinemaScope standards. The optical sound track had Hollywood’s technical wizards pretty well boxed in. There is only so much sound that can be gotten — qualitatively speaking — from such a track. It is by nature uni-directional (although, of course, its output can be artificially switched from one set of speakers to another). Stereophonic sound using four magnetic tracks would seem to leave plenty of room for sound development for a couple of decades. For theatres that can not really afford stereophonic sound and for drive-ins, the modification necessary must be worked out in the interest of both distributors and exhibitors. Where stereophonic sound is possible eco- nomically speakers should be installed. — Martin Quigley, Jr. MOTION PICTURE HERALD Off-Beat Shorts To the Editor: In these days of shortened product supply, the newsreel-short subject theatre is hard- pressed to present a balanced program with- out repetition oi subject matter. Therefore, we constantly seek new sources. Artistically speaking, the foreign film in- dustries have done much to cause Hollywood to improve the quality of production by the example of turning out good material on a small budget. Perhaps not as familiar to the public as the full-length features is the foreign short subject product. The off-beat and high caliber U. P. A. Cartoons released by Columbia are always well received by the patrons here. Also in the cartoon field, Paramount re-released a little gem titled “The Enchanted Square” which we played during the Christmas sea- son with much fworable comment. It was reminiscent of Warner’s charming “Merry Melodies.” As a newcomer to this field, I have found The HERALD very helpful in advancing my screen education. — JANE ECKER, Manager, Telepix Cinema, Boston, Mass. Over-Advertising To the Editor: We object to those over-advertised spe- cials which turn out to be flops in the smaller theatres. You can persuade your customers a few times but when they walk out on such pictures several times, they get so that they don’t want to see any pictures. The industry should make shows that all people like, such as “The Greatest Show on Earth.” — Wyo- ming Exhibitor. Stereophonic Sound To the Editor: I agree with the postion taken editorially by your magazine that “The Robe” is better in stereophonic sound. But is it enough better for the medium and small theatre to justify its cost? Here’s what it will have to do at the box office in order to return its investment after the showing of 50 Cinema- Scope pictures : Cost of sound equipment, approximately $7,000 installed; or $140 pro rata for each of the first 50 pictures using it. Allowing for film rental percentage, this means that each picture must gross upwards of $230 more with stereophonic sound than the same picture (same screen, same color, same title, same cast, same story) would gross with standard sound. Or for an average gross of $1,000 per picture, for example, more than 23 per cent of business done would have to be attributable solely to stereophonic sound. There’s nothing to indicate that the public generally is that enthusiastic. — HAROLD ARM I STEAD, Colony Theatres, Easley. S. C. Confusion To the Editor : Utter confusion exists regarding ratios, equipment and techniques — contradictions oi statements from so-called industry leaders and snap judgments of the great oracles— “columnists.” — Florida Exhibitor. Newspaper Treatment To the Editor: Neither newspapers nor any other medium which carries movie advertising should be allowed to get away with any articles slanted so as to cause a reading public to lose faith and interest in our business. And the way to overcome this is for the individual theatres in the individual cities just to take the bull bv the horns and refuse to advertise in anv form or medium which cannot give us a fair break. Newspapers are scared to death of tele- vision, much more so than the movie indus- try has been ever, and in television theatres now have a powerful advertising medium in which to run in those situations where smart-aleck know-it-all so-called critics con- tinue to pan our product and our business. — Georgia Exhibitor. Balanced Programs To the Editor: Let’s get rid of the double feature and show a program consisting of a single fea- ture, cartoon, newsreel and comedy short. (A program of two hours or so.) — New York City Exhibitor. Quality Shorts To the Editor : The public is hungry for quality shorts of travel, educational-scientific material and factual newsreel reporting. — RUSSELL J . McGHEE, Grand Central Theatre, Inc., Grand Central Terminal, New York, N. Y. Take Off Tax To the Editor : If small theatres are to stay in business take off the admission tax at once. — Caroline Theatre, Inc., Bowling Green, V a. February 27, 1954 CODE'S value is described to Congress by Senator Page 12 EXHIBITORS prepare to wage continued fight for tax relief Page 12 PRODUCT for Spring dolled up in new bonnet for Easter Page 13 TERRY RAMSAYE Says— A column of com- ment on matters cinematic Page 16 TOA appoints committee to conduct talks on arbitration Page 16 NATIONAL Theatres reports 13-week net of $655,582 Page 16 JOHNSTON, at Brazil festival, cites free U.S. market Page 18 TECHNICOLOR year net profit reported reaching $2,371,735 Page 18 "FAME" evaluates the year's product, and honors Skouras Page 19 DISNEY has $22,000,000 in product, Samuels announces Page 19 BRITISH production industry is beset by labor problems Page 20 REVIVE Code talks looking toward a seal for "French Line" Page 21 RKO seeks quick trial of suits on Hughes stock offer Page 21 EXHIBITOR mourns a theatre friend, mur- dered by taxation Page 25 COAST exhibitor group hits Senate unit "acquittal" of trade Page 25 BELL & HOWELL purchases assets of the DeVry Corporation Page 25 YATES of Republic expresses strong faith in product Page 26 NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT — Notes on indus- try personnel across country Page 28 SERVICE DEPARTMENTS Film Buyers' Rating 3rd Cover Hollywood Scene Page 24 Managers' Round Table Page 33 People in the News Page 26 What the Picture Did for Me Page 37 IN PRODUCT DIGEST SECTION Showmen's Reviews Page 2197 Short Subjects Chart Page 2198 The Release Chart Page 2200 8 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 27, 1954 IT looks as if the Theatre Owners of America may get into the fight, at that. Traditionally disin- clined to directly quarrel about trade practices, the organization is re- ported excited enough about (or against) stereophonic sound, to have authorized a group of spokesmen to tell CinemaScope distributors they had better serve the medium without restrictions — or else. That “else,” it is reported, would be TOA com- plaints to the Department of Justice, and the Senate Small Business Com- mittee. ► Twentieth Century-Fox, which should know, says its CinemaScope is being used by five studios and six independent producers who have 31 pictures in preparation. The total thus far for 1954 release is 54. If the trend continues, the medium may well come to the standard plus value that color is in relation to black and white. * RKO, which is distributing Walt Disney’s reissued “Pinocchio,” says the picture in its first week in New England is breaking the records set there by the fabulous “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.” For an ex- ample : the gross at the Memorial, Boston, was $33,450 the first week. ► General admissions tax collections from July through December last year were about 21.6 per cent below collections in the like 1952 period, the Internal Revenue Service has announced in Washington. It listed collections for the last six months of 1953 of $136,320,000, compared with $173,828,000 for the corre- sponding 1952 months. It is pointed out, however, that the figures are not too meaningful since last July the Service switched to a new basis for reporting excise collections, and exhibitor payments are lagging be- hind those of a year before. While the screen may take certain dramatic license when it comes to adding romantic touches to the lives of great personages of the past, Hol- lywood’s overall representation of history more than makes up for it by its thoroughness and authen- TUSHINSKY SYSTEM TO BE GENERALLY AVAILABLE HOLLYWOOD: The Tushinsky variable anamorphic lens system, demonstrated last week at the RKO studios, will be made available to the entire industry under licensing arrangements. Tests are now being made for Columbia as well as other major studios. Co-inventor Joseph Tushinsky told The HERALD Wednesday especially good results are being obtained with footage shot with MGM's Metroscope camera. It was re- ported previously that Paramount was negotiating for the Tushinsky system. Mr. Tushinsky said that projection lenses will be sold outright to large theatres, will be available on a rental basis and, in "hardship cases," will be furnished to an exhibitor gratis. The lenses will sell outright for something less than $1,000 per pair. ticity, according to George Sidney, MGM director. In an address be- fore the Beverly Hills Parent- Teachers Association, Mr. Sidney said, “Screen stories seldom stray far from well-authenticated facts and always there is a tremendous effort put forth to verify all points by exhaustive research. Any in- formation you or your children absorb from costume motion pic- tures is 99 per cent absolutely authentic.” ► A big story property, coupled with talent of star calibre, is being sought for the third Cinerama pro- duction, it was reported last week as Stanley Warner continued talks with major studios and indepen- dents on production plans. The purpose would be to get away from the travelogue idea of the first Cine- rama production and, to a lesser degree, of the forthcoming second program in the process, “Cinerama Holiday.” Another factor spurring the Cinerama people is that shortly they will have to compete with the Todd-AO 65 mm medium and the first feature in that process, “Okla- homa.” ► This, too, was bound to come to pass : Professor Jozef Cohen of the University of Illinois has applied for a patent for a device which, using standard lenses and film and only one projector, allows the audi- ence in a circular theatre to be com- pletely surrounded by the picture. Since no one would be interested in a picture behind him, Professor Cohen says that he thinks only a half circle picture would be used for practical purposes. ► The film business is petering out at the Supreme Court. Right now there’s only one industry case pend- ing there — an all-time low for recent months. ► John M. Novak, 39, last week in San Francisco was sentenced to pay a $200 fine or spend 30 days in jail for punching Donald Haley, man- ager of the Paramount theatre, last December after he (Novak) had be- come excited watching a 3-D Indian massacre in “The Nebraskan.” Mr. Novak said the sequence was so unnerving to the audience, what with all those loose arrows flying about, that men turned cowards and women became physical wrecks. He said he also resented racial slurs against Indians. ► Nothing’s been said about it, but there’s one customer who’s receiv- ing CinemaScope without stereo sound — and no squawks. It’s the Army. That organization’s motion picture service on March 7 will show its first CinemaScope picture, Warners’ “The Command,” at 37 in- stallations. MOTION PICTURE HERALD, published every Saturday by Quigley Publishing Company, Inc., Rockefeller Center, New York City 20. Telephone Circle 7-3100; Cable address, "Quigpubco, N-ew York", Martin Quigley, President; Martin Quigley, Jr., Vice-President; Theo. J. Sullivan, Vice-President and Treasurer; Raymond Levy, Vice-President; Leo J. Brady, Secretary; Martin Quigley, Jr., Editor; Terry Ramsaye, Consulting Editor; James D. Ivers, News Editor; Charles S. Aaronson, Production Editor; Floyd E. Stone, Photo Editor; Ray Gallagher, Advertising Maaager; Gus H. Fausel, Production Manager. Bureaus: Hollywood, William R. Weaver, editor, Yucca-Vine Building, Telephone HOIlywood 7-2145; Chicago, 120 So. LaSalle St., Urben Farley, advertising representative, Telephone, Financial 6-3074; Washington, J. A. Otten, National Press Club; London, Hope Williams Burnup, manager, Peter Burnup, editor, 4 Golden Square. Correspondents in the principal capitals of the world. Member Audit Bureau of Circulations. Other Quigley Publications;* Better Theatres, published thirteen times a year as Section II of Mot’ion Picture Herald; Motion Picture Daily, Motion Picture and Television Almanac and Fame. MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 27, 1954 9 by the Herald by the Herald AL O'KEEFE, vice-president in charge of distribu- tion for the Pola-Lite Company, as he explained to trade writers Tuesday the new Pola-Lite 3-D system, using one film; and its new glasses, with collapsible earpieces and all plastic frames. The system re- places Moropticcn, has in-built filters, may be in- stalled in three minutes and will be sold outright for $100 and a minimum order of 6,000 glasses in one year. Universal-International is printing two new 3-D releases on single film, for those who wish to use the system. Optical printing of a 3-D pic- ture on to one film costs about 25 cents per foot, Mr. O'Keefe estimates. REASSIGNMENTS occurred this week at RKO Pictures. Walter Branson, left, became new general manager of foreign operations. He had been assistant sales man- ager. Simultaneously, three sales executives received promotions. Herb Greenblatt, above, was made central division manager. He had been midwest district manager. J. Herbert MacIntyre, right, above, western district man- ager, now is western division man- ager. And Harry Gittleson, right, sales administrative manager, be- comes executive assistant to Charles Boasberg, general sales manager. CITATION, in St. Louis, from IATSE Locals 1 43 and 6 to Cinerama exhibition director Lester B. Isaac. At the affair, right, are Stanley Warner vice - presi- dent Harry Kalmine, Local 6 president Roy Upton, Mr. Isaac, and Local 143 business agent H. O'Laughlin. M r . Isaac will add his citation to some 49 others received since 1916. o MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 27, 1954 PROMOTIONS AT PARAMOUNT: Herb Steinberg, left, now is national exploitation manager. Burt Champion is now home office publicity manager, succeeding Mr. Steinberg. Mr. Champion had been in charge of radio and television promotion. by the Herald TELLING A B O U T THE TRIP to Rochester, where Eastman Kodak con- ducted thorough tests demonstrating the flame resistance of acetate film and the myriad dangers of nitrate film. Emanuel Frisch, president of the Metropolitan Motion Pic- ture Theatres Association of New York, noted that New York City safety officials were deeply im- pressed and that insur- ance rating bureaus would probably be apprised of their opinions and the test results. PREVIEW for "Top Banana." As United Artists showed it in the Victoria Theatre, New York, comedian Phil Silvers, second from right, was host. He greets John Hodiak, left, and Mr. and Mrs. Henry Fonda. Top headliners in show business were preview guests. A 3-D THRILLER from Warners. Its "Phantom of the Rue Morgue," a scene from which is at the right, opened Wednesday in the Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Indianapolis terri- tories backed by mas- sive TV, radio, and newspaper promotion. It gets national dis- tribution March 27. MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 27, 1954 CONGRESS TOLD OF CODE VALCE Senator Schoeppel Lauds Producers for Voicing Loyalty to Film Code Senator Andrew F. Schoeppel (R., Kan.) head of Senate Small Business sub-com- mittee which has been studying industry trade practices, has added his voice to those applauding the decision of the major pro- ducers to a stand by the industry’s Produc- tion Code. In the meantime more comments from exhibitors throughout the country re- veal a general desire to see the document preserved in its present form. Indications from some were that there should be some relaxation in regard to certain types of pictures. “In the best interest of the industry and the public,” Sen. Schoeppel told the Senate, “I hope that everyone in and out of the industry will support the Code. I urge every producer to make only Code-approved pic- tures; I urge every exhibitor to show only Code-approved pictures ; and I hope that the public will patronize only Code-approved pictures. “It is the one sure way of making certain that decent entertainment will always be the best entertainment.” Sen. Schoeppel started by saying he wanted to associate himself with Sen. John- son (D., Colo.) in “praising the industry leaders for their forthright stand on so fundamental an issue.” He said he had come into close contact with industry leaders in his Small Business Committee post, and he knew the majority of the people in the industry are “fine, outstand- ing American citizens who are trying des- perately to maintain their industry as the premier entertainment medium of the world.” “While the various elements in the in- dustry have their internal differences, he said, “They stand united in their belief that the motion picture is the finest family enter- tainment.” Hopes Tax Will End , The industry is experiencing major eco- nomic problems, Sen. Schoeppel said. He mentioned box office declines, aggravated by the “onerous 20 per cent admission tax, which, incidentally, I earnestly hope will be eliminated by legislators at this session of Congress.” “But, despite these difficulties,” he con- tinued, “I know that no exhibitor in Kansas is going to put dollars above ethics by showing an off-color film.” Sen. Schoeppel said his sub-committee’s studies showed the industry had many prob- lems, “but it is clear that these problems are not going to be solved by trying to show pictures that do not conform to accepted standards of decency and morality. In my view, such pictures will not only do harm to the industry as a whole, but in the long run will hurt those who make and show them. The American public is not going to pay for trash and filth in the name of artistic license.” In recent months one or two film pro- ducers have been waging a campaign to modernize code standards, Sen. Schoeppel declared. “Just how decency and morality and good taste are modernized is difficult to understand,” he said. “Women’s clubs and parent-teacher organizations and religious groups and all right-thinking people believe that morality is not a dress to be changed with every passing fad. “I am happy, therefore, to see that the responsible leaders in the production side of the industry make clear that they are not going to be stampeded into abandon- ing standards which have always been right and which have kept their product fit for family seeing.” Charles R. Blatt, president of Allied Motion Picture Theatre Owners of Western Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, said: “The Pro- duction Code has served well for many years. The moral code on which it is based is eternal and not to be changed to fit the whims of modern times. I am not in favor of weakening the Code.” Saul J. Ullman, Fabian division man- ager in Albany, said : “I go along with the Code. It has served the industry long and well. It should be continued in the present form.” David Idzal, Fox theatre, Detroit said: “I am in complete agreement with the state- ment that decent entertainment is the best entertainment.” Charles A. Smakwitz, Stanley Warner zone manager : “I agree with the Produc- tion Code statement issued by the various member companies. I believe that the Code should be upheld and continued for the good and welfare of the industry which it has effectively served.” S. P. Gorrel and Leonard Mishkind of General Theatre Circuit, Cleveland, said: “Now when state censorship is under attack from state and federal courts and when we are trying to bring back family trade is not the time to tamper with existing pro- duction and advertising codes.” Ray Feeley, owner-operator of the Weymouth theatre, Weymouth, Mass., said: “While I feel that our industry as well as the press and other media of public ex- pression should not be unduly limited by censorship, I also feel that the Code has justified its existence by protecting from within the industry the various branches which might have otherwise been hampered by one or more radical producers.” Arthur Lockwood, treasurer of Lock- wood and Gordon Enterprises, and a former president of Theatre Owners of America said: “I agree wholeheartedly with the Code statement and consider it excellent.” Ernest A. Grecula, Hartford Theatre Circuit, Hartford, said: “The Production Code should be enforced to the extent where a motion picture bordering on the risque situation cannot be played in a commercial playhouse, but must be contained in an art house, the better outlet for this type of product.” John T. McGreevey, booker and buyer for the Harris Amusement Co., Pittsburgh, said : “The Code definitely should be main- tained. The industry has a moral obligation to the millions of patrons who support it, and to see that what appears on the screen is decent and moral. It certainly hasn’t hurt the industry since it has been in effect.” Exhibitors Ready for Tax Fiyht WASHINGTON : Exhibitor leaders in the field are expected to start migrating to Washington within the next three weeks for conferences with their respective Con- gressmen in regard to the elimination of the Federal admission tax. The purpose of the junkets, which are being encouraged by the Council of Motion Picture Organizations, is to make sure that the law-makers have a complete under- standing of the industry’s problem. COMPO officials believe that the industry’s case is just as strong now as it was a year ago. Meanwhile, the growing pressure on Con- gress for substantial tax cuts to stimulate business has completely beclouded the out- look for admission tax relief this session. Most Congressmen pressing for tax cuts mention excise cuts as one of their main goals. But even more of them mention an increase in individual income tax exemp- tions. The problem the industry faces is this : an increase in individual income tax exemp- tions is an expensive proposition for the Treasury. If exemptions are increased, might not Congressmen be reluctant to go too far in the way of cutting excises and losing still more revenue ? Chances still are excellent for some reductions in the tax. The question now is just how much of a reduction. Meanwhile, Tuesday a Democratic attempt to get an immediate House Ways and Means vote on reduction in the admissions and other excise taxes was ruled out of order by Chairman Reed (R., N. Y.). He said the committee would take up the entire question of excise tax rates later, but well in advance of April 1, when some excise rates are scheduled to be dropped. The mat- ter came up as the committee continued vot- ing on the Technical Tax Revision Bill. 12 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 27, 1954 PRODUCT DOLLED UP IN BRIGHT New Technique , Color Add to Values of Films Set for Spring Release by MANDEL HERBSTMAN In joyous keeping with the season, the companies are preparing a dazzling Easter parade of product. The range sweeps from drama to comedy and musicals to westerns with bright splashes of color. None over- looks the box office potential and all are fashioned to meet given exhibitor needs. Included in the sprawling array are films in CinemaScope, wide-screen, standard screen, 3-D and stereophonic sound. Stream- lined and aggressive advertising and promo- tional campaigns will support the product for maximum result. A quick glance at some of the forthcom- ing pictures will bring an uplift to the outlook. MGM Schedule Has Many Musicals Among those that soon will be seen flying the proud banner of MGM will be "Execu- tive Suite.” In the all-star cast are William Holden, June Allyson, Fredric March, Bar- bara Stanwyck, Walter Pidgeon, Shelley Winters, Paul Douglas and many others. Others from the company will be "Rhap- sody,” a musical drama in color by Techni- color with Elizabeth Taylor and Vittorio Gassman ; the melodious "Rose Marie” in Kodacolor with Ann Blyth and Howard Keel; the musical “Student Prince” stars Ann Blyth and Edward Purdom and is in Ansco color. Another from the company will be “Flame of the Flesh,” in color by Techni- color, with Lana Turner and Pier Angeli. CinemaScope List From Fox Impressive Pictures in CinemaScope, color and 3-D are slated to reach the exhibitors from 20th Century-Fox during the next few months. To name but a sampling few, there are: “New Faces,” the Broadway review in East- man color and CinemaScope, with Eartha Kitt heading the cast; “Prince Valiant,” in CinemaScope and Technicolor, starring James Mason and Janet Leigh; “Night People,” CinemaScope and Technicolor with Gregory Peck and Broderick Crawford. The drama was filmed in Germany under the production and direction of Nunnally John- son. In 3-D from the company and in color will be “Gorilla at Large,” with Cameron Mitchell, Ann Bancroft and Lee J. Cobb. “River of No Return,” will bring together Marilyn Monroe and Robert Mitchum in CinemaScope and Technicolor. Among the many pictures_ that will be rolling to the exhibitors of the nation from the Universal-International studios will be MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 27, 1954 EASTER WATCH TECHNIQUE IN BROADWAY MUSICALS The technique of photographing plays just as they appeared on Broadway, with- out any concessions to motion picture pro- duction methods, was marked in two New York films last week. They were 20th Cen- tury-Fox's "New Faces" and United Artists' "Top Banana," both musicals. Audiences seemed to like both pictures and watchful production eyes are fixed on them. News- paper ads for "Top Banana" said: "See it at movie prices exactly the way New York theatre audiences saw it for $7.70." The "New Faces" ads said: "You've got a front row seat at that fabulous Broadway revue . . . with its stars, dances, wonderful fun at popular admission prices." “Saskatchewan” in color by Technicolor, with a cast including Alan Ladd, Shelley Winters and Robert Douglas; “Johnny Dark,” in Technicolor, with Tony Curtis, Piper Laurie and Don Taylor. In Cinema- Scope and Technicolor will be “The Black Shield of Falworth,” with Tony Curtis, Janet Leigh and David Farrar. Others will be “The Far Country,” in Technicolor, with James Stewart, Ruth Roman and Corinne Calvet; “Tanganyika” in Technicolor with Van Heflin, Ruth Roman and Howard Duff , Among those to head the parade of prod- uct from Warner Brothers will be “A Star Is Born” in color and CinemaScope with Judy Garland and James Mason; “The High and the Mighty,” also in color and Cinema- Scope with John Wayne, Claire Trevor and Laraine Day; “Dail M for Murder,” is in 3-D and WarnerColor with Ray Milland and Grace Kelly; “Lucky Me,” in Cinema- Scope and WarnerColor with Phil Silvers, Doris Day and Robert Cummings; “Ring of Fear” with Clyde Beatty, Pat O’Brien and Mickey Spillane ; and “Them!” an ad- venture drama in 3-D with Edmund Gwenn. Comedy Features From Paramount Those up front among the releases from Paramount will be the Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis comedy “Money from Home,” in 3-D and color; “About Mrs. Leslie” a drama with Shirley Booth and Robert Ryan; “Casanova’s Big Night” will see Bob Hope starred with Joan Fontaine in color. Others from the company, all in color, include: “Elephant Walk,” a drama with Elizabeth Taylor and Dana Andrews ; “Knock on Wood,” with Danny Kaye. Columbia in the upcoming months will boast such pictures as “The Caine Mutiny,” in color wjth a top cast that includes Hum- phrey Bogart, Van Johnson and Jose Fer- BONNET rer ; “Indiscretion of An American Wife,” the Selznick picture filmed in Italy with Jennifer Jones and Montgomery Clift; “Black Knight,” an adventure in color with Alan Ladd and Patrica Medina ; “Hell Be- low Zero,” an adventure drama in color with Alan Ladd and Joan Tetzel; “The Battle of Rogue River,” a western in color Overseas Productions On U. A. Schedule Among the large roster from United Artists will be “Beat the Devil,” the John Huston comedy made abroad with Hum- phrey Bogart, Jennifer Jones and Peter Lorre ; “Act of Love,” drama also made abroad with Kirk Douglas and Danny Robin; “The Golden Mask,” in color with Wanda Hendrix and Van Heflin; “The Scarlet Spear,” an adventure in color with John Archer and Martha Hyers ; “Witness to Murder” will bring together Barbara Stanwyck and George Sanders; and “Ad- ventures of Robinson Crusoe,” a drama in color has Dan O’Herlihy and James Fern- andez in the lead. Last week RKO Pictures announced that a lineup of 10 productions and one reissue has been assured through June. Some of the productions are “Carnival Story,” in color and wide-screen with Anne Baxter and Steve Cochran; “Dangerous Mission,” in color, available in 2-D and 3-D, with Victor Mature and Piper Laurie ; “Son of Sinbad,” also in color and 3-D and 2-D, with Dale Robertson and Sally Forrest; “Susan Slept Here,” in color with Dick Powell and Debbie Reynolds; and “Four Desperate Men,” in color with John Payne and Lizabeth Scott. “Jubilee Trail ” Heads Republic’s Lineup Heading Republic’s array of product are “Jubilee Trail,” in color with Vera Ralston and Forrest Tucker; “Hell’s Half Acre,” with Wendell Corey and Evelyn Keyes; “Geraldine,” with John Carroll and Mala Powers ; “The Hot Heiress,” with Judy Canova and Don Barry; and “Johnny Guitar,” with Joan Crawford and Sterling Hayden; and “Laughing Anne,” a British production with Wendell Corey and Mar- garet Lockwood. Allied Artists has such pictures lined up as Walter Wanger’s “Riot in Cell Block 11” with Neville Brand and Leo Gordon; “Dragonfly Squadron” with John Hodiak and Barbara Britton ; “Pride of the Blue Grass,” in color, with Lloyd Bridges and Vera Miles; “Cheyenne Crossing” with Wayne Morris ; and “Arrow in the Dust,” with Sterling Hayden and Coleen Gray. As is obvious the companies have on the fire pictures to offset television competition, bring back so-called “lost audiences” and meet every new challenge. 13 ™ GLENN MI LLER STORY Terry Itamsaye Say« CURRENT HIGH ART— The objective ob- server of the contemporary scene among the dramatic arts all along the way from stage to screen, can find more challenge than encouragement. Never have preten- sions been higher, more arrogant, more boastful, or less convincing. The stage of Manhattan has currently two choice specimens of high pretense and dubious merit, as evidenced by serious critical opinion, with patronage at $6.00 tops which seems to denote more curiosity than interest. The merchandise is: Bastardy, with variations and complica- tions. This is delivered by the play entitled "The Confidential Clerk" from the sacred pen of the ultra high frequency, ultra high- brow Amer-Anglo author and poet, T. S. Eliot. The play is mannered, with some ele- gance of literary skill purveying the plot, which is engaged with the problem of who is the illegitimate off-spring of which and who — with just a background touch of the ultimate possibility of some accidental in- cest. Homosexuality constitutes the motivat- ing factor of influence in the development and a plot about a marriage which went wrong for the painfully obvious reasons that the young man involved was not born for marriage. This, too, comes from the highest literary eminence, the novel en- titled "The Immoralist" by the noted Andre Side, so notably authoritative in the world of what are now politely called "deviates." These two plays have been and yet con- tinue to occupy the most profound atten- tion of the dramatic press of New York, and therefore of the nation. With a decided weariness one can wish that the boys and girls of the art, and the audience, too, might pause for a while and find something else to play with beside the more odoriferous aspects of sex in the arts. The subject lacks somewhat of novelty. The material will always be abundant. It is not going to escape and it will never be a lost art. TELEMETER’S SURVEY— As inevitable in these days of interminable statistics in pursuit of solution of interminable prob- lems, Internaitonal Telemeter Corporation, out to sell pay-as-you-see pictures by tele- vision, has come up with a survey. It comes to this desk by courtesy of Paul MacNamara in a brochure of unusual competency and grace. This survey, so emphatically pre- sented is curiously, frankly limited to about three thousand persons among the millions of potential customers. On that basis it is positive, as positive as the testimony of any employed expert. The Tele-Census Research Project was conducted in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Salt Lake City and Ames, Iowa. May be a fair cross-section, but an odd choice. It reports that of those interviewed, nearly 60 per cent would pay $1 to see on tele- vision a first run picture without commer- cials, and 53 per cent would pay as much to see a world series baseball game. The same document reports on "an indepen- dent survey in New Brunswick, New Jersey, a like taste and judgment, and in addi- tion 28 per cent of those would pay $1.25 to see a Radio City Musical Hall stage snow, 15 per cent a like price for a big football game, and I I per cent would pay $1.77 to see the Metropolitan Opera. All this of course indicates that these are customers for something as presented by an interviewer. Indicative. One great difficulty would seem to be that the pay- as-you-go motion picture vending by television can only get its test by being presented to a wide area of a big market - — being born grown-up, which is very expensive. VERY LONG THOUGHTS— While looking at the fire in slippered ease, one may re- flect on some old and new calculations about the age of the earth, the sun, the Milky Way and the universe, recorded up the other day by Earl Ubell, science writer, from the findings of Dr. Dirk ter Haar, Dutch astronomer. The "fundamental proc- ess" he seems to think, can be described as a "kind of catastrophe," or explosion, occurring maybe four or five billion years ago. The evidence comes from abstruse calculations, the growing saltiness of the seas, from radioactive uranium, tide fric- tion on moon movement, the dynamics of the interaction between galaxies, etc., etc. Dr. ter Haar thinks the universe has been about the same for from one to three bil- lion years. To this reader nothing is settled until we are told what it was that blew up in that catastrophic cosmic bang, how it got there in the first place and what touched it off. I do not like the process, sounds inflationary. Probably nothing will be done about it. We must have patience in all dimensions. TOA A untvs Arbitration Committee Theatre Owners of America’s delegates to the industry arbitration conference, which is being initiated by the Motion Picture Association of America, will be S. H. Fabian, Mitchell Wolfson and Herman Levy, according to an announcement from Walter Reade, Jr., president of TOA. In accepting the MPAA invitation Mr. Reade said that TOA is approaching the meeting “with great optimism and in a spirit of complete cooperation.” No date for the meeting has been set, but Mr. Johnston, in proposing the meeting about three weeks ago, suggested that it be held within 60 days, or in late March or early April. Wednesday, Harry C. Arthur, chairman of the Southern California Theatre Owners Association, accepted the invitation but ex- pressed the opinion that many phases of film rental procedures can be included properly in the agenda although actual film rental is excluded. Independent Theatre Owners Association of New York also has accepted, while the Metropolitan Motion Picture Theatres Association will participate as an “observer.” Allied States has not yet replied. $655*582 Net For National Tit eu ires. lav. Consolidated net income, after all charges, of National Theatres, Inc., and voting-con- trolled subsidiaries for the 13 weeks ended December 26, 1953 (the first quarter of the current fiscal year), was $655,582, or 24 cents a share on the 2,769,486 shares of stock outstanding. This was announced by Charles P. Skouras, president, at the com- pany first annual meeting in Los Angeles last week. For the 13 weeks ended December 27, 1952, the net income after all charges was $544,697, or 20 cents a share. Included in the earnings for the 13-week period ended last December is a net gain, less applicable income taxes, of $19,000, resulting from dis- positions of theatres which were disposed of either for economic reasons or to comply with the consent decree. The net gain from such transaction in the 1952 period was $39,000. O'Connor at Awards HOLLYWOOD: Donald O’Connor will be master of ceremonies at the 26th annual Academy Awards presentation ceremonies in Hollywood March 25. Mitchell Leisen, who will be general director of the program, has announced. 16 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 27, 1954 i SHOWDOWN AT ■ Laramie!... where Shanessey rules with „ a loaded gun and waits for jig Jeff Harder to make WjmW Play.. .and blaze a trail for the , Iron Horse A # v ^‘y through the jH r |Mi, town they V:-f B\ \\f said was \ 1 k too tough |j|j ij«3 to break! JOYCE MacKENZIE- BARTON MacLANE Directed by JESSE HIBBS ■ Screenplay by D. D. BEAUCHAMP ana JOSEPH HOFFMAN • Produced by TED RICHMOND "...Pictures with that Universal appeal’ JOHNSTON CITES I . S. FREEDOM Technicotor Net Profit $2937U735 Says at Brazilian Festival American Market Open to Product from All by MARTIN QUIGLEY, JR. SAO PAULO, BRAZIL: At the end ol the first week, American delegates here for the first Brazilian International Film Fes- tival had seen a total of 45 feature films and many short subjects. The festival, which began February 13, is scheduled to come to a close February 26. The American delegation, led by Eric Johnston, president of the Motion Picture Association of America, is joined by repre- sentatives of 21 other countries for the festival. Arrival of the American delegates was marked by a police-escorted, 25-car procession through the streets of this Brazil- ian city. Entered in the festival, held in conjunction with the celebration of Sao Paulo’s 400th anniversary, are five Amer- ican feature films, as well as six documen- taries produced by the United States Gov- ernment. News Boycott on U. S. The first week of the festival was marked by a boycott of the entire U. S. delegation called suddenly by 30 Brazilian and Euro- pean journalists. Disgusted by the treat- ment they had been receiving from local authorities in their attempts to cover the activities of the American delegation, one of the main features of the film celebration, the journalists brought the issue to a head by declaring a news ban on the Americans. The decision, the journalists explained, was reached as a result of continual re- scheduling of interviews they were supposed to have had with the stars and the “humilia- tion the press has been subjected to by the police” in an attempt to carry out their as- signment. When told of the situation, Amer- ican spokesmen quickly explained that they were not responsible for “loose arrange- ments” and sat down with a committee of reporters to arrange a satisfactory schedule. After almost two hours of discussion, Mr. Johnston issued a statement that said the Americans were happy to be in Brazil and that he was sure the delegation was anxious to meet the free Brazilian press. Most news- men seemed to be convinced that the trouble had been caused by local authorities. A mass press interview of the American stars was held Tuesday night at festival head- quarters. Stresses U. S. Freedom In all his statements here, Mr. Johnston has been stressing the freedom of the Amer- ican film market for the product of all countries, as well as the absence of all Gov- ernment restrictions or subsidies in the American industry. Monday night Mr. QUIGLEY DISCUSSES NEW TECHNIQUES AT FESTIVAL SAO PAULO, BRAZIL: Martin Quig- ley, Jr., editor The Herald and of the recently published book, "New Screen Techniques," who is here for the Bra- zilian International Film Festival, dis- cussed the industry's newly developed projection and photographic proc- esses at a conference here last week held as part of the festival. Among those attending was Abel Gance, the French film director whose fea- ture, "Napoleon," was filmed in 1927 with three cameras and shown with three projectors. Johnston held a reception for delegates from other participating countries and Brazilian film executives. Later the same evening there was a midnight screening of 20th Century-Fox’s “The Robe.” This was the first showing of the film, which is not in the festival program, in Brazil. The many foreign delegates who attended enthusiasti- cally praised CinemaScoce. Among the festival attractions are a series on the history of Brazil, works of Eric Von Stroheim and scientific and educational pic- tures for children. The American feature films entered include Paramount’s “Roman Holiday,” Universal-International’s “The Glenn Miller Story,” Warner Brothers’ “Hondo” in 3-D, 20th Century-Fox’s "How to Marry a Millionaire” in CinemaScope, and MGM’s “Julius Caesar.” Five U. S. Short Subjects United States short subject entries in- clude “Waterbirds,” Disney-RKO ; “Johann Mouse,” Loew’s; “Ungava,” RKO-Pathe; “Bully for Bugs,” Warner Brothers, and “Dancers of the Deep” in CinemaScope, 20th Century-Fox. The festival is sponsored by the President of Brazil, Dr. Getulio Vargas, and has as its honorary presidents, Dr. Cafe Filho, vice-president of Brazil, and Dr. Lucas Nogueira Garcez, the Minister of Educa- tion and Culture and the Governor of the State of Sao Paulo. Dr. Vincente Rao, Minister of Foreign Relations, is president of the festival’s executive committee. Neil Beezley Heads Rocky Mountain Unit Neil Beezley is the new president of the Allied Rocky Mountain Independent The- atres. Other officers elected at the Denver meeting are Fred Hall, vice-president; Gus Ibold, treasurer ; and Joe Ashby, general manager. The organization’s convention will be held May 3. Technicolor’s net sales and net earnings in 1953 set new records despite the technical transitions, fewer feature length pictures and fewer release prints per picture, Dr. Herbert T. Kalmus, president, announced in New York last week in his annual report to stockholders. Mr. Kalmus said that the net profit for 1953 was $2,371,735, compared to net earn- ings in 1952 of $2,069,206. Technicolor’s net sales in 1952 totalled $37,701,770, against $33,020,559 the previous year, while the profit before taxes last year was $7,425,569, compared to $6,340,288 in 1952. Earnings per share of capital stock, after giving effect to the two-for-one split on May 19, 1953, were $1.23. In 1952, they were $1.09j4. Dividends per share in 1953 amounted to $1.10 for a total of $2,113,439, against $1 and a total of $1,872,816 in dividends the previous year. The report states there were 106 features produced in 1953 in color by Technicolor, or with Technicolor prints, as compared with the previous high mark of 97 in 1952. Point- ing out that the Technicolor companies again closed the year “in a very strong liquid position,” the report explained that the industry changes in 1953 were respon- sible for an adverse effect on the volume and profit during the last quarter of the year. It was also stated that 99 features in color by Technicolor with prints by Technicolor were in work, in preparation or under con- tract for production this year. Kansas-Missouri Group Holds Drive-in Meet March 9-10 The spring drive-in conference sponsored by the Kansas-Missouri Theatres Associa- tion will be held March 9-10 at the Continen- tal Hotel, Kansas City. Handling arrange- ments are Stanley Durwood and John Bashen. To be discussed are promotion of pictures and theatres, details of theatre oper- ation, concession operations and the gauging of the relative drawing power at drive-ins of different types of pictures on different days of the week. Shapiro President of Des Moines Variety DES MOINES : Byron Shapiro, branch manager of Columbia Pictures, has been elected chief barker of Variety Club, Tent No. 15, Des Moines, Iowa, for 1954. Other officers are Don Conley, assistant chief barker; Bill Feld, second assistant chief barker ; Leon Mendelson, dough guy and Don West, property master. Crew members are 'Mr. Conley, Rudy Faulds, Mr. Feld, Dave Gold, Charles lies,, Mr. Mendelson, Bob Sandler, Stan Soderberg, Ed Utay, Larry Wegener and Don West. 18 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 27, 1954 “FAME” EVALUATES PRODUCT, PEOPLE, HONORS SKOURAS SPYROS SKOURAS, president of Twentieth Century-Fox, and the plaque signifying his selection for the Fame Award of the Year in recognition of his development and intro- duction of CinemaScope. THE FIRST “Fame” Award of Achieve- ment has been given to Spyros Skouras, president of Twentieth Century-Fox, for his introduction of CinemScope. The Award is announced this week in the 1954 edition of “Fame,” just published. A bronze plaque signifying the Award to Mr. Skouras is inscribed ”... in recognition of his notable contribution to the art and indus- try of motion pictures by the de- velopment and introduction of CinemaScope and for the widen- ing of mankind’s horizons of knowledge, inspiration and en- tertainment realized by this new technique.” The plaque will be presented to Mr. Skouras at ceremonies now being planned. The 1954 edition of “Fame,” the 22nd in the history of the annual publication, is a 216-page book built around the annual audit of the box office worth of motion picture, television and radio stars, producers, directors and product. It is edited by James D. Ivers. The book features the results of The HERALD “Fame” poll of exhibitors to determine the Ten Best Money Making Stars of the year and the “Motion Picture Daily” — “Fame” poll of newspaper critics to determine the best television and radio stars and shows in each of more than 25 different categories. On the motion picture side the annual also lists the Box Office Champion pictures of the year with their complete casts and credits and the selections of the Annual Champion pictures. Producers, Directors and Writers Are Listed In addition to these the producers, direc- tors and writers of the Champion pictures are rated for the year and in an all-time compilation of their credits, a feature ea- gerly awaited every year in Hollywood. The British section of the book lists the Money-Making Stars of Britain, both all- British and international, and carries a sur- vey of the British scene by Peter Burnup, London editor of Quigley Publications. A special feature, inaugurated last year under the title “Looking Forward,” lists two dozen pictures now in work or projected for 1954 which in the opinion of the editors have that special ingredient which makes them candidates for tomorrow’s fame. In the greatly expanded television and radio section, which carries its own cover, the winners in the polls are pictured and listed, there are special stories by Pinky Herman, television columnist for “Motion Picture Daily,” and a special page of com- ments by the TV and radio critics of news- papers who voted in the polls. Pimstein Sues List on RKO Stock Purchase Harry Pimstein, former RKO attorney, has filed a suit for $225,637 plus interest against Albert List, board chairman of RKO Theatres, for alleged services per- formed in enabling the latter to acquire working control of the circuit. The com- plaint states that in November, 1953, Mr. List asked Mr. Pimstein to collect data in regard to assets and the condition of both RKO Pictures and RKO Theatres with a view toward acquiring control of one or the other. It is claimed that Mr. List agreed to pay Mr. Pimstein five per cent of the purchase price of the shares purchased directly or indirectly by the defendant, other than in the open market, through the efforts of the plaintiff. Majors Ask Rehearing of the Adelman Case in Appeals Court The I. B. Adelman anti-trust suit against the major distributors is continuing. The distributors last week petitioned the U. S. Circuit Court of Appeals, New Orleans, for a rehearing. That court previously had re- versed a Federal District Court’s dismissal of the case. Mr. Adelman operates the Del- man, Dallas, and the Delman, Houston. He also had sued the Texas Interstate and Texas Consolidated circuits, but the Circuit Court upheld the District Court’s dismissal of them as defendants. In addition to the joint move for rehearing, Loew’s and RKO filed dismissal motions, contending Mr. Adelman had acknowledged they granted his bid for first run competitively with other theatres. EHswtey Mias S22JM0.000 In Protinct Walt Disney Productions has an invest- ment of $22,000,000 in product at present, films currently in production or preparation, it was announced in New York this week by Leo F. Samuels, world-wide sales super- visor, after studio conferences. Mr. Samuels, underlining Mr. Disney’s enthusiastic support of CinemaScope, said that all current feature length Disney pro- ductions, both live-action and cartoon, will be made in CinemaScope with stereophonic sound. The productions now underway, or planned, include “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea,” “The Lady and the Tramp,” “Sleep- ing Beauty,” an untitled cartoon feature, in addition to short subjects and the “True-Life Adventures” and “People and Places” series. Slated to follow “The Living Desert” in the 60 to 70-minute “True-Life Adventure” format are “The Vanishing Prairie,” “King of the Beasts,” “The Elephant Story” and “The Northern Tundra.” Mr. Samuels said the product line-up rep- resents the greatest output, both in volume and variety, in the history of the Disney Mary Pickford Writes Mary Pickford is writing the story of her life for “McCall’s Magazine.” The first in- stalment is in the March issue, distributed February 19. The title is, “My Whole Life”. MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 27, 1954 19 LABOR UNREST HURTS BRITISH Production Is Affected by Laboratory Workers’ Employment Demands bv PETER BURNUP LON DON : Uneasy labour relations con- tinue to plague the production side of the industry here. As previously reported, left-wing Associa- tion of Cine and Allied Technicians lately demanded a 30 shillings per week increase for adult laboratory workers and a 40-hour week, together with other concessions. The Film Laboratory Association rejected the demand, claiming the workers were already paid higher rates than those obtaining in any other craft industry. The lab group said moreover that th’e demands were impossible in view of the heavy capital expenditure with which the laboratories were faced in keeping abreast of new techniques. Declined Arbitration Bid FLA offered to submit the claims to arbi- tration. The union declined the offer and forthwith imposed a ban on overtime and a “work to rule” practice. Added acerbity developed when Techni- color put into operation a system of three shifts per day instead of the previous two. The company claimed this had been agreed before the onset of the dispute. The union alleged, however, that the new system was a tactical maneuver designed to get round the overtime ban. At the order of the union, 29 Technicolor negative developers went on strike and the laboratory then issued dis- missal notices to 130 more workers. Studio production was affected immedi- ately by the lack of colour rushes. A num- ber of producers decided to close down studios pending the settlement of the dis- pute. Early this week, however, the labora- tory and union negotiators arrived at a formula whereby the 29 developers return to work and the dispute referred to a joint conciliation committee consisting of equal numbers of representatives of the labora- tory and the union and presided over by a chairman appointed by the Ministry of Labour. Original Dispute Continues Meanwhile, the original dispute between FLA and the union continues, with the former refusing to meet ACT. The over- time ban goes on. MGM Elstree Studios have closed down, although not by reason of the laboratory dispute. Two productions — the Greer Gar- son “The Case of the Journeying Boy” and “Highland Fling” — had been planned for the plant. Neither project will be proceeded with and it appears likely that the studio will remain dark for some months. Dismissal notices have been handed to more than 300 studio workers. Around 100 people are kept on consisting only of de- partmental heads and maintenance hands, it is understood. V* After two nights of discussion early this week, during which John Davis persisted in the Rank Circuit’s resistance to stereophonic sound, Spyros Skouras was reported Wed- nesday set to break the traditional re- lease pattern in Britain and trade with the independents for CinemaScope releases. “The Robe” and “How to Marry a Mil- lionaire” will play the 75 Rank theatres al- ready equipped for stereophonic sound and thereafter will be sold on a free-for-all basis. Mr. Skouras reiterated his offer to aid in the establishment of long-term credit for in- dependents to finance installation of the equipment and admitted that he had already had discussions in financial circles looking towards the estblishment of three years’ credit on an insurance basis. Mr. Skouras said the new techniques de- mand a revolutionary revision of the entire British release pattern and declared that this was a challenge to the independents who can see their opportunity. It had been reported here that Mr. Skouras would remain for the reopening of the Carlton theatre under Fox auspices March 1. He is expected to fly to New York March 2 or 3. The Carlton, in process now of equip- ment with full CinemaScope, will open with “Beneath the 12-Mile Reef” accompanied by “Vesuvius Express.” The programme had been pencilled in to follow “Millionaire” at Rank’s Odeon. The break in the booking arrangement is accepted here as an indica- tion of a widening rift between Mr. Skouras and his traditional circuit customers in Great Britain. “Command” at Warner House Warners’ Leicester Square theatre is also in process of CinemaScope equipment. It will open in the new perspective at a date, still to be named, with the company’s “The Command,” starring Guy Madison and Warners’ first in CinemaScope. Western Electric has announced that the music recently recorded at MGM’s Elstree Studios for “Knights of the Round Table” is the first film music to be recorded stereo- phonically in this country. The equipment on which the recording was made, was installed at Elstree six years ago and before the theatre use of stereo- phony was envisaged. The equipment then intended for multi-channel recording of music, by the addition of stereophonic moni- toring equipment, has been adapted for full stereophonic recording. MGM’s integrator device for the presenta- tion of stereophonic sound, shot optically, will be used for the first time in this coun- try when “Knights” is shown at the com- pany’s Leicester Square Empire theatres in London. V At a Savoy Hotel luncheon to film critics inaugurating MGM’s Anniversary Festival, Sam Eckman, Jr., proclaimed high faith in motion pictures’ future. “My belief is that the new media of presentation will bring to the industry greater prosperity than it has ever known,” he declared. “Our Festival is a sign of health. We are in a position of challenge to meet the changing times. Films just now are doing very well at the box office and I am speak- ing not only of top-line American product but of British pictures like ‘Genevieve’ and ‘The Cruel Sea.’ ” Mr. Eckman claimed that television had lost its initial advantage. Cites Approaches by TV The Metro chief referred to recent ap- proaches from the BBC’s TV Service seek- ing pictures from film organizations and dryly commented that it seemed to be the case of “the TV mouse coming to the lion” of motion pictures. “The industry is always going through transitions,” said Mr. Eckman, “and flour- ishing on them. Today we are witnessing the biggest change of them all — that in the size both of the entertainemnt and of the screen itself.” He gave his critics-audience his slogan for the future : “Greater Scope in Cinema- Scope.” Beverley Baxter, the Member of Parlia- ment lately appointed film critic to Beaver- brook’s “Evening Standard,” replied for the guests. He declared that as a new comer he had been astonished at the virility and intelli- gence of films. “I find them extraordinarily alive,” he said, “and marvel at the manner in which producers are able to serve a mass audience without descending to a level of dullness.” George Minter Announces Six New British Films Six major British productions for the coming 12 months were announced in New York this week by Renown Pictures, dis- tributor of pictures under that label made by George Minter Productions. They will cost more than $2,800,000. One will be in CinemaScope, and four will be for the wide screen. The CinemaScope picture will be “The Foolish Lover”. Other pictures are “The Glorious Glosters”, “Dance, Little Lady”, “Triby and Svengali”, “Our Girl Friday” and “Grand National Night”. Kupper Leaving 20th-Fox LONDON : William Kupper, managing di- rector for 20th-Fox in Great Britain, will leave that post at the end of March, it was announced here Wednesday. J. F. Pattinson, director of British sales for 20th-Fox, will conduct the British operations under the supervision of Albert Cornfield, managing director for Continental Europe, whose head- quarters are in Paris. 20 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 27, 1954 Seek Quick Trial of RKO Stock Suit WILMINGTON, DEL.: RKO Pictures Corporation last week moved for an imme- diate trial of the Schiff-Sacks minority stockholders suit, pointing out that the case should be decided in order “to avoid any possible question as to the propriety’’ of the corporation’s action on the Howard Hughes offer to buy the company’s assets for $6 a share. The move was made in the Court of Chan- cery here in the form of a motion to split into two the suit brought by stockholders Louis Schiff and Jacob Sacks, one part dealing with the defendants’ allegations against the corporation and the other deal- ing with the charges against directors as individuals. In making the motion, RKO attorneys pointed out that the suit split in such a fashion would facilitate bringing the case to trial. It was further argued by RKO that none of the individual directors named in the action were residents of Delaware and therefore it would be difficult to bring them under Delaware’s jurisdiction. RKO stockholders are scheduled to con- vene in Dover, Delaware, March 18 to vote acceptance or rejection of the Hughes stock offer. The RKO quick maneuver for a trial came on the heels of another move by Mr. Schiff and Mr. Sacks, each of whom owns 100 shares in the company, to block consumma- tion of the Hughes deal by action in New York Supreme Court. This action also seeks to enjoin the sale of the stock to Mr. Hughes. Baltimore Variety Names Skouras "Man of the Year" Spyros P. Skouras, president of Twen- tieth Century-Fox, has been named Indus- try Man of the Year” by the Baltimore Variety Club and will be honored by it at a testimonial dinner the evening of March 31st at the Emerson Hotel there. The award is for Mr. Skouras’ “courageous and vital role in the pioneering and development of Cine- maScope, the projection medium which has launched a great new era in entertainment.” Proceeds of the dinner will go to the club’s Heart Fund drive. 20th-Fox Sues Brando For $2,000,000 Marlon Brando, actor, is being sued by Twentieth Century-Fox for $2,000,000 in damages. The company alleges he agreed under a contract signed April 12, 1951, to serve it exclusively ; that he failed ; and that he refuses to comply with the contract pro- visions. The company also asks an injunction to prevent Mr. Brando from working for any other studio during the term of the contract. South Carolina Senate Votes License Fee Cut At Columbia, S. C., February 19, the State Senate rammed through a bill to cut film theatre seat taxes by $198,000 despite the vain pleas of Senator George Grantham, Pickens, that the state couldn’t stand the loss of revenue. The vote was 31 to 5. Senators Lewis Wallace of York and James E. Lep- pard, Jr., of Chesterfield, were authors of the hill which lowered the annual license fee/ A similar bill was passed last year, but was vetoed by Governor James F. Byrnes. TOA Bulletin Endorses 1954 "Crusade for Freedom" Theatre Owners of America this week sent out a bulletin to all members heartily endorsing the 1954 Crusade for Freedom, pledging its assistance “in the furthering of the objectives of Radio Free Europe,” and recommending that TOA members “make their lobbies and facilities available for the advancement of the Crusade.” The film in- dustry drive for the Crusade takes place during the week of March 15-21 when a trailer starring Bing Crosby as narrator will be available to theatres. The trailer and necessary lobby displays, etc., are provided by National Screen Service. Reade Buys New Drive-in Theatre at Trenton Walter Reade Theatres has purchased the 900-car Drive-in theatre, on Route 130, New Jersey, from the Morris Ellis interests and W. Brock Whitlock. The acquisition gives Reade Theatres two in the area, the other being the 900-car Lawrence Drive-in the- atre, just north of the city. The theatre just bought opened late last Fall. It has a giant screen, modern equipment, and land for ex- pansion. It will have in-car heaters, and along with the Lawrence theatre will be operated 12 months yearly. Its concessions will be operated directly by Reade. Technicolor Lays Off 330 Employees on March I HOLLYWOOD : A total of 330 employees out of 2,300 will be laid off at the Techni- color plant, effective March 1, the company has announced here. The management said that the personnel affected were the first em- ployed during the past 18 months and the dismissal was reluctantly decided in conse- quence of reduction in production, princi- pally of release prints, due largely to new processes and dimensions. No More Film Shipments lo Chile, MPEA Decides There will be no more shipments of film to Chile for a while, the directors of the Motion Picture Export Association decided in New York session last week. Their action came after a report the Chilean government doubled the exchange rate for American companies. This reduces the estimated $1,- 000,000 remittances by half. Revive Talks To Get Seal For ‘Xi»e” HOLLYWOOD : Negotiations have re- sumed between RKO Pictures officials and the Production Code Administration with a view to obtaining a Code seal for Howard Hughes’ “The French Line” after revisions have been made, it was learned last week. This is the third attempt by the company to obtain P.C.A. approval for the picture. It was submitted and denied a seal prior to its public exhibition last December. Follow- ing its opening in St. Louis without a seal, and condemnation by the National Legion of Decency, RKO officials reopened negotia- tions with the P.C.A. agreeing at the outset to eliminate the objectionable dance scene at the end of the film. Big Circuits Steer Clear The RKO offer was pronounced inade- quate by the P.C.A. which proceeded to enumerate numerous cuts both in film and sound track which it considered necessary in order to qualify for a Code seal. The pro- ducer terminated negotiations and prepared to release the film without a seal wherever it could obtain playdates. With responsible major circuits steering clear of it, there have not been too many of the latter. Moreover, not one of the seven state censor boards has approved the picture for exhibition, and several large city censor boards have turned it down. In Chicago, the February 19 issue of “The New World,” official Catholic paper of the Archdiocese of Chicago, carries a front page editorial condemning the picture, under the title “All Decent Chicagolanders, Now Is the Time to Act.” Calling the picture “trite, corny and dumb,” the editorial goes on to say that “it is spiced up with sex be- cause the dialogue drags, the plot is out- worn, and the so-called star has nothing, but nothing, except the body God gave her, and this she exploits to the delectation of degenerates.” The editorial concludes by urging readers to “enlist the aid of every decent citizen in our community to refrain from seeing this picture.” Condemned in Buffalo In Buffalo the Rev. Joseph A. Burke, Bishop of the Buffalo Diocese declared that if the Code is rendered inoperative “we can be sure that our motion picture theatres, and probably later also television, will be flooded with a deluge of indecency, immoral- ity and smut.” In a pastoral letter read at all masses Sunday Bishop Burke said the latest attack on the Code comes in the form of the picture, “The French Line.” In Columbus, Ohio, Jane Russell’s song and dance scene was ordered deleted from the picture by the Ohio consor board. Dr. Clyde Hissong, chief state censor, said the routine is “unsuitable for general exhibi- tion.” MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 27, 1954 21 HERE'S THE 2 PG. AD THAT LAUNCHES Theatres all over America and Canada are playing “BEAT THE DEVIL” in March! ALABAMA Birmingham . . . Empire Gadsden Pitman Mobile . Saenger Montgomery . . . Empire Selma . . Walton Tuscaloosa . . . . . Druid ALASKA Anchorage . . . . . . Fourth Ave. Fairbanks .... Empress ARIZONA Globe Alden Phoenix Fox Tucson Cactus Drive-In ARKANSAS Ft. Smith Temple Hot Springs Spa Little Rock Center CALIFORNIA Bakersfield Nile Berkeley Berkeley Chico Senator El Centro Fox Eureka State Fresno Wilson Long Beach Belmont Long Beach Crest Long Beach Imperial Los Angg^® Los Los^^ LoswfeleJ Marysvi I Merced Modest Montana Napa Newf Oakland Palm Springs Plaza Paso Robles T 8 D Pomona Fox Porterville Porter Riverside Riverside Sacramento Alhambra Sacramento Crest Salinas Fox San Bernardino Baseline D.l. San Diego Mission San Francisco United Artists San Jose California San Luis Obispo Fremont San Pedro Cabrillo San Rafael Rafael Santa Ana West Coast Santa Barbara Arlington Santa Cruz Delmar Santa Rosa Roxy Stockton Esquire Vallejo Hanlon Ventura Mayfair Visalia Visalia Woodland State COLORADO Alamosa Rialto Boulder Flatirons Colorado Springs Chief Denver Ft. Collins Grand Junction Greeley Pueblo CONNECTICUT Bridgeport LoewSiS’oH Danbury Embassy Hartford Loew’s Poli New Haven Loew’s Poli New London Garde Middletown Palace Torrington Palace Waterbury Loew’s Poli DELAWARE Wilmington Loew’s Aldine DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Washington . Trans Lux FLORIDA Coral Gables . . .. . Miracle Fort Myers Lee Fort Lauderdale Gateway Jacksonville ...... St. Johns Miami Miami Miami Beach Carib Pensacola Saenger St. Petersburg Playhouse Tampa Park W. Palm Beach Florida GEORGIA Albany Albany Atlanta Loew’s Grand Columbus Bradley Rome De Soto Savannah Weis IDAHO Boise Rialto Burley Orpheum Caldwell Roxy Idaho Falls Rio Pocatello Crest Twin Falls Orpheum ILLINOIS Aurora Paramount Champaign Co-Ed Bloomington Castle Chicago United Artists Danville Fischer Decatur Lincoln Elgin Rialto Herrin Marlow Joliet Rialto Mattoon Times Moline New lllini Mt. Vernon Granada Murphysboro Marlow Peoria Palace Quincy Belasco Rockford State Rock Island Rocket Springfield Senate Streator Plumb Taylorvllle Capitol Waukegan Genessee INDIANA Anderson Paramount Bloomington Princess Elkhart State Evansville Loew’s Victory Ft. Wayne Embassy Franklin Franklin Indianapolis Loew’s Kokomo Sipe Lafayette Mars Logansport State Marion Paramount Michigan City Liberty Muncie Strand Richmond Tivoli So. Bend Palace Terre Haute Grand Vincennes New Moon IOWA Cedar Rapids State Davenport Coronet Des Moines Eastown Des Moines Forest Dubuque Grand Ft. Dodge Dodge Iowa City Capitol Keokuk Iowa Marsha MasonJ Muse® Sioqfl Wa ^■utchinsolr Fox ^Kawrence Jayhawker ^Leavenworth Hollywood Manhattan Co-Ed Salina Watson Topeka Grand Wichita Miller KENTUCKY Frankfort Capitol Lexington Kentucky Louismile ^.Loew’s ^nMalco Paducah . . Cqlumbi, NS!! Orld^V\ LM|ta' Shreveport^ strand MAINE Bangor Bijou Lewiston Ritz Portland Strand Waterville State MARYLAND Baltimore a. Lflaw’s Cumberland Hagerstown ~ali Si £t>e| Warner MICHIGAN Escanaba Michigan Houghton Lode Iron Mountain . Braumart Ironwood Ironwood Marquette Nordic Sault St. Marie . . Temple MINNESOTA Duluth ; World m i rpieapQi i s .iTISkte Ro SU Cape Giradeau Esquire Columbia Missouri Hannibal Tom Sawyer Jefferson City Capitol Joplin Fox Kansas City. . Loew’s Midland St. Joseph Electric St. Louis Loew’s State Springfield Gillioz MONTANA Billings Babcock Butte Montana Great Falls Liberty Livingston . . State Missoula Fox NEBRASKA Grand Island Grand Lincoln Varsitv North Platte . . Paramount Omaha Admiral 8 Chief Scottsbluff Midwest NEVADA Elko Hunter Las Vegas Fremont Reno Tower NEW HAMPSHIRE Manchester State NEW JERSEY Atlantic City Apollo NEW MEXICO Albuquerque State Carlsbad Cavern Gallup El Morro Hobbs . . Frontier Las Cruces Rio Grande Los Alamos Centre Portales Tower Roswell Plains Santa Fe El Paseo NEW YORK Albany Strand Amsterdam Tryon Auburn Auburn Batavia Mancuso Binghamton Strand Buffalo Loew’s Buffalo Elmira Colonial Glens Falls Rialto Gloversvi lie Glove Ithaca Strand Jamestown ... Winter Garden Lockport Palace Niagara Falls Bellevue Olean Haven Oneida Kallet Rochester Loew’s Rome Capitol Schenectady Proctors Syracuse Loew’s State Troy Troy Utica Uptown Watertown Town NORTH CAROLINA Charlotte Center NORTH DAKOTA Dallas Palace El Paso Ellanay Fort Worth Hollywood Gainesville State Galveston State Gonzales Lynn Houston Loew’s State Laredo Plaza Longview Arlyne Marshall Paramount Odessa Scott Orange Strand Pecos Grand Plainview Granada Port Arthur Village San Angelo Texas San Antonio Aztec Texarkana Paramount Tyler Tyler Waco Waco Wichita Falls State UTAH Cedar City Cedar Logan Capitol Ogden Orpheum Provo Paramount Salt Lake City Gem VERMONT Burlington Strong VIRGJJ Middletown Colonial Newark T. . . . Midland irtsmouth Columbia ndusky Ohio ringfield State Oklahoma City Centre OREGON Astoria Liberty Bend Capitol Corvallis Varsity Eugene McDonald Klamath Falls . . Ea Medford Cra| United Beaver Tal BethleJjem Butle . Canon Charleroi’ Connellsville Du Bois _ Avenue Easton Boyd East^roudsburg ...’iiGrand Plaza ^■Strand ^JJordan I Loei!#f Regent ... Grand State f Capitol Academy Victoria Penn Ins Lux . . . Loew’s Penn Hollywood Loew’s Colonial Scranton Comerford Shamokin Victoria Sharon Columbia State College State Sunbury . . Rialto Uniontown Manos Washington Basle Wilkes Barre Comerford Williamsport Keystone York Southern RHODE ISLAND Newport Opera House Providence Loew’s State SOUTH CAROLINA Charleston Riviera SOUTH DAKOTA Rapid City Elks Sioux Falls ... State TENNESSEE Chattanooga State Jackson Paramount Knoxville .’ Riviera Memphis Loew’s Palace Nashville . . Loew’s Vendome TEXAS Abilene Paramount Amarillo State Austin State Bay City Texas Beaumont Jefferson Big Springs Ritz Corpus Christi Ritz Clarksville Avalon D 8 R t. Baker Bremerton Admiral Everett Everett Olympia state Seattle . . Orpheum Spokane state Tacoma Roxy Vancouver Castle Walla Walla Liberty Wenatchee Liberty Yakima Liberty WEST VIRGINIA Bluefield Granada Charleston Kearse Clarksburg Ritz Elkins Manos Fairmont Fairmont Huntington . . . Palace Morgantown Warner Parkersburg Smoot Wheeling Court WISCONSIN Appleton Viking Beloit State Eau Claire State Fort Atkinson . . Fort Green Bay Time Janesville Meyers Kenosha Gateway kCrosse . Hollywood Orpheum owoc Mikadow ette Fox ukee Wisconsin osh Oshkosh . ne Rialto eboygan Wisconsin Wausau Grand WYOMING Casper America Laramie Wyo Sheridan Orpheum CANADA Alberta Calgary Uptown Edmonton Rialto Lethbridge Paramount Medicine Hat Astra British Columbia Trail Odeon Vancouver Vogue Victoria Odeon Manitoba Winnipeg Garrick New Brunswick Moncton Capitol St. John Strand Newfoundland St. John’s Capitol Nova Scotia Halifax Casino New Glasgow Roseland New Waterford . Majestic Sydney Strand Ontario Belleville McCarthy Brantford Esquire Ft. William Odeon Galt Palace Guelph Odeon Hamilton Capitol Kingston Odeon London Odeon No. Bay Odeon Oshawa Plaza Ottawa Elgin Peterboro Odeon Pt. Arthur Odeon St. Catherine’s Palace Sarnia Odeon Sudbury Century 8 Park Toronto Odeon Windsor Vanity Woodstock Capitol Quebec Montreal Capitol Saskatchewan Moose Jaw Royal Regina Rex Saskatoon Broadway 8 Tivoli The mm Adventure That BEATS Them . ■ ■ j ■- Europe, the Mediterra- nean, Africa . . . this was their road to adventure and a fabulous fortune... a dangerous band of desperate men goaded on by two beautiful women ...all of them out to beat the devil at his own game! THE FILM IN LOOK March 9 issue Feb. 23 on the stands Illlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll by WILLIAM R. WEAVER Hollywood Editor The candor that has been a prime asset of William H. Pine and William C. Thomas throughout the first 14 years of their co- producership is unchanged by the making of 72 feature pictures that have run up a dis- tribution gross of some $100,000,000 so far, without counting residuals. These extremely show-wise gentlemen were completely candid about the lightly-budgeted little melodrama they started making for Paramount distribu- tion back in easy-going 1940, and on their regularly repeated tourings of the country in behalf of their offerings their frankness in describing them, linked with their equally outspoken counsel on how they should be exploited, created for them a kind and de- gree of exhibitor confidence that hasn’t been matched since the late Carl Laemmle re- tired from the road with every living exhibi- tor his friend. Were Candid When They Shifted to Technicolor They were quite as candid about their policy and their plans when, in 1950, they lifted their budgetary ceiling to allow for an all-Technicolor program rounded out with name-players, and their exhibitor-intimates took that upward step with them unquestion- ingly. Now they’re asking them to take another. The next step upward from the Pine- Thomas level of the 1950-1954 period is, they say with their usual forthrightness, all the way up ! They break this down to mean, specifically, that they are tapping their hard- won treasury for as much as it takes to buy the best stories, hire the best talent, on- screen and off-screen, in order to come out with pictures second to none and first to as many as they can manage. They initiated this new policy as long ago as last July, they confess, but refrained from mentioning it until they’d had time to feel their way around in the sterner competitive field it let them into. Now that they’ve done that, they find the climate mighty agreeable, they say, although it may never have quite the personal thrill there was in whipping out a five-day melodrama that would return its cost ten-fold in less time than it takes to shove a color job through the laboratory. Still Plenty of Gold Left in Short-Budget Hills They say, as do a few others these days, that there’s plenty of gold still to be mined in those short-budget hills, but they believe their own future lies in the production of tip-top product, for exhibition on the big- gest, brightest screen Paramount will sanc- tion. The co-producers have been extremely busy in the seven months they’ve allowed to pass without declaring themselves. For one thing, they’ve been answering inquiries from exhibitor friends who’ve been wanting to know why they’ve not been riding to their relief in the face of the pressing product shortage. For the other, which is the answer to the inquirers, they’ve been getting their first three top-bracket pictures — that’s right, the first three — ready to roll. The first is scheduled to go in June. The June production project probably will be “Run for Cover,” directed by William Dieterle, an original story by Harriet Frank, Jr., and Irving Ravetch, with script by Win- ston Miller. This will be headlined by a top- ranking male star whose name is to be di- vulged at a later date. The Lewis and Clark Expedition will furnish the background for “Far Horizons,” based on the novel, “Sacajawea of the Shoshones,” by Della Hould Emmons, with Miller doing the script and which will re- quire three top-drawer stars for principal roles. A top feminine star will be announced for “Lucy Gallant,” a “Good Housekeeping” serial by Margaret Counsins for which John Lee Mahin is writing the script. All Pine-Thomas productions are to be in color by Technicolor, as has become a tradi- tion of the organization, and they’ll be filmed for the widest screen and the most effective sound system to come out of the present ex- perimentation, tests and trials. The co- producers feel pretty sure that these matters will have been stabilized by the day next June when they launch their first production. FOLTR PICTL1RES were started last week, largest number in quite a spell, and only two others were completed, the week ending with, therefore, its first over-all gain in two or three months. That is to say, more spe- cifically, the week ended with 17 features under the shooting lens, instead of only 15, as the week before. Paramount accounted for two of the new undertakings. Bing Crosby is the particular star of “The Country Girl,” which has William Perlberg down as producer and George Seaton as di- rector, and which is from the stage success of the same name by Clifford Odets. William Holden, Grace Kelly, Anthony Ross and Gene Reynolds are other principals. Hal B. Wallis is producer of “The Big Top,” which he’s shooting in Phoenix at the moment, and its high-ranking co-stars are Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. Joanne Dru, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Wallace Ford and Gene Sheldon are others in the cast. Joseph Pev- THIS WEEK IN PRODUCTION: STARTED (4) ALLIED ARTISTS Two Guns and a Badge COLUMBIA Those Reported Missing COMPLETED (2) PARAMOUNT Bridges at Toko-Ri (Eastman Color) SHOOTING (13) Three for the Show (formerly "Pleasure's All Mine") MGM Brigadoon (CinemaScope; Ansco Color) PARAMOUNT Big Top (Wallis; Technicolor) Country Girl WARNER Lucky Me ( CinemaScope; WarnerColor) U.A. Sitting Bull (Frank; CinemaScope; Color) White Orchid ( Cosmos; Eastman Color) Barefoot Contessa (Figaro, Inc.; Technicolor) RKO Big Rainbow (Technicolor) 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (Disney; CinemaScope; Technicolor) 20TH-FOX Matter of Life and Death (Panoramic Prod.) U-l This Island Earth (Technicolor) Bengal Rifles (Technicolor) Matchmakers WARNER Battle Cry (CinemaScope,' WarnerColor) Talisman ( CinemaScope; WarnerColor) lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllillllllllllMIIIIIIIIIMI ney is directing. It’s being- shot for big screen uses, and in color by Technicolor, although it’ll be practical for standard 1.33-1 exhibition also. “Two Guns and a Badge” is an Allied Artists picture produced by Vincent M. Fen- nelly and directed by Lewis D. Collins. It has Wayne Morris, Beverly Garland, Morris Ankrum, Damon O’Flynn and John Pickard. Bryan Foy is producing “Those Reported Missing” for Columbia release, with Lewis Seiler directing a cast headed by Robert Francis, Dianne Foster and Eddie Hyman. Bosustow Is Reelected President of UPA HOLLYWOOD : Stephen Bosustow has been reelected president and chairman of the board of United Productions of America for his ninth term. Also renamed by the board were Robert Cannon, vice-president ; Charles Daggett, vice-president in charge of public relations ; T. Edward Hambleton, treasurer ; Melvin Getzler, assistant treasurer, and M. Davis, secretary. Don McCormick, now manager of the company’s New York studio, was elected vice-president of LfPA-New York. New board members seated at the meeting included George Bagnall, Ernest Scanlon, Richard Hungate and Peter Bur- ness. 24 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 27, 1954 MOURNS A THEATRE FRIEND, MURDERED BY TAXATION While selling tickets one recent rather slow night, Charlie Jones, owner of the Dawn in Elma, Iowa, had a few sad thoughts about the closing of a theatre in a neighboring town. In a letter to The Herald he said, " They might have some value during the next few weeks with the tax drive gaining momentum again. Protest on “Acquittal99 By Senate The intention of the monopoly sub-com- mittee of the Senate Small Business Com- mittee to drop its interest in motion picture industry practices has brought strong pro- tests from the board of directors of the Southern California Theatre Owners Asso- ciation. Following a meeting of the board last week in Los Angeles, Harry C. Arthur, Jr., chairman, dispatched telegrams to all mem- bers of the Senate Committee expressing the California association’s opinion that the sub-committee’s action “will be a great error and injustice on the part of the sub- committee and definitely injurious to both the public and the small, independent ex- hibitor.” Mr. Arthur’s wire charged distributor companies with “deliberately ignoring” the suggestion of the Committee that the indus- try create arbitration boards, stating that “the position of the Justice Department seems to be that distributors are operating within the framework of the present laws, to which we vehemently disagree.” To each of the Committee members were sent copies of a nine-page brief on the recent Justice Department’s ruling, pre- pared by the Association’s Washington counsel, Russell Hardy. Mr. Hardy’s brief comments that “the conclusions (of the Justice Department in its ruling) are pal- pably wrong, on familiar and elementary principles.” 20+h-Fox Lines Up Five Color Labs for CinemaScope Prints Twentieth-Fox announced this week that it has “mobilized” five film laboratories to manufacture CinemaScope prints to meet exhibitor demands for both features and short subjects. Enlisted in the drive are Technicolor in Hollywood, De Luxe Labo- ratories in New York and Hollywood, Color Film Corporation and Consolidated Film Laboratories. De Luxe Laboratories in Hollywood and Consolidated Laboratories in New York also will work on short sub- jects prints. Allied Artists Sets Six To Exploit "Cell Block" John C. Flinn, Allied Artists director of advertising and publicity, has set six ex- ploiteers to handle the campaign in as many regions for the Walter Wanger production, “Riot in Cell Block 11”. The six and their areas are: Jack Leewood, Texas; Blake McVeigh, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Cleve- land, Washington and Baltimore; Harry Hollander, Chicago, St. Louis and Kansas City ; George Bannon, southern states ; Michael Zala, New England; James Schiller, San Francisco, Portland and Seattle. They buried my old friend today. I hadn't known him too long, but during those short years I learned a lot about him and a lot from him. He was part of that thoroughbred stock formerly found in every town and hamlet, making its indelible mark on the culture of its community. It wasn't a very big funeral. Though, through his life he had probably spread more joy and happiness, lent more sym- pathy, brought more understanding, de- livered more messages, carried more re- lief and hope, caused more enlightenment and promoted greater pride in country than anyone or anything ever to live in his community, not many showed up for last rites. Now he is dead. People used to come to him with their wants, joys and sorrows. They came rub- bing elbows with neighbors whether from Loew's 1953 "Hall of Fame" Candidates Announced The second annual “MGM Hall of Fame” awards of Loew’s International went to Stewart Granger, star of the year ; Abraham Gotfried (MGM manager in Thailand), dis- tributor of the year ; and Gustave Zelnick (manager of the Metro Theatre, Cairo), ex- hibitor of the year. The honors for 1953 were announced by Morton A. Spring, first vice-president of Loew’s International. Pho- tographs of the three award-winners were unveiled in the permanent MGM Hall of Fame in the New York Loew’s International home office. Aides of 20 Nations at U-l Sales Meet March 15 Universal-International Films branch man- agers representing 20 countries in Latin America will meet with home office execu- tives headed by Milton Rackmil, Universal president, and Alfred E. Daff, Universal-In- ternational Films president, and Americo Aboaf, foreign general manager, at the U-I Latin America sales conference which opens in Buenos Aires March 15. The delegation will preview a number of leading U-I and J. Arthur Rank pictures which have been set for release in Latin America next season. "Seekers" Eastman Color An advertisement for the J. Arthur Rank Organization appearing on page 139 of the 1954 edition of “Fame” lists a forthcoming picture, “The Seekers”, in color by Techni- color. The credit should have read color by Eastman Color. uptown or across the tracks, and the great tradition of democracy was nurtured. They left empty handed, but their hearts were filled with renewed faith in life, beauty and happiness. He counselled all. Now he is dead. As evil days approached and my friend was set upon by a younger adversary he suffered setbacks and was forsaken by some short memoried friends. But he was strong, vigorous and full of youthful vital- ity. He could fight off this plague. An immunity would develop and the adversary would in time become an ally. But now he is dead. My friend did not die a natural death; nor did he succumb to disease. He was murdered! The power to tax can be the power to destroy! Bell & Bo troll Buys BeVry The Bell & Howell Company, old and substantial motion picture equipment manu- facturing company, will buy the DeVry Corporation, of Chicago, April 15. The latter also is one of the better known equip- ment makers. The announcement did not disclose pur- chase price. It said a “substantial portion” of DeVry assets, including tools, inven- tories, patents, and government contracts, are in the purchase. Also, that DeVry on that day will cease manufacturing; and that, beginning May 1, Bell & Howell will make DeVry 16mm products and spare parts in its own plant, and distribute them from the Bell & Flowell address at 7100 McCormick Road, Chicago. Meanwhile, the Paromel Corporation, also of that city, has bought 35mm DeVry tools and equipment for making theatre projectors. W. C. DeVry, president, and Edward B. DeVry, secretary-treasurer, of the DeVry Corporation, are reported planning to give their time to expansion of the DeVry Tech- nical Institute, training school for tele- vision technicians, and also to other busi- ness interests. Loew's Votes Dividend The directors of Loew’s, Inc., have de- clared a regular quarterly dividend of 20 cents a share on its outstanding common stock, payable March 31 to stockholders of record March 12. MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 27, 1954 25 f-^eonie in ^Jlie ^I jewS ■ 1 1 1 1 1 II 1 1 1 1 II 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 M 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Sol A. Schwartz, president of RKO The- atres, has accepted the post of chairman of the Motion Picture Division of the 1954 development fund drive of the New York Arthritis and Rheumatism Founda- tion. Everett C. Callow has been appointed Cinerama’s director of advertising and publicity, succeeding John Joseph, who who has joined the Hilton Hotel organ- ization. Kermit C. Stengel, newly elected president of Crescent Amusement Company, was honored at a dinner in Nashville by Cres- cent officials, employees and theatre man- agers from the Nashville area. Yates Sees Films St ret iff Prior to his departure for Europe last week, Herbert J. Yates, president of Re- public Pictures, said in New York that for the first time in Republic’s history, the com- pany has nine pictures completed and ready for release not only in the United States and Britain, but all over the world. The productions, he said, represent an investment of over $15,000,000. Included in the group are “Jubilee Trail,” “Johnny Guitar,” with Joan Crawford starring; “Make Haste to Live,” “Laughing Anne,” “Trouble in The Glen,” “The Outcast” and “The Shanghai Story.” Mr. Yates attributed the recent upsurge in theatre business everywhere to the fact that pictures were better in quality and box office desirability for the public. “When there is an abundance of big pictures on the market, the box office soars,” he said. He plans to be gone about six weeks, during which time he will make a survey of con- ditions in Great Britain, France, Italy and Germany, both as to the release of Repub- lic’s American-made product and the possi- bilities of producing several pictures abroad. Arias Forms Company With Abrams and Beck Formation of a new distributing company to handle both American and foreign films has been announced with the incorporation of Arias Quality Pictures, Inc., New York. With Henry R. Arias as president, in association with Leo Abrams, sales execu- tive, as vice-president, and Myer P. Beck, independent advertising and publicity rep- resentative, as the other officers, Arias Qual- ity Pictures has already lined up product for distribution in the United States. Mr. Arias, for many years a leading figure Bernard L. Green, Trenton, N. J., attor- ney, has been appointed general counsel for the Walter Reade Theatres. Edouard P. Genock, former Telenews edi- tor-in-chief, has been appointed head of television production of Eastman Kodak Co. Ray Tash, Canadian veteran in motion pic- ture production, has been appointed assis- tant manager, Ontario division, of Asso- ciated Screen News, Limited. Joe David, formerly with Consolidated, Pre- cision and Mecca laboratories, has been appointed director of production and qual- ity control of Circle Film Laboratories. in film export and import, with distribution activities throughout the world, will main- tain his own foreign distribution organiza- tion as a separate entity. All domestic dis- tribution will be handled through the new organization under the supervision of Mr. Arias, Mr. Abrams and Mr. Beck. Neil Ag new Will Supervise Defense Department Films Neil Agnew, industry executive of long experience and renown, last week accepted chairmanship of a Washington cordinating committee which will coordinate and stream- line motion picture activities of the Depart- ment of Defense. He will work in conjunc- tion with the Motion Picture Association of America, whose assistance was sought by the Government. Mr. Agnew was recom- mended by Eric A. Johnston, MPAA presi- dent. He most recently has been assistant to H. J. Yates, president of Republic. Previ- ously, he was with Vanguard, Selznick, Motion Picture Sales Corp. and Paramount, for which he was general sales manager. Mandel Heads Press Relations For COMPO; Succeeds Bergm Harry Mandel, national director of adver- tising and publicity for RKO Theatres, has been elected chairman of the press relations committee of the Council of Motion Picture Organizations. He succeeds Maurice Berg- man, of Universal. Harry Goldberg, of Stanley Warner Theatres, succeeds Mr. Mandel as a vice-chairman of the committee. Prenosil Joins COMPO Stanley W. Prenosil, newspaper man, has been named New York press contact in the new COMPO press relations set up, it is announced by Robert W. Coyne, COMPO special counsel. He will begin his duties immediately. . . . Prenosil has a background of 16 years in the newspaper business, most of it with the Associated Press. Ft! wilt x §it ren Dies at 39 Edwin W. Aaron, western sales manager of 20th Century-Fox, died suddenly, Satur- day, February 20, at his home in New York City. He was 59 years old. A veteran of many years in the film in- dustry, he had served in important sales posts for 25 years with MGM before joining 20th Century-Fox. He started in the indus- try as a cashier with the E. M. Saunders exchange in New York, and was an accountant when the company was taken over by MGM. He ad- vanced progressively with MGM and in 1945 became assistant general sales manager. He joined 20th-Fox in 1948 and in 1952 was appointed assistant general sales manager. Surviving are his wife, Dorothy Aaron, and a daughter, Mrs. Herbert Nusbaum. Services were held in New York Tuesday at the Riverside Memorial Chapel. William C. Goodwin William C. Goodwin, 51, Altec sound engineer for the past 25 years, died February- 14 in Osteopathic Hospital, Philadelphia, following surgery. He was a member of Local 307, IATSE, and long active in the local Variety Club. His wife and four chil- dren survive. Michael Steifel Michael Steifel, 85, retired motion picture pioneer, died February 17 in Atlantic City, N. J. He operated an independent circuit of theatres in the Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey area after the Steifel theatre family sold their Stanley Company of Amer- ica circuit to Warner Brothers. Two daugh- ters survive. Library of Congress Has Edison Film Exhibit The public which visits Washington and sees its public monuments and agencies is being given a short course on the history of the motion picture industry, through an ex- hibit at the Library of Congress arranged in celebration of the 107th anniversary of the birth of Thomas A. Edison. On display till May 15 are such memorabilia as the first combination camera projector using a con- tinuous flexible film, and said to have been constructed in 1888; and a small-scale repro- duction of the “Black Maria,” Edison’s tar- paper covered early “studio.” Being shown is the renowned early movie made there, “The Fred Ott Sneeze,” two and one-half seconds long. There also are illustrations from many other early movies. Edivin W. Aaron 26 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 27, 1954 MY DADDY SAYS H'S THEATRE BUSINESS IS SKY HIGH TOO- tbamks To PARAMODAJT VVHER.E there RE PLENTY OF BIG PICTURES FOR ALL THEATRES [if — p\H Yes, big pictures like: THE NAKED JUNGLE .71 .7> MONEY FROM HOME ,***>» . 4 FOREVER FEMALE .7? RED GARTERS . . . 4 • JIVARO ... and for Easter J CASANOVA’S BIG NI jHl ALBANY Preparations for reopenings of northern New York drive-ins went ahead as com- munities in that region were snow-locked. Film Row heard that Jerry Dupont, for in- stance, planned to light up Malone drive-in the first week of April. At the same time, Ogdensburgh had 24 inches of snow, and Massena experienced a 20-inch fall in one day. The rigorous winter chilled grosses in parts of the North Country. . . . Bob John- son, Smalley Theatres chief booker, char- acterized business as “very spotty.” The cir- cuit ran into rough weather on six of the seven days it played “The Robe,” first CinemaScope presentation, in Cooperstown. ATLANTA Contracts have been signed for a new 17x36 screen, special lenses and stereophonic sound for the Sunrise theatre, Ft. Pierce, Fla. . . . The Ritz theatre, Bartow, Fla., has been equipped with new seats, announces manager Carlton Bowden. . . . Jimmie Wil- son, sales representative, Manley Popcorn Co., Memphis, Tenn., was on the row with friends. . . . The Hinson theatre, Sneeds, Fla., was destroyed by fire. Only the outside walls were left standing. . . . On the row booking were: William Green, Decatur, Ga. ; Paul Engler, Birmingham, Ala. ; Otis Hudg- ins, Starlite, Thomaston, Ga., and Newman Croker, Alps Road drive-in, Athens, Ga. . . . Ygnacio Carbonell, owner of the Strand theatre, Key West, Fla., said that he was spending more than $15,000 on the theatre. . . . Martin Theatres of Columbus, Ga., has announced the following changes : James R. McGriff, manager of the Martin Theatre, Talladega, Ala., transferred to the Isle-of- View drive-in, Panama City, Fla. George Slaughter goes to the Martin, at Talladge, Ala., from Opelia, Ala. Julian Studsill, man- ager of the Fendley drive-in, Andalusia, Ala., becomes city manager at Brewton, Ala., and Max Fletcher is new manager at Andalusia. BOSTON Within the next few weeks, Embassy Pic- tures Corp. will move its executive offices to the second floor of 19 Winchester Street, retaining its former building at 16 Pied- mont Street for headquarters for the ship- ping room service. . . . Art Moger, director of advertising and publicity for the eastern division of Warner’s, has been appointed chairman of the motion picture division of the Massachusetts Heart Fund. . . . Ameri- can Theatres Corp. recently re-organized its concession department for the circuit. Nathan Buchman is in charge of the wholesale and retail departments of all concessions. Ben- jamin Conviser is in charge of the ware- house, shipping and production of popcorn as well as all equipment repairs for the circuit. . . . Edward S. Segal, son of Harry Segal, U. A. branch manager, was married Feb. 21 to Louise Koffman of Chicago. . . . Molly Daytz, office manager at Daytz The- atre Entreprises, is spending two weeks in Florida and on her return, Arlene Kisloff, booker, will take off for Florida for her annual vacation. . . . Sympathy is extended to A1 Swerdlove of Lippert and Screen Guild, in the death of his brother, Morris Swerdlove. BUFFALO The Most Rev. Joseph A. Burke, bishop of the Buffalo Catholic Diocese urged pres- ervation of the Motion Picture Production Code in a pastoral letter read at all Masses last Sunday (21). The bishop declared that if the code is rendered inoperative, “we can be sure that our motion picture theatres, and probably later also television, will be flooded with a deluge of indecency, immo- rality and smut. . . . Joseph J. Murphy, who is president of the Bath Drive-in Theatre, Inc., at Bath, N. Y., and who also operates the Avoca Hotel in Avoca, N. Y., is on his WHEN AND WHERE March 9-10: Annual convention, Allied Theatre Owners of Oklahoma, Biltmore Hotel, Oklah oma City. March 9-10: Spring drive-in conference, Kansas-Missouri Theatres Association, Hotel Continental, Kansas City. March 28-30: An nual convention, Allied Theatre Owners of Gulf States, Edge- water Gulf Hotel, Edgewater Park, Miss. April 6-8: Annual convention, Allied Inde- pendent Theatre Owners of Wisconsin, Hotel Shroeder, Milwaukee. April 19-21: Spring convention, Allied The- atres of Michigan, Hotel Statler, Detroit. May 2-7: Semi-annual convention, Society of Motion Picture and Television Engi- neers, Statler Hotel, Washington, D. C. May 4-5: Annual convention, Allied Theatre Owners of Iowa, Nebraska and Mid- Central, Fontanelle Hotel, Omaha. May 4-5: Annual convention, Independent Theatre Owners of Arkansas, Marion Hotel, Little Rock, Arkansas. May 10-11 : Annual convention, North- Central Allied Independent Theatres Owners, Nicollet Hotel, Minneapolis. June 15-16: Annual spring meeting, Allied Theatre Owners of Indiana, South Shore Hotel, Lake Wawasee, Ind. way via motor for a vacation in Florida. . . . Lou Beyer, buyer for the Hollywood theatre in Syracuse and who recently suf- fered a heart attack, is back at his old stand arranging all bookings. . . . Business was good in five Rochester community theatres which presented “The Robe,” in Cinema- Scope the past week. CHICAGO Mrs. David B. Wallerstein, wife of the B. & K. -Great States general manager, was one of twenty-four persons honored by the National Conference of Christians and Jews for efforts in advancing man’s understand- ing of man on a neighborhood level. . . . Corporal Murray Lee Rose, now serving as a project engineer at Aberdeen Proving Ground, and son of Mr. and Mrs. Jack Rose, will marry Joan Gimple of Flushing, N. Y., sometime in April. The groom’s father is one of the top executives of Indiana-Illinois Theatres. . . . The Golden Reel Film Fes- tival, to be held at the Conrad Hilton Hotel during the American Film Assembly, April 1-3, will include screenings of over 400 theatrical films produced during the past year. Sponsors, the Film Council of Amer- ica, are hoping to make it an annual event. . . . Jack Kirsch, president of Allied The- atres of Illinois, recuperating from a recent illness, has returned from a visit to Florida. CINCINNATI The 1,500-seat Keith theatre, unit of the local S. and S. circuit, of which Rube Shor is the head, is demonstrating the popularity of CinemaScope here with “King of the Khyber Rifles,” now in its third week. Re- turns are well in the upper brackets. The RKO Albee, with more than twice the seat- ing capacity, also is garnering big returns with the CinemaScope showings. . . . Many of the close-in suburban communities, fol- lowing the lead of Cincinnati, are inaugu- rating a one per cent income and business tax, which will work an extra hardship on exhibitors, who already are heavily bur- dened. . . . Joseph F. Goetz, formerly assis- tant division manager for RKO here, but now chief of the armed forces professional entertainment bureau, Washington, D. C., came here recently on a surprise visit to present a Department of Defense Certificate of Esteem to Jackie Bright for his entertain- ment work in behalf of the armed forces in Europe in 1951. CLEVELAND Justin Knopp, Royal theatre, Oak Har- bor, and Mrs. Loren Solether, Falls theatre, Chagrin Falls, were winners in the first week of the Lucky Minute Contest which originated with U.I. branch manager Carl Reardon to put over the Charles Feldman Drive. Second week winner was Marvin Harris of Toledo. . . . Leonard Mishkind and S. P. Gorrel brought to their Detroit ( Continued on page 30) 28 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 27. 1954 AN AVAlANCHi Of •oxonici ACTION! i Mailable 1 co-starring VICTOR MATURE • PIPER LAURIE WILLIAM BENDIX • VINCENT PRICE R K O RADIO PICTURES mmmmmmmsmmm Screenplay by BETTA ST. JOHN • [off king Produced by TECHNICOLOR ( Continued from page 28) theatre hundreds of patrons who hadn’t been to a movie house in years with their novelty all-travel program which was booked for three days and held over an extra day by popular request. Program consisted of 12 James A. Fitzpatrick travelogues. . . . Justin Spiegle who has been distributing exploita- tion pictures, has joined Republic as sales- man, succeeding Tom Alley. . . . Hilbert Horwitz is appointed manager of the Halt- north theatre. . . . Marilyn Arden, of 20th- Fox, was married Feb. 14 to Leonard Os- trow. The couple will live in New York. . . . Tower theatre closes next week, eliminating one of the city’s eight downtown first runs, but the Hanna, 1500-seat legit house, went to films this week with presentation of “The Man Between” on a continuous policy. COLUMBUS Ohio exhibitors are being invited to send their problems to Horace Adams, newly- elected president of the Independent The- atre Owners of Ohio. Mr. Adams’ office is in Room 714, NBC Building, Cleveland. . . . “Julius Caesar” will open March 10 at Loew’s Broad for its first local engagement. . . . The Columbus Citizen is running a contest based on selection of winners in the Academy Awards. Loew’s Ohio and Loew’s Broad are giving additional prizes in the contest. . . . Dave Collins, WRFD disc jockey, won the Glenn Miller Disc Jockey Record Rolling Derby promoted by Walter Kessler, manager of Loew’s Ohio. . . . Con- struction on the new TV tower for WOSU- TV at Lane Avenue and North Star Road will begin in May. . . . Charles Sugarman has one of the biggest boxoffice hits in the history of the World theatre in “The Cap- tain’s Paradise” which just ended its fourth week with the possibility of a fifth. DENVER Frank H. Ricketson, Jr., president of Fox Inter-Mountain Theatres, has been re-elected a director of the Community Chests and Councils of America for a three-year term. . . . Paul Allmeyer has severed his associa- tion with Preferred Pictures and is now the sales representative for Realart in the Denver and Salt Lake City areas. . . . Ed Nesbit, owner of the Alpine, is here inven- torying and closing the theatre, in prepara- tion to getting the building ready for other businesses. Clarence Martin, who has been operating the house, has given up his lease. . . . Claude Newell, formerly head booker at Metro, is returning to the business, and in that same job. He succeeds John Roberts, who resigned to go with Wolfberg Theatres in their booking and buying department. DES MOINES Most Filmrowers observed both Lincoln’s and Washington’s birthdays with a day off on Feb. 22. Exchanges were closed and many employees made trips over the long week end, taking advantage of the unseason- ably mild weather. . . . Myrna Nace is the new availability clerk at Warners. . . . Vis- itor to the Columbia exchange was Ben Marcus, district manager. . . . Georgianne Johnson, a native of Decorah, is on her way to a successful film career in Hollywood. . . . The annual inaugural ball of Tent 15, Variety club, was held Feb. 19 at the Stand- ard club. Milt Feinberg was chairman of the affair, which included dinner and danc- TILLOTSON IS PRIME CITIZEN, EXHIBITOR OF HOLTON, KAN. Don Tillotson, who likes people, is presi- dent of the Chamber of Commerce of Holton, Kan. (pop. 3,000), and manager of the Arcada theatre of the Common- wealth circuit. He started in show busi- ness as a kid in his home town, Cres- ton, Iowa: shining brass on the front door of a Common- wealth theatre — for free shows. Later he became a full-time employee; and dur- ing the first part of World War II man- aged circuit the- atres in Creston, and in Knob Noster, Mo., and Superior, Neb. After 21 months over- seas in the amphibious forces, he returned to the Creston theatre. In 1946 he was transferred to his Holton post. He slipped quickly into the life of the town. He has served on the board of di- rectors of the Lion's Club of Holton. He has been secretary, then president, of the Junior Chamber of Commerce. He then served on various committees of the (Senior) Chamber of Commerce, before election as its president. He has been county chairman of the March of Dimes, and is now county director of the March of Dimes. He is a member of the Ameri- can Legion, the VFW and the Masons. "Public relations" on the personal side is behind the management of the theatre. "All the young people are my personal friends," he says. "Most of them call me by my first name. If they get a little noisy, they know they put me on the spot, and they really cooperate." The young people never go beyond the "little noisy" stage. He has had no vandalism trouble. Mr. Tillotson considers public relations even more important than promotion. But the three aspects of management — operat- ing the physical theatre, promotion and public relations — must, he said, be inter- woven, for success. Perhaps one reason for his winning of the little folks (and their parents) is that he has a couple of children himself — a boy 9 and a girl I I. He stands by three main points in re- freshment merchandising, big display, cleanliness and the personality of attend- ants. Don Tillotson ing. Chief barker of the tent is Byron Sha- piro. ... A new screen has been installed at the American in Cherokee. Among other improvements was a new proscenium arch and redecoration of the stage. “The Robe” was shown when the remodelled theatre was reopened. . . . The Winfield theatre at Winfield will reopen in March with E. J. Kramer of Burlington as manager. DETROIT Big attraction downtown is the curbside trailer display at the United Artists. The big house trailer is actually being lived in dur- ing the run of MGM’s “The Long, Long Trailer.” . . . The Birmingham, UDT sub- urban house, is preparing for “The Robe” presentation. . . . Mac Krim has been oper- ating the Krim, flying in from the coast to relieve brother, Sol, for a southern vacation. . . . Shorty Bushart is back on the East- wood projector. Bill Lunnigan moving to the Emcee. . . . The US Navy is taking Ernie Forbes, Jr., on an Atlantic cruise. . . . The newly incorporated Rouge Theatre Op- erating Co. has taken over operation of the Rouge theatre under the guidance of Max Gealer. . . . Switch leaves the Associated Theatres with only two houses, the Trenton and Loop. . . . Peter Kavel left Wesper- Wistman for the Allen Park to replace Rob- ert Haskins now with WWJ-TV as ad salesman. HARTFORD Lou Brown, advertising and publicity di- rector, Loew’s Poli-New England Theatres, will be in charge of panel decorations for the New Haven Advertising Club’s annual Gold Medal Award Dinner. . . . Douglas Amos of Lockwood & Gordon Theatres has been supervising the Webb Playhouse, Wethersfield, Conn., during Florida vaca- tion of William H. Daugherty. . . . Atty. Steve Perakos of Perakos Theatre Associ- ates has been named to a fact-finding com- mittee for the coming Connecticut elections by the New Britain Young Republican Club. . . . Ted Holt, on engineering staff, Loew’s Poli-New England Theatres, has resumed his duties in Connecticut and Massachusetts after an extended New Haven Hospital stay. . . . “Beat the Devil” has been scheduled for Loew’s Poli situations in Hartford, New Haven, Bridgeport and Waterburry. . . . Sam Rosen of Lockwood & Gordon The- atres has been vacationing in Florida. INDIANAPOLIS Three drive-ins took advantage of spring- like weather to rush the season by opening here this week. Easter week has been the customary starting time. . . . A1 Hendricks, manager of the Indiana, is staging a disc jocket talent contest in connection with the opening of “The Glenn Miller Story” Thurs- day. . . . Manager Howard Rutherford re- ports 10,000 paid admissions for “The Long, Long Trailer” at 2,427-seat Loew’s Satur- day, second day of the run. . . . Trueman Rembusch left for New York Tuesday morn- ing for meetings of the National Allied board and stock purchase committee. . . . Film transit problems and a group insurance plan for small theatres will be major items on the agenda of the Indiana Allied board meeting at the Hotel Lincoln here March 2, secretary Bill Carroll reports. . . . An up- surge in business that began with the holi- days is continuing in local neighborhoods, especially the 28-day houses. ( Continued on opposite page ) 30 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 27, 1954 JACKSONVILLE Kathryn Reed and Perry Sheehan, Metro starlets, were here for the opening of “The Long, Long Trailer” at the Palace. . . . Jimmy Biddle, owner of the Jasper theatre, Jasper, visited local friends. . . . Seen at branch offices were Bill Lee from Lee’s drive-in at Keystone Heights, and George Stonaris, Dreka theatre, DeLand. . . . B. A. “Doc” Cawthon, local projectionist, was re-appointed to the city position of projec- tion booth inspector. . . . George Bradley and Karl Kristofsen are new bookers at Paramount. . . . Out-of-state Paramount staffers calling at the branch office included Everett Olsen, publicity man from Char- lotte, N. C. ; Gil Norton, from Boston ; and Gordon Bradley, Atlanta. . . . Joe J. Deitch, head of Florida State Theatres booking de- partment, was expected back from a lengthy Caribbean cruise. . . . Louis J. Finske, FST vice-president, returned from a downstate tour. KANSAS CITY The spring drive-in conference sponsored by the Kansas-Missouri Theatre Association will be held March 9-10 at the Hotel Con- tinental. The first day will be devoted to displays of equipment and the second day to discussions on operational matters. . . . Three drive-ins at Kansas City (Shawnee, Heart and Boulevard) have been operating week-ends. Another starts this week-end — the Leawood. The Joplin starts operating full-time this week, while the Columbia and Springfield already have started full-time schedules. . . . Other drive-ins in the south- ern part of the area will open shortly. . . . Jack Braunagle, manager of drive-in opera- tions for Commonwealth Theatres, an- nounces appointments of drive-in managers : Gale Stewart to Riverside at Kansas City, from Sunset at Springfield, Mo. ; Darrell Manes to Springfield, from Columbia; Tom Wolf to Columbia, from Sedalia; Donald Young to Sedalia, from Batesville, Ark. LOS ANGELES Larry Moses, owner of the Monterey the- atre, Monterey Park, has named A1 Wil- liams manager there. . . . Newton Jacobs, president of Favorite Films, checked in from San Francisco for business huddles with his local representative, Ralph Carmichael. . . . Replacing E. R. Crouch, who has been transferred to Springfield, Oregon, the new manager of Western Amusement’s Needles theatre, Needles, is J. W. Speer, moving from San Clemente. ... Jay Berger, who formerly operated the now closed Buena theatre, Ventura, has been named manager of the Warner, San Pedro, succeeding Harry Slinker, who moves to the Warner, Hunt- ington Park. . . . Back from a trek to Ari- zona on company business was George Tripp, Warner Bros, salesman. Out of town- ers seen on the Row were Roy Lemucchi, Bakersfield; Harold Stein, Sierra Madre; Joe Markowitz, Encinitas, and Gordon West, Fillmore. MEMPHIS Shelby County Baptist Pastors Associa- tion passed a resolution praising the censor- ing actions of Lloyd T. Binford, 88, chair- man of the Memphis board. . . . M. A. Light- man Sr., president of Malco Theatres, inc., returned from a business trip to New York. . . . Jack Watson, who operated Palace the- atre at Tunica, Miss., and was well known in Memphis, where he came almost every week to book films, died suddenly of a heart attack last week. Mr. Watson was 44. Funeral services and burial were in Tunica. . . . Mrs. J. A. West, wife of the owner of Hollywood theatre in Memphis, and Mrs. L. A. Weaver, wife of the manager of Air- way in Memphis, were confined to Memphis hospitals with illnesses. . . . C. Burkeybyle has purchased Belmont theatre, Belmont, Miss., and will book and buy in Memphis. . . . Lake drive-in, Sardis, Miss., re-opened Feb. 19. . . . Jacksonville drive-in, Jackson- ville, Ark., will re-open March 5. . . . Sky- lark drive-in, Clarksdale, Miss., was set for re-opening for Feb. 25. MIAMI With Wometco’s Sonny Shepherd and Florida State Theatre’s A1 Weiss as co- chairmen, the recent annual Variety Club “Show of Shows” was jet propelled to suc- cess. George Jessel was m.c. . . . House manager Haber of the Miracle is now Uncle Mel since sister, Rhoda Lewis, gave birth to a son, Jeffrey Richard recently. . . . WTVJ’s newscaster Howard Brown got an “extra” when his wife presented him with a daughter, Stephanie Meta. . . . UA’s ex- ploitation director, Mort Kushner, was in town simultaneously with Addie Addison from the same outfit, who was working on promotion for the coming “Beachhead.” . . . Johnny Prettyman is assistant director with the Warner’s crew in Puerto Rico where scenes for “Battle Cry” are being filmed. . . . The Mitchell Wolf sons were hosts at a large reception honoring composer conductor Heitor Villa Lobos and his wife of Brazil. MILWAUKEE Stan Gross, who has been with the Stanley Warner Theatres a good many years, has been appointed their new district manager, replacing Harry Mintz who is taking over his own theatres in Wisconsin Rapids. Mr. Gross, up to the pressent time, was manager of the Rio theatre in Appleton. . . . Hugo Vogel advertised free Hawaiian orchids to the ladies Saturday and Sunday for Valen- tine’s Day at his Plaza theatre here. . . . Closer surveillance of Milwaukee theatres by uniformed patrolmen has been ordered by Police Inspector Dax here. The order came after a report from the Fox-Wisconsin Amusement Corp., that vandals and rowdies have made knife cuts in theatre seats, hurled objects at screens, persons have been dis- orderly and that liquor has been brought into the theatres. MINNEAPOLIS North Central Allied has set its annual convention for May 10-11 at the Nicollet Hotel, Minneapolis, according to Stanley Kane, NCA executive counsel. . . . Loran Garnant has closed his LeRoy theatre at LeRoy, Minn., which he has operated for about 13 years. ... A wide screen has been installed in the Orpheum at Aberdeen, S. D., according to Mike Guttman, owner. . . . Variety Club of the Northwest has given $36,750 to the Variety heart hospital on the University of Minnesota campus for a new elevator. ... A sales meeting and product discussion was held at the 20th Century- Fox exchange here last week. . . . Fred Mindeman is closing his Kindred at Kin- dred, N. D., March 1. . . . Frank Durvin, RKO home office representative, was in. . . . Joe Kissel is the new ledger clerk at Para- mount. . . . Harry B. French, Sr., president of Minnesota Amusement Co., is vacationing in Florida. . . . A1 Vincent, manager of the Belle theatre at Belle Fourche, S. D., has been a patient at the Mayo Clinic in Roch- ester, Minn. NEW ORLEANS Drive-ins scheduled for reopening after being closed for the winter months are Miss Mary Anne Ewing’s Auto Vue, Lorman, Miss., on March 5, and Charles Waterall’s C-W-C, Richton, Miss., on March 26. . . . Harold I. Illing, Jr., the new owner of Illings, Ocean Springs, Miss., has slated March 5 for its reopening. J. G. Broggi will handle the buying and booking. . . . Addie Addison, in charge of exploitation for U.A.’s southern division, was in town. . . . Rodney Toups has rounded out 35 years of service for Loew’s, Inc. here. He has been manager of the State since it opened in 1926. . . . Hap Barnes is here from Atlanta in the in- terest of his Rebel drive-in, Baton Rouge, La. . . . The Liberty Theatre Building, one of the in-town landmarks, will give way to a parking lot. . . . Mr. & Mrs. “Bob” Ballantyne, Omaha, Nebraska, were here on a combined business and pleasure trip. Most of Ballantyne’s attention was directed to the company’s territory representative, R. L. Johnson of Johnson Theatre Service. OKLAHOMA CITY “Miss Sadie Thompson” is in its second week at the Center theatre and drawing large crowds. . . . “Money from Home” now in its third week in Oklahoma City, is play- ing at the Tower theatre. . . . “The Robe” returned to Oklahoma City February 20 at the Plaza and the Redskin theatres. . . . “The Command” is now showing at the Midwest theatre. OMAHA Mrs. J. L. Harmon, whose husband has been an exhibitor in northeast Nebraska many years, died at Orchard, where the Harmons operated the Rex theatre. . . . Larry Seidelman, former senior salesman at Milwaukee, has become branch manager of the Republic exchange in Omaha, suc- ceeding Harry Lefholtz, veteran film rower who resigned. Seidelman renamed William Heath as salesman and moved Delores Mc- Kenney from biller to cashier, with Edna Nast still office manager. . . . The 20th-Fox office had word cashier Dorothy Weaver was recuperating nicely from her operation. . . . And Marvin Jones of Red Cloud, who recently underwent surgery at Rochester, again was a visitor in Omaha and said he was recovering okay. . . . H. B. Carlton will take over the theatre at Griswold, la., March 1. PHILADELPHIA Melvin Fox, head of the independent Fox Theatres Circuit, is serving as chairman for the theatrical division in the forthcoming Allied Jewish Appeal campaign, with vet- eran exhibitor Leo Posel serving as vice- chairman of the Appeal’s Trade Council. David Supowitz, A. M. Ellis, Albert M. Cohen, Ted Schlanger, Ben Amsterdam and Norman Silverman are among the industry (Continued on following page) MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 27, 1954 31 ( Continued from preceding page ) leaders serving in the theatrical division. . . . Jack Harris, for his independent Jack Harris Productions exchange, negotiated a distribution franchise to handle Hallmark Pictures in this territory. . . . Reseating of the balcony at Fabian’s Rialto has been com- pleted, it was announced by Earl Arnold, manager of the Allentown, Pa., house. A similar installation is under way at Fabian’s Colonial in the same community, where manager Henry Romig also announces the installation of stereophonic sound equipment. . . . Bill Trambukis, manager of Loew’s Harrisburg, Pa., has been transferred to Loew’s, Providence, R. I., in a similar capacity. . . . Roy Sullender has gone into the booking and buying business as Na- tional Screen Corporation. . . . Joseph P. Farrell, manager of the Irving, Scranton, Pa., was reelected a director of the Liberty Discount and Savings Bank. . . . William Quinlivan, R.K.O. booker, back at his desk after a long illness. PITTSBURGH The Stanley gets the new Martin-Lewis comedy, “Money from Home” in 3-D, to be followed by “The Boy from Oklahoma.” . . . “Julius Caesar,” often rumored for the legitimate Nixon theatre, finally gets a local date on March 13 when it goes into Loew’s Penn. . . . Perry Nathan, manager of Na- tional Screen Service, heads the Red Cross theatre drive during the month of March. . . . The Variety Club has named Elmer Ecker to spur more member interest in Tent Number One beginning with Monday lunch- eons and Saturday night dances. . . . Glow- ing notices for “The Glenn Miller Story” should help keep that film in the Fulton for a healthy run. . . . Jerry Walsh, daughter of the late John D. Walsh, Fulton theatre man- ager, has a role in the Mt. Lebanon Players version of “The Male Animal.” . . . Harry Rees, who was with United Artists here for 35 years, staying on Film Row as a sales- man for the Hanna organization’s Franklin Film Exchange. PORTLAND The Paramount theatre installed Cinema- Scope equipment last week so now all first runs are set to handle the product. . . . J. J. Parker’s Herb Royster is being congra- tulated on the promotion job for “The Long, Long Trailer.”. . . Guild manager Marty Foster is reported to have grossed more with “Julius Caesar” during the first two weeks than any other spot in the country with similar situation. . . .“The Robe” opened at Evergreen’s Hollywood and Grae- per’s Egyptian this week. This is second run after 12 big weeks downtown. . . . Todd Blake, assistant manager of the Oriental, is now doing the publicity copy for Ever- green’s Oriental and Orpheum theatres. . . . Mrs. Jack (Katie) Marshall, secretary to Hamrick’s Marvin Fox, off to San Fran- TirM REPLACEMENT SPEAKERS and PARTS See Chief and Super Chief, ideal re- placement speakers with superior fea- tures and finish. Also Koiled Kords or straight; inner units complete; trans- formers; volume controls. Top quality! fir si •American puMh. 1717 Wyandotte St., Kansas City 8, Mo. cisco for a two week vacation. . . . Liberty manager Harold Lorimor has set up a lobby display of original Will Rogers pictures for “The Boy from Oklahoma.” PROVIDENCE The day prior to the opening of "Miss Sadie Thompson” at Loew’s State, the Pola- roid Corp. ran a large ad in the local press, extolling the virtues of the new, adjustable “Polaroid 3-D Glasses,” being featured at Loew’s State. . . . Meyer Stanzler, well- known theatreman, and impresario at Rhodes-On-The-Pawtuxet, the largest dance hall in Rhode Island, lent considerable im- petus to the recent March-Of-Dimes cam- paign by staging a “Disc-Jockey Record Hop” at his ballroom. More than a dozen disc-jockeys, representing every radio sta- tion in this area, appeared in person. . That Alec Guinness is top-favorite in this locality was attested by the fact his 1 he Captain’s Paradise” held for a fourth week at The Avon Cinema. . . . After a brief whirl at first-run pictures, the long-darkened Metropolitan has again closed. Outside of the announcement of a couple of road-show stage attractions to appear for a few per- formances this month, no inkling of further activities was available. SAN FRANCISCO Nathan Grossman, manager, Paramount, has appointed Paul Trout, former field man with the American Red Cross, as his assis- tant. . . . The State theatre, under U-P ban- ner, re-opened a few months ago, has closed. . . . The Esquire (North Coast) went on first-run when Sherrill Corwin leased the Orpheum to Cinerama, has returned to its former policy of grind-house. . . . A1 Schi- badi, ex-Universal booker, now in the Army, was visiting the row the past week. . . . A. R. Bowen built and opened a new theatre at Carson City, Nevada, and has closed his old house there. C. R. Remington turned over the Fair Oaks, Fair Oaks, to the Arch Booking Service. . . . A. H. Constant, for- merly with KRON, here, is now manager of KBAK and KBAK-TV, Bakersfield. . . . Randall E. Larson, former announcer and director, KRON, is program manager, KBAK and KBAK-TV. The Chronicle, which owns and operates KRON, has the minority stock interest in the Bakersfield station. . . . Frank Beazley, former salesman, KPIX, is now sales manager, KBAK-TV. . . . An application for authority to operate a television station in the Bay Area on channel 2 has been filed with FCC by San Francisco-Oakland Television, Inc. TORONTO World premiere of Universal-Interna- tional’s “Saskatchewan,” filmed in Alberta last summer will be held at the Grand, Cal- gary, Mar. 9. . . . James Mason and Tyrone Guthrie will appear as guests at the Cana- dian Film Awards this year. The Awards will take place in the Kent, Montreal, May 13. Mason is to appear in the Shakespeare Festival at Stratford, to be directed by Tyrone Guthrie. . . . Theatre Richelieu Inc., headed by Elzear Provencal, has opened its 920-seat, seven-day Le Paris in St. Hya- cinthe, Quebec. New house will show only French films. . . . Suburban Scarborough will make another attempt to halt the Mark- ham Developments’ projected drive-in by appealing to the Supreme Court of Canada. The operation has suffered a number of reverses as the municipality took its battle to the courts. . . . George Oullahan, assis- tant general manager of Sterling Films Ltd. was elected vice-president at a recent meet- ing of stockholders, while J. B. Lawson, member of the firm of solicitors for the company, was made secretary. Their elec- tion was announced by O. R. Hanson, presi- dent and general manager. VANCOUVER Odeon Circuit has switched two local dis- trict managers, Ernie Sauer from the Odeon, West Vancouver, to the Odeon, North Van- couver, and Bob Fraser from North to West Vancouver. . . . Howard Tillman, father- in-law of Gerry Sutherland, Odeon, B. C., manager, and well-known hotelman, died in Vancouver at the age of 67. . . . Johnny McTaggart, Orpheum assistant manager, re- signed to enter other business. He is re- placed by Harry Hargraves, former film booker at the Opera House, Blackpool, England. . . . Don MacKenzie, formerly with General Theatre Supply Company, has joined the Perkins Electric and will be in charge of sales for the prairie provinces with headquarters at Calgary. . . . Doug White, former office manager for Warner Bros., is now with the Myers Enterprises and will be in charge of the Delta drive-in, Richmond ; Tillicum drive-in, Victoria, and the Bay theatre, Vancouver. . . . Tom Bou- dreau, manager of the Odeon, Abbotsford, was in town and said business was brisk in the Fraser Valley section. . . . Ronald Mc- Kee, manager of the Lulu at Richmond, reports that his business was not affected with the opening of a drive-in in his district. WASHINGTON Columbia Pictures mid-east division man- ager, Sam Galanty, was vacationing in Florida. He will return on March 8. . . . New employee at K-B’s Ontario theatre is Costel Ionescue, replacing Griffith Johnston, who resigned. . . . Walter Wanger, producer of “Riot in Cell Block 11,” was a Wash- ington visitor. . . . Stanley Warner has in- stalled CinemaScope at the Uptown and Penn theatres. . . . Alvin Q. Ehrlich and Cy Blumenthal served as hosts at the Vari- ety Tent No. ll’s “Town and Country” night February 20. It was a gay Hillbilly evening. . . .“From Here to Eternity” at the Trans-Lux Theatre is establishing a long-run record in Washington. It is now in its 27th week. Raise $445,384 During The 1953 "Jimmy Fund" The 1953 Jimmy Fund Drive raised $445,- 384 in New England, co-chairmen Martin J. Mullin and Joe Cronin announced last week at Boston. The sum was raised voluntarily, and expenses totalled less than four per cent, they said. The men thanked the press, radio, and television for cooperation in bringing to the attention of the public the necessity of cancer research for children. Some of the highlights of the 1953 campaign were a $100 per plate welcome home ban- quet for Ted Williams, a $50,000 donation from the Kennedy Foundation, and donation of the receipts of the opening of Cinerama, by the Stanley Warner Theatres. 32 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 27, 1954 Oh Whether "There Id Aitoaty @mih At The Top >» LAST week, we began a discussion on this page, with regard to the com- pensations and rewards which good showmen may look forward to in their em- ployment as theatre managers. We continue, with some observations right out of our Round Table mail, and the current news. For several weeks past, there have been numerous classified ads in the Herald, for managers, and that is a good sign, one that we watch closely, because of so many in whom we are personally interested. We feel the trend of employment, and the re- wards for services rendered, through our contact wtih many good Round Table mem- bers, who are hard-working in their res- pective situations and who confide in us as to their status. Usually, there are more men than jobs in this metropolitan area and big city cir- cuits start everybody at a fixed beginner’s scale, to prove their worth, and move up, after a “get acquainted” period. Jobs are more plentiful out of town, and wages and salaries are generally better. You will find, in the classified ads, jobs that are offered at $100 a week, with vacations, group in- surance, hospitalization, etc. There are more jobs in this bracket, and above, than there used to be, a few years ago. But strangely enough, there are more men of division manager status, with no place to go, and more young men, striving to get up, than there are opportunities in the mid- dle brackets. Recently, a very nice thing happened, at Loew’s, when Maurice Seidlitz, a veteran with 26 years in theatre posts, voluntarily stepped down to accept another assignment, so he could make room for advancement in the lower brackets. A whole succession of promotions followed his gen- erous action. Bernard Zelenko, for 16 years manager of Loew’s Valencia, Jamaica, suc- ceeded him as division manager, and others moved up. Not all the news is as good as this an- nouncement from Loew’s, where managers and other employees enjoy one of the few pension plans effective in this industry. The other day, we received an unsigned letter FLORIDA VACATION When you read this, we'll be far away, and glad of it. This is our annual vacation in Florida, and this year, we're spending it on the West Coast. There'll be, we hope, "Round Table in Tampa" and "Round Table in Central Florida," for we want to get inland to the small towns, to visit Hugh Martin at Clermont, Carl Floyd at Haines City, and other Round Table members. Last year, we went directly to Miami, and enjoyed a fabulous greeting from Sonny Shepherd, of Wometco Theatres, and from Bill Dock, in Miami, for Florida State Theatres. Now, we're flying to Tampa, and will stop over in Jacksonville, for another pleasant visit with Howard Peften- gill, and to see Leon Netter and Lou Finske. We'll see Lee Henry at Zephyrhills — our newest "old home town" and the place where we expect to settle down, come re- tirement and social security and things like that. We will take a typewriter, under a camphor tree, and do our stint from there — if, as and when. Got a lot of ideas of things we're going to write. from an assistant manager in the New York area, who has been an assistant for 16 years, and is afraid to move, because he needs his $65 job to feed three others. If he will come in the office, we’ll try to help him. Another manager whom we do know, took a very small salary as neighborhood theatre man- ager— and then took out a $100 card in the painter’s union, so he could brighten up the run-down theatre, by his own efforts ! A city manager in a southern city who has two theatres and a national reputation as a good showman, wrote us not long ago, seeking a better break than he had, and reporting that another circuit was then of- fering eighteen months salary to older man- agers who would retire and thus make room for advancement from the lower brackets. tfl BOB AND MELBA WALKER, one of those nice husband and wife teams whom we are proud to acknowledge in the Round Table, are owners and managers of the Uin- tah theatre, Fruita, Colorado. Bob is a good showman, a good citizen in his com- munity and a frequent contributor to our weekly meetings, and to “What the Picture Did For Me.” He uses a variation of Bank Night, through necessity and the economic prob- lems that are part of his geographical area — but he handles it differently, and we praise his selling approach. He calls it “Money In The Bank” — and it is sponsored by the local bank, on a partially cooperative ad- vertising basis. There is no direct give- away at the theatre, but winners receive a savings bank book with their deposit en- tered. Of course, they can withdraw it, but the curse is taken off the cash give-away notion. We would like to consign Bank Night to oblivion, along with free dishes, but there are places where it is a necessity for main- tenance in small town operations, and we would be glad if we could report other ways and means to dignify this procedure to sus- tain the place of the theatre in the affairs of a community. USD BILL O’DONNELL, writing from In- terstate headquarters in Dallas, asks, “Have you ever seen anything like this before?” — and we haven’t. He sends tear sheets from the Waco and Amarillo newspapers, with color art breaks on the front page, for “The Robe” and “Knights of the Round Table.” These are really sensational, when you see them, and when, as he says, it marks the first time that the press has recognized our industry with 3-column, front-page cuts in color. The color is bright and bold, as is the showmanship, and it will come in cities and towns where local daily papers have “color on the press” — and are anxious to show it off. Better reproduction will follow, and better material to work with, as original art, at the source. — Walter Brooks MANAGERS' ROUND TABLE SECTION, FEBRUARY 27, 1954 33 Up A Coining With Up -to- Da to Ideas FOR INSTANCE, look at the exhibits from Johnny Corbett, city man- ager at the Glove theatre, Gloversville, N. Y., for the Schine Circuit's flagship, below and at right. Johnny gave away coffee — imagine that! — with the sponsorship of a local restaurant; a quarter of a pound to the first fifty ladies in line. And Johnny used another of those spectacular 24-sheet cut-outs of Marilyn Monroe, this time sitting on a local Elk — the kind you can find in many towns along Main Street — which is enough to make news in any community. Joe Melcher, manager of Premiere Theatres in Evans- ville, Indiana, had this big portrait head of John Wayne cut into a Jig-saw puzzle, and used it for lobby display and a teaser advertisement on TV, with the television audience asked to guess who, as pieces were added. Joe Real, manager of the Midwest theatre, Oklahoma City, poured a cup of coffee for the Governor's Lady at the opening of "So Big." That's Joe, saying "Good morn- ing" to Mrs. Murray, wife of the Governor of Oklahoma. Ed McGlone, manager of the RKO Palace theatre, in Cincinnati, promoted these models to represent Eddie Cantor's songs, on a TV pro- gram, with Frank Dixon, Master of Ceremonies, using the plastic mask, for "The Eddie Cantor Story." 34 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 27, 1954 Bovim New Loew Head Russ Bovim, manager of Loew’s State theatre in St. Louis, is the new divi- sion manager for Loew’s houses in St. Louis, Kansas City, Memphis, New Or- leans and Houston, announces John Murphy, general manager of Loew’s out-of-town theatres. This is another happy up-from-the- ranks story. Bovim joined Loew’s in 1923 as assistant to Louis K. Sidney at Loew’s Aldine, Pittsburgh. Subse- quently he was Loew’s manager in Wilmington, Canton and Columbus. In his new position he succeeds the late Mike Cullen, who died suddenly three weeks ago. Down south in New Orleans, Rodney Toups, manager of Loew’s State, has hung up a new service record for the company. He has completed 35 years of service in the same city. Toups began as an assistant man- ager of the Old Loew’s Crescent theatre in 1919 and later became manager. He opened the new Loew’s State in 1926 where he has since remained. He is, in fact, the only man- ager that theatre has ever had. Realignments resulting from Russ Bovim’s promotion include the appointment of Frank Henson, manager of Loew’s Akron, as city manager for St. Louis. His successor is Sam Shubouf, manager of Loew’s State, Cleve- land. Arnold Gates is moving from the Stillman to the State, Cleveland, while Frank Manente, manager of the Esquire, Toledo, will fill the Stillman vacancy. Concurrent with all this, Atlanta and Nashville are being added to the theatres directed by Martin Burnett, who headquar- ters in Columbus, Ohio. Pittsburgh will be supervised by Frank Murphy of the Loew’s Cleveland office. Invite Children as Birthday Guests Recognizing the importance of children’s birthdays, J. W. Beach, manager of the Appalachian theatre, Boone, N. C., has sent letters to every school teacher of the Wa- tauga County, citing the fact that he has listed the names of the children on their birthdays in the Watauga Democrat and inviting them to bring their families as guests at the theatre. The letter asks that children send their birthday date so that they may be listed in the paper and be eligible for the free admissions. RKO Theatres and "Telegram’ Sn "Millionaire" Contest RKO Theatres’ publicity department, under the able direction of Harry Mandel, has tied up with the “New York World- Telegram and Sun” to conduct a “How to Marry A Millionaire” doubles contest, to find three girls who look most like Marilyn Monroe, Betty Grable and Lauren Bacall. The contest got underway Monday, heralded by a four-column, page one story in the newspaper, and concludes March 3, when the 20th-Fox CinemaScope film opens in RKO houses all over Greater New York and Westchester. The lucky — and lovely — winners will receive, among other things, $500 savings bonds and all-expense-paid trips to the Bahamas on the S. S. Nassau. 12 Shea Theatres Participate In New "Kettle" Contest Twelve Shea theatres in New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Ohio will participate in a pre-release contest on Universal’s new “Ma and Pa Kettle at Home.” The sub- stantial money prizes and awards will be made on the basis of comparative increases in gross, in each situation, over past pic- tures of Ma and Pa series which played these Shea houses. The picture will open between March 7 and April 3 in each the- atre. Extensive campaigns have been planned and many are already saturating the areas. QUIGLEY AWARDS CONTENDERS THOMAS A. ADAMS Paramount Newark, N. J. EDWARD ALVA Metro, Bombay, India DALE BALDWIN Parkway W. Jefferson, N. C. J. W. BEACH Appalachian Boone, N. C. HUGH S. BORLAND Louis, Chicago, III. JOSEPH S. BOYLE Poli, Norwich, Conn. JACK BRIDGES Victory, Timmins, Can. WALLACE BRUCE Fox, Lyons, Kansas BILL BURKE Capitol, Brantford, Can. PAUL BROWN Fresno, Fresno, Cal. R. N. BROWN Astra, Kirton, Eng. JOHN F. BURKE Fox, Brooklyn, N. Y. R. N. CLARKE Astra, Leuchars, Eng. LOUIS COHEN Poli, Hartford, Conn. JOHNNY CORBETT Glove Gloversville, N. Y. R. J. CRABB Lyric Wellingborough, Eng. V. HUGH DEACON Gaumont Coventry, Eng. F. DEAN Regal, Leith, Eng. J. Dl BENEDETTO Poli, Worcester, Conn. CHARLES DOCTOR Capitol Vancouver, Can. JOHN EBERHARD Franklin, Saginaw, Mich. BENNO ERB Metro-Goldwyn- Mayer Santiago, Chile DOUGLAS EWIN Savoy Stourbridge, Eng. J. B. FENNER Queen's Hall Newcastle, Eng. ARNOLD GATES Stillman, Cleveland, O. ELAINE S. GEORGE Star, Heppner, Ore. FRED E. GODWIN Wellston Warner Robins, Ga. BRENDA R. GREEN Regal, Bicester, Eng. H. E. HART Court, Auburn, Ind. WILLIAM HAVER Paramount Des Moines, Iowa L. F. HOLMAN Ritr, Hereford, Eng. D. W. HOWARD Odeon, Bury, Eng. D. HUGHES Regal, Cheltenham, Eng. K. INGRAM Astra, Hednesford, Eng. CLARK R. JORDAN Linda, Linda Vista, Cal. DON KING Branch, Clinton, Md. ARNOLD KIRSCH De Luxe, New York LEO A. LAJOIE Capitol, Worcester, Mass. JOHN E. LAKE Savoy, Luton, Eng. JULIUS LAMM Colony, Cleveland, O. H. LAYBOURNE Odeon, Southsea, Eng. FRED C. LENTZ Paramount, Toledo, O. WILLIAM LODGE Royal, Deal, Eng. LOUIS LUTZ Waukesha, Waukesha, Wis. T. MURRAY LYNCH Paramount, Moncton, Can. C. G. MANHIRE Savoy, Edinburgh, Scot. TONY MASELLA Palace, Meriden, Conn. C. A. MATTHEWS Alliance Theatres Terre Haute, Ind. ROCCO MAZZUCA Linden, Jamaica, N. Y. JOE MELCHER Grand, Evansville, III. S. V. MURDOCH Gaumont, Liverpool, Eng. RUFUS C. NEAS State, Mooresville, N. C. BILL O'DONNELL Interstate Theatres Dallas, Texas F. B. PAGE Rex, Islington, Eng. GEORGE PEYERS Loew's, Richmond, Va. GEORGE W. PUGH Rialto, Glens Falls, N. Y. C. A. PURVES Astra, Hemswell, Eng. SYDNEY L. SALE Granada, Dover, Eng. W. S. SAMUELS Ritz, Longview, Texas ROGER SARDOU Columbia Pictures Paris, France MATT SAUNDERS Poli, Bridgeport, Conn. HAROLD SHAMPAN Odeon, Woolwich, Eng. OLGA SHARABURA Orpheum Sault Ste. Marie, Can. S. C. SHINGLES Odeon, Stafford, Eng. VICTOR SIMS Electra, Oxford, Eng. CHARLES SMITH Regent, Brighton, Eng. SOL SORKIN Keith's, Syracuse, N. Y. BOYD SPARROW Warfield San Francisco, Cal. MURRAY SPECTOR Plaza, Englewood, N. J. W. K. TRUDELL Capitol, London, Can. J. W. TURNER Savoy, Sale, Eng. BOB WALKER Uintah, Fruita, Colo. L. G. WEBSTER Savoy, Northampton, Eng. ALISTAI RE C. WELLER Odeon, Reading, Eng. G. C. WILLIAMS Regent, Chatham, Eng. HARRY WILSON Capitol, Chatham, Can. MANAGERS' ROUND TABLE SECTION, FEBRUARY 27, 1954 35 CIRCUS BALLYHOO DOES IT A smart, specially constructed lobby display was set up by Fred C. Lentz, manager of the Paramount Theatre in Toledo, Ohio, to sell forthcoming Cinema- Scope attractions at the theatre. Six wagons that were specially constructed for a circus ballyhoo, with barred cages, etc., were borrowed locally and put to use as the background theme of the display. In each wagon dummy film cans were placed with lettering on the titles of forthcoming pictures. Glitter was sprinkled in the sawdust that covered the bottom of the cages, and a large spotlight was used to illuminate the inside of the cages. As the motif of the display was on circus, a large 12-foot clown dummy was at the head, with copy promoting the attractions. Stress Religious Angle for Big "Quo Vadis" Results Dale Baldwin, manager of the Parkway theatre, West Jefferson, N. C., reports ex- cellent business with MGM’s “Quo Vadis,” utilizing a lot of advertising backed up with an extremely effective herald campaign. In each segment of his exploitation, Dale stressed the “Story of Christianity — After The Death of Christ” angle. This, he re- ports, brought in the patrons who come out only for religious pictures, Six Used Cars Free To Linda Patrons In an arrangement set up with the local used car dealer, Clark R. Jordan, manager of the Linda theatre, Linda Vista, San Diego, Cal., is giving away to patrons six cars free, -one every Friday night starting February 26. A total of $3,000 is to be awarded to door winners at the Linda theatre. "Wicked Woman" Star Has a Busy Day A crowded publicity campaign was set for Beverly Michaels, star of “Wicked Woman,” during her visit to Reading, Pa., January 20 for the opening at Loew’s Colonial on the 28th, according to Robert E. Diem. Upon the arrival of the actress at noon, she spoke at the Kiwanis Club luncheon. Following that she was interviewed on Station WRAW. That interview was fol- lowed by another on station WEEU. In the early afternoon an interview followed by Jerry Kobrin of the Reading Eagle. In late afternoon there was a TV show on station WHUM, topped off in the evening by a March of Dimes appearance. During her stay in the city she was transported by a promoted Rolls-Royce. Lou Cohen, manager of Loew’s Poli, Hartford, really riding the tournament for exploitation honors with MGM’s first Cin- emaScope picture, “Knights of the Round table.” He uses every thrust of the lance, as laid down by specialists in Camelot. T Louie Orlove, exploiteer in MGM’s Mil- waukee branch, proudly points to newspaper publicity in local papers for Elroy Luedtke, manager of the Delft and Nordic theatres, Marquette, Mich., who won honors as the newly elected president of his local Cham- ber of Commerce. Providence Welcomes Native Son Providence, Rhode Island, is welcoming home one of its favorite native sons, William J. Trambukis, recently appointed manager of Loew’s State the- atre, where, in 1941, he began his career as a part-time usher. Born and raised in the Mount Pleasant neighborhood, Bill attended the Mount Pleasant Hi g h School and rose through a succession of posts within the Loew’s organization before his return to Providence. The new an d youthful manager, already a winner of quite a few showmanship contests, served in the SeeBees during the war, after which he came back to Providence in 1946 as assist- ant manager of Loew’s State. In 1949 he was sent to Syracuse as manager of the Loew s theatre there and in 1952 was trans- ferred to the Loew’s in Harrisburg as man- ager. While in the latter city Bill added mightily to his growing reputation by his participation in the famed “Pennsylvania Week” celebrations, supervising the motion picture activities in six counties covering a 100-square-mile area. Returning to Providence with Bill are his wife, the former Elizabeth Greene, and four-year-old daughter, Jane. INTERSECTIONS JULIUS LAMM of the Colony in Cleveland got a nice break when the Shaker Square Businessmen's Association erected four boards like this at four intersections around Shaker Square where the theatre is located and invited him to use them. His first use was for "The Robe." 36 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 27, 1954 . . . the original exhibitors' reports department, established October 14, 1916. In it theatremen serve one another with information about the box office performance of product — providing a service of the exhibitor for the exhibitor. ADDRESS REPORTS What the Picture Did for Me, Motion Picture Herald, Rockefeller Center, New York 20. Allied Artists LOOSE IN LONDON : Bowery Boys — A very good Bowery Boys’ picture with lots of comedy. I hardly ever fail with these boys. Doubled with "Sea Tiger" (also AA) and did average business both nights. Played Friday, Saturday, January 22, 23. — James Hardy, Shoals Theatre, Shoals, Ind. SON OF BELLE STARR: Keith Larsen, Peggie Castle— You can’t go wrong on this picture. P'eople talked about it for a week. Play it by all means. Played Friday, Saturday, January 29, 30. — James Hardy, Shoals Theatre, Shoals, Ind. Columbia CHINA VENTURE: Edmond O’Brien, Barry Sulli- van— A good picture in black and white with the usual war theme. Good for a double bill. Did average business in this small town. Played Wednesday, Thursday, February 3, 4. — Francis Gill, Paonia Theatre, Paonia, Colo. FLAME OF CALCUTTA: Denise Darcel, Patric Knowles — My folks are tired of these costume pictures. It’s pretty fair with O'. K. Technicolor, but still not very popular. Used on double bill. Played Sunday, January 31. — S. T. Jackson, Jackson, Flomaton, Ala. JUGGLER, THE: Kirk Douglas, Milly Vitale— This was the best Kramer picture I’ve ever seen (persona! opinion only). No complaints and I think it was generally liked on a one day change. — S. T. Jackson, Jackson Theatre, Flomaton, Ala. SALOME: Rita Hayworth, Stewart Granger — This picture was well received. Beautiful color and scenery. Had played all around me, as usual, but did fair business. — R. C. Drayer Community, Conde, S. D. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer EASY TO LOVE: Esther Williams, Van Johnson — This Technicolor water epic looked wonderful on our 12x24 wide screen. Did better than average business. Played Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, February 14, 15, 16. — Elstun Dodge, Elstun Theatre, Cincinnati, Ohio. MOGAMBO: Clark Gable, Ava Gardner— A well made picture in Technicolor. A good story with Ava holding the strings, in fact, she steals the show. Gable is just another man in her life, Ava is just another woman in his life, and they fall for each other in the end. The dialogue is excellent. Business average. Small town patronage. Played Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, January 31, February 1, 2. — Francis Gill, Paonia Theatre, Paonia, Colo. MOGAMBO: Clark Gable Ava Gardner — One of the largest grosses we have ever had. A big picture, expertly directed and acted. Some of my patrons didn’t like the story too much, but everybody is talk- ing about it. Business far above average. Played Saturday, Sunday, Monday. Tuesday, January 30, 31, February 1, 2. — O'. Fomby, Paula Theatre, Homer, La. Paramount SHANE: Alan Ladd, Jean Arthur — I rate this as the best outdoor picture of the year. Ladd is at his best, also the rest of the cast. The little boy, Brandon De Wilde, really steals the show. Play it for your western fans. The only thing wrong with this picture is too high percentage. Played Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday,. January 8, 9, 10, 11. — James Hardy, Shoals Theatre, Shoals, Ind. STALAG 17: William Holden, Don Taylor — A very good war picture of prison life. Enjoyed by all except some of the women patrons. The picture was espe- cially liked by the veterans — plenty of interesting and exciting situations.— R. C. Drayer, Community Thea- tre, Conde, S. D. RKO Radio APPOINTMENT IN HONDURAS: Glenn Ford, Ann Sheridan — Doubled with “Marry Me Again” (RKO) but did very poor business on this combination. Flayed Friday, Saturday, February 12, 13. — Elstun Dodge, Elstun Theatre, Cincinnati, Ohio. HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN: Danny Kaye, Farley Granger — Excellent. Our customers were well satisfied. Danny Kaye was tops in this role, as he always is. — R. C. Drayer, Community Theatre, Conde, S. D. PETER PAN: Disney All Cartoon Feature — Doubled with “Back to God’s Country” (Univ.) and also Disney’s short “Bear Country” to record gross for the past two or three years. Played Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, February 7. 8, 9.— Elstun Dodge, Elstun Theatre, Cincinnati, Ohio. PETER PAN: This is a very good Walt Disney picture which will please your children patrons. Play it, you can’t go wrong. You will get a few adults and if nothing else, it will create some good will for you. We have played something like this once before for children patrons. Average business both nights. Played Sunday, Monday, January 17, 18. — James Hardy, Shoals Theatre, Shoals, Ind. SEA AROUND US, THE: Documentary -Excellent. This is really worth seeing. Played Sunday, January 31.— S. T. Jackson, Jackson Theatre, Flomaton, Ala. Twentieth Century-Fox GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES: Marilyn Monroe, Jane Russell — Nothing wrong with this pic- ture. Very good crowd Sunday night. Jane stole the picture from Marilyn. Very good color. All small towns should play this one on a mid-week date — Monroe and Russell will bring them in. Played Sunday, Monday, January 31, February 1. — James Hardy, Shoals Theatre, Shoals, Ind. PRESIDENT’S LADY, THE.: Susan Hayward, Charlton Heston — A very good picture. Susan Hay- ward is very popular here. I recommend this one for adults only. If your patrons like dramatics, give them this picture. Well liked by those who saw it here. Played Tuesday, Wednesday, January 19, 20. — James Hardy, Shoals Theatre, Shoals, Ind. United Artists CAPTAIN SCARLETT: Richard Greene — This was a real weak one. Even Technicolor was bad in this — out of focus most of the time. Played on Friday. — S. T. Jackson, Jackson Theatre, Flomaton, Ala. RETURN TO PARADISE: Gary Cooper, Roberta Haynes — A worthy entry in the popular Cooper’s series of productions. Played Sunday, Monday, January 24, 25. — Elaine S. George, Star Theatre, Heppner, Ore. Universal GOLDEN BLADE, THE: Rock Hudson, Piper Laurie — This was a good picture of its type, but my patrons do not care for this kind. This did the lowest business of any Rock Hudson feature I’ve played. Played Monday, Tuesday, January 18, 19. — S. T. Jack- son, Jackson Theatre, Flomaton, Ala. LITTLE EGYPT: Mark Stevens, Rhonda Fleming — A cute picture in color. Good story of a show girl pulling a fast one, with plenty of hip1 movement to back it up. We doubled this one with Columbia’s “Last Posse,” which proved to be a good combination. Business good in this small town. Played Friday, Saturday, February 5, 6. — Francis Gill, Paonia Thea- tre, Paonia, Colo. MAN FROM THE ALAMO: Glenn Ford, Julia Adams — All I can say for this one is that it is a good outdoor picture which pulled extra business. I always do extra business on Universal westerns. Don’t pass this one up. Glenn Ford is very popular here. Played Sunday, Monday, January 3, 4. — James Hardy, Shoals Theatre, Shoals, Ind. STAND AT APACHE RIVER: Stephen McNally, Julia Adams — Universal westerns always do extra business for me. This is an excellent picture with beautiful color. Keep this kind coming, Universal. This one should be good in any small town. Played Saturday, January 2. — James Hardy, Shoals Theatre, Shoals, Ind. Warner Bros. CALAMITY JANE: Doris Day, Howard Keel — An excellent picture. It will fill your house to the brim. Suitable for both large and small situations. Beautiful color. Business above average. Played Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, January 16, 17, 18, 19. — O. Fomby, Paula Theatre. Homer, La. MASTER OF BALLANTRAE: Errol Flynn, An- thony Steel — The action must have prevailed, since neither costumes nor the star are very popular with our people and this was quite well received. Played Tuesday, Wednesday, January 26, 27. — Elaine S. George, Star Theatre, Heppner, Ore. SO1 BIG: Jane Wyman, Sterling Hayden — Wonder- ful! A picture you will be proud to play. Jane Wyman was never better. It is a word-of-mouth picture. All favorable comments. Played Saturday, Sunday, Monday, January 23, 24, 25.— O. Fomby, Paula Theatre, Homer, La. Shorts RKO Radio HERRING HUNT: Screenliner — O'. K. one-reeler on Canadian fishing. — S. T. Jackson, Jackson Theatre, F'lomaton, Ala. PETER PAN: All Cartoon Feature — Good picture for children, but did not draw adults. This can’t come up to “Snow White”. — R. C. Drayer, Community Theatre, Conde, S. D. WHO’S A DUMMY?: Leon Errol Comedy — Good two reeler. — S. T. Jackson, Jackson Theatre, Flomaton. Ala. Serial Columbia LOST PLANET, THE: This is a fair serial, but my people are tired of this type.— S. T. Jackson, Jackson Theatre, Flomaton, Ala. MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 27, 1954 37 CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING Fifteen cents per word, money-order or check with copy. Count initials, box number and address. Minimum insertion $ 1 .50. Four insertions for the price of three. Contract rates on application. No borders or cuts. Forms close Mondays at 5 P.M. Publisher reserves the right to reject any copy. Film and trailer advertising not accepted. Classified advertising not subject to agency commission. Address copy and checks: MOTION PICTURE HERALD, Classified Dept., Rockefeller Center, New York (20) DRIVE-IN EQUIPMENT WIDE-SCREEN PRESENTATIONS PAY OFF! Wide angle lenses and special apertures available. Write for details. S. O. S. CINEMA SUPPLY CORP.. 602 W. 52nd St., New York 19. USED EQUIPMENT PROJECTORS BY DEVRY — REBUILT LIKE new by S. O. S. from $895. Send for bulletin Devpro. Time deals available. S- O. S. CINEMA SUPPLY CORP., 602 W. 52nd St., New York 19. FOR BETTER BUYS— SEE STAR! PAIR DEVRY XDC Projectors, heavy bases. Suprex trim lamp- houses, complete, rebuilt, $1,650; Simplex rear shutter mechanisms, six months guarantee, $275 pair ; Lenses and Screens at lowest prices; Strong Mogul 65 ampere Lamphouses, rebuilt, $489.50 pair. What do you need? STAR CINEMA SUPPLY, 447 West 52nd St.. New York 19. SERVICES WINDOW CARDS, PROGRAMS. HERALDS photo-offset printing. CATO SHOW PRINTING CO. Cato, N. Y. THEATRES FOR SALE— 725-CAR DRIVE-IN THEATRE Lo- cated near northwestern city. Finest and latest equip- ment available. BOX 2774, MOTION PICTURE HERALD WANTED TO LEASE— SMALL TOWN THEA- tre in Oregon or Washington, option to buy. Finan- daily tesponsible. Eighteen years’ experience all phases of business. BOX 2775, MOTIO'N PICTURE HERALD. MODERN THEATRE FOR RENT IN A FAST growing, industrial city on the West Coast of Florida. Immediate possession and suitable lease with building owner. MRS. ATHENA MARLEMES, P. O. Box 202, Tarpon Springs, Fla. HELP WANTED CONVENTIONAL AND DRIVE-IN THEATRE managers wanted for locations in Wisconsin. All year- round permanent employment with aggressive theatre group. Write BOX 2769 MOTION PICTURE HER- ALD, and state your qualifications and references. Only those interested need apply that are now em- ployed in Wisconsin or border states. WANTED: MANAGER FOR DRIVE-IN THEA- tre in New York state. Send detailed qualifications, photograph, salary expected and references. BO’X 2770, MOTION PICTURE HERALD. THEATRE MANAGERS - LARGE ORGANIZA- tion operating in and out of Denver. Good starting salary; bonus; insurance; pension; other benefits. Submit snapshot, personal history record; age, educa- tion, marital status, experience, etc. Replies held con- fidential. BOX 2771. MOTION PICTURE HERALD. BUSINESS BOOSTERS FREE BROCHURE DRIVE-IN. INDOOR ADVER- tising specialties. PARKHURST ENTERPISES, Lansing 10, Mich. SEATING CAN’T BEAT THIS SEAT FOR $4.95! 500 FULL upholstered back, boxspring cushion, excellent condi- tion. Many more. Send for Chair Bulletin. S. O. S. CINEMA SUPPLY CORP., 602 W. 52nd St., New York 19. NEW EQUIPMENT BUY MASONITE MARQUEE LETTERS-SAVE 70% ! 4"— 35c; 8"— 50c; 10"— 60c ; 12"— 85c; 14"— $1.25; 16"— $1.50 any color. S. O. S. CINEMA SUPPLY CORP., 602 W. 52nd St., New York 19. IT’S NEW— IT’S REVOLUTIONARY— IT’S TER- rific! Vinyl metallic all purpose Screens, $1.25 sq. ft. Has heat weld seams, absolutely invisible! Gives high brightness gain with maximum light distribution; no streaks nor blemishes. Economy screen w/semi- in- visible seams still available 90c sq. ft. Prompt ship- ments on short focus lenses for Wide Screens. S. O. S. CINEMA SUPPLY CORP., 602 W. 52nd St., New York 19. POSITIONS WANTED HIGH-GRADE QUALIFIED MANAGER AVAIL- able. Early forties. Excellent references. BOX 2772 MOTION PICTURE HERALD. PROMOTIONAL, EXPLOITATION MINDED manager thoroughly experienced, with faith in indus- try’s future, presently employed, desires solid connec- tion offering better opportunities. BOX 2776, MOTION PICTURE HERALD. BOOKS “NEW SCREEN TECHNIQUES”— THE NEW book that is a “must” for everybody in or connected with the motion picture industry — the clearly pre- sented, authoritative facts about 3-D, Cinerama, Cine- maScope and other processes — covering production, ex- hibition and exploitation — contains 26 illustrated arti- cles by leading authorities — edited by Martin Quiglej . Jr. 208 pages. Price $4.50 postpaid. QUIGLEY BOOK- SHOP. 1270 Sixth Ave.. New York 20, N. Y. RICHARDSON’S BLUEBOOK OF PROJECTION. New 8th Edition. Revised to deal with the latest tech nical developments in motion picture projection and sound, and reorganized to facilitate study and refer- ence^ Includes a practical discussion of Television especially prepared for the instruction of theatre pro- jectionists, and of new techniques for advancement oi the art of the motion picture. The standard textbook on motion picture projection and sound reproduction. Invaluable to beginner and expert. Best seller since 1911. 662 pages, cloth bound, $7.25 postpaid. QUIGLEY BOOKSHOP, 1270 Sixth Avenue, New York 20, N. Y. MOTION PICTURE AND TELEVISION ALMANAC — the big book about your business — 1953-54 edition. Contains over 12,000 biographies of important motion picture personalities. Also all industry statistics. Com plete listing of feature pictures 1944 to date. OrdeT your copy today. $5.00, postage included. Send remit- tance to QUIGLEY BOOKSHOP, 1270 Sixth Avenue. New York 20, N. Y. STUDIO EQUIPMENT CAN’T LICK ’EM? JOIN ’EM. SHOOT LOCAL Newsreels, TV Commercials, Documentaries. Arrange advertising tie-ups with local merchants. Film I ru duction Equipment Catalog free. S. O. S. CINEMA SUPPLY CORP., 602 W. 52nd St.. New Yarn 19. Taylor Is Reelected by Canadian Picture Pioneers TORONTO : Elections of the 11-man board of the Canadian Picture Pioneers at its first meeting resulted in Nat Taylor, president of Twinex Century Theatres, being named president of the organization for his third successive term. Morris Stein, eastern divi- sion general manager for Famous Players Canadian Corp., was elected vice-president, a post from which Oscar Hanson withdrew in order to devote more time to the benevo- lent fund. Tom S. Daley, manager of the University, Toronto, is secretary-treasurer. Head of the membership committee is Eddie Wells, Pan- Amercian Advertising Corporation Ltd., Cobourg, while Harold Pfaff, Independent Theatre Services, Toronto, heads the sick and welfare committee. Clare Appel, execu- tive director of the Canadian Motion Picture Distributors Association, Toronto, tops the public relations committee and David Ongley is again solicitor. The other members of the board are Wal- ter Kennedy, publicity chief, Empire-Uni- versal Films; Ray Lewis, editor of the “Canadian Moving Picture Digest”; Wil- liam Redpath, General Films; Dan Krendel, district manager, Famous Players; Hugh Sedgwick, vice-president, IATSE; and Frank Vaughan, general sales manager, Allied Artists. Appoint Harry Brandt as Appeal Vice-Chairman Harry Brandt, president of Brandt The- atres, will be vice-chairman of the 1954 Joint Defense Appeal campaign in New York, the organization announced last week. It is the fund-raising arm of the American Jewish Committee and the Anti-Defamation League. Jamestown Holds Meetings In Ohio and Boston A series of three regional meetings of the Jamestown Amusement Company got under way Tuesday and Wednesday this week at the Hotel Gibson in Cincinnati and Thurs- day and Friday at the Hotel Charter in Cleveland. The third meeeting will be at the Hotel Statler in Boston March 3 and 4. Attending the three meetings are Gerald Shea, president; Ray Smith, head of all buying and booking and union matters for the company; Thomas Shea, vice-president from New York, and Frank King, field representative. Downing Will Run New York Variety Club "Heart" Dinner Russell V. Downing, president and man- aging director of the Radio City Music Hall, New York, last week was named chairman of the dinner committee for the New York Variety Club’s first annual “Heart Award” dinner. The award will be to William J. German, president of the club’s Foundation to Combat Epilepsy, and a former chief barker. The dinner will be the evening of May 6 in the grand ballroom of the Hotel Waldorf-Astoria. Essaness Opens House The Essaness circuit, Chicago, is opening the new Halsted Outdoor theatre May 1. It will accommodate 1,400 cars, and will have concessions, playground equipment, and ad- ditional advantages. 38 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 27, 1954 ■■■■UBHIBei FILM BUYERS FLAT I H G Film buyers of independent circuits in the U. S. rate current product on the basis of its performance in their theatres. This report covers 133 attractions, 6,3 5 0 playdates. Titles run alphabetically. Numerals refer to the number of en- gagements on each attraction reported . The tabulation is cumula- tive. Dagger (t) denotes attractions published for the first time. Asterisk (*) indicates attractions which are listed for the last time. EX means Excellent; AA— Above Average; AV— Average; BA — Below Average; PR — Poor. A. & C. Meet Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde (Univ.) Actress, The (MGM) Affair in Monfe Carlo (AA) Affairs of Dobie Gillis, The (MGM) All-American (Univ.) All the Brothers Were Valiant (MGM) Appointment in Honduras (RKO) Arrowhead (Para.) Back to God's Country (Univ.) Bad for Each Other (Col.) Band Wagon, The (MGM) (Beneath the 12-Mile Reef (20th-Fox) Big Heat (Col.) Big Leaguer, The (MGM) Blowing Wild (WB) Blueprint for Murder, A (20th-Fox) Border River ( Univ.) Botany Bay ( Para.) fBoy from Oklahoma (WB) Caddy, The ( Para.) Calamity Jane (WB) Captain's Paradise (UA) Champ for a Day (Rep.) Charge at Feather River, The (WB) China Venture (Col.) City of Bad Men (20th-Fox) Clipped Wings (AA) Conquest of Cochise (Col.) Crazylegs — All-American (Rep.) Cruel Sea, The (U niv.) Cruisin' Down the River (Col.) Dangerous Crossing (20th-Fox) Dangerous When Wet (MGM) Decameron Nights (RKO) Diamond Queen, The (WB) East of Sumatra (Univ.) Easy to Love (MGM) Eddie Cantor Story (WB) Escape from Fort Bravo (MGM) fFighter Attack (AA) 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T, The (Col.) . . '•‘Flame of Calcutta (Col.) Flight Nurse (Rep.) Flight to Tangier (Para.) Forbidden (Univ.) *Francis Covers the Big Town (Univ.) From Here to Eternity (Col.) Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (20th-Fox) Give a Girl a Break (MGM) Glass Web, The (Univ.) *Glory Brigade, The ( 20th- Fox Go, Man, Go (UA) Golden Blade, The (Univ.) Great Jesse James Raid (Lippert) Gun Belt ( UA) Gun Fury (Col.) Half a Hero (MGM) Here Come the Girls (Para.) His Majesty O'Keefe (WB) Hondo (WB) Houdini (Para.) How to Marry a Millionaire (20th-Fox) EX AA AV BA PR _ 1 1 40 15 6 _ _ 3 19 35 _ _ - 3 2 _ 2 10 19 2 - 13 29 14 14 _ 16 42 31 1 _ 5 1 1 6 8 - 17 42 14 - 1 9 38 14 4 _ - 2 4 1 4 12 36 49 23 10 - - - - 1 21 25 12 3 _ - 12 24 8 8 19 33 32 6 - - 8 6 1 - 1 7 5 1 - 1 27 28 4 14 1 2 2 - 10 58 34 6 1 3 7 48 1 30 8 1 8 10 1 9 13 4 7 - 2 1 2 - - 8 51 28 4 - 8 7 1 - - 1 8 14 5 - 2 7 2 1 2 14 1 1 2 2 1 4 21 31 9 . _ 9 1 1 6 5 44 65 18 - - - - 4 5 - - 4 2 3 _ 17 28 15 5 16 5 16 2 - 1 6 2 1 3 - 4 18 25 3 - - 4 1 1 1 1 8 C 1 5 1 1 1 7 0 2 - 1 8 13 8 - - 6 9 1 7 40 28 1 1 - 43 32 4 2 5 45 43 14 17 1 - 4 13 14 2 - 1 4 3 8 - 6 18 12 9 3 8 2 - - - 5 19 16 3 - 3 6 6 - 2 8 21 6 - - 3 8 2 1 _ 8 22 21 19 2 5 19 25 10 1 6 4 1 1 49 12 2 - 1 9 43 31 16 _ 20 3 - 1 _ I, the Jury ( UA) Inferno ( 20th- Fox ) Island in the Sky (WB) Joe Louis Story, The (UA) King of the Khyber Rifles ( 20th- Fox ) Kiss Me Kate (MGM) fKnights of the Round Table (MGM) Last Posse, The (Col.) Latin Lovers (MGM) Lili (MGM) Lion Is in the Streets, A (WB) Little Boy Lost (Para.) (Little Fugitive (Burstyn) Man from the Alamo (Univ.) Marry Me Again (RKO) Martin Luther (de Rochemont) Master of Ballantrae, The (WB) *Maze, The (AA) Melba (UA) Miss Sadie Thompson (Col.) Mission Over Korea (Col.) Mister Scoutmaster (20th-Fox) Mogambo (MGM) Moon Is Blue, The (UA) Moonlighter, The (WB) Nebraskan, The (Col.) 99 River Street (UA) No Escape ( UA) Paratrooper (Col.) Paris Model (Col.) . Plunder of the Sun (WB) Private Eyes (AA) ^Return to Paradise (UA) Robe, The (20th-Fox) Roman Holiday (Para.) Sabre Jet ( UA) Sailor of the King ( 20th- Fox ) Salome (Col.) Sea Around Us, The (RKO) Sea of Lost Ships ( Rep.) Second Chance (RKO) Shane (Para.) Shark River ( U A) Sins of Jezebel (Lippert) Sky Commando (Col.) Slaves of Babylon (Col.) So Big (WB) So This Is Love (WB) Stalag I 7 ( Para.) Stand at Apache River (Univ.) Steel Lady, The (UA) Stranger Wore a Gun, The (Col.) Sword and the Rose, The (RKO) Take the High Ground (MGM) Terror on a Train (MGM) Those Redheads from Seattle (Para.) Three Sailors and a Girl (WB) Thunder Bay (Univ.) Thunder Over the Plains (WB) Torch Song (MGM) Tumbleweed (Univ.) Valley of Headhunters (Col.) Veils of Bagdad (Univ.) .... *Vice Squad ( UA) Vicki ( 20th- Fox ) Walking My Baby Back Home (Univ.) War Arrow (Univ.) War of the Worlds (Para.) War Paint (UA) Wild One (Col.) Wings of the Hawk (Univ.) EX AA AV BA PR 1 5 1 1 21 3 1 4 18 9 20 - 32 38 48 16 - 1 1 6 - 2 5 1 _ 1 5 16 16 14 9 4 - 1 1 2 _ 1 5 18 12 3 1 12 40 39 8 31 21 25 1 1 _ 1 16 30 31 19 49 23 3 1 3 - 2 - - _ 18 9 19 13 - 2 3 15 9 17 14 2 - - 1 3 16 36 12 1 2 8 12 4 - - - 10 2 8 1 2 - - - 7 3 5 6 3 17 53 31 II 37 65 22 3 1 42 32 25 15 4 - 2 1 1 12 19 _ 2 4 3 _ 1 1 1 1 12 8 1 8 7 1 1 - - 2 3 - - 9 12 36 7 - 2 4 - - _ 14 35 55 3 53 7 2 - - - 14 40 37 7 1 17 26 12 5 - - 1 6 5 1 1 61 35 12 1 1 5 13 1 - - 1 4 7 - 2 8 19 12 7 56 45 6 2 - - 14 7 1 4 - 2 7 5 - - 4 4 _ 1 - 1 3 2 2 1 18 66 19 4 - 13 20 28 20 9 47 35 18 - 1 4 16 15 4 - - 7 3 - 4 22 9 3 4 - 8 21 22 20 9 40 45 9 3 - - 1 3 2 - 7 18 19 4 1 5 26 12 4 3 13 45 33 10 - 8 13 20 2 - 9 20 14 31 1 13 20 23 2 - _ 10 5 2 - 1 3 15 8 - 1 19 20 6 - 1 3 15 1 1 _ 23 31 18 _ - 19 14 3 - 2 7 15 39 18 - 8 10 12 4 “ 5 15 19 32 When you go hunting f or patrons . . . throw away that pea-shooter... and get yourself some man-sized ammunition to do the job! You’ll never catch a Lion with a mousetrap . . . and you’ll never arouse interest in your Attrac- tions, with a feeble whisper! So step out and SHOUT about your new attractions! YELL about the new methods national \t y y p/ of presenting this great entertainment! ...And let The Prize Baby go to work for you . . . with his big arsenal of Showmanship Ammunition . . . that bags patrons for your theatre . . . and Brings Them Back Alive ! Sell Bigger SHOWBUSINESS with Big- ger SHOWMANSHIP! £€/l SERVICE f BOBY OF mFI/IDUSTRY MARCH 6, 1954 Procedure for CinemaScope Film for MARCH Theatre Built for New Techniques tder the act of March 3, 1379. h . *»- , N. Y. Subvert Mu it price: $$.!}•■• yy Quigley Publishing Company, Inc. FOR THIS From M-G-M comes the perfect holiday attraction, a great de luxe entertainment. The screen hasn’t witnessed a love drama of such power in years. With its magnificent music and authentic continental backgrounds, "RHAPSODY” has star and production val- ues to make it The Headline Easter Show! ( Another Big Hit in M-G-M’ s Parade of 30tb Anniversary Attractions. Join the Thousands of Showmen in the Industry’s Joyful Jubilee !) BOOK THIS ! 7 must possess the man I love . . heart, body and soul!” M-G-M’s MAGNIFICENT DRAMA OF MUSIC AND ROMANCE! RHAPSODY In Color by TECHNICOLOR Starring ELIZABETH TAYLOR VITTORIO JOHN LOUIS GASSMAN • ERICSON • CALHERN Screen Play by FAY AND MICHAEL KANIN Adaptation by RUTH AND AUGUSTUS GOETZ Based on the Novel "Maurice Guest" by Henry Handel Richardson • Music Conducted by Johnny Green Piano Solos Played by Claudio Arrau • Violin Solos Played by Michael Rabin Directed by CHARLES VIDOR • Produced by LAWRENCE WEINGARTEN WS! ness "Th - on c b. °atio si nsvi(]t g T (Luc;nraile*"’ DesUrne ?ai/> at azNo ,i , Well c g, as Jce as Ufaijvr s’ nat- CINemaSc STARS NANCY WALKER • MARTHA HYER • BILL G Music by Sammy ory by JAMES O’HANLON • Lyrics by Paul Francis WarnerColor ft* s> I ngs^philSilvers .. Screen Play byi OODWIN • MARCEL DALIO • HAYDEN RORKE • JAMES BURKE • JAMES O'HANLON, ROBERT O'BRIEN Webster * Musical Direction by Ray Heindorf ♦ PRODUCED BY HENRY BLANKE • DIRECTED BY JACK DONOHUE ‘HELL’ TORRID! *11' SOCKEROO! Seattle 1 ^*\ HELL’ HUGE! — - — Philadelphia ■ and th* same HIGH Miami' Des Moines, ProvidlT — rrov'dence. . . EVER Y WHERE! MOTION PICTURE HERALD MARTIN QUIGLEY, Editor-in-Chief and Publisher Vol. 194, No. 10 MARTIN QUIGLEY, JR., Editor March 6, 1954 An Open Letter to Samuel Goldwyn: I NOTE that in an address to the Screen Writers Guild in Hollywood last week you repeated your pro- posal of several weeks ago that the Production Code be “modernized.” In sequel to your proposal there appears to have arisen between you and Eric Johnston a dispute as to whether or not Mr. Johnston had agreed, in accordance with your request, to call a mass meeting of all interested persons to discuss the entire question. In order that your proposal for what you believe to constitute a needed “modernization” of the Code shall not become entangled in an incidental dispute as to whether or not Mr. Johnston promised to call a mass meeting, I in turn make to you the following proposal : That you inform me, either verbally or in writing, what changes in the Code, what additions or elimina- tions, you think necessary for the accomplishment of the purposes for which it is intended. I agree that after study of any such proposals as you may submit to use my good offices to persuade the board of directors of the Motion Picture Association to adopt any or all of the items of your proposals that I find pos- sible to justify with the original intent and purposes of the Code. I am heartened by your renewed assurance of loyalty to the basic principles upon which the Code is founded and by your declaration that you are “wholeheartedly in favor of sound self-regulation that will keep motion pictures on the highest level of decency and good taste.” This high-minded position which you have publicly taken entitles you to be heard in full as to how and where the Code should be amended. Hence, I offer to you space in this publication to state your proposal in whatever detail you may choose, together with the above-mentioned agreement personally to urge the adoption of all in your proposals that justify with the original intent and purposes of the Code. n n n IT APPARENTLY has been decided that there will be no mass meeting called to discuss Code changes. Such a decision is doubtlessly a wise and prudent one. The subject matter is not such as to offer any hope that out of the din and clamor of an unorganized program of speechmaking anything constructive could be realized. The Code plan did not originate out of any such environ- ment and the basic, definitive document, which has well- served its purposes for the past twenty-four years, was not and could not have been written by a mass meeting. In prompting as you have a widespread agitation for Code “revision” there is an obligation devolving upon you to follow through and make known details of the proposal you have in mind, both for what betterment for the Code operation they may portend and also so that those who have followed your lead in calling for “re- vision” may know in detail where you have sought to lead them. The question originally raised by you on “revision” must have been deemed by you as an important one. It should not now be left hanging in the unprofitable status as to whether or not Mr. Johnston promised to call a mass meeting. Certainly it cannot reasonably be said that a mass meeting is the indispensable key to any needed solution of the question. It would be uncharac- teristic of you to approach any such mass meeting with- out first having accomplished a clarification of your own views. It would similarly be unexpected that any such meeting — however eloquent and numerous the speeches — would seriously affect your original conclusions. □ an THEREFORE, it would seem to devolve upon you to accept the proposal of this letter, or adopt some other means, promptly to make known what you mean by “revision.” Your name, which is one of status and authority with the public, is now linked with a demand for “revision,” to which there has been a negative response. The public as a consequence sees what it interprets as an industry split into warring camps — for and against the Code. The situation is an unhappy one for an industry which otherwise has quite enough to contend with in the area of public relations. There are other reasons as well, Mr. Goldwyn, why you should consider taking early steps to clarify your Code position : Although it is well-known within the industry to have been only an accident of timing, your original call for “revision” came coincidentally with the appearance of Howard Hughes’ “The French Line,” and as a result it is widely assumed by the public that you were calling upon the Code to be so “revised” as to be able to approve the material in that picture which had been objected to. And, further, as you must know, it is alleged by some that your call for Code revision was prompted more by an urge for press attention rather than serious concern as to the literal provisions of the Code. All of this seems to make clear — and I hope will be so accepted by you — that no time should be lost in proceed- ing by one means or another to make known precisely how and where you think the Code fails, and how any such failure may be remedied. I am sure, Mr. Goldwyn, that as the person responsible for originating and developing the Code you will respect my right to an especial concern over the unclarified situa- tion created by your unspecified demand for revision and that you will cooperate presently to the end of making plain for examination and discussion by the in- dustry and the public just what you are seeking. New York City, March 6, 1954. MARTIN QUIGLEY Suggestions To the Editor: I read each week in the Letters to the Herald the comments on what to do or what not to do for the motion picture busi- ness. In the January 23 issue in “The Cure,’’ Mr. B. J. Straus is right. There is nothing wrong with the motion picture business that real good pictures “will not cure.” He men- tions a few new pictures that have paid off. Also, the idea of “uniformity” in the same issue is also a good one. I know that there is something wrong with the producers and the production end of the motion picture business. There are many things that can be done and I know a lot of them. I have followed the business from the first nickelet, as an author, creator, promoter and pub- lisher. In the February 6 issue there are two good letters, “Young Blood” and “Family Life,” both in the best interests of the motion picture business. Theatre managers or anyone connected with the motion picture business, let’s hear from you and pool our efforts. — HERALD Subscriber , Newark, N. /. Canadian Service To Walter Brooks: I read with interest your article in the January 30 issue, “A Plea for Canada.” I do not know where you received your information for this article, but for the record, I should like to take this opportunity to acquaint you with the facts, pertaining to advertising and trailer accessories in Canada. Our organization has been the agent in Canada for National Screen Service for the past five years. This affiliation has made it possible for us to offer the Canadian ex- hibitors all the “good advertising acces- sories” that have been available to our fel- low Americans. In the case where certain items are marked “not available in Canada,” this con- dition rests entirely upon the distributor, who for false economy does not wish to import certain items, one of which is the “Economy Mat,” etc. The writer does not wish to elaborate on this statement. In the case of pressbooks, though they are supplied gratis in the United States, we feel that this should also be the case in Canada, with the cooperation of the dis- tributors. Here again, for false economy reasons, a charge has been placed on them, and we feel, because of this a hardship has been placed upon the small town exhibitor, RENEWAL AND THREE CHEERS FOR "HERALD" To the Editor: I am writing this letter to tell you after many years of being a sub- scriber to your HERALD, I enjoy every minute reading about the people and their doings in this busi- ness. I am renewing my subscription for next year. So here goes "Three cheers for your HERALD." I hope there are many people in the film business who make it his or her busi- ness to buckle down and read it, be- cause it's tops. Thank you! — S. B. TROIANELLO, Lawrence, Mass. who should get this “catalogue” in order to help him in these times. We have been supplying the Canadian exhibitors from coast to coast, with our office in Winnipeg servicing Western Can- ada, and our office in Toronto servicing Eastern Canada. We may bring to your attention that our special Christmas acces- sories, which included posters and trailers, were supplied to theatres in Newfoundland on the Atlantic, and Alert Bay of the Is- land of Vancouver, on the Pacific. We hope that this information will throw a new light on conditions in Canada, per- taining to accessories. — M. L. SWEIG- MAN, Theatre Poster Service, Limited, Toronto, Canada. 3-D Expense To the Editor: Why not 3-D like that used back in ’36 and ’37 on the two Pete Smith shorts where only one projector was used so there would not be so much expense to the small town exhibitor. — Ohio Exhibitor. Small Town House To the Editor: What is going to happen to the small town theatres ? And very narrow theatres ? What will keep these in business in the next, one or two years ? — Iowa Exhibitor. Doesn’t Make Sense To the Editor: The Government gets 20 per cent, I get five per cent. It doesn’t make sense. — Mon- tana Exhibitor. MOTION PICTURE HERALD March 6, 1954 PARAMOUNT enters the lists with a new process, Vistavision Page 12 ADMISSION tax reduction to ten per cent looks certain now Page 17 FILM heads of nations urged to meet to improve interchange Page 18 LOEWS stockholders told earnings future looks good Page 1 8 REPUBLIC reports net profit for fiscal year of $679,217 Page 18 ALLIED States Association board of direc- tors in quiet conclave Page 19 GOLDWYN again asks Johnston about meeting on Production Code Page 22 STEVENS hails Production Code as pro- ducers' "best friend" Page 22 RODGERS closes door at Metro, but opens another to industry Page 23 "FRENCH Line" hit by critics who see Code ban justified Page 23 20TH-FCX seeking new British outlets after stereo fight Page 28 DECCA management defends itself in proxy fight by stockholder Page 28 ALLIED ARTISTS to float loan for general expansion program Page 28 ITALY considering an increase in the fee charged for dubbing Page 30 "ETERNITY" and players win annual awards of "Photoplay" magazine Page 31 HOFF of Ballantyne Company attacks use of weak sound Page 31 NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT— Notes on indus- try personnel across country Page 32 BETTER REFRESHMENT MERCHANDIS- ING— new section Following Page 43 SERVICE DEPARTMENTS Film Buyers' Rating 3rd Cover Hollywood Scene Page 26 Managers' Round Table Page 39 People in the News Page 31 What the Picture Did for Me Page 37 IN PRODUCT DIGEST SECTION Showmen's Reviews Page 2205 Advance Synopses Page 2207 Short Subjects Page 2207 The Release Chart Page 2208 8 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MARCH 6, 1954 r • A NET increase of $1,663,000 for r\ the 26 weeks ended December ^ 26, 1953, is reported by Colum- bia Pictures in an estimated earn- | ings statement. The net profit for the 1953 period was $1,910,000, com- pared with $247,000 for the com- parable period of 1952. The net profit is equivalent to earnings of $2.41 per share of outstanding com- mon as compared with 16 cents. ► Howard Hughes has advised RKO. Pictures Corp. that he “has no plans with respect to the corporation, ex- cept possible liquidation,” according to a proxy statement being mailed to stockholders by the management of I the company. The statement recom- ! mends that stockholders, scheduled to meet March 18, approve Mr. Hughes’ offer to pay $23,489,478 for all RKO assets. If the offer is ap- proved Mr. Hughes would vote his stock in favor reducing the com- pany’s capital by paying each holder $6 a share, thus redeeming all out- standing stock except Mr. Hughes’ own. The proxy reports that the book value of the corporation as of October 3, 1953, was the equivalent of $4.40 a share, but that unprofitab^ | operations since that date “will re- duce the net worth as reflected in the consolidated balance sheet to less than $4 a share” by March 31, 1954, the last day for acceptance of the Hughes offer. The “liquidation” re- fers only to the parent company, not RKO Radio, the operating company. ► Not that it needs the added in- come, you understand. But it’s not overlooking any bets. Especially in light of 20th-Fox’s success. This all refers to MGM’s re-surveying of its property for oil. Vice-president Charles C. Moskowitz of Loew’s dis- closed the action to stockholders meeting last week in New York. He also told them not to assume that there is oil. i j*- Growing sentiment in Congress for higher personal income tax ex- emptions could be of some indirect benefit to the industry. Higher ex- emptions means more spending money in American pockets. STOCKHOLDERS GET "HERALD" SALUTE "Footprints of the Lion," the HERALD's salute to MGM's 30th an- niversary published in the February 13 issue, was prominently displayed at the annual meeting of Loew's stockholders in New York last week. A copy of the publication was handed to each stock- holder as he left the meeting. ► This gives you an idea. One television station, in Chicago — WGN-TV, owned by the Chicago “Tribune” — expects to telecast this year no less than 1,500 feature films. This is according to Elizabeth Bain, head of that station’s film program- ming department. Seven hundred of these features are exclusively ob- tained ; others will come through sponsors. The station has three pro- jection rooms and four projec- tionists. ► Census Bureau officials will make another attempt to get funds for a comprehensive census of manufac- turing and business next year. Con- gress vetoed the requests for funds this year, and the Bureau is cur- rently able to make only spot checks of one or two motion picture indus- try statistics. ► Television set manufacturers em- phasize how long it will be before there is any great number of color TV receivers and before there is much color telecasting. Observers wonder whether this delay may not be exaggerated to make sure that sales of black-and-white continue. Better Refreshment Merchandising IN THIS ISSUE of The HERALD is inaugurated a new department — Better Refresh- ment Merchandising. For convenience of readers this department will be found each week immediately following the pages of the Managers Round Table section. For a quarter of a century, dating back to the beginning of vending theatres, The HERALD has been giving special attention to this important, revenue producing aspect of theatre operations. The original department, established in 1930, was expanded in 1941 and again following World War II, when it was a monthly known as "Theatre Sales." Meanwhile the annual volume of refreshment sales in the motion picture field in the U.S. and Canada has risen from a few hundred thousand dollars to a quarter of a billion dollars. The growth of refreshment service, both in drive-in and regular theatres, has made desirable a regular weekly department. Just as selling the picture and the theatre are 52 weeks-of-the-year jobs, so also is refreshment merchandising. In The HERALD tradition the emphasis will be on Better Refreshment Merchandising. In the tradition of the Managers Round Table the weekly department on refreshment merchandising will provide a regular forum for the exchange of ideas to make it possible for show- men everywhere to give better service to patrons. The public has demonstrated con- clusively that it wants candy, beverages, popcorn, food and other vending items avail- able in theatres. The public must be served to the best of the exhibitor's capacity. — Martin Quigley, Jr. MOTION PICTURE HERALD, published every Saturday by Quigley Publishing Company, Inc., Rockefeller Center, New York City 20. Telephone Circle 7-3100; Cable address, J,Quigpubco, New York", Martin Quigley, President; Martin Quigley, Jr., Vice-President; Theo. J. Sullivan, Vice-President and Treasurer; Raymond Levy, Vice-President; Leo J. Brady, Secretary; Martin Quigley, Jr., Editor; Terry Ramsaye, Consulting Editor; James D. Ivers, News Editor; Charles S. Aaronson, Production Editor; Floyd E. Stone, Photo Editor; Ray Gallagher, Advertising Manager; Gus H. Fausel, Production Manager. Bureaus: Hollywood, William R. Weaver, editor, Yucca-Vine Building, Telephone HOIlywood 7-2145; Chicago, 120 So. LaSalle St., Urben Farley, advertising representative, Telephone, Financial 6-3074; Washington, J. A. Otten, National Press Club; London, Hope Williams Burnup, manager, Peter Burnup, editor, 4 Golden Square. Correspondents in the principal capitals of the world. Member Audit Bureau of Circulations. Other Quigley Publications:* Better Theatres, published thirteen times a year as Section II of Mot'ion Picture Herald; Motion Picture Daily, Motion Picture and Television Almanac and Fame. MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MARCH 6, 1954 9 A GREETING at London's Waterloo Station for Herbert J. Yates, president of Republic, and Mrs. Yates, and Richard W. Altschuler, president of Republic International. In array are Reginald Armour, managing director of Republic Pictures of Great Britain, who welcomed the Americans; Mr. and Mrs. Yates, and Mr. Altschuler. The Republic executives are surveying the company's installa- tions abroad. J. F. PATTINSON, below, who has succeeded William Kupper as managing director for Twentieth Century-Fox in Great Britain. Mr. Kupper is retiring. Mr. Pattinson will work under supervision of Al- bert Cornfield, managing director for Continental Europe. AT THE RECENT Motion Picture Ex- hibitors of Florida meeting at Tampa. Above; Jerry Gold, Gold - Dubrow The- atres; Horace Den- ning, of Dixie Drive- Ins, the unit's presi- dent; Danny Dea- ver, Normandy Twin-Drive-In, Jack- sonville; and Mau- rice Hensler, Au- burn and Dale the- atres, Auburndale. FOR THE CRUSADE for Free- dom: the rally Tuesday noon in New York's Times Square, at which, with Harry Hirshfield as master of ceremonies, stars of radio, television, and the screen spoke their pieces. Among the latter was Judy Holliday, of Columbia's "It Should Happen to You." iu 10 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MARCH 6, 1954 by the Herald BUSINESS is so good an increase in foreign revenue may be seen the coming year, Ben Cohn, assistant foreign manager for Universal Pictures, reported in New York last week following his return from five weeks in Con- tinental Europe, mostly in the northern areas. Theatre building is tremendous and in fact many territories are under-seated, he said. As for the use of new techniques, the company is maintaining a "flexible" policy because it must satisfy varying needs of various customers, and not enough experience is reported in the European field as yet, he said. MEETING IN NEW HAVEN, by MGM 30th Anniver- sary sales drive captain Jack Byrne, with the local sales staff. He is seen seated, right, with Mrs. Gloria Ziaks, booker, and Phil Gravitz, manager. Standing, salesman Raymond Cairns, and office manager Leon Jakubson. CHANGES IN TEXAS. William O'Donnell, left, who for the past 14 years has been divisional manager of Texas Consolidated Theatres, resigned this week to become vice-president and general manager of Trans-Texas The- atres. W. E. "Bill" Mitchell, right, who has been person- nel manager of Interstate Theatres, replaces him. The story also involves purchase by Trans-Texas of theatres from Texas-Consolidated-Interstate. See page 42. ON THE SET of Warner's "A Star Is Born," Harry Rubens, left, president of Royal Theatres, Illinois, and his sister-in-law, Mrs. Louis Rubens, are greeted by star James Mason. THE BUSINESS MAN FROM LONDON. He is Arthur Dent, whose Adel- phi Films "Intimate Rela- tions" opened recently in New York. Mr. Dent has been in New York selling additional product here, endeavoring to arrange co-production with Amer- ican financing and players, and seeking American product to distribute in Great Britain. He said British exhibitors need quality product from in- dependents because of changed public taste. MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MARCH 6, 1954 II PARAMOUNT ENTERS THE LISTS WITH VISTA VISION Y. Frank Freeman, vice-president of Paramount Pictures, shows Adolph Zukor, Para- mount board chairman, the new Vistavision high and wide screen. Dotted line shows how ordinary motion picture screen size compares with a Vistavision screen. Broken line shows comparison of 2.55 to 1 ratio screen with the 1.85 to J ratio Vistavision screen. Balaban Offers System to Permit Theatre Biggest Possible Picture Size by WILLIAM R. WEAVER Hollywood Editor Paramount this week introduced to the motion picture industry its new Vistavision process, designed to allow the exhibitor to show the largest picture possible in his thea- tre-— both as to width and to height. On hand as master of ceremonies at the demonstration Tuesday was Barney Balaban, Paramount president, who told the assem- bled industry observers that the “key words in Paramount’s thinking are ‘compatibility’ and ‘flexibility.’ ” The chief goal of the company, he said, has been to develop a plan of screen presentation applicable to small theatres as well as large. Sees No Need to Spend Large Sums for Equipment “Such a plan should not make it manda- tory for the exhibitor to invest large sums of money in new equipment,” he said. The Vistavision camera uses a horizontal double frame negative to photograph the picture. The double frame negative photo- graphs images on an area two and one-half times the regular 35mm camera frame. This large negative is then compressed, by print- ing, to a standard 35mm frame for release. This process, explained Mr. Balaban, eliminates grain and fuzziness and provides an overwhelming picture with complete de- finition of focus and the finest quality pic- ture it is possible to obtain. Paramount, he continued, “determined that in the presenta- tion of a motion picture screen ‘height’ was equally as important as width. “Therefore, Paramount recommends that every exhibitor install the largest possible screen both as to height and width that his theatre will permit. Having done this, the exhibitor will be able to play pictures of any size and ratio he desires.” Will Not Need Anamorphic Lens for Projection Films photographed in the Vistavision process will not need an anamorphic lens for projection. Mr. Balaban pointed out, however, that it is possible by a process of optical printing, to make anamorphic prints of films photographed in the Vistavision process. It is Paramount’s plan, he said, to have its pictures available to the ex- hibitor both in the normal print and the anamorphic print, leaving the decision to the exhibitor as to whether he will present his picture on the normal or anamorphic print. Mr. Balaban also had some important policy remarks to make about sound. Under Paramount’s plan for “compatibi- lity” and “flexibility,” Mr. Balaban said it is optional with the exhibitor whether he installs auxiliary sound equipment or not. “If auxiliary sound equipment is to be used,” he said, “it is Paramount’s finding that dimensional sound is simpler and less costly in every respect than stereophonic sound and the results are approximately the same.” Dimensional Sound from A Single Sound Track Dimensional sound is from a single sound track on the positive print and can play through one or more horns, depending on the exhibitor’s equipment. The Paramount chief said that it will be available on all Paramount pictures. These prints, contain- ing the directional sound control, and which also can play in any theatre in the normal way, thus eliminate the necessity for two kinds of prints. The first picture to be made available with this directional sound control will be “White Christmas.” “With regard to anamorphic or squeezed pictures,” Mr. Balaban said, “for those ex- hibitors who desire the presentation of a motion picture in this form, we suggest they purchase expander prismatic lenses, such as the Tushinsky lens.” These, he added, will be available in substantial quantities in the immediate future. A lens such as the Tushinsky lens, he said, permits the exhibitor to present any ana- morphic print ranging in ratio from 1.33 to 1 up to 3 to 1. The exhibitor can also pre- sent any standard print simply by setting the expanding lenses to a ratio of 1 to 1 and then using apertures to determine the aspect ratio he desires. The Paramount head also recommended the use of a “seamless screen” for the best possible presentation. The Vistavision process soon will be dem- onstrated for exhibitors in Los Angeles, Chicago, New York and other sections of the United States, as well as London, Paris and other foreign capitals. Booklets contain- ing detailed technical data on Vistavision also are to be made available to exhibitors. “Paramount,” Mr. Balaban stressed, “has no financial interest, directly or indirectly, in the collection of royalties or in any manu- facturing profit that may come from any one of the products that may be used by this system.” Following screening of a special Vista- vision film which ran approximately 40 min- utes, the Tuesday meeting was thrown open to a question and answer session conducted by Mr. Balaban; Y. Frank Freeman, vice- president in charge of studio operations ; Don Hartman, executive in charge of pro- duction; Hal Pereira, studio art director, and Loren Ryder, head of the research division. Army Cites Universal for Overseas Star Junkets Col. Joseph F. Goetz, chief of the Armed Forces Professional Entertainment Branch, this week in Hollywood presented a Depart- ment of Defense Certificate of Esteem to Edward Muhl, vice-president in charge of production for Universal Pictures, in rec- ognition of the studio’s services in pioneer- ing entertainment junkets for the Armed Forces throughout the world. The citation mentioned the “Francis” junket to Germany in 1950 and the “World in His Arms” junket to Alaska in 1952. 12 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MARCH 6, 1954 not since Frankemteto RECORD BUSINESS: Set all-time house record, Lucon Theatre, East Lansing. RECORD BUSINESS: Doubled the gross of any previous U-l picture at Broadway-Capitol Theatre, Detroit. RECORD BUSINESS: Set all-time house record, Century Theatre, Grand Rapids, Mich. RECORD BUSINESS: Set all-time U-l house record, Capitol Theatre, Kala- mazoo. RECORD BUSINESS: Set all-time U-l house record, Franklin Theatre, Saginaw. RECORD BUSINESS: Set all-time U-l house record, Family Theatre, Monroe. RECORD BUSINESS: Set all-time U-l house record, Strand Theatre, Flint. RECORD BUSINESS: Set all-time U-l house record for regular admission film, Strand Theatre, Pontiac. Out-grossed Mississippi Gambler, Wash- ington Theatre, Bay City. Out-grossed Mississippi Gambler and Bend of the River, Riviera Theatre, Port Huron. vhfivn invvvii Starring RICHARD CARLSON JULIA ADAMS with RICHARD DENNING [ntematiorui Directed by JACK ARNOLD * Screenplay by HARRY RSLX and ARTHUR ROSS * Produced by WILLIAM - ALLAND {national Picture HAS HORROR PAID OFF LIKE THIS! This is THE GLEN PICTURES WITH THAT UNIVERSAL APPEAL!